1.
Music video
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A music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys or marketing campaigns for food, although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by terms including illustrated song, filmed insert, promotional film, promotional clip, promotional video, song video. Music videos use a range of styles of contemporary videomaking techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation, music, combining these styles and techniques has become more popular because of the variation it presents to the audience. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the songs lyrics, other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the songs live performance. Product placement is a technique in music videos, exemplified by the appearance of the Beats Pill in numerous hip hop videos. In 1894, sheet music publishers Edward B, marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song The Little Lost Child. Using a magic lantern, Thomas projected a series of images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a form of entertainment known as the illustrated song. In 1926, with the arrival of many musical short films were produced. Vitaphone shorts featured many bands, vocalists and dancers, early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons. The early animated films by Walt Disney, such as the Silly Symphonies shorts and especially Fantasia, the Warner Brothers cartoons, even today billed as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, were initially fashioned around specific songs from upcoming Warner Brothers musical films. Live action musical shorts, featuring such performers as Cab Calloway, were also distributed to theaters. Blues singer Bessie Smith appeared in a short film called St. Louis Blues featuring a dramatized performance of the hit song. Numerous other musicians appeared in short musical subjects during this period, soundies, produced and released from 1940 to 1947, were musical films that often included short dance sequences, similar to later music videos
2.
Iron Maiden
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Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The bands discography has grown to thirty-eight albums, including sixteen studio albums, eleven albums, four EPs. Pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s,1 in 28 countries and receiving widespread critical acclaim. Their sixteenth studio album, The Book of Souls, was released on 4 September 2015 to similar success, the band won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002. As of October 2013, the band have played over 2000 live shows throughout their career. For the past 35 years, the band have been supported by their famous mascot, Eddie, Iron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributes the name to a film adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. After months of rehearsal, Iron Maiden made their debut at St. Nicks Hall in Poplar on 1 May 1976, before taking up a semi-residency at the Cart and Horses Pub in Maryland Point, Stratford. The original line-up did not last very long, however, with vocalist Paul Day being the first casualty as, according to Harris and he was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who used make-up and fake blood during live performances. Wilcocks friend Dave Murray was invited to join, to the dismay of the bands guitarists Dave Sullivan and their frustration led Harris to temporarily disband Iron Maiden in 1976, though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist. Steve Harris and Dave Murray remain the bands longest-standing members and have performed on all of their releases, Iron Maiden recruited yet another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who was sacked for embarrassing the band on stage by pretending to play guitar with his teeth. Tension ensued again, causing a rift between Murray and Wilcock, who convinced Harris to fire Murray, as well as original drummer Ron Matthews. A new line-up was put together, including future Cutting Crew member Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, and drummer Barry Purkis. A bad performance at the Bridgehouse, a pub located in Canning Town, in November 1977 was the line-ups first and only concert, at the same time, Moore was asked to leave as Harris decided that keyboards did not suit the bands sound. A few months later, Dennis Wilcock decided that he had had enough with the group and left to form his own band, V1, as he preferred to be the bands sole guitarist, Wapram disapproved of Murrays return and was also dismissed. Steve Harris, Dave Murray and Doug Sampson spent the summer, a chance meeting at the Red Lion pub in Leytonstone in November 1978 evolved into a successful audition for vocalist Paul DiAnno. Steve Harris has stated, Theres sort of a quality in Pauls voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge. At this time, Murray would typically act as their sole guitarist, with Harris commenting, the plan was always to get a second guitarist in, but finding one that could match Davey was really difficult
3.
Heavy metal music
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Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles are associated with aggression. The first heavy metal such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the evolution by discarding much of its blues influence, Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility. Beginning in the late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden, before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as metalheads or headbangers. During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with such as Mötley Crüe. Since the mid-1990s popular styles have further expanded the definition of the genre and these include groove metal and nu metal, the latter of which often incorporates elements of grunge and hip hop. Heavy metal is characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound. Metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes, the typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purples Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ, in 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III, by the 1990s, in. almost every subgenre of heavy metal synthesizers were used. The electric guitar and the power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a use of high volumes. Guitar solos are an element of the heavy metal code. That underscores the significance of the guitar to the genre, most heavy metal songs featur at least one guitar solo, which is a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity. One exception is nu metal bands, which tend to omit guitar solos, with rhythm guitar parts, the heavy crunch sound in heavy metal. Palm muting the strings with the hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more sound and it emphasizes the low end
4.
Live After Death
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Live After Death is a live album and video by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, originally released in October 1985 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US. It was recorded at Long Beach Arena, California and Hammersmith Odeon, London during the bands World Slavery Tour. The theatricality of the show meant that it would become one of the bands most acclaimed tours, making it the perfect backdrop to their first live double album. For the Live After Death video, the band hired director Jim Yukich to film two shows of their four night run at Long Beach Arena, California from 14 to 17 March 1985. The double LP release was recorded at Long Beach, although side four contains additional tracks. According to bassist Steve Harris, while the video used footage from two nights at Long Beach, the version is only made up of one performance. Harris also says that, even if they had had the time, they would not have added any studio overdubbing to the soundtrack, stating that we were really all that. We were very much, like, This has got to be totally live, since its release, the album has received consistent critical praise, with reviewers remarking that it is one of the genres best live albums. For the band, the release was extremely advantageous as it meant they could delay the recording of their follow up studio album. This time off following the World Slavery Tour was extremely beneficial for the band, the cover art was done by Derek Riggs, and pictures the bands mascot, Eddie, rising from a grave. Engraved on his tombstone is a quote from fantasy and horror fiction author H. P. Lovecrafts The Nameless City, also engraved onto the headstone is what appears to be Eddies full name, Edward T H--, the remainder of which is obscured by a clump of sod. The back cover depicts the rest of the graveyard and a city being destroyed by lightning, Death appears in the clouds above the destroyed city, the character is a regular feature of Riggs covers. To the cats left, there is a tombstone engraved with Here lies Derek Riggs, the intro before Aces High is a part of the We shall fight on the beaches speech made by Winston Churchill in the House of Commons on 4 June 1940. It was later used for their Ed Hunter Tour, Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, sputnikmusic argues that it is the bands best live album, concluding that Iron Maidens 1985 release has everything you could ask for. With, exciting renditions of songs, and brilliant performances. PopMatters describes it as a searing, 102-minute collection of Maiden at peak, an absolute treasure for fans went on to be universally regarded as an instant classic in the genre. The albums video counterpart received similar acclaim, with AllMusic stating that Live After Death is a visual pleasure as much as a sonic one. The elaborate staging and lighting effects are excellent, the editing is superb as well very few rapid-fire, seizure-inducing camera cuts
5.
Maiden England
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Maiden England is a live video by the band Iron Maiden during their Seventh Son of a Seventh Son world tour, which was dubbed Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour. It was recorded at the NEC in Birmingham, England on 27 and 28 November 1988, released on VHS in November 1989, the CD in this package does not include two songs that are in the video, due to space limitations. In 2013, the concert footage, including encores which were not featured in the original VHS, was reissued on DVD, CD and LP under the new title. The video was directed and edited by Steve Harris, Iron Maidens founder and this narrowed the bands options down to the NEC and Wembley Arena, but eventually chose the former as they were more amenable about the idea. According to manager Rod Smallwood, Harris briefing to the crew was to try and film as the fans saw it. So that he could edit the video at his own pace, Harris bought all of the equipment himself and installed it at his home in Essex. A DVD re-issue of the film was first mentioned by Iron Maiden in September 2007, with a release date set for 2008. On 12 February 2013, Iron Maiden announced that Maiden England would be re-released on DVD, CD and picture disc on 25 March 2013 under the title Maiden England 88. Along with the aforementioned encores, the new video also includes the part of the History of Iron Maiden documentary series as well as promo videos. From 2012 to 2014, Iron Maiden undertook the Maiden England World Tour, AllMusic gave the original VHS4 out of 5, deeming it a strong effort, but also stating that it is risky. Because it doesnt rely on hits and that it doesnt have the power of own extraordinary Live After Death from four years earlier. 12 Wasted Years 1987 film documenting the bands first 12 years with interviews, promotional clips for Wasted Years, Stranger in a Strange Land, Can I Play with Madness, The Evil That Men Do and The Clairvoyant. Production and performance credits are adapted from the VHS cover, reissue DVD and CD, and AllMusic
6.
LaserDisc
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LaserDisc is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978. It was not a format in Europe and Australia when first released but was popular in the 1990s. Its superior video and audio quality made it a choice among videophiles. The technologies and concepts behind LaserDisc were the foundation for later optical disc formats including Compact Disc, DVD, Optical video recording technology, using a transparent disc, was invented by David Paul Gregg and James Russell in 1958. The Gregg patents were purchased by MCA in 1968, by 1969, Philips had developed a videodisc in reflective mode, which has advantages over the transparent mode. MCA and Philips then decided to combine their efforts and first publicly demonstrated the video disc in 1972. LaserDisc was first available on the market, in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15,1978, Philips produced the players while MCA produced the discs. The Philips-MCA cooperation was not successful, and discontinued after a few years, several of the scientists responsible for the early research founded Optical Disc Corporation. In 1979, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago opened its Newspaper exhibit which used interactive LaserDiscs to allow visitors to search for the front page of any Chicago Tribune newspaper and this was a very early example of public access to electronically stored information in a museum. The first LaserDisc title marketed in North America was the MCA DiscoVision release of Jaws in 1978, the last title released in North America was Paramounts Bringing Out the Dead in 2000. The last Japanese released movie was the Hong Kong film Tokyo Raiders from Golden Harvest, a dozen or so more titles continued to be released in Japan, until the end of 2001. Production of LaserDisc players continued until January 14,2009, when Pioneer stopped making them and it was estimated that in 1998, LaserDisc players were in approximately 2% of U. S. households. By comparison, in 1999, players were in 10% of Japanese households, LaserDisc was released on June 10,1981 in Japan, and a total of 3.6 million LaserDisc players were sold there. A total of 16.8 million LaserDisc players were sold worldwide, by the early 2000s, LaserDisc was completely replaced by DVD in the North American retail marketplace, as neither players nor software were then produced. Players were still exported to North America from Japan until the end of 2001, the format has retained some popularity among American collectors, and to a greater degree in Japan, where the format was better supported and more prevalent during its life. In Europe, LaserDisc always remained an obscure format and it was chosen by the British Broadcasting Corporation for the BBC Domesday Project in the mid-1980s, a school-based project to commemorate 900 years since the original Domesday Book in England. From 1991 up until the early 2000s, the BBC also used LaserDisc technology to play out the channel idents, the standard home video LaserDisc was 30 cm in diameter and made up of two single-sided aluminum discs layered in plastic. Although appearing similar to compact discs or DVDs, LaserDiscs used analog video stored in the domain with analog FM stereo sound
7.
