Why I Like Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden has been around a very long time.  They are not trendy, they do what they want at their own pace.  They know what their fans want and expect, and they deliver.  They get no support from radio yet they still sell out live shows.  Aside from those clichés, what are the things that make me like Iron Maiden?

Literate songwriting.  If you are looking for songs about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, Iron Maiden is not the band for you.  Both Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris draw lyrical inspiration from history, television, movies, folklore, religion, science fiction, mythology, the occult, current events, etc.  Their sources for inspiration are endless. 

The Epics.  Before Maiden the only band that I could think of that regularly had songs that lasted more than ten minutes was The Doors. Maiden regularly create songs that last more than eight minutes, and sometimes they break the ten-minute barrier.  Their most epic is Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which is almost fourteen minutes.  One might think this is just a band that doesn’t get to the point, but with all those guitarists, why not let them play?  Steve Harris has often talked of his love of progressive bands like old Genesis, old Yes and Jethro Tull [Maiden once covered Cross-Eyed Mary].  These bands liked to play long songs to give their musicians the chance to stretch out and play.  Maiden usually has one or more “epic” on each of their albums, and the guitarists get to play…a lot!  There is no downside to this.

The live shows.  I have never seen them in person, but I have the live DVDs Rock in Rio, Death on the Road, Flight 666, and Live After Death.  These guys put on a great show.  They are fun to watch.

Bruce Dickinson.  This man is nicknamed the Air Raid Siren for a reason.  The dude is in his fifties and he can still out-sing most people half his age.  But in the early Eighties I was drawn to this guy for a different reason.  Back in 1983, one of the biggest albums out at the time was The Police’s Synchronicity.  In many an interview at the time Sting used to drone on and on about what book he’s currently reading.  I think he was just trying to show he isn’t a prototypical idiot rocker.  Or maybe he was just a pretentious shithead, who knows…  But one day I saw Bruce give an interview where he said “I read just as many books as Sting does…I just don’t make a big deal about it.”  You sold me, Bruce.  Is there a more energetic frontman in rock?  If there is, I haven’t seen him.  And wherever he goes, he has the audience in the palms of his hands, especially when he demands “Scream for me!”  And like me he is a history nut. J  In the early Nineties he had the balls to walk away from the Iron Maiden gig so that he could prove himself as a solo performer.  Having done so with Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding, he made better albums than Maiden did with Blaze Bayley [although The X Factor is better than Fear of the Dark and No Prayer for the Dying].  He’s back in Iron Maiden because he wants to be there, not because of any failed solo career [Note: it was a pretty successful one…]. 

The Three Amigos.  Iron Maiden is the only heavy metal band that I know of that has three guitarists –Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers.  Each has his own style.  Dave Murray is the guy who can play whatever comes to his mind.  His inspiration is Hendrix.  He doesn’t look it, but he’s the “assassin” of the three guitarists.   Adrian Smith takes a more deliberate approach to his playing.  He likes to work out his solos ahead of time, and of the three guitarists he is the one most likely to assume the rhythm guitarist role [which he likes].  Both Dave and Adrian are precise in their playing.  Janick Gers is the wild card of the bunch.  He’s more loose in his playing like Jimmy Page.  They like playing together and don’t step on each other.

Steve Harris.  Make no mistake – Iron Maiden is Steve Harris’ band.  He is the “first among equals,” and he is the visionary one in the band.  His songs established Iron Maiden as a band to be taken seriously.  He has written the lion’s share of Maiden’s songs, though lately he has relaxed his creative stranglehold because he has five other capable songwriters to work with.   He has a unique bass playing style – he sounds like a galloping horse.  It’s a very distinctive, almost percussive sound and if you hear it, you know exactly who it is.  In all the videos and DVDs in which I’ve seen him play, his fingers are a blur.  I don’t know how he does it.

