Iron Maiden — Wrathchild

JUL 01 1980 · 12:00

Iron Maiden — Wrathchild (1980) Director: David G. Hillier Era: New Wave of British Heavy Metal / Digital Remaster Era (1980/2015) - Originally filmed live in 1980 at London's Rainbow Theatre, re-released in 2015 as part of the remastered Killers album campaign on YouTube; one of the earliest heavy metal videos ever broadcast on MTV. Exceptionally high. This 2015 Remaster upload preserves an unaltered archival record of one of the most historically important heavy metal music videos ever produced — a founding MTV artefact and NWOBHM performance document. Its value as a primary source for music history, media studies, and genre research is compounded by its unedited, single-shot upload format, which maintains full documentary integrity of the original 1980 Rainbow Theatre recording. Tier 1 designation warranted. Context: Wrathchild (2015 Remaster) is a digitally repackaged artefact of one of the most historically significant moments in heavy metal media history. The original footage was captured on 21 December 1980 at London's Rainbow Theatre — Iron Maiden's first professional video recording — and the Wrathchild and Iron Maiden cuts became among the very first heavy metal videos broadcast on MTV when the channel launched in August 1981. Written by bassist Steve Harris and performed by vocalist Paul Di'Anno (who was dismissed from the band later in 1981), the track encapsulates the raw, working-class aggression of the NWOBHM movement at its apex. The 2015 remaster campaign by Iron Maiden Holdings Ltd. / BMG brought this foundational footage to a new streaming and YouTube audience, contextualising it within the Killers album legacy while preserving its unedited documentary character. The near-zero motion score and single-shot upload structure confirm its archival, non-interventionist repackaging ethos. Director notes: The Wrathchild video derives from the Live at the Rainbow concert filming — a live show recorded on 21 December 1980 at the Rainbow Theatre in London, directed by David Hillier and produced by Alan More and Frank Mullen. The footage was released on VHS in 1981 as Iron Maiden's first official video release. The 'Wrathchild' and 'Iron Maiden' cuts from this recording famously received heavy rotation on MTV during the channel's first broadcast hours, making them among the first heavy metal videos ever aired on MTV. The 2015 Remaster upload (YouTube ID: Cgcm7OWQvg8) presents the footage as a single unedited take — confirmed by the 0 scene changes and 175.04s average shot length matching the full song duration — consistent with a direct VHS rip or archival digital transfer uploaded without additional editing for the Killers 2015 Remaster campaign under Iron Maiden Holdings Ltd. / BMG / Sanctuary Records.