Iron Maiden

[Hanyou]

For the uninitiated, Iron Maiden is one of the most readily identifiable, influential metal bands in history. They rose to prominence in the 80's, and have continued to evolve and change their sound throughout their career.

If you're a fan, or if you're just curious about the band, this is the topic for you! Talk about your favorite albums, songs, etc.

Here's a popular example of their music, though it by no means encompasses the whole scope of what the band's written:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWlWZBDBJ5k

I'm making this topic primarily because their latest release, The Final Frontier, came out a couple days ago. I've been listening to it thoroughly, but I still haven't heard it for long enough to give a definitive opinion. I'll post in the thread when I'm ready.:)

For the record, my favorite album is probably Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and my favorite song is the Blaze era classic, The Clansman.

I'll contribute more later on, but as for the band itself, I love Iron Maiden. They're the reason I started listening to metal five years ago, and they got me out of the dead-end that was the pop-punk of my teenage years. I'm no musician, but I appreciate good music, and Iron Maiden offers that in spades. Their themes are always relevant, their musicianship is impeccable, and they have something a lot of bands lost in the 90's--they're fun!!! At the end of the day, they can craft everything from obnoxiously memorable, headbanging heavy metal tunes to some truly complex masterpieces that take several listens to enjoy. So, at the risk of being corny...

Up the irons!!!

[Link V]

ah iron maiden. probably one of the greatest metal bands of all time to exist. I think they have a new album coming out soon but its their last one :( .

[ThatzNOTmetaL]

I think they have a new album coming out soon but its their last one :( .


They never said it was the last album it just happens to be called The Final Frontier if you haven't listened to it yet I recommend you do cos its fantastic but then again I would say that because Maiden is my fave band ever lol I own all their studio albums and never all of their live albums
UP THE IRONS!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bigelover88]

Iron Maiden is a name known to all in the Metal scene and not only there but also in general. They are great and through the years they always have been a very important part in the music scene. Like it or not but their artwork on all the album covers is very good and their songs are not meaningless. I like them absolutely!
Flight of Icarus might be one of my most fav Maiden songs.

[Erebea]

Iron Maiden is a good band, but I don't listen to much of their songs. I like melodic stuff so this song is my favourite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J51LPlP-s9o
I really like this song. I don't know much about Metal history (Of course I know about Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc. But anything beyond that seemed unimportant to me.) but this is a good band.

[Tony]

Iron Maiden is the best band ever I got into it about two years ago my favorite songs are Hallowed be thy Name, Fear of the Dark, and Number of the Beast. Iron Maiden is a very different metal band, it can be very mellow (fortunes of War) or very high pace(the Trooper), or even start low and then get very high pace(Hallowed be thy Name, Fear of the Dark). It's got everything. To top it off they are very old and still rockin' the house.

[Bigelover88]

Iron Maiden will exist for 36 years this year. They have not only a great attitude but their music also sound timeless. And in concert they rock as usual. I really think they deserve much more recognition.

[Dou6le Rain6owz]

My favorite song is probably Rime of The Ancient Mariner. God that song is epic. Favorite album is probably Powerslave even though Number of the Beast is a close second


Own- Loz, Aol, Alttp, Oot, MM, Oos, WW, FSA, TP, and PH:clap:
Beaten- Oot, MM, Oos, WW, and TP:)

[Tony]

