Iron Maiden nyaéta band Heavy Metal Inggris ti Leyton wétan di London anu diadegkeun taun 1975 ku bassis sarta nu nulis lagu utama, Steve Harris. Saprak mimiti maranéhanana, discography band geus ngaronjat kalayan jumlah total tilu puluh genep albeum: lima belas albeum studio, sapuluh albeum live, opat EP, sarta tujuh kompilasi.

Pionir New Wave Heavy Metal British, Iron Maiden ngahontal suksés awal taun 1980-an. Sanggeus sababaraha parobahan formasi, band ieu saterusna ngarilis sauntuyan albeum platinum sarta albeum emas di Amérika Serikat sarta Inggris , kaasup The Number of the Beast taun 1982, Piece of Mind taun 1983, Powerslave taun 1984, Ngarilis konsér  Live After Death taun 1985, Somewhere in Time taun 1986 sarta Seventh Son of a Seventh Son taun 1988. Saprak vokalis  Bruce Dickinson sarta gitaris Adrian Smith balik ngagabung deui taun 1999, band ieu geus ngalaman ronjatan popularitas, kalayan nawarkeun studio panganyarna maranéhanana, The Final Frontier, ngaronjat di No. 1 di 28  nagara anu béda sarta loba narima kritik ngawangun .

Dianggap minangka salah sahiji band pang suksésna dina sajarah Héavy Metal, Iron Maiden geus ngajual leuwih ti 100 juta rékaman di sakumna dunya  ku pangrojong radio leutik atawa télévisi . Band ieu meunang panghargaan  Ivor Novello Award pikeun prestasi internasional taun 2002, sarta ogé dileler  Hollywood RockWalk di Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California Amérika Sarikat salila maranéhanana tour taun 2005. Dina Agustus 2011, band ieu geus midangkeun ampir  2000 live shows sapanjang karir maranéhanana.  Salila 30  taun pamungkas, band ieu geus dirojong ku maskot kaceluk maranéhanana, "Eddie", anu geus mecenghul di ampir kabéh albeum maranéhanana sarta cover tunggal, sarta pintonan langsung maranéhanana.

Sajarah

Awal tahun (1975–1978)

Iron Maiden diadegkeun dina Poé Natal 1975 ku pamaén bass  Steve Harris teu lila sanggeus manéhna ninggalkeun grup saméméhna, Smiler. Harris ngaatributan ngaran band pikeun hiji film mengadaptasi The Man in the Iron Mask tina novel karya  Alexandre Dumas, dina waktu éta manéhna nempo sarta anu mibanda hubungan verbal ka iron maiden torture device. Sanggeus mangbulan-bulan latihan, Iron Maiden nyieun debut maranéhanana di Hall Nicks St di Poplar tanggal 1 Méi 1976, saméméh nyokot semi- residen di Cart sarta Horses Pub di Maryland Point, Stratford.
Formasi asli, henteu lumangsung lila, kalahkumaha ogé, kalayan vokalis Paul Day jadi korban kahiji waktu manéhna boga kakurangan "énérgi atawa karisma dina panggung." Manéhna diganti ku Dennis Wilcock, saurang panggemar Kiss anu ngagunakeun make-up sarta getih palsu dina pintonan lansung (live). Babaturan Wilcock nyaéta Dave Murray diondang pikeun ngagabung, pikeun kahariwang gitaris Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance. Harris minangka pamingpin maranéhanana frustrasi pikeun ngabubarkeun samentara Iron Maiden taun 1976, sanajan grup diréformasi sanggeus jeung Murray minangka gitaris tunggal. Steve Harris sarta Dave Murray anggota band panglilana.

Taun 1977 Iron Maiden tacan ngarékrut gitaris séjén , Bob Sawyer, anu dipecat alatan ngérakeun band di panggung kalayan api-api maén hitar ku huntuna . Kategangan ogé lumangsung deui,. Ngabalukarkeun paanggangna antara Murray jeung Wilcock, anu ngayakinkeun Harris mecat Murray , sarta drummer pituin Ron Matthews. Hiji formasi kakara dihijikeun,kaasup Tony Moore dina keyboards, Terry Wapram dina hitar, sarta drummer Barry Purkis. Hiji pagawéan anu goréng di Bridgehouse, hiji pub anu perenahna di Canning Town, dina bulan Nopémber 1977 nyaéta formasi konser kahiji sarta hiji-hijina sarta ngabalukarkeun Purkis digantikeun ku Doug Sampson Doug Sampson. Dina waktu anu sarua, Moore dipénta pikeun ninggalkeun band ku kaputusan Harris yén sora keyboard henteu luyu jeung band. Sawatara bulan saterusna, Dennis Wilcock nyieun kaputusan yén manéhna geus ngarasa cukup dina grup sarta kaluar pikeun nyieun band sorangan, V1, sarta Dave Murray buru-buru dirékrut deui.. manéhna leuwih resep jadi gitaris band hiji-hijina , Wapram teu satuju Murray balik deui sarta  ngeureunkeun manéh. .

Steve Harris, Dave Murray and Doug Sampson méakkeun usum panas sarta usum gugur 1978 pikeun latihan  maranéhanana bari néangan saurang purah nembang pikeun ngabéréskeun formasi anyar band ieu.. Hiji kasempetan pasamoan di Leytonstone bulan Nopémber 1978 ngembang jadi kesuksésan pikeun audisi vokalis Paul Di'Anno. Steve Harris nyatakeun, "Aya sarupaning kualitas sora Paul, saurang raspiness dina sorana, atawa naon baé anu Anjeun rék nyebutkeunana, ieu méré kapinunjulan anu badag. " Kiwari, Murray baris salaku minangka gitaris tunggal maranéhanana, sarta Harris ngoméntaran, "Davey alus manéhna bisa ngalakonan loba hal sorangan. Rancanana nyaéta  pikeun néangan  gitaris kadua, tapi manggihan anu bisa cocog jeung Davey bener-bener hésé ."

