[Closed] What's the best Iron Maiden album?

Seventh Son is awesome, but the 1st album will always be my fave 🙂

A Real Live Dead One?

If studio, 7th Son or Fear of The Dark

Whats the one with "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" on? That one.

The first one; Iron Maiden

Absolute monster of a tune. Best live performance I've ever seen.

Number of the Beast, Powerslave, Iron Maiden, Killers (not necessarily in that order)

But from the later albums, stand-out tracks are Fear of the Dark and Falling Down.

Never liked Seventh Son that much, nor Somewhere in Time.

Looking forward to the expected UK tour next year. Any chance of a Glastonbury headline?.....

Whats the one with "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" on? That one.

(And it's 'Rime')

😉

i usually say Powerslave, even though my real favourite tracks are on Number of the Beast.

I find 7th Son (and Somewhere in Time) to be spoiled by the production, for me. Overproduced, too clean, too synthy, too polished. I much prefer the earlier albums.

Now, is anyone going to suggest anything post-92? 🙂

Killers or number of the beast. Never bought another LP after live after death.

And who remembers that Lucozade advert years ago with Phantom of the Opera playing over a man sprinting? God I was so excited (I was only a young teenager) at hearing my fave band being played on mainstream TV like that!

maybe i'm being overly harsh - listening just now to Powerslave alongside 7th Son, it suddenly occurred that 7th Son just sounded 'of it's time'. Sonically it's like Master of Puppets - tinny guitars, no bass, trashy, dry drums.

A bit of a nadir in rock music production IMO :/

Ah, but I heard 7th Son at the correct time, puberty, so it made more of an impression 😆

Sonically it's like Master of Puppets - tinny guitars, no bass, trashy, dry drums.

Surely you mean ...And Justice For All? 😉

Now, is anyone going to suggest anything post-92?

Have they done anything post '92? 😈

The first album by far, for me. I still listen to it a lot now.
Back at the time I was a massive Maiden follower and was mortified when the "the air raid siren" was brought in from Sampson.

Surely you mean ...And Justice For All?

yes i do! Just relistening now. God it's ropey. I can't believe such a megabucks production could come away with such clearly awful results!

This makes me want to go and listen to all the post-92 albums. There's some great songs on there, I just can't remember 3/4s of all the albums at all

Back at the time I was a massive Maiden follower and was mortified when the "the air raid siren" was brought in from Sampson.

Still, I didn't care. I was there trying to be proper 'metal' with my head in a bass bin (because that's what you do isn't it)? LOL!

there was a new one out last month. Quite good from what i hear, although i haven't sat down to listen to it properly yet....

maybe skip the Blaze albums though, eh? 😉

Book of Souls it's called. It isn't too bad for a band of their age really.

I'd give it 6 (or maybe just 7) out of ten.

Number of the Beast - saw Samson just after the "Air Raid Siren" left they didn't go down well with the audience.

7th Son or Somewhere in Time, new album Book of Souls easily gets 8 out of 10. Best live album for me is Live After Death.

Number of the Beast without a doubt! My first record purchased as well.

The first three, got into Metal around when NoTB was released, kind of gave up on them and the whole NWOBHM/trad metal sound when thrash happened. Much prefer the punky energy of the early stuff

gave up on them and the whole NWOBHM/trad metal sound when thrash happened. Much prefer the punky energy of the early stuff

If they'd stuck with Di'Anno (which wouldn't have happened given his alcohol and drug addictions) and rode out the Nu-Metal phase, they could have easily made the cross-over to the more thrashy sound that Nirvana etc came out with.

Didn't Di'Anno form a nu-metal/rapcore band at some point in between jail sentences and rehab?

Edit: thank you Wikipedia. Seems Paul has led quite an interesting life during and post Maiden.

Iron maiden (1st) and Killers. I much prefer Di'Anno to Dickinson. Of the Dickinson albums Piece of Mind gets my vote.

If Di'anno hadn't left Maiden we might never have had the glory of Metal Christmas.

the number of the beast - everything before/after was ok but not as stunning

And who remembers that Lucozade advert years ago with Phantom of the Opera playing over a man sprinting? God I was so excited (I was only a young teenager) at hearing my fave band being played on mainstream TV like that!

Daley Thomson:

Looking at the vid davidtalyforth posted its amazing how well they've developed. Depending on whether you're a maiden fan at a particular time point (like the Paul fans) or whether you like all their stuff, their latest album is really very good.

I'll leave this one here for the Di'Anno fans:

I'm a huge fan to all their stuff and really enjoy old and new. They were great and still are IMO

The first.