VHS
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The Video Home System is a standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes. Developed by Victor Company of Japan in the early 1970s, it was released in Japan in late 1976, from the 1950s, magnetic tape video recording became a major contributor to the television industry, via the first commercialized video tape recorders. At that time, the devices were used only in professional environments such as television studios. In the 1970s, videotape entered home use, creating the video industry and changing the economics of the television. The television industry viewed videocassette recorders as having the power to disrupt their business, in the 1980s and 1990s, at the peak of VHSs popularity, there were videotape format wars in the home video industry. Two of the formats, VHS and Betamax, received the most media exposure, VHS eventually won the war, dominating 60 percent of the North American market by 1980 and emerging as the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period. Optical disc formats later began to better quality than analog consumer video tape such as standard. The earliest of these formats, LaserDisc, was not widely adopted, however, after the introduction of the DVD format in 1997, VHSs market share began to decline. By 2008, DVD had replaced VHS as the preferred method of distribution. After several attempts by other companies, the first commercially successful VTR, at a price of US$50,000 in 1956, and US$300 for a 90-minute reel of tape, it was intended only for the professional market. Kenjiro Takayanagi, a broadcasting pioneer then working for JVC as its vice president, saw the need for his company to produce VTRs for the Japan market. In 1959, JVC developed a video tape recorder. In 1964, JVC released the DV220, which would be the companys standard VTR until the mid-1970s, in 1969 JVC collaborated with Sony Corporation and Matsushita Electric in building a video recording standard for the Japanese consumer. The effort produced the U-matic format in 1971, which was the first format to become a unified standard, U-matic was successful in business and some broadcast applications, but due to cost and limited recording time very few of the machines were sold for home use. Soon after, Sony and Matsushita broke away from the collaboration effort, Sony started working on Betamax, while Matsushita started working on VX. JVC released the CR-6060 in 1975, based on the U-matic format, Sony and Matsushita also produced U-matic systems of their own. In 1971, JVC engineers Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano put together a team to develop a consumer-based VTR, by the end of 1971 they created an internal diagram titled VHS Development Matrix, which established twelve objectives for JVCs new VTR. These included, The system must be compatible with any television set
8.
AllMusic
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AllMusic is an online music guide service website. It was launched in 1991 by All Media Guide which later became All Media Network, AllMusic was launched in 1991 by Michael Erlewine of All Media Guide. The aim was to discographic information on every artist whos made a record since Enrico Caruso gave the industry its first big boost and its first reference book was published the following year. When first released onto the Internet, AMG predated the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site, the AMG consumer web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in July 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. All Media Network, LLC. was formed by the founders of SideReel. com. The following are contributors to AllMusic, as of this date, All Media Network also produced the AllMusic guide series that includes the AllMusic Guide to Rock, the All Music Guide to Jazz and the All Music Guide to the Blues. Vladimir Bogdanov is the president of the series, in August 2007, PC Magazine included AllMusic in its Top 100 Classic Websites list. All Media Network AllGame AllMovie SideReel All Music Guide to the Blues All Music Guide to Jazz Stephen Thomas Erlewine Official website
9.
Stranger in a Strange Land (Iron Maiden song)
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Stranger in a Strange Land is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released as the second single from their sixth studio album, Somewhere in Time. The song is unrelated to Robert A. Heinleins novel by the same name, the lyrics are about an Arctic explorer who dies and is frozen in the ice. After a hundred years his body is preserved by other people exploring there. Adrian Smith was inspired to write about this song after talking to an explorer who had an experience of discovering a frozen body. The guitar solo in Stranger in a Strange Land is played by Adrian Smith, the lyrics brave new world were also present in Iron Maidens 2000 studio release, Brave New World. Eddies appearance on the cover is an homage to the Clint Eastwood character Man with No Name, although it can also be seen as a mixture of Deckard from Blade Runner. This version of Eddie would later be used in the Camp Chaos music video for Run to the Hills, in the top-right corner of the cover, the time on the clock appears as 11,58. This is a reference to an earlier Iron Maiden single,2 Minutes to Midnight, several cards can be seen falling from the table. One contains a picture of the Grim Reaper, like that on the Trooper cover, just under one of the stacks of cards, on the edge of the table, Derek Riggs signature can be seen. In the music video for a song, The Angel. The B-sides to this single, That Girl and Juanita, were played during The Entire Population of Hackney secret gig on 19 December 1985, with Adrian Smith on vocals. This is probably where the came from to play them as B-sides, especially with Adrians large presence on this single. That Girl was written by Merv Goldsworthy, Pete Jupp and Andy Barnett in an early line-up of the band FM and was one of the tracks which secured them a record deal with CBS in 1984. Marshall Fury never recorded a version of the song. Iron Maidens version features Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Nicko McBrain on drums and Adrian Smith on all guitars,7 single 12 single Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl, and 12 inch vinyl covers
10.
Running Free
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Running Free is the debut single by Iron Maiden, released on 8 February 1980 on the 745 rpm vinyl record format. It was written by Steve Harris and Paul DiAnno, the song appears as the third track on the bands debut album Iron Maiden. In 1985, a version of the song was released as the first single from Live After Death. In 1990, the single was reissued on CD and 12 vinyl as part of The First Ten Years box, in which it was combined with the bands next single. The 1985 live single was released as part of this box set. According to vocalist Paul DiAnno, who wrote the lyrics, it is a very autobiographical song. Its about being 16 and, like it says, just running wild and it comes from my days as a skinhead. The song is known to be one of the more traditional rock numbers, which Mick Wall describes as Iron Maiden at their punk-metal apotheosis. The singles cover art is known as the first official appearance of Iron Maidens mascot, Eddie. Several band names are spray painted on the wall behind the youth in the picture, as well as the word Hammers, ironically, the live singles cover art is the first not to feature Eddie, as it shows a real picture of the band performing on stage. It is one of the few recordings to feature Doug Sampson on drums, the guitar solo in this song is played by Dave Murray. Iron Maidens first single in Japan featured Prowler as the A-side, the cover used was the censored version of the Sanctuary single. 19807 UK single 19807 Japanese single 19857 live single 198512 live single Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl cover, and The First Ten Years CD re-release liner notes
11.
Women in Uniform
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Women in Uniform is a 1978 song originally recorded by the Australian band Skyhooks, it was written by the bands bass player, Greg Macainsh. It appeared on their album, Guilty Until Proven Insane. The single was released in Australia both in a 7 and 12 format with the non-LP B-sides Dont Take Yur Lurex To The Laundromat, the international version of the single contained BBBBBBBBBBBBBBoogie from the Guilty Until Proven Insane album. Iron Maidens cover of the song was the third single. It was released on 27 October 1980 in order to promote the second British leg of their Iron Maiden Tour, the song was also included on the Australian edition of their second album Killers, as it was originally a number eight hit in Australia for Skyhooks in 1978. In 1990, the 12 version was reissued on CD and 12 vinyl as part of The First Ten Years box set, in which it was combined with their following single, Twilight Zone. The idea to cover the song was suggested by the publishing company, Zomba. Hes not gonna pull us in any commercial direction, as a result, Platt was dismissed and Harris remixed the track himself. As a result, its appearance on CD is as part of The First Ten Years series. However its B-Side, Invasion appears remastered on the Best of the B Sides compilation, in spite of this, Women in Uniform would also be the basis of the bands first music-video, directed by Doug Smith and filmed at the Rainbow Theatre. Considered an unusual project for a band to undertake in the years preceding MTV, the single cover features an image of Margaret Thatcher with a Sterling submachine gun, preparing to attack the groups mascot, Eddie. The German 12 release of the featured a live version of Drifter instead of Invasion and had a different cover. Paul DiAnno - who sang for Iron Maiden when they recorded their version - recorded a version for his album The Classics - The Maiden Years in 2006
12.
Skyhooks (band)
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Skyhooks were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in March 1973 by mainstays Greg Macainsh on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Imants Freddie Strauks on drums. They were soon joined by Bob Bongo Starkie on guitar and backing vocals, according to music historian, Ian McFarlane made an enormous impact on Australian social life. Skyhooks had #1 albums on the Australian Kent Music Report with their 1974 debut, Living in the 70s and their #1 singles were Horror Movie and Jukebox in Siberia. Symons left Skyhooks in 1977 and became a radio and television personality, Strachan had solo releases since 1976 and finally left the band in 1978 and was also a radio and television presenter. With altered line-ups, Skyhooks continued until disbanded on 8 June 1980. In 1992, Skyhooks were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame, lead singer, Strachan died on 29 August 2001, aged 49, in a helicopter crash while solo piloting. Their original lead singer, Steve Hill, died in October 2005, aged 52, in 2011, the Skyhooks album Living in the 70s was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australias Sounds of Australia registry. Greg Macainsh and Imants Freddie Strauks both attended Norwood High School in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood and formed Spare Parts in 1966 with Macainsh on bass guitar, Spare Parts was followed by Sound Pump in 1968, Macainsh formed Reuben Tice in Eltham, with Tony Williams on vocals. By 1970 Macainsh was back with Strauks, now on drums, first in Claptrap, Frame also included Pat OBrien on guitar and Cynthio Ooms on guitar. Strachan had befriended Strauks earlier—he sang with Strauks on the way to parties—and was asked to join Claptrap which was renamed as Frame, Strachan stayed in Frame for about 18 months but left for a career in carpentry and a hobby of surfing in Phillip Island. The name, Skyhooks, came from an organisation in the 1956 film Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. Their first gig was on 16 April 1973 at St Judes Church hall in Carlton, at a later gig, former Daddy Cool frontman, Ross Wilson was playing in his group Mighty Kong with Skyhooks as a support act. Wilson was impressed with the band and signed Macainsh to a publishing deal. In August, Bob Bongo Starkie on guitar replaced his older brother Peter and Ingliss was replaced by Red Symons on guitar, vocals, the two new members added a touch of theatre and humour to the bands visual presence. By late 1973, Wilson had convinced Michael Gudinski to sign the band to his agency, Australian Entertainment Exchange. Two tracks from their set, Hey Whats the Matter. After seeing his performance on TV, Hill phoned Macainsh and resigned, to replace Hill, in March, Macainsh recruited occasional singer, surfer and carpenter Strachan from his Frame era. Strachan had been dubbed Shirley by fellow surfers due to his blond hair a la Shirley Temple
13.
