I always love a good challenge and there’s nothing more challenging than listening to a band’s catalog in full and in order. Doing this Iron Maiden challenge was a lot of fun. Listening to these albums back to back and in order for the first time in years was such a great way to get reacquainted with one of my all time favorite bands. Like with the previous challenges, I found myself listening with a new set of ears and found myself appreciating and loving things that I didn’t at one time and finding things that I once thought was great that I didn’t find so now. This was such a huge undertaking that this is has been split up into two parts. This challenge does not include the umpteen million live albums they’ve put out. This is only for the studio albums. Sit back and enjoy my take on the Iron Maiden discography. The good, the bad and the downright awful. I look forward to hearing your opinions on this!
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Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden
Release Date: August 17, 1980
The Good: Prowler, Remember Tomorrow, Phantom of the Opera, Transylvania, Strange World, Charlotte The Harlot, Iron Maiden
The Bad:
The Indifferent: Running Free
In 1980, the Billboard charts were topped by acts like Captain and Tenille, Blondie, Olivia Newton-John and Billy Joel and that same year, a little band from England called Iron Maiden slid under the radar delivering their self titled debut album. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would’ve been like to hear this as a kid in 1980. In my opinion, one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Clocking in a whopping 40 minutes, to this day this album stands a highly influential masterpiece. The band is just so full of life and everything is there that Maiden would become famous for. From the gut vocals, harmony guitars and a pounding rhythm driven by Steve Harris’ unique and trademark bass playing. The instrumental “Transylvania” has always blown me away in the sense that they said so much musically in that song with no words.
Vocalist Paul DiAnno shines all over this album and really proved to be a powerhouse metal vocalist. “Remember Tomorrow” is to this day considered to be one of his greatest moments if not one of Iron Maiden’s greatest moments. It’s one of the few songs I still say that NO other Iron Maiden singer has been able to capture like he did. This album is raw sounding and without a doubt laid the foundation for what was to become an empire that would inspire and influence some of the biggest names in metal such as Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax. “Running Free” is the only track that I find myself being indifferent about. I never was a fan of this particular song and while it definitely doesn’t suck, I still don’t love it.
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Iron Maiden – Killers
Release Date: June 6, 1981
The Good: Ides of March, Wrathchild, Murders In The Rue Morgue, Another Life, Genghis Khan, Innocent Exile, Killers, Prodigal Son, Purgatory, Drifter
The Bad:
The Indifferent:
What a goddamn face melting follow up. For this album the production is bit more slick and is also the first album produced by Martin Burch. Burch really captured Maiden’s grit and attitude but offered a bit more finesse to make it sound huge. This sounds like a band that had been headlining arenas for years, not a tiny band still touring around in a van. Think of any band you can. Now think of their second album. Now remember that this is Maiden’s 2nd album. Exactly. You know just what I’m thinking don’t ya? These guys were untouchable.
Kings of the epic song intro, Maiden’s “Murders In The Rue Morgue” still get me to this day. The band ditched the jazzy old man Dennis Stratton and recruited former Urchin guitarist/singer Adrian Smith and this is where the band came to life. The guitar playing between Smith and Dave Murray is the sound that would forge everything Iron Maiden would represent from here on out. The songwriting had matured a bit at this point and DiAnno was still sounding like a force to be reckoned with. “Killers” had Steve Harris stepping up front to open with one of the bands most memorable bass intros but in my opinion it’s “Purgatory” where it all comes together. Sadly, this would be DiAnno’s last album with the band but greatness lied ahead on the other side of the mountain for Iron Maiden. A greatness that I don’t think even they knew was capable.
