Although Metallica occupies the spot of the "Most Famous Metal Band," the title of the "Most Definitive Metal Band" rightfully belongs to Iron Maiden. Maiden's first five albums are among the most influential and definitive within the genre of classic metal, and their obsession with a gimmick monster named Eddie, appearing on every album cover, became metal's trademark symbol. Iron Maiden is responsible for three sub-genres in metal: progressive, power, and rebirth of classic heavy (NWOBHM). Great melodies, semi-intelligent lyrics, awesome guitarwork, and many other factors (excluding the "X-Factor") contributed to their importance. I respect them for all of the above, plus the fact they were one of the few 80s metal bands that didn't care about the number of girls in the audience. There are only two original members remaining: Dave Murray (guitar) and the band's backbone, Steve Harris (bass, songs). Maiden's original vocalist, Paul Dianno, left in 1981, after appearing on "Iron Maiden" (1980) and "Killers" (1981), and quickly faded to black. He was replaced by the "air-raid siren," Bruce Dickinson, and the band entered its golden age, featuring Harris, Murray, Adrian Smith (guitar), and Nicko McBrain (drums, joined in 1983). It started with "The Number Of The Beast" (1982), considered by many to be best album of all time. The follow-ups, "Piece Of Mind" (1983) and "Powerslave" (1984), cemented their position of the metal leaders. Then Maiden strayed somewhat into the world of progressive metal, with albums "Somewhere In Time" (1986) and "Seventh Son Of The Seventh Son" (1988). In 1988 Smith quit and, after two more albums, in 1993, Dickinson followed suit, starting a solo career. Maiden hired new vocalist, Blaze Bailey, and released albums "X-Factor" (1995) and "Virtual XI" (1998), both of which received tremenous amounts of negativity. Dickinson also had his moments solo, but, even both acts combined, they didn't measure up to the classic Maiden. In the year 1999 both Dickinson and Smith returned to the band, joining Harris, Murray, guitarist Janick Gers, and McBrain, as a six-man unit. Blaze went solo. After a reunion tour, the band started recording again, releasing three albums, the last of which, "Matter Of Life & Death" (2006) saw the light earlier this year. Selling almost 50 million copies of their albums, Maiden will forever remain in the hearts of all metal lovers.
KILLERS (1981)
RATING: ***
BEST SONGS: "Wrathchild," "Purgatory," "Drifter"
IMHO, the most overhyped album of NWOBHM. No matter how many times I tried to listen to it, I can't find anything exceptional about it: substandard early 80s heavy metal. The production is lousy, music is average at best, Dianno is no Dickinson, and almost none of that catchiness that comes to mind when somebody yells out "Maiden!!" The only truly catchy track is the infamous "Wrathchild," but I dig Dickinson's singing on Live After Death a lot more. "Murder In The Rue Morgue" and title track are both OK (In Flames did a nifty death metal cover of "Rue Morgue"), but nothing to drool over. Towards the end of the album, "Purgatory" and "Drifter" are somewhat nice, but I would not put either next to the timeless classics of the Dickinson period. Now, I still think it's solid heavy metal (it's not like I gave it ** or **1/2 rating), but not on the Maiden level, which, admittedly, is very high. I'll pass.
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST (1982)
RATING: *****
BEST SONGS: "Children Of The Damned," "Run To The Hills," "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
You haven't heard metal until you've heard The Number Of The Beast. Or, should I say, "you haven't lived, until..." The album is among the most successful metal albums as well as among the best. Starting from the drum blast of "Invaders" and to the last fading moments of "Hallowed Be Thy Name," the whole thing is just packed with superb metal bliss. Fast tracks: scorching "Invaders" (about Saxons and Vikings), a would-be power metal "Prisoner" (based on the TV-series), world-famous megahit "Run To The Hills" (about Indians; my first ever Maiden experience), and somewhat weaker "Gangland," are all butt-kicking monsters. Mid-tempo tracks: rock'n'blues "22 Acatia Avenue" (about Maiden's second, after Eddie, favorite character: Charlotte The Harlot) and another world-famous tune, the title track (inspired by certain satanic rituals and the movie "Omen II"; one of a few metal superhits I'm a little sick of). Slower tracks: "Children Of The Damned" (better live, but still emotional and rocking) and my favorite Maiden song, "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (talking about life, death, and everything in between). Dickinson has a few flaws, but he still is awesome, along with two-guitar attack by Murray and Adrian Smith, supreme drumming by Clive Burr and "everything else" by Harris (including songs themselves). I must have heard this album 500 times or more, but it just keeps getting better with each time. A masterpiece; what can I say? Nothing, just kneel before the Might of Maiden.
