On 17 May this year, the frontman of the groundbreaking first two Iron Maiden albums should have celebrated his 67th birthday. Unfortunately, last October news reached the metal fraternity that the charismatic singer, Paul Di’Anno, had passed away at his home in Salisbury.
On 16th May, the compilation In Memory Of will be released, gathering a selection of the best songs that he recorded during his time at Metalville Records.
Ahead of that, and out now is ‘Soldier Of Fortune’, a cover of the Deep Purple Stormbringer classic where it’s said Di’Anno delivered “one of the strongest vocal performances of his long and varied career”.
Dianno’s version originally comes from the 2015 studio album The League Of Shadows, that he recorded with his former band Architects Of Chaoz and earned praise from fans and critics worldwide.
In addition, In Memory Of will contains two bonus tracks that have never been released in physical form before. ‘Je Suis Charlie’ is a track from Di’Anno’s Architects Of Chaoz band phase, that was only released digitally at the time. While ‘Killers’ is a live version from the Wacken Open Air Festival in 2015.
Previously unpublished photos will be contained in the booklet and the liner notes have been written exclusively for the album by internationally recognised Maiden biographer Matthias Mader, acting as special added value for fans.
It transpires, Paul Di’Anno was also always a person who, despite his own health problems, was concerned about the well-being of others and took a corresponding interest in their fate. To honour this in the spirit of the unforgotten artist, part of the proceeds from the sale of every CD and LP of In Memory Of will go to the charitable organisation Metality e.V.
Tracks featured on the album are: Solo track ‘Impaler (Live)’, from Architects Of Chaoz ‘Je Suis Charlie’ (Previously unreleased), ‘Switched Off (Released), solo tracks ‘The Beast Arises’ and ‘Marshall Lokjaw’ (Live), Architects Of Chaoz tracks ‘Rejected’, ‘You’ve Been Kissed By The Wings Of The Angel Of Death’, solo ‘Running Free (Live)’, Architects Of Chaoz ‘Apache Falls’, solo ‘Blitzkrieg Bob (Live)’ and Architects Of Chaoz with ‘Killers’ (Previously unreleased and live) and the new single ‘Soldier Of Fortune’.
