Iron Maiden

Iron maiden is an English heavy metal band named after a medieval torture device (very metal) that formed in the 1970’s now consists of:

Steve Harris on bass

Dave Murray on guitar

Adrian Smith also on guitar

Janick Gers still on guitar

Bruce Dickinson also on vocals and piano

Nicko McBrian on drums

The bands lineup has changed significantly through time with Steve Harris being the only founder who is still a band member.

A rocky beginning

Formed on Christmas day 1975 in Leyton, England.

Due to disagreements, dissent and an attempt to play a guitar with teeth the bands lineup fluctuated until finally settling down in 1978.

That year the band recorded a four song demo that circulated in the London scene eventually reaching their future manager Ron Smallwood.

In 1980 after singing a deal with the record label EMI, the band released its first studio album “Iron Maiden” that reached No. 4 in the UK albums chart.

The big break

After releasing another album, “Killers”, in 1981 and some more lineup changes the band released its first major hit, the album “The Number of the Beast” that contained iconic songs such as “Hallowed be thy name”.

The album topped the UK’s album chart and even saw major success abroad, though it faced backlash in the US by conservative figures claiming it was “satanic”.

Until 1985 the band released albums of similar style that continued to see success such as “Piece of mind”, “Powerslave”

and the live album “Live After Death”.

Going forward

After basing themselves as a successful metal band the band started experimenting with new ideas with their music like adding synthesized bass, and a keyboard in their new albums “Somewhere in Time” and “Seventh Son of Seventh Son” the latter becoming the bands second album to top the UK’s album chart.

The 90’s

After a period of stability in the early 90’s the band saw more changes in its lineup as old members left due to creative differences or an ambition to strike out on their own.

Even so the band continued releasing albums through the turmoil and enjoyed success with hit albums “No Prayer for the Dying”, and “Fear of the Dark” they even released their first  UK No. 1 single “Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter”.

I really love this one

After the success after the early 90’s the latter half of the decade saw the band releasing “The X Factor”, and “Virtual XI” the former being a relative flop and the latter being a not so relative flop on account of being one of the worst selling albums released by Iron Maiden.

The 2000’s and onward

After reuniting with some old band members Iron Maiden opened the millennia with the album “Brave New World” that saw moderate success.

The band continued by releasing the historically inspired album “Dance of Death” in 2003 with songs referencing battles across history.

After co-heading an Ozzfest tour with Black Sabbath The band released the album “A Matter of Life and Death” in 2006 which became their first album to reach top 10 at the billboard 200.

In 2010 they released their most critically acclaimed album “Final Frontier” reaching No. 1 in 28 countries across the world with “El Dorado” receiving a Grammy.

So whats now?

The bands remains relevant releasing its latest studio album “The Book of Souls” in 2015, and with continued tours in the late 2010’s and more planned in the 2020’s.

Iron Maiden is still regarded as one of the best metal bands of all time, and its influence can be seen in other metal bands that came after them like Metalica and more.