''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

. The title is a pun of

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

's live album '' Made in Japan''.

Release

There are at least two different versions of this EP; all tracks were recorded at the Aichi Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Chikusa-ku,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, Aichi, Japan on 23 May 1981. It was lead singer

Paul Di'Anno Paul Andrews (born 17 May 1958), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, is a British/Brazilian heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albu ...

's final recording with the band. The original Japanese pressing features only 4 tracks and the record speed is 45RPM, but the other version has 5 tracks. It was never the band's intention to release this album, but Toshiba-EMI wanted a live album.

Cover art

The original cover depicted the band's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

, holding the severed head of singer

. The replacement cover was done on very short notice after Iron Maiden's manager, Rod Smallwood, received a proof for review, and became agitated at Di'Anno's depiction because the band were looking to replace him. ''Maiden Japan'' was released in Venezuela in 1987 with the original cover and has become a collector's item.

Accolades

The Rolling Stone Italia named ''Maiden Japan'' EP as "The most important and the best metal's live EPs ever". Ultimate Classic Rock placed ''Maiden Japan'' on Top 40 Best 1981 Albums List. Maiden Japan EP went platinum in Canada and made it to the charts in many other countries around the world. In 1990, it was reissued for the last time as part of 20 maxi-singles collection spanning band's all official releases of 1980 - 1990 decade.

Track listing

Production and performance credits are adapted from the EP liner notes.

European and Japanese edition

International edition

Personnel

– lead vocals * Dave Murray – guitar *

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

– guitar, backing vocals * Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals * Clive Burr – drums

Production

* Doug Hall – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Hiro Ohno – photography *

Rod Smallwood Roderick Charles Smallwood (born 17 February 1950) is an English music manager, best known as the co-manager of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. With his business partner, Andy Taylor, whom he met while studying at Trinity College, Ca ...

– management, photography

Chart performance

Certifications

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maiden Japan 1981 EPs Live EPs Iron Maiden live albums Iron Maiden EPs 1981 live albums Live heavy metal albums