[VardisRules]

There has been much discussion with the recent postings of the Torch releases about whether the CDs that are out there in the market right now are bootlegs or legitimate copies. The copies look as though they are Metal Blade releases, but we know that bootleggers can make CD issues look legitimately pressed by any label. I just bought a sealed copy of the self-titled torch CD that looks like the 1990 Metal Blade CD issue. At first, I wasn't sure whether it was a bootleg or a legit copy. Then it came to me. If you turn the CD over to the area that's read by the player, in around the circle, many times it shows who pressed the disc. Atlantic Records often read "WEA" or Warner Entertainment America. Back in the 80s, many CDs pressed in the USA including those pressed by Metal Blade always read, "Mastered By Nimbus" around the circle. This does not include Metal Blade Germany issues or 90s reissues by the label. I looked at all of my old Metal Blade CDs, and this is the case. I then turned over the Torch CD that I just bought, and it read, "Mastered By Nimbus." I was pretty stoked to see that my disc was a legitimate copy of the '90 pressing. Bootleggers can copy the artwork, the sound, but can't duplicate what company pressed the CDs. Just a little insight as to how to tell boots from the real deal.

Cheers,

Bruce

[thepartyprogram]

Hi Bruce, sorry to disagree
not quite correct, after 1992, record companies started using IFPI codes on the clear matrix part of the disc. It is very small, you might have to look closely. Your disc is a recent US pressing? There must be an IFPI code on the matrix otherwise i'm afraid you have a bootleg. Be careful, there's more bootlegs around as you might think. I have pretty good proof that there's a bootleg circulating at the moment of the Laaz Rockit's know your enemy CD for instance...

[witchcross]

Hi Bruce, sorry to disagree
not quite correct, after 1992, record companies started using IFPI codes on the clear matrix part of the disc. It is very small, you might have to look closely. Your disc is a recent US pressing? There must be an IFPI code on the matrix otherwise i'm afraid you have a bootleg. Be careful, there's more bootlegs around as you might think. I have pretty good proof that there's a bootleg circulating at the moment of the Laaz Rockit's know your enemy CD for instance...

as you said yourself, IFPI codes were not widely used before the 90s and the Torch CD that I have is a 1990 pressing. My TORCH cd, which I know is an original for the simple fact that it's the same CD I've had on my shelf since 1990 when I bought it, has the serial number codes and the Mastered by Nimbus message, but no IFPI.

[VardisRules]

Witchcross basically made my point. These Torch discs, based on the 1990 release year, weren't going to have an IFPI anyway. So the absence of an IFPI, doesn't automatically mean bootleg. So, in the absence of IFPI's, I'm using the "Mastered By Nimbus" as a measuring stick to determine whether it is in fact a bootleg or a legitimate release. Just like Witchcross', my CD also has a legitimate serial number, the "Mastered by Nimbus", and no IFPI. I wasn't discussing IFPI's here, because these discs are not going to have any as they were pressed in 1990. I have a number of factory boots that don't have IFPI's, and I know they are boots. I compared them to legitimate issues of CDs by the same label. Not only do the legitimate pressings have IFPI's, but the etchings on the inner rim aren't the same. In this case, it was a legitimate Torch Metal Blade issue that remained sealed since 1990. I have yet to see any bootleg copies replicate the typical Metal Blade "Mastered by Nimbus" message that's etched into the inner rim of the disc. My Torch Fireraiser CD has the same "Mastered By Nimbus" etchings.