But it’s not their best, and the challenge of this massive list has been to remove all sentimentality and assess this band with a strictly objective critical ear. For yours truly, a fan of 30 years and counting, that’s Powerslave it is my personal favorite Maiden album, hands down. The fun thing about Iron Maiden is that the music means so much to people that the fans’ choices of their favorite is often the first Maiden album they ever heard.
Either an album has at least one little bit of gristle or just isn’t as prime a cut as others, which is why when you ask longtime Maiden fans which album is best, you’ll likely get some strong differences in opinion. The fact is, as sterling as their reputation is, there is no such thing as a perfect Iron Maiden studio album. Like any other band that’s been around for well over four decades, it’s easy at first to separate the good albums from the worst, but with Maiden, ranking them quickly becomes an interesting conundrum. They just announced what will surely be a profitable 2022 North American tour. Today, with a new generation having caught on to their timeless music, the band is more popular globally than they ever were before, one of the biggest moneymakers in the music business.
#IRON MAIDEN DEBUT ALBUM SERIES#
The 1990s would be as creatively and commercially dismal as the 1980s were successful, but the band would rebound in an astonishing way in the 2000s with a series of strong albums and groundbreaking world tours. However, that’s only one third of a remarkable story. Thanks to some key lineup changes - the additions of singer Bruce Dickinson, guitarist Adrian Smith, and drummer Nicko McBrain solidified the “classic” Maiden lineup alongside Harris and guitarist Dave Murray - visionary management, and shrewd marketing that future metal bands would copy for decades, the band would quickly become one of the biggest acts in the genre in the mid-1980s.
Formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris and gradually rising within the nascent heavy metal scene that would come to be known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, the band developed a clever hybrid of gritty heavy metal that reflected their East London upbringing and a strong progressive rock tendency, with UFO and Jethro Tull serving as important signposts.īuilt around twin guitar harmonies and Harris’ uniquely melodic upper register basslines, Iron Maiden took the flamboyance of Judas Priest’s landmark Sad Wings Of Destiny and brought in more energy, more aggression, more intricacy, which was immediately apparent on the band’s self-titled debut album in 1980. Rivaled only by Black Sabbath and Judas Priest in regards to influence and impact on the early development of heavy metal, Iron Maiden took the burgeoning musical style to a new and very unique level - first in the UK in the late 1970s, and soon after, all over the world. Our first ranking of Iron Maiden’s albums from worst to best originally ran on March 4, 2014. We’re refreshing and revising our old Counting Down lists to make room for new albums and insights that have come along since their initial publication.
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