The Crooked Wanderer

Sanctuary

Purgatory

Flight Of Icarus (you are here)

Virus

Rainmaker

The Number Of The Beast – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On March 2, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series35 Comments

Back into the Maiden singles and this time it’s the title track to the third album. We get the epic song and a live cut as a B-side.

The cover is again Eddie and the Devil, this time Eddie is holding the Beast’s severed head in hand. While there are other art pieces depicting the pair in later Maiden work, this is the end of the line for the “Eddie versus The Beast” series proper.

While the single had several pressings for different countries and was on both 7- and 12-inch formats, the content remains the same across all versions. Mine is a 12-inch European pressing.

The Number Of The Beast

We again have one of Iron Maiden’s most popular songs to go through. And right off the bat we have a bit of lore and a huge misunderstanding among the metal community – the spoken word intro is NOT delivered by famed actor Vincent Price. The band did want Price to recite the Bible verses, but Price was charging too much money so the Maiden camp passed and got actor Barry Clayton to do it instead.

After the spoken bit, the song proper opens with Bruce Dickinson going in full air raid siren mode. Then the verses roll through into the familiar chorus with the “bad number” 666 and all of that. The song is iconic both in Maiden’s lexicon and in heavy metal in general. I don’t know of a live setlist that doesn’t have this song in it.

The album and single would raise the ire of those engaged in the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980’s, with record burnings and sermons aplenty launched against Maiden. These protests did not have the desired effect, it only put Iron Maiden’s name out there more and helped the single get to number 18 on the UK charts. And the album would be a number one UK hit and gain platinum certification in many countries.

Remember Tomorrow

The B-side is a cut from the debut album, this time performed live with Bruce singing. The song was played in Padua, Italy in October of 1981 and was just three days after Bruce’s first gig with Maiden.

Remember Tomorrow is an interesting tune, a bit of a moody track that picks up later and gets into the signature Maiden riff and rhythm stuff. Hearing Bruce absolutely wail on it, actually dueling the guitar in pitch toward the end, is pretty impressive. This song did get a little bit of stage time in Dickinson’s first run with the group, mostly in the early 90’s before Bruce left, and also featured again in a some 2005 setlists. It’s a really cool live cut here that showcases Bruce very early in his first Maiden tenure.

This single would be the last Iron Maiden release for drummer Clive Burr. Different things have been said about his departure, though I wasn’t there so I don’t know what exactly happened. Burr would go on to drum for a number of other bands before suffering a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in the late 1990’s. Iron Maiden would play a role in fundraising for Burr’s medical needs and Burr’s cause was given a spotlight until his unfortunate death in 2013. Burr’s drumming style had a pretty massive influence on the heavy metal world. Burr’s replacement in Maiden, which we’ll obviously get to next week, would lead to a stable line-up that holds together for the next several singles.

Note – Remember Tomorrow starts at 4:49 in the following video, I use it as it’s from the band’s official channel and won’t get yanked.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Sanctuary

Purgatory

The Number Of The Beast (you are here)

Bring Your Daughter … To the Slaughter

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Rainmaker

Run To The Hills – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On February 23, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series37 Comments

Today we hit a milestone mark in the Maiden singles series – we are now to the third album The Number Of The Beast and therefore Bruce Dickinson has joined the band as the replacement to Paul Di’Anno. This marks the start of the “golden era” for Maiden and the bulk of their epic releases fall in this time frame.

Run To The Hills features another stunning Derek Riggs cover piece depicting Eddie and The Beast in a fight. The cover was the same across different versions of the single, in fact this single has no differences among versions – everything is just different pressings for various countries. Art and content are the same through all. Mine is a 12-inch paper sleeve version. Also we’re on a run through several singles that are simply A-side and one B-side, it’ll be a little while before something with multiple B-sides pops up again.

