Iron Maiden/England,UK 1980

The second installment of the highly popular “THE EARLIEST DAYS” is now available! In the first installment, we delivered two performances of IRON MAIDEN’s oldest live sound source, “1979”, but this time we will deliver a live album of two performances of “METAL FOR MUTHAS TOUR”, the next oldest. These two records are all that exists of “METAL FOR MUTHAS TOUR”. First, let’s briefly review our progress so far. IRON MAIDEN, which began live performances in 1976, underwent repeated member changes, and in 1978, the band’s “core” solidified when Steve Harris, Paul Di’Anno, and Dave Murray were brought together. After producing “THE SOUNDHOUSE TAPES” and meeting Bandwagon, they rose to prominence, and in 1979 they toured the UK at their own expense. The scene at this time was the previous work “THE EARLIEST DAYS 1979”. After that, they signed a contract with EMI in December 1979 and participated in the compilation album “METAL FOR MUTHAS”. Here, the members changed from Doug Sampson (drums) and Tony Parsons (side guitar) to Clive Burr and Dennis Stratton, and they created their debut album, “The Virgin of Steel.” After recording their debut album, they set off on the “METAL FOR MUTHAS TOUR” in February and March 1980. The “METAL FOR MUTHAS TOUR” is said to have had a total of 22 bands participating, with a total of 29 performances. This work is all of the IRON MAIDEN recordings, of which there are only two performances. The first disc that appears is “February 4, 1980 Edinburgh Performance”, which is the fourth performance of the tour. When I play it back, although it has a strong musical tone, it comes out a little blurry. It’s only in the first minute that I think, “Well, this is what valuable sound sources are like…”. After that, the sound suddenly gets better, and it becomes a wonderful sound that can be said to be the best in audience recording at that time. This live has been recorded in “YEARS OF WRATH 1979-1981”, but the master of this work is even better. Currently, there are five different generation versions of this recording in circulation, and the one used in this work is the latest and best version. Speaking of Diano era MAIDEN, the elaborately explosive “LIVE AT THE RAINBOW” and “MAIDEN JAPAN” are familiar, but this work is not as intense and explosive tempo. Although the skills of Clive and Dennis are on par with the “Virgins of Steel,” it seems that they have not yet reached the level of “explosive power unique to live performances” as they have just joined. The following disc 2 is the 7th tour “Wakefield performance on February 7, 1980”. We have carefully selected the best masters from among the many on the market. However, the recording itself is still a bit loud, and compared to the wonderful Disc 1, it sounds like a “precious sound source”. However, its value is more than it seems, and Steve Harris is the main vocalist on 4 songs! The four songs are “Prowler,” “Running Free,” “Iron Maiden,” and “I’ve Got The Fire.” Deano is also on set, and in “Prowler” he shares the vocal duties with Harris, just like in the third season of DEEP PURPLE, but for some reason, Deano’s voice seems to have stopped coming out. Harris is familiar as he still sings backing vocals. Harris himself and his manager Rod Smallwood say it’s “bad,” but it’s a singing voice that is quite impressive. Although the sound of this work cannot be called beautiful, you can clearly understand the taste of the singing voice. The debut single “RUNNING FREE” was released on February 8th, the day after this work was recorded, and “METAL FOR MUTHAS” was released one week later on February 15th. Finally, the steel giant will be revealed to the world. This work is exactly on the verge of that. Although they were creating historical masterpieces, they were still “known only to those in the know.” Their debut work “The Virgin of Steel” has not been released, and the only things they have announced to the public are “THE SOUNDHOUSE TAPES”, which sold only 5,000 copies, and the broadcast of “FRIDAY ROCK SHOW” on BBC RADIO 1. At this scene, people who had heard through word of mouth that there was an amazing band gathered together, and there was IRON MAIDEN, who stood in front of these metal heads and tried to crush them. This work is a 100% live audience tape that fully inhales the atmosphere of the scene! Tifanny’s Club, Edinburgh, Scotland 4th February 1980 TRULY AMAZING SOUND Unity Hall, Wakefield, England 7th February 1980 AMAZING SOUND Disc 1(52:39) Live at Tifanny’s Club, Edinburgh, Scotland 4th February 1980 1. Wrathchild 2. Sanctuary 3. Prowler 4. Remember Tomorrow 5. Running Free 6. Transylvania 7. Strange World 8. Charlotte The Harlot 9. Phantom Of The Opera 10. Iron Maiden 11. Transylvania Disc 2(58:51) Live at Unity Hall, Wakefield, England 7th February 1980 1. The Ides Of March 2. Wrathchild 3. Sanctuary 4. Prowler (with Steve Harris on Vocal) 5. Remember Tomorrow 6. Running Free (with Steve Harris on Vocal) 7. Transylvania 8. Strange World 9. Phantom Of The Opera 10. Iron Maiden (with Steve Harris on Vocal) 11. Drifter 12. Transylvania 13. I’ve Got The Fire (with Steve Harris on Vocal) Paul Di’anno – Vocal Steve Harris – Bass/Vocal Dave Murray – Guitar Dennis Stratton – Guitar Clive Burr – Drums