PIECE OF MIND (1983)
RATING: ****1/2
BEST SONGS: "Flight Of Icarus," "Die With Your Boots On," "The Trooper"
Featuring a new drummer, Nicko McBrain, Piece Of Mind does a surprisingly good job in attempt not to let down their fans after the greatness of The Number Of The Beast. Supreme songs like "Flight Of Icarus" (contains one of my favorite Maiden's lead breaks; re-tells the Greek myth with a touch of paranoia), "Die With Your Boots On" (which I was singing every time, heading to my physics exams; a great, great song, talking about lots of historic stuff), emotional "Revelations" (I like it better live), and every band's favorite song to cover, "The Trooper" (talking about the Crimean War of 1853-55), are all godlike, and nothing comes close. "Still Life" I also like a lot: it has a very nice groove in the beginning. The album, however, contains a couple of tracks that I don't care about as much. The opener, "Where Eagles Dare," I find a little weak, despite a great riff in the middle; "Quest For Fire" is dumb ("At the times, when dinosaurs walked the earth," off by a few hundred million years), although, again, it has a good lead break. Same goes for "Sun And Still" (something about a boy in Japan, but I never got into it) and for "To Tame A Land" (which Frank Herbert did not let them simply name "Dune"). I hated the book, and I hate songs about it. Plus, it's long and boring, perhaps the weakest in the long list of album-concluding epics by Maiden (keeping company to "Alexander The Great," but that one has at least decent music). But other songs make up for those little things to the full, and Piece Of Mind remains an important album in history of metal.
POWERSLAVE (1984)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Aces High," "2 Minutes To Midnight," "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner"
Same good and bad things with this album as with Piece Of Mind: some songs are beyond greatness, some are poor. "Aces High" (incredibly catchy song about WWII British aviation; Dickinson's voice is just flying) and "2 Minutes To Midnight" (one of the most recognizable and ass-kicking riffs; anti-war) belong in the Golden Book of Metal. Epic "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner," which is basically Cliff's Notes for the Eldridge's poem is also divine. "Back In The Village" and the title track, however, are just average. As for "Flash Of The Blade" (lyrics are very similar to "Sun And Steel") and "The Duelists" (music is very similar to "Where Eagles Dare"), I wish they wouldn't have been there. But the album is only 7 songs long (and one instrumental that I don't like either), so the choice of good tracks is very limited. Still good though, and "2 Minutes To Midnight" is enough to make any album good.
LIVE AFTER DEATH (1985)
RATING: *****
BEST SONGS: "The Trooper," "Children Of The Damned," "Die With Your Boots On"
One of the best live albums ever released, this album contains almost every good song by Maiden, with nearly equal share by albums. It was recorded during the "World Slavery Tour," and the guys are just ripping it. Just the listing of the tracks should send shivers down everyone's spine, and they are all very well performed. Some of the songs I even like better here than in studio, which is a rarity for me: "The Trooper," "Revelation," "Children Of The Damned" (this track just kicks butt) and songs from Paul Dianno years, especially "Wrathchild" and "Phantom Of The Opera." Although "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is often said to be better live than in studio, I hold the opposite opinion. Only a couple of songs I don't like as much: "Run To The Hills" (Bruce could never quite repeat that "run for your li-i-i-i-ves") and "22 Acatia Avenue." This was the first Maiden album I got, and was a fan ever since.
SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1986)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Caught Somewhere In Time," "Wasted Years," "Heaven Can Wait"
Maiden decides to invent progressive metal: they take Dio's keyboards and mix in with their former selves. The resulting feelings are also mixed. If you are buying the casette, you might find amusing that all best and worst songs are on Side A. Side B is merely average, from "Loneliness Of A Long Distance Runner" to "Alexander The Great." Regarding "LOALDR": I love songs about sports when they are well done, but this song A) doesn't have the tempo of a track run and B) is lame. Regarding "Stranger In A Strange Land": a good rocker, but breaks the mood a couple of times, when Smith does slow solos. "Deja Vu": the music is catchy, but the most horrible lyrics of the classic Maiden period. "Alexander The Great": Harris wanted to create another "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner," but this epic song just doesn't live up to it. It has great riffs here and there, but the overall feeling isn't there. Now for the A side: "Caught in the title track" and "Wasted Years" are both splendid prog metal pieces, especially the latter one: it's just great, and Smith surpasses himself. Some people, of course, dismiss this tune as "commercial," but some people always think melodic stuff is commercial, so nothing can be done there (btw, I have a very cool acoustic cover of this song, done by Angra). "Sea Of Madness" is a sea of boredom, and the rhyme "sadness - madness" should be universally banned. "Heaven Can Wait" has a catchy chorus and a great vocal bridge. The best thing about this album is the cover. A real Maiden fan can look at it for hours. Great stuff.
SEVENTH SON OF THE SEVENTH SON (1988)
RATING: *****
BEST SONGS: "Can I Play With Madness," "The Evil That Men Do," "Clairvoyant"
Maiden keeps moving further in the direction of prog and creates this masterpiece. Musically, I see a lot of resemblance between this album and Rage For Order by Queensryche, although some people would surely disagree. I also know that most people who already hate my guts would want to kill me after I say it, but still I'm gonna say it: I don't like "Infinite Dreams." To me, it's plain and not very original. After three or four listens, I gave up, and now skip it nearly every time. But that's pretty much the only letdown. "Moonchild" is a great fast pseudo-Satanic song. "Can I Play With Madness" should be played to all middle-schoolers for educational purposes (and it's very catchy too, so they would not be bored). Btw, the story goes that this song almost never happened, because the boys simply could not match the verse to the chorus, until Adrian came with that bridge. "The Evil That Men Do," apparently has nothing to do with the movie, but rather is a great song about someone who has done something wrong to a woman and suffers because of it. It's a blast and contains one of the best guitar themes I have ever heard (again, Smith having his moment of ingenuity). The whole thing is a concept album, but not quite a rock opera, until the second half, where some resemblance of a plot is shown. A man with the "second sight" is born in the 8-minute long title track, he then makes a bunch of prophecies, which nobody believes ("The Prophecy," "Clairvoyant"), so he goes away, saying "Have a good sin" ("Only The Good Die Young"). All these songs freakin' rock. A great prog album.
FEAR OF THE DARK (1992)
RATING: ****1/2
BEST SONGS: "Be Quick Or Be Dead," "From Here To Eternity," title track
The most under-appreciated Iron Maiden album. Dickinson's voice and the whole sound of the band become "dirtier," but also more energetic. Scratch the weak fourth track, "Fear Is The Key," this is actually a rather solid album, and it has 12 songs on it, instead of 7-8, which is always good. Most of the songs are absolutely spectacular, and not just the ones listed above as "best." Melodic and powerful "Childhood's End" belongs to the category I call "folk metal": metal arrangements with folk music influences (Skyclad, Blind Guardian). I absolutely adore this song: the lead break gives me goose bumps, and Dickinson is oh so emotional there. A rare Maiden love song, "Wasting Love," is just OK (the video was made by Samuel Bayer, who gave us "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" by Garbage, and "Until It Sleeps" by Metallica). Songs like "Chains Of Misery," "The Apparition," and "Weekend Warrior" all have their grooves (especially the first one). Now for the great moments. I already mentioned "Childhood's End." "Be Quick Or Be Dead" is speed metal to perfection, very Priest-like (and a great video too). "Judas Be My Guide" is more in the power metal category: fast and melodic, although the chorus isn't as strong as it could have been. The title track is a destined classic, with melody, dark grooves, awesome riffs, and catchiness. Finally, "From Here To Eternity," my favorite song from the album, I consider it to be Iron Maiden's Final Will. It is the final chapter in the Charlotte the Harlot history, where she meets Eddie and goes to hell. The main riff is tremendously catchy, and the second solo of the lead break is just indescribable. Janick Gers (a new guitarist and a songwriter, after Adrian Smith left) delivers the best performance I've heard of him. A great video too (Beavis and Butthead-approved). I must also mention that everybody's favorite "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" is IMHO among the most boring songs I've heard from Maiden. In one sentence: a very powerful album, and among the best metal albums of the early 90s (although, musically it still belongs in the previous decade). A must-have.
