in september last year i wrote about my first copy of iron maiden's "seventh son of a seventh", which i obtained at idiot records in dortmund. as i said in that post, i thought it was an bootleg. the condition of the vinyl is superb, the cover colours crisp and the cover in almost mint condition. too good to be original. so i stated back then that i would consider an upgrade copy.
well, the time was right that faithful saturday afternoon at blitz records in kiel. i was browsing the used metal vinyl bin and "seventh son of a seventh son" was actually the first record that caught my attention. i pulled it from the racks and checked the dust sleeve. to my delight i found it to be the printed dust sleeve which original press copies have. the vinyl itself seemed to be in good condition, too and so it was mine already.
of course, the cover of this copy looks a bit pale and i have more surface noise when i play the record compared to the bootleg but this is part of the experience and simply the real deal. i can read along to the fantastic conceptional lyrics, inhale that dusty smell of old cardboard of the sleeve when i pull out the vinyl and be aware of the strange fact that i am only two years older than this piece of plastic and card. emi records. 1988.