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Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden



8.6 | 2007 votes |
Release date: 14 April 1980
Style: New wave of British heavy metal

Owners:

2293 have it
105 want it
4 trade it


Disc I
01. Prowler
02. Remember Tomorrow
03. Running Free
04. Phantom Of The Opera
05. Transylvania
06. Strange World
07. Sanctuary [US release]
08. Charlotte The Harlot
09. Iron Maiden

Disc II [1995 reissue bonus]
01. Sanctuary
02. Burning Ambition
03. Drifter [live]
04. I've Got The Fire [Montrose cover]

Top 20 albums of 1980: 7
Featured in "Getting Into: Iron Maiden"

Additional info
Produced by Will Malone.
Engineering by Martin Levan.
Cover art & photography by Derek Riggs, Cream, Terry Walker & Yuka Fujii.

Staff review by
Pierre Tombale
Rating:
7.5
This album is from the jurassic period of Iron Maiden, for the band's singer back in the days was not Bruce Dickinson, who was lead-singer for the band Samson at that time. Instead you will hear Paul Di'Anno, who has a fiery, kind of raw voice. With screaming guitars and the great bass-playing, which Steve Harris is famous for, Iron Maiden recorded their self titled debut.

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published 29.09.2003 | Comments (10)

Guest review by
RavenLord
Rating:
7.6
For my first review, I was faced with a dilemma as to which album to look at. The answer lay in my current favourite band, and where better to start than the very beginning, in East London, 1980?

This is proto-Maiden v.1.1. There, that's the review right there. What, you want more? Okay. This album is a bit of a mixed bag at times. Taken in context, it's bloody amazing. Steve Harris wrote the majority of the songs here when he was a teenager, and the complexity of the songs for the era and age of composer amazes me. Unfortunately, the lyrics are not as polished as on later releases, and gems on this disc like "Prowler" pale in comparison when compared to "Caught Somewhere in Time" or "The Trooper."

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published 04.08.2006 | Comments (25)

Guest review by
Arian Totalis
Rating:
8.0
After years of difficulty, Steve Harris must have been quite exhilarated when he learned that Maiden would have the opportunity to finally record their first full length album. While many fans may argue that this is one of Iron Maiden's most classic albums, Steve Harris himself was unhappy with the end result, thinking that there were many improvements that could have been made but simply weren't. Whether or not you like this album though, this is their debut album, so thus the classic words were rendered: "Iron Maiden can't be fought, Iron Maiden can't be sought".

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published 23.02.2010 | Comments (18)

23.10.2024
The debut album by Iron Maiden is the sound of every metalhead’s adolescence. It’s the sound of first discovery in the years of innocence, rebellion, and hope. It’s the emotional weight and the punk energy mixed inside a cauldron that shaped a new wave of metal. Paul Di’Anno’s voice will always be remembered by the child that still lives within each one of us; the child who used to sing alongside him: “Scan the horizon, the clouds take me higher, I shall return from out of the fire”.

R.I.P. Paul Di’Anno (May 17th, 1958 - Oct 21st, 2024)

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Comments

Comments: 55   Visited by: 2038 users
25.05.2010 - 01:45
Rating: 10
Simos
I think this one is one of the greatest debut albums of all time
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11.09.2010 - 20:18
Reza
Account deleted
Written by Simos on 25.05.2010 at 01:45

I think this one is one of the greatest debut albums of all time

I totally agree.
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26.07.2011 - 02:29
BeastOfMetal456
Account deleted
One fine album by my all time favorite band. Di'Anno sounds good, but not as good as Dickinson.
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20.11.2011 - 19:07
Zap
This or Number Of The Beast is my favorite Maiden album, can't figure out which one's better.
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06.06.2012 - 22:21
Cuca Beludo
Account deleted
Excellent album... I imagine how Iron Maiden would be in the future if Paul where still in the band...
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09.06.2012 - 06:29
Rating: 9
Numbskull
Written by [user id=41780] on 11.09.2010 at 20:18

Written by Simos on 25.05.2010 at 01:45

I think this one is one of the greatest debut albums of all time

I totally agree.

