Iron Maiden, greatest metal band ever? Well for a while

buck65

Digging out the old Maiden tapes recently. One of the first bands I got into in the early 80s. Their was such a mystique about them, we used to go to the record shops and just stare at the sleeves during lunch break! They really had some great albums - Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Beast. Live after Death is still the greatest live album ever released in metal.
I felt that with 7th Son... they lost their way a bit and wasn't mad about it at the time but in retrospect it was a good album and drew a line under what was classic Maiden and what followed.
Went to see them in the Point on the No prayer tour but the gig was a washout. Some dicks were spitting at the band and they really lost all interest in the gig fairly quickly. Also No Prayer was not released yet so no-one knew any songs , interestingly Wolfsbane supported. They threw ina few classics at the end but poor overall.
I stopped buying their records at this stage and from what I have heard I haven't missed much? Maybe I'm wrong though.
What'd y'all reckon?

Testament1

Well i think later Maiden stuff still has some excellent stuff worth checkin out like Fear of the Dark has some good songs on it most notably the title track itself. I also would highly recommend Brave New World which was Bruces comeback album and in my opinion an absolute cracker of an album. The new stuff may not be to everyones taste though as theres a lot of slow tempo melodic stuff but its still worth a look i think.

waltersobchak

Testament1 wrote: »

Well i think later Maiden stuff still has some excellent stuff worth checkin out like Fear of the Dark has some good songs on it most notably the title track itself. I also would highly recommend Brave New World which was Bruces comeback album and in my opinion an absolute cracker of an album. The new stuff may not be to everyones taste though as theres a lot of slow tempo melodic stuff but its still worth a look i think.

absolutely.. brave new world is a gem of a album.. the 2 that followed are fairly average tho

yknaa

Reckon all of 'em are worth picking up especially as they can be had on the cheap in most shops. Dance of death and Brave new world being the best recent releases IMO. I like Virtual XI too but guess I am in the minority on that one!

Testament1

yknaa wrote: »

Reckon all of 'em are worth picking up especially as they can be had on the cheap in most shops. Dance of death and Brave new world being the best recent releases IMO. I like Virtual XI too but guess I am in the minority on that one!

ya theres some good stuff on Dance of Death alright (rainmaker, no more lies, age of innocence all stand out!) wouldnt be a big fan of Virtual XI but i do like some of the stuff on The X Factor album though i dont think Blaze Bayley carries the vocals all that well. But i've some of the stuff from that era in a live setting with Bruce on vocals and its a huge improvement. Not bashing Blaze or anything but Bruce was just able to carry those songs well in a live setting

Nephilim Wolf

waltersobchak wrote: »

absolutely.. brave new world is a gem of a album.. the 2 that followed are fairly average tho

I agree with you about Brave New World being a gem. I also agree with you that the following albums are average. If the next album is not that great, they should call it quits.

Kess73

The first seven Maiden studio albums were excellent, and throw in Live After Death for that period too.

Then came No Prayer For The Dying, which had a terrible production and generally had much weaker tracks on it, although it was good in a live setting.

Then came a jump up in quality again with Fear Of The Dark.

Next came the shi... I mean the Blaze years. Some good tracks on the Blaze albums, but I could never stop thinking "what would this sound like with Bruce?" when I listened to them.


Brave New World was the comeback for Bruce and Adrian and Maiden changed their sound to include three lead guitarists. BNW was a very good album, both in the studio and live.

Dance Of Death followed and was solid rather than stand out, and their last album was A Matter Of Life And Death, which saw a bit of a change in the Maiden style as it has proggy elements through it.


For a band that has been around so long, Maiden have a very good ratio in terms of good/great albums against bad/average ones, moreso than most bands that have been around as long as them.

peter1892

I'm biased, being a huge Maiden fan. But their 80's output - especially the first four albums, is excellent. And the 3 albums released in this decade are also excellent, I really liked the proggy influences coming through on '...life & death', 'Brave New World' was a real statement of intent, great songs & production, 'Dance of Death' still sounds energetic and vibrant.

