As Bon Scott once wisely put it, it's a long (and very demanding) way to the top if you want to rock and roll. And Iron Maiden sure worked hard to get there, you can bet your ass on that. The relentless touring would take its toll on Doug Sampson, for instance, the disillusioned drummer concluding he simply wasn't fit enough to survive the vicissitudes of the never-ending road and quiting in late 1979 (with Clive Burr taking his place at the drumstool, as we all know). Much loved frontman Paul Di'Anno was destined to be the next casualty, but for an entirely different set of reasons. In fact, his substance abuse started to get on the way of the band's stage performance, to the point that some shows had to be cancelled (the singer getting as far as being arrested on at least one occasion) and many others getting done only after some strong effort to get the man onstage. One of the unwritten laws of rock and roll is that you can do whatever the hell you want to do and your money can buy, as long as you don't let your band down - and mainman Steve Harris, one of the most focused and committed-to-the-cause individuals you'll ever find in metal, would never take Di'Anno's antics lightly. The vocalist himself would later admit that the whole situation had a lot to do with self-sabotage, as he was tired of touring, insecure about his abilities and uncertain about the band's increasingly convoluted sound. Wherever the truth may lie, the writing was on the wall for Di'Anno, and both band and management were trying to figure out how to handle the situation by the time "Maiden Japan" mini-LP hit the shops in September 1981.
Curiously, the entire situation had a somewhat tragicomic effect on the album's package. The original front cover depicted mascot Eddie proudly holding Di'Anno's severed head - a tongue-in-cheek, seemingly innofensive joke at first, but that was sure to backfire as soon as people knew what was going on in Iron Maiden's camp. Well aware that making fun of a singer you're about to fire isn't exactly a wise move in the business, manager Rod Smallwood understandably panicked as soon as he had a test print on his hands, and comissioned a replacement cover at very short notice, this being the sword-wielding Eddie we're all used with. It wasn't enough to prevent the original cover to be used in seldom-seen Venezuelan and Brazilian editions, though, and if you happen to have one of such copies in your possession, rest assured that many people would love to buy it from you.
It wasn't the first time Iron Maiden released a live record, mind you: the "Live!! + One" EP came out in late 1980, but it was a Japanese-only release with little impact anywhere else (it would later receive a somewhat bizarre reissue in Greece, with songs from "Maiden Japan" added to the running order for whatever reason). Besides, the band opted to re-use its live cuts as B-sides for subsequent CD reissues, rather than keeping the original package as a product of its own, which is strong evidence that Iron Maiden themselves never deemed it very representative in the first place. Still, it makes sense to mention "Live!! + One" around here, as it shows just how interested in Maiden the Japanese market was from an early stage - even more so when you consider that "Maiden Japan" was a direct request from Toshiba, the label distributing EMI's releases in the country. The executives wanted a live album to sell, and the band finally relented to Toshiba's wishes, even though the timing of the original release can surely be called into question.
The production job is very competent, with a punch not at all dissimilar to the results we can hear on the studio recordings of "Killers" - in fact, the guitar tone is perhaps the heaviest you'll ever hear on a Maiden record, which is something of a feature in itself I guess. Paul Di'Anno's singing is very strong throughout, a force of nature really, and it's a joy to listen to Clive Burr's extraordinary performance on drums: I used to be in awe listening to what he does with the hi-hat during the studio version of "Innocent Exile", for instance, and it was quite a surprise to find out he could perfectly replicate that live, with a smooth flow that is no short of spellbinding once you pay attention to it. There’s nothing to complaint about when it comes to sound and performance really, the only downside being that it’s too damn short: you'll most probably enjoy every second of it, but it's going to be over way before it should if you ask me. Perhaps "Maiden Japan" could have become something of a classic, had it been taken more seriously for all those involved, but it is what is, you know: a nice mini-album to have on your collection if you're a strong Maiden fan (and/or if you love Paul Di'Anno), but not a landmark release by anyone's standards, and hardly a record you'll want to hear on a daily basis.
It wasn't meant to be a swansong for Paul Di'Anno's tenure with Maiden, but "Maiden Japan" came out less than a week after the singer's final performance with the band in Copenhagen, Denmark - and probably just a couple days before he was finally informed he was no longer a member of the band. A minority of fans will never accept Iron Maiden without Di'Anno, even to this day, but it's pretty obvious that it was the right move after all: little more than a month later, Bruce Dickinson was making his debut as the new frontman in Italy, and the rest, as they say, is history. And a pretty eventful one, as further reviews will hopefully be enough to demonstrate. Paul Di'Anno would do a little bit of everything in later years, from pop-rock-tinged solo efforts to very heavy albums with Battlezone and Killers (not to mention some embarassing moments like Gogmagog and the whole "The World's First Iron Man" series), as well as a seemingly never ending series of tours and re-recordings of old Maiden classics - but it was all too erratic and unfocused to leave any lasting mark in the business, something not at all helped by all the drama surrounding the man, from benefit fraud to getting involved with gang fights and everything you can imagine in between. By the time of writing, Paul Di'Anno is facing some serious health issues and trying to collect the money needed for a complicated knee surgery, and I wholeheartedly hope he can get through these difficult times and put his career back on full strength, whatever he feels like doing in the future. We all love you, Paul.
01. Running Free (Harris/Di'Anno) 2:48
02. Remember Tomorrow (Harris/Di'Anno) 5:27
03. Wrathchild (Harris) 2:52
04. Killers (Harris/Di'Anno) 4:39
05. Innocent Exile (Harris) 3:44
Have you been involved with any of the bands mentioned here? Have any extra info and/or corrections? Please e-mail me (drequon@gmail.com) and let me know!
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário