Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
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Free Music Notes for Iron Maiden
Free Music Review: Although different from their later works, this album kicks @ss
Hit: 5 Stars
Well, it all started here in 1980, although it was 5 years after the band was formed by Steve Harris. The line-up is different as well, we have Paul DiAnno on vocals, that left after Killers. We have Clive Burr on Drums, that left after Number of the Beast, and we have Dennis Stratton on lead guitar, he was few months only to record this album and then he left. Dennis was amazing on the album, maybe not great as Adrian but his riffs remind Dave Mustaine (Megadeth, ex-Metallica). But we still have here the bass master Steve Harris and Dave Murray. Clive Burr was an amazing drummer and he was actually even better than Nicko McBrain, Nicko is not a bad drummer but Clive has better sense of Rythm. DiAnno also done well here. He was the 2nd best Maiden singer, next to bruce, and next to him was Blaze Bayley who was also good, but he didn't suite the band. Also the album is more punkish than metalish. Compared to their later albums it's not very heavy but it still rocks. The only problem is the production, but this doesn't keep it from being one of Maiden's best. Aside from the holy trilogy (Beast, Piece & Powerslave) this is my favorite Maiden album.
Here are my favorite songs:
Prowler is good as Aces High and Moonchild atleast. it has a fast solo, and vocals are in top notch.
Remember Tomorrow is the best ballad I've heard from Maiden, the vocals and the main riff are awesome, it also becomes heavier at 2:30 and the solo is excellent.
Running Free is another highlight on the album. It has creative drumming, and this is a good song in general.
Phantom of the Opera is easily the best song here, this is the album epic, I especially enjoying playing this on my guitar.
Transylvania is with no doubt the one of the best Maiden instrumentals (2nd to 'Losfer Words' off powerslave), it is the thrashiest instrumental Maiden ever put out, Dave and Dennis were amazing in the solo.
Charlotte the Harlot is the beginning of the story they continued in '22 Acacia Avenue' off Number of the Beast, 'Hooks In You' off No Prayer for the Dying, and 'From Here to Eternity' off Fear of the Dark. For my opinion this was the best of them all.
Other songs:
Sanctuary is my least favorite on the album, its not awful but I tend to skip it.
Strange World's intro is similar to Metallica's Nothing Else Matters, and 'Nothing' is an acoustic song. This is one of the only 4 Maiden songs which were entirely acoustic, this, 'Prodigal Son' off Killers, 'Wasting Love' off Fear of the Dark, and 'Journeyman' off Dance of Death.
The title track is also good, not the best here, but enjoyable.
Up The Irons!
Free Music Review: A great debut, but this was nothing compared to what would come later
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an awesome debut album; it isn't hard to believe that the band who came up with this would be writing epic songs like 'Hallowed Be Thy Name', and 'To Tame a Land' within three years.
This album features the largely unfamiliar lineup of Steve Harris on Bass, Dave Murray/Dennis Stratton on Guitar, Clive Burr on Drums and Paul Di'anno on vocals. Only Murray and Harris will be familiar to avid Iron Maiden fans, though Clive Burr did manage to survive until 1983.
This lineup produced an amazing debut though; forget the usual stigma about debut albums; its unwarranted here. Iron Maiden from the get go, knew how to write a good song. Most of these songs are unsurprisingly by Steve Harris, in fact the only one that doesn't have Harris involved at all is Charlotte the Harlot, which is pure Dave Murray. Yet Harris does not monopolise the album totally; Dianno and Murray have a few credits (interestingly, the ones with DI anno are probably the most 'punkish', like Sanctuary and Running Free; though of course Remember Tomorrow has Di anno involvement and that isn't 'punkish')
There isn't really any filler on this album; personally I find it better than Killers, the follow up. The weakest songs I find to be Running Free and Sanctuary, but they certainly aren't bad songs. I do wish Maiden didn't always insist on playing them live though; they've written much better songs they could have at the end of a set (they probably do it for nostalgia purposes, since these were two of their earliest songs)
The album opens up with a great track in Prowler; evidently about a guy who likes flashing women in parks or something...it makes me wonder where Steve Harris got the inspiration from? Perhaps I don't want to know...