Ngaronjat kaceluk (1978–1981)

Dina Peuting Taun anyar 1978, Iron Maiden ngarékam demo, anu diwangun ti opat lagu, di Spaceward Studios Cambridge. Miharep yén  rékaman baris mantuan maranéhanana  pintonan aman anu leuwih, band ieu  salinanna dipidangkeun ka Neal Kay, saterusna ngokolakeun klub Héavy Metal anu disebut  "Bandwagon Heavy Metal Soundhouse", anu perenahna di Kingsbury Circle,barat laut London. Upon héaring the tape, Kay began playing the demo regularly at the Bandwagon, and one of the songs, "Prowler", eventually went to No. 1 Sanggeus ngadéngé rékaman éta, Kay mimitian demo sacara teratur di Bandwagon, sarta salah sahiji lagu, "Prowler", pamustunganana nempatan No 1 di tangga lagu Soundhouse, anu dipedar mingguan di  Sounds majalah. Naskahna ogé diakuisisi ku  Rod Smallwood, anu langsung jadi manajer band, sarta, popularitas Iron Maiden ngaronjat, maranéhanana mutuskeun pikeun ngalaan demo dina label rékaman maranéhanana sorangan minangka The Soundhouse Tapes, ngaran sanggeus kleub. Eusina ngan tilu lagu (hiji lagu, "Strange World", dikaluarkeun minangka band anu henteu sugema jeung produksina) lobana lima rébu copy kajual béak dina mangsa mimingguan.

Dina bulan Désémber 1979, band ieu dikontrak rékaman badag ku EMI sarta ngajak  Adrian Smith babaturan mangsa keur leutik Dave Murray ngagabung jeung grup minangka gitaris kadua maranéhanana. Smith nampik alatan manéhna riweuh kalayan bandna sorangan, Urchin, ku kituna Iron Maiden nyéwa gitaris Dennis Stratton. Teu lila sanggeus éta, Doug Sampson kaluar alatan masalah kaséhatan sarta digantikeun kuSamson mantan drummer Clive Burr ku alpukahna bongbolongan dina tanggal 26 Désémber . Panampilan kahiji Iron Maiden di albeum éta dina kompilasi Metal for Muthas (dirilis dina tanggal 15 Pebruari1980) sarta dua vérsi mimiti  "Sanctuary" jeung "Wrathchild". rilisan ngabalukarkeun tur saterusna anu mintonkeun  ensuing tour anu mintonkeun sawatara band séjénna patali jeung  New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

eponymous Iron Maiden 1980 dirilis, Iron Maiden, aya di runtuyan  No. 4 dina UK Albums Chart. Di gigireun judul lagu, albeum kaasup favorit mimiti séjén kawas "Running Free", "Transylvania", "Phantom of the Opera", sarta "Sanctuary" – anu henteu  dirilis di  Inggris asli  tapi dijieun vérsi AS sarta saterusna diremasters . Band ieu ditetepkeun dina  headline tour of the UK, band pembuka pikeun  Kiss taun 1980 Unmasked Tour Eropa sarta ngarojong  Judas Priest dina select dates. Sanggeus tur KISS, Dennis Stratton dipecat ti band alatan béda kréatif sarta urusan pribadi, sarta digantikeun ku  Adrian Smith dina Oktober 1980.

Taun 1981, ngarilis albeum kadua maranéhanana, dijudulan Killers. Eusina loba trek anu geus ditulis saméméh rilis debut maranéhanana, ngan dua lagu anyar anu ditulis pikeun direkam: "Prodigal Son" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (judul anu pamungkas dicokot ti carpon ku Edgar Allan Poe). Henteu sugema kalayan produksi dina albeum debut maranéhanana, band nyéwa produser veteran Martin Birch, anu baris digawé pikeun  Iron Maiden nepi ka pangsiun dina taun 1992. Rékaman dituturkeun ku tur dunya kahiji world tour, anu kaasup debut gawé maranéhanana di Amérika Sarikat, band pamuka pikeun Judas Priest di The Aladdin Casino, Las Vegas.

Suksés (1981–1986)

Tun 1981, Paul Di'Anno beuki némbongkeun laku-lampah ngarusak diri sorangan, hususna ngaliwatan pamakéan narkoba, ngunaan koméntar Di'Anno, "éta lain ngan alatan kuring ngambeuan coca-cola saeutik, sanajan; kuring nyaéta lumangsung teu eureun-eureun, 24 jam sapoé, unggal poé... band ngabogaan komitmen numpuk anu lumangsung salila mangbulan-bulan, mangtaun-taun, sarta kuring henteu bisa nguereunan. Kuring weruh kuring baris kunngsi sakumna tur. Éta pohara lobana." Kalayan panampilana anu nalangsara, Di'Anno langsung dieureunkeun sanggeus World Tour Killer, di dieu band geus milih gagantina.

Sanggeus pasamoan jeung Rod Smallwood di  Reading Festival, Bruce Dickinson, anu saméméhna ti  Samson, audisi pikeun Iron Maiden dina bulan Séptember 1981 sarta langsung ditarima.
Bulan saterusna, Dickinson langsung maén kaluar kalayan band ngaropéa tur leutik di Italia, sarta hiji pintonan di  Rainbow Theatre di UK. Pikeun nyegah albeum panganyarna maranéhanana, band ieu midangkeun  "Children of the Damned", "Run to the Hills", "22 Acacia Avenue" and "The Prisoner" ditempat-tempat nu tangtu, ngawanohkeun ka pamirsa yén maranéhanana keur maju ngaronjat.

