In 1995 the Iron Maiden catalogue was made available as special edition CDs.  These briefly available “special editions” didn’t really live up to expectations – each had a bonus disc containing a handful of b-sides that almost every Maiden fan already owned.  They were nice to have, especially for those missing a few items in their collections, but hardly special by any stretch.  In 2002, the albums were reissued as “definitive remasters”, this time without bonus discs and with an extra track inserted into the running order of the first three releases.  Hardly definitive – and to add insult to injury, the sound on these reissues (presumably okayed by Steve “Bomber” Harris) appeared compressed and not always sounding as good as any of the previous issues.

Given the popularity of Iron Maiden the world over (a band whom Henry Rollins once claimed “has fans in any country that has electricity”) and the live recordings made over the years, it’s odd they’ve never capitalised on the deluxe edition market and expanded their classic 80s albums to 2CD sets.  There have been box sets of oddities (such as ‘Eddie’s Archive’), sure, but nothing really affordable and off-the-shelf, as it were – nothing to tempt the fan into that extra, more casual purchase.

Quickly following Iron Maiden’s much-loved debut, 1981’s ‘Killers’ suffers from that “second album syndrome” whereby the record label were keen for new material as quickly as possible to keep up the momentum.  With this task ahead of them the band assembled their second release from a bulk of material that pre-dated the release of their previous long player.  Aside from being padded out with a couple of instrumentals, you’d hardly ever call ‘Killers’ a bad record, though; it contains ‘Prodigal Son’ – arguably one of the best songs dating from the earliest Maiden years –  for a start.  While from a studio perspective ‘Killers’ is outshone by the albums it sits between, from a live perspective the band were on top form at this stage…and it’s for that reason this would make an ideal deluxe release.

There are two sources of largely untapped live material from 1981.  The first set was recorded in Bremen, Germany for the prestigious Beat Club show, filmed for a TV broadcast.  Sadly, the footage from this show was not included on Maiden’s excellent ‘Early Years’ DVD.  It’s likely rights issues that caused this notable absence, thus preventing it from appearing in its rightful place alongside sets from the Ruskin Arms and London’s Rainbow Theatre.  Another show, recorded in Nagoya on 23^rd May during the band’s last visit to Japan with vocalist Paul Di’Anno, only surfaced as a four track EP in the UK (a five track EP in a few overseas territories).  On the night in question, the band played a storming full length show, but the rest is yet to appear in a professionally recorded format.  The following night in Tokyo, the show was recorded once again – 17 songs of which have circulated among fans in soundboard quality, but none of which have ever been issued officially.   The whole of this show – much like the earlier German show – is of releasable standard and yet it sits somewhere in a vault. These shows from early tours have such energy, enough to make you wish the Di’Anno era could have lasted a little longer.

Assuming we ignore any red tape and other issues, a fantastic ‘Killers’ deluxe edition could look something like this:

DISC ONE:
The Ides of March
Wrathchild
Murders In The Rue Morgue
Another Life
Genghis Khan
Innocent Exile
Killers
Prodigal Son
Purgatory
Drifter
Twilight Zone *
Ides of March (Live in Bremen) **
Prowler (Live in Bremen) **
Sanctuary (Live in Bremen) **
Phantom of the Opera (Live in Bremen) **
Iron Maiden (Live in Bremen) **
Wrathchild (Live in Bremen) **
Innocent Exile (Live in Bremen) **
Sanctuary (Live in Bremen) **
Another Life (Live in Bremen) **

*single; not included on original LP
**previously unreleased

DISC TWO (Live in Tokyo, 24^th May 1981)
Wrathchild
Purgatory
Sanctuary
Remember Tomorrow
Another Life / drum solo
Genghis Khan
Killers
Innocent Exile
Twilight Zone
Strange World
Murders In The Rue Morgue
Phantom of the Opera
Iron Maiden
Running Free
Transylvania / guitar solo
Drifter
I’ve Got The Fire

[all tracks on disc two previously unreleased]

DISC THREE (Live on Beat Club DVD) [32 mins]

[See ‘Live in Bremen’ tracks from disc one; all performances unreleased]