Nicko McBrain.  Yes, that really is his name.  He doesn’t use double-bass drums like some drummers do [Alex Van Halen, Neil Peart], but he sounds like he does.  The man is tireless.  Tommy Lee once described him as an octopus [a description I’ve also heard applied to Ginger Baker].  He has a huge drum kit, and he uses every drum on his kit.  He and Steve Harris make a fantastic rhythm section.  He has been in the band since Piece of Mind.  Only Steve Harris and Dave Murray have been in the band longer.

Eddie.  Not many bands have their own mascot, but Maiden has Eddie.  He started out as just a skull called Eddie the Head.  Is he a mummy or a zombie?  I’m not really sure, but he’s been on almost every Iron Maiden album cover [I think the original Live at Donnington is the lone exception].  Iron Maiden probably have the coolest album covers and Eddie is a big reason why.  Eddie is iconic – he’s synonymous with Iron Maiden.  A creation of artist Derek Riggs, Eddie has appeared in many guises, to include [but not limited to]:

a Pharaoh/God on Powerslave

a tank-riding soldier on A Matter of Life and Death

a straight-jacketed mental patient [complete with lobotomy] on Piece of Mind

a puppeteer of Satan on The Number of the Beast

the Grim Reaper on Dance of Death

a tree monster on Fear of the Dark

a futuristic Terminator on Somewhere in Time

half of his body removed on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

an axe murderer on Killers

Iron Maiden has put out many compilation albums.  I don’t know why they felt the need to put out so many compilations, but they did.  They include:

Best of the Beast [1996]

Ed Hunter [1999]

Edward the Great [2002]

The Essential Iron Maiden [2005]

Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980-1989 [2008]

From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-2010 [2011]

If I was going to put together a 2-CD compilation of what I think is Maiden’s best work, it would look like this:

Paschendale [Dance of Death, 2003] – The setting of this is the World War I battle of the same name fought in Belgium.  Maiden incorporated strings into their music in a big way on the Dance of Death album, especially this epic about the horrors of war in the trenches on the Western Front.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son [Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. 1988] – The title track from the “concept album” is the lynchpin of the entire album that is core to the story.  One of many Maiden epics that is both loud and quiet, fast and faster, brilliant in its execution.

Stranger in a Strange Land [Somewhere in Time, 1986] – This has absolutely nothing to do with the Robert Heinlein book of the same name.  It has a rock-steady beat that one doesn’t often hear in a Maiden song.  It’s actually about a doomed Arctic expedition, one of the survivors of which Adrian Smith actually met.

The Clairvoyant [Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. 1988] – This one starts with a memorable Steve Harris bass riff.  The Seventh Son can’t tell the difference between his normal vision and what he dreams. He wonders why he seems to be growing stronger, and he’s scared he can’t control his growing power anymore. Then in mid-song, the narration goes from first person to third person. The narrator is somewhat befuddled that the Seventh Son, despite all his powers of clairvoyance, couldn’t foresee his own death.  But what really killed him? Did his supernatural powers consume him, or did the people from the village do the deed?

Tailgunner [No Prayer for the Dying, 1990] – This is the leadoff track from the first album with Janick Gers.  Iron Maiden did a lot of songs with a “war” theme.  This is one of them.  This is written from the point of view of a bomber tailgunner.

Aces High [Powerslave, 1984] – This is the leadoff track from Powerslave, written from the point of view of RAF fighter pilots who fought the Battle of Britain.

2 Minutes to Midnight [Powerslave, 1984] – This reference to the Doomsday Clock is a Smith/Dickinson masterpiece.  It is proof that Steve Harris couldn’t write all the great Maiden tracks himself.

The Wicker Man [Brave New World, 2000] – After a long absence Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to Iron Maiden in 1999.  This is the first song from their first album back in the fold.   Welcome back gents!

Wildest Dreams [Dance of Death, 2003] – This one is a very catchy, short burst of high energy to kick off Dance of Death.  Steve Harris’ lyrics paint a picture of a guy snapping out of a funk and taking charge of his own life.  Great solo from Adrian Smith.

