(RockAndMetal.com) (10/29/04)

By Michael Bennett

LONDON, UK - A new 2-disc DVD "The History Of Iron Maiden - Part 1; The Early Days" is to be released during the third week of November, almost 25 years to the day since Heavy Metal legends IRON MAIDEN first signed with EMI Records.

The release is a unique collection of archive material packed onto 2 DVDs.

"The Early Days" covers the beginnings of the band's career from the struggle to get gigs in East End pubs through to becoming - within just 5 years - a band capable of headlining arenas anywhere around the world, and achieving it without any radio support to speak of at the time.

The new set isn't simply just a visual history of Iron Maiden, but more an intense and personal voyage of a remarkable group of individuals who shared one vision and worked hard to achieve that goal without making any compromises along the way.

"The Early Days" also demonstrates the band's unique relationship with their fans - the foundation for which was laid correctly back in the very beginning.

The first DVD contains nearly 2 hours of archived Iron Maiden live concert rarities that demonstrate the energy and power that propelled them to the forefront of the NWOBHM.

DVD #1 begins with the band's first-ever concert video, "Live At The Rainbow," which was produced by EMI back in 1980 shortly after Iron Maiden were signed, and was one of the first-ever VHS concert releases.

The video has not been widely available for some time, so fans can now see the band fronted by vocalist Paul Di'Anno, singing such classics as "Killers" and "Phantom Of the Opera."

The rest of the footage on DVD #1 consists of two shows, neither of which has ever been available in full.

"Beast Over Hammersmith" was filmed at the beginning of the "Beast On The Road" tour, that to many fans at the time was the first introduction to new singer Bruce Dickinson.

Songs like 'Hallowed be Thy Name' and 'Number Of The Beast' went on to become regular features in Iron Maiden's live repertoire since this concert was first recorded in 1982, and now, thanks to some modern "reconstructive work," fans can enjoy the highlights from this rare footage.

"Live At Dortmund" completes the first disc, a massive concert in Dortmund in December 1983, originally filmed for German TV with Maiden headlining a stellar Metal bill as part of their "World Piece Tour."

Originally the show was broadcast live across Europe, but has not been seen since until now.

Research into the footage shows that all the original film has since been destroyed, wwhich makes the show a rare piece of Iron Maiden history.

DVD #2 includes the feature length documentary "The Early Days," which boasts extensive interviews, photographs and historical detail.

Containing over 90 minutes of extraordinary interviews with the colorful cast of characters involved with Iron Maiden over this early period, "The Early Days" features current band members, a whole host of former band members, managers, agents, journalists, photographers, EMI Records executives past and present, crew, promoters and fans.

Each give their own perspective of the events and process that led up Iron Maiden's worldwide success, and the fun and hard work that was involved.

"The Early Days" chronicles the band's early struggles in the mid to late 1970s in London's East End, where the hardest thing was just keeping a line-up together for more than a couple of pub gigs, through the early successes of their eponymous debut album and "Killers," their first world tours, the colossal impact on the Rock and Metal world that was "The Number of the Beast," and through to the end of their first full headlining world tour, "Piece of Mind," in 1983.

A very honest, revealing and entertaining insight into just what it was like early on in the world of Eddie and Iron Maiden, "The Early Days" is also a guide book to the problems faced and attitude and talent needed to get a band off the ground and to the pinnacle of worldwide success - and then to keep it there.

Also included on Disk #2 is a 30-minute TV documentary by LWT shown in 1980 on the rise of Heavy Metal, which features Iron Maiden and footage of them performing at The Marquee Club in 1979, and an insight into the new breed of music fan that arose out of the ashes of the punk era.

Possibly one of the rarest items on "The Early Days" is a 45-minute home video performance at The Ruskin Arms in East London that was recorded by the band.

Containing footage that was originally feared lost forever, by complete chance a surviving copy was found in bassist Steve Harris's home, and the delicate tape was processed and is included in it's entirety.

With the exception of a very short clip used in "12 Wasted Years," the footage has only ever been seen by the band themselves.

Extras on DVD #2 include more rare TV appearances, like their first live performance on "Top Of The Pops," German TV's "Rock And Pop," and a special photo gallery revealing previously unpublished personal pictures taken by the band and crew.

