Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden | |
|---|---|
| File:IronMaidenBand.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | East London, England |
| Years active | 1975—present |
| Members | Bruce Dickinson Dave Murray Adrian Smith Janick Gers Steve Harris Nicko McBrain |
| Past members | Clive Burr Paul Di'Anno Blaze Bayley Dennis Stratton Doug Sampson Tony Parsons Dave Mac Paul Cairns Paul Todd Dennis Wilcock Terry Wapram Thunderstick Tony Moore Ron Matthews Bob Sawyer Terry Rance Paul Day Dave Sullivan |
| Website | http://www.ironmaiden.com |
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from East London. Formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, previously of Gypsy's Kiss and Smiler, Maiden (as some fans affectionately refer to the group) is one of the most successful and influential bands in the heavy metal genre, selling over 70 million albums world-wide. Iron Maiden has so far released 13 studio albums (with number 14 due out this September), four 'best of' compilations, nine live albums, and four boxed sets. They won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2000 [1].
Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, is a perennial fixture in the band's horror-influenced album cover art, as well as in live shows. Eddie was originally drawn by Derek Riggs but has had various incarnations by Melvyn Grant. Eddie is also featured in a first-person shooter video game - Ed Hunter - as well as numerous books, graphic comics and band-related merchandise.
Iron Maiden has achieved international fame with its distinctive style. Their blend of heavy metal, highly melodic riffs and intelligent lyrics has become instantly recognizable. The band is also renowned for their down to earth and genuine approach towards their music, their impressive and energetic stage shows and their openness and dedication towards their fans.
Many of the band's songs are historical in reference to England. Others are based on folklore, movies and books, such as "Children of the Damned", "The Duellists", "The Clansman", "Aces High", "Paschendale", "Revelations", "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner","The Wicker Man", "The Prisoner", "Lord of the Flies", "Where Eagles Dare", "Out of the Silent Planet", "To Tame A Land" (based on Frank Herbert's novel Dune), "The Trooper" (based on the poem The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson), "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" – in which words from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem are sung, and "Man on the Edge" (based on the movie Falling Down).
The band has headlined several major events in its career, notably Rock In Rio, Ozzfest alongside Black Sabbath, Donington's famous "Monsters of Rock", "Download" Festivals and the "Reading and Leeds Festivals [2].
Iron Maiden were ranked # 24 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" [3], and in Kerrang! magazine were ranked as the most important band of the last 25 years. They also have one of the most iconic mascots in music history.
History
The long and twisting road from formation to the current day started in 1975, when bassist Steve Harris first picked up a bass, and got involved in some local rock groups. When his bandmates rejected many of his original songs, he decided to quit and form his own band.
Iron Maiden had twelve different line-ups in the 1970s, paying their dues on the mostly punk club circuit in London's rough East End. Although Iron Maiden was a metal band influenced by Deep Purple, Yes, Wishbone Ash, Apocalypse, Queen, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, the earlier music had undoubted punk overtones. Keyboardist Tony Moore joined in 1977, but before long it was decided that keyboards were not suitable for the band. Original singer Paul Day was replaced by the outlandish Dennis Wilcock, a huge KISS fan who used fire, make-up and fake blood on stage. Wilcock provided the initial inspiration for "Eddie". Neither vocalist possessed both the stage presence and vocal ability to take the band to the next level. However, this changed in 1978, with the addition of punk-ranting Paul Di'Anno as frontman and Doug Sampson on drums.
The name of the band came to Steve Harris while watching a movie adaptation of "The Man in the Iron Mask", and was named after the medieval torture device.
Iron Maiden was a sensation on the English heavy metal circuit by this time. The band had been playing for three years and gained a loyal following, but had never recorded any of their music. On New Year's Eve of 1978, the band recorded one of the most famous demos in hard rock history, The Soundhouse Tapes. Featuring only four songs, the band sold all five thousand copies within weeks, with originals later fetching thousands of dollars (until a re-release in 1996). Two of the tracks on the demo, "Prowler" and "Iron Maiden", went to number one on the English metal charts. Their first appearance on an album was on the compilation Metal for Muthas (released on 15 February 1980) with two early versions of "Sanctuary" and "Wrathchild".