Moonchild [Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. 1988] – This is the opening track from Maiden’s lone “concept album,” Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.  Lucifer [“the bornless one,” “the fallen angel watching you”] comments on the birth of “the chosen one” and also warns his mother that no matter what she does “this child was born to die.” 

Ghost of the Navigator [Brave New World, 2000] – If you’ve been navigating on the seas of life you might run into this character… Janick Gers came into his own as a songwriter when he wrote this – it’s a damn good one.

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg [A Matter of Life and Death, 2006] – Who is Benjamin Breeg?  Only Steve Harris knows, but he did something terrible for which he feels a lot of guilt.  It is one of Maiden’s slower songs.  Adrian Smith is the more rhythm-oriented player of the three Maiden guitarists, and he locks in tightly with Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain and beats the listener into submission.  Great solo from Dave Murray.

Journeyman [Dance of Death, 2003] – Maiden unplugs for this one that closes Dance of Death.  Like Paschendale before it, Journeyman features a string arrangement that works very well.  By far this is the most unique song of the entire Maiden canon.  Like Wildest Dreams that opened Dance of Death, this is another song of empowerment – I know what I want/I’ll say what I want/ and no one can take it away… Bruce’s singing is simply magnificent.  There’s an electric version of this song – I haven’t heard it, I don’t need to hear it.  This one is perfect.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner [Flight 666, 2009 – original version on Powerslave, 1984] – This is what NOT to do if your bird shits on you… This is inspired by the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem of the same name, and the most epic of all Maiden epics [13:41!!!].

Wrathchild [Rock in Rio, 2001 – original version from Killers, 1981] – Something old, something new, something from our Jurassic period…

Powerslave [Powerslave, 1984] – I don’t wanna die, I’m a god, why can’t I live on?  Even pharaohs can’t escape the power of death.

The Trooper [Piece of Mind, 1983] – A song inspired by the Charge of the Light Brigade, this song probably has the most memorable riff of any song in the Maiden canon.

The Number of the Beast [The Number of the Beast. 1982] – Christians everywhere were convinced this song was proof that the guys in Iron Maiden were devil worshipers.  Steve Harris claims the song was a result of a dream he had after watching Damien: Omen II.  He also claims to have been influenced by Robert Burns’ Tam o’ Shanter when writing the song. Bruce’s scream at the end of the first verse was a result of pent-up frustration because Martin Birch made him sing the first verse over and over again.  That scream must have been very cathartic.  For the record, Vincent Price did NOT read the verse from Revelations.  He wanted too much money – Maiden couldn’t afford him.

Run to the Hills [The Number of the Beast. 1982] – This one documents the clash between American Indians and European settlers who pushed westward to settle in America’s heartland.

Flight of Icarus [Piece of Mind, 1983] – He flew too close to the Sun you know…  I think this is the first song Bruce Dickinson wrote for Iron Maiden [or was it Revelations?  I’m not sure…].  Like Stranger in a Strange Land that came three years later, this one is at a slower pace with a rock steady beat.

Hallowed Be Thy Name [The Number of the Beast. 1982] – The singer is waiting in a cold jail cell, reflecting on his life while waiting for his date with the Hangman.  A song that starts out quietly and slowly gets loud and fast in a hurry.  By my count there are three tempo changes throughout, but the guys in Maiden handle it with no problem.  Is it Maiden’s best song?  Probably.

El Dorado [The Final Frontier, 2010] – Bruce the “snake oil salesman” recruits others to help him on a fool’s errand to look for the lost City of Gold.

The Longest Day [A Matter of Life and Death, 2006] – A turning point in the history of Western Civilization is June 6, 1944 – the invasion of Normandy.  It was the beginning of the end for Hitler’s Germany.  A movie with the same name about that momentous day came out fifty years ago.

Mother of Mercy [The Final Frontier, 2010] – Here’s another “war” song, told from the point of view of a soldier fighting in one.

Sign of the Cross [Rock in Rio, 2001 – original version on The X Factor, 1995] – This was the first song from the first album with Blaze Bayley.  It’s inspired by Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose.  I picked this version because Bruce sings it better.