Maiden Japan

Maiden Japan, released as Heavy Metal Army in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album Made in Japan.

This article is about the Iron Maiden EP. For the Monday Michiru album, see Maiden Japan (album). For the anime licensing company, see Section23 Films.

Maiden Japan
EP by
Iron Maiden
Released14 September 1981 (1981-09-14)
Recorded23 May 1981
VenueAichi Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan, Nagoya, Japan
GenreHeavy metal
Length16:38
LabelEMI
Producer
  • Iron Maiden
  • Doug Hall
Iron Maiden EPs chronology
Live!! +one
(1980)		 Maiden Japan
(1981)		 No More Lies
(2004)
Alternative cover
Brazilian and Venezuelan alternate cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[2]

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, Aichi, Japan on 23 May 1981. It was lead singer Paul Di'Anno'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, Eddie, holding the severed head of singer Paul Di'Anno.[3] 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.

Track listing

Production and performance credits are adapted from the EP liner notes.[4][5]

European and Japanese edition

All tracks are written by Steve Harris and Paul Di'Anno, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Running Free"2:48
2."Remember Tomorrow"5:27
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."Killers" 4:39
4."Innocent Exile"Harris3:44
Total length:16:38

International edition
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Running Free"2:48
2."Remember Tomorrow"5:27
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."Wrathchild"Harris2:52
4."Killers" 4:39
5."Innocent Exile"Harris3:44
Total length:19:30

Personnel

Production

Chart performance
Title Chart (1981) Peak
position
"Maiden Japan" UK Singles Chart 43[6]
"Maiden Japan" Billboard 200 89[7]
Title Chart (1990) Peak
position
"Purgatory / Maiden Japan" UK Albums Chart[note 1] 5[8]

Notes
  1. Re-release of both titles as part of "The First Ten Years" box set. Exceeded the length limit of the UK Singles chart.

References
  1. Book, John. Iron Maiden – Maiden Japan at AllMusic. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  2. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  3. Popoff, Martin (2006). Run For Cover: The Art Of Derek Riggs. Aardvark Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 1-4276-0538-6.
  4. Maiden Japan (Media notes). Iron Maiden. EMI. 14 September 1981.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. Maiden Japan (Media notes). Iron Maiden. Harvest Records. 14 September 1981.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Iron Maiden- UK Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  7. "Billboard Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  8. "UK Albums Archive- 10 March 1990". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
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