They were also the first band I ever saw with Di'Anno singing in Leeds
& the Yorkshire Ripper running a mock outside (hopefully).

I love the production on Killers, nice rounded sound with plenty of bass. The rest never seemed to quite match it. Live after Death I listened to until I broke the cassette, loved it. However for change of direction Somewhere in Time is prety good.

so far liking the new stuff more than the in-between stuff, last maiden album I bought was fear of the dark and thought they'd become either very formulaic or a parody of themselves.

And Fear of the Dark - possibly the best live track - I just love the audience participation when he whispers the 'Fear of the Dark' lines.

Powerslave for album though I love dance of death from the newer albums.

The rock in rio version of fear of the dark is amazing

Live After Death for me, mainly because it encapsulates loads of their best songs. I guess for studio albums I would say Number of the Beast, though Piece of Mind was my favourite Eddie.

Powerslave and Number of the Beast for me. Seventh Son... has some of favourite songs, though.

The more recent ones are also very good i.e. Book of Souls, Final Frontier, A Matter of Life and Death, Dance of Death, Brave New World.

Number Of The Beast has Hallowed Be Thy Name... Therefore Number of the beast it is.

Piece of Mind was my favourite Eddie.

Live After Death has a great Eddie cover too. So many of the early covers and singles were awesome; they seemed to drop off in quality from No Prayer onwards.

Number Of The Beast has Hallowed Be Thy Name... Therefore Number of the beast it is.

maxray - Member

Live After Death for me, mainly because it encapsulates loads of their best songs.

It's got some kind of definitive versions too- I've heard the original of fear of the dark but it's the live version I know.

Live After Death for me, mainly because it encapsulates loads of their best songs.

It's got some kind of definitive versions too- I've heard the original of fear of the dark but it's the live version I know.

Fear of the Dark isn't on Live After Death, it's on A Real Live One

😉

First album, no one sounded like them and they sounded like no one else. A great fusion of punk and metal.
Later on, IMHO, they became a bit too overblown and poodle haired.

Apparently the management saw the 'nu-metal' thing coming (with the likes of Saxon) and wanted to move away from the punk/metal style of the Di'Anno years.

johndoh - Member

Fear of the Dark isn't on Live After Death, it's on A Real Live One

Rumbled 🙁 They'll probably rip my maiden obsessives patch off my denim jacket

😀

I was very proud of my denim, signed by the whole band after meeting them on the World Slavery Tour. 🙂

Killers is THE album imo.
Prefer the punk vibe to the sweaty metal thang.

Killers is THE album imo.

Purgatory is the first track I heard by them, played by Tommy Vance on the Friday Rock Show. Brilliant tune.

RIP Tommy. 🙁

I'm probably somewhat younger than most here; the album which introduced me to Maiden was Dance of Death, so that will always be special to me. That said, i listen to their live albums pretty much exclusively; Rock in Rio is my favourite.

Iron Maiden or Number of the Beast

Never bought another one after Seventh Son but prior to that had them all on vinyl and CD

TBH and I hate to admit it after YEARS of not listening too them the latest one The Book Of Souls is a grower especially the 18 mins of "Empire of the Clouds" 😀

Their first album is my favourite, the first album I ever bought, at the tender age of 8!
I'm sure my country and western loving Dad and classical music Mum were delighted 😉

speaking as a sad old punk who didnt bother listening to them after paul di'anno left so doesnt know what hes talking about, i still agree with anyone who says the first album 😀

think there was only that album and motorhead that id entertain back in the day.

Live After Death was the first metal album I stole from my brother when I was 11. He never got it back! For me, it's a great time capsule and a "best of". Possibly as good a live album as PWEIs' Weirds Bar and Grill!
I do like Iron Maiden and Killers, but think they're very different beasts from the Dickinson stuff. 7th Son has some good songs on it, but I never really got into anything later than that. Only time I've seen them is when Blaze Bailey was singing.

Also, there is a good Youtube vid of Bruce Dickinsons audition. Killers especially!

Apparently the management saw the[b] 'nu-metal' [/b]thing coming (with the likes of Saxon) and wanted to move away from the punk/metal style of the Di'Anno years.

... and with that, you have relinquished any right to comment any further in this thread. "Nu-metal" came many years later, with the likes of Korn and the Deftones. Iron Maiden were already at the forefront of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal when DiAnno got kicked out.

