Trollheart's Comprehensive Guide to Iron Maiden

[Trollheart]

I'm a huge Iron Maiden fan; first metal band I ever listened to and I've loved them ever since. It's predictable, I guess, for a guy who got into metal in the eighties to be a fan of Maiden, but there it is. I'm going to use this thread, then, to waffle on at length about my favourite metal band, and how I'm going to do that is as follows: I'm putting all my Maiden albums into a playlist and shuffling them, and as each track comes up in random order I'm going to write as much as I can about it. Some will be of course songs I know - and probably you know - very well, but others may not be so familiar. I'm not that well up on the albums after Brave New World, so it could be interesting.


But that, of course, is not all. I'm going to try to make this the one-stop-thread for anyone who's into, or interested in getting into, this all but genre-crossing band. Album reviews, specials, profiles, whatever I can cram in about Maiden I will. If you're a fan, this is the place to be. If you hate them, well, it's not.


Feel free to join in, laugh at me, write snide comments, whatever takes your fancy. I might add the solo albums later, though at the moment I'm concentrating on the rather large discography the band has created over nearly fifty years.


Back with whichever track comes up first later!

[Trollheart]

Track title: "Journeyman"
Album: Dance of Death
Year: 2003
Written by: Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith
Subject: Not entirely sure here to be honest
Type: Acoustic ballad
Length: 7:03
Familiar? A little but not much
Rating: 6/10

Now this is an interesting one to kick off with. Maiden's one and only (so far) acoustic song. They don't do many ballads, but this is the only one performed entirely on acoustic instruments, and it closes their thirteenth album, Dance of Death, which is, incidentally, where I stopped listening religiously to the band. I've heard this album a few times only, and nothing on it has ever particularly impressed me, but as this thread goes on and I get to hear and dissect more tracks from it, perhaps that will change.

As usual, Steve Harris's thick pulsating bass is heard prominently, even from the beginning of the song, and it has a nice kind of swaying, almost waltzy feel to it (sounds like there might be violin in there, but surely that would be keyboard? Don't think Maiden ever used violins) and Bruce is in fine voice on the song, not having to push himself as on classics like "Aces High", "Run to the Hills" or even "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Even acoustic, it's still unmistakably an Iron Maiden song: there's just something about their music that instantly identifies a song as being theirs. I suppose that can be viewed as a bad thing, too. Still, this one certainly steps away from their usual bombast and it's nice to hear them stretching and doing something new. It's also interesting that they kept it for the last track on the album, a surprise when you first play it.

[Comus]

Wait are you doing track by track? That's brutal considering the scope of the discography, although a very interesting idea as someone who mostly listens to albums from start to finish, with the exception of the past few years when I kind of fell out of love with music and just had a playlist of 600ish songs on shuffle. That said, there's very few Iron Maiden songs I chose to put on outside of the albums and I feel (at least for their good albums) that is where they are at their best. Cool idea, I will probably steal it for Billy Joel at some point.

When it comes to Journeyman I was actually pretty surprised that Iron Maiden had an acoustic song and I didn't remember it. Horrific (and I mean utterly horrific, especially for a band that has such cool covers usually) album cover aside I remember that I quite enjoyed Dance of Death when I heard it but the only song I can actually place when looking at the track list is the title track, it's clearly been too long since I listened through their stuff too.

Actually listening to the song made me realize i definitely recognize it. It's not bad, not great though and I definitely agree with your assessment.

[Trollheart]

No, didn't I explain in the OP? I've put all the albums into shuffle and I'm taking tracks at random. So it could be something off Killers, then Dance of Death, then Book of Souls, and so on. That way, I can probably be sure of getting not only tracks I know but ones I haven't heard very often, or maybe even at all.

[Trollheart]

Track title: "Can I Play With Madness?"
Album: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Year: 1988
Written by: Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith
Subject: Insanity and magic
Type: Fast rocker
Length: 3:30
Familiar? Yeah I know this one well
Rating: 7/10



Note: although most of you will know many of these songs, I'm going to write as if the reader does not. So if I go into too much detail about "Run to the Hills" or "Phantom of the Opera", just suck it.