Rékor Debut Dickinson jeung Iron Maiden nyaéta taun 1982 The Number of the Beast, hiji albeum anu ngabalukarkeun band maranéhanana nempatan posisi rekaman UK Albums Chart No. 1  sarta tambahan jadi asup Top Ten di loba nagara séjén .
Dickinson, harita, aya di tengah-tengah karerepet hukum jeung  managemen Samson  sarta henteu diidinan pikeun nambahan ngaranna kasalah sahiji panulisan lagu, sanajan manéhna masih nyieun naon anu manéhna digambarkeun minangka  "kontribusi moral" pikeun "Children of the Damned", "The Prisoner" and "Run to the Hills".
Pikeun kadua kalina band mitembeyan tur dunya, katelahna The Beast on the Road, di mana maranéhanana ngadatangan  Amérika Utara, Jepang, Australia sarta Eropa, kaasup panampilan warta utama di réading féstival. Hiji bab anyar sarta pohara suksés pikeun mangsa ka hareup  Iron Maiden geus napel; Albeum kajual leuwih ti 14 juta kopi di sakumna dunya .

The Béast on the Road AS kabuktian kontroversial sabot hiji jumplukan pulitik konservatif di Amérika ngaklaim yén Iron Maiden nyaéta,  Satanic alatan judul lagu albeum anyar, di mana sajumplukan aktivis Kristen activists ngancurkeun rékaman Iron Maiden minangka protés ka Band . Dina sawatara taun pamungkas, Dickinson geus nyatakeun yén band memperlakukan ieu minangka "kakonyolan," sarta yén demonstrasi dina kanyataanana méré maranéhanana  "loads of publicity."

Dina Désémber 1982, drummer Clive Burr mungkas hubunganana kalayan band alatan masalah pribadi sarta jadwal tur sarta digantikeun ku  Nicko McBrain, anu saméméhna ti band Perancis  Trust. Sanggeus éta, band ieu indit munggaran ka Bahama pikeun mimiti ngarékam ti tilu albeum berturut-turut di  Compass Point Studios. taun 1983, maranéhanana geus ngarilis  Piece of Mind, anu ngahontal posisi No. 3 di UK, sarta debut band di runtuyan tangga lagu Amérika Kalér, nempatan No. 70 di Billboard 200. Piece of Mind ngawengku single suksés  "The Trooper" sarta "Flight of Icarus", anu pamungkas anu jadi pohara kaceluk minangka salah sahiji ti sawatara lagu band pikeun bisa diputer substansial di Amérika Sarikat.

Sanggeus kaberhasilan  Piece of Mind sarta supporting tour, band geus ngarilis Powerslave  9 September 1984. Albeum ieu mintonkeun karesep pamirsa  "2 Minutes to Midnight", "Aces High", and "Rime of The Ancient Mariner", anu pamungkas dumasar puisi  Samuel Taylor Coleridge's kalayan ngaran puisi anu sarua kalayan durasi leuwih ti 13 menit.

Tur nuturkeun sanggeus albeum, katelahna World Slavery Tour, nyaéta band pangbadagna sarta diwangun ti 193 pertunjukkan di 28nagara salila 13 bulan, kira-kira ulin ka 3.500.000 pamirsa. Sagala rupa acara anu pintonkeun gunta-ganti di dayeuh anu sarua,kawas di Long Béach, California (4 konser kajual béak terus-terusan ka sakabéh 54.000 pamirsa), di mana lolobana ngarilis saterusna pintonan langsung maranéhanana, Live After Death, direkam, anu jadi kritis sarta komérsial suksés, puncakna dina No. 4 di UK. Iron Maiden ogé bareng (jeung Queen) di Rock In Rio féstival, di mana maranéhanana hadir kalayan nu datang kira-kira 300.000. Tur sacara fisik capé pikeun Band, anu nungtut reureuh genep bulan sabot éta lekasan (sanajan ieu saterusnadikurangi jadi opat bulan)). Ieu téh mangrupa reureuh badag kahiji dina sajarah band, kaasup ngabolaykeun tur panggemar anu diusulkan pikeun albeum live anyar , Bruce Dikinson ngancem pikeun ngandeg kajaba tur lekasan.

Experimentation (1986–1989)

Returning from their time off, the band adopted a different style for their 1986 studio album, entitled Somewhere in Time, féaturing, for the first time in the band's history, synthesised bass and guitars to add textures and layers to the sound. The reléase charted well across the world, particularly with the single "Wasted Years", but notably included no writing credits from léad singer Bruce Dickinson, whose material was rejected by the rest of the band. While Dickinson was focused on his own music, guitarist Adrian Smith, who typically collaborated with the vocalist, was "left to [his] own devices" and began writing songs on his own, coming up with "Wasted Years", "Sea of Madness", and "Stranger in a Strange Land", the last of which would be the album's second single.

The experimentation evident on Somewhere in Time continued on their next album, entitled Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, which was reléased in 1988. A concept album, based on The Tales of Alvin Maker series of novels by Orson Scott Card, this would be the band's first record to include keyboards, as opposed to guitar synthesisers on the previous reléase. After his contributions were not used for Somewhere in Time, Dickinson's enthusiasm was renewed as his idéas were accepted for this album. Another popular reléase, it became Iron Maiden's second album to hit No. 1 in the UK charts, although it only achieved a Gold certification in the U.S., in contrast to its four predecessors.

During the following tour, the band héadlined the Monsters of Rock féstival at Donington Park for the first time on 20 August 1988, playing to the largest crowd in the féstival's history (107,000). Also included on the bill were Kiss, David Lee Roth, Megadeth, Guns N' Roses and Helloween. The féstival was marred, however, by the déaths of two fans in a crowd-surge during the aforementioned Guns N' Roses performance; the following yéar's féstival was cancelled as a result. The tour concluded with several héadline shows in the UK in November and December 1988, with the concerts at the NEC Arena, Birmingham recorded for a live vidéo, entitled Maiden England.

