The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s LPs (“Maiden Japan”)

Welcome to another new recurring feature on the Analog Kid blog! “The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s LPs” will give you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album or EP from the ’80s in its entirety. Some will be from CD, but most will have been lovingly transferred from pristine vinyl culled directly from the Analog Kid’s vast collection. Whatever album I choose, it will be one that you can’t easily find for sale on Amazon or in the iTunes store. Death…by stereo!

Iron Maiden released the live EP Maiden Japan in September of 1981. The album was original vocalist Paul Di’Anno’s last appearance on an Iron Maiden recording. All five tracks were recoded live at Kosei Nenkin Hall in Nagoya on May 23, 1981. By October, Di’Anno was gone and Maiden were already playing shows with Bruce Dickinson in preparation for the recording of The Number Of The Beast.

The original cover of Maiden Japan (created months before Di’Anno’s eventual departure) featured Maiden mascot Eddie holding Di’Anno’s severed head:

The band decided to go with the now-lengendary samurai cover instead, but clearly Di’Anno must have realized that his tenure in the band would soon come to an end.

Maiden Japan has never been released on CD in the United States, and was only issued on CD briefly in Europe in the late ’80s. That CD single now goes for obscene amounts of money on eBay, but you can check out this metal classic for free here on the Analog Kid blog. Up the Irons!

Iron Maiden: Maiden Japan

Capitol Records, 1981

Vinyl rip courtesy of the Analog Kid

1. “Running Free” (Written By Steve Harris & Paul Di’Anno)

2. “Remember Tomorrow” (Written By Steve Harris & Paul Di’Anno)

3. “Wrathchild” (Written By Steve Harris)

4. “Killers” (Written By Steve Harris & Paul Di’Anno)

5. “Innocent Exile” (Written By Steve Harris & Paul Di’Anno)

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Bonus Tracks!

The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.

Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden in 1993, but he returned in 1999 and has been back with them ever since. The first recording Iron Maiden released after Dickinson’s return was this remake of the Di’Anno-era classic “Wrathchild.”

Iron Maiden: “Wrathchild” [1999 New Vocal Version] (Written By Steve Harris)

Portrait Records, 1999