Soooooo.......


If you're any kind of a fan of Maiden you know this song. It was the lead single from the concept album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and reached number three in the UK charts, making this one of the most commercially successful of Maiden's albums, with no less than four singles hitting the top ten. There's a real hammering feel about this, a juggernaut of a track with warnings about messing about with forces you can't understand. It's perhaps not unique (I'd have to check) but certainly unusual in being a song from Maiden that opens on an acapella vocal before the music pounds in, and indeed ends the same way. It's not, to be fair, my favourite off this album – I prefer  "Moonchild", "The Evil That Men Do" and "Only the Good Die Young" - but it certainly is a fan favourite, and probably inadvertently helped to give ol' Tipper Gore and her buddies lots more ammunition in their glorious fight against the corrupting influence of heavy metal, with  its allusions to madness, never mind the fact that the song specifically warns against dabbling in the black arts.

Something that this song has, that all Maiden songs up to about the Fear of the Dark era have, and don't really seem to have any more, is a real hook in the melody. It's a song you can sing easily, whereas (allowing my caveat in the OP, when I admitted I am not that familiar with the albums post-BNW) it seems the later ones don't. It could be because they became exponentially longer and more involved, more progressive metal really, became too intricate and involved, but something like "Can I Play With Madness" really puts the "play" into the title. A real fun song.

[Guybrush]

I've heard the song many times as, while I'm no dedicated fan, Iron Maiden hits came on regularly at our drinking parties some 20 years ago. For some reason, I've never seen the music video, so that was kinda fun. I liked the obvious nod or steal from Ghostbusters with Eddie being in the fridge.

[Trollheart]

As an example of how random shuffle can sometimes not be, two from the one album! And, uh, the only other Maiden song to open acapella. Is someone fucking with me up there?

Track title: "If Eternity Should Fail"
Album: The Book of Souls
Year: 2015
Written by: Bruce Dickinson
Subject: Uh, not sure. End of the world?
Type: Epic progger
Length: 8:28
Familiar? Not really
Rating: 4/10

See, this is what I was talking about in the previous entry. Can anyone sing this song? Does anyone even remember it? I bet, the fact that it kicks off the latest Maiden album* while running for nearly nine minutes (okay, eight and a half) probably turned a lot of headbangers off. It's not that I'm saying we metallers have short attention spans, it's just that ... that ... um ... where was I?  Well anyway, it's a pretty atmospheric intro to the opener of their first album in five years, and there are fucking FLUTES in it! Yeah, I know they're on Harris's keyboard, but still. It's not quite "Aces High" now is it? Talk about teasing. It's nearly two minutes into the track before the first proper guitar riffs kick in and the drums make their appearance, and that familiar Iron Maiden chug-a-long beat makes itself evident, and we can relax: this isn't a Dream Theater album after all! Phew!

The point I'm making is that this is nowhere near as immediate an impact as, well, just about any track that opens any of the classic albums. Hell, even Killers kicks bottom from the very first note. We shouldn't be waiting for Maiden to rock out, but we have to. Admittedly, once it gets going it's a decent song, but even now, I can't find a hook in it that will make me remember it, much less sing it. Is this down to Dickinson's solo writing? I don't think so: most of this album is a co-authored affair, and there's only this and the epic-beyond-epic "Empire of the Clouds" that are solo compositions by Bruce. Still, that one is a little hard to stay with too, so maybe. I don't know. At least this gets a kick up the arse in the fifth minute with some good ol' solos, but doesn't that riff sound familiar? Anyone recognise it? I don't think it's a Maiden song.

Anyway, I won't say it's a bad song by any means, but it just doesn't feel like the killer punch the first track on the new Maiden album should be delivering. Too long, takes too long to get going, not limp but not going for your throat so much as asking you to please move out of the way, if you wouldn't mind. I need more aggression from my Maiden, thanks. Oh, and it fades out on the last minute with some sort of mad vocal thing. What the blue jumping fuck, lads?

