Folder 145
Japan
The sealed state of the copy - the only thing that chooses between the two rows, and it comes from the owner rather than from a photograph. A sealed, barcoded, retail-priced copy is the commercial issue; a 見本盤 sample is not distributed that way.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.
No photograph in this folder shows the disc at all, let alone its inner mirror ring under raking light - the copy is sealed and the disc has never been out of the case. No matrix string, mould SID or mastering SID is recorded for this copy, and none is claimed. For a CD the mirror ring is the strongest discriminator there is, so its absence is the whole reason this entry stops at Probable.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 6111500. Green: in my collection (0 of 1). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout | TOCP-50698 4 A1 |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 8 of them
Front with obi, sealed in wrap: the album's standard Derek Riggs artwork, a black-and-red obi reading アイアン・メイデン / ーサムホエア・イン・タイムー, with TOCP-50698, STEREO, 〈HARD ROCK / BRITISH METAL〉 and 定価2,548円(本体2,427円) at the foot beside a boxed EMI logo
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Obi front at close range, red sales panel: CDエキストラ仕様, デジタル・リマスタリング, オール・カラー・ブックレット, ライナー：伊藤政則, 日本盤のみアルバムごとのバイオグラフィーの対訳付, 歌詞・対訳付 - and the same catalogue block and price, re-read at native resolution as TOCP-50698 / STEREO / 定価2,548円(本体2,427円). No promo sticker or overprint anywhere on the panel
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Rear, obi rear panel folded over the inlay: the eight titles in English from 01 CAUGHT SOMEWHERE IN TIME to 08 ALEXANDER THE GREAT, Produced, Engineered And Mixed By Martin Birch, the Special disc+ for use on PC or Macintesh featuring full length videos, band and tour history, biography, exclusive photo galleries, Internet web links and much more line, Digitally remastered ℗ 1998 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd, © 1998 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd, and the MADE WITH macromedia and QuickTime devices
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Obi rear barcode block at native resolution: 4 988006 757875, MADE IN JAPAN STEREO, 東芝EMI株式会社, 〒107-8510 東京都港区赤坂2-2-17, the date codes 98•10•28(98•9•14) and (再)2000•10•27まで, the 東芝EMIのインターネット『To Make It!』 http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp line and the COMPACT disc+ DIGITAL AUDIO device
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Rear inlay under the obi flap, at an angle: the same 98•10•28 / (再)2000•10 date box, 東芝EM… and MADE IN J… printed on the inlay itself as well as on the obi, with the EMI, MADE WITH macromedia and QuickTime devices
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Obi rear laid flat: the enhanced-CD system requirements in Japanese for [Windows 95] (本体:Pentium-100MHz以上, Quick Time 3 for Windows, Internet Explorer 2.0または Netscape Navigator 2.0以上) and [Macintosh] (本体:Power PC搭載のMacintosh、またはPerforma, 漢字Talk7.5.1以上, Apple CD-ROM (CD-ROMドライバ)のヴァージョン5.1.2以上), beside the same barcode and Toshiba EMI block
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Jewel-case spine at native resolution: IRON MAIDEN, SOMEWHERE IN TIME and TOCP-50698 printed over the artwork
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Obi spine at native resolution: 定価2,548円 and TOCP 50698 in the boxed catalogue block, above the green/yellow/red bar, with the case still in its wrap
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The photographs
IMG_3021.jpg1 of 8READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Obi - the black-and-red strip, complete and undamaged, wrapped round a standard jewel case. Front, spine and rear panels are all photographed.
- Sealed - the owner states the copy is sealed, and the wrap is visible across every frame, with the obi held under it.
- No disc photograph, and none possible without breaking the seal. The mirror ring, the matrix string, the mould and mastering SID codes and the disc face all went unphotographed.