I actually prefer the DVDs of live after death, cos maiden are a great visual band as well, unlike so many. Favourite album floats, because I love them all up to and including seventh son. Seventh son has the greatest variety stylistically I think. The new album I feel is quite over hyped, it's not bad, but no where near as great as some of the press are making out.

Are we confusing new wave of British heavy metal with nu-metal here?

^^^ made me remember buying this when I was about 13....[url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_for_Muthas ]Muthas[/url]

I never really get the punk references with di'anno era. They had less of an audience and the production was more raw.His post maiden stuff shows he was all metal and Harris has repeatedly stated he hated punk. I think it stems from the fact di'anno had short hair which was fairly verboten in the early days

I think a lot of the early songs were about alienation, rebellion, urban decay, they had a kind of punk aesthetic, dontcha think? 🙂 Rather than satanism and all that occult bollocks that a lot of metal bands went for.

Seem to remember at the time they used to knock about with the cockney rejects didn't they, in the east end?

Sorry woodnut, still don't see it. But if that's what you get from the vibe, then it's all good. I also don't get the whole occult thing with early metal. Everyone used to say that about sabbath, but again lots of their lyrics were rebellion, anti war anti establishment. Venom are the first band I can think of that seemed to base their whole shtick on the devil thing, and despite what they have influenced, I thought they were utter cack personally.

I think bad news fully distilled what metal was all about lyrically in warriors of genghis Khan, difference being they were extracting the urine deliberately 🙂

but the 1st album will always be my fave

This. It and Killers are raw, hard, dark and dirty. Their only serious works before descending into pantomime and self parody. Not that that isn't fun at times too.

Are we confusing new wave of British heavy metal with nu-metal here?

I would hate to have anything relinquished as I was then and still remain a very big rock/metal fan.

Number of the beast,Seventh Son and Dance of Death. All fantastic,the new sound not so much.

^^^ made me remember buying this when I was about 13....Muthas

I've still got that album in my vinyl collection, I'll have to give it a spin, Praying Mantis are on there I think, they supported Iron Maiden in 1980 the 1st time I saw them.

gotta be the first one. I was a teenager when it came out and I loved it then and still do now

Killers a close 2nd

of the Bruce era stuff, the latest album is really quite good but I think Powerslave is my favourite

Not the best but of the newish stuff, I really like brave new world. Some awesome tracks on there.

Killers - my first Maiden purchase and still my favourite - the drumming is simply immense and as an album it's such a great listen - end to end.

Number of the Beast runs it very close but for me it's Killers.

Of the newer stuff - A matter of life an death is lyrically and sonically up there. Some great tracks.

Newest Album is great - loving the production and Empire of the Clouds is one mf my favourite Maiden tracks already. For the Maiden geeks - it's the original logo on the front... first time in 20 years or so.

Up the Irons.
\m/

Killers for me too. I lost interest when Bruce joined - I just don't like his vocals.

For the Maiden geeks - it's the original logo on the front... first time in 20 years or so.

I hadn't noticed that. I'll check it out.

Powerslave is the first one I bought and probably my favourite, although it has a couple of filler tracks. (but then most of their albums do.)
I really love Somewhere In Time too and then Piece Of Mind.
Seventh Son was the beginning of the end for me and I lost interest after that.
Never liked Paul Di'Anno's vocals.

A bit pissed. Just listening to "for the greater good of God"

So good

As a kid my favourite was' Killers' but I came of age just as they released '7th son' but as I've got older I think my favourite is 'Somewhere in time' it's got my favourite all time Maiden track 'Deja-vu' (which is what I'll be going in the burner to) and 'Wasted years' is a bit of a classic. Also cyborg Eddie is as cool as****.

I saw hi-on maiden on Friday at my local.... Just went in for a laugh really but they do quite a good set.
Not listened to maiden for years.... It brought it all back and I remembered pretty much all of the songs.
I saw the actual maiden about 25 years ago also in Milton Keynes at a tiny venue when they played under the pseudonym of the holy smokers... Had the tea shirt up till just a few years ago.

Result. I dug out my old version of Metal for Muthas but also found my long lost copy of the controversial Sanctuary single by Iron Maiden. Get in.

I saw the actual maiden about 25 years ago also in Milton Keynes at a tiny venue when they played under the pseudonym of the holy smokers

I didn't know they did that. Very cool!

Vid of them here

Holy shit.... I never knew they filmed it!!
I remember we turned up and maiden were already on!! Turns out that the support... Wolfsbane never showed or blaze was ill?? Any way maiden did an extended set to cover them... Legends

Legends

Quite. 😀