Brothers In Arms

Other known matrix variants

Known matrix stamper variants of this pressing (different mother numbers, stamper letters, or re-cuts).

  1. Variant 2
    A
    622 824 499 - 1Y 320 POLYGRAM 1A D42 5
    B
    622 824 499 - 2Y 320 POLYGRAM A8 1A C

Tracklist

Side A

  1. So Far Away (5:11)
  2. Money for Nothing (8:26)
  3. Walk of Life (4:12)
  4. Your Latest Trick (6:33)
  5. Why Worry? (8:31)

Side B

  1. Ride Across the River (6:58)
  2. The Man's Too Strong (4:40)
  3. One World (3:40)
  4. Brothers in Arms (7:00)

Labels & dead wax

Visual reference for this specific pressing. Click any image to enlarge.

Side A — Brothers In Arms
Side A
Side B — Brothers In Arms
Side B
Back sleeve — Brothers In Arms
Back sleeve

How to authenticate this pressing

Specific verification cues for this exact variant.

Just below the catalog number, in a black rectangular frame, is the clearly embossed double SACEM SDRM logo. This is the French equivalent of the Italian S.I.A.E., but in the form of two related organizations: SACEM (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique), which manages performing rights, and SDRM (Société pour l'Administration du Droit de Reproduction Mécanique), which manages mechanical reproduction rights.

SACEM is the oldest collective rights management organization in the world, founded after the famous episode in 1847 when composer Ernest Bourget refused to pay for a meal at the Parisian restaurant Ambassadeurs, arguing that since the restaurant played his music without paying him royalties, he would not pay the bill. French law requires that every audio recording pressed in France bear a visible SACEM/SDRM marking, most often in the form of a frame with two abbreviations. The mere presence of the SACEM/SDRM logo on a disc does NOT automatically mean that the disc itself comes from France or that it was pressed there. France has excellent pressing plants (e.g., the famous MPO), but many French records have been and are pressed abroad (e.g., in the Czech Republic by GZ Media).

The text around the perimeter of the label is in French: "TOUS DROITS DU PRODUCTEUR PHONOGRAPHIQUE ET DU PRIETAIRE DE L'OEUVRE ENREGISTREE RESERVES. SAUF AUTORISATION, LA DUPLICATION, LA CATION, LE PRET, L'UTILISATION DE CE DISQUE POUR EXECUTION PUBLIQUE ET RADIODIFFUSION SONT INTERDITS." Therefore, we have every reason to believe this is a French edition.

Historical context & other notes

From the main release

Brothers In Arms was one of the two most important rock albums of the 1980s in terms of the transition from vinyl to CD. The other one was Thriller. CD players were bought for these albums in 1985 and 1986.

Brothers In Arms became the first album to sell more than one million copies on CD worldwide and the first to sell more copies on CD than on vinyl. It sold over thirty million copies globally by the end of the decade. It held the number one spot in the UK charts for fourteen weeks and nine weeks in the US. Vertigo and Philips jointly financed a tour spanning 248 shows in 177 cities, with the CD format as the main visual element of the tour. For promotion, the world's first single in CD format was released in 1985 (Vertigo 884 285-2, pressed in West Germany by Polygram), containing a long version of the title track and excerpts from the album.

Other releases

This album's releases in other countries, or special editions within the same market. Full per-country chronology lives in each country's hub page.

Market value

from $4 to $54
≈ €4 – €48
Check current Discogs prices →