Run To The Hills

On the feature side is one of Iron Maiden’s most iconic songs. Run To The Hills is a very popular tune, having been a part of many setlists over the years. I’d wager it’s one of their top 5, if not top 3, most well-known songs.

The song is about the plight of the Native Americans at the hands of the invading European-American forces. Such a song could come off as boneheaded or worse, but Maiden handled the subject matter with suitable degrees of both seriousness and accuracy. The first verse’s lyrics are from the perspective of a Cree native who is lamenting the invasion and slaughter, while the second verse is told from an American cavalryman’s perspective. Note that this verse shift happens before the chorus is delivered. The final verse pulls back into a distant perspective and harshly recounts the brutal nature of the actions against the Cree.

While the subject matter is grave, the song’s iconic chorus is simple and, at least musically, uplifting. For many the cry of “run to the hills, run for your lives” would be one of the first things heard from the lips of the new singer Bruce Dickinson. Iron Maiden was re-armed with a potent young singer, and here was the first taste of what would become heavy metal history. The “Human Air Raid Siren” was just getting started.

Again, this is one of Maiden’s most-played songs live and most recognizable on the airwaves. Some feel maybe it’s been played a bit too much but I personally don’t get enough of hearing it.

Total Eclipse

The B-side is an interesting case, as it was a song intended for the album but cut in favor of Gangland. The band have long expressed regret over the decision. Reissues of The Number Of The Beast have included this song, and last year’s vinyl only reissue actually did replace Gangland with Total Eclipse. While I’m personally fine with the other reissues that have all the songs, I can understand last year’s decision as they had to keep the album to one record to accommodate a (very awesome) double-LP live album press as well.

I’d say I agree that Total Eclipse is a better song than Gangland, but of course that makes this single that much better. The song is a doomsday track, one of many that Maiden would crank out over the decades. It has the sound and feel of the first few albums, but of course with Bruce wailing away on it. I’d say it’s one of the better original non-album cuts the band did.

That does it for this week’s single. Next week it’s on the iconic title track from the iconic album, and another point where we’ll say farewell to a member of the band. And there a few things sifting through the mail system on their way to me to expand the list a bit further, including at least one representation of the Blaze era.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Sanctuary

Purgatory

Run To The Hills (you are here)

Bring Your Daughter … To the Slaughter

Virus

Rainmaker

Twilight Zone and Wrathchild – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On February 16, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series35 Comments

It’s back into the Iron Maiden singles and today it’s time to bid farewell to the Paul Di’Anno era. We’ll do so in style, as we have what constitutes a “double A-side” single, including one of the most iconic songs from the early years.

As with a lot of Iron Maiden artwork, the cover is a great piece that also generated some controversy. A woman is holding the death tarot card while a ghostly visage of Eddie stands behind her. Some dull-witted people took it to mean that Eddie was stalking the woman and about to commit violence against her, while in fact Eddie in this art is dead and is in the room with his still-living lover. The picture on the side is signed to Charlotte from Eddie, so the attack angle was (probably) unwarranted.

There is another possible bit of trivia here, though it might be coincidence – the woman’s name is Charlotte, the famous subject of the song Charlotte The Harlot from the debut album. Charlotte would appear in a handful of other Maiden songs, with her saga apparently ending in a future entry of this singles series. Twilight Zone the song is not part of the Charlotte saga so I don’t know if this woman on the cover is the infamous Charlotte of the other songs, but maybe she is.

There are several pressings for this single in multiple formats but in the end the content is the same, same cover and same songs. Mine is a German pressing, probably easy to spot with the text in German on the back cover. And, in typical Maiden fashion, here is the official YouTube offering with both sides of the single in one convenient video.

Twilight Zone

The first A-side is a short but sweet tune that appeared on Killers … well, sort of. The US and Canada got Twilight Zone and Japan got it as a bonus track (they always do get bonus tracks), but the UK did not get this song on the album, so the single became another collectible.

