We kick off with the best band in the world...

I thought this blog would be more about me with some lists of my favourite or hated things but I had to start with the greatest band in the world. In my opinion and this site is just that my opinion so read it and let me know if you think differently...

With 16 studio albums I thought I would start with me ranking the albums from worst to best in order of my preference. I have gone through each album and probably too quickly given each song a score out of 5 stars then divided the total by the number of tracks on the album this gives the album a score (or stars) out of 5 from that score I have the list below which in some cases has surprised me. Well here goes...

No. 16 - Killers

(10 Tracks - Running time 38m 18s) Stars 3.3 /5

Let’s kick things off with the fact that I am ranking this albums where the worst will still be miles better than so many out there, in my opinion. Please don’t forget that this is my opinion. First up and my apparently my worst Iron Maiden Album is Killers. Their second album just didn’t have the awe for me, now do not get me wrong this is still a good album but it doesn’t get played that often by me. There are two instrumentals on there and to me just too many fillers. They have some great tracks on there as well with 'Wrathchild', 'Murders in the Rue Morgue', and 'Killers'. Its ok but when you compare this album to any of the others it just doesn’t wash it for me anyway. My guess is that they had worked on so many tracks for the first album that they had songs that were not good enough to squeeze into the first one and they kept hold of them for this one. Having the vinyl version made it just too much to pull this out of the sleeve when you had Iron Maiden sat next to it just too much effort. For me for its age it still hasn’t been played as much as many or any of the other albums so I won’t dwell here and just move on.

No. 15 - Piece of Mind

(9 Tracks - Running time 45m 28s) Stars 3.67 /5

OK moving on to next on my list and if I am honest if asked without looking at the entire list of albums I probably would of suggested that this would have been my worst. I liked the cover artwork slightly more than Killers but that was about it. Less tracks than Killers but had a longer running time. This is the album that gave birth to the legend that is ‘The Tropper’ which should make it great but the others tracks let this romping bass heavy track down. They are not all bad with ‘Where Eagles Dare’ and ‘Revelation’s as well as ‘Flight of Icarus’ and ‘Die With Your Boots On’ which are also worth noting but then there were lesser tracks in my opinion to close out the album. Owning this on cassette this was one album that I came back to after its release and maybe I didn’t give it a fair crack but I cannot go back and change time and I cannot now give it a fair crack as my mind is made up. 3.67 stars means that the iconic single song from this album wasn’t enough to bring the score up beyond 3.67 stars. ‘The Trooper’ is a fantastic rip-snorter of a track and as a result has been copied so many times it is untrue. If you go onto YouTube but don’t type Iron Maiden just type The Trooper and look at the list! Even more so if you put the word cover after the trooper you could be there for days working through that lot. From harps and orchestral to the many tributes bands and blue grass covers. There are millions out there and everyone has had a go at this one.

No. 14 - Somewhere in Time

(8 Tracks - Running time 43m 51s) Stars 3.75 /5

I feel that this album was very Adrian Smith orientated which doesn’t make it bad and the cover with its futuristic Eddie on it makes it iconic as well. This was Maiden’s sixth album and saw an introduction of electronic feel to the music. There are some great tracks on there including ‘Caught Somewhere in Time’, ‘Wasted Years’ and ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’. I have to admit that I like 'Sea of Madness', 'Heaven Can Wait', and 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'. 'Deja-Vu' didn’t work for me but the album has its place in the list and got a 3.75 stars out of me. Which I think is about right out of 5 well over 50% but still not in the league of the albums yet to come on this list. The Somewhere on Tour was before my love for them really set in so I didn't manage to get to see it but the stage set seems awesome and I think I really missed out there. I liked Maiden since the early 80's but didn't fall in love with them until late in the decade and first went to see them in 1992 and then never missed a tour thereafter with the exception of one tour. Which sits in my side like a thorn. This was a good album and I would recommend it to anyone 'Wasted Years' even for those non-metal heads out there as well. I love the stories that Maiden tell and this album has those as well which has its place but for me it not the historical moments that many others I love because I know a little of that history and many times it was the songs that peaked my interest to go off and learn them but I am sure there are many to come.