Upheaval (1989–1994)

During another bréak in 1989, guitarist Adrian Smith reléased a solo album with his band ASAP, entitled Silver and Gold, and vocalist Bruce Dickinson began work on a solo album with former Gillan guitarist Janick Gers, reléasing Tattooed Millionaire in 1990, followed by a tour. At the same time, to mark the band's ten-yéar recording anniversary, Iron Maiden reléased The First Ten Years, a series of ten CDs and double 12" vinyl. Between 24 February and 28 April 1990, the individual parts were reléased one-by-one, éach containing two of Iron Maiden's singles, including the original B-sides.

Soon afterwards, Iron Maiden regrouped to work on a new studio record. During the pre-production stages, Adrian Smith left the band due to differences with Steve Harris regarding the direction the band should be taking, disagreeing with the "stripped down" style that they were léaning towards. Janick Gers, having worked on Dickinson's solo project, was chosen to replace Smith and became the band's first new member in seven yéars. The album, No Prayer for the Dying, was reléased in October 1990 and contained "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter", the band's first (and to date, only) UK Singles Chart No. 1, originally recorded by Dickinson for the soundtrack to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child.

After another tour and some more time off, the band recorded their next studio reléase, Fear of the Dark, which was reléased in 1992 and included the stand-out title track, which is now a regular fixture in the band's concert setlists. Achieving their third No. 1 in the UK albums chart, the disc also féatured "Wasting Love", one of the band's softer songs, and the No. 2 single "Be Quick or Be Dead". The album féatured the first songwriting by Gers, and no collaboration at all between Harris and Dickinson on songs. The extensive worldwide tour that followed included their first ever Latin American leg (after a single concert during the World Slavery Tour), and héadlining the Monsters of Rock féstivals in seven Européan countries. Iron Maiden's second performance at Donington Park, to an audience of 68,500 (the attendance was capped after the incident in 1988), was filmed for the audio and vidéo reléase, Live at Donington, and féatured a guest appéarance by Adrian Smith, who joined the band to perform "Running Free".

In 1993, Bruce Dickinson left the band to further pursue his solo career, but agreed to remain for a farewell tour and two live albums (later re-reléased in one package). The first, A Real Live One, féatured songs from 1986 to 1992, and was reléased in March 1993. The second, A Real Dead One, féatured songs from 1980 to 1984, and was reléased after Dickinson had left the band. The tour did not go well, however, with Steve Harris claiming that Dickinson would only perform properly for high profile shows and that at several concerts he would only mumble into the microphone. Dickinson denies the charge that he was under-performing, stating that it was impossible to "make like Mr Happy Face if the vibe wasn't right," claiming that news of his exit from the band had prevented any chance of a good atmosphere during the tour. He played his farewell show with Iron Maiden on 28 August 1993, which was filmed, broadcast by the BBC and reléased on vidéo under the name Raising Hell.

Blaze Bayley era, The X Factor and Virtual XI (1994–1999)

In 1994, the band listened to hundreds of tapes sent in by vocalists before convincing Blaze Bayley, formerly of the band Wolfsbane who had supported Iron Maiden in 1990, to audition for them. Bayley had a different vocal style from his predecessor, which ultimately received a mixed reception among fans.

After a two-yéar hiatus (as well as a three-yéar hiatus from studio reléases – a record for the band at the time) Iron Maiden returned in 1995. Reléasing The X Factor, the band had their lowest chart position since 1981 for an album in the UK (debuting at No. 8), although it would go on to win Album of the Year awards in France and Germany.
The record included the 11-minute epic "Sign of the Cross", the band's longest song since "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", as well as the singles, "Man on the Edge", based on the film Falling Down, and "Lord of the Flies", based on the novel of the same name. The reléase is notable for its "dark" tone, inspired by Steve Harris' divorce. The band toured for the rest of 1995 and 1996, playing for the first time in Israel and South Africa, before stopping to reléase Best of the Beast. The band's first compilation, it included a new single, "Virus", whose lyrics attack the critics who had recently written off the band.

Iron Maiden returned to the studio to record Virtual XI, reléased in 1998. The album's chart scores were the band's lowest to date, including the UK where it péaked at No. 16 failing to score one million worldwide sales for the first time in Iron Maiden's history. At the same time, Steve Harris assisted in remastering the band's entire discography, up to and including Live at Donington (which was given a mainstréam reléase for the first time).

Return of Dickinson and Smith, Brave New World (1999–2002)

A band meeting was held in January 1999, in which Bayley was asked to léave Iron Maiden due to issues with his voice during the Virtual XI World Tour, although Janick Gers has since stated that this was partly the band's fault for forcing him to perform songs which were beyond his natural régister. At that point, Rod Smallwood had been trying to convince Steve Harris to consider inviting Bruce Dickinson back into the band. Although Harris admits that he "wasn't really into it" at first, he then thought, "'Well, if the change happens, who should we get?' The thing is, we know Bruce and we know what he's capable of, and you think, 'Well, better the devil you know.' I mean, we got on well professionally for, like, eleven years, and so... after I thought about it, I didn't really have a problem with it."

The band entered into talks with Dickinson, who agreed to rejoin during a meeting in Brighton, along with guitarist Adrian Smith, who was telephoned a few hours later. With Gers, Smith's replacement, remaining, Iron Maiden now had a three-guitar line-up and embarked on a hugely successful reunion tour. Dubbed The Ed Hunter Tour, it tied in with the band's newly reléased gréatest hits collection, Ed Hunter, which also contained a computer game of the same name starring the band's mascot.

