IRON MAIDEN – DEBUT LP – Nr MINT A1/B1mtx UK FIRST PRESS

Iron Maiden
(EMI Records  1980  EMC3330)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from the odd light pop/crackle & a light click on the intro to the first track on side 2)

G&L Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– some slight wear to edges/corners

Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The band’s discography has grown to thirty-eight albums, including sixteen studio albums, eleven live albums, four EPs, and seven compilations.

Pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s. After several line-up changes, the band went on to release a series of UK and US platinum and gold albums, including 1982’s The Number of the Beast, 1983’s Piece of Mind, 1984’s Powerslave, 1985’s live release Live After Death, 1986’s Somewhere in Time and 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Since the return of lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith in 1999, the band have undergone a resurgence in popularity, with their 2010 studio offering, The Final Frontier, peaking at No. 1 in 28 countries and receiving widespread critical acclaim. Their sixteenth studio album, The Book of Souls, was released on 4 September 2015.

Despite little radio or television support, Iron Maiden are considered one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, with The Observer reporting in 2015 that the band have sold over 90 million copies of their albums worldwide. The band won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002. As of October 2013, the band have played over 2000 live shows throughout their career. For the past 35 years, the band have been supported by their famous mascot, “Eddie”, who has appeared on almost all of their album and single covers, as well as in their live shows.

Iron Maiden, released on 14 April 1980, is the debut album by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released by EMI in the UK, and a few months later in the US, originally on Harvest/Capitol Records and subsequently Sanctuary Records/Columbia Records. The US release also included the song “Sanctuary”, only released in the UK as a single. In 1998, along with the rest of the band’s pre-X Factor releases, Iron Maiden was remastered with “Sanctuary” added in all territories.

Although Iron Maiden have since criticised the quality of the album’s production, the release was met with critical and commercial acclaim, debuting at No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart as well as achieving prominence for the band in mainland Europe.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Steve Harris, except where noted.

Original UK release

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.^[32][33]

Iron Maiden

• Paul Di’Anno – lead vocals
• Steve Harris – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Dennis Stratton – guitar, backing vocals
• Dave Murray – guitar
• Clive Burr – drums

Technical personnel

• Will Malone – producer
• Martin Levan – engineer
• Derek Riggs – sleeve illustration
• Terry Walker – photography
• Yuka Fujii – photography
• Rod Smallwood – management