The Number of the Beast (song)
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The Number of the Beast is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is Iron Maidens seventh single release, and the single from their 1982 studio album of the same name. It was reissued in 2005 and also prior to that in 1990 in The First Ten Years box set on CD and 12 vinyl, in which it was combined the previous single, Run to the Hills. Upon release in 1982, the song caused controversy in the United States where its religious subject matter caused outrage amongst religious groups. In spite of this, it one of the bands more popular songs, reaching No.18 in the UK singles charts. Additionally, the song has been covered numerous times and has appeared in video games. The song opens with a spoken word passage, read by English actor Barry Clayton, which quotes Revelation 12,12 and Revelation 13,18. According to lead vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, the band originally asked Vincent Price to read the intro, the track is known for its very long, high-pitched and guttural wail at the end of the intro, which AllMusic describes as the most blood-curdling Dickinson scream on record. The singles cover is the last of three singles to feature Riggs depiction of Satan, which debuted on the cover of the Purgatory single. The cover of The Number of the Beast is the aftermath to the cover of the Run to the Hills single where Eddie, the single was also released in red vinyl. The live version of Remember Tomorrow was recorded during the Killer World Tour in Padua, Italy on 29 October 1981 with Bruce Dickinson on vocals. Dickinson had sung live for the first time on an Iron Maiden tour only three nights earlier, on 26 October in Bologna, a month and a following the dismissal of previous vocalist Paul DiAnno. It is also the last single to feature Clive Burr on drums, since its release, the song has been covered by Avulsed, Iced Earth, Sinergy, Powderfinger, Djali Zwan, The Iron Maidens and many other bands. In addition, it was covered on a String Quartet Tribute to the band and this song has featured in video games, such as Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4, Guitar Hero III, Legends of Rock, and can be downloaded to Rock Band. On top of this, it can be heard in the film Murder by Numbers, in addition to the albums artwork and title, the song was a prominent target of religious groups in the United States who accused Iron Maiden of being a Satanic group. The controversy led to organised burnings of the albums as well as several protests during their 1982 tour. Steve Harris has since commented that the accusations made against them were mad and they completely got the wrong end of the stick. They obviously hadnt read the lyrics and they just wanted to believe all that rubbish about us being Satanists
14.
Sanctuary (Iron Maiden song)
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Sanctuary is the second single released by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The single was released on 23 May 1980, although originally issued as a non-album single, the song was added to the later US release of their debut studio record, Iron Maiden. When the album was re-released in 1998, the song was added in all territories, in 1990, the 12 version was reissued on CD and 12 vinyl in The First Ten Years box set, in which it was combined with their first single, Running Free. Already a regular in the live set, the Sanctuary single was released on 7 vinyl on 16 May during the UK leg of the Iron Maiden Tour. This version of the song was recorded during the Iron Maiden album sessions, the b-side includes two live songs recorded at the Marquee Club in London on 3 April 1980 - Drifter and a cover of Montroses Ive Got the Fire. The live version of Drifter includes an interaction part where the audience is invited to follow the lead singer as he chants Yo Yo Yo. The single performed better than their debut, Running Free. From 1998 onwards, the song was credited to Murray, bassist Steve Harris, the cover art caused controversy for the band as it depicted their mascot, Eddie, wielding a knife while crouching over the corpse of then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The bands manager, Rod Smallwood, explained the concept, The artwork is very tongue in cheek. At that time, Maggie had visited the old USSR and, Eddie took offence to this, and even more so when she started taking our posters. It was Smallwood himself who suggested to EMI that the cover be released with Thatchers face censored as this would give the tabloids an angle and draw attention to the single. The attempt to gain coverage proved successful, with the Daily Mirror running a story about the single, as well as publishing the artwork, on 20 May under the headline. The Daily Record also published an article which deemed the cover horrific, Margaret Thatcher would also appear on the bands next single, Women in Uniform, in which she is shown seeking revenge on Eddie with a machine gun. 19807 single 198012 single 198012 Dutch single only Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl cover
15.
Wasted Years
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Wasted Years is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is the fourteenth single released and the first from their sixth studio album. It is the song on the album that features no synthesizers. Released in 1986, it was the first single written by guitarist Adrian Smith. It reached number 18 in the UK Singles Charts, at the same time the chorus suggests the idea that one should move beyond past troubles and look forward. The original working title was Golden Years, as can be heard on numerous Somewhere on Tour bootlegs, the cover depicts the band mascot Eddies point of view as he flies a time machine. Only a part of Eddies face is seen, as a reflection in a screen, according to artist Derek Riggs, this is because the band did not want to reveal the mascot in his new cyborg guise until the album was released a few weeks later. As with the Somewhere in Time album sleeve, the cover also features the TARDIS from the BBC series Doctor Who. Riggs describes the illustration as a duffer and its a technical illustration of a keyboard of a time machine, with Eddie reflected in the window, because it was the only thing we could think of that wouldnt give Eddie away. Wasted Years is featured in Rock Band, the b-side Reach Out was sung by Adrian Smith, with regular lead singer Bruce Dickinson providing backing vocals. This song was performed live by Nicko McBrain and Smiths side project The Entire Population of Hackney. The demential song Sheriff of Huddersfield is about Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwoods decision to move to Los Angeles, apparently he had trouble adjusting to the LA lifestyle and often complained to the band about it. Interestingly Smallwood was unaware of the composition until it was released on the single, the song opens with the spoken line Were on a mission from Rod, a parody of the tagline for The Blues Brothers, Were on a mission from God. Later, a comedy piece called Bayswater Aint a Bad Place to Be. The song is composed in the key of E minor, Adrian Smith plays the guitar solo. It was featured on Somewhere On Tour, Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour, Real Live Tour, The Ed Hunter Tour, Somewhere Back in Time World Tour and Maiden England World Tour. It is currently the final song of the encore set on The Book of Souls World Tour. Janick Gers played the solo on Real Live Tour due to Smith leaving Iron Maiden in 1990 and he also played all Smiths guitar parts on few dates of Ed Hunter Tour, while Smith was absent
16.
The Trooper
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The Trooper is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as the single on 20 June 1983 from the bands fourth studio album. It was one of only a few songs to get radio airplay in the US. It also achieved success in the UK, peaking at No.12 in the UK Singles Charts as well as gaining a better reception than the bands previous single. A live version of the song, from Death on the Road, was issued in 2005, the bands manager, Rod Smallwood, has since criticised the decision, stating, Anyone would think wed killed the horses ourselves instead of using an old Errol Flynn movie. During a performance in Dublin in 2003, Dickinsons flag-waving reportedly received an amount of booing from the Irish audience. On 15 August 2005, a version of the song was released from the then upcoming live album. On 24 April 2016 during their first performance in Beijing China and this also occurred at the performance 2 days later in Shanghai, China. Iron Maiden created a beer called Trooper, named after the song, the loyalist representation frequently carried a tattered flag with the emblem of the Ulster Defence Association rather than the Union Flag as on the Iron Maiden sleeve. Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl cover
17.
Recording Industry Association of America
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The Recording Industry Association of America is a continental North and South American trade organization that represents the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA says create, the RIAA headquarters is in Washington, D. C. The RIAA was formed in 1952 and its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3 rpm,45 rpm. Since 2001, the RIAA has spent $2 to $6 million each year on lobbying in the United States, the RIAA also participates in the collective rights management of sound recordings, and it is responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the United States. Cary Sherman has been the RIAAs chairman and CEO since 2011, Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO. Mitch Glazier has been the RIAAs senior executive vice president since 2011 and he served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011. The past RIAA chairman and CEO is Mitch Bainwol, who served from 2003 to 2011 and he left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, the RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles, the criterion was changed in 1975 to the number of copies sold, with albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales, the awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members. Since 2000, the RIAA also operates a program for Latin music sales. Currently, a Disco De Oro is awarded for 30,000 units, the RIAA defines Latin music as a type of release with 51% or more of its content recorded in Spanish. In 2006, digital ringtones were added to branch of certification. In the same year, the RIAA introduced the Latin Digital Award for digital recordings in Spanish and this release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is different from other styles. Gold,50,000 Platinum,100,000 Multi-Platinum,200,000 copies The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music, studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to moderate. The association has commenced high-profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers and it has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children
18.
Steve Harris (musician)
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He is the only member of Iron Maiden to have remained in the band since their inception in 1975 and, along with guitarist Dave Murray, to have appeared on all of their albums. Harris has a recognisable and popular style of playing, particularly the gallop which can be found on several Iron Maiden recordings, such as the singles Run to the Hills. He has been cited as one of the greatest heavy metal bassists, on 24 September 2012, Harris released his debut solo album, British Lion. Harris was born and grew up in Leytonstone, where he grew up aspiring to be a professional footballer, scouted by Wally St Pier, Harris was asked to train for West Ham United. After gaining an interest in music in his early teens. Initially Harris wanted to play drums, but did not have space for a drum kit in his house. Entirely self-taught, his first bass was a copy of a Fender Precision model which cost him £40 in 1971. Just 10 months after he bought his first bass, Harris joined a band, initially known as Influence and later Gypsys Kiss, featuring Bob Verscoyle, Dave Smith and drummer Paul Sears. Upon leaving Smiler, Harris went on to create Iron Maiden on Christmas Day 1975, since their inception, Harris has been the bands principal composer and lyricist. His song writing typically showcases his trademark galloping bass patterns, which features heavily in such as The Trooper and Run to the Hills. Harris frequently writes lyrics about mythology, history or topics inspired from books and films, reflecting his interests, in September 2012, Harris released his first solo album, British Lion. Speaking to Kerrang. in September 2012, Harris stated that he considers the record to be more of a side-project than a solo album, as he is more comfortable in a band environment. In an interview with Classic Rock in August, Harris stated that he will be releasing solo albums. Harris has taken the outfit on two separate European club tours in 2013 and 2014, with a tour taking place in 2016. On 2 September 2016, Harris announced that he intends to issue an album recorded at shows from across the three tours. Harris eldest daughter, Lauren, is a singer and supported Iron Maiden with her outfit in 2006 and 2008. In 2008, she released an album, entitled Calm Before the Storm. In 1993, Harris was divorced from his wife, Lorraine and this dark period in his life, which he described as probably the toughest time Ive ever faced, is credited with inspiring the mood of the following Iron Maiden album, 1995s The X Factor
19.
Dave Murray (musician)
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David Michael Dave Murray is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as one of the earliest members of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Along with the groups bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris, Murray has appeared on all of the bands releases, after leaving school at 15, he regularly answered advertisements which appeared in Melody Maker before auditioning for Iron Maiden in 1976. A short while later, Murray was sacked following an argument with the lead vocalist, Dennis Wilcock. In the Spring of 1978, Murray was asked to rejoin Iron Maiden following Wilcocks departure, as a child, Murrays family lived in poverty and were constantly moving to different areas of London, which meant that he was often bullied and involved in fights. By the time his family settled in Clapton in 1970, Murray joined a gang and had a violent couple of years of being out on the street. He developed an interest in music when he was 15 after hearing Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix on the radio, about which he recalls, everything changed. Getting into rock music wasnt like a gradual process for me, it was sort of extreme, totally black. I heard Voodoo Chile on the radio and I thought, Bloody hell, and I started hanging around the rock music section of the record stores and buying albums, thinking about getting into the big time, wondering what that would be like. After hanging round record stores and acquiring several Hendrix and blues albums, at 16, he formed his first band, a trio called Stone Free, which also included Adrian Smith on vocals, who would also become a member of Iron Maiden in 1980. There was no way I was gonna let Dave go, not only was he a nice bloke, he was just the best guitarist Id ever worked with. During his short tenure with this group, Murray recorded one single, Murrays solo guitar style throughout his career has been mainly based on the legato technique, such as on The Trooper, which he claims evolved naturally. Id heard Jimi Hendrix using legato when I was growing up and he has also written songs for the band, though he is less prolific than other band members, usually forgoing lyric writing and concentrating on the musical elements of songwriting. He mainly co-writes songs with another member of Iron Maiden, Charlotte the Harlot being to date the composition to which he is solely credited. Murray and Harris are the members of Iron Maiden to have appeared on every one of the bands releases. Along with Adrian Smith, he appears at no.9 on Gibsons list of the Top 10 Metal Guitarists of All Time, Murray played with the jazz ensemble on Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrains instructional video Rhythms of the Beast. He has used Fender Stratocaster guitars almost exclusively as well and his black 1957/63 Stratocaster, previously owned by the late Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, was used from circa 1978–1990. In addition to Fender guitars, Murray has occasionally performed with various Dean, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP, during the Dance of Death World Tour 2003-4, Murray used a Gibson Chet Atkins acoustic guitar for live performances of the song Journeyman. On stage, Murray has also performed with a cream USA Floyd Rose Classic Stratocaster, a custom Stratocaster based on his aforementioned Paul Kossof Fender, in 2015, Fender announced a second Artist Signature model, based on his California Series Stratocaster
20.
Adrian Smith
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Adrian Frederick H Smith is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Iron Maiden, for whom he writes songs and performs live backing vocals on some tracks. Smith grew up in Camden, London and became interested in music at 15. He soon formed a friendship with future Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray, after leaving school at 16, he formed a band called Urchin, which he led until their demise in 1980. He joined Iron Maiden in November 1980, replacing Dennis Stratton, following a short-lived solo project called ASAP, he left Iron Maiden in 1990 and formed a group called Psycho Motel. In 1997, Psycho Motel was put on hold and he joined the band of former Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, Smith and Dickinson returned to Iron Maiden in 1999, after which the band gained new success. Smith has a current side project called Primal Rock Rebellion, born in Hackney, Smith grew up in Clapton. He purchased his first record, Deep Purples Machine Head, at the age of 15. This led him to befriend Dave Murray, with whom he formed a band called Stone Free, which comprised Murray on guitar, Smith on vocals and their friend, Dave McCloughlin, playing the bongos. After seeing the attention Murray received from girls, Smith took up the guitar, starting with an old Spanish guitar once owned by his brother, before purchasing an old one of Murrays for £5. His early influences included Johnny Winter and Pat Travers, which he made him a melodic player rather than a speed merchant or a shredder as he was inspired by blues rock rather than metal. Leaving school after completing his O-levels, Smith formed a band called Evil Ways, including Dave Murray on guitar, in this outfit, Smith began writing his own material, including 22 Acacia Avenue, which was later included on Iron Maidens The Number of the Beast. At this point, Murray left the band to join Iron Maiden and Urchin signed with DJM Records and released a single, Black Leather Fantasy, in 1977. Without a band, Smith was left wondering what to do next, before he literally bumped into Steve and Dave, who asked if he might want to reconsider joining. After a successful audition, Smith debuted with the band on a German TV show, before setting out on a UK tour and recording the Killers album, released in 1981. Smith and Dave Murray combined playing dual lead guitars, creating what AllMusic calls the most formidable twin-guitar attack in heavy metal, outside of Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing. Smith, along with Steve Harris, also provides the backing vocals, although he sang lead on Reach Out. While Iron Maiden were taking time off in 1989, Smith released a solo LP with the band ASAP, entitled Silver and Gold. No Prayer for the Dying contained one last Smith song, co-penned with Bruce Dickinson, after leaving, Smith started a family with his Canadian wife, Nathalie, and would not play guitar again until he joined Iron Maiden onstage at Donington Park in 1992 to perform Running Free
21.
Bruce Dickinson
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Paul Bruce Dickinson, known professionally as Bruce Dickinson, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, airline pilot, author and broadcaster. He is the singer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden and is renowned for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style. Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands in the 1970s while attending school in Sheffield and university in London. In 1979, he joined the new wave of British heavy metal band Samson, with whom he gained popularity under the stage name Bruce Bruce. He left Samson in 1981 to join Iron Maiden, replacing Paul DiAnno, during his first tenure in the band, they issued a series of US and UK platinum and gold albums in the 1980s. Dickinson quit Iron Maiden in 1993 to pursue his solo career and he rejoined the band in 1999, along with guitarist Adrian Smith, with whom he has released five subsequent studio albums. Since his return to Iron Maiden, he issued one further solo record in 2005 and his younger cousin, Rob Dickinson, is the former lead singer of British alternative rock band Catherine Wheel, while his son, Austin, fronted the metalcore band Rise to Remain. Outside his career in music, Dickinson is well known for his variety of other pursuits. Following Astraeus closure, he created his own maintenance and pilot training company in 2012. Paul Bruce Dickinson was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and his mother, Sonia, worked part-time in a shoe shop, and his father, Bruce, was a mechanic in the army. Dickinsons birth hurried the young couple, then just teenagers, into marriage, initially, he was brought up by his grandparents, his grandfather was a coal-face worker at the local colliery and his grandmother was a housewife. This is referred to in his song Born In 58 from the album Tattooed Millionaire, Dickinson started school at Manton Primary in Worksop while his parents moved away to Sheffield. Soon afterwards, when he was six, he was despatched to Sheffield. After six months, his parents decided to move him to a private school called Sharrow Vale Junior. Due to constant moving, Dickinson states that this period of his life taught him to be self-reliant as he was unable to close friends. Dickinson has a sister, professional showjumper Helena Stormanns, who was born in 1963. He tried to isolate himself from her as much as he could when he was young, supposedly out of spite because she, unlike him, was a planned pregnancy and birth. Dickinsons first musical experience was dancing in his grandparents front room to Chubby Checkers The Twist, the first record Dickinson recalls owning was The Beatles single She Loves You, which he managed to persuade his grandfather to buy him, which made him more interested in music
22.
Nicko McBrain
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Michael Henry Nicko McBrain is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, which he joined in 1982. He joined Iron Maiden in time to debut on their album, Piece of Mind. McBrain was born in Hackney, London, and first wanted to learn the drums at an age after watching Joe Morello performing with The Dave Brubeck Quartet on television. McBrain recalls that he was eleven or twelve before his father bought him his first drum kit and he soon started playing Rolling Stones and Beatles covers with school bands, before he began regularly playing pubs and weddings by the age of 14. McBrain liked the name, changing it to Nicko so that it sounded more English and he is often considered among the best and most influential heavy metal/hard rock drummers of all time. McBrain often employs the back end of his hand drum stick to allow for more powerful snare hits. He is known for not using a bass pedal, with Bruce Dickinson commenting that he refused to use one on Where Eagles Dare. He claims to have ever used a double pedal once on Face in the Sand, from Dance of Death. Since switching to the DW pedal in 2000, McBrain plays barefoot, Steve Harris remarks that. he can play all kinds of music. Drummers from other bands sit round the back of him to see what hes doing, after McBrain joined the band in 1982, Harris also noted how much easier playing with McBrain was for a songwriter, with Adrian Smith claiming that, Steve loves playing with him. Used to work for hours going over these bass and drum patterns, in 1988, McBrain collaborated with Andrew Chapman on a book entitled Iron Maiden & Nicko McBrains Rhythms of the Beast, which was published by Warner Bros. The book featured complete transcriptions of McBrains drum work on twelve classic Iron Maiden songs, after selling internationally for several years, the book was taken out of print. Used copies are found for sale online. In 1991, McBrain released an instructional video, entitled Rhythms of the Beast. The video features McBrain demonstrating his technique, and covers tuning, soloing, McBrain is a long-time user of Paiste cymbals and currently plays Sonor drums, having previously endorsed Premier. For A Matter of Life and Death he used his Ludwig metal shell LM402 snare drum which was purchased in 1975 and he endorses Vic Firth signature drum sticks, also using them for his own drumming. As of 2016, McBrain also uses Remo drumheads, Sonor hardware, an LP cowbell, McBrains cymbals do not bear the standard Paiste logos. They are labelled with the name using the Iron Maiden logo font
23.