Me too
I can remember when this album came out. Sill a fresh slice of metal now as it was then.
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09.06.2012 - 19:58
Rating: 8
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Contributor
Written by [user id=114505] on 06.06.2012 at 22:21

Excellent album... I imagine how Iron Maiden would be in the future if Paul where still in the band...

Yea, more punk than metal, lol
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rekt
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15.07.2012 - 21:02
Cuca Beludo
Account deleted
Written by tea[m]ster on 09.06.2012 at 19:58

Written by [user id=114505] on 06.06.2012 at 22:21

Excellent album... I imagine how Iron Maiden would be in the future if Paul where still in the band...

Yea, more punk than metal, lol

Definitely not a good thing
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09.11.2012 - 23:04
megadeath13
Account deleted
One of the most influential debuts and way ahead of its time.
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12.11.2012 - 21:28
Rating: 7
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
Very strong debut, though I do prefer Killers out of the two Paul Di'Anno era albums.
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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21.02.2013 - 01:54
Rating: 10
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by [user id=114505] on 06.06.2012 at 22:21

Excellent album... I imagine how Iron Maiden would be in the future if Paul where still in the band...

This is masterpiece, one of super debute albums, perfect in it time and what was around , perfect for 1980 , but next one was way to week and if Paul be , IM would be a club band, what would split up in 1991 , never would reach glory and maybe re unite in 2004. Band felt that way and ask Bruce join, but he said he will finishs chool 1th .... well band know whit Paul what was more punkish theyw ont have future..... why Paul is on bottom, he had fibacal problems+?
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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12.03.2013 - 00:08
Cuca Beludo
Account deleted
Written by Bad English on 21.02.2013 at 01:54

Written by [user id=114505] on 06.06.2012 at 22:21

Excellent album... I imagine how Iron Maiden would be in the future if Paul where still in the band...

This is masterpiece, one of super debute albums, perfect in it time and what was around , perfect for 1980 , but next one was way to week and if Paul be , IM would be a club band, what would split up in 1991 , never would reach glory and maybe re unite in 2004. Band felt that way and ask Bruce join, but he said he will finishs chool 1th .... well band know whit Paul what was more punkish theyw ont have future..... why Paul is on bottom, he had fibacal problems+?

I wouldn't call this one a masterpiece, but definitely one of my favourites. Prowler is the best song from the old maiden era, and I also agree that the follow-up kinda of sucked. But anyway this sound is unique, neither Di'anno could re-create the feeling of this album in his solo "career".
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14.04.2013 - 02:30
Rating: 10
Egigantea
Wow, wasn't this a 8.8 a while back?
How can people rate this low?
It's such a strong debut and arguably one of Maiden best albums.
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02.09.2013 - 00:22
sidman52
Paul Di'Anno era albums.are classics and takes you somewhere but what bruce brought to maiden was something where i wanted be iron maiden - iron maiden paved the way for good things to come and they surely did 10 out of 10 for iron maiden-iron maiden and also iron maiden- killers.
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15.01.2014 - 05:42
Rating: 5
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Staff
I think someone is a little biased against the current metal scene...
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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13.10.2014 - 05:19
Rulatore
Written by deadone on 15.01.2014 at 05:34

Guess it doesn't compare to that latest Experimental-Blackened-Avantgarde-Drone-Post-Rock-Shoegazer-With-Psychadelic-Influences album or Amon Amarth's Same-Old-Shit-We've-Done-For-Nine-Albums album or the Anything-By-Opeth-Even-If-It's-Shite-Cause-Mikael-Akerfeldt-Makes-My-Loins-Twitch album.

yeah, I second Troy on this one.
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29.10.2014 - 13:20
Rating: 8
Ruchesko
Di'Anno surprised me with this. I turned it on expecting it to confirm me as a Bruce purist (not keen on the two Bayley albums), but whilst its no Somewhere In Time, it works.
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20.02.2015 - 16:17
Rating: 10
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Ruchesko on 29.10.2014 at 13:20