The song packs a nice punch, it has a groovy riff and pounds along in typical early Maiden fashion, with Paul Di’Anno showcasing his vocal talents in a song that is lyrically wordy for being so short. The subject matter is in line with the cover art, as the narrator is dead and longing for his still-living lover.

And for one other little bit of trivia – Twilight Zone is Iron Maiden’s shortest song with lyrics. It beats out Invaders and Burning Ambition by a few seconds. I found this out in a YouTube comment so my source is totally unofficial, but it sounds right.

Wrathchild

The “other” A-side was an album track for all territories and is most likely the best-known song from the Killers album. This is Maiden firing on all cylinders and pounding through a tale of vengeance – a child was abandoned by his father, the child then grows up and seeks to find and end his deadbeat dad.

Wrathchild has been a staple of Maiden live sets. According to Setlist.fm the song is their 8^th most played live. Even when factoring in a margin of error, I’m sure that’s an accurate figure.

The odd story of Wratchild being considered an A-side is really just a business decision. Steve Harris relayed that the band could not afford to cut a video for Twilight Zone and they already had live footage for Wrathchild filmed, so they deemed Wrathchild a “single” so that they could offer it up with video if needed.

The single did pretty decent as far as singles go, hitting number 31 in both the UK and US, as well as 27 on the French charts. The band were spreading their wings and getting to be a known quantity.

And, as stated in the start, this is the point in the series where we bid Paul Di’Anno farewell. His tenure in Iron Maiden was brief but includes two well-regarded albums. Di’Anno would go on to front a variety of projects over the years before health concerns limited his activities, though he is having another go at a small tour schedule this year. I’ve always enjoyed his Maiden run and the pretty unique sound he had coupled with the band’s then-strange blend of metal and punk.

That does mean we’re getting to the next era of the band and the glory years of Iron Maiden. But hey, that’s for next week.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Sanctuary

Purgatory

Twilight Zone/Wrathchild (you are here)

Virus

Rainmaker

Purgatory – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On February 9, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series35 Comments

It’s back to the Iron Maiden singles. Today we get another 7-inch record serving up a single from the Killers album. Just one more single after this and then we’re off into the epic Iron Maiden era we all know and love. But the Paul Di’Anno tenure has some great music in it and today’s A-side is proof positive of that.

This single has very few versions compared to many other Maiden releases. Discogs only lists 4 separate original versions, all the same single just released in different territories. The other 2 versions are from a 2014 reissue of many of the singles. This isn’t one with a hundred different versions to mess with, as was the case with Maiden Japan last week. I have the UK release.

One bit of cover art trivia, which I covered last week in the Maiden cover art rankings – Derek Riggs originally did a spectacular piece of art for this single cover. Camp Maiden said “hold on, we’ll use that for something more special later on” and it was in fact the art for The Number Of The Beast. We can see Eddie and The Beast on this cover as well, though in far less elaborate form than on the future album cover.

Just two songs to get into today, and only one of them has anything to talk about, so let’s have at it. Both sides of the single are featured in the YouTube video below.

Purgatory

The single’s subject material is a punishing track that stands among the best Iron Maiden did in their early career. The rolling guitars and the thumping rhythm section accompany Di’Anno’s vocal delivery for a highlight song. Purgatory is a quintessential Iron Maiden track, no matter what era.

Genghis Khan

The B-side offers up one of the two instrumentals on Killers. It’s a pretty cool song that also sounds like what you’d think of when you say Iron Maiden. They do kind of pummel through this one for the most part, with a more melodic section about 2 minutes in.

Well, that about wraps up the single for today. Not much to talk about when you get two album tracks, which helps explain why the single itself just missed cracking the Top 50 in the UK – fans already had these songs on Killers the album. Next week I’ll tackle the final piece of the Paul Di’Anno years with an interesting “double A-side” kind of single.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Sanctuary

Purgatory (you are here)

Virus

Rainmaker

Maiden Japan – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On February 2, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series34 Comments

On through the Iron Maiden singles I go, and this time with a bit of a note. I am fairly certain I’m out of order right now – Maiden Japan was Paul Di’Anno’s last recorded work with Maiden and there are still two singles from Killers to go after this.

