Formed in London, England, in 1976, Iron Maiden was from the start the brainchild of Steve Harris (b. 12 March 1957, Leytonstone, London, England; bass), formerly a member of pub rockers Smiler. Named after a medieval torture device, the music was suitably heavy and hard on the senses. The heavy metal scene of the late 70s was widely regarded as stagnant, with only a handful of bands proving their ability to survive and produce music of quality. It was at this time that a new breed of young British bands began to emerge. This movement, which began to break cover in 1979 and 1980, was known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, or N.W.O.B.*.M.. Iron Maiden were one of the foremost bands in the genre, and many would say its definitive example. Younger and meaner, the N.W.O.B.*.M. bands dealt in faster, more energetic heavy metal than any of their forefathers (punk being an obvious influence).
There were several line-up changes in the Iron Maiden ranks in the very early days, and come the release of their debut EP, the band featured Harris, Dave Murray (b. 23 December 1958, London, England; guitar), Paul Di'Anno (b. 17 May 1959, Chingford, London, England; vocals) and Doug Sampson (drums).
The band made its live debut at the Cart & Horses Pub in Stratford, east London, in 1977, before honing its sound on the local pub circuit over the ensuing two years. Unable to solicit a response from record companies, the band sent a three-track tape, featuring Iron Maiden, Prowler and Strange World, to Neal Kay, DJ at north London's hard rock disco, the Kingsbury Bandwagon Soundhouse. Kay's patronage of Iron Maiden won them an instant welcome, which prompted the release of The Soundhouse Tapes on the band's own label.
In November 1979 the band added second guitarist Tony Parsons to the line-up for two tracks on the Metal For Muthas compilation, but by the time the band embarked on sessions for their debut album, he had been replaced by Dennis Stratton (b. 9 November 1954, London, England), and Sampson by Clive Burr (b. 8 March 1957; drums, ex- Samson ). A promotional single, Running Free, reached number 34 on the UK charts and brought an appearance on BBC Television's Top Of The Pops. Refusing to mime, they became the first band since the Who in 1973 to play live on the show.
Iron Maiden was a roughly produced album, but reached number 4 in the UK album listings on the back of touring stints with Judas Priest and enduringly popular material such as Phantom Of The Opera . Killers boasted production superior to that of the first album, and saw Dennis Stratton replaced by guitarist Adrian Smith ( b. 27 February 1957).
In its wake, Iron Maiden became immensely popular among heavy metal fans, inspiring fanatical devotion, aided by blustering manager Rod Smallwood and apocalyptic mascot Eddie (the latter had been depicted on the cover of Sanctuary standing over Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decapitated body).
The release of Number Of The Beast was crucial to the development of the band. Without it, Iron Maiden might never have gone on to be such a force in the heavy metal arena. The album was a spectacular success, the sound of a band on the crest of a wave. It was also the debut of former infantryman and new vocalist Bruce Dickinson (b. Paul Bruce Dickinson, 7 August 1958, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England), replacing Paul Di'Anno (who went on to front Dianno , Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone and Killers ). Formerly of Samson , history graduate Bruce Dickinson made his live debut with Maiden on 15 November 1981.
Singles such as Run To The Hills and The Number Of The Beast were big UK chart hits, Iron Maiden leaving behind their N.W.O.B.*.M. counterparts in terms of success, just as the movement itself was beginning to peter out. Piece Of Mind continued their success and was a major hit in the UK (number 3) and USA (number 14). Clive Burr was replaced by Nicko McBrain on the sessions, formerly drummer with French metal band Trust , who had supported Maiden on their 1981 UK tour (he had also played in Streetwalkers ). Piece Of Mind was not dissimilar to the previous album, showcasing the strong twin-guitar bite of Murray and Smith, coupled with memorable vocal lines and a sound that perfectly suited their air-punching dynamic.
Single offerings, Flight Of Icarus and The Trooper , were instant hits, as the band undertook two massive tours, the four-month World Piece jaunt in 1983, and a World Slavery retinue, which included four sell-out dates at London's Hammersmith Odeon a year later. With the arrival of Powerslave in November, some critics accused Iron Maiden of conforming to a self-imposed writing formula, and playing safe with tried and tested ideas. Certainly, there was no significant departure from the two previous albums, but it was nonetheless happily consumed by the band's core supporters, who also purchased in sufficient quantities to ensure UK chart hits for Aces High and Two Minutes To Midnight .
Live After Death was a double-album package of all their best-loved material, recorded live on their gargantuan 11-month world tour. By this time, Iron Maiden had secured themselves an unassailable position within the metal hierarchy, their vast popularity spanning all continents. Somewhere In Time was a slight departure: it featured more melody than previously, and heralded the use of guitar synthesizers. Their songwriting still shone through and the now obligatory hit singles were easily attained in the shape of Wasted Years and Stranger In A Strange Land . Reaching number 11 in the USA, this was another million-plus seller. Since the mid-80s Maiden had been staging increasingly spectacular live shows, with elaborate lighting effects and stage sets. The Somewhere In Time tour (seven months) was no exception, ensuring their continued fame as a live band, which had been the basis for much of their success. A period of comparative inactivity preceded the release of Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son , which was very much in the same vein as its predecessor. A concept album, it retained its commercial edge (giving the band their second UK number 1 album) and yielded hit singles in Can I Play With Madness , the surprisingly sensitive The Evil That Men Do and The Clairvoyant .
