Because today is the 10 year anniversary of me purchasing my first Iron Maiden album, I decided to do what every other Maiden fan on this site has already done: create an "Iron Maiden album ranking" list. Yes, yet another one. Maiden was my first favourite metal band and remains one of my favourite bands to this day. They also opened up a whole new world of music for me and I can trace most of the stuff I've listened to since back to Maiden, either directly or indirectly. So, without further dudes, let us begin.

Created by:

Azarath | 28.08.2013

	1.	Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son 1988 - My first Maiden album remains my favourite. The first time I listened to it, I got the "I need to get everything this band has ever done" feeling, usually reserved for acts like The Pink Floyd. This album is the culmination of Maiden's '80s work, focusing their metal-with-proggy-aspirations sound into a full-blown concept album. Most importantly though, the concept never gets in the way of the band penning memorable tunes, and as a result the story is left fairly open-ended. A classic, in every sense of the word. Highlights: Infinite Dreams, The Evil That Men Do, Moonchild.
	2.	Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast 1982 - Yes, the first Maiden album with Dickinson (and the last with Burr - R.I.P. Clive) is every bit the classic its reputation suggests. Some of the songs, especially the 2 singles / signature songs, are overplayed and the closing epic shows up quite often as well. That doesn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the album, as the overall quality here is very high. "Gangland" tends to be the punching bag, and even though it's the weakest song here Burr keeps it rolling along nicely. The rest of the songs range between 'great' and 'excellent'. Yes, even "Invaders". Highlights: Hallowed Be Thy Name, Children of the Damned, 22 Acacia Avenue.
	3.	Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind 1983 *Comments pending*
	4.	Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time 1986
	5.	Iron Maiden - Powerslave 1984
	6.	Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden 1980
	7.	Iron Maiden - Killers 1981
	8.	Iron Maiden - Brave New World 2000
	9.	Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death 2006
	10.	Iron Maiden - The Book Of Souls 2015
	11.	Iron Maiden - The X Factor 1995
	12.	Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier 2010
	13.	Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death 2003
	14.	Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark 1992
	15.	Iron Maiden - No Prayer For The Dying 1990
	16.	Iron Maiden - Virtual XI 1998 - Hardly a surprise. There are actually three very good songs on here, but also two of the worst songs Maiden have ever done - "When Two Worlds Collide" and, of course, "The Angel and the Gambler". The latter could actually have been improved by removing the vocals and focusing on the solid '70s rock groove underneath. But this was the album where Harris started allowing his compositions to run on empty with endless repetitions and that, coupled with the less-than-stellar production, is the reason why the album sounds dull and uninspired for the most part. Highlights: The Clansman, Lightning Strikes Twice, Futureal.