* At time of writing, duh

[Trollheart]

Track title: "The Man of Sorrows"
Album: The Book of Souls
Year: 2015
Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris
Subject: Fucked if I know
Type: Kind of mid-paced
Length: 6:28
Familiar? Not really
Rating: 4/10

Ah, so randomness brings us back to the same album as last time. There's something really odd about this track. On Bruce Dickinson's 1997 solo album, Accident of Birth there's a song he penned called "Man of Sorrows". This one only differs in the use of the definite article at the start, but it is a different song. It's written without any input from him, as you can see, and yet, you have to wonder why he didn't say, when Dave and Steve were coming up with a title, "Uh, guys? I have a song called "Man of Sorrows" on one of my albums. Given that mostly or only Maiden fans are going to have heard that, don't you think you should come up with another name for this track?" Maybe he did. Maybe they waved him down and told him to shut up and get back to writing "Empire of the Clouds". But it's weird, Or at least, I find it weird. Maybe nobody else does.

It kind of reminds me of "Strange World" from the debut when it starts. Not completely, but it just gives me that feeling, with the slow jangly guitar. It soon punches in as Nicko's drums set the pace, and it seems like it's going to be what I term a slow cruncher, but then it gains a little speed as the twin guitars kick in, however I couldn't really call this a typical Maiden rocker. At least, not yet: there are six-plus minutes of it. Nice little solo there as it comes near a close; not the sort of thing we've been used to with Maiden, but still nice to hear. Sort of an odd little ending though.

FYI, here's Bruce's "Man of Sorrows", just in case you're interested and want to compare the two.

[Trollheart]

Track title: "Rainmaker"
Album: Dance of Death
Year: 2003
Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris/Bruce Dickinson
Subject: Not a clue
Type: Fast rocker
Length: 3:48
Familiar? No
Rating: 6/10

A short, snappy song for once. As Maiden's career winds on it becomes harder to find shorter songs and it's nice to have one here that doesn't go through multiple changes or stretch out beyond endurance. "Rainmaker" also has that missed element in so many of Maiden's later songs, a singable chorus, a hook, and of course there's a nice solo in there too. The twin guitar sound Maiden became so famous for is evident here too, great harmony between the two guitars. I wouldn't say Bruce's voice is too overstressed on this, though there's plenty of energy in the song. To be honest, this could have been on Piece of Mind or Somewhere in Time; it almost stands out as an anachronism among the later Maiden tunes. Good stuff. Don't ask me what the fuck it's about though!

[Trollheart]

Track title: "Alexander the Great"
Album: Somewhere in Time
Year: 1986
Written by: Steve Harris
Subject: Um, Alexander the Great?
Type: Epic cruncher
Length: 8:38
Familiar? Yes, a little
Rating: 5/10

Again, Somewhere in Time, though I like it, is not one of my favourite Maiden albums. I feel it suffers from some very weak tracks, and this is one of them. This is not to say it's a bad album at all, but compare it to any of the previous ones and it's hard not to feel that the boys were beginning to slip slightly on this one. Well, it's hard for me not to feel that way. Fuck you: I don't care what you think. Odd enough for a proghead to admit, but I'm not really a fan of the long, epic Maiden songs, with the obvious exception. I just prefer their snappier, more immediate, more metal songs, in general. I find their epics, especially after Brave New World, seem to wander about a little aimlessly, and it makes it hard to remember them, for me anyway, and so harder to enjoy them.

One thing Harris has been very careful about through Maiden's career is to try to integrate his love of history into their music. Maiden don't tend to sing drinking songs, or songs about women (much), or riding motorcycles (all that often), and you'll find in their lyrics more references to battles, gods, historical figures and events than you will with most metal bands. This of course focuses on the Macedonian general whose empire had stretched across most of the known world by the time he was thirty years old. There's that long introduction we'll end up becoming used to in the future: almost two minutes of it, including a quote from King Philip II of Macedonia, and the intro sounds a little Powerslave-y to me. Anyway, once it gets going it's a decent rocker but I always felt it was a little stilted; some of the lyrics don't seem to scan very well and I find the ending a bit meh. Good buildup in the middle to a decent solo, but is there not too much of the main theme to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in the melody here? No? Fuck you, then.