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Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast
Release Date: March 29, 1982
The Good: Invaders, Children of the Damned, The Prisoner, The Number of the Beast, Run To The Hills, Gangland, Hallowed Be Thy Name
The Bad:
The Indifferent: 22 Acacia Avenue
Holy shit. Listening to this album right after “Killers” gives me a really great idea of just what Iron Maiden fans must have heard for the first time. Maiden still managed to capture and deliver their by now trademark sound but that voice. The vocals are just so over top and in your face. While DiAnno had this kind of gritty, street vibe, Bruce Dickinson sounds like he came from the top of a mountain leading a horde of vikings to battle. “Invaders” is like one long ass battle cry with Dickinson just totally being like, “What other singer? Iron Maiden had another singer? Bollocks!” This is the album where it all came together and solidified the foundation of Iron Maiden’s sound. Clive Burr’s drumming was absolutely flawless and stellar on this album and this album would also boast some of Maiden’s biggest live songs of their career such as “Run To The Hills”, “Number of the Beast”, and “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” “22 Acacia Avenue” (the continuing saga of Charlotte the Harlot) for some reason doesn’t hold up well for me. It’s actually really quite silly and while I didn’t hate it, I just can’t find it in me to “like” this song.
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Iron Maiden – Piece of Mind
Release Date: May 16, 1983
The Good: Where Eagles Dare, Revelations, Flight of Icarus, Die With Your Boots On, The Trooper,
The Bad: Quest For Fire, Sun and Steel
The Indifferent: Still Life
Much like Bruce on “NOTB”, “Piece of Mind” starts out with the new guy (drummer Nicko McBrain) completely stepping up to the plate and knocking it out of the park. “Where Eagles Dare” is one of the greatest long forgotten Iron Maiden tunes of all time. This was the show opener on the “World Piece Tour” never to be seen again until the “Eddie Rips Up the World” tour in 2005. “Piece of Mind” also contains many live staples such as “Flight of Icarus”, “The Trooper” and “Revelations.” The album also contains two horrible duds back to back with “Quest for Fire” and “Sun and Steel.” To this day I’m still not quite sure what they were thinking with those two songs and the fact that they never were performed live speaks in volumes. “Still Life” is one of those songs that I don’t love but never seem to skip it when it comes on. It actually reminds me of “Escape” from Metallica’s “Ride The Lightning” album. Maybe an attempt at some commercial friendliness? Who knows. This song was pulled out on the “Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour” and on the “Maiden England” video Bruce totally fucks it up. Oops! Overall, this is a solid album with only a minimal amount of fail.
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Iron Maiden – Powerslave
Release Date: September 3, 1984
The Good: Aces High, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Flash of the Blade, The Duelists, Back In The Village, Powerslave, Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Bad:
The Indifferent: Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)
Not only is this my favorite Iron Maiden album but it’s one of their most popular albums among fans worldwide. In my opinion, this is the album where they brought out all the big guns and fired on all cylinders. Bruce Dickinson boasts four (1/2 the album) songwriting credits and not only that but wrote 4 of the bests songs on the album: “2 Minutes to Midnight”, “Powerslave”, “Back in the Village” and “Powerslave.” This album doesn’t contain many live staples these days which is really quite sad because these songs are without a doubt some of Maiden’s best and strongest material. Why “Back in the Village” never saw the light of day live is beyond me. The performances on this album are absolutely stellar and one must put on headphones and sink deep into the legendary Maiden epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Getting to hear that song performed live on the “Somewhere Back in Time Tour” is without a doubt one of my most proud moments as an Iron Maiden fan. Even with my indifference about the instrumental “Losfer Words”, there is absolutely nothing about this album that could make it any more perfect.
