A veritable mountain of unclaimed recording from the likes of AC/DC, Metallica, U2, and others are deteriorating and may be destroyed by Windmill Lane Recording Studios in Ireland, according to the Irish Times.

An early version of AC/DC’s album Thunderstruck as well as a Metallica recording with Marianne Faithful, and over 1,000 other demo tracks and film soundtracks are gathering dust at the studios.

The wealth of two-inch multitrack tapes, a technology that fell by the wayside with introduction of digital technology in studios everywhere, have decayed significantly over the years may not even be usable today.

Studio producer Tony Perry told the Irish Times of the tapes, “They've been there for nearly 20 years. We are expanding – we have a successful college as well with degrees in music production as well as commercial recording,” he explained. “We don't want to dispose of them.” 

More than anything, Perry wants his tapes to find a good home with the artists or recording companies that produced them.  He said, “They are not ours to sell and we would prefer for people to archive them.” The tapes could be digitized but that would a “hugely expensive” endeavor, according to the producer.

To find out more about the artists who recorded at Windmill Lane and about the rare recordings head to www.windmilllanerecording.com.