The 90's...each of the 4 albums has it's moments, but NPFTD was weak & while Fear of The Dark had a couple of decent tracks it sounds like they were running out of ideas and maybe it would have benefitted from being 2 or 3 songs shorter.

The X Factor is a very dark album - again it has it's moments - Sign of the cross and Lord of the Flies are good tracks but I much prefer the versions of these tracks on the recent live albums where Bruce is singing them. It just didn't work with Blaze, although at the time I thought he was the right man for the job. Virtual XI is my least favourite Maiden album, poor stuff really.

I do know some people who would argue that they never actually bettered their debut album. I wouldn't go that far but it is an incredible record, despite the fact that the production wasn't too great (this was before Martin Birch worked with them).

I was at the gig here in 1990 when they got spat at. I saw them again in 93 in front of a very small crowd in the point, and again in 1996 at a less than full SFX (in fairness even AC/DC were having trouble selling tickets back then). But two more gigs since then in 2006 and particularly their show at the RDS in 2005 were just brilliant. And yes, bringing Bruce back was the right thing to do but more importantly it brought Adrian back to the fold - and with him on board their songwriting is just better.

Kess73

peter1892 wrote: »

I'm biased, being a huge Maiden fan. But their 80's output - especially the first four albums, is excellent. And the 3 albums released in this decade are also excellent, I really liked the proggy influences coming through on '...life & death', 'Brave New World' was a real statement of intent, great songs & production, 'Dance of Death' still sounds energetic and vibrant.

The 90's...each of the 4 albums has it's moments, but NPFTD was weak & while Fear of The Dark had a couple of decent tracks it sounds like they were running out of ideas and maybe it would have benefitted from being 2 or 3 songs shorter.

The X Factor is a very dark album - again it has it's moments - Sign of the cross and Lord of the Flies are good tracks but I much prefer the versions of these tracks on the recent live albums where Bruce is singing them. It just didn't work with Blaze, although at the time I thought he was the right man for the job. Virtual XI is my least favourite Maiden album, poor stuff really.

I do know some people who would argue that they never actually bettered their debut album. I wouldn't go that far but it is an incredible record, despite the fact that the production wasn't too great (this was before Martin Birch worked with them).

I was at the gig here in 1990 when they got spat at. I saw them again in 93 in front of a very small crowd in the point, and again in 1996 at a less than full SFX (in fairness even AC/DC were having trouble selling tickets back then). But two more gigs since then in 2006 and particularly their show at the RDS in 2005 were just brilliant. And yes, bringing Bruce back was the right thing to do but more importantly it brought Adrian back to the fold - and with him on board their songwriting is just better.

100% agree on that. Adrian brought a great balance back to Maiden's sound, and the three guitars creates a great layared effect on the older tracks when played live.


You mention that the first album is lauded by many as their best, I would also disagree with that, it is hard to pick their best album as my own personal favourite tends to vary, but the second album, Killers, really sounds good today and so many bands in the early 90's have taken elements of that album and used it.

Kess73

Not to create another Metallica versus.... type debate, but someone commented on one of the metallica threads of late about how most bands start to make lesser albums/ change their sound once they hit a certain age, Maiden defo have not followed that trend as it took them until their eight studio album to make a weak album, and have never made an outright terrible album, although Virtual XI ( their 11th studio album) must rank as their worst.

rednik

When I bought the first album I thought it was one of the best debut albums ever and I still do. After Paul Dianno left I never really followed what they did with Bruce but I did see them in the Point when I worked there and it was a dreadful gig, I think it was around 1990.

smooch71

buck65 wrote: »

Digging out the old Maiden tapes recently. One of the first bands I got into in the early 80s. Their was such a mystique about them, we used to go to the record shops and just stare at the sleeves during lunch break! They really had some great albums - Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Beast. Live after Death is still the greatest live album ever released in metal.
I felt that with 7th Son... they lost their way a bit and wasn't mad about it at the time but in retrospect it was a good album and drew a line under what was classic Maiden and what followed.
Went to see them in the Point on the No prayer tour but the gig was a washout. Some dicks were spitting at the band and they really lost all interest in the gig fairly quickly. Also No Prayer was not released yet so no-one knew any songs , interestingly Wolfsbane supported. They threw ina few classics at the end but poor overall.
I stopped buying their records at this stage and from what I have heard I haven't missed much? Maybe I'm wrong though.
What'd y'all reckon?