How did I screw up so awfully bad? I ran with the order the singles came up on my list in Discogs. This release had different release dates across various countries, therefore it shows as simply 1981 on my list, and gets sorted before things with specific release dates attached to them. It’s not a major issue to me so I just roll with it, there’s no way I’m putting in the work needed to change the order on a list that is in several of my posts now. It fouls up the narrative just a little bit but I think it’ll be ok.

Today we have an EP as opposed to a single. This comprises five live tracks, all recorded at a show at Kosei Nenkin Hall in Nagoyo, Japan in May 1981. The cover is a fairly famous piece of Maiden history, with Eddie wielding a katana. It’s one of the more well-known non-album Eddie arts and likely had some influence on decking Eddie out as a full samurai on 2021’s Senjutsu cover.

There is an alternate cover to this EP, though it’ll set a person back if they were looking for it. The original idea for the cover showed Eddie holding Paul Di’Anno’s decapitated head. This was before Di’Anno was out of the band and the cover was changed because band and management were frustrated with Di’Anno. This alternate cover got a South American press several years later and yeah, it ain’t cheap.

The EP’s name also clearly plays on the title of Deep Purple’s much-heralded live album Made In Japan. The “Maiden (insert place here)” would become a common tagline for Iron Maiden through the years, it was a pretty obvious thing to do.

There are too many different versions of this release to really count. I have a US pressing, which is kind of a treat as the US did not get a lot of the Maiden non-album stuff direct to market. There are official versions that differ between four and five tracks, and there are some unofficial versions that apparently have this concert in full. I have not personally run across one but they are out there.

As mentioned already, this is the last officially recorded work with Paul Di’Anno. He would be out of the band before 1981 came to a close. We all probably know who and what came next, but I’ll save that for when the time comes.

The Killers album cycle also introduces a new guitarist – Adrian Smith was hired to replace Dennis Stratton. The guitar duo of Smith and Dave Murray would become one of heavy metal’s most iconic tandems and here we are at the start of it.

I won’t go through each song as I normally do since this is a live EP as opposed to a single with B-sides. Here is the tracklist:

Running Free

Remember Tomorrow

Wrathchild

Killers

Innocent Exile

The recording is a tad rough but overall works well, both with the “rough and tumble” early era of Maiden and in context of live recording standards for emerging bands in 1981. I would say it works well as a live document of the time and isn’t just some slapdash thing with no care put into it.

The song selection here is a strength. Running Free and Wrathchild have long been live staples, while Killers has also seen some time on stage. Remember Tomorrow and Innocent Exile are absolute rarities though and honestly their inclusion alone makes this a worthy pick-up. Rarity isn’t the only issue though, and these versions of the more familiar songs are quite worthy as well.

Maiden Japan has held a special place among the band’s collectors. It is an out of the way item but also not terribly hard to find. It is one of a very few official offerings of Paul Di’Anno singing with the band in concert – other than single B-sides and a few limited releases, there just isn’t much official live material out there. It’s off to bootleg land for the collectors who want more, including the rest of this show.

I’m back tomorrow with part two of the Iron Maiden album cover rankings, and then Sunday with something that won’t have to do with Iron Maiden for once. Also – no pic of the actual record this time – I had a light go out in my room where my records are and getting good light on a record itself is a pain. I’m sure the covers will suffice.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Sanctuary

Maiden Japan (you are here)

Purgatory

Virus

Rain maker

Women In Uniform – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On January 26, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series36 Comments

On through the singles series we go, today we essentially re-visit the very first one. While Live Plus One was a Japan-only release, this one was released in a wide variety of formats and to many different countries.

