Media Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)
Sleeve Condition: Very Good (VG)

Notes:

℗ 1982 CBS Inc./© 1982 CBS Inc

2nd pressing; manufactured in Japan, for sale in the US.
DIDP 20022 located under catalog # on the right side of the CD.

There is a note regarding the country of manufacturer on the insert and back cover:  "Record manufactured in Japan by CBS/Sony, Tokyo, Japan".  However, although **most** of the discs manufactured the US as part of this 2nd pressing **were** manufactured by CBS/Sony in Tokyo, a very small number were farmed out to JVC in Japan.  (CBS/Epic/Columbia/etc. were notorious for not editing insert information on their early compact discs.) The white strip along the left of the back tray card contains a Compact Disc Digital Audio logo, and a UPC code.

Along with the unique DIDP 20022 2 E11 matrix, one other distinguishing feature of this disc is that the disc hub is clear & blank, with no embossed lettering in it.

So why is this particular disc in such demand?  Due to a mastering error, most of the first-pressing "Thriller" discs have incorrect pre-emphasis flags in the disc's coding, which meant that the resulting sound of the CD was noticeably "thin" by comparison, containing much more treble than was intended by the album's creators.  These 2nd pressing discs corrected that error, resulting in CDs that have a much more "natural" sound, considered by many collectors to be the closest to the original analog LP pressings.  We would caution of course, that one should make their judgements about this issue.  Completists will need to seek out his variant disc in any event, however, due to the small number of CDs that were manufactured by JVC for this press run.  This is considered to be the hardest "Thriller" CD pressing to find.  

As a final note, the original jewel cases for this JVC pressing are smooth-sided-- none of the edges are ribbed, or even "frosted" (as most early CD cases are), and are noticeably heavier than latter-day CD cases.

1. Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
2. Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine
3. Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney - The Girl Is Mine
4. Michael Jackson - Thriller
5. Michael Jackson - Beat It
6. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
7. Michael Jackson - Human Nature
8. Michael Jackson - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
9. Michael Jackson - The Lady In My Life

Barcode and Other Identifiers:

Barcode 0 7464-38112-2
Matrix / Runout DIDP 20022 2 E11
Other DIDP 20022

Phonographic Copyright (p) CBS Inc.
Copyright (c) CBS Inc.
Manufactured By Epic Records
Manufactured By CBS Inc.
Made By JVC, Japan
Produced For Quincy Jones Productions
Recorded At Ocean Way Recording
Recorded At Westlake Audio
Published By Mijac Music
Published By Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Published By Rodsongs
Published By Almo Music Corp.
Published By Porcara Music
Published By John Bettis Music
Published By Wb Music Corp.
Published By Nissman Music Co., Inc.
Published By Han-Al Music
Published By Kings Road Music
Published By Yellow Brick Road Music

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