BEST OF THE BEAST (1996)
RATING: *****
BEST SONGS: contains just about every classic and then some.
This double CD set just about wraps the whole saga of the Mighty Maiden, up to year 1996. It has almost every classic from Maiden history present, from every album, going back in time from 1996 with a new, however average, song "Virus" (starts slow, than rises to mid-tempo) and back to 1979 and Soundhouse Tapes demos. Every Maiden fan already has all of these songs anyway, so it might only present an interest as a collector's item (a booklet is pretty nice), or, like myself, somebody who doesn't feel like buying X-Factor. There's one song from there that I really like, "Man On The Edge," and it nicely fits between other timeless masterpieces. Indeed, "a best of," and, for honesty's sake, I must mention that it's a 100 times better than Priest's Metal Works, because Maiden did not skip any of their masterpieces, while Priest omitted quite a few of them, replacing them with commercial garbage like "Wild Nights Hot And Crazy Days" and "Turbo Lover." I sound harsh for a Priest fan that I am, don't I? Oh well, can't fight it.
VIRTUAL XI (1998)
RATING: **
BEST SONGS: "Futureal," "Lightning Strikes Twice"
Now, let me get one thing straight. I do not think Bayley is a bad vocalist and actually like him. I just can't force myself to think of this band as of "Iron Maiden" anymore. He's got a pleasant lower register vocal, but the whole impression is just not the same. Now for the album itself. It's boring. Musically, Maiden stagnated. It sounds something like their previous famous works without their previous punch. "Futureal" is a decent fast song, and it could easily belong on, say, Somewhere In Time, but most of other material is basically poor reworks of their earlier stuff. Lyrics-wise, Harris doesn't have a whole lot to show for either. The whole album sounds like a collection of b-sides and tracks they left off Fear Of The Dark (songs like "The Clansman" and "Don't Look Into The Eyes Of The Strager" give that impression). A similar problem I have with modern Priest: my problem is not the new vocalist, but the material itself. Of course, the direction of the material is drastically different from Priest. In one word: pretty lame. Hopefully, return of Dickinson and Smith revives the aging body of once superb band.
SLAVE TO THE POWER: TRIBUTE TO IRON MAIDEN (1999)
RATING: ***
BEST SONGS: "Children Of The Damned, "The Evil That Men Do," "Alexander The Great"
It seems a decent Maiden tribute just can't be done! There's been about five of them, yet they all somehow fail to capture the essence of this essential metal band. This double album is no exception, although it does have quite a few decent tracks, but it is watered down by very mediocre performances. Many acts are unknown even to the hardcore metal fans (and I don't mean "hardcore" style). I traded it as soon as I got a chance. The following is the review of some of the more memorable tracks that I copied before getting rid of the CD. Meaning, these are the decent tracks. The rest is garbage.
Sebastian Bach & Friends "Children Of The Damned." I didn't know Sebastian Bach had friends, but that's beside the point. What can I say? Mr. Bach still has some pipes, and where he's lacking them, he makes up in attitude (that he possesses in abundance). A very decent job from the former Skid Row frontman. B+
Ray Alder & Cosmosquad "Murder In The Rue Morgue." When Alder is not playing out-of-this-world prog in Fates Warning, he is quite capable of rocking. This song is a testament to that. Too bad, I don't care that much for the original, but one thing's for sure: he beats Dianno hands tied. B
Holy Mother "The Trooper." One band that is yet to disappoint me in the covers. The only problem is: the original is hard to beat. B+
Ian Parry & Kamelot "The Flight Of Icarus." Dutch vocalist Ian Parry of Elegy and Floridian guitarist Thom Youngblood of Kamelot are old friends and played on Ian Parry's Consortium Project. This track is somehow not as great as I expected it to be. Parry basically sounds like he has a strep throat, with occasional squeals (the worst I've ever heard him sing), and that ruins the song. Even great guitar work from Youngblood doesn't make up for that. C+
Conquest "The Evil That Men Do." This classic has been slowed by about a factor of 3, yet it still manages to rock. Only now it's a slow rocking piece (though the tempo rises up a little by the last chorus) instead of a fast one. Good vocalist, but he sometimes sounds more like Blaze than like Dickinson. :) A-
Eleventh Hour "Alexandre The Great" and Error 7 "Stranger In The Strange Land." I'm unifying these two together, because the main person behind both projects is Pat Lachman, who later joined Halford. Both songs are played and recorded the way they would have been played and recorded by Maiden in 1999. Good work from every member of the projects (especially the producer) and B+ for both.