13 - No Prayer for the Dying

(10 Tracks - Running Time 43:42) Stars 4/5

13th on my list and the 4th shortest album in terms of track time the first to break into the 4 stars realms. This album was once described as being cobbled together in the studio. I may not of had the exact and correct words there but basically as it was explained to me the band came together at the studio and basically sat down and went ‘OK we need to come up with an album, who’s got what ideas?’ This may have been them just going through the motion’s but their talents come shining through as there are some great tracks on here from the banging opening track of ‘Tailgunner’, which was followed by ‘Holy Smoke’, and ‘No Prayer for the Dying’. All three of them are 5 stars by my judgement let album including Maiden’s only UK number 1 single ‘Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter’. Which I believe was written by Bruce Dickinson for one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and Steve Harris heard it and said we are having that. You never know that could be the first seeds of why they split after the next album but the band took some flack for this album and they admit themselves that they didn’t give it the love that a new album demands but for me it still has some greats songs on there. The two tracks either side of Daughter was good as well with ‘Hooks in You’, and ‘Mother Russia’. This is a good album and it still doesn’t make my top ten of Maiden albums.

12 - The X Factor

(8 Tracks - Running Time 1:10:54) Stars 4.09/5

Now this may well surprise some of you as this is above three of Bruce’s albums but as I mentioned how the scoring system worked and there are some great tunes on here as well. You can tell the band really worked hard on this album and were desperate for it to succeed. Did it work, well maybe not but for me the opening 3 songs were great and got 5 stars from me. The album kicked off with ‘Sign of the Cross’ which the band still sing on tour today. It is followed by ‘Lord of the Flies’ and the first single released namely ‘Man on the Edge’ which I did enjoy. There are a few on there that for me didn’t make the grade but there are some other positive tracks such as ‘The Edge of Darkness’ and ‘2am’ which I loved. The band really wanted to this to succeed due mainly to the departure of Bruce and the “New Man” coming in from Wolfbane namely ‘Blaze Bayley’ who for me was never going to compare to Bruce, but he could sing but never had the range that Bruce has. Let’s be honest there are some great band’s out there that will never get close to Bruce’s ability and with that in mind you cannot blame Blaze for not being Bruce. Honestly, he did a good job and I like his stuff since leaving the band and I appreciated what he did when in the band as well. They scaled down the venues for the tour and it was amazing to see Iron Maiden in such small venues and I was privileged to see them at least three maybe four times on the same tour. Fantastic! In fact for many years my best gig was a Blaze gig fronting Maiden (it has since been beaten!).

11 - The Final Frontier

(10 Tracks - Running Time 1:16:34) Stars 4.10/5

Rounding out the albums not in the top ten is the fifteenth album release. With over one hour and sixteen minutes of music this is the second longest album they have released. This was the fourth after the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith re-joined the band. Released in 2010 and scoring 4.1 stars this has the usual racing tracks and for me there are three five star songs on there as well. Namely ‘The Talisman’, ‘Coming Home’ and ‘When the Wild Winds Blow’. With the last one named there is just haunting and again they just manage to hit the nail on the head with tone and feeling pumped into this track and is just beautiful. The reason this isn’t in the top ten is more to do with some of the other tracks on there that just didn’t hit the heights for me. Which is not saying they are bad its just they are not as good as some yet to come in this list. They were in their pomp and were really the best metal band on the planet when this came out and this put a crown on top for me anyway. No doubt people will argue against it but this it my thoughts and tough. Buy me a beer and we can discuss it sometime.

