...um yeah I think my vinyl collection is going to expand to contain several versions of the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust LP.
Just made the "mistake" of directly comparing my 2 copies - a UK "1st pressing" (Well 1 of many potential 1st pressings, no one knows for sure - but it has stamped matrices and the cover details are correct) - Which is the 1st copy I bought, and much loved by myself and the previous owner, and a tad worn out if I'm honest!
...And then the infamous "audiophile" 4E/6E copy - from the same era, this time with hand etched matrices - Much much fuller bass, however the vocals sound a tad "flattened" - but apparently this was due to a choice the sound engineer at the factory made, hence quite a sought after pressing. (And due to not being completely worn out - lots of lovely details in the instruments that I'd previously missed!)
...So yeah I'm now on the hunt for a not worn out 1st UK pressing; which is a rare thing indeed! These LPs were much loved and much played, and still are.
And I'm curious about the mixes on non UK copies - The UK master tapes are different to most of the international ones: the mix on Starman is different, the UK copies have the "loud" morse section, whereas international copies (US inclusive) have a "quiet" mix. There's also apparently a less well-known issue on international copies on the Suffragette City track - the master tapes were apparently damaged after the UK masters were made so the track has a "dropout"