The Soundhouse Tapes
was a critical element of Iron Maiden's future success, and was instrumental in eventually acquiring a record contract with EMI. It was released independently on the Rock Hard Records label, a name coined from a Rod Smallwood idea "If it ain't Rock Hard, it ain't worth a fuck." Neal Kay, the infamous Soundhouse D.J. composed the sleeve notes, which read as follows:
Every so often, one special band emerges from the mass of untried and unknown hopefuls which fill the streets of the rock world. Iron Maiden is just one such band, bringing with their emergence, a style of rock music, so hard, gritty and honest in its delivery that only success can justify their hard toil!
The tracks on this E.P. were the first ever recorded by the band and are the authentic unremixed cuts taken from the demo tape recorded at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge on December 30th 1978, and, subsequently presented to me in the Soundhouse a week later.
After one hearing it was obvious that Iron Maiden would become one of the leaders of present-day heavy metal, combining the sort of talent and hard drive that the music world must not ever ignore.
Neal Kay
Because only 5,000 copies of The Soundhouse Tapes were made, they have become the "Holy Grail" for Iron Maiden collectors. The 7" vinyl E.P. was only available through direct mail order, and were quickly sold out. Although several record companies placed orders for 20,000 copies each, the band decided to refuse, feeling that cashing in at that time would have destroyed the magic of The Soundhouse Tapes. Note that Dave Murray did all of the guitar tracks for The Soundhouse Tapes, as the band was experiencing problems finding a second guitarist that could match Dave's abilities.
Due to the extreme rarity of this record, there are quite a few bootleg versions floating around and Maiden collectors should take extreme caution to make sure that they only purchase an original.
Every so often, one special band emerges from the mass of untried and unknown hopefuls which fill the streets of the rock world. Iron Maiden is just one such band, bringing with their emergence, a style of rock music, so hard, gritty and honest in its delivery that only success can justify their hard toil!
The tracks on this E.P. were the first ever recorded by the band and are the authentic unremixed cuts taken from the demo tape recorded at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge on December 30th 1978, and, subsequently presented to me in the Soundhouse a week later.
After one hearing it was obvious that Iron Maiden would become one of the leaders of present-day heavy metal, combining the sort of talent and hard drive that the music world must not ever ignore.
Neal Kay
Because only 5,000 copies of The Soundhouse Tapes were made, they have become the "Holy Grail" for Iron Maiden collectors. The 7" vinyl E.P. was only available through direct mail order, and were quickly sold out. Although several record companies placed orders for 20,000 copies each, the band decided to refuse, feeling that cashing in at that time would have destroyed the magic of The Soundhouse Tapes. Note that Dave Murray did all of the guitar tracks for The Soundhouse Tapes, as the band was experiencing problems finding a second guitarist that could match Dave's abilities.
Due to the extreme rarity of this record, there are quite a few bootleg versions floating around and Maiden collectors should take extreme caution to make sure that they only purchase an original.
Labels: iron maiden
posted by smetak1 at 9:51 PM
<< Home