Folder 190

Venezuela

Venezuela, pressed by Rodven Discos under licence from EMI: cream labels with Spanish track titles and a hand-etched NU-LR-25802 run-out that matches Discogs' only documented Venezuelan run-out letter for letter. Confirmed by the owner as 9604238, checked by eye against Discogs.

Catalogue: EMI-25802
Label: EMI
Released: 1984
Confidence: Confirmed
Why this grade
Three rows in the master carry EMI-25802 on vinyl, all Venezuela 1984, all Rodven Discos / Sono Rodven: 1963125, 9604238 and 5034271 (a fourth, 11254093, is the cassette). Everything legible on this copy points at Venezuela: Fabricado en Venezuela por Rodven Discos on the back, HECHO EN VENEZUELA POR RODVEN DISCOS Y DISTRIBUIDO POR SONO-RODVEN round both label rims, EMI-25802 on both labels and 25802 on the back cover. Only 1963125 documents any identifiers, and this copy matches every one of them: run-out NU -LR - 25802 - A - PACO R.A.R.R. / NU - LR - 25802 - B - PACO, back-cover code L1B5R1 (printed here as L1B5RI) and Depósito Legal nb-84-1128. That is a strong fit, but not a discriminator: 9604238 and 5034271 record no run-out, no back-cover code and no Depósito Legal at all, so they are sparse, not contradicted, and a Venezuelan pressing of one catalogue number would very likely share its metalwork and its sleeve print across all three. Discogs separates the three by the front cover alone: 1963125 has the white Iron Maiden logo, 9604238 a differently coloured logo, and 5034271 is a misprint with the colours slipped sideways for a 3D-like effect. No photograph in this folder shows the front cover. The back cover prints in register, with no colour slip, but 5034271's note doesn't say whether the misprint reaches the back, so that doesn't rule it out. The owner's note (EMI 25802, side A NU-LR-25802-A- PACO R.A.R.R, side B NU-LR-25802-B- PACO) agrees with the photographs: NU-LR-25802-A, PACO and R.A.R.R. are photographed on side A and NU-LR-25802-B on side B. The side-B PACO is only partly borne out: the two close-ups of a PACO etching with no label text in frame can't be tied to a side by themselves. The note matches the one documented run-out and so points towards 1963125, but since the other two rows record no run-out it can't decide between them. The master is incomplete by construction, so an uncatalogued Venezuelan pressing can't be excluded either. - Confirmed by the owner, checked by eye against Discogs release 9604238 on 2026-09-27; that decision supersedes the narrowing above.
Reference: Discogs 9604238
Median sale: DKK 186
Sale range: DKK 171-308
On sale now: 6, from DKK 230
Last sold: 8 November 2022

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: hand-etched NU-LR-25802-A-, a separate hand-etched PACO, and R.A.R.R. etched beside the boxed EMI logo. Side B: hand-etched NU-LR-25802-B. Two further close-ups show a hand-etched PACO with no label text in frame, so which side they belong to isn't established from the frames alone. Discogs records 1963125 as NU -LR - 25802 - A - PACO R.A.R.R. (side A) and NU - LR - 25802 - B - PACO (side B). 9604238 and 5034271 record no run-out.

Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 11 of them

Back cover, whole: tomb scene with blue star-field spine strip; 'ACES HIGH / 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT / LOSFER WORDS (BIG 'ORRA) / FLASH OF THE BLADE / THE DUELLISTS' at lower right, a red 'ARLON' box, 'BACK IN THE VILLAGE / POWERSLAVE / RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER' at upper right

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Back cover, lower left corner on the blue strip: boxed 'EMI' and '25802'

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Back cover print block: 'PLAYING TIME: 51.20', 'Fabricado en Venezuela por Rodven Discos', 'y Distribuido por Sono Rodven bajo lic. EMI Inc', '℗ 1984 Depósito Legal nb-84-1128', 'L1B5RI P.V.P. Bs. 55,00', '"Quedan reservados todos los derechos del autor y del productor de fonogramas', 'Esta prohibida la copia, locación (alquiler) y ejecución pública de los fonogramas'

