The Soundhouse Tapes

The Soundhouse Tapes is the first single (house) of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden . On December 31, 1978 the band recorded its first demo, entitled Space Ward, on top with 4 songs, namely 'Prowler', 'Invasion', 'Iron Maiden' and 'Strange World'. The first three songs were released independently on November 9, 1979 on vinyl (7 inch) under the title The Soundhouse Tapes. The single sold so well (over 5,000 copies in one week), the band was offered a recording contract for five albums from EMI Records . The title The Soundhouse Tapes refers to the The Sound House club, the heavy metal disco NWOBHM -pionier Neal Kay, where the band in its early period occurred frequently.

The Soundhouse Tapes single is a collector's item among Iron Maiden fans. An original is priceless. It is, after the worldwide success of the band, many times illegally by third parties as a bootleg pressed and the full original recordings of four tracks were officially re-released in 1996 on the vinyl version of the compilation Best of the Beast .

Numbers on the single 1979 [ edit ]

 * 1) "Iron Maiden" - 4:01
 * 2) "Invasion" - 3:07
 * 3) "Prowler" - 4:20

Band Members [ edit ]

 * Paul Di'Anno - vocals
 * Dave Murray - guitar
 * Steve Harris - bass guitar
 * Doug Sampson - drums