Have been reading all the posts regarding the characteristics of the various Ziggy Stardust CD and DVD editions, from RCA through to the current 40th anniversary edition of the album.
I was intrigued to see how to spot the difference between the Japanese withdrawn and replacement CDs for the 30th anniversary release at this post by Alan:
I was wondering, how can one spot the difference between a withdrawn and replacement issue for the 30th anniversary Ziggy release for the EU and other markets?
I have the edition with the reversed stereo, etc. Would like to obtain a copy where all the issues were rectified and knowing how to spot the replacement would help. ^_^
I don't know if the US and Europe destroyed stock before it left the warehouse, but Japan is the only territory that physically withdrew the original master. Japan also withdrew the revised album for a few days because the staples in the book hadn't been folded down! As well as the clover leaf Obi, the second revision has a small green sticker on the front.
The rest of us had to make do with the original master until the the revised master appeared about three months later.
The USA
A hybrid release with US discs and European packaging. I haven't found a revised disc and judging by the number of European imports seen in the US, it may not exist.
Europe
The only visible difference is the matrix number on CD1.
Original: EMI UDEN 5398272 @ 1 Revised: EMI UDEN 5398272 @ 2
