Iron Maiden

[Harrison]

I've been listening to a lot of Iron Maiden again recently, especially the classic first 7 albums from the self titled Iron Maiden, up to Seventh Son. Still as great as they were when released.

And they are touring again this year. I'm very tempted to try and get to see them if I can.

Has anyone looked at the official website http://www.ironmaiden.com lately? It's definitely much better than it used to be and contains a lot of interesting content including a well designed discography section and the pages about each of the members is written by each other so makes interesting reading as they can give a unique personal aspect to each others characters and what they think of each other.

Also of interest is the IM wiki page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Maiden which has had a lot of time spent on it and contains a pretty good run through of the bands career, as well as containing a wealth of links.

I think Iron Maiden will always remain my favourite Heavy Metal band for all time.

[Demon Cleaner]

I started listening to IM in 1982 when the Number of the Beast album was released, since then I've been a huge fan. Then I also bought the first album and of course Killers which is still my favorite one (also because I prefer DiAnno to Dickinson).

Then I began to listen to heavier stuff, beginning around 1985 with Metallica, Slayer, Overkill, Testament, Exodus, Kreator, Anthrax... And the last IM album I bought was Somewhere in Time, as from Seventh Son on, it wasn't good anymore imo. When I now listen to IM, I still listen to the older stuff.

Btw, the DVD The Early Years is a must have, as it contains several concerts, and even 2 gigs with DiAnno from 80 and 81. Plus does it have a documantary of the band history commented by Steve Harris. It covers the IM history until 1985.

Recently I bought Paul DiAnno's album on which he covers old IM songs. It's called The Classics: The Maiden Years and is not bad.

[Puni/Void]

Iron Maiden is among my favourites as well. I've got Killers on vinyl, but the rest of my albums are on CD. It's a great album, but not my all time favourite.

I remember Kreator, Exodus, Anthrax and all the other bands you mentioned. As for my favourites here, it must be Bonded by Blood by Exodus and Fistful of Metal by Anthrax.

[Toasty667]

OMG! They're my fav band too! I've met Steve Harris and have got my Brave New World vinyl signed in person by all six members.:D

Best band ever.:notworthy:

Been to see them eight times so far. Bruce Dickinson is the best front man there can be, looks after the crowd and commands them at the same time.

Trying to learn bits of Dance Of Death and Fear Of The Dark on guitar at the mo. Been a fan since about '98.

Oh and I just noticed there are 666 threads on the forum stats!:evil:

[Demon Cleaner]

Fistful of Metal by AnthraxI prefer Spreading the Disease and Among the Living. Fistful of Metal also had a very funny and really bad cover.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/cioprgr/classicamiga/anth-1.jpg

[Harrison]

The first CD I ever purchased was Anthrax - Persistence of Time, as 1990 was the year I got my first CD player :)


I started listening to IM in 1982 when the Number of the Beast album was released, since then I've been a huge fan.Same for me. I bought the tape of the album while on a day trip with my school to Thorpe Park near London and made my friend's dad play the whole album on the way home in the car. That was funny because he was a very dedicated Christian. He must have loved the words to Number of the Beast! :lol:

And after that I also purchased all of the previous albums and Number of the Beast again on vinyl, and continued to by the vinyl LP releases up to Seventh Son. After that I bought the CDs and then bought all the older albums on CD again too!

It was a very sad day when years ago I was playing my Live After Death Live LP and accidentially dropped it, making a big scratch right across the record. :(

[Demon Cleaner]

And I was 11 when I listened to Number of the Beast, that was in primary school :lol: All others still listening to smurf songs, Abba, Bee Gee's and Co.

My first CD was So Far, So Good, So What from Megadeth.

Live after Death is a millennium album and a must have Live album, even if you're not an IM fan. When it first got released on CD, it contained only 12 songs, but it is now also available as full length CD.

[LowercaseE]

(also because I prefer DiAnno to Dickinson).

Ditto that. I always argue with people about it too. Most people prefer Dickinson's more technical singing, but I like DiAnno's more soulful approach. How anyone can listen to "Purgatory" and not be moved is beyond me.

I was at a bar a few weeks back and they were playing "Wrathchild" when I commented to my buddy that I preferred DiAnno's vocals to Dickinsons. Naturally, he started arguing with me about it, but then the bartender (a hot chick wearing an Angel Witch shirt!!!!) chimed in and backed me up on my DiAnno stance. My jaw more or less hit the floor when she supported DiAnno over Dickinson so naturally my first response was "Do you want to go out sometime?" Her reply was "I have a boyfriend right now, but I'm always down to talk about music so stop down and see me." :thumbsdown2: Cool chick nonetheless.

