We recently wrote about the upcoming Record Store Day and its many exclusive releases. Today, Iron Maiden have released details about its contribution- a 12″ picture disc of “Empire of the Clouds.” If you’re not familar, here’s a little backstory of the longest song in Maiden’s discography. It’s based around the doomed flight of the R101 airship- and the vinyl itself will be packaged in a cover with the original newspaper reporting the crash. If that’s not epic enough, the B-side features an interview with Bruce Dickinson discussing the backstory and inspiration for writing the song. Here’s what Parlophone director of strategic marketing says about the piece
“After the success of The Book Of Souls last year and especially with the reaction to the double vinyl format I felt that a song like ‘Empire Of The Clouds’ needed to be immortalised in some way. It was never going to be a radio track/ single so after discussions with management we went down the let’s educate & commemorate a real tragedy that Bruce had chosen to portray in this amazing song. As usual with Maiden they turned the package into something special with unique commissioned artwork and the idea to license historic material from the Daily Mirror archives from 1930. The result is an incredible package that both vinyl collectors & Maiden fans will be keen to own.”
You can get a copy on Record Store Day, April 16.
