sanitysvoid1992

Why is a major recording like Maiden Japan out of print? I got a bid on Ebay
and it's gonna cost me like 35 bucks if i win it. Way too high but it's the
only maiden recording i was not able to switch out my tape for CD.

Why don't they re press this?

mike

maclen

That is a good question. Maiden Japan is just one item that is out of
print which would be nice to have back in print. Maiden Japan was
released twice in the 90's; the first time was as part of the set The
First Ten Years set (the fourth disc I think? The one that had the
"Purgatory" artwork on one side and the Maiden Japan artwork on the
other), and the second time was in 1995 as part of the limited edition
bonus disc that came with Killers. The version you want to track down
is the one in the 1995 bonus disc release of Killers on Castle Records
(North America) because it's the only one that has "Wrathchild" in it.
I'm talking about the CD release of course.

There is an excellent, soundboard, full-show bootleg from that
Japanese tour under different names. My copy's called The Big Heat.

As far as why Sanctuary doesn't re-press this, and other releases,
really baffles me. On the one hand, I've been very critical of their
ridiculous marketing machine (Eddie dolls, licensing lunch boxes) that
naively or stupidly, desperately wants to win over the young crowd
while ignoring the fan base that made them millionaires in the first
place, and not going for obvious choices such as a DVD release of Live
After Death, Maiden England and the rest of their video catalogue. On
the other hand, us older-school fans are ocassionally thrown a bone (a
cool bone though) and get things like the Eddie box set and The
Soundhouse Tapes on CD. It seems to me that Sanctuary thinks is a
better investment in the long run to cater to the young crowd (which
they'll never win over by the way, in the sense that they won't ever
think of Maiden as "hip"), rather than making good money by cleaning
up and releasing at least some of their video catalogue, but by doing
so being considered an "old" band.

I would hope they followed the example of a band like Rush, who are
comfortable with their musical legacy and, while they put out new and
adventurous music, they don't forsake their core audience which is
made up of mostly older folk. These "older folk" are pretty happy
with the way the band handles things like their live shows, set lists
and releases (although they've yet to release a couple of old videos
on DVD, but it sounds like it's in the works), while the band members
are becoming millionaires over and over again.

Then again, Rod Smallwood is a pretty wealthy guy and I'm not, so what
do I know?

maclen

sanitysvoid1992

All I want is maiden japan with the original art work on the cover. Don't care
if it's a re issue or what. The maiden japan disk sold on ebay for $51.00 and I
did not come close to winning it.

I am still stuck with my tape version.

mike