Janick Gers
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Janick Gers began his career as the lead guitarist of the new wave of British heavy metal band White Spirit, before joining Gillan, a group formed by then-former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. After Gillan disbanded, Gers undertook a Humanities degree before joining Gogmagog, the project expanded into an album, Tattooed Millionaire, and during its recording Gers was asked to join Iron Maiden in place of Adrian Smith. He has remained with the band ever since, even after Smith rejoined the band in 1999, Gers main influences are Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck and Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher. He is noted for his stage presence, which often involves performing tricks with his guitar, such as throwing it into the air. He is also left-handed although he plays guitar right-handed, he can be seen signing autographs with his hand in the Rock in Rio DVD. He has two children with his wife Sandra, Sian and Dylan Gers, and lives in Yarm and his father, Bolesław, was an officer of the Polish Navy before he came to England and joined the Royal Navy. Gers is a fan of Hartlepool United and often stands in the Millhouse Terrace at Victoria Park on match-days, Gers is a graduate of the English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College. Gers had a part in the BBC drama The Paradise Club in 1990. He appeared in the 2010 fan-made Iron Maiden documentary Maiden Heaven, Gers is a long-time proponent of the Fender Stratocaster. His guitars are typically black or white with rosewood fingerboards and Seymour Duncan JB Jr. and his favourite guitar over the years has been a black Stratocaster, equipped with JB Jr. pick-ups, which was given to him by Ian Gillan. Gers uses four different Fender Stratocasters, as well as a Gibson Chet Atkins semi-acoustic model for such as Dance of Death. Gers is currently endorsed by Sandberg Guitars, and he uses a California ST-S tobacco hc-aged, like his bandmates, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, Gers currently uses the Marshall JMP-1 preamp through a Marshall 9200 power amp. Preferring not to use foot-switches while playing, Gers roadie operates his MIDI Foot Controller offstage, favouring cables, Gers only uses a Shure UR4D wireless system when he throws his guitar around. He uses Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Nickel-wound guitar strings, although he does not use the B strings, Iron Maidens official website Janick Gers at the Internet Movie Database Janick Gers at AllMusic Gers 2000 Iron Maiden Guitar Rig
24.
Paul Di'Anno
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Paul Andrews, better known by his stage name Paul DiAnno, is a British singer best known as the first vocalist to record with heavy metal band Iron Maiden, from 1977 to 1981. DiAnno was born and grew up in Chingford – spending his teenage years singing in rock bands and working as a butcher. According to Iron Maidens The History of Iron Maiden – Part 1, The Early Days DVD, he was introduced to the band by drummer Doug Sampson, an old friend of Harris from his days in the band Smiler. It was around this time that he first adopted the stage name DiAnno and their first audition with Rod Smallwood reputedly failed when DiAnno was arrested for showing off his pocket-knife in public. 1981 saw the release of their album, Killers, as well as a stopgap live EP. They found a replacement in former Samson frontman Bruce Dickinson, in 1981, DiAnno left Iron Maiden after a meeting with the band and their manager Rod Smallwood. In DiAnnos words, Its like having Mussolini and Adolf Hitler run your band, because it is Rod Smallwood and Steve Harris and thats it. There cant be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an Steve was always fighting, DiAnno was paid out by Smallwood at the time of his departure and does not receive royalties on Iron Maiden songs. DiAnno was the first project by Paul DiAnno after he was fired from Iron Maiden, on the tour Paul refused to play any Iron Maiden songs, playing only their own songs and a few other covers. Having little success, the band disbanded shortly after they were done touring. The only other recordings available from this band are a single of Heartuser, a Japanese single of Flaming Heart, during the latter performance, the band played an unreleased song entitled Spiritual Guidance, which Paul told the audience would be on the bands forthcoming album. The group, called Gogmagog, was put together by DJ, Gogmagog was a rock opera project. King brought in DiAnno, drummer Clive Burr, guitarists Janick Gers, russ Ballard wrote the title song with King writing the other two songs and the 3 track EP called I Will Be There was recorded. However, although praised by rock critics, the EP did not chart. After the breakup of his band, DiAnno formed Strike with DeeRal who recruited drummer Bob Falck. The project was eventually named Battlezone, after a straight from a comic book. Paul had previously known guitarists John Wiggins and John Hurley from bands such as Deep Machine, the bands initial line-up comprised DiAnno, guitarists John Wiggins & John Hurley, bassist Laurence Kessler and Adam Parsons on drums. The latter had gone under the stage name A. D,1986 also saw the enrollment of former Lonewolf and Tokyo Blade guitarist John Wiggins
25.
Dennis Stratton
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Dennis William Stratton is a guitar player who is best known as a former member of the British band Iron Maiden from December 1979 to October 1980. Born in Canning Town, London, Dennis Stratton early in life was a schoolboy footballer. A keen fan of the East End music scene, his first serious band was performing with Harvest, who later became Wedgewood in 1973, after two years he and Edwards, then formed the locally popular Remus Down Boulevard in 1975. Playing to large crowds, touring in support with Rory Gallagher and Status Quo, Stratton was invited to join Iron Maiden as a second lead guitarist and backing vocalist by Steve Harris after he had seen Stratton playing with Remus Down Boulevard. The band, needing a new drummer after prior drummer Doug Sampson left the band, Stratton participated in the recording and production of the groups first album, Iron Maiden in early 1980. Some concert bootlegs exist including a performance at the 1980 Reading Festival. Stratton was also a member of Iron Maiden during their 1980 European tour, Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980. Accounts of the reason for Stratton departure vary, Stratton has mentioned that he left due to conflicts with manager Rod Smallwood, both Smallwood and Harris said they rated him as a singer and guitarist. Officially the band stated musical differences being the reason for his leaving Stratton was replaced by Adrian Smith, since the recording of the bands first album, Stratton has been the only member of Iron Maiden not to have contributed to the writing of any recorded material. Stratton officially left Praying Mantis in 2006, although his recorded material with them was in 2003. In 1995, Stratton had a project with former Iron Maiden singer Paul DiAnno called The Original Iron Men in which both of them sang, Stratton can still be seen playing in pubs around the East London area and also in Essex. Stratton also performs in a reformed Remus Down Boulevard and often tours Europe with various bands playing classic-era Iron Maiden songs, Stratton is also endorsed by Caparison Guitars, from his tenure with Praying Mantis. When live, he uses a Marshall Twin Valvestate combo and a Boss effects/control unit, Dennis Stratton Discography, Accessed 10 July 2005
26.
Clive Burr
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Clive Burr was an English drummer, best known as a member of Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979, Burr was fired from the band in 1982 during The Beast on the Road tour. He was replaced by the current drummer, Nicko McBrain. Burr also appeared on The Number of the Beast and Run to the Hills videos, in an interview with Classic Rock in February 2011, Burr candidly discussed his split from Maiden. Describing much of what has been written about the split as hogwash, after leaving Iron Maiden, Burr briefly played in the French group Trust, thus switching places with McBrain, and briefly with the American band Alcatrazz. He also had a known as Clive Burrs Escape, featuring former Praying Mantis members. Burr then joined Dee Snider in his post-Twisted Sister outfit Desperado, Burr performed with British bands Elixir and Praying Mantis in the 1990s, but did not become a member of either. Burrs signature white drum kit was donated to the Hard Rock Cafe in London in 2005, Burr was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the treatment of which left him deeply in debt. Iron Maiden staged a series of charity concerts and were involved in the founding of the Clive Burr MS Trust Fund, Burr used a wheelchair because of his condition. He was also the patron of Clive Aid, a charity formed in 2004, Clive Aid has continued to raise awareness and funds for various cancer and multiple sclerosis programs around the world through the staging of rock events. Burr attended many of these events and his partner Mimi was also diagnosed with MS. Burr died in his sleep on 12 March 2013 in London, four days after his 56th birthday, in a statement released on the bands website Iron Maiden bass player Steve Harris stated This is terribly sad news. Clive was an old friend of all of us. He was a person and an amazing drummer who made a valuable contribution to Maiden in the early days when we were starting out. This is a sad day for everyone in the band and those around him and our thoughts and condolences are with his partner Mimi, Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson stated Even during the darkest days of his M. S. Clive never lost his sense of humour or irreverence, a funeral service was held for Burr on 25 March 2013 in London. Burrs style was influential on many heavy metal drummers, charlie Benante of Anthrax said, the drumming on ’Killers’ inspired me to kick it up a notch and I did. According to Dave McClain, drummer for Machine Head, who considers Burr a huge influence, other drummers like Paul Bostaph, Stefan Schwarzmann, Chris Reifert, Steve Asheim, Jan Axel Blomberg, Jason Bittner and Richard Christy also cited Burr as an influence
27.
Blaze Bayley
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Blaze Bayley is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and lyricist. He was the singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994. Bayley was also the singer for Iron Maiden from 1994 to 1999. Since then, he has embarked on a solo career, Bayley was born Bayley Alexander Cooke in Birmingham, England on 29 May 1963. Bayley started his career as the lead vocalist of Wolfsbane. The first album, Live Fast, Die Fast, was released in 1989, prior to this, they had recorded three demos entitled Wolfsbane, Dancin Dirty and Wasted but Dangerous. This last one was recorded at Square Dance Studios, Derby and they were the supporting act for Iron Maidens UK division of their No Prayer on the Road tour in 1990. Wolfsbanes second release, an EP titled All Hells Breaking Loose Down at Little Kathy Wilsons Place, was released the same year. The bands second studio album Down Fall the Good Guys, was released in 1991. Def American dropped Wolfsbane as they felt that the band were not selling well enough and this did not stop the band from being voted as the UKs best unsigned act in 1993. The same year, the released a live album, Massive Noise Injection. The band released their studio album, the self-titled Wolfsbane, in 1994. A limited edition of this included the EP Everything Else. When Bruce Dickinson departed fellow English heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 1993, in 2007, Wolfsbane reformed for a one-off performance, with Bayley again taking up vocal and frontman duties. They supported The Wildhearts on a short UK tour in December 2007 and their next tour came in December 2009 supporting the Quireboys on their A Little Bit of What You Fancy 20th Anniversary Tour. Wolfsbane played a show at the Borderline in London on 9 April 2011. This was followed by a tour supporting Saxon in April 2011, a new album followed an Ep called Did it for the money and a successful UK tour in 2011. Bayley was chosen as Bruce Dickinsons replacement after hundreds of auditions and his departure from Wolfsbane led to their disbandment later that year
28.