In several of the early Iron Maiden line-ups, Dave Murray was joined by another guitarist, but for most of 1977 and all of 1978, Murray was the sole six-stringer in the band. This changed with the arrival of Tony Parsons in 1979. Drummer Doug Sampson was also replaced by the dynamic Clive Burr, and in November 1979, the band landed a major record deal by signing to EMI, a partnership that would last for nearly 15 years. Shortly before going into the studio, Parsons was replaced by guitarist Dennis Stratton. Initially, the band wanted to hire Dave Murray's childhood friend Adrian Smith, but Smith was busy singing and playing guitar for his own band, Urchin.
Initial success
The eponymous Iron Maiden was released in 1980 to critical and commercial success, and the group became one of the leading proponents of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. The band went on to open for KISS on their 1980 Unmasked tour, as well as opening select dates for the legendary Judas Priest. After the Kiss tour, Dennis Stratton was fired from the band as a result of creative and personal differences. The timing was right for the arrival of guitarist Adrian Smith.
Smith brought a sharp, staccato sound to Iron Maiden. His tight, experimental style was the complete opposite of Murray's smooth, rapid take on blues. One of Iron Maiden's trademarks is the double "twin lead" harmonising guitar stylings of Murray and Smith, a style pioneered by Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy, and developed further by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
In 1981, Maiden released its second album, titled Killers. This new album contained many tracks that had been penned prior to the release of the debut album, but were considered surplus. Only two new tracks were written for the album; the title track and "Murders in the Rue Morgue".
The next level
Like many bands, Maiden consumed a large amount of alcohol in their early days. However, most members dabbled very little in other drugs, with Steve Harris never taking them at all. The exception was vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who demonstrated increasingly self-destructive behaviour, particularly through cocaine usage. His performances began to suffer, just as the band was beginning to achieve large-scale success in America. At the end of 1981 the band replaced Di'Anno with former Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson.
Dickinson's debut with Iron Maiden was 1982's album The Number of the Beast, which is recognised as a classic of the heavy metal genre. This album was a world-wide success providing definitive songs such as "The Number of the Beast", "Run to the Hills" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name", considered by many to be some of the best metal songs ever written. For the second time the band went on a world tour, visiting the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. The tour was marred (or perhaps promoted) by controversy coming from religious groups that claimed Iron Maiden was a Satanic group because of their dark lyrics, which supposedly spoke of Satan. The allegations centered around one song, "The Number of the Beast", a song ostensibly about a bad dream. The members of Iron Maiden tried to deflect this criticism by insisting that the lyrics were based on a dream of Steve Harris's, but the accusations persisted. A group of Christian activists destroyed the band's records (along with those of Ozzy Osbourne) by burning them in a large fire. This controversy, unfortunately, is thought to be one of the main causes of the stereotype that all heavy metal is Satanic. However, these accusations of Satanism were largely based on misinterpretation of the song, or fear of the aggressive, energetic nature of the music (Iron Maiden's current drummer, Nicko McBrain, is a born-again Christian, and is happy to play the song, which he sees as a warning against Satanism).
Before heading back into the studio in 1983, they replaced drummer Clive Burr with Nicko McBrain and went on to release four albums which went multi-platinum world-wide: the dark and ultra-heavy Piece of Mind, featuring "Flight of Icarus" and "The Trooper" (1983), Powerslave featuring "2 Minutes to Midnight", "Aces High", and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1984), Live After Death (1985) and Somewhere in Time (1986).
Experimentation
In 1988, the band tried a different approach for their seventh studio album, titled Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. This was a concept album featuring a story about a mythical child who possessed clairvoyant powers based on the book Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card.
For the first time, the band used keyboards on a recording (as opposed to guitar synths on the previous release). In the opinion of some critics, this produced a more accessible release. The band also headlined the annual Monsters of Rock Festival for the first time this year. The 1990 edition of the Guinness Book of Records contains the following entry:
"Largest PA system: On Aug 20th 1988 at the Castle Donington "Monsters of Rock" Festival a total of 360 Turbosound cabinets offering a potential 523kW of programme power, formed the largest front-of-house PA. The average Sound Pressure Level at the mixing tower was 118dB, peaking at a maximum of 124 dB during Iron Maiden's set. It took five days to set up the system."
