Folder 189
Europe
The German-sleeve first run of Powerslave: Printed in Germany by 4P Nicolaus on the back, a front sticker listing the ten German dates of the World Slavery Tour '84, and 2402001-B-01 with STERLING in the side-B run-out.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.
Run-out photographed, both sides. Side A (the text label): stamped 2402001-A-0 and a final character that is not a 2 and reads as either 1 or 4. Hand-etched THERES ONLY ONE Um, and a stamped STERLING in a frame whose label rim carries the German rights text. Side B (the eye-and-worms picture label): stamped 2402001-B-01, hand-etched THATS FUCK Um. and a stamped STERLING. No trailing 1 beside either STERLING shows in the frames, but they are cropped tight, so its absence isn't established. Discogs records 959121 as 2402001-A-02 or -A-01 / 2402001-B-01, with THERES ONLY ONE um. / THATS Fuck um. and STERLING, a small etched 1 on some variants.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 959121. Green: in my collection (0 of 8). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 1) | 2402001-A-02 THERES ONLY ONE um. STERLING |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 1) | 2402001-B-01 THATS Fuck um. STERLING |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 2) | 2402001-A-01 THERES ONLY ONE um. STERLING |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 2) | 2402001-B-01 THATS Fuck um. STERLING |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 3) | 2402001-A-02 THERES ONLY ONE um. STERLING 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 3) | 2402001-B-01 THATS Fuck um. STERLING 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 4) | 2402001-A-02 THERES ONLY ONE um. STERLING 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 4) | 2402001-B-01 THATS Fuck um. STERLING |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 15 of them
Front cover: gold 'IRON MAIDEN' logo sitting evenly inside its white outline, with no gold-over-white offset; gold 'POWERSLAVE' title
IMG_4051.jpeg
Front sticker: 'IRON MAIDEN - World Slavery Tour '84', '15.10. Köln / 16.10. Stuttgart / 17.10. Heidelberg / 19.10. Würzburg / 23.10. Freiburg / 24.10. München / 26.10. Essen / 27.10. Bremen / 8.11. Frankfurt / 9.11. Nürnberg', ten dates beside a jackal-headed figure
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Rear cover, top right: disc symbol '1C 064' boxed '24 0200 1', cassette symbol '1C 264' boxed '24 0200 4', barcode '5 099924 020015'
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Rear cover, lower right: 'BACK IN THE VILLAGE / POWERSLAVE / RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER', 'PLAYING TIME: 51.20', '℗ 1984 Original Sound Recordings made by EMI Records Ltd.', '© 1984 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd.', 'LC 0542', boxed 'EMI', 'Marketed, manufactured and distributed by E…', 'Printed in Germany by 4P Nicolaus GmbH' (rest torn away)
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Inner sleeve, lyric side: sand-and-eye artwork with lyrics and the line-up 'Bruce Dickinson Vocals / Dave Murray Lead and Rhythm Guitars / Adrian Smith Lead and Rhythm Guitars / Steve Harris Bass / Nicko McBrain Drums'
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Inner sleeve, upper right corner of the lyric side: '2402001'
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Side A label: blue outlined 'IRON MAIDEN' / 'POWERSLAVE' on sand, '33⅓ R.P.M. Stereo', boxed 'GEMA' beside 'STEMRA', 'LC 0542', '1C 064-24 0200 1A', 'EJ 24 0200 1a', 'THIS SIDE 1. ACES HIGH (Harris) 4.31 ... 5. THE DUELLISTS (Harris) 6.07', 'OTHER SIDE 1. BACK IN THE VILLAGE (Smith/Dickinson) 5.02 / 2. POWERSLAVE (Dickinson) 7.09 / 3. RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER (Harris) 13.36'
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Side A label rim: 'ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND OF THE OWNER OF THE WORK REPRODUCED RESERVED. UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, HIRING, LENDING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE AND BROADCASTING OF THE RECORD PROHIBITED', German rights text ending '... SENDUNG', 'MADE IN EEC'
IMG_4058.jpeg, IMG_4059.jpeg
Side B label: eye drawn in sand with orange worms, no printed text
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Run-out groove, side A: stamped '2402001-A-0' then a final character that is not a '2' (a slanted downstroke with a fainter stroke to its right, read as '1' or '4')
IMG_4061.jpeg, IMG_4063.jpeg
Run-out groove, side A: hand-etched 'THERES ONLY ONE Um'
IMG_4064.jpeg, IMG_4065.jpeg, IMG_4066.jpeg
Run-out groove, side A (German rights text on the label rim above it): stamped 'STERLING'
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Run-out groove, side B: stamped '2402001-B-01'
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Run-out groove, side B: hand-etched 'THATS FUCK Um.'
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Run-out groove, side B (sand picture label above it): stamped 'STERLING'
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The photographs
IMG_4051.jpg1 of 20READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Single sleeve, the Derek Riggs pyramid painting on the front and the tomb scene on the back, with worn edges and a torn lower-right corner on the rear
- Silver-framed tour-dates sticker on the front, upper right, under the title
- Printed inner sleeve: lyrics and credits over the sand-and-eye photograph on one side
- Black vinyl; side A has the sand-texture text label, side B the eye-and-worms picture label
What distinguishes this pressing
- Rear sleeve printed in Germany by 4P Nicolaus, not in Holland by EMI Services Benelux: rules out 24943942 and 387782
- Gold front logo registered centrally inside its white outline: rules out the misprint issue 8177039
- Boxed
GEMAwithSTEMRAon side A, noSACEM: rules out the French-label 29682988 - World Slavery Tour '84 sticker with ten German dates, which 959121's notes describe
- Run-out
2402001-B-01with etchedTHATS FUCK Um.andSTERLING, matching 959121; the side-A suffix isA-01or an unrecordedA-04
Eight tracks, two sides, and the recording credits
Side A
- A1Aces High
- A22 Minutes To Midnight
- A3Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)
- A4Flash Of The Blade
- A5The Duellists
Side B
- B1Back In The Village
- B2Powerslave
- B3Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Bruce Dickinson - vocals · Dave Murray - lead and rhythm guitar · Adrian Smith - lead and rhythm guitar · Steve Harris - bass · Nicko McBrain - drums.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Martin Birch, assisted by Bruce Buchhalter and Frank Gibson. Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound. Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau; mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York. Sleeve illustration by Derek Riggs; sleeve and design concept by Derek Riggs, Iron Maiden and Rod Smallwood. Photography by Moshe Brakha. Published by Zomba Music Publishers Ltd.
Personnel and studio credits are sourced from Discogs release 1846534, 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.
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
Settled on 959121 by the German-printed sleeve, the correctly registered logo and the GEMA/STEMRA label, with the tour sticker and the side-B run-out agreeing. A square-on, raking-light frame of the side-A stamper suffix would decide whether this is 959121's variant 2 (A-01) or a suffix Discogs doesn't list (A-04). If it is A-04, it could be added to 959121's run-out variants. A wider frame around each STERLING would show whether the small etched 1 some copies carry is there.