What Iron Maiden albums do YOU consider to be part of their classic period?

Iron Maiden through Powerslave. While Somewhere In Time is a great LP, they started to shift (and lost me) with the synth guitars.

 

Yeah I'm pretty much of the same mind.
Basically they start to lose me when their songs stretch out past 5 or 6 minutes.
I also just really love their first two albums, where they have a nice mix of grittiness that they lose with Bruce. I mean of course he's great but it's like they started with comic-book meets street thug maniac, and lost the maniac and went full-on comic-book with Powerslave.

The first three albums are the only ones I love in their entirety.

So while many see Somewhere In Time as a step down, it contains as much enjoyable music as the Piece of Mind and Powerslave for me, and same with Seventh Son. They are all hit-and-miss, with a number of excellent songs and a number of forgettable ones.

 

First 7 are the classic period to me although I enjoy every album except Virtual XI which is total crap. Fear of the Dark is spotty and NPFTD has a couple lesser songs but I’ve always enjoyed that album. You can tell from all the varied responses of what people like that Maiden has always put out something different that appeals to different audiences and that’s what I love about them. You can listen to the first 3 albums if you’re in a certain mood. You can listen to Piece of Mind or Powerslave for another mood. You can listen to SiT or SSOASS for another, The X Factor if you’re really feeling different, or the reunion albums or whatever.

To me, they’re all close enough to know that it’s Maiden but different enough to not feel like you’re listening the same album over and over again which a lot of bands can’t do.

I do fully agree that Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are the greatest Maiden related albums in the last 25 years though but I don’t think that is any insult to anything Maiden has done. Those albums are just pure phenomenal.

 

Couldn't agree more. Glad I'm not the only one who enjoys No Prayer, some of Fear and The X Factor. Futureal and Clansman aside (the latter dignified by Bruce's version on Rio), Virtual XI is the only Maiden album I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've listened to it end to end. All the other albums require other people's fingers and toes

Aside from having the Best Of Bruce CD I've not done any of Bruce's albums in their entirety. Might even have to dig out the 7" of Adrian Smith & Project Silver & Gold now.

 

That Best Of disc ain’t much. The majority of it is B-Sides and unreleased stuff. Maybe just 2 or 3 songs off Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding each.

 

Is Accident or Chemical best to start with? Do either of them feature Adrian?

 

Adrian plays on both. I think most people prefer Chemical Wedding. If I personally had to choose between the two it may be Accident of Birth but I consider them equal.

 

Iron Maiden - 5/5
Killers - 5/5
Number Of The Beast - 5/5
Piece Of Mind - 5/5
Powerslave - 5/5
Somewhere In Time - 5/5
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son - 5/5
No Prayer For The Dying - 3/5
Fear Of The Dark - 3/5
The X Factor - 4/5
Virtual XI - 2/5
Brave New World - 4/5
Dance Of Death - 4/5
A Matter Of Life And Death - 5/5
Final Frontier - 5/5


I likes me some Maiden.

 

I agree that Fear of the Dark is pretty underrated. I too like it better than SiT. I voted the self-titled through Seventh Son, but if Fear of the Dark was somewhere in there instead of after the disappointing No Prayer for the Dying, I'd probably put it in their classic sequence too.

I run hot and cold with most Maiden albums since then. I don't think the Blaze albums are as bad or the Bruce reunion albums as great as others make them out to be. If Blaze sang in tune and if Maiden would stop with the needlessly excessive noodling, I think they would have had some more solid albums in them. They need to bring Martin Birch out of retirement!

 

I voted first four.

Almost went first three, since much of Piece of Mind does nothing at all for me. Powerslave represents a big turning point away from the raw, energetic frenzy of the Paul/early Bruce days toward a more produced, arena rock-type sound. I still love everything up through Fear of the Dark and like some tracks thereafter, but the "classic" era for me is definitely S/T through most of POM.

 

The Soundhouse Tapes through to Fear Of The Dark. No Prayer For The Dying is quite weak but it has a couple of good ones.

The Blaze period and the most recent few albums have their moments, but the band just increasingly feel like they've run their course.

My personal favorite period is the Di'Anno period, but I think Piece Of Mind was their peak creatively.

 

I love Accident of Birth. Best Maiden album since Powerslave.

 

I wonder who the person is that put Powerslave in the Classic Period and not Piece of Mind. Would love to know why!

Personally, I voted first six, although Somewhere in Time is a bit of a drop off in quality. My favorite Maiden albums are Killers and Piece of Mind, so what do I know?!