I could have written that post word for word myself.

I was at that gig too and I remember people spitting at the stage was a major problem in Ireland back then.

Live After Death was the first Maiden album I bought and went from there to buying their back catalogue to hear the studio versions of all the songs and became a big fan. Even buying the limited edition 12" singles collection and saving the tokens for the display box.

No prayer was the last album I bought but ironically (pardon the pun) I thought that with that album they had started to go back in the right direction. Away from all this concept album nonsense.

The reason I stopped buying Maiden albums was because I think I just grew out of them. Songs about spitfires and ancient Egypt are fine when you're 17 but the older I got the less appealing it seemed.

I still listen to Live After Death on the odd occasion on my Ipod coz it was the only album I bought on cd as well as vinyl and some of the lyrics are a bit cringeworthy. But it brings back great memories.

Dr. Feelgood

I agree with the TS, probably the greatest band ever.

MetalDawg

I gotta say that Seventh son of A Seventh Son and Somewhere in time are both underrated gems.

Nephilim Wolf

MetalDawg wrote: »

I gotta say that Seventh son of A Seventh Son and Somewhere in time are both underrated gems.

They are class albums, and two of my favourites.:D

Cathy666

MetalDawg wrote: »

I gotta say that Seventh son of A Seventh Son and Somewhere in time are both underrated gems.

Totally agree. SIT is one of my favourites.

SSOAS has a few songs that stand out in particular:
- Moonchild
- The Evil That Men Do
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- Infinite Dreams
- The Clairvoyant


Also, BNW is very under-rated too. Highlights (for me) being the following:
- The Wicker Man
- Blood Brothers
- Out Of The Silent Planet
- The Mercenary


I know their music is quite refined by today's standards for a heavy metal band. But, credit where credit's due, they're absolutely amazing. They're one of the most successful and influential heavy metal bands of all time. They've sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.
The Adrian Smith/Dave Murray combination, in my opinion, can't be topped by any band as far as guitar goes. Steve Harris is arguably the greatest bass player of all time. Nicko McBrain is an absolute legend on drums. As for Bruce Dickinson, the man is a God. His voice is unreal. His vocal range is second to none.

I was brought up listening to Iron Maiden. They're one of the few bands that I can listen to over and over again, without getting bored of listening to them. Up the Irons!

nyarlothothep

nah, but that my opinion. They tend to favour the 1-3-5 chord progression at little bit too much, many of the songs on no of beast are based around it, although it was very popular in the 80s. But they are excellent musicians and the sound quality/production on no of the beast is outstanding.

waltersobchak

Cathy666 wrote: »

Totally agree. SIT is one of my favourites.

SSOAS has a few songs that stand out in particular:
- Moonchild
- The Evil That Men Do
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- Infinite Dreams
- The Clairvoyant


Also, BNW is very under-rated too. Highlights (for me) being the following:
- The Wicker Man
- Blood Brothers
- Out Of The Silent Planet
- The Mercenary


I know their music is quite refined by today's standards for a heavy metal band. But, credit where credit's due, they're absolutely amazing. They're one of the most successful and influential heavy metal bands of all time. They've sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.
The Adrian Smith/Dave Murray combination, in my opinion, can't be topped by any band as far as guitar goes. Steve Harris is arguably the greatest bass player of all time. Nicko McBrain is an absolute legend on drums. As for Bruce Dickinson, the man is a God. His voice is unreal. His vocal range is second to none.

