SoHo 3667 - Iron Maiden

LEGENDS OF HEAVY METAL
1982-1985

Bruce and Steve on the Piece Of Mind World Tour And so we reach the time when the gods gathered to bring humanity happiness, parties and great music. With the arrival of Bruce Bruce, Iron Maiden destiny was decided once and for all: to boldly play what nobody played before. The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was near its end, but this didn't apply (luckily) to our heroes, and the new strength gathered with the arrival of Bruce Dickinson was just the sign of a new start.
This is the first half of Iron Maiden's golden age, a time when the music seemed to reach for the unreachable: perfection, feeling and technique at the same time. However, in a way, the following album were still bound to a style the band had created and struggled to mantain; a style that could have become a burden shouldn't the band have tried new experiments after these years. Anyway, if these are not perfect records, we have two choices: either perfection doesn't exits or it just doesn't matter anyway. So let the good times roll and let the guitars play, for this is the history of Heavy Metal glory days...

THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

The Number Of The Beast - LP
Bruce Dickinson
Steve Harris
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
Clive Burr
 Run To The HillsThe Number Of The Beast - Single
THE NUMBER
OF THE BEAST		 Invaders - Children Of The Damned - The Prisoner - 22 Acacia Avenue
The Number Of The Beast - Total Eclipse* - Run To The Hills - Gangland
Hallowed Be Thy Name (*Remasters only)
Run To The Hills Run To The Hills - Total Eclipse
The Number Of The Beast The Number Of The Beast - Remember Tomorrow (Live)

Bruce Bruce joins, and the crowds rejoice. However, the lawyer of the year is behind there and forbids the new member to write anything for the band on this album. Does it matter? No. This is truly a good album, despite the original departure of Total Eclipse (the majestic dark masterpiece of this era) as a b-side and the ill advised choice of Gangland in its place (nice singing, though). Anything to say?
22 Acacia Avenue continues the saga of the poor Charlotte, Dave Murray's character bringing it to a new end, or so the listener hopes; Number Of The Beast (Steve dreamed this, during an hangover, I suppose) and Run To The Hills let history speak for them, since they still turn up during live shows (at least until 1994) with strength and "catchiness", and it isn't that much a sin if it comes from the core of the song and not from the marketing office.
The guitars are still getting along, and the sound is reaching the right atmosphere, we just will have to wait. Martin Birch behind the console means that you must only wait for dreams to come true.

PIECE OF MIND

Piece Of Mind
Bruce Dickinson
Steve Harris
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
Nicko McBrain
 Flight Of IcarusThe Trooper
PIECE OF MIND Where Eagles Dare - Revelations - Flight Of Icarus - Die With Your Boots On
The Trooper -Still Life - Quest For Fire - Sun And Steel - To Tame A Land
Flight Of Icarus Flight Of Icarus - I've Got The Fire
The Trooper The Trooper - Cross Eyed Mary

Well, I'm totally partial about this album, and it couldn't be otherwise since it was my first heavy metal album ever. We have the first evolution of Eddie after years of light-yellow shirts and long hair: lobotomy, the two legendary nails and the blood tear on the nose. Welcome to the show, people! This is really the first studio masterpiece of Iron Maiden history, and the one that starts the longest thread of Eddie's adventures.
On the musical side, you cannot count how many gems the album brings on his sides. Where Eagles Dare is just what the title says: high, powerful and defintely adrenalitic, showing the new entry Nicko McBrain at his best; Revelations has complex lyrics and sticks into your mind for years before breaking with a really heavy chorus (it's not time for compromise); Flight Of Icarus, one of their best videos, is a crowd pleaser without flaws, maybe just lacking a bit more of speed like Steve said; Die With Your Boots On has been surely underrated, since it doesn't have a single tired instant and a nice storyline.
On the next side, The Trooper is just a legend and one of the best singalong ever written, during which the twin guitars reach their greatest peak; Still Life is another perfect work by his majesty Dave Murray who hardly writes more than a song on each album but the one is simply a work of unbelievable beauty; false start for Quest For Fire, with bad lyrics about dinosaurs and cavemen and nothing relevant on the music side; better but still far from perfection Sun And Steel, about a samurai's life; great end with To Tame A Land (on the inner sleeve of the LP it's Dune, but Frank Herbert never gave permission, hating hard rock and particularly Iron Maiden), long and epic, in short what Iron Maiden is all about!
Having Nicko in the band doesn't just mean that you have some madman screaming at the crowds but that you can make much more complex songs, and Martin Birch finally hits the spot with a clean sound with a very strong rythm'n'bass background; well, it couldn't be different with Steve Harris on the bass, so let's all dink-dink-dink together with the living legend. A triumph, nothing less.

POWERSLAVE

Powerslave
Bruce Dickinson
Steve Harris
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
Nicko McBrain
 2 Minutes To MidnightAces High
POWERSLAVE Aces High - 2 Minutes To Midnight - Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)
Flash Of The Blade - The Duellists - Back In The Village - Powerslave
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
2 Minutes To Midnight 2 Minutes To Midnight - Rainbow's Gold - Mission From 'Arry
Aces High Aces High - King Of Twilight - The Number Of The Beast (Live)

You're in for a really strange album, this time: you couldn't really believe it's starting the legendary World Slavery Tour. Eddie ends as a pharaon-god and the songs aren't quite as perfect as they used to be; not all of them, at least. My theory is that the band needed this step to find its balance during a time of really hard pressure.
Aces High and 2 Minutes To Midnight are good, and the second really deserves its never lost stage role, with crowds that learned to sing all by themselves, the most spontaneous choruses I've ever seen. Then it's slightly downhill, as songs lack the depth and a bit of catchiness (guitars aren't so nice on the sound), with Flash Of The Blade raising the level.
BUT the album doesn't end with Back In The Village (call it luck). It ends with Powerslave and the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, two all-time best and stage-missed evergreen. The first is the only non-Harris song that ever reached the status of title-track, while the epic of the Rime is to be unrivaled until 1995, but that's another story. If I can say it, this feels like a studio-demo for Live After Death.

LIVE AFTER DEATH

Live After Death
Bruce Dickinson
Steve Harris
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
Nicko McBrain
 Running Free (Live)Run To The Hills (Live)
LIVE AFTER DEATH Aces High - 2 Minutes To Midnight - The Trooper - Revelations - Flight Of Icarus
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - Powerslave - The Number Of The Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name - Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills - Running Free
Wrathchild* - Children Of The Damned* - 22 Acacia Avenue*
Die With Your Boots On* - Phantom Of The Opera* (*Vynil/Remasters Only)
Running Free (Live) Running Free - Sanctuary - Murders In The Rue Morgue
Run To The Hills (Live) Run To The Hills - Phantom Of The Opera - Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)

You don't need a "best of" album when you have something like this. All of the band's songs magically reach their long-sought after perfection and are given to the masses at their best. This is one of the longest tours I've ever heard of (it's only a year, but they are almost 200 shows!) and is the best live recording of Iron Maiden, not talking about rock history. Martin is again behind the consoles, and will never again do such a fine job; everyone in the band does its best, and the crowds themselves are unforgettable. The stage is something epic: egyptian-like contructions and an twenty-foot tall Eddie to celebrate while playing Iron Maiden every evening (and there's also the smaller one that dances (!) during Powerslave).
There is nothing to say, just listen and dream. I did... I still do.

NAVIGATION CONTROLS