[Trollheart]

Track title: "The Clansman"
Album: Virtual XI
Year: 1998
Written by: Steve Harris
Subject: Scottish warrior clans
Type: Fastish rocker
Length: 9:08
Familiar? A little
Rating: 4/10

Oh lordy! Only speak the name of the album and it shall appear on the playlist! Well, I don't hate Virtual XI (pronounced "Virtual Eleven", for the uninitiated) as much as I loathe The X Factor, but it's definitely second-last on my list of favourites, even Maiden albums I have only heard once, like The Final Frontier. One of the two from what I like to term "the wilderness years", when Bruce Dickinson had left the band to pursue a solo career, and would not return till the new millennium, I mentioned there was only one song I really liked on this album, and this ain't it. Another Steve Harris epic, it opens on a by-now familiar guitar riff (I think I can remember it first being used on "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" off Fear of the Dark, but again I'd have to check). It's about a ninety-second intro before the voice of the man who would replace Dickinson comes in, and to be fair, I've nothing against Blaze Bayley and he does a competent job. No, my contempt for these two albums has not as much to do with the absence of Bruce as it does with the terrible songwriting and the just general lack of effort on both.

It kicks up on the word "Freedom!" and we're off rocking, and yes, it does possess a hook, though whether you would feel inclined to sing it or not is another thing. Kind of a retread in some ways, lyrically if nothing else, of "The Trooper", but not really a terrible effort. Absolutely way too long though for the type of song it is, and you can hear them trying to stretch it out, even more so than my actual favourite – or I should say, only song I don't dislike – on this, "Angel and the Gambler". This album also suffered, I believe, as did The X Factor, from the loss of Adrian Smith, who was always such a perfect foil for Dave Murray. Janick Gers is a great guitarist, don't get me wrong, but I prefer the original team. And while he may be a decent vocalist, Bayley ain't got the presence or character of Bruce. Good refrain in the last three minutes or so, though it does go on for a little longer than necessary and then is filled out with the classic "Whoa-oh-oh-oh" chorus. Not the worst Maiden song by any means, but it can't hold a candle to any from the classic years.

[Trollheart]

Track title: "Running Free"
Album: Iron Maiden
Year: 1980
Written by: Steve Harris/Paul Di'Anno
Subject: Man on the run from the law
Type: Bouncy rocker
Length: 3:16
Familiar? Oh yes
Rating: 5/10

All the way back to the beginning we go, and the debut album, released forty years ago now, can you believe? Back then, Bruce Dickinson was singing with Samson and had no intention of, nor idea that he would be, joining Maiden, and the lead singer was a guy called Paul Di'Anno. You can hear the difference between him and Bruce here clearly; Di'Anno is much rougher, more raw and visceral in his singing. His style therefore suits the early Maiden music perfectly, when it was kind of a synthesis of punk and the emerging heavy metal with dashes of hard rock thrown in. Di'Anno tends usually to snarl the songs rather than sing them, and nowhere does he do this better than on the title track to the second album. But more of that when it comes up.

"Running Free" was, I believe, the first single from the band, and unsurprisingly it made little of a dent in the charts, though did better when re-released years later, presumably on the then growing fame of the band. Di'Anno says it was mostly autobiographical, and looks back to his time as a skinhead. The first thing you hear when the song begins are the bouncing drums of Clive Burr, who sadly passed away in 2013. It's quite a sparse song really, with the chorus really weak, although that could be due to the production. Harris's bass begins its desire to always be upfront in every Maiden song, as it has more or less remained to this day, Harris being one of the most conspicuous bassists since maybe Phil Lynott. There's good punchy guitar too, but Dave Murray is here partnered with Dennis Stratton, who would leave after this album, and there's just not quite the same spark about it, I feel. A decent song, and if I remember correctly, actually the very first Maiden song I ever heard, though at the time I hated it. I do have to admit, when he takes this on live onstage, Bruce can't seem to do the same justice to it that Paul does here. It's just more his type of song. It was a different time, a different style, almost a different band. Di'Anno would eventually be dismissed from the band and go on to form his own eponymous outfit. Maiden would survive his loss, though it shouldn't be ignored that he helped bring them to where they are today, in terms of getting them noticed.