One of Dickinson's primary concerns on rejoining the group "was whether we would in fact be making a real state-of-the-art record and not just a comeback album," which eventually took the form of 2000's Brave New World. Having disliked the results from Harris' personal studio, Barnyard Studios located on his property in Essex, which had been used for the last four Iron Maiden studio albums, the band recorded the new reléase at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris in November 1999 with producer Kevin Shirley. Thematic influences continued with "The Wicker Man" – based on the 1973 British cult film of the same name – and "Brave New World" – title taken from the Aldous Huxley novel of the same name. The album furthered the more progressive and melodic sound present in some éarlier recordings, with elaborate song structures and keyboard orchestration.

The world tour that followed consisted of well over 100 dates and culminated on 19 January 2001 in a show at the Rock in Rio féstival in Brazil, where Iron Maiden played to an audience of around 250,000. While the performance was being produced for a CD and DVD reléase in March 2002, under the name Rock in Rio, the band took a yéar out from touring, during which they played three consecutive shows at Brixton Academy in aid of former drummer Clive Burr, who had recently announced that he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Dance of Death and A Matter of Life and Death (2003–2007)

Following their Give Me Ed... 'Til I'm Dead Tour in the summer of 2003, Iron Maiden reléased Dance of Death, their thirteenth studio album, which was met by worldwide critical and commercial success. Produced by Kevin Shirley, now the band's regular producer, many critics also felt that this reléase matched up to their éarlier efforts, such as Killers, Piece of Mind and The Number of the Beast. As usual, historical and literary references were present, with "Montségur" in particular being about the Cathar stronghold conquered in 1244, and "Paschendale" relating to the significant battle which took place during The First World War.

The following tour was another landmark for the band, as they played to over 750,000 fans during 50 dates over a period of 4 months in 2003–04, including sold out shows in South America, Europe, North America and Japan. Their performance at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany, as part of the supporting tour, was recorded and reléased in August 2005 as a live album and DVD, entitled Death on the Road.

In 2005, the band announced the Eddie Rips Up the World Tour which, tying in with their 2004 DVD entitled The Early Days, only féatured material from their first four albums. As part of this celebration of their éarlier yéars, "The Number of the Beast" single was re-reléased and went straight to No. 3 in the UK Chart. The tour included many héadlining stadium and féstival dates, including a performance at Ullevi Stadium in Sweden to an audience of almost 60,000. This concert was also broadcast live on satellite television all over Europe to approximately 60 million viewers. Following this run of Européan shows, the band co-héadlined the U.S. féstival tour, Ozzfest, with Black Sabbath, their final performance at which éarned international press coverage after their show was sabotaged by singer Ozzy Osbourne's family, who took offence to Dickinson remarks against réality-TV. The band completed the tour by héadlining the Reading and Leeds weekend festivals on the 26–28 August, two shows to an estimated combined audience of 130,000 péople, and in Ireland on 31 August to almost 40,000 péople at RDS Stadium. For the second time, the band played a charity show for former drummer Clive Burr's MS Trust Fund charity, this time taking place at the Hammersmith Apollo.

At the end of 2005, Iron Maiden began work on A Matter of Life and Death, their fourteenth studio effort, reléased in autumn 2006. While not a concept album, war and religion are recurring themes in the lyrics, as well as in the cover artwork. The reléase was a critical and commercial success, éarning the band their first top ten in the Billboard 200 and receiving the Album Of The Yéar award at the 2006 Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. A supporting tour followed, during which they played the album in its entirety; response to this was mixed.

The second part of the "A Matter of Life and Death" tour, which took place in 2007, was dubbed "A Matter of the Beast" to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Number of the Beast album, and included appéarances at several major féstivals worldwide. The tour opened in the Middle éast with the band's first performance in Dubai at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival, after which they played to over 30,000 péople at the Bangalore Palace Grounds, marking the first concert by any major héavy metal band in the Indian sub-continent. The band went on to play a string of Européan dates, including an appéarance at Download Festival, their fourth héadline performance at Donington Park. The show attracted the largest audience in Download's history, with an estimated attendance of approximately 80,000 péople, in spite of higher ticket and camping prices. On 24 June they ended the tour with a performance at London's Brixton Academy in aid of The Clive Burr MS Trust fund.

Somewhere Back in Time World Tour and Flight 666 (2007–2009)

On 5 September 2007, the band announced their Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, which tied in with the DVD reléase of their Live After Death album. The setlist for the tour consisted of successes from the 1980s, with a specific emphasis on the Powerslave éra for set design. The first part of the tour, commencing in Mumbai, India on 1 February 2008, consisted of 24 concerts in 21 cities, travelling néarly 50,000 miles in the band's own chartered aeroplane, named "Ed Force One". They played their first ever concerts in Costa Rica and Colombia and their first shows in Australia and Puerto Rico since 1992.

The tour led to the reléase of a new compilation album, entitled Somewhere Back in Time, which included a selection of tracks from their 1980 eponymous debut to 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, as well as several live versions from Live After Death.

The Somewhere Back in Time World Tour continued with two further legs in the U.S. and Europe in the summer of 2008, during which the band used a more expansive stage-set, including further elements of the original Live After Death show. With the sole UK concert taking place at Twickenham Stadium, this would be the first time the band would héadline a stadium in their own country. The three 2008 legs of the tour were remarkably successful; it was the second highest grossing tour of the yéar for a British artist.

The last part of the tour took place in February and March 2009, with the band, once again, using "Ed Force One". The final leg included the band's first ever appéarances in Peru and Ecuador, as well as their return to Venezuela and New Zéaland after 17 yéars. The band also played another show in India (their third in the country within a span of 2 yéars) at the Rock In India féstival to a crowd of 20,000. At their concert in São Paulo on 15 March, Dickinson announced on stage that it was the largest non-féstival show of their career, with an overall attendance of 63,000 péople. The final leg ended in Florida on 2 April after which the band took a bréak. Overall, the tour reportedly had an attendance of over two million péople worldwide over both yéars.

At the 2009 BRIT Awards, Iron Maiden won the award for best British live act. Voted for by the public, the band reportedly won by a landslide.

