The Best of Heavy Metal With Iron Maiden
By extra. Filed in Art & Photography |
To this very day, many new bands revere Iron Maiden. This is only natural. The band has after all, been around for more than thirty years and continues to generate sales of its top selling albums and music merch.
As of today, the group has sold 75 million records worldwide. For this accomplishment and for their work, they have been included in the Hollywood RockWalk. To further illustrate the wide and enduring influence of this band, one only has to look at the various films, video games and songs in which the group is mentioned. The continuing popularity of Iron Maiden simply can’t be stopped.
Band Past
Despite their near legend status, the group has had some experience in changing lineups. It was Steve Harris who founded the first group in December of 1975. The band’s name is taken from the torture tool called iron maiden used in the film The Man in the Iron Mask. Other than Harris who is the band’s bassist, backup vocals and studio keyboardist, guitarist David Murray shares the distinction of being the member who has been with the group the longest.
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 Released
The studio Iron Maiden albums released since 1975 until 2010 now number 30 in all comprised of 14 studio albums, 4 extended plays (EPs), 5 compilations and 7 live albums. With such an impressive collection of albums to its name, the band has been cited in many music industry rankings including the VH1 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, the MTV Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All Time and the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement, amongst other accolades heaped on the band.
It’s impossible to describe here in detail all of Iron Maiden’s significant works. Here are among the most notable:
• 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
There’s no way the band will disappear from band posters soon. Clearly, from here onwards, old fans and new ones will continue to scream, “Up the irons!”