I see four different types of Iron Maiden and they all have to do with the lead vocalist. In the beginning there was Paul Di'Anno, at this point in time Iron Maiden was very new and on a distinguished road, Pauls era was the energetic, punch you in the face, fast paced, exciting Maiden. Then came the Bruce ****inson era, this is what most people consider the best Maiden, and I agree. ****inson's era brought such classics as Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, Hallowed be thy Name, and the Flight of Icarus (there you go Bigelover88). This Maiden was adventurous, more poetic, and probabely has the best songs in my opinion, this is when Iron Maiden became famous and had their longest tour World Slavery Tour which lasted 13 months and 193 shows. Now let's take a step to the creepy and mysterious side, Bruce ****inson and Adrian Smith left to do their own thing, so Iron Maiden got a new lead vocalist, a man by the name of Blaze Bayley. Blaze did his own thing with the vocals, this time the songs are more creepy, mysterious, and disturbing. At this time the band was at its lowest on the charts. After awhile Bruce ****inson, Adrian Smith, and a new guitarist Janick Gers came back. Janick had previously been working with Bruce on his solo career. This was the begining of the "New" Maiden as I call it with hit albums such as the recent the Final Frontier to the older Dance of Death. This is when Iron Maiden reclamed their fame (Bruce ****inson also got a haircut). Well, as you can see in the bands 36 years of existance they have been through ups and downs, aswell as four unique eras. As the band progresses you can definately tell that the vocals are getting pretty strained such as the recent "Mother of Mercy" so they are definately showing their age. As for the future, who knows what it holds, but what I do know is that Iron Maiden is one of the most inspirational, amazing, and spectacular bands there has ever been, and I hope they continue with at least one final good-bye album. Thanks Iron Maiden for amazing music.
Special thanks to Steve Harris for creating Maiden and writing many great songs.

[Bigelover88]

Well said Tony!! They have been a great band for so long now and I hope many people will enjoy them as much as we do ;)

[Tony]

Top Four Best Iron Maiden Albums

4. The Final Frontier
The latest album shows that Iron Maiden has truly grown through out their career. This also happens to be Iron Maiden's longest album to date, clocking at 76:32 minutes. The songs this time around were more complex sounding and had deeper themes than anyone expected. The Final Frontier feels like Seventh Son of a Seventh Son combined with Brave New World. Some tracks do show the bands age, for example Mother of Mercy seems to show that Bruce's vocals are getting a bit strange. The album also had a song that made it to the Grammy Awards, that song was El Dorado. The Final Frontier shows that Maiden isn't dead yet and that the best could still be waiting to be revealed.

3. Somewhere in Time
Somewhere in Time stands out as very well balanced and the introduction of synthesized guitars and bass. It was at a point where the band wanted to try something new, which is why some fans call the Somewhere in Time to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son section, the experimental period or something along those lines. It was also the first album to show a main theme. The main theme of this album was time and space. They never intended it to be a concept album, they basically said,"Let's write a whole album about time!". Bruce ****inson, the lead vocalist, had a small amount of writing credits because he was in the stage of burnout. Bruce wanted to go for a more acoustic album instead of a synthesized album. In the end this album turned out fantastically and is one of the best metal albums of all time. Although most of the songs except for Wasted Years and Heaven Can Wait are absent from most live performances, it still continues to be a fan favorite album.

2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden's only concept album and the last album in the experimentation period. The concept of this album was about the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son folklore in which the Seventh Son of the Seventh son has strange, paranormal abilities such as the ability to heal, second sight, and such. The main theme of this album is Heaven and Hell, good versus evil stuff. Lucifer wants the Seventh Son [the Clairvoyant] to be killed and God wants the Clairvoyant to go on through his life helping people. SSoaSS also shows that Bruce came out of his burnout and contributed a lot more with this album. Seventh Son explored more with the synthesized music by adding keyboards and adding some acoustic which Bruce ****inson wanted. This album is the foundation of Iron Maiden and used to appear to me as the best Iron Maiden until I explored more with the newer Maiden.

1. Brave New World
There is not a single bad track on Brave New World. Brave New World redeemed Iron Maiden after the radically different Blaze era albums. It showed that Maiden was still making amazing albums, despite their age. Brave New World explored a more emotional side of Iron Maiden. The titular track, Brave New World, is based of Aldous Huxley's novel by the same name and it explores the bad to society and all the bad things in the world, but the closing track, the Thin Line Between Love and Hate accepts that society is what it is and it also shows the good side the world. Tracks like Ghost of the Navigator and Dream of Mirrors also show a different side to Maiden, and in Ghost of the Navigator's case a light and dark side. Dream of Mirrors is about premonitions occurring in black and white and trying to decipher them, which reminded me of Somewhere in Time's Deja Vu. The only track that falls a bit short is the Fallen Angel which is quite short and a bit underwhelming. I would call this Iron Maiden at its best and I think that the lineup used for this album is the definitive one for any Maiden fan, because of the fact that Bruce ****inson and Adrian Smith returned and they kept Janick Gers. This is Iron Maiden at its best.