Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, is a perennial fixture in the band's horror-influenced album cover art, as well as in live shows. Eddie was originally drawn by Derek Riggs but has had various incarnations by Melvyn Grant. Eddie is also featured in a first-person shooter video game - Ed Hunter - as well as numerous books, graphic comics and band-related merchandise.
Iron Maiden has achieved international fame with its distinctive style. Their blend of heavy metal, highly melodic riffs and intelligent lyrics has become instantly recognizable. The band is also renowned for their down-to-earth and genuine approach towards their music, their impressive and energetic stage shows and their openness and dedication towards their fans.
The band has headlined several major events in its career, notably Rock In Rio, Ozzfest alongside Black Sabbath, Donington's famous "Monsters of Rock", "Download" Festivals and the "Reading and Leeds Festivals.
Iron Maiden were ranked # 24 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock", and in Kerrang! magazine were ranked as the most important band of the last 25 years. They were ranked fourth on MTV's "Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All-Time". They also have one of the most iconic mascots in music history.
Smith brought a sharp, staccato sound to Iron Maiden. His tight, experimental style was the complete opposite of Murray's smooth, rapid take on blues. One of Iron Maiden's trademarks is the double "twin lead" harmonising guitar stylings of Murray and Smith, a style pioneered by Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy, and developed further by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
In 1981, Maiden released its second album, titled Killers. This new album contained many tracks that had been penned prior to the release of the debut album, but were considered surplus. Only two new tracks were written for the album; the title track "Killers" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue". However, the only track they still play at live shows is "Wrathchild".
Dickinson's debut with Iron Maiden was 1982's album The Number of the Beast, which is recognised as a classic of the heavy metal genre. This album was a world-wide success providing definitive songs such as "The Number of the Beast", " Run to the Hills " and "Hallowed Be Thy Name ". For the second time the band went on a world tour, visiting the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. The tour was marred (or perhaps promoted) by controversy coming from religious groups that claimed Iron Maiden was a Satanic group because of their dark lyrics, which supposedly spoke of Satan. The allegations centered around one song, "The Number of the Beast", a song ostensibly about a bad dream. The members of Iron Maiden tried to deflect this criticism by insisting that the lyrics were based on a dream of Steve Harris's, but the accusations persisted. A group of Christian activists destroyed the band's records (along with those of Ozzy Osbourne) by burning them in a large fire. This controversy, unfortunately, is thought to be one of the main causes of the stereotype that all heavy metal is Satanic. However, these accusations of Satanism were largely based on misinterpretation of the song, or fear of the aggressive, energetic nature of the music. Iron Maiden's current drummer, Nicko McBrain, is a born-again Christian, and is happy to play the song, which he sees as a warning against Satanism.
On the same tour, producer Martin Birch was involved in a car accident with a group of church-goers. Coincidentally, the bill for the repair came to £666, a figure which Birch refused to pay, instead opting for a higher amount.
Satanic accusations persisted - there was a lot of controversy about occult messages in many bands' music at the time, normally discovered by playing the offending track backwards. On the Piece of Mind album, a backward message was placed at the start of the track "Still Life" as a kind of internal joke. Reverse this track, and you will hear drummer McBrain clearly saying "Hmm, Hmmm, what ho sed de t'ing wid de t'ree bonce. Don't meddle wid t'ings you don't understand", followed by a belch. McBrain later admitted this to be his "famous" impression of Idi Amin Dada. It translates to the following: "'What ho,' said the monster with the three heads, 'don't meddle with things you don't understand.'"
Also on the Piece of Mind album, renowned author Frank Herbert came into conflict with the band when they wanted to record a song named after the book Dune. Not only did Herbert refuse to allow the song to be called "Dune", he also refused to allow a spoken quotation from the book to appear as the track's intro. Bass player Steve Harris's request was met with a stern reply from the agent: "No. Because Frank Herbert doesn't like rock bands, particularly heavy rock bands, and especially rock bands like Iron Maiden". This statement was backed up with a legal threat, and eventually the song was renamed "To Tame a Land" and released in 1983.
Powerslave was the fifth studio album by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 1984. It is notable for its Egyptian theme displayed in the album art. It contains a musical re-telling of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", which uses pieces of the original poem as lyrics, and is the longest song Iron Maiden have ever recorded. The album is also notable amongst the band's albums as being the first album to feature the same lineup as the previous one. As of 2006, this is the last of the band's albums to contain an instrumental track.
"2 Minutes to Midnight" and "Aces High" were released as singles.
The 1995 re-release contains a bonus disc, which contains the b-sides of the original singles.
On the 1998 remastered re-release, the songs "Back in the Village" and "Powerslave" were separated in the wrong place, with the intro of "Powerslave" accidentally being attached to the end of "Back in the Village".
The first 13 tracks (12 songs and the intro) were recorded at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California on March 14-17 1985. The last 5 songs were recorded earlier on the same tour, at the Hammersmith Odeon (now known as the Hammersmith Apollo) in London on October 8, 9, 10 and 12 1984. On the original double LP version, the songs from Long Beach are on the first three sides, whereas the songs recorded in London ("Wrathchild", "Children of the Damned", "22 Acacia Avenue", "Die With Your Boots On" and "Phantom of the Opera") were on side four.