Already with the cover art we have some differences in versions. Posted above is the typical cover for most of the versions. It features British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in an army uniform with a gun, ready to ambush Eddie as he strolls along with a few lovely ladies. Maggie’s revenge is for Eddie killing her on the cover the of the Sanctuary single.

Now you can see that I have a different version of the release and a fairly generic cover that’s just the debut album cover with some hype text. I don’t know if they did this in case they needed a censored version of the cover, but it seems the Thatcher original got to market in good shape.

Women In Uniform

On now to the songs, and the feature track this time is a cover. The original was a very recent tune from 1978, the original artist were Skyhooks, an Australian glam rock act. Skyhooks had achieved some level of success in their home country but didn’t break through internationally. Women In Uniform as a Skyhooks single charted at number 8 in Australia and hit a modest 73 on the UK charts.

Iron Maiden were persuaded to record the song by their management team and record label. The recording process did not go the way Iron Maiden wanted, with information provided in Mick Wall’s 2004 edition of his biography of Iron Maiden, Run To The Hills: The Authorised Biography Of Iron Maiden.

Steve Harris and his outfit were keen on recording a heavy version of the song. The record label hired producer Tony Platt, who had worked as an engineer when Mutt Lange produced his run of AC/DC albums. Platt was under instructions to get a hit out of the Maiden recording sessions, and tinkered with the mix behind Harris’ back. When Harris found out, he canned Platt and did the final mix himself.

Harris was always dissatisfied with how Women In Uniform came out and this led to a deep distrust of outside interference in his music after that. It wouldn’t matter much, as Iron Maiden’s remarkable run with Martin Birch as producer was just on the horizon. But the incident might have contributed greatly to a “control freak” approach from Harris, which has been a topic of much discussion in Maiden circles in years since.

Women In Uniform was a decent single for Iron Maiden, heading to 35 on the UK charts. The band also filmed a music video for the song, the band’s first. This was also a bit before MTV was a thing so it was something of a novel concept for an up and coming act to film a video. This was the only time Maiden released a cover as a single – while that statement isn’t technically true, the other instance is a very limited promo item and also I don’t own that one so as it stands, this one is all we need to worry about.

The single is noteworthy as the final work of guitarist Dennis Stratton in Iron Maiden. Stratton left the band soon after, citing musical differences, but truly due to conflicts with Steve Harris and manager Ron Smallwood. Stratton reportedly was complicit in helping Tony Platt attempt to re-engineer this song as a radio hit, so this might actually be his reason for exiting. He would be replaced by some guy named Adrian…

There is another issue surrounding the song, and that is how it is viewed in a modern context. In short, it isn’t viewed highly. It is considered crude and objectifying to women, and has been dismissed by a fair number of people. Sure, it’s a bit raunchy, but there’s far worse out there. I honestly don’t see the huge problem with it – the lyrics are pretty dumb on the surface and this isn’t a song that should be taken seriously. I don’t think the song is that bad and I feel like it’s a bit of posturing over what are some juvenile at worst lyrics. I don’t have a problem with people wanting their music to be more conscientious, but I think this song is barely a blip on the radar and isn’t worth the hassle.

The rest of this 12-inch single has two live cuts that are also found on the Live Plus One release – Phantom Of The Opera and Drifter. I’ve already been over them (link is below on the list if you missed it) so I’ll just leave things at that.

Three more cuts from Paul Di’Anno’s tenure in Maiden await. Also the list continues growing, at least for as long as I keep finding decently priced stuff. That time might soon be at an end.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Sanctuary

Women In Uniform (you are here)

Purgatory

Virus

Rainmaker

Sanctuary – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On January 19, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series35 Comments

On we go through the Iron Maiden singles series. There is still a handful of Paul Di’Anno stuff to get through and today’s 12-inch record sports a studio track, two live songs and a cover tune.