Remember Tomorrow and Strange World are two 'cleaner' (i.e. non distorted) songs. I love Strange World; its a very unconventional Maiden song in that it never becomes distorted, (except for the solos) and the solos are great fun to play
The highlight of the album for me is Phantom of the Opera; at 7.20 this is a long song, and it foreshadows Maiden's ability to create epics (specifically Harris' ability to do that...). It's a great song, with (i'm told) very skilful bass riffing, that cemented Steve Harris' legendary bass playing status
That being said, there aren't any low points on this album really. It's a great debut from a band that were to define metal music as we know it. Not their best album by any means, buy definitely worth picking up. Be warned, it's perhaps slightly 'punkier' (I said slightly) than their later efforts.
Free Music Review: The debut album that started a new era in Heavy Metal.
Hit: 5 Stars
In 1980, a new era had been formed in Heavy metal.
Metal had just exploded in a big way.
The influences of Priest an Sabbath,and the rebellion of the Punk movement helped form a movement in Great Britain called the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal".
Many classic bands will emerge from this era,to change the music world forever,and it's spearhead was this album.
Combining the twin guitar sound of Judas Priest,with the ferocity and vocal stylings of punk,and an addition of progressive rock,Iron Maiden emerges as that third great link in Heavy Metal.
The album is one of the classics of all time,a true landmark in the heavy metal genre.
There sound would become more progressive over the years,but never would they duplicate the brutality of this debut.
Prowler-Simple guitar riff underscores a classic metal track sung with insidious passion by thug child,Paul Dianno.
Sanctuary-Classic riff in song about a killer seeking redemption after the brutal murder of a woman.Still used in the live set occasionly.
Remember Tomorrow-Moody,emotional track with an eerie build from soft to heavy,which influenced the styles of several thrashers over the years.
Running Free-Obviously influenced by Priest's"Running Wild",this song of youthful rebellion,is one of the great rebellious antems metal has made.
Transylvania-Terrific instrumental,the best one they ever made.
Phantom of the Opera-The best song on the abum,and arguably,besides "Hallowed be thy Name",there best ever song.
The guitar work in here is brilliant(no words for that solo),with a combination of a THREE guitar(!) sound and one of the best riffs ever made.
Perfectly captures that aura of gothic horror,the song needs.
Dianno was NEVER better,than he is here.
Strange World-Another classic of mood and atmosphere,underscored by classic bass work of Steve Harris.
Charlotte the Harlot-The first of a series about a certain prostitute,has an odd mixture of humor and pathos,which comes together fully on the track,"22 Accacia Avenue" from The Number of the Beast(1982).
Iron Maiden-The band's greatest anthem,forever to be played a every live show.
Classic riff,and vocals by Dianno that made this his own.
Essential Heavy Metal that happens to be my personal favorite of there catalouge of music.
The band will make BETTER albums,but this is still a must.
It is one of the most defining of all metal albums.
Buy this album and love it.