I was brought up listening to Iron Maiden. They're one of the few bands that I can listen to over and over again, without getting bored of listening to them. Up the Irons!

Yeah SSOAS is phenomenal, definately an underrated gem, but in my opinion the most underrated album in their catalog(other than by their fans obviously) is Powerslave, ****ing Masterpiece

zenmonk

I don't think Powerslave is underated. Itself, Piece of mind and Number of the Beast are generally considered essential Maiden.
Somewhere in Time though would certainly be one of the weakest of the "classic" Maiden line up though.
Sure there are some decent songs "wasted Years" and "Stranger" but really the majority of the album is weak IMHO

Huggles

Couldn't agree more. My favourite live band. I have seen them 5 times. Bloody awesome!

Cathy666 wrote: »

Totally agree. SIT is one of my favourites.

SSOAS has a few songs that stand out in particular:
- Moonchild
- The Evil That Men Do
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- Infinite Dreams
- The Clairvoyant


Also, BNW is very under-rated too. Highlights (for me) being the following:
- The Wicker Man
- Blood Brothers
- Out Of The Silent Planet
- The Mercenary


I know their music is quite refined by today's standards for a heavy metal band. But, credit where credit's due, they're absolutely amazing. They're one of the most successful and influential heavy metal bands of all time. They've sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.
The Adrian Smith/Dave Murray combination, in my opinion, can't be topped by any band as far as guitar goes. Steve Harris is arguably the greatest bass player of all time. Nicko McBrain is an absolute legend on drums. As for Bruce Dickinson, the man is a God. His voice is unreal. His vocal range is second to none.

I was brought up listening to Iron Maiden. They're one of the few bands that I can listen to over and over again, without getting bored of listening to them. Up the Irons!

Kess73

Maiden will always be one of my favourite bands.

My first ever LP was The Number Of The Beast. I got it on my ninth birthday in 1982, and I still have the same LP to this day. That started a lifelong love of the band for me.

GrizzlyMan

have being into Maiden for years and love all their albums, and was just listening to Brave New World last Night......and was that a come back album for bruce or what!! 10/10

leixman

smooch71 wrote: »

I could have written that post word for word myself.

I was at that gig too and I remember people spitting at the stage was a major problem in Ireland back then.

Live After Death was the first Maiden album I bought and went from there to buying their back catalogue to hear the studio versions of all the songs and became a big fan. Even buying the limited edition 12" singles collection and saving the tokens for the display box.

No prayer was the last album I bought but ironically (pardon the pun) I thought that with that album they had started to go back in the right direction. Away from all this concept album nonsense.

The reason I stopped buying Maiden albums was because I think I just grew out of them. Songs about spitfires and ancient Egypt are fine when you're 17 but the older I got the less appealing it seemed.

I still listen to Live After Death on the odd occasion on my Ipod coz it was the only album I bought on cd as well as vinyl and some of the lyrics are a bit cringeworthy. But it brings back great memories.

What was the story with people spitting at the stage back then in Ireland? I was only nine back then and is it true that maiden or some other band set the tricolour on fire at some gig or is that just ****etalk and lies?

noprayerforme

i have to say i think your completely wrong. i have every maiden album and with the exception of xfactor and virtualXI i think there all classics and cant wait for the new one next year

Kess73

leixman wrote: »

What was the story with people spitting at the stage back then in Ireland? I was only nine back then and is it true that maiden or some other band set the tricolour on fire at some gig or is that just ****etalk and lies?

It was a BS rumour. Anthrax were another band who were spat on a few years before the No Prayer Maiden gig, and it was just non stop spitting until Anthrax walked off.

It was not an uncommon thing back then, and thankfully that disgusting habit is gone from Irish metal gigs now.

peter1892

Kess73 wrote: »

It was a BS rumour. Anthrax were another band who were spat on a few years before the No Prayer Maiden gig, and it was just non stop spitting until Anthrax walked off.

It was not an uncommon thing back then, and thankfully that disgusting habit is gone from Irish metal gigs now.