The initial CD version (released in December, 1985) of this album includes everything that the first three sides of the LP version contain. The fourth side was not included on the original release, due to capacity problems. Also, "Running Free" is shortened from about 8:43 on vinyl to about 3:16 on the CD by eliminating the crowd interaction. The 1998 remastered re-release has the unedited version, and includes a second CD with the tracks that were previously missing. It should be noted that the 1995 re-release also has an extra CD, but that had the b-sides from the singles on it. Also, this re-release was not remastered.
The Live After Death video is also recorded at the Long Beach Arena, but on a different night. It contains a full gig, complete with intro and encore, and closes with "Sanctuary", which is neither on the CD nor the LP version of the album.
Live After Death is generally considered to be one of the top two live Iron Maiden albums (the other being Rock in Rio from 2002). Whilst the sound quality isn't up to that of Rock in Rio, the track list is very good, having some of the best pre-Powerslave songs – songs that are rarely played live during the present tours.
Two singles were released from Live After Death: "Running Free" and "Run to the Hills"
Most of the songs from Somewhere in Time have disappeared from the band's live shows throughout the years, though "Wasted Years" and "Heaven Can Wait" have been consistently performed. In addition, performances of "Heaven Can Wait" have always featured a group of local fans and celebrities invited onstage to sing along during the song's middle section.
Despite promises from Bruce Dickinson that the band would never use synthesisers, they were used for the first time on this album. Synth sounds for guitar and bass guitar were used. This was followed by actual keyboards in Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
For the first time, the band used keyboards on a recording (as opposed to guitar synths on the previous release). In the opinion of some critics, this produced a more accessible release. The band also headlined the annual Monsters of Rock Festival for the first time this year.
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, commonly abbreviated to "SSOASS", and was the last to feature guitarist Adrian Smith until the album Brave New World in 2000 (he did write a song that Bruce Dickinson finished for the next album, 'Hooks in You').
SSOASS remains one of the band's most popular albums. At least three of the album's songs ("Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", "The Prophecy" and "The Clairvoyant") can be directly related to a main lyrical storyline (apparently inspired by Orson Scott Card's novel Seventh Son). Several interpretations of the other songs allow everything to fit into this storyline, making this a concept album.
Stylistically SSOASS develops the sounds first heard on Somewhere In Time (1986), and continues the band's lyrical exploration of topics related to mysticism, power, and the occult. Much of the music on the album also follows the aesthetic of previous Iron Maiden albums by featuring dual lead guitars, Steve Harris's active bass lines, formally involved song structures (the title track in particular), and a crisp studio production quality.
With the departure of Smith following the lengthy world tour supporting the album, SSOASS marks the end of perhaps the second large chapter in Iron Maiden's musical history. Many of the musical and lyrical features prevalent on the albums The Number of the Beast through SSOASS disappeared as obvious musical markers on subsequent albums, and it is this 1982-1988 period in the band's history that stands as its "classic" period.
The album debuted at #1 in UK charts as well as #12 in the U.S, while the singles "Can I Play with Madness", "The Evil That Men Do", "The Clairvoyant (live)" and "Infinite Dreams (live)" reached #3, #5, #6 and #6 positions, respectively.
Before the release of No Prayer for the Dying, Bruce Dickinson officially launched a solo career alongside Iron Maiden, with Janick Gers as guitarist. Dickinson performed a solo tour in 1991 before returning to the studio with Iron Maiden for the album Fear of the Dark. Released in 1992, the album had several songs which were popular amongst fans, such as the title track and "Afraid to Shoot Strangers".
Despite being Maiden's third (and last as of 2006) number one charting album in the UK, fan reviews are fairly critical of this album. Many fans believe it lacks creativity and that Bruce Dickinson's voice was far weaker than in his past. The title track, however, became one of the band's most popular live numbers.
The title track, Fear Of The Dark was apparently inspired by Steve Harris's childhood fear. "From Here to Eternity" is often considered the fourth song in the Charlotte the Harlot saga.
The album cover is the first from Iron Maiden not to be designed by artist Derek Riggs. This caused controversy from long-time fans, as the artistic style had changed, and Eddie's now had a different appearance. He appears on the cover as part of a tree as opposed to normally being humanoid. In an interview with MTV, Bruce Dickinson said they had asked three different artists to design the cover, and they picked the best one. Melvyn Grant's illustration was chosen over the one Riggs submitted.
"Be Quick or Be Dead", "From Here to Eternity", "Wasting Love" and a live version of the title track were released as singles. Other tracks on the album include "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" and "Judas Be My Guide".
Former guitarist Adrian Smith joins the band on this version of "Running Free".
The 1998 reissue of this album has different artwork. Instead of the white cover with the logo, they put the original concert poster by Mark Wilkinson on the front cover. Also, the track list was spread out differently, to make room for a multimedia section on disc 2.