Iron Savior "Running Free." You know this is gotta be good. The only star-level act on this bill, tandem of Sielk and Hansen is every bit as good as it was expected to be. Granted, they do not leave the original completely unchanged (like they did to Priest covers), but the core melody stays the same and the simply do a ripping job on it. A
Tchort "The Number Of The Beast." At least some people in this band are Russian, even though the band is Toronto-based. This accounts for the fact that the famous spoken intro is in Russian. That's the only good part (for me) of the song. Everything else is practically unbearable. These guys are a lot closer to punk (and I don't mean it in the thrash-like or Motorhead-esque way). And the vocalist can't sing in key. Bad. C-
Fates Prophecy "Wasted Years." No idea who these guys are, but they deliver a solid performance. The production is almost as good as on the original (which proves that what was barely available for the top bands in the 80s is now widely used), and the vocalist is OK too. I like it and the Angra's acoustic version about the same. B+
John West & Chris Caffery "Run To The Hills." Starts with some weird drum solo. One vocalist that is almost as good as Dickinson is John West (formerly of Artension, currently in Royal Hunt), and he delivers a great performance. But what's with the riff? Choppy chords turn this classic into something rather weird. I think this is basic laziness: Chris Caffery (of Savatage, for those of you who don't know the first thing about metal scene) just didn't want to strain his wrist. Aside from that, it's good, and Chris is a very underrated lead guitarist. But, the riff? B
There you have it. These are just some of the better tracks. There were a bunch more: Electric Frankenstein delivering a totally emotionless "Invaders," Warhorse totally screwing up "Moonchild" (I think, can't remember), and so on and so forth. If you missed this release, I wouldn't worry too much. One great thing about it is the decent artwork, with themes from "Powerslave" and "Seventh Son."
BRAVE NEW WORLD (2000)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: "Ghost Of The Navigator," "Fallen Angel," "Out Of The Silent Planet"
As one friend of mine put it: "People expected a great album, but only got a good album." Well, it's true. This album is good enough for you to shout out "Maiden is back!" but not great enough to go apeshit about. The main problems are laid out as follows: are there really three guitarists in the band? Where? All these melodies, riffs, and solos could have been played by a sole axeman, so the whole "Omigod, Maiden now has three guitarists and will create something unthinkable" hype is wasted. The lyrics are below Maiden normal capabilities, they're OK, even pretty good sometimes (I like "Falling Angel" a lot), but constant repetition of sentences in choruses (how many times did Bruce repeat "Oh brave new world! In a brave new world" i don't know, cuz I keep losing the count). Also, many of the album's riffs sound really old, like the one from "The Wickerman" (Judas Priest "Running Wild," anyone?) and "Mercenary." Also, Maiden entered a dangerous path by deciding that all songs must be 6+ minutes. It made some songs, *ahem*, boring. Now, for the bright spots. Bruce never sounded better. He simply wails away, turning circles in the sky. Some songs are actually pretty darn good, like "The Ghost Of Navigator" (not quite "The Ancient Mariner," but close), aforementioned "Falling Angel" (the heaviest song on the album), "Out Of The Silent Planet" (second single) and a good song with a corny name "A Thin Line Between Love And Hate." First single, "The Wickerman," is pretty neat, and so is the title track. "Blood Brothers" is Harris's attempt to cross-breed country and Maiden epics, which I hate. The sound is resembling Maiden of 1988 with some Dream Theatre thrown in there. I guess Maiden keeps turning progressive, as they pretended that 1990 through 1998 didn't happen. M'kay... Still, a good album, though.