After another exhausting mammoth world trek, the band announced their intention to take a well-earned break of at least a year. Speculation abounded that this signalled the dissolution of the band, exacerbated by Bruce Dickinson 's solo project, Tattooed Millionaire , his book, The Adventures Of Lord Iffy Boatrace , and EMI Records ' policy of re-releasing Iron Maiden 's single catalogue in its entirety (on 12-inch). After a considerable hiatus, news of the band surfaced again. Steve Harris felt that the direction pursued on the last two albums had been taken as far as possible, and a return to the style of old was planned. Unhappy with this game plan, Adrian Smith left to be replaced by Janick Gers ( b. Hartlepool, Lancashire, England), previously guitarist with White Spirit and Ian Gillan (he had also contributed to Bruce Dickinson 's solo release). The live show was also scaled down in a return to much smaller venues. No Prayer For The Dying was indeed much more like mid-period Iron Maiden , and was predictably well-received, bringing enormous UK hit singles with Holy Smoke and Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter .
The latter, previously released in 1989 on the soundtrack to A Nightmare On Elm Street 5 , had already been awarded the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Song that year. Nevertheless, it gave Iron Maiden their first ever UK number 1. The obligatory world tour followed. Despite being denounced as Satanists in Chile, 1992 also saw the band debut at number 1 in the UK charts with Fear Of The Dark , which housed another major single success in Be Quick Or Be Dead (number 2). However, it was Bruce Dickinson 's swan-song with the band, who invited demo tapes from new vocalists following the lead singer's announcement that he would depart following current touring engagements.
His eventual replacement was Blaze Bayley (b. 1963, Birmingham, West Midlands, England) from Wolfsbane . His debut album was The X-Factor , and on this and at live gigs (which they only resumed in November 1995), he easily proved his worth. This was a daunting task, having had to learn Maiden 's whole catalogue and win over patriotic Dickinson followers. Adrian Smith resurfaced in a new band, Psycho Motel , in 1996. In February 1999 it was announced that Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith had rejoined the band, restoring the classic 80s line-up. To the great delight of their loyal followers an excellent new album was not long in following.
In Autumn 2006, Iron Maiden released A Matter of Life and Death. While the album is not a concept album,war and religion are recurring themes in the lyrics throughout, as well as in the album's artwork.
A successful North American and European tour followed, during which they played the album in its entirety, a first for the band. The band have announced that a live album recorded from this tour will be released. It was during this tour in 2007 that Iron Maiden played in Bangalore, India for the first time in front of crowd 35,000, making them the 1st mainstream Heavy Metal act to play in the country.The band also headlined The Desert Rock Festival in Dubai selling out the festival with a crowd of 20,000. Iron Maiden recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road in December 2006. Their performance was screened in an episode alongside sessions with Natasha Bedingfield and Gipsy Kings in March 2007 on Channel 4 (UK) and June 2007 on the Sundance Channel (USA).
In November 2006, Iron Maiden and manager Rod Smallwood announced that they were cutting off their 27 year old ties with Sanctuary Music and have started a new company named Phantom Music Management. However, no other significant changes were made.
In 2007, the band confirmed several major festival appearances worldwide for the year to form the second leg of the A Matter of Life and Death tour,now dubbed A Matter of the Beast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Number of the Beast album. The band announced plans to play 5 songs from A Matter of Life and Death and 5 from The Number of the Beast as part of their set but the band played only 4 songs from The Number of the Beast. On the June 24th they ended the tour with a one-off performance at London's Brixton Academy in aid of The Clive Burr MS Trust fund.
On September 5, 2007, the band announced their Somewhere Back in Time World Tour.[33], which ties in with the DVD release of their Live After Death album. The setlist for the tour will consists of hits from the 80s, with a specific focus on the Powerslave era for set design. The tour started in Mumbai, India on February 1, 2008 where the band played to an audience of about 30,000. The first leg of the tour consisted of 24 concerts in 21 cities, travelling over 50,000 miles in the bands own chartered plane "Ed Force One" - the band played their first ever concerts in Costa Rica and Colombia and their first Australian show since 1992. On May 12th, the band released a new compilation album, titled Somewhere Back In Time - The Best Of: 1980-1989. This album contains a selection of tracks from their 1980 self-titled debut to 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son including several live versions from Live After Death. This tour also marks the first Western Canada leg in 20 years, on which all Canadian dates sold out within a couple of days.
Current members
Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals, additional guitars (1981–1993, 1999–present)
Dave Murray – guitars (1976-1977, 1977-present)
Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals (1980–1990, 1999–present)
Janick Gers – guitars (1990–present)
Steve Harris – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1975–present)
Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion (1982–present)
with
Michael Kenney – keyboards (live) (1988–present)
Discography
Iron Maiden (1980)
Killers (1981)
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Piece of Mind (1983)
Powerslave (1984)
Somewhere in Time (1986)
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
Fear of the Dark (1992)
The X Factor (1995)
Virtual XI (1998)
Brave New World (2000)
Dance of Death (2003)
A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
Listen to Iron Maiden Music!
Watch Iron Maiden Video!
Aces High
Wasted years
Run to the hills
2 minutes to midnight
Can i Play with Madness
Holy smoke
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