Recorded: 1982
Tracks: Ides of March; Sanctuary; Purgatory; Wrathchild; Twilight Zone; Remember Tomorrow; Genghis Khan; Killers; Another Life (including a drum solo); Innocent Exile; Murders in the Rue Morgue; Phantom of the Opera; Iron Maiden; Transylvania; Guitar Solo; Drifter; Prowler
Best track: Killers or Purgatory
Track to skip: FFWD through the drum solo in Another Life – even though it’s Clive, it still goes on too long
First things first: this is not an official Iron Maiden release, this is a bootleg. I was sent it by my friend Brian as a birthday present, so I didn’t actually purchase this. In most circumstances I won’t go out and purchase a boot, but I’ll absolutely accept one. The most exciting thing about this particular disc is that it’s Bruce Dickinson singing ONLY Paul Di’Anno material. The date on the cover shows March 4, 1982 in Manchester, but that is not the actual date of the show. After doing some research, this show is actually from Bruce’s warm-up tour in Milan, Italy on 10/30/81 – the last few dates of the Killers tour. Once the band starting touring for The Number of the Beast, those songs were absolutely in the setlist so their absence puts this in the Killers tour.
The quality is decent, so sometimes it’s harder to understand Bruce when he’s talking. This disc was obviously dubbed from vinyl; occasionally I can hear the ‘pops’ and ‘scratches’ that you only get with vinyl. Quality aside, the band absolutely rocks on this material. The 4 instrumentalists (Steve Harris on bass, Clive Burr on drums, & Dave Murray and Adrian Smith on guitars) are extremely tight and very energetic. Bruce sounds kinda strange though. He wasn’t yet singing in his trademark ‘Air Raid Siren’ high-pitched style; instead he’s singing a lot deeper and at times sounds like Ronnie James Dio, kind of growling a bit. Regardless of how Bruce is sounding, the rest of the group sound fantastic. Hearing them at this early in their career, it’s no wonder they got as popular they did solely from the live shows. One thing that does annoy me is how they still play Sanctuary exactly like they did in 1982. Maiden definitely aren’t ones to change the way songs are played over the years.
OK, Bruce’s screams at the beginning of Killers are absolutely excellent. Wow. He honestly just rages on the entire track. Overall Bruce’s performance is good, but he’s not singing at the level we normally get from him on the albums and live material. I’m still in shock of how damn good the band sound, and this gets me very excited for the archival stuff coming out in a few weeks. The only reasons I don’t listen to this more is the quality of the disc itself and Bruce’s vocals. I’m sure we’ll get a better product with the release of the ’82 archival stuff. If you take away the sound quality, this is some damn good stuff. Even for someone who’s listened to Maiden for a long time, I’ve rarely heard the band play at this high a level. Don’t get me wrong, normally Iron Maiden are excellent live. This show they’re just better.
Rating: 86 (for sound quality only)
Write a comment