Almost three years later, I'm really having a hard time convincing myself to put this album into the player. And when I do, it's only to hear some very selected tracks. The staying power of this "comeback" is somewhere in the bottom quarter, especially with all those other great albums that came out after (and before) BNW. Till next time.
DANCE OF DEATH
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: "Rainmaker," "Paschendale," "Face In The Sand."
This is a logical continuation of BNW. Maiden has obviously become more comfortable with three guitars, and you can actually hear some sort of the ensemble and unison interplay between Smith, Murray, and Gers. But the main violin, of course, still belongs to Harris. The melodies are well-crafted, and this is possibly the most melodic Maiden album ever. Folkish melodies penetrate the album throughout, and they are quite cool, most noteably in the title track, which is, essentially, a very long folk song. Dickinson sounds fine, but he's been clearly given more words to sing than the vocal lines can hold, and quite often he is struggling to fit them all in, especially on "Montsegur" and "Journeyman." He is also straining more than he ever did to hit all those high notes, the problem that he never had on Accident or The Chemical Wedding. McBrain remains a solid (albeit very unininventive) basis for Maiden's sound. And the sound is fine too: Kevin Shirley fits Harris's vision for the band very well at this point. So what makes this album such a rare guest in my boombox? The reason is simple: WHERE IN HELL is all the fucking energy?? There is NONE! In their worst of moments, on No Prayer, X-Factor, and Virtual XI, there were at least a couple of songs with the bite, the crunch, and the grit! I'm not even going to recall "The Trooper" and all their other classic hits that made you jump out of your chair and throw your fist up high. This has GOT to be one of the most tame metal albums I've ever heard, and to me it's far from a good thing. Even when "kerrang" appears, it is quickly smoothed out by the guitar harmonies and sweet vocalizing (look at "Age Of Innocence," for example). Hell, even BNW had "Fallen Angel" and "Mercenary," which displayed some sort of attitude. Well, this album has so little of it, you can play it in the kindtergarden, without worrying about kids freaking out. Is this the Maiden that you want? Sure as hell ain't in my world! Yeah, Bruce is screaming out "No More Lies" 50 times in a row (another definite improvement over BNW is that the choruses do not get repeated ad nauseum, except in "No More Lies"). But the majority of this album can be played in a lounge. The rhymes are still atrocious, the lyrics are still silly (although at least some time has been spent on them, which is more than can be said about 75% of the metal bands out there). Now, like I said, none of the songs are actually "bad," except for that god-awful single, "Wildest Dreams," which is clearly the worst opener for the Maiden album EVER (I'm serious). All other tunes are quite listenable: "Rainmaker," said "No More Lies," "Montsegur," title track," "Age Of Innocence," etc. "Face In The Sand" reminds me of "Childhood's End": very cool folk melody in the verse. Basically, all tracks follow the same formula: folky harmonies in verses and mild rocking in the choruses OR mild rocking in verses and sweet folky choruses, except some tunes like "Journeyman," with folky (and waltzy) music throughout. It is sad to say this, but, as a "rocking band," Maiden has grown to be quite impotent. Not that you can get away with simply wanting to rock and no substance to support it with (look at Metallica's latest turd, for god's sake), but if there is no grit, you lose your relevance to the metal community that used to squeal with the mere mention of your name. Simply play "Dance Of Death" after "Run To The Hills," and see which one would people enjoy more. And it's NOT because "RTTH" people have been rocking out to for the last 20 years! After all, play "Man On The Edge" after "Sun And Steel," and you will get the opposite effect. Again, it's not that Dance Of Death is weak, it is not, but a cd with the "Iron Maiden" logo should not contain 60 minutes of mild melodic jamming. There is clearly a lot of "Maiden" here and very little "Iron." Another place where this album can be played is the dancing fair: many songs you can either waltz or jig to. Conclusion: this is not a bad album, and your non-metal friends with a shred of a sense for melody would appreciate it. But this is not the album you want to listen to when you want to headbang or even tap your foot. Bruce, when is your next solo release coming out?
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