Maiden Japan

About

Maiden Japan, also known as Heavy Metal Army, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album Made in Japan. There are at least two different versions of this EP; all tracks were recorded in Kosei Nenkin Hall in Nagoya on May 23, 1981. It was lead singer Paul Di'Anno's final recording with the band, and features a maximum of 5 tracks. The original Japanese pressing features only 4 tracks and the record speed is 45RPM. It was never the band's intention to release this album, but the Japanese wanted a live album. The original cover, of which only approximately 25,000 were produced in Venezuela, depicted the band's mascot, Eddie, holding the decapitated head of singer Paul Di'Anno. The replacement cover was done on very short notice after Iron Maiden's manager, Rod Smallwood, received a proof for review, and became agitated at Di'Anno's depiction because the band was looking to replace him. Bootleg of full recording In November 2008, after 27 years, the complete audience recording of the Nagoya gig finally surfaced on a Japanese 2CD bootleg released by Tarantura. It confirmed that "Running Free" was played twice that night, and that the setlist included 18 songs for a total duration of about 93 minutes (one of the longest gigs played by Di'Anno with Iron Maiden).

via Last.fm