Iron Maiden (album)
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Iron Maiden is the eponymous debut studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was issued by EMI on 14 April 1980 in the UK, the North American version also included the song Sanctuary, previously released in the UK as a non-album single. In 1998, along with the rest of the bands pre-1995 releases and it is the bands only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton. Prior to the sessions with Malone, the band made two attempts in December 1979 with two different producers while still a four-piece. Guy Edwards, the first, was dismissed as the band were unhappy with the quality in his production. After these efforts, the decided not to sack Malone as Steve Harris describes that they could bypass him. The group criticised the quality of the production, although fans still prefer the raw quality of the sound recording. Although AllMusic states that this style was clearly drawing from elements of punk rock, when he was soloing on one of the heavier songs, it wasnt with quite the same passion. The track originally appeared on the Metal for Muthas compilation, but was re-recorded during the Iron Maiden sessions, the re-release also features a different cover, a digital recreation by original artist Derek Riggs, with a portion of the original artwork instead being used on the disc itself. Running Free was released as a single on 8 February 1980, vocalist Paul DiAnno, who wrote the songs lyrics, describes it as a very autobiographical song, though of course Ive never spent the night in an LA jail. Its about being 16 and, like it says, just running wild and it comes from my days as a skinhead. The Sanctuary single was released on 7 June 1980 and charted at No,29, with the censored cover of Eddie, the bands mascot, standing over Margaret Thatchers body earning the band publicity in the British press. Managers Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylors management company would be named after the song, although Strange World is credited solely to Harris, Paul Day, the bands original vocalist from 1975-1976, claimed that he also contributed to the song. The 7-minute epic Phantom of the Opera is also one of Steve Harriss personal favourites and is performed live relatively frequently. With lots of mood and time-changes, Harris marks it as the first song I’d written that was a bit more proggy, Transylvania is an instrumental piece, composed by Harris, which was later covered by Iced Earth on the album Horror Show. All of the songs, excluding Strange World, have been recorded with Bruce Dickinson on vocals, either on live albums. Strange World and Transylvania were the songs not played on the Eddie Rips Up The World Tour,2005. Four songs were covered for the 2008 tribute album Maiden Heaven, magazine, and an acoustic reinterpretation of Prowler was included in 2012s Across The Seventh Sea by the acoustic Iron Maiden tribute project Maiden uniteD
29.
Killers (Iron Maiden album)
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The album was their first with guitarist Adrian Smith, and their last with vocalist Paul DiAnno, who was sacked after problems with his stage performance arose due to his alcohol and cocaine use. Killers was also the first Iron Maiden album recorded with the assistance of producer Martin Birch, killers is the only Iron Maiden album to feature two instrumentals, and was written almost exclusively by Steve Harris, with only minor assistance from the rest of the band. In addition, The Ides of March, which serves as the opening track, the North American edition, which came out a few months after it did in the UK, was initially released on Harvest Records/Capitol Records and subsequently on Sanctuary Records/Columbia Records. The song Twilight Zone was also added to the album, the Killer World Tour was the tour in support of the album and would feature the bands earliest shows in the US, the first being at The Aladdin, Las Vegas in support of Judas Priest. The song Wrathchild is the regularly played track from the album. The US Castle Records 1995 bonus disc contains live tracks which originally appeared on the 1981 EP Maiden Japan. The song Wrathchild was covered in 2003 by the English metal band Sikth, Wrathchild was featured in the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero Encore, Rocks the 80s. Appears as a track on the reissue to American Death Metal band Six Feet Under 1999 album Maximum Violence. Production and performance credits are adapted from the liner notes. G. Brunelli – photography Simon Fowler – photography Denis ORegan – photography George Chin – photography
30.
The Number of the Beast (album)
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The Number of the Beast is the third studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released in March 1982. It was their first release to feature vocalist Bruce Dickinson and their last with the drummer Clive Burr, the album also produced the singles Run to the Hills and The Number of the Beast, the former of which was the bands first top-ten UK single. The album was controversial, particularly in the US, due to the religious references in its artwork. The Number of the Beast is Iron Maidens only album to include songwriting credits from Clive Burr and was the bands first album to feature writing by guitarist Adrian Smith. In addition, the release saw Steve Harris adopt a different approach to writing, the albums producer Martin Birch remarked, I simply didnt think was capable of handling lead vocals on some of the quite complicated directions I knew Steve wanted to explore. When Bruce joined, it opened up the possibilities for the new album tremendously, according to several interviews, Dickinson was heavily involved in writing several of the albums songs, and in particular the tracks Children of the Damned, The Prisoner and Run to the Hills. The recording and mixing of the album had to be completed in five weeks. This was because the group were for the first time creating a new album from scratch and this all climaxed when Birch was involved in a car accident with a mini-bus transporting a group of nuns, after which he was presented with a repair bill for £666. Released alongside a video, made using live footage and clips from Buster Keaton films. As they were rushing to complete the album in time, as well as record and mix the single for an earlier release. Several band-members have since expressed regret over the decision, with Steve Harris commenting, I think if Total Eclipse had been on the album instead of Gangland it would have been far better. We had just enough time to do what we did, in addition, Harris has stated that the lyrics were also influenced by Robert Burns Tam o Shanter. The track opens with an introduction from the Book of Revelation. According to Dickinson, the band originally approached Vincent Price to record the passage, although the liner notes state that the passage is from Revelations 13,18, the first line comes from 12,12. The closing song Hallowed Be Thy Name has remained in all, AllMusic describes the track as perhaps the most celebrated of the bands extended epics, its the tale of a prisoner about to be hanged, featuring some of Harris most philosophical lyrics. Several band-members have since stated that it is one of their tracks, with Dickinson describing it as fantastic. A live version of the song was released in 1993, gaining the band another top ten placement in the UK Singles Chart. Children of the Damned is based on the films Village of the Damned and Children of the Damned, which in turn were adapted from the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
31.
Piece of Mind
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It was the first album to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who had recently left the Paris-based band Trust and has been Iron Maidens drummer ever since. Piece of Mind was a critical and commercial success, reaching No.3 in the UK Albums Chart and achieving platinum certification in the UK, soon afterwards, the band went to Jersey to compose the songs, taking over the hotel Le Chalet and rehearsing in its restaurant. In February, the band journeyed for the first time to the Bahamas to record the album at Nassaus Compass Point Studios, recordings were finished in March, and afterwards the album was mixed at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. This is the first of five Iron Maiden albums that were not named after a song featured on the album itself. Included in the notes is a slightly altered version of a passage from the Book of Revelation, which reads, And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Neither shall there be any more brain, for the things are passed away. The actual text is identical, except that it reads, neither shall there be any more pain rather than brain. In a lower corner on the side of the album cover, there is this message. Film influences are present, such as Where Eagles Dare, based on the Brian G. Hutton 1968 film, scripted by Alistair MacLean. On top of this, Revelations, written by Dickinson, includes lines from G. K. Chestertons hymn O God of Earth and Altar, more exotic influences include Greek mythology, albeit slightly altered, for Flight of Icarus. To Tame a Land was meant to be entitled Dune after the novel, at the beginning of the sixth track, Still Life, the band included a hidden message which could only be understood by playing the song backwards. This was a joke and a swing back at the critics who had accused Iron Maiden of being Satanic. The phrase itself is taken from the satirical album The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin by Bird, what ho and What ho said the ting are phrases that also crop up regularly on McBrains Listen With Nicko. Tracks from The First Ten Years collection, according to McBrain, We were sick and tired of being labelled as Devil worshippers and all this bollocks by these fucking morons in the States, so we thought, Right, you want to take the piss. Well show you how to take the piss, my son. And one of the boys taped me in the middle of this Idi Amin routine I used to do when Id had a few drinks, I remember it distinctly ended with the words, Dont meddle wid tings yo dont understand. We thought, if people were going to be stupid about this sort of thing, we might as well give them something to be stupid about. Piece of Mind was released on 28 May 1983, peaking at No.3 in the UK Albums Chart and it was preceded by the single Flight of Icarus on 28 April and its supporting tour, the World Piece Tour, opened at Hull City Hall on 2 May
32.
Somewhere in Time (Iron Maiden album)
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Somewhere in Time is the sixth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 29 September 1986 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in North America. The studio follow-up to the hugely successful Powerslave/Live After Death pair, since its release, it has been certified platinum by the RIAA, having sold over one million copies in the US alone. Somewhere on Tour was the supporting tour. Somewhere in Time is the bands first studio effort following the extensive World Slavery Tour of 1984-85, the resulting exhaustion is credited as the main factor in the complete lack of songwriting contributions from lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, whose material was rejected by the rest of the band. Dickinson had written several acoustic-based songs, explaining that I felt we had to come up with our Physical Graffiti or Led Zeppelin IV. Following the World Slavery Tour, the group were given four months to recuperate, with Harris, Smith and guitarist Dave Murray spending the time experimenting with new equipment. It was also one of their most expensive records, with the bass and drums recorded in the Bahamas, the guitars and vocals recorded in The Netherlands and the mixing taking place in New York. While the majority of the songs have disappeared from the bands live shows shortly after its supporting tour, Wasted Years. Performances of Heaven Can Wait have featured groups of local fans, the 2008 tribute CD Maiden Heaven, A Tribute to Iron Maiden, released by Kerrang. Magazine, features covers of two of the songs, Wasted Years by DevilDriver and Caught Somewhere in Time by Madina Lake. The cover for Somewhere in Time, created by the then regular artist Derek Riggs, displays a cyborg-enhanced Eddie in a futuristic
33.