Di'Anno surprised me with this. I turned it on expecting it to confirm me as a Bruce purist (not keen on the two Bayley albums), but whilst its no Somewhere In Time, it works.

maybe best what he ever have written a real masterpiece, one of best debutes, best NWOBHM albums also debutues, you name it , a brilliant masterpiece
Seems he overworked him self, next one was week/weak
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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07.02.2016 - 17:10
Rating: 5
JOPE OF STEELE
Steelemeister
Highly OVER RATED album. The only song on this S/T that does any major ass kicking and sounds something like what REAL Iron Maiden song sounds like is "Phantom of the Opera". The production is garbage with one of worst guitar sounds ever. The album is well described by the cover image: no imagination, the direction is as lost as the creativity of the guy who made that cover.. Maybe a lot ppl disagree when I say this album sounds much like punk rock ? even the band said they didn't wanna sound like punk ? but I think they did. And it's not about who is the singer, it's about the songs, the compositions. The musicianship is decent, that can be heard already on this album. But the band can do better songs! These songs just seem like something the band would do to get the album done and released quickly and only having a little Iron Maiden characteristics to them, except aforesaid "Phantom of the Opera".
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My vision is augmented
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05.07.2016 - 22:02
Rating: 9
majormalfunction
I love how unpolished the performance is yet the songs are written to perfection. The entire album is a presentation in sheer power! Huge classic.

And to anyone who says it has punk influences, no it doesn't, this is pure old-school heavy metal! Not one trace of punk to be found here.
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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05.07.2016 - 22:12
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Elite
Written by majormalfunction on 05.07.2016 at 22:02


And to anyone who says it has punk influences, no it doesn't, this is pure old-school heavy metal! Not one trace of punk to be found here.

Yes there are punk influences. Even a deaf man could hear it and the band also said they had punk influences in it, especially due to Paul bringing them in. He was originally a punker.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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05.07.2016 - 22:23
Rating: 9
majormalfunction
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.07.2016 at 22:12

Yes there are punk influences. Even a deaf man could hear it and the band also said they had punk influences in it, especially due to Paul bringing them in. He was originally a punker.

The only one who I can remember stating that is Paul Di'Anno (and he's voice doesn't count because, yeah you know why..). Steve Harris has repeatedly denied any punk influences. Here's a good quote from Bruce Dickinson, that pretty much sums it up:

"If you look at all the old Steve Harris interviews ? he hates punk rock. The first MAIDEN album sounded punky because it sounded like a sack of shit. He hates that record. The first singer gave it a little bit of that kind of vibe, but the punk thing was nailed to the band by the press. The band absolutely hated it, because there was no way on God's green earth MAIDEN were ever, even remotely, a punk band. As soon as 'Killers' came out, which was a proper-sounding record, it was obvious ? where's the punk thing on 'Killers'? You've got 'Murders In The Rue Morgue', which basically could have been off of DEEP PURPLE's 'In Rock', you've got 'Prodigal Son', a proggy, sweet little ballad, you've got 'Twilight Zone', all this kind of stuff ? where's the punk thing? Don't get it."
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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05.07.2016 - 22:34
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Elite
Ah always nice a non-Original member slagging off what it was. Steve Harris at the time even said it had punk influences, as did the other band members. Killers also had the punk influences, though not as much as "Iron Maiden" well and then came in the guy who thinks he is great and awesome and the be all and end all with his way too operatic voice which isn't even operatic.

It is always fun to see band members going all revisionist on their own music.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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06.07.2016 - 00:01
Rating: 9
majormalfunction
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.07.2016 at 22:34

Ah always nice a non-Original member slagging off what it was. Steve Harris at the time even said it had punk influences, as did the other band members. Killers also had the punk influences, though not as much as "Iron Maiden" well and then came in the guy who thinks he is great and awesome and the be all and end all with his way too operatic voice which isn't even operatic.