Sanctuary was released in a variety of formats, though most everything has the same contents. Mine is a press from the Netherlands, totally no-frills packaging, just a sleeve and record. The cover art is its own bit of lore, of course. We clearly see Eddie having just finished with the act of gutting then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The cover was designed because Thatcher had just finished a visit with the then-USSR, who dubbed the PM the “Iron Maiden.” The band was not into having to share their name with the politician, hence the cover.

Some pressing covers were “censored” by having a strip placed over Thatcher’s eyes so as not to recognize her likeness, as though that would work. The idea to censor the cover actually originated from Maiden manager Ron Smallwood, who guessed that the whole thing might get more press. He was right, and Maiden’s salacious cover art got news articles and condemnation from Thatcher fans.

The following video has 3 of the single’s 4 tracks, omitting only Prowler.

Sanctuary

Our title track was not released on the debut album in England but did get added to the album pressings for the US. Sanctuary worked its way through the UK on a compilation record and then this single.

Sanctuary is a good mash-up of rock and punk, the hybrid sound Maiden took out in their early days. The rolling guitar is signature early Maiden and the lyrics plead the case of a fugitive needing a place to hide out after doing some really bad stuff. It has been a staple of many live sets over the years and I’d guess it’s one of their most-played songs overall.

Prowler

This is a bit of a bonus to the single and only available on the 12-inch vinyl format. Prowler was the opening track to the debut album and a pretty big statement from the band – it introduced the band’s sound in a big way and even has the feel of stuff Maiden would do after the first few albums. I’ll save the discussion for whenever I cover the debut record, but this is one of my favorites from that album. The main riff on this just screams MAIDEN! It is something to behold.

Drifter

The B-side opens with a live version of Drifter from the Marquee Club in London. While a live version of Drifter from the Marquee was on the Live Plus One EP, this is actually an earlier gig from April of 1980. It’s a good performance with an extended call and response bit where Paul Di’Anno mimics the end refrain of The Police’s Walking On The Moon. Pretty funny stuff. Drifter would appear in studio form on the band’s next album, 1981’s Killers.

I’ve Got The Fire

And we head out with a slightly modified title and a cover of the Montrose song I Got The Fire. Maiden do kind of pound through it, which is fair for both their sound at the time and the live club setting. While this doesn’t outshine the original by any stretch, it is a pretty good rendition. This won’t be the last time Montrose comes up in one of these Iron Maiden singles, either.

That wraps it up for Sanctuary. Next week is a special treat because I’m going to talk about a handful of songs I already talked about before. That’s why I didn’t really talk much about one of them last time. And we’ll get to see ol’ Maggie again.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Sanctuary (you are here)

Purgatory

Virus

Rainmaker

Running Free – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On January 12, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series30 Comments

It’s time to get back into the series and an actual, proper single this time. This is one of a very few 7-inch Maiden singles I own. It makes today simple as it’s A-side and B-side, the 12-inch singles have some beefy contents sometimes.

There are some different versions of this single around, but in this case they’re mostly just territorial presses and all of the versions have the same content. Mine is a UK pressing in a cardboard sleeve, nothing special to it.

This was the true debut multi-territory single from Iron Maiden, in so far as conventional single releases go. It was put out in advance of the debut album. This is the first official cover appearance of Maiden’s most famous member, Eddie. But as you can see he’s not that easy to make out – the band wanted the album to be his true “reveal” so here you see his face obscured. Putting his face on the label of the single’s record itself probably didn’t generate much suspense for the future “reveal.”

This official video from IM’s channel features both sides of the single in one clip.

Running Free

Maiden’s first single is a very simple and basic rock song, one of the relative few the group recorded. Paul Di’Anno penned the lyrics about being wild, young and free, somewhat inspired by his own young life.

The song is a long-time staple – it’s been played live a trillion times (don’t quote that) and is still one of the band’s best-known even in a career with 17 albums and a peak a few years away yet. A live version got its own single release a few years down the road, which I’ll cover when its time comes.