There is also a thorough overview and detail of all of Iron Maiden's album artwork, tour programs and imagery both on tour and in studio releases, plus some "hidden" goodies.

"The Early Days" is the first of what will eventually become a series of DVDs to be released over the coming years by EMI Records.

Each release will extensively cover a period of Iron Maiden's career to become a collection of not only remastered footage, but also previously unavailable and unseen material taken directly from the band's own personal collections, along with extensive interviews.

Says Steve Harris: "We haven't had any of our original live videos available for some time so when we started looking at this project we thought, lets make each DVD a real document of not only the shows, but everything around that time."

"Everybody has been digging through the archives to make this the most complete it can possibly be, and I'm really proud of the end result."

"A lot of the footage we'd thought had been lost for good - like the home video of the Ruskin Arms gig. Both disks contain some real collectors stuff."

"For example, we filmed the first Hammersmith Odeon shows with Bruce, but because of various lighting issues we never felt that the footage was really good enough to use."

"It just never really captured the excitement of the show or the spectacle that it was. But by the time it was on film we could do nothing about it."

"However, with technology being what it is now, we've revisited and repaired some of the problems with the original masters to get it to a point where we can finally keep our fans happy by making it available."

"I have to say that I've really had a lot of fun recalling the early beginnings, and we've managed to interview just about everybody who was ever part of Maiden from the very first line up in 1975 through to the band that everyone knows now."

I found things I thought I had lost over the years, and sometimes the smallest thing can remind you of exactly why you started doing this in the first place and the struggle everyone went through."

"I think the fans are going to love this."

Plans are also currently being put together for Iron Maiden to play some festival and stadium dates next Summer and bring "The Early Days" back to life, with the band linking in the look and feel of their beginnings into the stage set, as well as performing some classic tracks that haven't been heard live for a very long time.

Dates will start to be announced in the near future.

Says Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood: "On reviewing all these great shows, it just reminded us all of the great songs that the band have in their repertoire."

"It's always difficult when touring a new album to include too many of the older songs, which the fans always ask for, as the band would end up playing for 4 or 5 hours!"

"The plan for next year is to recreate the power and energy and look of their early shows, and eventually continue this idea with each subsequent DVD release."

The next in the series will be the spectacular "Live After Death," which will cover the bands legendary four sold out shows at Long Beach Arena in 1984 through to the "Somewhere In Time" tour from 1987.

"The Early Days" DVD Complete Content Listing:

- Documentaries (115 min)
- The Early Years - 90 minute Feature Documentary
- 20th Century Box - Heavy Metal (1980) - 25 minute feature

"Live At The Rainbow - 1981" (35 minutes):

1. Ides Of March
2. Wrathchild
3. Killers
4. Remember Tomorrow
5. Transylvania
6. Phantom Of The Opera
7. Iron Maiden

"Live At Hammersmith 1982 - Beast On The Road" (45 minutes):

1. Murders In The Rue Morgue
2. Run To The Hills
3. Children Of The Damned
4. Number Of The Beast
5. 22 Acacia Avenue
6. Total Eclipse
7. The Prisoner
8. Hallowed Be Thy Name
9. Iron Maiden

"Live At Rock & Pop Festival 1983 - Dortmund" (35 minutes):

1. Sanctuary
2. The Trooper
3. Revelations
4. Flight Of Icarus
5. 22 Acacia Avenue
6. Number Of The Beast
7. Run To The Hills

"Live At The Ruskin Arms - 1980" (40 minutes):

1. Sanctuary
2. Wrathchild
3. Prowler
4. Remember Tomorrow
5. Running Free
6. Transylvania
7. Another Life
8. Phantom Of The Opera
9. Charlotte The Harlot

DVD Extras (40 minutes):

* Live on "Top Of The Pops" - 'Running Free' and 'Women In Uniform'

* Live on "Rock And Pop" on German TV - 'Running Free'

* Promo Videos for 'Women In Uniform,' 'Run To The Hills,' 'Number Of The Beast,' 'Flight Of Icarus' and 'The Trooper'

* Rare Photo Gallery featuring over 150 pictures and images.

* Full Tour Listings, Discography, Tour Programs and Artwork Galleries.

Copyright 2003-2008 Internet Music Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without requested permission.

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