Folder 138
Europe
Europe, and plain in the deadwax like folder 132 - but off different stampers. 2405971-A3 and 2405971-B2, with no Sterling wording and no Sheffield triangle on either side, which is the one EMI-cut release of the four that share this catalogue number.
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 seven frames, and read off the record by eye as well. Side one is stamped 2405971-A3, side two 2405971-B2 - short, evenly machine-stamped, and alone in the deadwax apart from a small trailing 1 -S the owner's reading records and which is not resolved in any photograph. No Sterling Sound wording, no △13445 Sheffield triangle and no ST-…-Dmm string appears on either side in any frame, and the reading off the record found none either. That absence is what does the identifying, so it is worth saying what it rests on: seven frames plus a reading of the record itself, rather than one continuous shot of each full circle.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 32480940. Green: in my collection (9 of 18). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 1) | 2405971-A2 1 VO1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 1) | 2405971-B2 1 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 2) | 2405971-A1 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 2) | 2405971-B1 1 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 3) | 2405971-A1 — copy 132 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 3) | 2405971-B1 — copy 132 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 4) | 2405971-A1 — copy 132 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 4) | 2405971-B1 1 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 5) | 2405971-A2 — copy 140 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 5) | 2405971-B2 — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 6) | 2405971-A2 — copy 140 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 6) | 2405971-B3 — copy 140 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 7) | 2405971-A3 — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 7) | 2405971-B3 — copy 140 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 8) | 2405971-A3 21 VO1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 8) | 2405971-B3 21 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 9) | 2405971-A1 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 9) | 2405971-B1 2 |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 12 of them
Front cover: single sleeve, IRON MAIDEN / SOMEWHERE IN TIME
IMG_2811
Rear cover: the international artwork with the tracklist, DMM Mastering and the EMI block at the foot
IMG_2812, IMG_2814
Inner sleeve: printed, lyrics and credits on one face and the Arizona band photograph on the other
IMG_2816, IMG_2817
Label, side one: 1C 062-24 0597 1 · GEMA · STEMRA · DMM™ · SIDE 1 · LC 0542
IMG_2819
Label, side one, perimeter: ALLE URHEBER- UND LEISTUNGSSCHUTZRECHTE VORBEHALTEN. KEIN VERLEIH, KEINE UNERLAUBTE VERVIELFÄLTIGUNG, VERMIETUNG, AUFFÜHRUNG, SENDUNG! and, in English on the other half, ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND OF THE OWNER OF THE WORK REPRODUCED RESERVED…
IMG_2819
Label, side one, perimeter: MADE IN EEC. · STEREO 33⅓ RPM
IMG_2826
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_2819
Label, side two: 1C 062-24 0597 1 · GEMA · STEMRA · SIDE 2 · LC 0542
IMG_2820
Run-out, side one, stamped: 2405971-A3
IMG_2824, IMG_2825
Run-out, side two, stamped: 2405971-B2
IMG_2822, IMG_2823
Run-out, both sides: clear deadwax either side of the stamped string in every frame - no Sterling wording, no Sheffield triangle
IMG_2821, IMG_2822, IMG_2823, IMG_2824, IMG_2825, IMG_2826, IMG_2827
Both run-outs, off the record itself, quoted as written: Side A - 2405971-A3 1 -S / Side B - 2405971-B2 1 -S
read by eye by the owner; filed in this folder as runout - eye.txt
The photographs
IMG_2811.jpg1 of 17READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Single sleeve, printed in Holland - the international artwork, lightly rubbed along the opening edge.
- Printed inner sleeve - lyrics, credits and the Iron Maiden F.C. address on one face, the Arizona band photograph on the other.
- Labels - the international dark Eddie artwork in yellow text,
SIDE 1andSIDE 2the right way round, German and English rights notices around the rim. - Vinyl - black, both sides.
What distinguishes this pressing
- Both run-outs plain.
2405971-A3and2405971-B2with no Sterling wording and no Sheffield△13445mark on either side - the one thing that separates the four same-catalogue Europe releases. - A stamper pair folder 132 does not share. 132 is
A1/B1off the same release; this copy isA3/B2. Same record, later stampers. MADE IN EEC.with GEMA and STEMRA on the labels, notMade in Francewith SACEM, which is what rules out the French release carrying the same number.- A trailing
1 -Sin the owner's reading that no photograph resolves, and that Discogs does not record for any candidate. It changes nothing - the absence of Sterling is what identifies the copy - but it is not explained either.
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, on an absence, exactly as folder 132 was. The reasoning is worth following, because the deciding detail is a thing that is not there.
Country, catalogue number and sleeve are certain from the labels, the rear block and the printer's line. That narrows the master to four Europe entries plus one French one. The fifth release sharing catalogue 24 0597 1 is French - 2198387 - and it goes out on the labels rather than the deadwax: Discogs records those as Made in France by EMI Pathé Marconi S.A. with SACEM/SACD/SDRM/SGDL, where these read MADE IN EEC. with GEMA and STEMRA.
The four that remain are, on Discogs' own account, the same record cut four ways:
How the other candidates were ruled out
| Candidate | What separates it |
|---|---|
| 761023 - Sterling DMM | Sterling and Sheffield identifiers on both sides. |
| 32576838 - Sterling / EMI | Sterling and Sheffield on side A only; side B is the short 240597 1 - B1. |
| 32576808 - EMI / Sterling | Sterling and Sheffield on side B only; side A is the short 240597 1 - A1. |
| 32480940 - EMI DMM | Neither side carries them. Cut at EMI, no Sterling or Sheffield identifiers at all. |
Both run-outs here are the short stamped form with clear deadwax either side, so the bottom row is the only one that survives. The two hybrids each match a plain run-out on one side only, which is why the absence had to be established on both sides rather than assumed from one.
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 would close the last gap. One raking-light frame per side carrying the full run-out circle end to end, rather than the seven partial arcs here. Those seven between them cover the stamped string and a wide span of empty deadwax on each side, and both run-outs were read off the record with nothing more found - but a complete circle is what would turn “nothing was seen” into “nothing is there”. The unresolved 1 -S would come out of the same shot.