[Trollheart]

All right, I said this was going to be the comprehensive guide to Iron Maiden, and while it's great fun looking at single tracks out of sequence, there's nothing terribly comprehensive about that, is there? So let's look into their albums, and where would we start but at their debut, released forty-three years ago this year!





Iron Maiden (1980)

In many ways, Iron Maiden were made both by the participation of, and departure from the band by their vocalist. This album and its followup, Killers, a year later, were fine albums, but there was a rawness about them and a certain something lacking, that seemed to prophesy that should things not change, Iron Maiden were going to go down as one of the bands of the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) who, though successful, would soon fade into the mists of its history, along with other bands like Raven, Xero, White Spirit and Trespass. Of course, that didn't happen, and they rose to, and retain, the position of megastars. But you can see from their debut that, though impressive enough for a young band, and showing the signs of being on the cusp of something truly remarkable, the weak link was holding them back, if that's not too mixed a metaphor.

The album starts off with that by-now-famous twin guitar attack but then vocalist Paul Di'Anno cuts in, and his voice is rough and gutteral, and though it kind of suits this album's rawness and menace, you couldn't really see him singing "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", could you? "Prowler" is a good opener, but not that special really, though it certainly demonstrates the versatility of the two guitarists, Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton, the latter soon to be replaced by Adrian Smith. Clive Burr on drums bashes out the rhythm with gusto, and as it ever would be, Steve Harris' bass is there to quietly keep command of the song.

A much more ambitious song, "Remember Tomorrow", penned, it has to be allowed, by Di'Anno and Harris, opens with moody bass and picked guitar, quite similar, it must be said, to the midsection of the much later "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" from "Powerslave". After a low-key intro, Di'Anno goes into overdrive on the vocal, the twin guitars building the tension and power before the song slides back down into what could fool those who don't know it as a ballad. Great use of the guitars on the verses, where many bands would have opted for piano or keyboards, which Maiden seldom used all through their long career. Towards the end the guitar work gets as frantic as Di'Anno's vocal histrionics, and the song ends powerfully and well.

Their very first chart single is next, but I personally consider "Running Free" as more filler material, and there are much better tracks on the album. It does have plenty of energy, great rolling drumbeats from Burr, and a nice little guitar solo, but it doesn't put too much of a strain on the attention, and I feel passes by without any real impression. Still, it was their first hit. It also marks the end of Di'Anno's contibution to the songwriting.  Far, far better is the now-classic "Phantom of the Opera", their longest song for some time, coming in at almost seven and a half minutes. It starts with that iconic guitar riff, then trundles away like a runaway train, and it must be admitted that Di'Anno does a sterling job on the vocal here.

The song goes through a few changes along the way, making it Maiden's first step into progressive metal: it's almost composed of movements, like a classical concerto. A great guitar solo from Dave Murray helps move the song along, then Harris' bass takes the second movement, as it were, joined by the guitars and drums, creating the instrumental section and taking it into what I would term the third movement, where both guitarists rock out with some more fine solos, one across the other in some excellent interplay. The fourth movement then comes when the song goes more or less back to its opening chord structure and Di'Anno comes back in on the vocals to finish proceedings.

It's without question the standout of the album, and would remain for many years one of Maiden's favourite tracks, both by the fans and the band. It's followed by one of their only instrumentals, "Transylvania", a rollicking, rocking guitarfest with powerful drumming from Clive Burr driving the melody on like a steamhammer. Even more rare in future years, up next is an Iron Maiden ballad! With restrained guitar and even soft vocals from Paul Di'Anno, "Strange World" runs almost seamlessly from the spooky, atmospheric ending of "Transylvania" and indeed seems like it might be another instrumental, as there's no singing for almost a minute and a half. Considering how good this track is, it's a pity Maiden opted to not have another ballad for another twelve years, but that was their choice. "Strange World", however, shows Harris could write a slow song as well as, if not better than, any other heavy metal songwriter.

