British band, one of the biggest in the history of heavy metal, has already released 17 studio albums – mostly great, which makes it difficult for this list.
Few rock and heavy metal bands kept the form in studio albums as well as Iron Maiden. There are 17 albums of unpublished released by the compound group most of the time by Bruce Dickinson (voice), Dave Murray (guitar), Adrian Smith (guitar), Janick Gers (guitar), Steve Harris (low) and Nicko McBrain (battery); Most of the high quality level.
Therefore, it is Herculean task to pinch the top five, and in the view of many readers like you, some injustices may have been committed. But the challenge is worth it. The following list features the choices and their comments. Check it out!
Iron Maiden’s 5 best records according to Rolling Stone Brazil critic
5) Brave New World (2000)
The history of Iron Maiden in the 1990s is a good example of: Union makes the strength. Bruce Dickinson left the formation in 1993 and conceived good solo albums, but there was no power of his work with the band-which, in turn, also did not please replacing it with Blaze Bayley and let it lose some of your charm. Dickinson and Maiden knew that they work better together, swallowed their egos and ran into. The Casket, Bruce still brought Adrian Smith, who had been out since 1990, but everyone decided that the occupant of his post, Janick Gers, would be maintained. It worked so well That, except for the removal of Nicko McBrain for health reasons at the end of 2024, everyone follows together.
Great albums have emerged since then, but Brave New World It’s still the Best portrait of sextet formation. Attempts to sound more prog with The x Factor (1995) and Virtual XI (1998), here, were converted into hits, as the creative signature of Dickinson and Smith make a difference – as noted in the hymn “The Wicker Man” and “The Fallen Angel”, for example. Also, having three guitarists expanded the possibilitieswhat is perceived in “Ghost of the Navigator” and “Dream of Mirrors”. And the coolest of all: GERS contributions were not suppressed, given that the guitarist Coassina four tracks, highlighting the second single, “Out of the Silent Planet.”
4) Somewhere in Time (1986)
After five albums and a success built from an undifferent work ethic, Iron Maiden was exhausted. Physical and creatively. They were More than 850 shows between 1979 and 1985 – average of more than 140 presentations per year; Two every five days, with long trips in the middle. No one can stand: Bruce Dickinson was addicted to sex, Adrian Smith suffered from depression and alcoholism, Steve Harris isolated himself in an unhealthy way. A perfect context for a crank band, correct?
It was not the case of Maiden. Surprisingly, they recovered and made SOMEWHERE IN TIMEa futuristic themed album that not just the repositioned in the 1980sas well as established new standards in conceptual, lyrical and melodic terms. Exhausted, Dickinson did not help in the composition process, assumed only by Adrian Smith and Steve Harris-although Dave Murray Coassine “Deja-Vu”. And it is delicious to observe how they create in ways differentbut complementary: Smith parades his appreciation for strong melodies in “Wasted Years” and “Stranger in a Strange Land,” while Harris’s vein Prog jumps into “Caucho Somewhere in Time” and “Alexander the Great.” SOMEWHERE IN TIME It’s so underestimated which was widely ignored in subsequent tour repertoires, to the point that the group resumes it in the newly encerified The Future Past.
3) Powerslave (1984)
The album that ends a series of cycles For Iron Maiden. Powerslave It is the result of almost a decade – the group was founded in 1975 – of efforts; of the most basichow to establish a minimally stable formation, to the most complexessuch as developing its own sound signature without repeating what it had done on the previous album. No wonder the quintet began to change his footprint from the next work, curiously the fourth placed on this humble list. I couldn’t even be different: Powerslave and so rich that there was nowhere to go from here.
Maiden’s fifth studio album also signed, more clearly, creative individualities. For the first time, Bruce Dickinson was credited with the authorship of two songs in the same work: the classic title track and the B “Flash of the Blade”. He also signed two songs with Adrian Smith, increasingly comfortable: Hit -looking hard rock “2 minutes to Midnight” and one less recognized, “Back in the Village.” But they came from Steve Harris, the main composer, the boldest works: the intense “Aces High”, who drew from Dickinson one of his most amazing vocal performances, and the epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, with its over 13 minutes – for 31 years was the longest of the entire catalog to “Empire of the Clouds”, occupying 18 minutes The Book of Souls (2015).
2) Killers (1981)
Choose slightly controversial, I know. But there is no denying the strength of the two albums of Iron Maiden with Paul di’anno. Both helped catapult the band to an initial star because, right away, they sounded unique. It was heavy metal, but not square like that of many groups of the so -called New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM): mixed influences To the point of merging the hard rock of melodies of names like Wishbone Ash and Ufo A, yes, a fierce punk punk – refuted by Steve Harris, but guaranteed by Di’anno. At that time, he was either visceral, or it was harmonious. The Maiden could be the two.
Killers It has a repertoire as strong as the name of the homonymous debut, released in 1980. However, its production, signed for the first time in the group’s trajectory Martin Birch “Who they would make a long partnership,” he raised the results to another level. “Wrathchild” has become practically eternal on Maiden’s setlist and is a waste that over time they stopped playing pearls like “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, the title track “Killers” and “Purgatory”, albeit, admittedly, Bruce Dickinson never interpreted them with the same fury that the late Di’anno.
1) The Number of the Beast (1982)
Iron Maiden evolved a lot as a band according to the 1980s. It became more sophisticated, whether in lyrical content, rhythmic work, melodies, vocal performance… but there is something in The Number of the Beast encapsulating Everything a heavy metal disc needs to have. Even the “invades” fillers (curiously the tracklist opening) and “Gangland” are charming.
The first album with Bruce Dickinson on vocals balances innocence of the early years with sophisticated characteristics that would still be reinforced in the following work. An almost radio anthem such as “Run to the Hills” divides space with “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, which, accusation of plagiarism apart, follows as one of Heavy Metal’s songs more dramatic and seductive of all time. Adrian Smith’s authorial Faro, guitarist who was out of the first album, began to flourish once and for all with the incredible “The Prison” and the almost hard rock “22 Acacia Avenue.” You can’t call her ballad, but “Children of the Damned” has a melodic construction so strong that Maiden himself Used and abused of the format in the future.
And it even has a rare ingredient in the group’s trajectory, but indispensable in rock and roll: controversygenerated by the title track “The Number of the Beast”, poorly played by the American public to the point of defining the guys as Satanists and promoting boycott. It only increased the interest around them. Want something cooler than that?
*Honorable mentions to Iron Maiden (1980), Piece of Mind (1983 – depending on humor, would fit this top 5), Seventh Son of A Seventh Son (1988), Dance of Death (2003) and Senjutsu (2021).
Rolling Stone Brazil Special: Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden on the cover: A Rolling Stone Brazil He launched an edition of unpublished collector for fans of the Heavy Metal band. The biggest albums, the list of shows in Brazil, the power of the group’s market and even a tour of the band’s plane you can see in the printed special, for sale at Profile store.
+++ Read more: the curious reason that made Rock in Rio 1985 being the best, according to Bruce Dickinson
+++ Read more: the 6 best lines in Steve Harris, according to the
+++ Read more: Janick Gers explains why you move crazy on stage
+++ Follow Rolling Stone Brasil @rollingstonebrasil on Instagram
+++ Follow journalist Igor Miranda @igormirandasite on Instagram
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