Decline
For the first time in seven years, the band had a line-up change with the departure of guitarist/vocalist Adrian Smith. Former Gillan guitarist Janick Gers was chosen to replace Smith, and in 1990 they released the raw sounding album No Prayer for the Dying. This album went back to the heavy style of the band. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson also began experimenting with a raspier style of singing that was a marked departure from his trademark operatic style. Nonetheless, the band obtained their first (and to date, only) number one hit single "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter". It was released on December 24, 1990, and was one of the first records to be released on several different formats with different B-sides, thus encouraging fans to buy several copies. The single holds the record for being the fastest release straight in to number one and straight out of the charts again over the following couple of weeks. The song was originally penned and recorded by Bruce Dickinson for the soundtrack to the fifth Nightmare on Elm Street movie.
Before the release of No Prayer for the Dying, Bruce Dickinson officially launched a solo career alongside Iron Maiden, with Gers as guitarist. Dickinson performed a solo tour in 1991 before returning to the studio with Iron Maiden for the album Fear of the Dark. Released in 1992, the album had several songs which were popular amongst fans, such as the title track and "Afraid to Shoot Strangers".
In 1993 Bruce Dickinson left the band to further pursue his solo career. However, Bruce agreed to stay with the band for a farewell tour and two live albums (later re-released in one package). The first, A Real Live One, featured songs from 1986 to 1992, and was released in March 1993. The second, A Real Dead One, featured songs from 1975 to 1984, and was released after Bruce had left the band. He played his farewell show with Iron Maiden on August 28, 1993. The show was filmed, broadcast by the BBC, and released on video under the name Raising Hell. Magician Simon Drake performed grisly illusions on the performance, culminating in Dickinson's "death" in an Iron Maiden. However, after Bruce's departure from the band there was a great deal of bad feeling toward him from the other band members.
Winds of change
The band auditioned hundreds of vocalists, both unknown and famous (among them Doogie White of Rainbow[4]), and even offered the position to James LaBrie of Dream Theater (who did not audition), but he declined. They finally chose Blaze Bayley in 1994, formerly of Wolfsbane. Bayley had an altogether different style to his predecessor, which received a mixed reception amongst fans. After a three year hiatus, Maiden returned in 1995 with the 70+ minute-long album The X Factor. The album was generally seen as having dark, brooding songs that seemed more melancholy and introspective than usual. Chief songwriter Steve Harris was going through serious personal problems at the time with the break-up of his marriage and the loss of his father and many feel the album's sound is a reflection of this. The 11-minute epic "Sign of the Cross", opening the album, is perhaps the stand-out track, and even Bayley's detractors tend to recognise it as a classic. The first concert supporting the new album took place on September 28, 1995 in Jerusalem, Israel.
The band spent most of 1996 on the road before returning to the studio for Virtual XI (1998). The album contained few notable tracks, with only "The Clansman" and "Futureal" surviving on future tours, and chart positions were observably lower. One of the most criticized tracks was the single "The Angel and the Gambler", which was all that many people heard of the album before deciding not to buy it. Virtual XI failed to reach the one million mark in worldwide sales for the first time, and thus sounded Bayley's death knell.
Reunion
In February 1999, Bayley left the band, apparently by mutual consent. The main reason for his departure was his inconsistent onstage performance - Blaze's voice was not up to the rigours of a full-on Maiden tour. At the same time, the band shocked their fans when they announced that both Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith were rejoining the band, which meant the classic 1980s lineup was back in place - plus Janick Gers, who would remain. Iron Maiden now had three guitarists for the first time. A successful reunion tour followed.
The new millennium
In 2000, a more progressive period began for the band when they released the 67 minute long album Brave New World. The songs were longer (with all but three of the ten tracks clocking in at over six minutes). The world tour that followed ended in January 2001 with a show at the famous Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, where Iron Maiden played to an impressive crowd of 250,000.
The band continued with their progressive trend with the over an hour long album Dance of Death released in 2003. While failing to reach Gold status in the United States, the album went platinum in several other countries and left no doubts that the band was still a force to be reckoned with. Both Brave New World and Dance of Death were named "Best Metal Album" of 2000 and 2003 respectively by Metal-Rules.com.
Iron Maiden toured to support the 2004 DVD entitled The Early Days, in which the band celebrates the music mainly from its 1975-1983 period, and in 2005 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of their first album and the 30th anniversary of their formation.
A live album entitled Death on the Road was released on August 30 2005, but the DVD version suffered a bit of delay and was released on the 6th of February 2006. The latter hit the DVD chart at no 1 in UK, Sweden, Italy and Greece and received universal acclaim from most UK rock magazines.