 

I felt it was a disappointment too back in '88. I felt it was kind of weak. I had a crap stereo a the time mind you. It did sound a lot better through a Levinson amp and preamp and B&W 801 speakers that I auditioned, but there was something about that failed to grab me really. It definitely has grown on me over the years, but I have yet to really embrace it.

Anyway, I voted 'Iron Maiden' up until 'Seventh Son.' Let's not forget 'Maiden Japan' and 'Live After Death.'

Off topic, but when Di'Anno left (or fired,) a bit of the ultra high energy left with him. The sound became a bit more polished. Which to me, is a double edged sword. The early Maiden stuff rivals early Motörhead (think the 'Ace of Spades' album) in its intensity and high energy.

 

Number of the Beast up through 7th Son is the "classic" era of Maiden for me.

I don't like the first 2 albums at all because of the vocals so that rules them out for me. Maiden didn't appeal to me until I heard Bruce's wailing.

I have to say that Matter of Life and Death is my favorite Maiden album now though, supplanting former fave NotB. I wouldn't say it is "classic" Maiden though. It is "new metal prog" Maiden.

 

The first two.

 

For those that vote the reunion albums as their fave, out of interest have you also listened to Accident Of Birth and The Chemical Wedding? How do you think they compare to the reunion albums? Do you not think those Bruce solo albums are more Maiden than Maiden?

If you haven't heard them - go and get them - you'll be doing yourself a huge favour!

 

I didn't vote for the latter day Maiden albums, but those Bruce albums are far, far stronger-almost the equal of classic Maiden, IMO.

 

Got the two Bruce albums lined up on Spotify for later; anticipating these greatly as I do like many of Bruce's reunion era songs such as Montsegur, Starblind etc. This and Adrian playing on Bruce's albums bodes extremely well. Will post thoughts after going through them.

On another note, I'm interested in how many people think that the classic era ends with either the first Maiden album they bought or the album released before that. My first was Live After Death, and worked my way backwards from that based in whichever track held the most fascination at any given time. SIT, when it came out, initially felt like too much of a departure sound wise although the epicness was still there.

Seventh Son on the other hand felt like an instant classic the first time I heard it played in a mate's bedroom on the day of release. Given metal had essentially splintered into LA/hair bands and thrash with even the likes of Priest following the trends, Seventh Son (and to a lesser extent Operation Mindcrime) sounded like nothing else then. Seventh Son is still my favourite Maiden album.

 

The first five.

 

I totally agree with this. For as strong as Piece Of Mind is, it begins a pattern of long, melodramatic concert pleasers based on other mediums. Metal songs about books and movies are cool. Making sure every album has songs about books and movies is not. Piece Of Mind has great songs, but is brought down hard by Still Life, Quest for Fire, and To Tame a Land. Powerslave has Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, which is great to see live, but rather hokey when you consider the idea behind it wasn't Iron Maiden's.

 

For me the "classic" Maiden period would be the trilogy of Beast-Mind-Slave, and rounding up that period would be Live After Death. That's classic Maiden and Live After Death is the end of that. Somewhere in Time although very good, begins a new chapter for Maiden.

I'm a Maiden freak, I have all their albums on CD and vinyl and I've seen them live many times. When I hear people talking about the classic period of Maiden, that's the era that pops into my mind. I mean did anything get bigger than The World Slavery Tour????

 

I said up to and including “Seventh Son”, though I personally feel like “Seventh Son” was a bit of a letdown. I could argue that “No Prayer” and “Fear of the Dark” are still of the "classic Iron Maiden" period, they just happen to be lesser albums (especially "No Prayer", which kinda blows). I like half of "Fear of the Dark". Then again, maybe the classic period ends with “Powerslave”, because after that they started using synths and ulterior motives.

 

I would like to think you'd like EVERYTHING, considering you're the bassist!

 

Bigger how? Whilst they've never done anything like the punishing duration of WST again, here in the UK Maiden playing Donington Monsters of Rock was HUGE at the time. Pretty much wall to wall coverage in the UK metal press. One of my few musical regrets in life was not being able to afford to go. Kind of made up for it with last year with the Maiden England set at Donington 2013 instead Not to mention that most of the SSOASS era singles went top 10 here in the UK (from what I remember anyway, feel free to correct me if needs be).

The Flight 666 era tours, on the other hand, were huge in scope but couldn't have been done without the graft and ground work the band put in during the 80s both in the studio and on tour.