Folder 136
Russia
Russia, 1993, on a plain black Gala label. A Uden-printed Europe sleeve with Moscow licensing text set into the rear, cut from the UK Sterling plates, and pressed at Aprelevka to an order number and a print run the sleeve states outright: Заказ 172. Тираж 25000.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photo named beside it, except where the source column says otherwise - those rows come from the record itself, by reading it or by playing it, and each says which.
Run-out photographed on both sides across twenty frames, and read off the record by eye as well. The stamped part reads EMC 3512 A-5U-1- on side one and EMC 3512 B-5U-1- on side two, with Sterling Sound and DMM etched in cursive beside it and a stamped D on both sides. 5U is the stamper generation and it is the same either way round. The etched phrases - "ItWereSoLoud" on side one, "EvenQuietBitsWereLoud" on side two - are Sterling Sound's, carried over from the UK cut along with the plates.
The by-eye reading types the catalogue number as EMC5312, and the record does not. Both labels read EMC 3512 A / EMC 3512 B, the photographed run-out reads EMC 3512, and Discogs records EMC3512 A-5U-1-. Two digits changed places in the typing. Nothing about the identification turns on it, and the reading is quoted verbatim in the evidence below rather than tidied.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 2633562. Green: in my collection (4 of 6). Red: missing.
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Side A, stamped) | EMC3512 A-5U-1- — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Side A, etched) | "ItWereSoLoud" - A - — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Side B, stamped) | EMC 3512 B-5U-1- — this copy |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Side B, etched) | "EvenQuietBitsWereLoud" - B - |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Both side, etched) | Sterling Sound - DMM — this copy |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Both side, stamped) | D |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 16 of them
Front cover: single laminated sleeve, IRON MAIDEN / SOMEWHERE IN TIME
IMG_2764
Rear cover, catalogue block: boxed 038-74 6341 1 · 538-74 6341 2 · 238-74 6341 4 · France: PM 211
IMG_2766
Rear cover, white panel: Изготовлено компанией "GALA RECORDS, INC" · (Moscow, Russia) · Для оптовых поставок тел. (095) 265-20-24 · GALA RECORDS, INC. · По лицензии EMI MUSIC (London, U.K.)
IMG_2766
Rear cover, yellow band along the foot: Изготовлено в СП «Апрелевка — Саунд Инк» · Заказ 172. Тираж 25000
IMG_2767, IMG_2769
Rear cover, foot: Marketed, manufactured and distributed by EMI · Printed in Holland by EMI Services Benelux B.V., Uden · En France: distribution exclusive EMI Pathé Marconi S.A.
IMG_2767, IMG_2769
Rear cover, foot: EMI Records Ltd. · Direct Metal DMM™ Mastering · DMM is a trademark of TELDEC · LC 0542
IMG_2767
Rear cover: ℗ 1986 ORIGINAL SOUND RECORDINGS MADE BY EMI RECORDS LTD. · © 1986 IRON MAIDEN (HOLDINGS) LTD.
IMG_2768
Label, side one: plain black, no Eddie artwork · GALA RECORDS, inc. with the GR roundel · IRON MAIDEN · SOMEWHERE IN TIME · EMC 3512 A · SIDE 1
IMG_2770
Label, side one: 038-74 6341 1 · BIEM · GEMA · DMM™ · LC 0542 · STEREO 33⅓ RPM
IMG_2770, IMG_2771
Label, side one, tracklist: 1. CAUGHT SOMEWHERE IN TIME (Steve Harris) 7:23 · 2. WASTED YEARS (Adrian Smith) 5:05 · 3. SEA OF MADNESS (Adrian Smith) 5:41 · 4. HEAVEN CAN WAIT (Steve Harris) 7:21
IMG_2771
Label, side two: EMC 3512 B · SIDE 2 · 038-74 6341 1 · BIEM · GEMA · DMM™ · LC 0542
IMG_2772
Label, side two, tracklist: 1. THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER (Steve Harris) 6:29 · 2. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND (Adrian Smith) 5:40 · 3. DEJA-VU (Dave Murray/Steve Harris) 4:54 · 4. ALEXANDER THE GREAT (Steve Harris) 8:35
IMG_2772
Run-out, side one, stamped: EMC 3512 A-5U-1-
IMG_2775, IMG_2776, IMG_2777
Run-out, side two, stamped: EMC 3512 B-5U-1-
IMG_2774, IMG_2786
Run-out, etched in cursive: Sterling Sound · DMM
IMG_2792, IMG_2793, IMG_2794
Both run-outs, off the record itself, quoted as written: Side A - EMC5312 A-5U-1- "ITWERESOLOUD" -A- STERLING SOUND-DMM D / Side B - EMC 5312B-5U-1- "EVENQUITEBITSWERELOUD" D -B- STERLING SOUND-DMM
read by eye by the owner; filed in this folder as runout - eye.txt
The photographs
IMG_2764.jpg1 of 31READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Single laminated sleeve, the Uden-printed Europe artwork with two Russian additions set into the rear: a white licensing panel for Gala Records in Moscow, and a yellow band along the foot naming the Aprelevka plant, the order number and the print run.