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Back cover, upper left: credit ending '... BY MARTIN BIRCH'; artwork printed in register with no sideways colour slip

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Side A label, cream with red text: 'LADO A', '"POWERSLAVE" Iron Maiden', 'EMI-25802', '1-ACES HIGH (Grandes migajas) (Smith/Dickinson) (4:31) 2- 2 MI-NUTES TO MIDNIGHT ( 2 minutos para medianoche ) ( Smith / Dickinson) (6:04) 3-LOSER WORDS (BIG ORRA) (Palabras de perdedor) (4:15) 4-FLASH OF THE BLADE (El reflejo del cuchillo)(Smith/Dickinson)(4:05) 5-THE DUE-LLISTS(Los Contrincantes)(6:18)/DL-NB-84-1128/RV. 03 JS.', boxed 'EMI'; rim 'HECHO EN VENEZUELA POR RODVEN DISCOS Y DISTRIBUIDO POR SONO-RODVEN' and '"QUEDAN RESERVADOS TODOS LOS DERECHOS DEL AUTOR Y DEL PRODUCTOR DE FONOGRAMAS. ESTA PROHIBIDA LA COPIA, LOCACION (ALQUILER) Y EJECUCION PUBLICA DE LOS FONOGRAMAS'

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Side B label: 'LADO B', '"POWERSLAVE" Iron Maiden', 'EMI-25802', '1-BACK IN THE VILLAGE(De regreso en la villa)(Smith/Dickinson)(5:02) 2-POWERSLAVE (Esclavo del poder) (Dickinson) (7:12) 3-RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARRINER(La rima del anciano ma-rinero)(Harris)(13:45)/DL-NB-84-1128/RV. 03 JS.', boxed 'EMI', same Rodven / Sono-Rodven rim text

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Side A run-out (LADO A label in frame): hand-etched 'NU-LR-25802-A-'

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Side A run-out (LADO A label in frame): hand-etched 'PACO'

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Side A run-out, beside the boxed EMI logo and the side-A label's closing '(6:18)' and 'JS.': hand-etched 'R.A.R.R.'

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Side B run-out (side B label with 'EMI-25802' and '(Dickinson) (7:12)' in frame): hand-etched 'NU-LR-25802-B'

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Run-out close-up, no label text in frame: hand-etched 'PACO'

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The photographs

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The object, and what marks it out

Sleeve, labels and inserts

Single sleeve: the Derek Riggs tomb scene on the back with the blue star-field strip down the spine edge; the back has worn corners and a tear along the right-hand edge
No front cover, inner sleeve or insert photographed
Black vinyl with cream paper labels printed in black and red, Spanish translations beside every track title; a ragged spindle hole on side A

What distinguishes this pressing

EMI-25802 on both labels and 25802 on the back, with Rodven Discos / Sono Rodven named on sleeve and labels: narrows the master to the three Venezuelan vinyl rows 1963125, 9604238 and 5034271
Run-out NU-LR-25802-A- / PACO / R.A.R.R. and NU-LR-25802-B, back-cover code L1B5RI and Depósito Legal nb-84-1128: all match 1963125, but the other two rows record none of these fields, so none of them rules either out
Back cover printed in register: consistent with every candidate, since 5034271's misprint note doesn't say which side of the jacket is affected

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

Confirmed by the owner on 2026-09-27, checked by eye against Discogs release 9604238. The reasoning below is what stood before that.

Still up in the air between three Venezuelan rows. The front cover decides it, because that is the only place Discogs separates them: a white Iron Maiden logo points to 1963125, a differently coloured logo to 9604238, and colours slipped sideways across the artwork to the misprint 5034271. One square-on photograph of the front cover would settle it.