820. Iron Maiden / Maiden Japan [EP]. 1981. 4.5/5

After two albums and a world tour, Iron Maiden put together a live EP from songs they had recorded in Japan, and released such under the amusing title of Maiden Japan. When it was slated for release, one wonders if the band was happy with the decision, and whether they knew that it would also signal the end of that first recording era of the band.

The original album has four songs on it, though my original Australian vinyl edition had five. The band sounds fantastic on it, and Paul Di'anno's vocals come across strong and proud. The songs are not in order on the album as they were performed on the night in Nagoya. The first side of the album has "Running Free" rattling along at pace, and is followed by a great version of "Remember Tomorrow". The second side on my edition starts with "Wrathchild" which was also the concert opening song, and is followed by a furious version of "Killers" and a great rendition of "Innocent Exile", which followed each other in the original set list.
Everything sounds great here, despite the fact that Di'anno was apparently beginning to suffer the effects of his drug use. By the time this was released, he had already been replaced in the band by Bruce Dickinson, so this acts as his farewell, and it is a worthy one. There is little doubt that he could sing, he just couldn't do it live on a consistent basis.

The only disappointing thing about this is that it is only an EP. For anyone who likes to track down bootlegs, the one called The Big Heat: Sun Plaza Tokyo, 1981 is a beauty, recorded the night before these recordings took place, and it contains the entire concert. It is well worth finding a copy of. That being said, this is still an excellent EP that showcases a band on the rise.

Rating:  Never had no trouble, before this all began.  4.5/5.