Iron maiden - Iron Maiden(1980)

Track Listing:

1. Prowler
2. Remember Tomorrow
3. Running Free
4. Transilvania
5. Phantom Of The Opera
6. Strange World
7. Charlotte The Harlot
8. Iron Maiden

Lineup:

• Paul Di'Anno
• Dave Murray
• Dennis Stratton
• Steve Harris
• Clive Burr

The year was 1980, & the music scene in the UK was probably never going to be the same thanks to a bunch of rebel teens who wanted to do something different. At that time punk was very popular & bands who wanted to sound very different, had to be really brave or stupid. With this album Iron Maiden made it clear they were going to be a band to reckon with. The songs here are short, catchy & will appeal to fans of both heavy metal & punk. Paul Di'Anno was more of a punk vocalist than metal anyways.
Musically this remains Maidens most raw offering till date. The production is top class, & sounds as if it was just released a few years ago. "Running Free", "Prowler", & "Iron Maiden" are cult classics , the band still plays live. "Remember Tomorrow" is one of their greatest songs they managed to write. It seems to have inspired tons of metal bands that carved a niche for themselves in their own sub genres of metal. bands like OPETH, DARK TRANQUILITY and hosts of other bands.
Steve Harris bass playing was the best. Dave Murray & Dennis Stratton paid rich tribute to older bands like Wishbone Ash with their twin guitar playing, something that remained with them till now.
All in all a good album.

My rating 7/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Iron Maiden - Killers(1981)

Track Listing:

1. Wrathchild
2. Murders In The Rue Morgue
3. Another Life
4. Innocent Exile
5. Dzhengis Khan
6. Killers
7. Twilight Zone
8. Prodigal Son
9. Purgatory
10. Drifter

Lineup:

• Paul Di'Anno
• Dave Murray
• Adrian Smith
• Steve Harris
• Clive Burr

though the sound in this album changed a little compared to their debut, the best hing that probably happened to maiden is the introduction of guitarist Adrian Smith. All the songs were again composed & written by Steve Harris, with the exception of Killers which had Di'Anno contributing.
this album scores over their debut in some ways. its a lot more catchier, riffs are better & the solos with Adrian have a lot more feel. There is not a weak song here. From the Instrumental opening "Ides" to the fast paced twin assault of "Purgatory", this makes for an excellent listen. The only drawback was probably the vocals of Di'Anno which seemed forced & not natural as compared to their debut.

My rating 8.5/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind(1983)

Track Listing:

1. Where Eagles Dare
2. Revelations
3. Flight Of Icarus
4. Die With Your Boots On
5. The Trooper
6. Still Life
7. Quest For Fire
8. Sun And Steel
9. To Tame A Land

Lineup:

• Bruce Dickinson
• Dave Murray
• Adrian Smith
• Steve Harris
• Nicko McBrain

Sick of being labeled as satanists by the conservative crowds, maiden deliberately recorded a message using the back masking technique just after their song "the trooper". it said" don't mess with things you don't understand". jokes aside, another classic album. the moods here were perfectly balanced with fast songs like" the trooper" which talks about war, to "still life" which is mid paced & quite depressive in musical sense.
this is possibly the greatest ever band line up in metal history. the same line up gave us 4 more classic albums. Nicko had previously played in the French jazz band 'trust' , fit like a glove behind handling the drums. "where eagles dare" was based on the Clint Eastwood movie, while "Quest for fire" was also based on a French movie on the same name. "to tame a land" was originally to be called "dune" based on 'frank herberts' futuristic novel, but they were denied permission to use the name.
the melodies were just awesome, the twins... one will think when will they ever run out of ideas. Adrian smith & dave murray were at their best & things were only going to be a lot better.

My rating 9.5/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast(1982)

Track Listing:

1. Invaders
2. Children Of The Damned
3. The Prisoner
4. 22 Acacia Avenue
5. the number Of The beast
6. Run To The Hills
7. Gangland
8. Hallowed Be Thy Name

Lineup:

• Bruce Dickinson
• Dave Murray
• Adrian Smith
• Steve Harris
• Clive Burr

One of the greatest metal albums of all time. Period. Hordes of other metal acts that followed have paid tribute to this definitive metal album on some ways or the other.Bruce Dickinson made his debut here with Maiden & his voice really blends with the music. His epic, clean shreik is just what the doctor ordered.
Adrian contributes in the songwriting on few tracks like "22 Acacia" which is a continuation from "Charlotte" from the previous album, where he talks about a one night stand with a commercial sex worker. "the prisoner " was their tribute to the long running tv series of the same name. "NOTB" with its Satanic imagery made Maiden infamous as 'satanists' while the song actually was based on the movie "the omen".
The production makes it really hard to believe this album was done sometime back in 1982. excellent. every song is top class here.
Fun fact . the devil in the video for "beast" is non other than the crazy Nicko Mc Brain who would make his presence with maidens next venture.
"hallowed" is probably the most played song by cover bands ever. the twins, the solos, the melody in this entire album, the sold out stadium arenas around the world, & the millions of albums still being sold, truley make this their greatest album ever.
every "top 5 metal album ever" compilation anywhere in the world, will have a mention of this.
Priceless