10 - Virtual XI

(8 Tracks - Running Time - 00:53:22) Stars 4.13/5

Blaze’s second and final album with the band saw (I.M.O.) him push his vocal talents much further. Rather than the growly snarly tones of his first album this saw some smoother and longer tracks. With the nine-and-a-half-minute epic the ‘Angel and the Gambler’ and nine minutes’ worth of ‘The Clansman’ which is still played live today. Added was an 8 minute ‘Don’t Look to the Eyes of a Stranger’ which was one of the weaker tracks on the album with the weakest being ‘Lightning Strikes Twice’. It opened with another single and much faster paced ‘Futureal’ and concluded with my favourite for this album ‘Como Estais Amigos’. This album was the cement that underpinned the “New Man,” into the group and to me it shows that Blaze Bayley’s influence was coming through and he was being welcomed as part of the band and not just “new”. Writing three of the eight tracks suggests so as well. Unfortunately stretching his vocal abilities probably was the hidden reason that the tour across the US was cut short as he had ‘an allergic reaction’ to pollen, apparently. This is where the question was asked, what is Bruce and Adrian up to? Anyone want to ask if they are still happy working together or should they come back and reform as a super group with three lead guitars and Bruce back singing? They may have been surprised by the answer as they both came back. Well, as it turns out the group was greater than the sum of the parts and they were back together again! For me it was sad to see Blaze move on, but they are a better band with Bruce in it. Blaze had turned his back on Wolfsbane so decided to go solo until Wolfsbane was later reformed (I think it was 2010) and for me I was pleased to say that the legendary Iron Maiden was back.

9 - Brave New World

(10 Tracks - Running Time - 01:06:57) Stars 4.20/5

They certainly were back, with the new line up of Steve as ever on the bass, Bruce was back singing, with Janick, Dave joined by the returning Adrian Smith whilst Nicko continued to bash the tubs. The first single of the ‘reformed’ band was ‘The Wicker Man’ a racing full paced single to launch the new album following Blaze’s departure. Following on to the Wickers ankles was ‘Flight of the Navigator’ which added to ‘Blood Brothers’ rounded out my favourite three tracks of this album. Other tracks of note being the title track of ‘A Brave New World’ and ‘Out of the Silent Planet’. I cannot hear Brave without remembering bouncing up and down at Earls Court before a hell of a train journey home. That was the night I learnt that alcohol plus a mosh pit really isn’t a good mix. Despite all the many good things I could say about this album it was not their best, but it did herald the return of the golden era to come. Headlining festivals, making their own festival and many and I mean many UK tours to come. With my favourite ever Maiden gig to come. This was the beginning of the second wave of the godfathers of metal!

8 - The Book of Souls

(11 Tracks - Running Time - 01:32:11) Stars 4.27/5

Of the 16 albums made in the timeline this is number 16. The latest offering from the boyz. Kicking off with ‘If Eternity Should Fail’ this is another great album and its only half-way up the list! Which is saying something! There are some great songs on here such as ‘Speed of Light’, ‘The Red and the Black’, ‘The Book of Souls’ and the divisive ‘Empire of the Clouds’ which I am in the ‘like it’ camp. This was the tour that I missed, and they came back without releasing a new album with the Legacy of the Beast tour. Which I did manage to get tickets for. This is the longest in terms of length which shows the changes in albums from their very first which was less than 38 minutes as a comparison. This would easily be the best of so many bands out there, but this is 8th from me. It was met with approval from critics and fans alike and I’d recommend it as well.

7 - A Matter of Life and Death

(10 Tracks - Running Time - 01:11:53) Stars 4.3/5

I’ve hinted with some other albums reviewed about my greatest and favourite gig ever!! Well, it happened when touring this album. It was a charity gig for Clive Burr (the original drummer of the band) and was held at Brixton Academy. I will stop now but this gig was the best! This album was the third longest and their 14th released studio album it couldn’t creep into the top 5 despite having some great war related tracks including ‘The Legacy’, ‘The Longest Day’, ‘These Colours Don’t Run’ and the opening track of the album ‘Different World’. Strangely for me I didn’t like the pre-released single of ‘The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg’. They decided to play the entire album when on the main tour with some classics at the end. I think this was the tour where there was fire backstage and they lost the power to the instruments on stage. Sorry I digress again. Released in 2006 this was an anti-war album and saw the band making a statement about the world.

6 - Dance of Death

(11 Tracks - Running Time - 01:07:57) - Stars 4.36/5

One of the albums with more tracks on it and released in 2003 making it their 13th album. It was the 5th longest in terms of track time and contains a song that always makes some dust go into my eyes (I’ll come back to that!). There are some absolute crackers on here as well. Kicking off the record with the usual galloping track with ‘Wildest Dreams’ before stepping up the quality with the next two tracks of ‘Rainmaker’ and ‘No More Lies’. The title track is none too shabby either with one of the catchiest riffs out there the ‘Dance of Death’ is another epic. Along with one of the rarest of things a fully acoustic track of ‘The Journeyman’ which means I have saved ‘Paschendale’ to mention last. This is a haunting track explaining the history of the battle and the many lives lost and is truly epic when played live as well. The tour was awesome, and this album is too. I scored ‘New Frontier’ low which unfortunately dragged the stars down and took this one outside the top 5 where it could easily sit somewhere between 2 and 6. Depending on my mood. Go listen to the ‘Dance of Death’ and tell me its not good, I dare you.

5 - Iron Maiden

(8 Tracks - Running Time - 00:37:39) - Stars 4.38/5

Into the top five and I have a joint score between the albums placed 5th and 4th so I had to toss a coin to see which one was placed where. The unlucky looser was their first ever album. Which shared a name with a single and the band as well. This was the shortest in terms of time and had the uniform 8 tracks with 4 on each side. With a convenient gap towards the end for my pleasure (right!). Oh the joys of vinyl, I still miss it a little bit. Kicking off the greatest band in history this album was a race to get to the finish. With simply great song followed by another, it all kicked off with ‘Prowler’ and the haunting ‘Remember Tomorrow’. Next was two great ones with ‘Running Free’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’ which always reminds me of Daly Thompson. An instrumental which always brings my scores down before two more tracks and the grand finale of ‘Iron Maiden’ which is just one of the greatest tracks to listen to live. I can tell you. With a guitarist called Dennis Stratton, Clive Burr on the drums and lead vocals from Paul DiAnno this was how this super group kicked off. Along with the ever-present Steve Harris and Dave Murray. This introduced them to the world and what an introduction! They were awesome and these tracks are still played live to this day and they still sound fantastic. Yet apparently (according to me better was yet to come) but we will come to that soon, won’t we?

4 -The Number of the Beast

(8 Tracks - Running Time - 00:39:11) - Stars 4.38

Equal scoring as the first ever album this was officially the third album but the first to feature a new singer by the name of Bruce Dickinson. Who had been with Samson previously so it was an opportunity to see what he could do? The answer was to blow everyone’s socks off. After the departure of Paul DiAnno this saw a new beginning and it was an epic one. This was my real introduction to Iron Maiden with the single of ‘Run to the Hills’. Released in 1982 this was third shortest album but had the traditional 8 tracks (4 per side) and was probably the first album that they had to build from scratch, without songs that had been knocked about and played live for a long time before hand. They had to come up with something to sell and the talents of this new singer as well. When you hear ‘Hallowed be thy Name’ for the first time you will realise they pulled it off to epic standards. There is not a filler on here for me as the lowest score out of 5 for a single on here is 4 which is saying something. It all kicks off with another galloping track with ‘Invaders’ and includes other tracks such as ‘The Prisoner’, ’22 Acacia Avenue’ and ‘Gangland’ which leaves some of the greatest Maiden’s track to grace the world. As already mentioned ‘Hallowed’ is on here alongside ‘The Number of the Beast’, ‘Run to the Hills’ and one of my personal favourites ‘Children of the Damned’. I bet every Maiden fan out there has tried to sing with Bruce and tried to hold onto that note at the beginning of Hallowed. Well for me the whole of Children gives me goosebumps and brings me back to 1982. The Spanish World Cup the trips to Butlins in Bogner and Maiden being heard for the very first time. Fantastic!

3 - Fear of the Dark

(12 Tracks - Running Time - 00:57:58) Stars 4.42/5

Depending on the mood, the direction of the wind and the spinning of the earth this album could be 3rd, 4th or 5th. As mentioned about ‘No Prayer for the Dying’ this was the last album before Bruce left. I think he had simply had enough of being within a band and having to share everything and wanted to see what he could achieve by himself. The answer was not as much without them and they were the same without him. This was released in 1992 in time to go to the Monsters of Rock festival which year had a line up that I could of picked for myself. I think I liked every band on the bill that day! But I wasn’t there and this kicked off my not missing a show as I attended my first Iron Maiden concert this year and it got me hooked. Not knowing then but Bruce was not on top form and was going through the motions as he knew he was leaving and looking back it showed. This album however did not show those cracks. It could be that Bruce knew and threw everything at his last album, just to prove a point and throw down the gauntlet for whoever followed. This album kicked off with the first released single of ‘Be Quick, or Be Dead’ another gun shot of an introduction to an album. Which was followed by another in ‘From Here to Eternity’. The anti war track ‘Afraid to Shoot Strangers’ followed that one. With some truly great track on this album including ‘Childhood’s End’, Wasting Love’, ‘Weekend Warrior’, ‘The Apparition’ and ‘Judas My Guide’ the whole albums builds to the conclusion of the spooky title track of ‘Fear of the Dark’. Which if you haven’t heard it then please do yourself a massive favour and go listen to it. You can thank me with a beer later. This was their ninth studio album and the seventh longest just three minutes shy of an hour. As I said Bruce left after this album and it saw my opportunity to see them increased so I saw them on this tour and nearly everyone since. They are immense live.

2 - Powerslave

(8 Tracks - Running Time - 00:51:12) - Stars 4.5/5

For the observant among you would of worked out which is the number one here. This is the 10th longest album and their 5th studio album. This is the one that has ‘that’ track on it but I will get to that a little later. They had continued with the 8 track routine but half of them were perfection in terms of my score for them. The first and last two tracks are the greatest but even those in between ain’t too shabby either. You can see that all of them are just fantastic even the lesser spotted instrumental track got a decent score from me. In the middle you have singles such as ‘Flash of the Blade’, ‘The Duellist’, and ‘Back in the Village’ again in the Village back in the village again. Sorry started singing there. For the first and last two tracks you have to celebrate as it kicks off with ‘Aces High’, and ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’ before the epic conclusion with ‘Powerslave’ followed by ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ to round out the album. I remember putting this final track on my cassette player just as I had to cycle to college and I used to race the song to see if I could get to college before the end of the song. At 13 minutes long, most of the time I could do it and I could always change the tape half way there, if needs be. Released in 1985 this is a fantastic album deserving of more credit but it will always hold a place for me and I appreciate listening to it whenever the opportunity arises. Get the kettle on and settle in comfy ready to listen to ‘Mariner’ as it is a true epic. It is so long, that it felt like it would never be beaten, that was until the last album, when the ‘Emperor of the Clouds’ overtook it by a clear 5 minutes. This album was banging even for them it was fast and furious with a little spooky and mystery thrown in for good measure. The ‘Powerslave’ track snarls and growls at you and then ‘Rime’ takes you on one of those epic Maiden stories they have become famous for. This has it all. Could it even get beaten well apparently it can and here is the number one…

1 - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

(8 Tracks - Running Time - 0:43:51) - Stars 4.88/5

Putting this together I went through each album and scored each track out of 5, well with this album I went, 5, 5, 5, all the way through. If you read my movies review, I don’t want to label something as perfect to give incentive for perfection to come. Well, I had to go back and knock one down to a 4 just because. This one score of 4 brought the stars for this album all the way down to 4.88 and that’s where it’s going to stay. The album was fantastic the tour was fantastic (I missed it - *cough* because I was too young) but when they went back and did it again a few years back I was there that time and it was fantastic, and it wasn’t as good as the first time! This is the closest to perfection you are going to get. With Maiden’s reputation for telling epic stories in their songs well they did it again but this time across an eight-track album. With the story of… you guessed it the seventh son of a seventh son. With good and evil fighting for his power. We hear the story through the songs. Starting with an acoustic guitar introduction before building up to ‘Moonchild’ at the beginning then he experiences ‘Infinite Dreams’ and asks, ‘Can I Play with Madness’ before I continue to ruin the story for you with ‘The Evil that Men Do’ and the title track of ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’. We move towards the conclusion with ‘The Prophecy’ and ‘The Clairvoyant’ before the final track of ‘Only the Good Die Young’. Wow! Just wow! Just under 45 minutes of Maiden Perfection. If you haven’t heard this album, then I feel sorry for you but I am slightly jealous as you get to listen to it for the first time and soak up all of its layers and electro and heavy metal combining into something awesome. Please treat yourself and go listen, just clear 45 minutes so you can hear it all in one sitting. Usual charge of a beer for the referral fee.