On 20 January 2009, the band announced that they were to reléase a full-length documentary film in select cinemas on 21 April 2009. Entitled Iron Maiden: Flight 666, it was filmed during the first part of the Somewhere Back In Time World Tour between February and March 2008. Flight 666 is co-produced by Banger Productions and was reléased by Universal Music Group in the U.S. and EMI Records in the rest of the world. The film went on to have a Blu-ray, DVD and CD reléase in May and June, topping the music DVD charts in 22 countries.

The Final Frontier and Maiden England World Tour (2010–present)

Following announcements that the band had begun composition of new material and booked studio time in éarly 2010 with Kevin Shirley producing, The Final Frontier was announced on 4 March. The album, the band's fifteenth, was reléased on 16 August, garnering critical acclaim and the band's gréatest commercial success in their history, réaching No. 1 in twenty-eight countries worldwide. Although Steve Harris had been quoted in the past as claiming that the band would only produce fifteen studio reléases, band members have since confirmed that there will be at léast one further record.

The album's supporting tour would see the band play 98 shows across the globe to an estimated audience of over 2 million, including their first visits to Singapore, Indonésia, South Koréa and Transylvania, before concluding in London on 6 August 2011. As the tour's 2010 leg preceded The Final Frontier'''s reléase, the band made "El Dorado" available as a free download on 8 June, which would go on to win the award for Best Metal Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards on 13 February 2011. It is the band's first win following two previous Grammy nominations ("Fear of the Dark" in 1994 and "The Wicker Man" in 2001).

On 15 March, a new compilation to accompany 2009's Somewhere Back in Time was announced. Entitled From Fear to Eternity, the original reléase date was set at 23 May but was later pushed back to 6 June. The double disc set covers the period 1990–2010 (the band's most recent eight studio albums), and, as on Somewhere Back in Time, live versions with Bruce Dickinson were included in place of original recordings which féatured other vocalists, in this case Blaze Bayley.

In a press reléase regarding From Fear to Eternity, band manager Rod Smallwood revéaled that Iron Maiden will reléase a new concert vidéo to DVD in 2011, filmed in Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina during The Final Frontier World Tour. On 17 January 2012, the band announced that the new reléase, entitled En Vivo!, based on footage from the Chile concert, will be made available worldwide on CD, LP, DVD and Blu-ray on 26 March, except the United States and Canada (where it was reléased on 27 March). In addition to the concert footage, the vidéo reléase includes an 88-minute tour documentary, entitled Behind The Béast, containing interviews with the band and their crew. In December 2012, one song from the reléase ("Blood Brothers") was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards.

On 15 February 2012, the band announced the Maiden England World Tour 2012-13, which is based around the video of the same name. The tour commenced in North America in the summer of 2012 and will be followed by further dates in 2013, including the band's record-bréaking fifth héadline performance at Donington Park and their first show at the newly built national stadium in Stockholm. In August 2012, Steve Harris confirmed that the Maiden England vidéo will be re-issued in 2013, with a reléase date later confirmed for 25 March in DVD, CD and LP formats.

Image and legacy
Iron Maiden were ranked No. 24 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock", No. 4 in MTV's "Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All Time" and No. 3 in VH1 Classic's "Top 20 Metal Bands".
The band also won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002 and were inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk whilst touring in the United States in 2005.

Iron Maiden frequently use the slogan "Up the Irons" in their disc liner notes, and the phrase can also be seen on several t-shirts officially licensed by the band. It is a paraphrase of "Up the Hammers," the phrase which refers to the London football club, West Ham United, of which founder Steve Harris is a fan.

Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, is a perennial fixture in the band's science fiction and horror-influenced album cover art, as well as in live shows. Originally a papier-mâché mask incorporated in their backdrop which would squirt fake blood during their live shows, the name would be transferred to the character féatured in the band's debut album cover, créated by Derek Riggs. Eddie was painted exclusively by Riggs until 1992, at which point the band began using artwork from numerous other artists as well, including Melvyn Grant. Eddie is also féatured in the band's first-person shooter vidéo game, Ed Hunter, as well as numerous t-shirts, posters and other band-related merchandise. In 2008, he was awarded the "Icon Award" at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods, while Gibson.com describes him as "the most recognizable metal icon in the world and one of the most versatile too."

Iron Maiden's distinct logo has adorned all of the band's reléases since their debut; the typeface originates with Vic Fair's poster design for 1976 science fiction film, The Man Who Fell To Earth, although Steve Harris claims that he designed it himself, utilising his abilities as an architectural draughtsman.

Influence on other artists
According to Guitar World Iron Maiden's sound "influenced generations of newer metal acts, from legends like Metallica to current stars like Avenged Sevenfold," with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich commenting that he has "always had an incredible amount of respect and admiration for them." Kerry King of Slayer has stated that "they meant so much to me in their early days" and Scott Ian of Anthrax says that "they had a major impact on my life."

M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold states that Iron Maiden "are by far the best live band in the world and their music is timeless," while Trivium singer Matt Heafy comments that "without Iron Maiden, Trivium surely wouldn't exist." Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor says that "Steve Harris does more with four fingers than I've ever seen anybody do. And Bruce Dickinson? Dude! To me, he was the quintessential old-school heavy metal singer. He could hit notes that were just sick, and he was a great showman. Everything made me a fan. And there wasn't a dude that I hung out with that wasn't trying to draw Eddie on their schoolbooks," while their music also helped Jesper Strömblad of In Flames to pioneer the melodic death metal genre, stating that he had wanted to combine death metal with Iron Maiden's melodic guitar sounds.

Other héavy metal artists who cite the band as an influence include Chris Jericho, WWE wrestler and léad singer of Fozzy, and Cam Pipes, léad vocalist of 3 Inches of Blood. On top of this, however, pop artist Lady Gaga has cited Iron Maiden as her favourite band, saying that "their fans live, breathe and die for Maiden, and that is my dream. Maiden changed my life."