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
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Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the seventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 11 April 1988 by the EMI label in Europe, and its sister label Capitol in North America. It was re-released on 2002 by Sanctuary/Columbia in the United States and it is the first Iron Maiden release to feature keyboards. Like The Number of the Beast and, later, Fear of the Dark, The Final Frontier and The Book of Souls, it debuted at No.1 in the UK Albums Chart. The idea to base the album around the concept of the seventh son of a seventh son came to bassist Steve Harris after he read Orson Scott Cards Seventh Son. Harris states, It was our seventh album and I didnt have a title for it or any ideas at all. But then I rang Bruce and started talking about it and the idea just grew, and of course I was really chuffed, too, because hed actually rung me to talk about it and ask me if I had any songs that might fit that sort of theme. I was like, Well, no, but give me a minute, speaking about the record in later years, however, Dickinson remarked that we almost did, explaining that, it was only half a concept album. There was no attempt to see it all the way through and its about good and evil, heaven and hell, but isnt every Iron Maiden record. In addition to Dickinsons return to writing, the album was notable for its number of co-written pieces, in contrast to its predecessor. According to Harris, this was probably because they spent more time checking up on each other to see what else was up to, just to make sure the story fitted properly. To make sure each song fitted with the concept, the band drew up a basic outline for the story. I probably took longer over the writing Ive done on this album than any Ive done before, but the stuff we all started coming up with, once wed agreed that we were definitely going for a fully fledged concept album, really startled me. It was so much better than anything wed done in ages, according to Dickinson, the band decided not to hire a keyboard player, with the parts being mainly one-finger stuff from Adrian, Steve, the engineer or whoever had a finger free at the time. Harris was fond of the development, in spite of the fact that the record did not sell as well as its predecessor in the United States, everyone said afterwards that it was a European-sounding album. Im not so sure about that, to me, its just a Maiden-sounding album. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and its supporting tour marked the last appearance of Adrian Smith until he returned to the band in 1999, the Clairvoyant was the first track written for the album. According to Steve Harris, the lyrics were inspired by the death of psychic Doris Stokes. According to Smith, the song Can I Play with Madness actually started life as a ballad I had been working on called On the Wings of Eagles, then Bruce had a verse for it but wanted to change the title to Can I Play with Madness
34.
No Prayer for the Dying
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No Prayer for the Dying is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Although it received mixed to negative reviews, the album peaked at No.2 in the UK Albums Chart. 1, Bring Your Daughter. to the Slaughter, the idea to make a more street level release also inspired the band to record in a barn on bassist Steve Harriss property in Essex, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. This means it is the first Iron Maiden album to be recorded in their country since 1982s The Number of the Beast. Dickinson states that idea was a mistake, commenting that It was shit. It was a record, and I wished we hadnt done it that way. At the time, I was as guilty as anyone else in going, look, were all covered in straw. The album also departed from literary and historical themes in favour of more political content, with songs focusing on religious exploitation. It was also the bands first release with Epic Records in the US, after the band left Capitol Records, despite charting well in most countries, particularly in the UK where it debuted at No. 2, it would be the bands last album to receive certification in the US. No Prayer for the Dying includes the hit song Bring Your Daughter. to the Slaughter, following Dickinsons departure from Iron Maiden in 1993, songs from No Prayer for the Dying have been largely ignored at live performances. Bring Your Daughter. to the Slaughter was the song played on a post-1993 setlist. No Prayer on the Road was the tour in support of the album, No Prayer for the Dying does not follow the continuity of previous album covers, as Eddie no longer exhibits either his lobotomy or cyborg enhancements. Two versions of the cover exist, the original 1990 version has Eddie bursting from his grave and grabbing a gravedigger by the neck. As the bands manager, Rod Smallwood, disliked the figure, he asked artist Derek Riggs to remove him from the cover for the 1998 re-release, the picture disc LP shows Eddie firing a weapon made of four machine guns. It has the cover on side two. Sputnikmusic were equally negative, stating that No Prayer for the Dying is a plain, production list acquired from AllMusic and from the album liner notes
35.
Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden album)
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Fear of the Dark is the ninth studio album released by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Released on 11 May 1992, it was their third release to top the UK albums chart. It was also the first album to be produced by bassist and band founder Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson describes the results as a slight improvement because Martin came in and supervised the sound. But there were big limitations on that studio – simply because of its physical size, actually ended up not too bad, but, you know, a little bit under par. Fear is the Key is about the fear in sexual relationships resulting from AIDS, the song was written around the time when the band learned about the death of Queen singer Freddie Mercury. Dickinson affirmed, Theres a line in Fear Is the Key that goes, as long as the virus was confined to homosexuals or drug-addicts, nobody gave a shit. Its only when celebrities started to die that the masses began to feel concerned, weekend Warrior is about football hooliganism. Only two of the songs, the title track and Afraid to Shoot Strangers, would survive on tours following 1993. Afraid to Shoot Strangers became a frequent addition on setlists during Blaze Bayleys tenure with Iron Maiden, be Quick or Be Dead, From Here to Eternity and Wasting Love were released as singles. Fear of the Dark Tour was the supporting the album. According to the biographer, Mick Wall, the Fear of the Dark album cover depicts their mascot, Eddie. It was the groups first not to be designed by artist Derek Riggs, according to Iron Maidens manager, Rod Smallwood, the band began accepting contributions from other artists as We wanted to upgrade Eddie for the 90s. We wanted to him from the sort of comic-book horror creature. Following Fear of the Dark, Grant has produced several covers for Iron Maiden. Sputnikmusic were more positive about the release, stating that many of the songs are still sub-par by their standards. The band returns to the lofty heights that they enjoyed for the entirety of the 80s, billboard gave it a positive review on release, saying Dickinsons voice shows no sign of wear and tear and the guitar work sounds fresh and crisp. In October 2011, Fear of the Dark was ranked No.8 on Guitar World magazines top ten list of albums of 1992. Fear of the Dark became the third Iron Maiden album to top the UK Albums Chart and it is the bands most successful record in North America after the inception of Nielsen SoundScan in 1991, with 438,000 copies sold as of 2008
36.
The X Factor (album)
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The X Factor is the tenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 2 October 1995 through EMI. The album takes a darker tone than the bands first nine releases, due to the lyrics being based on issues surrounding Steve Harris at the time. This is reflected in the artwork, which graphically depicts the bands mascot, Eddie. The releases title came about at the start of the albums recording and this became the working title for the album and we liked it, so we kept it. It is also very apt as this is our tenth studio album, the X Factors cover art depicts Eddie undergoing another lobotomy and was created by Hugh Syme. Due to the covers lifelike style, the band were forced to release the album in a sleeve, including a less graphic alternative. All three songs, I Live My Way, Justice of The Peace and Judgement Day, were released as B-sides, supporting the album was the X Factour tour. Much like the tour for their album, Virtual XI. Man on the Edge and Lord of the Flies were released as singles, both of these songs, and Sign of the Cross, remained in Iron Maiden set lists following Bruce Dickinsons return. Sign of the Cross is based on the Umberto Ecos novel The Name of the Rose and is Iron Maidens fourth longest song at more than 11 minutes in length. Live versions of Blood on the Worlds Hands and The Aftermath can be found in Best of the B Sides compilation album, Blaze Bayley recorded a re-arranged version of Sign of the Cross on the live album As Live as It Gets. The X Factor was met with responses from critics. AllMusic rated the two stars out of five, stating that suffering from a lack of powerful riffs and tightly written songs. Sputnikmusic were somewhat more positive about the release, deeming the album a change for Iron Maiden, and they also praised the often criticized Blaze Bayley, whose voice they claimed was perfect for the new release. Production and performance credits are adapted from the liner notes
37.
Virtual XI
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Virtual XI is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 23 March 1998. Virtual XIs title is tied in with two events, the release of the bands computer game, Ed Hunter, and the fact that the 1998 FIFA World Cup would be taking place in June of that year. Harris explains, We figure our fans are pretty much the same as we are, with pretty much the same interests, so we thought, lets get the football involved in the new album. And we were working on a computer game at that time, so we thought, Well, lets bring that element into things. Prior to the release, the band organised a publicity tour in which they held football matches across Europe with guest musicians. While most of the artwork in the booklet was taken from the Ed Hunter game. This was also the first album to feature the new alternate logo, with the extended ends of the R, M. This variant would be used on all studio albums, live albums. However The Book of Souls, the bands 16th studio album, for this album some keyboard parts were performed by band founder/bassist Steve Harris whereas on previous albums all the keyboard parts had been handled by Harris bass technician, Michael Kenney. This would be the second and final album to feature Blaze Bayley. In February 1999, the band had announced that Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith, stylistically, Bayley states that Virtual XI was a more upbeat album, because wed survived the X-Factour. We were a band and, I felt, we were on our way, according to Harris, Futureal, whose lyrics were written by Bayley, is about being locked up in virtual reality, and describes it as a quite straightforward rocker but done Maiden style. Of the albums remaining songs, Lightning Strikes Twice is, according to Harris and its a very positive, hopeful song which you can read in lots of different ways. After Bruce Dickinson rejoined the band, Iron Maiden continued to play both Futureal and The Clansman in concert, while Futureal was only performed live in 1999, The Clansman appeared in the groups setlists until 2003. Blaze Bayley recorded solo versions of Futureal and When Two Worlds Collide on his live album As Live as It Gets, the track The Clansman was sampled by singer Brandy in her song I Tried. Virtual XI was met with mixed to negative reviews from critics, allMusic commented that on the surface, theres nothing terribly wrong with the record, as it delivers all the crunching riffs and demonic horror of their best records. The problem is that theres nothing memorable about the hooks, riffs, or songs, as a result, it sounds lifeless to all but the most devoted fan. They also stated that Blaze Bayley is a competent but faceless vocalist, production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes
38.
