Iron Maiden – The Soundhouse Tapes – 38 Years old

The debut release by Iron Maiden, and one of their most sought after pressings.

Released on this day, 9th November back in 1979, features three early versions of songs taken from the demo tape recorded at Spaceward Studios on New Year’s Eve 1978.  The EP Features the three songs Prowler, Invasion and Iron Maiden, although more were recorded in the same session.

It is rumoured that there were only 5,000 copies pressed, but not everyone had a picture sleeve, and some came with a merchandise insert, depending on the condition of this rarity, this is now a valuable collectors item, and can sell for over £800.

There was also an official very rare and limited CD pressed in America, which was only available by sending off vouchers found inside the back catalogue reissue album series, this now also sells for a lot of money.

You really need to be careful when looking at this item as it has been heavily bootlegged. There is a lot of information on-line to help you out but one of the best places is this fan site.

The general details on how to find a genuine example:

The cover is made out of some sort of light, cardboard-like material, similar to that used on a regular 12″ or LP, much sturdier than simple paper, but not as heavy as pure cardboard.

The front is smooth, orange-coloured background with the name “Iron Maiden” on top, a picture of Steve Harris and Paul Di’Anno during a concert, and the title “The Sound house Tapes” below. All of these 3 items (logo, picture and album title) are aligned at the centre.

The back cover is comprised of an opening at the very top, flipback style with side flaps, a row of pictures at the top, text and song descriptions, and finally another row of pictures. The cutout at the top is one of the most important elements when distinguishing between a real and a fake.

The record itself was only pressed on black vinyl, so this is an obvious signs of a genuine item.  The labels are paper on the centre and of a darker tone orange/red than the cover, this is a fairly crucial detail, as many fakes exhibit the same colour on both the record & sleeve.

The most important element to see if you have a real or fake are the markings in the runout/dead wax. No fake (so far) has managed to get these correct.

In the run-off area, there are light markings that were handmade.
Side 1 bears ONE OF THESE markings:

Option 1: *EG* ………. SA ………. ROK – 1 – A ………. LYN 7627 – IT

Option 2: *EG* ………. SA ………. LYN 7627 – IT ………. ROK – 1 – A

Side 2 bears ONE OF THESE markings

Оптион 1: *EG* ………. SA ………. ROK – 1 – B ………. LYN 7628 – IT

Оптион 2: ROK – 1 – B……….LYN 7628 – IT……….*EG*……….SA

And there you have a quick guide, but for a more in depth look please check out this fan site.

All the images used above were taken from a genuine copy we sold a while ago.

Happy Birthday to this historic release, Up The Irons!

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