While Running Free doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of a quintessential Iron Maiden song, it’s one I enjoy quite a bit. It’s simple and pleasing and it works great live. It’s a massive part of the Maiden lexicon even if it got technically outclassed by other material.

Burning Ambition

There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to Maiden B-sides, and honestly a lot of it isn’t good. But we come out of the gate with what might be the best B-side the band ever did. The song comes out with a classic rock vibe uncommon in Iron Maiden’s music but hits pretty hard once Di’Anno starts singing. The song deals with someone who warns his significant other not to hold him down as he pursues something beyond the mundane life.

Burning Ambition has a bit of band trivia behind it – it marks one of the few recorded performances of drummer Doug Sampson. Sampson played on the famous Soundhouse Tapes demo and a handful of other demo tracks, but that is all of his Maiden recording history for his year or so in the band.

Burning Ambition is on the short list of “best Maiden B-sides.” It does feel like enough of a departure to excuse its absence from an album but its quality is undeniable. The song has surfaced on some reissue and archive material over the years but is still a bit of a hidden gem in the catalog.

That’s all for today. It’s on through a run of 12 inch singles next, all with a bunch of stuff on them. Also the list will get a bit bigger next week – I’ve got a few CD singles in, and also I discovered that I have a few more records that what I thought I did. Thanks for not updating, Discogs.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Running Free (you are here)

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Rainmaker

Live Plus One – The Iron Maiden Singles Series

On January 5, 2023July 23, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Iron Maiden Singles Series39 Comments

It’s time to kick off the Iron Maiden singles series. Today’s initial offering gives a nice glimpse into something uncommon within the Maiden official release series – live material with Paul Di’Anno on vocals. This also marks some of Maiden’s earliest live recordings.

There are a few different versions of this EP, I have and will be going over the original Japanese pressing containing four tracks. There is a later Greek pressing with additional tracks but it isn’t cheap while this Japanese version is pretty easy to obtain.

Also of note – my copy is a corrected version. There is a misprint version, the error is on the back in the bottom right corner. The corrected copy says “Play Loud” while the misspelled version says “Play Roud.” And yes, the misprint is a collector’s item that goes for even more than the Greek pressing with extra tracks.

Anyway, enough of yammering about different versions, let’s get into the songs. Three of the songs are live from a show at The Marquee Club in London during July 1980. The Marquee was a very historic club for decades and was a highlight spot for the emerging metal scene of the 1980’s. It was of special importance to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene, which is obviously what we’re talking about here.

Sanctuary

The lead-off track is noteworthy as this is the only official place to find this recording. The other tracks would all be re-released on other material later. The song was part of the debut album but initially only offered on North American pressings.

This version is pretty good, it’s decent sounding for a 1980 live recording. Di’Anno’s vocals come out clearer than anything but the band is recognizable. I always enjoyed this song quite a bit so having another live version of it with the OG singer works for me.

Phantom Of The Opera

Another song from the debut record, the band rips through it in a bit of rough and tumble fashion but that’s very fitting for the early era of Maiden. It is the full 7 minutes of the song as presented on the studio record so the band didn’t truncate it at all (they never really do that anyway).

Drifter

This is a track that would appear on the second album Killers but that album was several months away still, so the band were airing this one out early. This is a really good version featuring some call and response stuff between Di’Anno and the crowd, it’s the kind of stuff that makes live recordings worth it.

Women In Uniform

The last song is the “plus one” alluded to by the EP’s title. This is a studio recording and also a cover song, originally done by Australian band Skyhooks in 1978. There are some discussion points around this cover song – both with the troubled story of Maiden’s recording of it and also how the song is viewed in a modern context. But since this very single is coming up in a few weeks I’ll save those discussions for then.

That wraps up the first of the singles series. Now the ball is rolling and it’ll be a monster when it reaches the bottom of the hill. If this wasn’t enough for you, you’re in luck because in a few short weeks 3 of the 4 same songs come up again.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Live! + One (you are here)

Virus

Rainmaker