Folder 141
UK
UK first edition, with the merchandise insert still in it. The 8×8 order form carries EJ 2402001 (I) and a London post box, which is the one thing Discogs names for the first pressing and denies to both second presses - and the deadwax is the hand-etched Sterling cut off a 1U stamper.
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-eight frames, and read off the record by eye as well. Both sides are hand-etched in the distinctive Sterling hand where the capital E is cut as a reversed epsilon: side one reads Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm-1U-1-4-x1 "IT WƐRƐ So LouD" Sterling Sound D, which is how Discogs records 1701390's variation 2. 1U is a first stamper.
Side two is the one loose end. The owner's reading gives EMC-3512 -B- DMM - 1U-1-J -8 and flags 1U-1-J as possibly 1U-1-3. No UK candidate has a side B recorded with a 1U stamper - 1701390's twelve listed variations run 2U, 4 and 4-4 on side B - so this pairing is not in the fetched data at all. That is ordinary for a record with twelve catalogued run-out variants and one more to find; it is not evidence against the identification, and it is not evidence for it either, which is why the grade rests on the insert and the sleeve instead.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 1701390. Green: in my collection (3 of 26). Red: missing.
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Label side A) | EMC 3512A — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Label side B) | EMC 3512B — this copy |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 1) | EMC 3512-A-DMM-3U-1-1 "ItWereSoLoud" Sterling Sound |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 1) | EMC 3512-B-DMM-2U-1-1 "EvenQuietBitsWereLoud" Sterling Sound |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 2) | Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm-1U-1-4-x1 "IT WƐRƐ So LouD" Sterling Sound D — this copy |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 2) | Ɛmc-3512-B-Dmm 2U-1-7-x1 "Ɛvɛn QuiɛT BİTS WƐRƐ LouD" Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 3) | EMC 3512-A-DMM-1U-1-1- "ItWereSoLoud" Sterling Sound |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 3) | EMC 3512-B-DMM-4-4-1- "EvenQuietBitsWereLoud" Sterling |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 4) | EMC-3512-A-DMM-1U-1-4-3 "ItWereSoLoud" Sterling Sound |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 4) | EMC-3512-B-DMM 2U-1-4-4 "EvenQuietBitsWereLoud" Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 5) | Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm4-4-1-4-x1 IT Were So LouD Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 5) | Ɛmc-3512-B-Dmm44-1-1-x1 Ɛvɛn QuiɛT BİTS WƐRƐ LouD Sterling |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 6) | EMC-3512-A-DMM4-4-1-3- ItWereSoLoud Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 6) | EMC-3512-B-DMM4-4-1-1- Even Quiet Bits Were Loud Sterling |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 7) | Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm4-4-1-B IT Were So LouD Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 7) | Ɛmc-3512-B-DMM 2U-1-1- "EvenQuietBitsWereLoud" Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 8) | EMC-3512-A-DMM4-4-1-1- IT Were So Loud Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 8) | EMC-3512-B-DMM 2U-1-1-X1 "Even Quiet Bits Were Loud" Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 9) | EMC-3512-A-Dmm-3U-1-1- x1 "IT WERE So LouD" Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 9) | EMC-3512-B-Dmm 4-1-1- x1 EVEn QuiET BiTS WERE LouD Sterling |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 10) | Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm-1U-1- "IT WƐRƐ So LouD" Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 10) | Ɛmc-3512-B-Dmm 4 Ɛvɛn QuiɛT BİTS WƐRƐ LouD - Sterling |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 11) | Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm-1U-1-1- "IT WƐRƐ So LouD" Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 11) | EMC-3512-B-Dmm 4-1-1- EVEn QuiET BiTS WERE LouD Sterling |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variation 12) | EMC-3512-A-DMM 4-4-1-2-2 IT Were So Loud Sterling Sound D |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variation 12) | EMC-3512-B-DMM 2U-1-7-“EVEn QuiET BiTS WERE LouD” Sterling Sound D |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 14 of them
Front cover: single semi-glossy sleeve, IRON MAIDEN / SOMEWHERE IN TIME
IMG_2872
Rear cover, top right: barcode 5 099924 059718 and the catalogue block
IMG_2873, IMG_2874
Rear cover, bottom left: boxed EMI · EMI Records Ltd. · HAYES MIDDLESEX ENGLAND · Country of manufacture of record as stated on record label
IMG_2876
Rear cover, bottom left, beside it: Direct Metal DMM™ Mastering and DMM is a trademark of TELDEC
IMG_2876
Merchandise insert, order side: IRON MAIDEN merchandise order form with sterling prices, a 1987 CALENDAR, and the telephone number 01-631 4204
IMG_2878
Merchandise insert, foot: SEND ORDERS TO: IRON MAIDEN FAN CLUB · SMERCH, P.O. BOX 1AP · LONDON W1A 1AP
IMG_2878