Free Music Review: An overlooked classic
Hit: 5 Stars
This album was overshadowed by the next progressively by Killers, Number of the Beast, Peice of Mind, and Powerslave, and while I can say all of them except Killers (which I do not own, and haven't really heard yet) deserve their own hype, they don't deserve it at the expense of this album. Of course part of the reason why this album is relatively buried is also because only 2 of the 5 members of the classic Maiden lineup were in place yet. This features Paul Di'Anno singing, Clive Burr on drums, and Denis Stratton (who?) on guitars. But all in all the album doesn't suffer at all from that. Praise Nicko McBrain and of Bruce Dickinson if you like(certainly they deserve it), but Di'Anno and Burr were apparently a talented pair as well. Stratton I have nothing in particular bad to say about, but with 7 other Maiden albums in my collection its also clear in hindsight that Murray and Harris could have carried this album without him. Anyway, with the possible exception of track #7, "Strange World" every song on this cd is catchy to the point of addictiveness (ok maybe "catchy" doesn't quite describe "Remember Tomorrow" since it isn't exactly upbeat or bubble-gummy but it is beautiful and certainly demands repeat listening). Paul Di'Anno is definately another high point of this album in my opion. While he doesn't have the awesome range Bruce Dickinson would bring starting with "Number of the Beast" 2 years later, the material for this album isn't nearly as epic and fantastical as the songs Dickinson shows his one of a kind touch on anyway. And make no mistake, Di'Anno is a very good vocalist in his own right. He proves himself capable of some range and some pretty vocals on Remember Tomorrow, and shows he has more balls than pretty much any heavy metal vocalist yet recorded in 1980 on "Runnin Free" and "Iron Maiden". I'd be really interested to know what happened to him after Dickinson replaced him. And in general Di'Anno and the general lack of that classic epic, fantastical nature give this album a really broad appeal. If you are a fan of really old school heavy metal, that is if you spin up a lot of heavy metal that was recorded in the 70's before there were real subcategories of heavy metal this disc is definately a must. Similarly, if you have just a passing interest in heavy metal so far this is a must because it is relatively easy to listen to, but still kicks some serious ass even by 2005 standards. Buy this as soon as you can get a decent deal on it. Its a worthwhile addition to almost anyone's collection. I'm sure glad I bought it.Free Music Review: Wherever you are, Iron Maiden's gonna get you...
Hit: 5 Stars
Iron Maiden's 1st album, way back in 1980. It's where it all started for this mega huge metal band.
Before Bruce Dickinson, there was Paul Di'Anno. There was no Nicko McBrain on drums, nor Adrian Smith on guitar. Apart from original members Steve Harris and Dave Murray, on drums was Clive Burr and on guitar was Dennis Stratton.
Iron Maiden released their very first studio album in April of 1980. As far as debuts go, Iron Maiden's was fantastic...
Prowler starts off the album, what a beginning. A rockin' tune which still gets played in live Maiden sets today. Remember Tomorrow is next and this track is also a great song, slow erie guitars at the start followed by fast solos.
Running Free is next, another track still played live. It's one of Maiden's early songs which people always remember. It's just a fun track. Next up is the instrumental track Transylvania, which is pretty good. Following the instrumental comes Phantom Of The Opera, some say the pinnacle of this album, and their not far off. It's a classic epic Maiden track, the start of many more to come.
Strange World comes next, in my opinion one of Iron Maiden's best ever songs. The sound you hear at the start and throughout the song is mesmerizing. The drums, the bass guitar and the wonderful soft voice of Di'Anno makes this song perfect.
Sanctuary is next, another fun rockin' tune, which is still popular to this day and was performed live in Maiden's last live album, Rock In Rio. Charlotte The Harlot follows and is another one this albums better tracks. A foot-tapping classic, which Maiden re-recorded as a B-Side on a single for their Seventh Son album.
And to finish off this wonderful debut album, is Iron Maiden. It's the band just telling everyone who they are, their battle cry...as they say "Iron Maiden's gonna get you".
(rating each song is as follows: 0.98-1= killer track, 0.95-0.97= awesome track, 0.90-0.93= very good track, 0.85-0.88= OK/good track, 0.80-0.83= poor/average track. Note, instrumentals are not included. Once you add up the score, divide by the number of tracks to get the percentage.)
Prowler: 1
Remember Tomorrow: 1
Running Free: 0.90
Phantom Of The Opera: 0.97
Strange World: 1
Sanctuary: 0.87
Charlotte The Harlot: 0.92
Iron Maiden: 0.88 = 7.54 divide by 8 (tracks) = 94.3%
In my opinion, the album Iron Maiden is ranked 3rd out of Maiden's 13 studio albums, in terms of best to least best. This is a must have for any Maiden fan.