BLACK SABBATH MASTER OF REALITY 1st UK PRESS VERTIGO SWIRL - FULLY PLAY-GRADED

	£		110
	$		146

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This is a UK first pressing of Black Sabbath's classic Master of Reality. I have played this in full and give a detailed play-grading below. This is a decent, listenable example, which mostly play-grades around Excellent (Ex).

This has the following 1st press matrix numbers:

Side 1: 6360050 1Y//1

Side 2: 6360050 2Y//1

The box cover has some laminate lifting, laminate splits, flaking and peeling and some small touch-ins to wear on the folds, but there are no major problems. 

The Vertigo swirl inner sleeve has various signs of age and use, including a couple of small central seam splits, a couple of tears to one side of the die-cut hole, and some general age-related discolouration, creases etc.

The record has visible signs of play and use including various long fine surface marks and hairlines and a couple of small scratches etc, but despite appearances this copy sounds really good and plays better than you might expect from its visual appearance, especially on the two quiet instrumentals. I have played the entire record in full from start to finish and found the whole thing enjoyable to listen to with relatively few points to note. On an original 1st press of Master of Reality there are several parts which are always hard to find with great audio (e.g. 'Embryo'; 'Solitude'; 'Orchid'; the spooky quiet ending to 'Children of the Grave'). For the sake of completeness I would mention some background noise in the run-ins/outs, fades, silent grooves and intros and the occasional random click.  I also heard five or six soft clicks in the intro to 'After Forever', but that was the only 'countable' click I heard on the entire album. 'Embryo' and 'Orchid' both played well with very little to note, and it was only really in the quiet ending to 'Children of the Grave' and during 'Solitude' that there was anything to mention: both of these quiet parts had more background noise than other parts of the album. Overall, I would say that the loud parts of this album sound superb and most of it would play-grade as Excellent, but the end of 'Children of the Grave' on side one means that overall I'm play-grading side one as Excellent Minus (Ex-). Side two also mostly plays Excellent, but 'Solitude' is only around VG (maybe even slightly lower) because it is so quiet. So overall I'm play-grading side two as Very Good Plus (VG+). Master of Reality can be hard to find with decent audio, but this one was a pleasant surprise. Please note that a visual grading for each side would be lower than their respective play-grades.

Detracting features not covered above:  None.

All photographs are of the actual item for sale. Please ask any questions before you bid or buy.

Where gradings are given these are based on the UK Record Collector grading system (see below) and are visual gradings only, unless the listing specifically states that it is a play-grading.

I use the UK RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM. This grading system differs from some other grading systems, in particular the Goldmine grading system. Please make sure that you are familiar with the UK record collector grading system before you bid.

Mint: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

Excellent: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packag­ing might have slight wear and/or creasing.

Very Good: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable sur­face marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

Fair: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for prop­erly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

Poor: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

Bad: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.

Plus (+) or Minus (-) are added where items fall between gradings. I only ever use one plus or minus.

P&P costs as follows:

UK:

First LP or 12" record = £5.50, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

First 7" record = £3.95, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

Europe:

First LP or 12" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £13.95, each additional item = an extra £1.40 P&P charge.

Rest of the world:

First LP or 12" record = £29.50, each additional item = an extra £3.10 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £1.80 P&P charge.