A Matter of Life and Death
A new album has been announced, to be released on worldwide on the 28th August (5th September for the US) and is named A Matter of Life and Death [5], and the songs featured on it are of a longer nature than a lot of their earlier work, perhaps implying a progressive nature, as shown on their previous two albums.[6] "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" is going to be released as the first single.
The band has also recorded four cover tracks for use as b-sides, the first time for over ten years. In an interview with the Greek Metal Hammer magazine, Adrian Smith revealed these to be ZZ Top's "Tush", Deep Purple's "Space Truckin'", Thin Lizzy's "Angel of Death" and Focus's "Hocus Pocus", the latter featuring Nicko McBrain on vocal duties.
It is expected that the album will be high selling, following the increase of sales since Dickinson's return to the band. The album is likely (as previous album Dance of Death did) to hit number one in the charts of most European countries, including the UK where a number one album has eluded the band since 1992's Fear of the Dark (Dance of Death narrowly missed number one to The Darkness' Permission to Land album in 2003 during the height of 'Darkness-mania').
While album sales in the USA have been poor over the past ten years, there is some hope the new album could do moderately well, as a more extensive tour is expected in support of the album than in 2004 for Dance of Death, and because of the increased interest in the band following their triumphant co-headlining of Ozzfest in 2005.
A tour in support of the album has been announced on the band's main website. Whilst Iron Maiden had announced as early as 2003 that they would be cutting back on the length of each tour, the forthcoming tour has been criticised for it missing out many areas usually visited by the band. In particular, the absence of any Eastern European dates (such as Poland, Czech Republic, Greece) despite a strong fan base existing there has been questioned. In addition other countries where Maiden traditionally are very successful (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) are host to only one or two gigs where usually in excess of five are played in each country respectively. Maiden have however announced extensive dates in the UK and Scandinavia, the latter possibly a reward for the area's staggering support for the band on previous tours.
Touring in North America, South America, Japan and possibly Australia was expected to follow in early 2007, however due to the earlier than expected completion of the album this plan seems to have been altered. Fans in Australia hope the band will return after a fourteen year absence, though an announcement has yet to be made.
On 24 July 2006 the official website posted tour dates for North America.
Iron Maiden in popular culture
- Bruce Dickinson and Eddie did a public service announcement for British television with "The Seat Belt Dummies" in 1991. The seat belt dummies were in the audience playing air guitar and Eddie is shown. The dummies remark that, "if you don't wear your seatbelt, you may end up looking like this (points to Eddie)". At the end, Bruce says "Don't forget, buckle your safety belt, mate."
- Iron Maiden is referenced prominently in the lyrics to the 2000 hit "Teenage Dirtbag" by American punk-pop group Wheatus. The song tells of a lonely, nerdy teenage boy who secretly yearns for a pretty female classmate, Noelle, while listening to Iron Maiden. Noelle later surprises him by declaring herself to be a "teenage dirtbag" too, and inviting him to join her at an Iron Maiden concert. Bruce Dickinson returned the favour by singing on Wheatus' third single "Wannabe Gangstar".
- The band is mentioned several times in episodes of Beavis and Butt-head. Songs featured include "The Prisoner", "From Here to Eternity", and "Running Free".
Discography
Studio Albums
- 1980: Iron Maiden
- 1981: Killers
- 1982: The Number of the Beast
- 1983: Piece of Mind
- 1984: Powerslave
- 1986: Somewhere in Time
- 1988: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- 1990: No Prayer for the Dying
- 1992: Fear of the Dark
- 1995: The X Factor
- 1998: Virtual XI
- 2000: Brave New World
- 2003: Dance of Death
- 2006: A Matter of Life and Death
- The Number of the Beast (Platinum) - October, 1986
- Piece of Mind (Platinum) - November, 1986
- Killers (Gold) - January, 1987
- Live After Death (video) (Video Longform) (Platinum) - August, 1987
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (Gold) - June, 1988
- 12 Wasted Years (Video Longform) (Gold) - January, 1989
- Behind the Iron Curtain (Video Longform) (Gold) - February, 1989
- Maiden England (Video Longform)(Gold) - November, 1990
- No Prayer for the Dying (Gold) - November, 1990
- Powerslave (Platinum) - June, 1991
- Live After Death (Platinum) - June, 1991
- Somewhere in Time (Platinum) - July, 1992
- Rock in Rio Video (Platinum) - December, 2002
- The Early Days Video (Platinum) - January, 2005
- Visions of the Beast Video (Multi Platinum) - August, 2005
Actual US sales far higher. Due to change in US record label several times, certifications have not been declared.