The only song written by Dave Murray on the album is next, and though it's a little raw, "Charlotte the Harlot" would be revisited on 1982's The Number of the Beast. It's a fast rocker, with Di'Anno back at his supercharged best, Murray's own guitar growling through the song as if he wanted to stamp his total identity on his creation. Nice little slowdown about halfway through distinguishes it from tracks like "Prowler", "Running free" and the title track, which closes the album.

I know it's become a staple of the band, and indeed their signature song, but I find "Iron Maiden" a little too raw, somewhat bereft of musical ideas. A lot of the music on this album comes close to punk rock (punk metal?), mostly due to I think Di'Anno's vocal but also the hard, edgy guitar playing of Murray and Stratton, as well as the subject matter for the songs, mostly chosen by Harris. Also contributing to the punk feel of the album was the raw, muggy and as far as Maiden were concerned, totally unsatisfactory production of Will Malone, who after the debut never worked with the band again.

Iron Maiden would release one more album with Paul Di'Anno before firing him and replacing him with Samson's Bruce Dickinson, beginning a whole new era for the band and opening their music up to a much wider audience. From there on, Maiden would not look back, but had they stayed with Di'Anno, or indeed hired someone similar after he had been let go, would we in fact even recognise the name Iron Maiden today, or would they just be a small footnote in the book of Heavy Metal history?

Going on the strength of this debut, you'd have to say that the seeds of greatness were there, it just took a really great singer and a small change of direction to make them flower and bear fruit, but then you should never forget where you came from, and had this album not been recorded there would never have been an Iron Maiden, so we must be thankful and take the album on its merits.

I do think, though, it could have been a very close-run thing.

TRACK LISTING

1. Prowler
2. Remember Tomorrow
3. Running Free
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. Transylvania
6. Strange World
7. Charlotte the Harlot
8. Iron Maiden

[Trollheart]

Track title: "Infinite Dreams"
Album: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Year: 1988
Written by: Steve Harris
Subject: Dreams/Foretelling the future
Type: Hard to say: starts slow, picks up, epic rocker but a good headbanger too.
Length: 6:03
Familiar? Not that much, no
Rating: 7.8/10

Back to Seventh Son we go, and the second track on the album, one of three written by Harris solo. I'll probably get stick for this but who cares: I feel two of the three he writes solo are some of the weakest on the album, though the title track is pretty sweet. Still, when he teams up with the likes of Bruce and Adrian I feel that's when the really good tracks come through, like "Moonchild", "Only the Good Die Young" etc. Sometimes it seems Harris needs someone to keep a rein on his ideas, though having said that he is of course a wonderful songwriter, but in general I think he works better in collaboration with another writer.

This song sounds to me like it has a real "Powerslave" feel to it, got a real punch and I like the way it goes through some changes over its – to be fair – not too long run of just over six minutes. I love the way it speeds up in the middle with a big roar from Bruce, and though it does sound to me like they're recycling some guitar riffs and melodies here, it's a great guitar attack and a good finish, shades of "Revelations" from Piece of Mind. Cool.

[Trollheart]

Track title: "The Alchemist"
Album: The Final Frontier
Year: 2010
Written by: Janick Gers/Steve Harris/Bruce Dickinson
Subject: Gonna take a wild stab in the dark here and say it's about an alchemist?
Type: Fast rocker/headbanger
Length: 4:29
Familiar? Not at all
Rating: 4/10
This is one of those albums I know virtually nothing about. Like Dance of Death, A Matter of Life and Death and to an extent The Book of Souls, I've heard The Final Frontier just once I think, and even then I don't recall being terribly impressed by it. But maybe I was judging too harshly or hastily. Let's have a listen. Rocks along like a Maiden song of old, anyway; actually sounds a little familiar, so perhaps reusing those riffs again lads eh? Touch of "Aces High", "Two Minutes to Midnight" and other songs in there too. The guitars are smooth rather than biting, the ubiquitous solo is of course there, and yeah, they pack a lot into four and a half minutes. Still not overly impressed though, and I doubt I'll remember it by the time the next track has started.