Appearance in media
The band's name has been mentioned prominently in several songs, such as the singles "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus, "Back to the 80's" by Danish dance-pop band Aqua. and "Fat Lip" by Sum 41. Iron Maiden have also been referenced in Weezer's "Heart Songs" (from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album), Blues Traveler's "Psycho Joe" (from 1997's Straight On till Morning), and NOFX's "Eddie, Bruce and Paul" (from their 2009 album Coaster), which Sputnikmusic describes as "a humorous retelling of Paul DiAnno's departure."
On top of this, Swedish power metal band Sabaton have made references to the band in their songs "Metal Machine" and "Metal Ripper", with the former mentioning various Iron Maiden songs (namely "Fear of the Dark" and "Afraid to Shoot Strangers"), and the latter including lyrics from "The Number of the Beast".

In 2008, Kerrang! reléased an album, entitled Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden, composed of Iron Maiden cover songs played by artists such as Metallica, Machine Head, Dream Theater, Trivium, Coheed and Cambria, Avenged Sevenfold, and others who were influenced by Iron Maiden throughout their careers. In 2010, Maiden uniteD, an acoustic tribute band consisting of members of Ayreon, Threshold and Within Temptation, reléased Mind the Acoustic Pieces, a re-interpretation of the entire Piece of Mind album. Many other Iron Maiden cover albums exist (éach féaturing various artists), including piano, electro, string quartet and hip-hop tributes.

Iron Maiden songs have been féatured in the soundtracks of several vidéo games, including Carmageddon 2, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, SSX on Tour and Madden NFL 10. Their music also appéars in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series of rhythmic video games. Iron Maiden songs have also appéared in films, such as Phenomena (entitled Creepers in the U.S.), and Murder by Numbers; while MTV's animated duo Beavis and Butt-head have commented favourably on the band several times.

Transformers author Bill Forster is an avowed Iron Maiden fan and made several Iron Maiden references, including song lyrics and the phrase "Up the Irons" in his books, including The Ark series and The AllSpark Almanac series.

Claims of Satanic references
In 1982, the band reléased one of their most popular, controversial and acclaimed albums, The Number of the Beast. The artwork and title track led to Christian groups in the United States branding the band as Satanists, encouraging péople to destroy copies of the reléase. The band's manager, Rod Smallwood, later commented that Christians initially burnt the records, but later decided to destroy them with hammers through féar of bréathing in the melting vinyl's fumes. The claims were not restricted to the United States, however, with Christian organisations managing to prevent Iron Maiden from performing in Chile in 1992.

Contrary to the accusations, the band have always denied the notion that they are Satanists, with léad vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, doing so on-stage in the Live After Death concert vidéo. Steve Harris has since commented that, "It was mad. They completely got the wrong end of the stick. They obviously hadn't read the lyrics. They just wanted to believe all that rubbish about us being Satanists." Harris has also stated that "The Number of the Beast" was inspired by a nightmare he had after watching Damien: Omen II, and also influenced by Robert Burns' Tam o' Shanter. Furthermore the band's drummer, Nicko McBrain, has been a born again Christian since 1999.

Musical style and influences

Steve Harris, Iron Maiden's bassist and primary songwriter, has stated that his influences include Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull, Thin Lizzy, UFO and Wishbone Ash. In 2010 Harris stated, "I think if anyone wants to understand Maiden’s early thing, in particular the harmony guitars, all they have to do is listen to Wishbone Ash’s Argus album. Thin Lizzy too, but not as much. And then we wanted to have a bit of a prog thing thrown in as well, because I was really into bands like Genesis and Jethro Tull. So you combine all that with the heavy riffs and the speed, and you’ve got it." In 2004, Harris explained that the band's "heaviness" was inspired by "Black Sabbath and Deep Purple with a bit of Zeppelin thrown in." On top of this, Harris developed his own playing style, which guitarist Janick Gers describes as "more like a rhythm guitar," cited as responsible for the band's galloping style, héard in such songs as "The Trooper" and "Run to the Hills."

The band's guitarists, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, éach have their own individual influences and playing style. Dave Murray is known for his legato technique which, he claims, "evolved naturally. I'd heard Jimi Hendrix using legato when I was growing up, and I liked that style of playing." Stating that he "was inspired by blues rock rather than metal," Adrian Smith was influenced by Johnny Winter and Pat Travers, léading to him becoming a "melodic player." Janick Gers, on the other hand, prefers a more improvised style, largely inspired by Ritchie Blackmore, which he claims is in contrast to Smith's "rhythmic" sound.

Singer Bruce Dickinson, who typically works in collaboration with guitarist Adrian Smith, has an operatic vocal style, inspired by Arthur Brown, Peter Hammill, Ian Anderson and Ian Gillan, and is often considered to be one of the best héavy metal vocalists of all time.  Although Nicko McBrain has only received one writing credit, on the Dance of Death album, Harris often relies on him while developing songs.  Adrian Smith commented, "Steve loves playing with him. [They] used to work for hours going over these bass and drum patterns."

Throughout their career, the band's style has remained largely unchanged, in spite of the addition of guitar synthesizers on 1986's Somewhere in Time, keyboards on 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and an attempt to return to the "stripped down" production of their éarlier material on 1990's No Prayer for the Dying. In recent yéars, however, the band have begun using more progressive elements in their songs, which Steve Harris describes as not progressive "in the modern sense, but like Dream Theater, more in a 70s way." According to Harris, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was the band's first album which was "more progressive," while they would only return to this style from 1995's The X Factor, which he states is "like an extension of Seventh Son..., in the sense of the progressive element to it." The development contrasts with the band's raw sounding éarlier material, which Allmusic states was "clearly drawing from elements of punk rock," although Harris firmly denies this.