- A CD Extra by its own packaging - the obi promises
CDエキストラ仕様and the rear carries aSpecial disc+line with Windows 95 and Macintosh system requirements. The version list's abbreviated format text for both candidate rows readsAlbum, Reissue, Remasteredwithout anEnhanceddescriptor; that is a difference in how the rows are written up, not a difference between the rows, so it separates nothing.
What distinguishes this pressing
- The sealed state of the copy - the only thing that chooses between the two rows, and it comes from the owner rather than from a photograph. A sealed, barcoded, retail-priced copy is the commercial issue; a 見本盤 sample is not distributed that way.
- No promo sticker or overprint on any exterior surface - obi front, obi spine, obi rear, jewel spine and rear inlay are all photographed and none carries one. Corroboration rather than proof: where 36815710 wears its promo marking is not recorded in the committed version list, and if it sits at the disc centre, as promos of this era usually do, no photograph here could have caught it.
定価2,548円(本体2,427円)on the obi front and定価2,548円on the obi spine - recorded as a fact of the object and explicitly not as evidence against the promo row. Japanese promos of this series carry the same priced obi.- Barcode
4 988006 757875- the commercial barcode for this catalogue number, and a match axis rather than a discriminator: a promo of a release normally reproduces it. 98•10•28(98•9•14)and(再)2000•10•27まで- the Japanese release and price-expiry date codes off the obi rear. They place the issue in 1998 and fit both rows, which are both dated 1998.MADE IN JAPAN STEREO,東芝EMI株式会社and the Akasaka address - country straight off the object rather than by inference, and shared by both rows.
Eight tracks, and the recording credits
Tracks 1-4
- 1Caught Somewhere In Time
- 2Wasted Years
- 3Sea Of Madness
- 4Heaven Can Wait
Tracks 5-8
- 5The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
- 6Stranger In A Strange Land
- 7Deja-Vu
- 8Alexander 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. Where this copy's own packaging carries the producer, publisher or copyright lines, they are quoted in the evidence above.
Condition, from the photographs
A photograph cannot grade a record - this is a description of what is visible, not a grade.
- Case/inlay: general handling wear with some edge and corner softening; no cracks or splits visible in these shots.
- Disc: light surface marks and handling sheen catch the light. No visible deep scratches or disc-face damage in these photographs.
Nothing on this page comes from playing the record. 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
The strings settle the country and the catalogue number outright, and then stop one step short. TOCP-50698, read at native resolution off the obi front, the obi spine and the jewel-case spine, returns exactly two rows in the master's version list: 6111500, the commercial 1998 Toshiba EMI remaster, and 36815710, the promo of it. Both are Japan, both 1998, both CD. MADE IN JAPAN STEREO, 東芝EMI株式会社 and 〒107-8510 東京都港区赤坂2-2-17 put the country beyond argument, and the barcode 4 988006 757875 and the 98•10•28(98•9•14) date code fit both rows equally.
What separates a Japanese promo from its commercial twin is usually a 見本盤 sticker on the jacket and a SAMPLE mark at the disc centre. Front, obi and rear are all photographed here and carry neither - but the committed version list records no notes for 36815710, so where that copy wears its marking is not established, and the disc centre is sealed in and unseen. The obi's retail price is no help either: a promo of this series carries the same priced obi.
So the choice rests on the owner's word that the copy is sealed. A factory-sealed copy with an intact retail obi and a scannable barcode is the commercial issue leaving the plant, not a sample sent to a reviewer, and that is what puts this copy on 6111500. It is a good argument and it is not a photographed discriminator, which is exactly the difference between Probable and Confirmed.
What would finish it: a raking-light photograph of the inner mirror ring, giving the matrix string and the mould and mastering SID codes, together with a clear shot of the disc face showing whether it carries a SAMPLE overprint. Both need the seal to go, which is a cost worth more than the upgrade on a sealed copy.
Standing caveat: the version list is incomplete by construction, so a Japanese pressing of this catalogue number absent from Discogs cannot be excluded.