It is always fun to see band members going all revisionist on their own music.

As I said I've yet to stumble upon any interview where any one of the band members would claim that. I wasn't around back then so I don't know. That doesn't change the fact that I've never been able to draw any comparison between Maiden and punk. And i don't see what's so wrong with Bruce giving his opinion about the early albums? And what does his operatic voice has to do with anything? I think he going to jail because of lying to the British healthcare system that his back is fucked so he can get some insurance money is way more relevant. Oh wait, that was Paul..
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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06.07.2016 - 02:32
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Written by majormalfunction on 05.07.2016 at 22:02

I love how unpolished the performance is yet the songs are written to perfection. The entire album is a presentation in sheer power! Huge classic.

And to anyone who says it has punk influences, no it doesn't, this is pure old-school heavy metal! Not one trace of punk to be found here.

Are you trying to say that this isnt NWOBHM?
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06.07.2016 - 07:31
Rating: 9
majormalfunction
Written by [user id=157444] on 06.07.2016 at 02:32

Are you trying to say that this isnt NWOBHM?

I've always seen NWOBHM as a movement rather than an actual genre
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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06.07.2016 - 12:35
Rating: 5
JOPE OF STEELE
Steelemeister
Written by majormalfunction on 06.07.2016 at 07:31

Written by [user id=157444] on 06.07.2016 at 02:32

Are you trying to say that this isnt NWOBHM?

I've always seen NWOBHM as a movement rather than an actual genre

TBH this is one of the NWoBHMest albums I have ever heard. Why? Because it's not heavy at all. More like traditional metal, US power and (punk) rock than HM. And it's not only the production that makes it soft sounding, it's the instruments (especially guitars; no heavy riffs) and song writing too.
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My vision is augmented
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06.07.2016 - 12:49
Rating: 5
JOPE OF STEELE
Steelemeister
As far as kniw Harris was the main song writer here, and he said in The Early Days doc that they didn't wanna sound like punk, which is rather contradictory to my empiric perception about this album, because: 1) NWoBHM is fairly punk influenced in general, so it can be heard in almost all NWoBHM bands very clearly. 2) This album especially does sound punkish, when you have songs like Prowler, Running Free, Charlotte the Harlot and Iron Maiden. 3) Eddie is depicted as a punk on the album cover. 4) Di'Anno

I'm aware that Harris might have hated punk and I can believe he wanted to do something different than that, but obviously he was still being influenced by punk by reacting to it.
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My vision is augmented
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06.07.2016 - 13:13
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Elite
Written by [user id=157444] on 06.07.2016 at 02:32

Written by majormalfunction on 05.07.2016 at 22:02

I love how unpolished the performance is yet the songs are written to perfection. The entire album is a presentation in sheer power! Huge classic.

And to anyone who says it has punk influences, no it doesn't, this is pure old-school heavy metal! Not one trace of punk to be found here.

Are you trying to say that this isnt NWOBHM?

This is a NWOBHM album, but NWOBHM is not a specific kind of sound. NWOBHM is a period in time. So, it's a movement. And only limited to a small number of years.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

Loading...
06.07.2016 - 16:11
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.07.2016 at 13:13

Written by [user id=157444] on 06.07.2016 at 02:32

Written by majormalfunction on 05.07.2016 at 22:02

I love how unpolished the performance is yet the songs are written to perfection. The entire album is a presentation in sheer power! Huge classic.

And to anyone who says it has punk influences, no it doesn't, this is pure old-school heavy metal! Not one trace of punk to be found here.

Are you trying to say that this isnt NWOBHM?

This is a NWOBHM album, but NWOBHM is not a specific kind of sound. NWOBHM is a period in time. So, it's a movement. And only limited to a small number of years.

When I to this in the 80s it was a movement. Today its easy to see that the main bands was 70s rock+punk= NWOBHM.
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