- Labels - nothing like the international ones. Plain matte black with white text, the
GALA RECORDS, inc.wordmark andGRroundel where the Eddie painting normally sits. - Vinyl - black, both sides.
- No printed inner sleeve is among the photographs, and Discogs records none for this release.
What distinguishes this pressing
Заказ 172. Тираж 25000printed on the rear - order number and print run, the two identifiers Discogs carries for this release and for nothing else under this master.- A plain black Gala label, not the international Eddie artwork, and
BIEMbesideGEMAwhere a Europe copy readsGEMA STEMRA. По лицензии EMI MUSIC (London, U.K.)on the rear: a licensed Russian manufacture, not an import.EMC 3512, the UK catalogue number, in the run-out and on the labels, with the Russian038-74 6341 1printed beside it. The record was cut from the UK Sterling plates and given a local number.- The Uden printer's line survives on a Russian sleeve.
Printed in Holland by EMI Services Benelux B.V., Udenis reproduced along with the rest of the Europe rear; the Moscow panel and the yellow band are set into that artwork rather than replacing it.
Eight tracks, two sides, and the recording credits
Side A
- A1Caught Somewhere In Time
- A2Wasted Years
- A3Sea Of Madness
- A4Heaven Can Wait
Side B
- B1The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
- B2Stranger In A Strange Land
- B3Deja-Vu
- B4Alexander The Great
Bruce Dickinson - vocals · Dave Murray - lead and rhythm guitar, guitar synthesizer · Adrian Smith - lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, guitar synthesizer · Steve Harris - bass, bass synth · Nicko McBrain - drums.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Martin Birch. Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound. Bass, bass synth and drums recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau; guitars, vocals and guitar synth recorded at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum; mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York. Sleeve illustration by Derek Riggs; sleeve concept by Derek Riggs and Rod Smallwood. Inner sleeve photograph by Aaron Rapoport. Published by Zomba Music Publishers Ltd.
Personnel and studio credits are sourced from Discogs release 1701390, the UK original, and apply to the recording rather than to this pressing. The producer, publisher and copyright lines are independently corroborated by this copy's own label, quoted above.
Condition, from the photographs
A photograph cannot grade a record - this is a description of what is visible, not a grade.
- Sleeve: general handling wear with some edge and corner softening; no splits or seam separation visible in these shots.
- Vinyl: light surface marks and handling sheen catch the light. No visible deep scratches, warping or edge damage in these photographs. The labels are clean and unmarked.
No Goldmine grade is claimed for it, or any other. I have no record of where this copy came from.
What is settled, and what is not
Confirmed, and the deciding detail is unusually concrete for a record: a print run.
Russia is stated, not inferred - the rear carries Gala Records' Moscow address and telephone number, the EMI Music licence line, and the name of the plant. One Russian LP sits under this master:
How the other candidates were ruled out
| Candidate | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 2633562 - Gala Records, 1993 | Matches. Discogs lists Заказ 172. and Тираж 25000 among its identifiers, and both are printed in the yellow band on this sleeve. Its recorded matrices - EMC3512 A-5U-1-, EMC 3512 B-5U-1-, "ItWereSoLoud" - A -, "EvenQuietBitsWereLoud" - B -, Sterling Sound - DMM, stamped D - are what both run-outs here read. Its Manufactured By credit is СП «Апрелевка — Саунд Инк», the plant named on the sleeve. |
A sole surviving candidate is normally a Probable on this shelf, because the list is incomplete and a record cannot be separated from rivals it does not have. The grade is higher here because an order number and a print run are not properties of the title or the territory but of one manufacturing run: Заказ 172 names this pressing and nothing else, and it is printed on the object rather than worked out from it.
Standing caveat: this method cannot exclude a pressing absent from Discogs. The version list is incomplete by construction, so a single surviving candidate is a best match, not a proof of uniqueness.
What is open. Nothing that bears on the identification. The catalogue number in the by-eye reading is typed EMC5312 where the labels, the photographs and Discogs all read EMC 3512; the reading is quoted as written and the record is what it is.