(Source: search for "Iron Maiden".)
- Iron Maiden (Platinum) - March, 1995
- The Number of the Beast (Platinum) - November, 2002
- Visions of the Beast Video (Platinum) - November, 2002
- Piece of Mind (Platinum) - March, 1995
- Killers (Gold) - November, 1985
- Powerslave (Gold) - December, 1984
- Live After Death (Gold) - November, 1985
- Somewhere in time (Gold) - October, 1986
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (Gold) - April, 1988
- No Prayer for the Dying (Gold) - October, 1990
- Fear of the Dark (Gold) - May, 1992
- Best of the Beast (Gold) - May, 2002
- Dance of Death (Gold) - October, 2003
- Edward the Great (Gold) - October, 2004
- The Early Days Video (Gold) - November, 2004
- Brave New World (Gold) - February, 2005
Platinum is for sales of 300,000+ Gold is for sales of 100,000+
Source - ([7])
- Piece of Mind (Gold) - 1990
- Best of the Beast (Gold) - 2001
- Brave New World (Gold) - 2003
- Dance of Death (Gold) - 2003
- Edward the Great (Gold) - 2003
- Visions of the Beast Video (Platinum) - 2005
- The Early Days Video (Gold) - 2005
Source-([8])
- Killers - 1987
- The Number of the Beast - 1992
- Live After Death - 1993
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - 1993
- Iron Maiden - 1996
- Piece of Mind - 1996
- Powerslave - 1996
- Somewhere in Time - 1996
- Dance of Death - 2005
- Rock in Rio Video -2003
Note Gold For 100,000+ copies sold for Albums
Source- ([9])
Audio
- "Phantom of the Opera" – From the debut album, featuring Paul Di'Anno on vocals.
- "Run to the Hills" – A top ten hit in the UK, and vocalist Bruce Dickinson's debut.
- "Caught Somewhere in Time" – This clip showcases the band's trademark twin guitar harmonization/"galloping" bass.
- "Sign of the Cross" – The band's third recording vocalist Blaze Bayley, singing on the opening track from The X Factor album.
- "Brave New World" – Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith return in 2000 to critical acclaim.
Lineup
For a complete list, see Iron Maiden band members.
Current Members
- Bruce Dickinson – vocals (1981-1993, 1999-present)
- Dave Murray – guitar (1975-1976, 1977-present)
- Janick Gers – guitar (1990-present)
- Adrian Smith – guitar (1980-1990, 1999-present)
- Steve Harris – bass (1975-present)
- Nicko McBrain – drums (1983-present)
Original lineup
- Paul Day – vocals
- Dave Sullivan – guitar (replaced by Dave Murray after only two months)
- Terry Rance – guitar
- Steve Harris – bass
- Ron Matthews – drums
Bibliography
- Running Free: The Official Story of Iron Maiden; Bushell, Gary and Halfin, Ross (1985) ISBN 0-946391-50-5
- What Are We Doing This For?: A Photographic History; Halfin, Ross (1988) ISBN 0-946391-65-3
- Run to the Hills: Iron Maiden, the Authorized Biography; Wall, Mick and Ingham, Chris (1998) ISBN 1-86074-666-7
- Iron Maiden: El Viaje De La Doncella; Fuentes Rodríguez, César (2005) ISBN 849338912-9 (in Spanish)
References
- Iron Maiden - The Early Years (DVD). UK. 2004.
{{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter|crew=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|distributor=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) ASIN B0006B29Z2 - Wall, Mick; Ingham, Chris (2004). Iron Maiden, the Authorized Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. ISBN 1-86074-666-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Official Homepage". Official Homepage. Retrieved January 28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - Twelve Wasted Years (VHS). UK. 1996.
{{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter|crew=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|distributor=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) ASIN 6301092643
See also
- Iron Maiden band members
- Iron Maiden - an unrelated band from the 1970's.
- Best selling music artists
- The Piano Tribute to Iron Maiden
- Numbers From The Beast