In 2000, a more progressive period began for the band when they released the 67 minute long album Brave New World. The songs were longer (with all but three of the ten tracks clocking in at over six minutes) and the lyrics spoke about both dark themes and social criticism. The band gained a new fan base when they began exploring the genre of progressive metal with their more classic sound, and the world tour that followed ended in January 2001 with a show at the famous Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, where Iron Maiden played to an impressive crowd of 250,000.
Standout tracks from this album include the title track "Brave New World", the single "The Wicker Man" and the 9 minute 20 second track "Dream Of Mirrors".
Generally regarded as the best live Iron Maiden album, any songs not from the Brave New World album had previously only included Dave Murray and either Janick Gers or Adrian Smith on guitars - this album features all three guitarists (previously the only Iron Maiden song to feature this 'extra guitar' treatment was a bonus version of "Wrathchild" on the Ed Hunter compilation). Most noteable change as a result of this is in The Trooper which features both guitarists performing the solo at the same time.
A live album entitled Death on the Road, which was part of the Dance Of Death tour, was released on August 30 2005, but the DVD version suffered a bit of delay and was released on the 6th of February 2006. The latter hit the DVD chart at no 1 in UK, Sweden, Italy and Greece and received acclaim from most UK rock magazines.
Standout tracks from the Dance Of Death album include "Paschendale", "Journeyman" and the title track, "Dance Of Death".
Iron Maiden toured the United States with a stint on the 10th anniversary Ozzfest tour, playing before Black Sabbath from July 15 through August 20, 2005. Several nights of the Ozzfest tour saw Iron Maiden headlining due to Ozzy Osbourne experiencing throat problems. Iron Maiden also played several "Off-Fest" dates headlining in places such as Quebec City, Toronto and Denver. During this tour, the band was added to the Hollywood Rockwalk.
The tour in support of the album will start on October 4th in Hartford (Connecticut). The North American Leg includes 8 US shows and 3 Canada shows. Then Maiden will move to Japan to play 5 gigs, the first of them on October 25th at the legendary Nippon Budokan and finally they'll start the European leg in Aalborg on November 9th. The European leg will end with 2 nights at London's Earls Court. Whilst Iron Maiden had announced as early as 2003 that they would be cutting back on the length of each tour, the forthcoming tour has been criticised for it missing out many areas usually visited by the band. In particular, the absence of any Eastern European dates (such as Poland, Czech Republic, Greece) despite a strong fan base existing there has been questioned. In addition other countries where Maiden traditionally are very successful (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) are host to only one or two gigs where usually in excess of five are played in each country respectively. Maiden have however announced extensive dates in the UK and Scandinavia, the latter possibly a reward for the area's staggering support for the band on previous tours. Most of the European shows are sold out several months before such as the Scandinavian shows and both nights in Milan.
Touring in South America and possibly Australia has still to be announced and it is expected to follow in early 2007.
Anticipating the release, the official website released two songs in streaming audio on August 10 and 11. The album entered the UK charts at #4 and entered the US charts at #9, while making their best debut in India at #4 and #2 in Canada. This was also the highest chart position any Hard Rock or Metal act has ever reached, let alone debuted in India. The new album made number #1 in Germany, Sweden, Italy, Finland, Greece, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland and Brazil.
* Iron Maiden is referenced prominently in the lyrics to the 2000 hit "Teenage Dirtbag" by American punk-pop group Wheatus. The song tells of a lonely, nerdy teenage boy who secretly yearns for a pretty female classmate, Noelle, while listening to Iron Maiden. Noelle later surprises him by declaring herself to be a "teenage dirtbag" too, and inviting him to join her at an Iron Maiden concert. Bruce Dickinson returned the favour by singing on Wheatus' third single "Wannabe Gangstar".
* The band is mentioned several times in episodes of Beavis and Butt-head. Songs featured include "The Prisoner", "From Here to Eternity", and "Running Free".
* In the film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) King Henry VIII demands that the duo be put in the Iron Maiden (referring to the medieval torture device), and Bill and Ted say "Iron Maiden?! Excellent!" and then play a few notes on the air guitar.
* The PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City features "2 Minutes To Midnight" as a song on the radio station "VROCK", the logo of which is also done using the same angular font used in the IRON MAIDEN logo (which has been used by the band since their first album).
* The multi-platform video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 features "The Number of the Beast" as a song on the game's soundtrack. The game also includes Eddie as an unlockable skater.
* The upcoming Nintendo Wii video game Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam will have "Different World" as a song on the game's soundtrack.
* The Nickelodeon TV show, "The Fairly Odd Parents," featured a villain called "the Iron Maiden" that fought briefly against Timmy's favorite super hero, "The Crimson Chin." It was made to look like a giant robotic maid. In order to help viewers understand the reference, the Crimson Chin taunts, "Your days of heavy metal terror are over, Iron Maiden!"
See The 'Best To Worst' List Of Every Iron Maiden Studio Album
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Last updated: November 1, 2006
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