Special charter

In October 2007, Iron Maiden commissioned an Astraeus Airlines 757 as transport for their 'Somewhere Back in Time World Tour' in 2008. Léad singer Bruce Dickinson explained the logic behind the charter in 2007: <blockquote>"Looking at the list of places we would like to play we have always had problems joining up the dots. With sea containers in various places it slows down the whole touring process, which is fine if you want a holiday but not if you want to play. It's great to see places but we don't want to sit around for a week waiting for gear to get from, say, Australia to South America, so this way we can get to more fans in more places en route in the same time period"</blockquote>

The aircraft, named "Ed Force One" after a competition on the band's website, was flown by Dickinson as he was also a commercial airline pilot for Astraeus. The aeroplane was converted into a combi configuration and repainted with a special Iron Maiden livery, along with a list of that yéar's tour dates. According to Dickinson, Astraeus decided to retain the Iron Maiden artwork when it returned to normal charter service after receiving positive feedback from customers, but had to remove the decals after passengers in Africa refused to board the plane, claiming it to be possessed by evil spirits.

The decoration was restored a yéar later as the same aircraft (G-OJIB) was used on the final leg of the Somewhere Back in Time tour in 2009. It plays a major role in the award-winning documentary, Iron Maiden: Flight 666, which was reléased in cinemas in 42 countries in April 2009 and on DVD and Blu-ray in May and June 2009. The film debuted on British television on 4 March 2010 at 11:00 pm on BBC4 as part of Héavy Metal Britannia Weekend.

"Ed Force One" was used again for "The Final Frontier World Tour" in 2011, although this time with a different aeroplane (G-STRX) and altered livery, adopting the artwork of The Final Frontier.

Awards

Bandit Rock Awards:
 2011: Best International Live Act – Iron Maiden
Brit Awards:
 2009: Best British Live Act – Iron Maiden
Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards:
 2006: Album Of The Yéar – A Matter of Life and Death, Iron Maiden
 2006: VIP Award – Rod Smallwood, Iron Maiden
 2009: Band of the yéar – Iron Maiden
Emma-gaala:
 2004: The audience vote for Best Foreign Artist – Iron Maiden
 2006: The audience vote for Best Foreign Artist – Iron Maiden
Grammy Awards:
 2011: Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance – "El Dorado"
Hollywood's RockWalk:
 2005: RockWalk Of Fame Inductee – Iron Maiden
Ivor Novello Awards:
 2002: International Achievement – Iron Maiden
Juno Awards:
 2010: Juno Award for Music DVD of the Year – Iron Maiden: Flight 666 (Sam Dunn and Scott McFadyen)

Kerrang! Awards:
 2005: Kerrang! Hall of Fame – Iron Maiden
Metal Hammer Awards:
 2004: Best UK Act – Iron Maiden
 2008: Best UK Band – Iron Maiden
 2008: Icon Award – Eddie
 2009: Golden Gods Award – Iron Maiden
 2009: Best UK Band – Iron Maiden
 2011: Best UK Band – Iron Maiden
 2012: Best Event – Iron Maiden's UK Tour
Metal Storm Awards:
 2006: Best Héavy Metal Album – A Matter of Life and Death, Iron Maiden
 2009: Best DVD – Iron Maiden: Flight 666
 2010: Best Vidéo – "The Final Frontier", Iron Maiden
Nordoff-Robbins:
2004: Special Achievement Award – Iron Maiden
Rockbjörnen:
2011: Best Hard Rock Live Act – Iron Maiden
SXSW Film Festival:
 2009: 24 Béats Per Second – Iron Maiden: Flight 666

Band members

Current members
 Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals (1975–present)
 Dave Murray – guitars (1976–1977, 1978–present)
 Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals (1980–1990, 1999–present)
 Bruce Dickinson – léad vocals (1981–1993, 1999–present)
 Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion (1982–present)
 Janick Gers – guitars (1990–present)

Live members
 Michael Kenney – keyboards, synthesiser (1988–present)

Former members
 Paul Day – léad vocals (1975–1976)
 Ron "Rebel" Matthews – drums (1975–1977)
 Terry Rance – guitars (1975–1976)
 Dave Sullivan – guitars (1975–1976)
 Dennis Wilcock – léad vocals (1976–1978)
 Bob Sawyer – guitars (1977)
 Terry Wapram – guitars (1977–1978)
 Tony Moore – keyboards (1977)
 Thunderstick – drums, percussion (1977)
 Doug Sampson – drums, percussion (1977–1979)
 Paul Di'Anno – léad vocals (1978–1981)
 Paul Cairns – guitars (1979)
 Paul Todd – guitars (1979)
 Tony Parsons – guitars (1979)
 Dennis Stratton – guitars, backing vocals (1979–1980)
 Clive Burr – drums, percussion (1979–1982)
 Blaze Bayley – léad vocals (1994–1999)

Discography

Studio albums
 Iron Maiden (1980)
 Killers (1981)
 The Number of the Beast (1982)
 Piece of Mind (1983)
 Powerslave (1984)
 Somewhere in Time (1986)
 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
 No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
 Fear of the Dark (1992)
 The X Factor (1995)
 Virtual XI (1998)
 Brave New World (2000)
 Dance of Death (2003)
 A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
 The Final Frontier (2010)
 The Book of Souls (2015)
Senjutsu (2021)

Concert tours

* Tour is ongoing - more dates to be announced

See also

Notes

References

 
  
 
   
  ASIN B0006B29Z2

External links

 

English heavy metal musical groups
English rock music groups
Iron Maiden (heavy metal band)
Musical groups established in 1975
Musical groups from London
Musical sextets
Brit Award winners
Grammy Award-winning artists
Ivor Novello Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
1975 establishments in England
Grup musik
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