Merchandise insert, foot right: EJ 2402001 (I)
IMG_2878
Merchandise insert, reverse: the previous albums with their catalogue numbers - EMC 3330 · EMC 3357 · EMC(P) 3400 · EMC 800 · POWER(P) 1 · RIP 1
IMG_2877
Inner sleeve: printed, lyrics and credits with the yellow triangle on one face, the Arizona band photograph on the other
IMG_2879, IMG_2880
Labels, both sides: the international dark Eddie artwork - not a white label
IMG_2881, IMG_2882
Run-out, side one, etched: Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm in the reversed-epsilon Sterling hand
IMG_2890, IMG_2900, IMG_2901
Run-out, side one, etched, further round: IT WƐRƐ So LouD · Sterling Sound · the stamped D
IMG_2896, IMG_2907, IMG_2908, IMG_2909, IMG_2910
Run-out, side two, etched: Ɛmc-3512-B-Dmm with the second phrase and Sterling Sound
IMG_2883, IMG_2884, IMG_2885, IMG_2886, IMG_2887, IMG_2888, IMG_2889
Both run-outs, off the record itself, quoted as written: Side A - EMC-3512 -A- DMM - 1U-1-4 X1 "ITWERESOLOUD" STERLING SOUND D / Side B - EMC-3512 -B- DMM - 1U-1-J -8 "EVENQUIETBITSWERELOUD" STERLING SOUND D, with the note on b side: 1U-1-J could be 1U-1-3
read by eye by the owner; filed in this folder as runout - eye.txt
The photographs
IMG_2872.jpg1 of 39READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Single semi-glossy sleeve, the international artwork with the UK barcode and catalogue block on the rear.
- The 8×8 merchandise insert, double-sided in colour: an Iron Maiden Fan Club order form with sterling prices on one face, the back catalogue with its
EMCnumbers on the other. This is the part that usually went missing. - Printed inner sleeve - lyrics and credits with the yellow triangle on one face, the Arizona band photograph on the other.
- Labels - the international dark Eddie artwork in yellow text.
- Vinyl - black, both sides, the run-outs hand-etched rather than stamped.
What distinguishes this pressing
- The merchandise insert, with
EJ 2402001 (I)on it. Discogs names this insert and that code for the first edition, and records both UK second presses as having come without one. Direct Metal DMM™ MasteringandDMM is a trademark of TELDECon the rear, which the second press is documented as lacking.1Uon side A - a first stamper, on a record whose later pressings run2U,4and5U.- Hand-etched run-outs in the Sterling hand, with the capital E cut as a reversed epsilon - the same hand that produced the strings on the Russian copy in folder 136, which was pressed from these plates.
- Standard artwork labels, not a white label, which is what rules out the third UK candidate without needing to read anything.
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 insert is what does it.
Four UK entries under this master carry catalogue EMC 3512 alongside 24 0597 1:
How the other candidates were ruled out
| Candidate | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 1701390 - Limited Edition, DMM, First Edition | Matches. Discogs: “Some copies included an 8" by 8" double sided colour insert advertising merchandise and previous albums. This has a London address and a code ‘EJ 2402001 (I)’.” That insert is in this sleeve and carries that code and that address. Its rear is the one with the DMM logo and the TELDEC line, both present here. Its recorded variation 2 side A - Ɛmc-3512-A-Dmm-1U-1-4-x1 "IT WƐRƐ So LouD" Sterling Sound D - is what this deadwax reads. |
| 8653619 - UK second press | Ruled out twice. Discogs: “This release does not have the Direct metal mastering ‘DMM’ logo on the rear bottom left hand corner” - this one does - and “Did not come with merch insert” - this one did. |
| 26601917 - UK second press, Price Attack | Ruled out on the same two counts, plus a third: it is identified by a Price Attack sticker on the front cover carrying its own catalogue number, and there is no such sticker here. |
| 29726218 - White Label | Ruled out on sight. Both labels here are the international Eddie artwork. |
One caution about the second-press rows, because Discogs states the difference as though it were a swap. It records 8653619 as having “an ‘EMI’ boxed logo on the rear bottom left hand corner” in place of the DMM logo - and this sleeve has both: the boxed EMI with the Hayes address, and the DMM logo and the TELDEC line immediately to its right. So the boxed EMI proves nothing here; it is on the first edition's rear too. The DMM logo and the DMM is a trademark of TELDEC line are the half of that pair that discriminates, because Discogs says outright that the second press lacks them, and they are what those rows rest on.
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 not settled, and it is worth stating plainly. Side B's run-out is not in the fetched data for any candidate. The owner reads it as 1U-1-J -8 or 1U-1-3 -8; 1701390 has twelve catalogued run-out variations and every one of them has 2U, 4 or 4-4 on side B, never 1U. A thirteenth variation on a record already documented with twelve is the ordinary explanation, and the identification does not lean on side B at all - but the side B string is a reading in search of a match, and saying so is better than quietly matching it to the nearest one.