[Toasty667]

I'll always maintain that Bruce is the true voice of Maiden. The air raid siren has more range for different types of songs. And lets not forget he's a far better front man. The stage is also a big part of the singers playground and he gets a crowd going like no other. I dont think Di'anno is bad, he is very good, but in terms of overall ability and who is better for Iron Maiden I'd say Bruce comes out on top, and screaming.:D

[Demon Cleaner]

Dickinson is perhaps the better frontman, as he also has a lot of experience in doing so. But songs like Purgatory, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Killers, Prowler... sound better with DiAnno. But that is only a matter of taste, and I'm sure if we gonna ask 1.000 people about it, we'll get a 50/50 result, or perhaps a slight advantage for Dickinson, as more people started to listen to Maiden when he was already lead singer.

[Harrison]

I would personally say the two are too different to compare them directly as the style and sound of IM changed quite a lot when Bruce joined them. Bruce is definitely a better singer by far, a great front man who can command the crowd and get them involved in the performance. The only man who could beat him in that respect has to be the great Freddie Mercury. But DiAnno managed to generate more raw and original energy in his vocals and IM as a whole were much rougher with a different intensity and energy when he was with them.

It's very similar to comparing the different front men of AC/DC as their style changed in a very similar way from a very rough and raw sound to a more technical studio sound as their line up changed. Except of course AC/DC didn't have any choice in needing to find a new singer at the time as Bon Scott had died of alcoholism.

[LowercaseE]

The only man who could beat him in that respect has to be the great Freddie Mercury.

I don't know, Rob Halford and (as much as I hate to admit it) James Hetfield are up there too.

[Demon Cleaner]

I still like James Hetfield and think that he's still the only real metal head of Metallica. His vocal and guitarist improvements over the first albums were huge, and I also think that he is one of the better front men.

[Harrison]

James Hetfield definitely did front Metallica well when I've seen them live but I'm not sure he has real stage presence or the ability to command the audience in quite the same way. As for the Judas Priest front man, he definitely does have the ability to get the audience going but I think that is more stage performance than stage presence. Although I've not seem them perform live yet.

If you went outside of Heavy Metal there are definitely some other lead singers who can command the audience well, but we won't go there :lol:

[Toasty667]

I don't know, Rob Halford and (as much as I hate to admit it) James Hetfield are up there too.

Halford rocks harder than head butting a land mine. Saw him live during his first album with the band 'Halford' and he was amazing. Plus I've seen Judas Priest. That classic moment where he rides in on the Harley has to be seen by ever metal head.:)

[LowercaseE]

/\ Agreed. Priest live is truly something to behold, and the Harley entrance is the icing on the cake.

Probably one of the greatest frontmen for any metal band was Paul Baloff. You want to talk about whipping a crowd into a frenzy, that dude was the one to do it. There's a reason Exodus was/is known for their particularly violent shows and that reason's name is Paul Baloff.

[Harrison]

It was sad when Paul Baloff died. Especially as he had only reunited with Exodus for a few years and they were planning a new album at the time.

Another for pure intensity on stage has to be Philip Anselmo.

[Demon Cleaner]

And not to forget Mike 'Cyco' Muir. I was at a gig of Suicidal in Nancy (France), and during the whole show, the guy just went up/down the stage, not 1 second pause.

[LowercaseE]

Mike Muir is annoying as hxll on stage. The last time I saw ST, all he did was sit in a corner and whine about how life sucked and how "the man" kept him and his people down and how his parents treated him like crap. Seriously, there was at least 5-10 minutes of this banter between each song.

[Harrison]

I used to really like ST around the time of the Controlled by Hatred album and saw them live supporting Slayer many many years ago. I've not listened to them for some years now though.

I always thought Mike Muir would get on well with Jello Biafra.

[sarek2k]

Got a m8 sat next to me asking if anyone knows any sites to get hires wallpaper / cover from the single Stranger in a Strange Land also album cover (which is different from wikipedia site as listed above!) All the googe links i found had tiny tiny pics etc

not really a great iron maiden fan myself but a few tracks i like!

[Harrison]

That's spooky! I was only thinking last night while listening to some Maiden that I would like to track down some good quality high resolution Derek Riggs artwork.

If he is a fan then the book "Run For Cover: The Art Of Derek Riggs" is a must buy.

A good site to look at is the official Derek Riggs site, found at http://www.derekriggs.com/ It's got a load of Iron Maiden artwork and covers to look through in quite high resolution. Obviously not really high quality but is a good start.

I'm going to have a hunt around the internet later and see if I can find any other decent online resources. If I do I will post some links. :)