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Iron Maiden – Somewhere In Time
Release Date: September 29, 1986
The Good: Caught Somewhere In Time, Wasted Years, Heaven Can Wait, Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner, Deja Vu, Alexander The Great
The Bad:
The Indifferent: Sea of Madness,
Coming off the heels of “Powerslave”, Iron Maiden delivered an album that left me scratching my head and wondering what the fuck they were thinking. At the time, I was lost by this one. Hear me out. This album sounds so different from “Powerslave” that sometimes I am shocked when I remember that they came out back to back. It almost seems like there should’ve been two albums between them. The synth guitars, the keyboards, the darker muddier production, everything seemed to lose me. It’s almost like after milking “Powerslave” for well over 2 years that the band just needed to do something completely different and create a new mold for themselves. Listening to this album now it’s plain to see the sheer greatness of this album and to also see that Maiden is a band that does not fear trenching into the unknown. “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” and “Alexander The Great” are hands down two of the greatest yet sadly ignored epic songs of their career while “Stranger In A Strange Land” still remains as one of my all time favorites. The opening title track sounds even more amazing to me now while “Sea of Madness” is the only one that I really felt was the bencher here. All in all, this album has aged like a fine wine only imagine that when it came out, you weren’t into wine yet and you were still just a beer drinker. Listening to this album after all these years I get a real feel and appreciation that I didn’t have when it was released. And yes Jammin’ Jaymz, you were right. This is without a doubt a masterpiece.
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Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Release Date: April 18, 1988
The Good: Moonchild, The Evil That Men Do, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, The Prophecy, The Clairvoyant, Only The Good Die Young
The Bad:
The Indifferent: Can I Play With Madness
On this album, Maiden really seems to have grasped and mastered what they were setting into motion on “Somewhere In Time.” As awesome as that album is, it is obivious that they were experimenting with a lot of new tech toys and really trying to do something with cool with them. On Seven Son, they mastered those toys and tools and managed to put out probably my 2nd favorite album just behind “Powerslave.” The songs aren’t quite as long as they are on “SWIT” but songs like “Moonchild”, “The Prophecy”, “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” and “The Clairvoyant” still manage to be of epic proportions all their own. “The Evil That Men Do”, much like “Stranger in a Strange Land” is one of Bruce Dickinsons’ most amazing performances and as a whole the band fired on all cylinders for this song making it the MVP of this album. “Can I Play With Madness” is the redheaded stepchild of this album as it is obvious that ‘arry and the boys were tinkering with commercial success. This single did gain them some popularity but in my opinon it totally had the potential of watering down this masterpiece. Luckily the other songs are so amazingly awesome that by the time you get 1/2 way through the next song (The Evil That Men Do) you have already forgotten about it. Unfortunately, this would also be the last album for a long while to feature guitarist Adrian Smith. I’m curious to see how these next few albums will sound listening to them in order like this. I’m bracing myself as we speak.
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Iron Maiden – No Prayer for the Dying
Release Date: October 1, 1990
The Good: Tailgunner, Holy Smoke, No Prayer For The Dying, Public Enema Number One, Fates Warning, Run Silent Run Deep, Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter, Mother Russia
The Bad: Hooks In You
The Indifferent: The Assassin
As opposed to progressing forward into technology and growing off the previous album, the band took a few steps back and reclaimed that classic, raw sound that I loved so much. I loved the previous albums and the experimental aspect of them but this album just feels comfortable. Like an old t-shirt not worn in years that still fits. Right off the bat, “Tailgunner” sounds like it could’ve been on “Number of the Beast.” The epic “Mother Russia” beckons back to “Phantom of the Opera” while the title track could’ve been on “Piece of Mind.” I also love that on this album Bruce had developed this kind of angry growl to his voice which really drove the band into an even heavier realm which is apparent on songs like “Public Enema Number One” and “Fates Warming.” Maidens’ quirky tongue in cheek humor is represented with the hilarious “Holy Smoke” but falls totally flat and failing on “Hooks In You” and finally, “The Assassin” is an awesome song until that god awful chorus. This album really impressed me more now than it did when I first heard it. This one really holds up well and the performance by the band sounds focused, driven and really quite stellar. Janick did a great job stepping in and doing his own thing all the while meshing well with the band bringing in this raw, organic sound that Maiden set into play early in their career. I’ve heard that this move was what lead to the departure of Adrian Smith as he felt that the band was back peddling instead of moving into a new direction. Even though it was a great loss, they still managed to make a fantastic album and Janick really stepped in to do a nearly impossible job and was welcomed with open arms.
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