My rating 10/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time(1986)

Track Listing:

1. Caught Somewhere In Time
2. Wasted Years
3. Sea Of Madness
4. Heaven Can Wait
5. The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
6. Stranger In A Strange Land
7. Deja-Vu
8. Alexander The Great

Lineup:

• Bruce Dickinson
• Dave Murray
• Adrian Smith
• Steve Harris
• Nicko McBrain

To me the most progressive album maiden have done till date. a lot of people tend to say that the 1988 opus, Seventh son, was the most progressive, but this album kinda started it. the sound for one, was very, futuristic. a listen to the opening masterpiece, 'caught somewhere in time' transports the listener to an arctic wasteland. the riffs seem to have that freeze, it still manages to chill my spine whenever i listen to it even now.

'wasted years' probably most maiden fans favorite song, the opening riff inspired hordes of present guitarists the world over. 'sea of madness' are maiden at their musical apex. a very complex arranged song, Harris seemed to push his composing writings to the limit.

those who have seen the music video for 'stranger in a strange land' can relate to the fact that adrian smith is one of the best guitarists who plays with a lot of feel. even the great JOHN PETRUCCI is a long time fan of his vibrato technique.

one really wonders why a great song like 'deja vu' never quite made it to their live shows. the shortest song in the album, played brilliantly, with its epic sounding slow intro, you just wait for it to explode , and go into overdrive

maiden go into story telling mode with their last song on the album 'alexander the great' & you realize that they are such a well read band. all their songs on war are based on actual facts in history, on should think they should have opted for teaching at the local university. glad they didnt.
the whole album is a great feel, & for once, even dave plays with a lot of heart. melody is in abundance & so is the virtuosity.

my rating
9.9/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Iron Maiden - Powerslave(1984)

Track Listing:

1. Aces High
2. 2 Minutes To Midnight
3. Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)
4. Flash Of The Blade
5. The Duellists
6. Back In The Village
7. Powerslave
8. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

Lineup:

• Bruce Dickinson
• Dave Murray
• Adrian Smith
• Steve Harris
• Nicko McBrain

with the success of the previous Peace of mind album, fans were actually wondering if maiden can continue to weave their magic in the new album, & this album is another collectors classic. from the blistering opening of 'aces high', to '2 minutes to midnight' & the powerful 'powerslave' , every song perfectly complimented one another. maiden seem to have a thing with instrumentals, they really stick in your head, long after the songs over. 'big orra' losfer words( loss for words) is another testament to the twin guitar attacks of Adrian & dave.

'rime of the ancient mariner' was another fan favorite & it clocked at an impressive 13 minutes, maidens longest so far. Dickinsons maintains his high pitched shreiks, while the most underrated drummer in metal, Nicko simply blasts away.

this album was followed up by one of the biggest world tours the world had seen till then. 'world slavery tour', turned everyone to slaves.

my rating
9.5/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son(1988)

Track Listing:

1. Moonchild
2. Infinite Dreams
3. Can I Play With Madness
4. The Evil That Men Do
5. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
6. The Prophecy
7. The Clairvoyant
8. Only The Good Die Young

Lineup:

• Bruce Dickinson
• Dave Murray
• Adrian Smith
• Steve Harris
• Nicko McBrain

the greatest metal album released in 1988, it took the fans by surprise by actually selling more than their previous effort. critics hail this as their most progressive album, it in fact was a concept album.

the commercial success of 'can i play with madness', the concert anthem 'evil that men do', the progressive overtones of 'the clairvoyant' & the prophecy(esp the cool outro with the classical guitars), & the arguably the greatest song ever written by Harris 'infinite dreams' make this a timeless classic.
dickinsons voice was at its best, the music was exceptionally melodic & pretty progressive in the fact being that they didnt sound like their previous written material. if 'somewhere in time' had that icy feel to it, this on tops it with a blizzard. harris used a lot of guitar synthesizers here to achieve that background icy feel that reverberates during the entire album.

but all good things must come to an end, & this was their last multi platimun selling classic. Adrian wanted to do something more & felt that his songwriting skills were not being appreciated as Harris suddenly wanted to take maiden back to the basic hard rock roots which was evident in their next NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING ALBUM. So he left maiden to form his own band called ASAP, (adrian smith & project). later he had formed another band called Psyho motel which was more hard rock, & had him manage both, guitar & vocal duties, & even later he joined bruce duckinson in 2 solo albums of his, ACCIDENT OF BIRTH & CHEMICAL WEDDING. anyways..

if you really wanna feel nostalgic, all you need to do is listen to this masterpiece.

my rating
9/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza