Heavy Metal From the Iron Maiden

It isn’t an understatement to say that Iron Maiden is now on a pedestal of its own. After more than three decades as a band, the group still manages to sell albums and music merch and inspire numerous novice bands and performers.

To date, Iron Maiden is credited for having sold records numbering 75 million. Because of their enduring music and pronounced influence, they have been deemed worthy of occupying a spot on the Hollywood RockWalk. As proof of its widening scope of influence, the group continues to be notably featured in movies, games and songs by other artists.

Band Past

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Iron Maiden especially when it comes to band lineups. Steve Harris started the group in 1975, taking the name from the iron maiden torture tool featured in The Man in the Iron Mask. Harris who is the bassist and studio keyboardist is joined by guitarist David Murray as the only two members who have endured the longest with the band.

Presently, band members include Bruce Dickinson on lead vocals who is joined by Janick Gers on guitar; Adrian Smith on backup vocals and guitar and Nicko McBrian on percussion and drums. Michael Kenney takes on the keyboards for live performances. Former members include Dennis Stratton, Dennis Wilcock, Paul Day, Paul Di’Anno, Clive Burr and Doug Sampson. As with many other bands, not all former members left in good standing with the group. Some had to be forced out or had to leave due to professional altercations.

Albums Out

Iron Maiden has had an outstanding thirty releases spanning more than three decades of their music career. Of this number, fourteen are studio albums, four are EPs, five are compilations and seven are live Iron Maiden albums. Their work has led to the band’s inclusion in numerous charts and lists including the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement, the VH1 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and the MTV Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All Time.

Just to describe a few of the 14 studio albums released in the three-decade long career of Iron Maiden:

• Iron Maiden released in 1980 is the self-titled album that carries such popular pieces as The Phantom of the Opera, Sanctuary and the self-titled song Iron Maiden
• The band’s highest selling album Number of the Beast came out two years later with Bruce Dickinson on vocals and is thought to be one of the top influential albums of all time in the genre of heavy metal, having sold more than 14 million copies
• Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was a 1988 release and is regarded as a lyrical composition focusing on mysticism, reincarnation and the afterlife
• The Final Frontier is the most recent body of work that is scheduled to come out this year some time in summer

The group is definitely not in danger of disappearing from band posters any time soon. As the fans of Iron Maiden always say in greeting and farewells, up the irons!