The spitting thing - I was at the Maiden gig in 1990 & the support act were basically encouraging it. The act in question? Wolfsbane - featuring future Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley.

They must have gotten a bit of a b*ll*cking because apparently the following night in Belfast they were telling people not to spit...

Demeyes

peter1892 wrote: »

The spitting thing - I was at the Maiden gig in 1990 & the support act were basically encouraging it. The act in question? Wolfsbane - featuring future Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley.

They must have gotten a bit of a b*ll*cking because apparently the following night in Belfast they were telling people not to spit...

One year in the point they got booed because they waved the British flag around for the Trooper, like they always do. They didn't do anything to the Irish flag that I've ever heard, but they did comment on the booing the next time they played in the RDS.

In my opinion the new Maiden stuff is still worth checking out. They released some fantastic material over the last 3 albums. It's hard to believe they haven't gotten terrible after so long. I can't wait to see them live again over the summer, I'm definately going to be hitting at least 1/2 gigs over the summer.

Hellrazer

smooch71 wrote: »

The reason I stopped buying Maiden albums was because I think I just grew out of them. Songs about spitfires and ancient Egypt are fine when you're 17 but the older I got the less appealing it seemed.

Blasphemy--You can never ever out grow Maiden.

Im 34 and still listen to every one of their first 7 studio and Live after death regularly.From their new stuff??Brave New World is probably my favourite.First 7--Definately Seventh Son or Somewhere in Time.

IMO I still think they have one more amazing studio album left in them before they hang up the spandex--Maybe even one to beat some of their earlier stuff.

RossFixxxed

Fear of the Dark
Wasted Years
Wasting Love
Run to the Hilllllsssssss, run for your liiieeeeiiieeeffffeeeeeeeeeeehhh!

Great great great!

I actually ended up in Nepal on a trip to Everest being asked to sing something and play guitar. Wasted Years accoustic it was. Great great song for travelling, welled up as I was doing it. Weirdly powerful yet catchy and cheesy!

r3nu4l

I loved everything up to and including SSOAS. After that I was unimpressed apart from Fear of the dark which was 'okay' imo.

However, the Blaze years were terrible imo. At first I thought it was because it just wasn't Bruce singing, however, I then realised how much I still loved the Paul Dianno albums so realised that in my view, Maiden had lost their way.

Then came Brave New World and I was delighted. It was a more mature Maiden but still with quite a 'Classic Maiden' sound.

Since then though, I've been very 'meh' regarding the newer works.

That said, I still think Maiden are an excellent band and have managed to maintain themselves in a way that Metallica simply haven't over the years!

Nephilim Wolf

r3nu4l wrote: »

I loved everything up to and including SSOAS. After that I was unimpressed apart from Fear of the dark which was 'okay' imo.

However, the Blaze years were terrible imo. At first I thought it was because it just wasn't Bruce singing, however, I then realised how much I still loved the Paul Dianno albums so realised that in my view, Maiden had lost their way.

Then came Brave New World and I was delighted. It was a more mature Maiden but still with quite a 'Classic Maiden' sound.

Since then though, I've been very 'meh' regarding the newer works.

That said, I still think Maiden are an excellent band and have managed to maintain themselves in a way that Metallica simply haven't over the years!

'Brave New World' was/is a class album, and to me it's the only great album that they did as a reunited band with Bruce and Adrian. I was very dissapointed with 'Dance of Death' apart from the rather good title track, but all the other songs were not to my liking. I was also quite dissapointed with 'A Matter of Life and Death' because of the lack of aggression and Steve's famouse galloping bass riffs.

I really miss the quality of class albums like 'Number of The Beast, Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son. I also think the Eddie artworks have taken a turn for the worse as well. For me Derek Riggs will never be beaten in terms of album and single covers. Eddie was actually the main reason why I got into Iron Maiden in first place when I seen the incredible art for the 'Somewhere in Time' album cover way back in 1991 when I discovered them.