Brave New World (Iron Maiden album)
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Brave New World is the twelfth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 29 May 2000. The album artwork and title song are references to the novel of the same name, the upper half of the artwork was created by Derek Riggs, with the bottom half by digital artist Steve Stone. The songs The Wicker Man and Out of the Silent Planet were both released as singles, the Wicker Mans promotional radio release featured extra vocals in the chorus, not present in any other versions of the song. The Brave New World Tour was the tour in support of the album, during which the show at Rock in Rio was recorded and later released as a live album and video. Brave New World peaked at No.7 in the UK Albums Chart, in the United States, it debuted at No.39 on the Billboard 200, and registered over 307,000 sales on the Nielsen SoundScan system in 2008. Most of the songs were written before The Ed Hunter Tour and were recorded at Guillaume Tell Studios. It was the first album the band would record with producer Kevin Shirley, according to Steve Harris, work had also begun on Blood Brothers during that period, but it was not completed at the time. Brave New World was the only song to reappear on the Dance of Death World Tour. The song Blood Brothers, written by Steve Harris for his father, was dedicated to Ronnie James Dio throughout the 2010 leg of The Final Frontier World Tour. A live performance of the song from 2012s En Vivo. was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance on 6 December 2012, reviews for the album were generally positive. Critics were especially warm towards the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith to the band compared to the two releases which featured Blaze Bayley on vocals. So gloriously in-yer-face you can almost feel its hot breath up your nostrils, classic Rock stated that, while it may not take too many strides forward, it certainly succeeds in reeling back the years to Iron Maidens heyday. NME were extremely unfavourable towards the release, arguing that the bands past dismissal of the outside world, which kept them safe all those years, now leaves them looking rather obsolete. The magazine also compared the band to contemporary acts such as Korn and Slipknot and felt Iron Maiden were no longer the high priests of the black arts. Blabbermouth. net were also negative, stating that the sound tired and uninspired. Production and performance credits are adapted from the liner notes
39.
Dance of Death (album)
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The album was recorded on magnetic tape. As with its predecessor, 2000s Brave New World, the record was produced by Kevin Shirley, who has worked with Iron Maiden on all subsequent releases. On 31 May, the announced that the album, recorded at Sarm West Studios, would be entitled Dance of Death. The band undertook the Dance of Death World Tour in support of the album, during Dance of Death, Bruce Dickinson would wear theatrical masks and a cape while moving around the stage, at the end he would dress as the Grim Reaper for the final chorus. During Paschendale, Dickinson would wear a traditional British Infantryman trench coat and helmet, as worn during World War I, the tour led to a live album and DVD, entitled Death on the Road, released in 2005 and 2006. The album was released as a DVD-Audio disc in 2004, including 5.1 mixes of each song, Dance of Death is the only Iron Maiden album to date in which drummer Nicko McBrain has a songwriting credit, having co-written New Frontier. When man attempts to make man then its a monster in a test tube and this also makes it the only Iron Maiden album to date in which every member of the band receives a songwriting credit. Montségur was based on the fall of the Cathar stronghold of the same name, Paschendale is about the Battle of Passchendaele which took place during the First World War. It was written by Adrian Smith, who contributes to the bands shorter, more commercial songs. It features strong progressive rock elements, including its length, detailed structure, Dickinson comments, the beauty of Paschendale isnt in the epic-ness of the song – although you have to admit it is a powerful and stirring body of music – but the detail. In live performances, Dickinson introduces the song with a passage from Wilfred Owens Anthem for Doomed Youth, gers wrote most of the music and explained the concept to Steve Harris, who wrote the lyrics and most of the melodies. Face in the Sand is based on the media surrounding the Iraq War. Dickinson explains, I remember thinking about the desert sands as an image and how it moves and shifts with time. Specifically what I was thinking was that whatever empires you tend to build – whether they are British, American, Iraqi or whatever, theyll all crumble and fade away into something else. So, to my mind at least, the best thing you can hope for, the song is notable for being the first and only Iron Maiden track in which McBrain uses a double bass pedal. The final track, Journeyman, is Iron Maidens first and only fully acoustic song. According to Dickinson on the Death on the Road live album, it is about the process of writing and being a musician. The original version appears on the No More Lies EP, reviews for the album were generally positive with Kerrang
40.
A Matter of Life and Death (album)
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It is the first album in Iron Maidens career to enter the US Billboard charts in the top 10, achieving significant chart success in many other countries as well. While not being an album, war and religion are recurring themes throughout. The A Matter of Life and Death Tour was the tour in support of the album, Iron Maiden began writing new songs near the end of 2005, after a break following their hugely successful festival dates in the US and Europe during the Eddie Rips Up the World Tour. After taking time off over Christmas, the songs were completed, to provide a more live sound, the album was not mastered. Producer Kevin Shirley said, Spoke to Arry on Friday, who has decided against mastering the Iron Maiden album. It means that you will get to hear the new album exactly as it sounded in the studio, no added EQ, compression, analogue widening, etc. and I must say, I am pretty happy with the end result. Speaking to Metal Hammer in September 2006, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson commented that Everyone was up for pushing things as far as theyd go, but the record was so easy to make. Dickinson went on to claim that they finished the record two months to spare, with Harris adding that A lot of what you hear are first time takes. Speaking about the musical style, Harris states that It is heavier than weve ever been. And I dont mean that in the sense, but like Dream Theater. This is the fourth studio record not to share its name with a song, following Piece of Mind, The X Factor. Drummer Nicko McBrain and guitarist Janick Gers claim that the originally intended to name the album after one of its tracks. Neither Gers or McBrain can remember who came up with the title, the album cover was created by Tim Bradstreet, an American artist, best known for his work on the Hellblazer and Punisher comics. A lifelong Iron Maiden fan of the band who drew influence from Derek Riggs artwork for them. He had a schedule, receiving for reference the songs to listen to and key art done by Peacock Designs UK. Bradstreets colourist partner Grant Goleash finished the art, which was then retouched by Peacock, the back cover would originally feature Eddie shot on the back, but then the band opted to instead feature a detail of the tank icon featuring Eddies head along with crossed guns. During the 2006 leg of the A Matter of Life and Death Tour, Iron Maiden performed the album in its entirety, the first single to be released from the album was The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, released on 14 August 2006. On 10 August, Different World was made available for streaming on the bands website
41.
The Final Frontier
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At 76 minutes and 34 seconds, it is the bands second-longest studio album to date, a duration surpassed only by 2015s The Book of Souls. Melvyn Grant, a contributor to the bands artwork, created the cover art. The album received favourable reviews from critics and peaked at No.1 in 28 countries. On top of this, The Final Frontier also charted at No, on 22 April 2009, during a Rock Radio interview promoting Iron Maiden, Flight 666, drummer Nicko McBrain mentioned that Iron Maiden had booked studio time for early 2010. On 8 June, the artwork, release date, and track listing were revealed. The North American leg of their tour in support of the started in Dallas, Texas on 9 June 2010. As these dates preceded the release, El Dorado was the only new song played in 2010. The full album tour commenced in Moscow on 11 February 2011, the tour led to the release of a live album and video, entitled En Vivo. which was released in March 2012. Prior to its release, bassist and band founder Steve Harris was quoted as saying that he imagined the band would release a total of fifteen studio albums, Harris in particular has stated that if theres time and we all wanna do it, then why not. It would be sad if we dont make another album, and sad for the fans too, in June 2010, Dickinson stated that he thought up the albums title 15 months previously, I just thought We should call the next album The Final Frontier. It could be, but it not be. It means we can go back to space for an Eddie and things like that and it has a certain romance to it. On 2 November 2009, Janick Gers confirmed to BBC News that the band already had new material written and would head to Paris, France, to start composing and rehearsing the bulk of the new album. According to Dickinson, we had probably the least amount of preparation weve ever had, after taking time off for Christmas, recording commenced in January at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas, with Kevin Shirley producing. Even down to the shutter in the corner. But we felt very relaxed in such a familiar and well-trodden environment and I think this shows in the playing and the atmosphere of the album. ”After a month in Nassau, the production was moved to Malibu, California, on 6 April, Shirley told Blabbermouth. Adrian Smith dropped in time to time to hear stuff, and like in any band, not everyone has the same end result in mind. Adrian Smith explains that, in recent years, Harris has become more into writing lyrics and melodies and arranging other members tracks and only brings in one or two songs of his own
42.
The Book of Souls
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The Book of Souls is the sixteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 4 September 2015. It is the bands first studio album, and therefore also their longest to date. Its launch and supporting tour were delayed to allow vocalist Bruce Dickinson time to recover from the removal of a tumour in early 2015. The band wrote and immediately recorded many tracks in the studio, the albums first release, Speed of Light, was issued as a music video on 14 August, and simultaneously as a digital download and CD single exclusive to Best Buy. While not an album, references to the soul and mortality are prominent, realised in the Maya-themed cover artwork. A critical and commercial success, The Book of Souls topped the charts in 24 countries. It earned the band their fifth UK No,1, following 1982s The Number of the Beast, 1988s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1992s Fear of the Dark and 2010s The Final Frontier. In the US, it matched The Final Frontiers success on the Billboard 200 and it also marks the longest gap between studio releases in the groups entire career, at five years, following The Final Frontier. The bands intention to record a studio album was first revealed by vocalist Bruce Dickinson in September 2013. The album was recorded at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris with producer Kevin Shirley from September to December 2014 and they had previously used the studios for 2000s Brave New World, with Dickinson stating the studio holds special memories for all of us. We were delighted to discover the magical vibe is still alive. The band originally intended to release the earlier in 2015. The albums title, artwork and track listing were revealed on 18 June 2015, released by Parlophone, this is the bands first original studio album not to be issued by EMI, after both companies were acquired by Warner Music Group in 2013. In the US, the album was issued by Sanctuary Copyrights/BMG, on 14 August, the band issued a music video for the song Speed of Light, directed by Llexi Leon. In addition, the song was made available as a digital download and was issued as a single-track CD via Best Buy in the US. The album cover features the version of the Iron Maiden logo. According to bassist Steve Harris, the cover art ties in with the track, as the depiction of the bands mascot, Eddie, is based on the Maya civilization. To check the accuracy of the artwork, the band hired Mayanist scholar Simon Martin, according to Martin, although the civilisation had no Book of Souls, the Mayans are very big on souls
43.
A Real Live One
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A Real Live One is a live album by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released in March 1993. The album tracks were recorded at 9 different venues in Europe on the Fear of the Dark Tour and this album features songs from the Somewhere in Time through Fear of the Dark eras, while counterpart A Real Dead One only contains songs from the pre-Somewhere in Time albums. When Iron Maiden re-released all of their pre-X Factor albums in 1998, the album cover was made by longtime Iron Maiden cover artist Derek Riggs, whose contribution to the Fear of the Dark album were rejected. Fear of the Dark was released as a single, production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes
