Iron Maiden/maidenfans Bb Faq

This idea came from the IMBB, and it is probably the only profoundly good thing that came from there.
With the age of this BB increasing, you can often see the same questions asked again and again. Now, not everyone uses the search function, and I really don't want to hold it against them, because with some questions, you just don't know what to particularly look for.
However, I thought this thread would serve as a good encyclopedia of questions and answers that can complement the efforts of Maverick and the Commentary, as well as other regulars and long-time posters on the BB who simply get annoyed by the same questions being asked again and again.
This thread includes only questions that have been asked repeatedly on this BB, in random order, and also includes some questions aimed specifically at this BB at the end.

IMPORTANT:

Suggestions for additions and any kind of criticism can be made in this thread.

If you can't find your question here, please be sure to check the IRON MAIDEN COMMENTARY before posting!

Table Of Contents

I. Why is Adrian Smith nicknamed H?
II. What's that solo on the SIT tour?
III. What album is the song "Virus" on?
IV. I heard a Bruce rant that isn't on Rock in Rio!
V. This cover version recorded by Iron Maiden is not mentioned on the Commentary or anywhere else!
VI. What are the differences between the compilations Maiden have released?
VII. Has Iron Maiden ever played <insert song name here> live?
VIII. Blaze sucks, don't you think?
IX. Maiden Japan with a different cover?!
X. Maiden won't play my hometown!
XI. Why are you all so obsessed with Adrian Smith?
XII. Who is in charge here?
XIII. Why do some member's names appear in different colours?
XIV. Why r u flaming me?
XV. What's up with this "This is not the IMBB" stuff?
XVI. Why is the IMBB down?
XVII. What is the Iron Maiden Commentary?
XVIII. I don't agree with the Commentary on this subject!/The Commentary missed something there!
XIX. Your Iron Maiden Top Ten?
XX. How can you not like <insert song/album name here>???!!!
XXI. There is another band named Iron Maiden!
XXII. Sharon is a bitch!
XXIII. Hey, I wanted a serious answer to my post!
XXIV. Who is drumming on Virtual XI?
XXV. Why can't we discuss the member's private/family lives here?
XXVI. Why are you posting news on BLAZE/Di'Anno/Sack Trick etc.?
XXVII. List of commonly used abbreviations
XXVIII. Why is Blaze written so funny?
XXIX. Are there personal disputes between the band members?
XXX. Are there personal disputes between the board members?
XXXI. Why did you kick me from the chatroom?
XXXII. What are the rules of the chatroom?
XXXIII. Who is in charge of the chatroom?
XXXIV. Why aren't you talking about Iron Maiden in the chatroom?
XXXV. Why are you typing in random song names in the chatroom?
XXXVI. I can't post links/use my Winamp tag/Copy from the chatroom like you can!
XXXVII. Can you say "hi" to Steve for me?
XXXVIII. Do you want to buy my signed "Soundhouse Tapes?"
XXXIX. I made a post, but my post count did not get increased!
XL. I have 500 posts! Don't call me a n00b!
XLI. Where is the Madness forum?
XLII. Is SSOASS really a concept album? What about SIT or DoD, can't they be considered concept albums too?
XLIII. I have a bootleg from the DOD tour that isn't mentioned on the Commentary!
XLIV. What's the difference between A Real Live One, A Real Dead One and A Real Live Dead One?
XLV. What recordings have Iron Maiden made?
XLVI. What albums have Iron Maiden released?
XLVII. Who is the singer of Iron Maiden?
XLVIII. Why does the band have three guitarists?
XLIX. What is so important about Steve Harris?
L. Who is Eddie?
LI. Who is Derek Riggs? Did he create Eddie?
LII. Who is Clive Burr? What is his problem?
LIII. What is the most famous Iron Maiden song/Iron Maiden's greatest hit?
LIV. I have only heard a few songs. Which album should I start with?
LV. What topics do Iron Maiden's songs deal with?
LVI. What is the "warn bar" and why hasn't anyone else got one?
LVII. What Side/Solo Projects are there?
LVIII. What bands did the members play in before they joined Maiden?
LIX. What bands covered Maiden?
LX. What does "Up the Irons" mean?
LXI. Will the next Iron Maiden album be called <insert name here>?
LXII. Has Maiden ever played in <insert place name here>?
LXIII. Maiden copied a riff/somebody stole this from Maiden!
LXIV. Did the Maiden members play any songs live during their solo concerts? Are they doing it now?


Why is Adrian Smith nicknamed H?

It is an abbreviation on his first name, because when spoken fast in the Cockney dialect, it sounds like H-rian.

What's that solo on the SIT tour?

On the SIT tour, after ROTAM, Dave and H usually played what is sometimes called a "battle", which is basically some guitar improvisation, although the variation from gig to gig is not very big. It culminated in a solo that is based on the melody of a song called "Walking In The Air", which is, if I am not mistaken, an old X-Mas song. The song has been played by Nightwish on their album Oceanborn, as well as many other artists, childrens choirs etc. It is in fact a composition by Howard Blake (he wrote the lyrics too), originally written for the famous children’s story The Snowman. On many bootlegs, the solo is also called "Walking On Glass".

What album is the song "Virus" on?

"Virus" was released as a single following the X-Factor Tour and included as the only new song on the compilation Best Of The Beast.

I heard a Bruce rant that wasn't on Rock In Rio!

Rock In Rio was edited to exclude most of Bruce's rants, probably because they were very vulgar and not suitable for a live album. I do not want to quote them, but among other things, Bruce heavily insulted Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and MTV. You can hear similar rants on many bootlegs from that tour, and if you really want to hear everything Bruce said at Rock In Rio, bootlegs from that show are widely available.

This cover version recorded by Iron Maiden is not mentioned on the Commentary or anywhere else!

Then it isn't by Iron Maiden, but most probably by Bruce Dickinson (solo). Many music files get mislabeled either intentionally or unintentionally. You should never trust the tags on MP3s you download, especially if they are so dubious as this one.

What are the differences between the compilations Maiden have released?

Short answer: None.
Long answer:
Best Of The Beast was originally released as a double-CD/four LP set and is meant to assemble the "best" (more like "most representative") material from their discography and draw a line from the very recent ("Virus", "Sign Of The Cross" etc) to the earliest recorded (The Soundhouse Tapes recordings) tracks. The compilation is noteable because it includes some rare material ("Virus", the Spaceward version of "Strange World", which was not released before).
Ed Hunter was a bonus CD that was included with the computer game of the same name, and is noteable because the tracks included were voted for by the fans on the official Iron Maiden website.
Edward The Great is a "Greatest Hits" type of compilation. The main difference between "Best Of" and "Greatest Hits" collections is that "Greatest Hits" albums include only singles, and only those that did some sort of performance on the charts, i.e. can be considered as "hits". This is precisely what Edward The Great includes: Songs that were released as singles and charte highly, without any regards of being a representative collection of songs. Of course, each and every of the songs was already included on Best Of The Beast..
The Essential Iron Maiden was aimed at the American market and is really just a rip-off.

Has Iron Maiden ever played <insert song name here> live?

Please read this post by Forostar from the Commentary forum.

Blaze sucks, don't you think?

You will find a good number of adept Blaze fans on this BB, and bashing Blaze will not get you any friends here.
The same, by the way, goes for Janick or any other past/present band member.

Maiden Japan with a different cover?!

A very rare Venezuelan release of the Maiden Japan EP has a cover showing Eddie holding Paul DiAnnos decapitated head in the air. The pressing usually sells between 400-500 US$. Although it is supposed to be very rare, you will be sure to find a new thread by someone selling it here every three months or so.
Cosmiceddie has posted an eMail he received from Derek Riggs explaining the story and details behind this alternate cover. The thread can be found here.

Maiden won't play my hometown!

The members of Iron Maiden are in their late forties/early fifties, and you can't expect them to visit every place on the planet on their tours. They do their best to cover as many regions as possible, but some places are inevitably skipped. Of course, this can come as a major disappointment to many fans, especially on an incident like the Dance Of Death Tour, in which only two cities in the US were played, but you have to keep in mind that Maiden is primarily a British/European band, with the majority of the fanbase on the Old Continent. There is a huge array of factors when they choose their touring schedule. Please don't complain here- many posters here will react very annoyed to this kind of post.

Why are you all so obsessed with Adrian Smith?

Because when Adrian Smith sneezed once, the world was without summer for a whole year.

Addition by SinisterMinisterX:

The true story of this forum's "Adrian Smith obsession":

Some time ago, Perun started a thread in the polls forum asking who Maiden's best singer was. (This thread and all other Adrian-Smith related threads from that time have since been deleted.) Perun's original thread was intended as a joke; his initial post largely dismissed the vocals of Paul, Bruce and Blaze while praising Nicko's vocal track on "Age Of Innocence ... How Old".

I chose to respond in a similar joking fashion. I typed the sentence:
"Adrian Smith is Maiden's best singer."
But then I thought, why stop there? I came up with 21 more Adrian Smith statements, including the now-legendary:
"Adrian Smith is larger than you."
I posted my madness and thought nothing more of it.

Little did I realize, I had created a monster!

Within 24 hours Maverick, LooseCannon and Perun all began crafting their own Adrian Smith statements. For weeks, the four of us were filling that thread (and many others) with our nonsense. During this time, it also became traditional to add "Adrian Smith" as the final option on every poll, no matter how ridiculous. Maverick always edited the poll result to make sure Adrian Smith won convincingly.

A few months later, it was decided to delete all the old Adrian Smith threads and try to return the polls forum to some level of sanity. Before that happened, I copied all the original Adrian Smith statements and eventually published them on my website as The Holy Scriptures of the Church of Adrian Smith. (This webpage now contains some more recent submissions, but the bulk of it is still from a bygone era.)

A by-product of our Adrian Smith obsession was the emergence of a "rival" group dedicated to Steve Harris. This group was mainly led by Maidenfreak and Onhell.

So now all newer members (that is, those who have been here for less than a year) know the full story. And to new members: it's all a big joke. Please don't take it seriously!

Who is in charge here?

The Maidenfans network is owned by RealWorld (Maidenfans), Maverick (The Iron Maiden Commentary) and Eddie's Lil Helper (Metal For Life). The forums have got individual moderators. The Iron Maiden section is moderated by the Moderator Squad, made up by LooseCannon, SinisterMinisterX, The 7th Son and Perun. The international forums are led by individual moderators: Shadow (Skandinavian), SandMaN, The Assassin90 (Spanish) and Orodaran (Italian). The Commentary Forums (French and English) are led by Maverick, and finally, Eddie's Lil Helper is in charge of the Metal For Life section. The News Team (Shadow and The Saint) can also moderate any forum but their main concern is the news pages.

Why do some member's names appear in different colours?

There are several member groups here. The Co-Owner group (Real World, Maverick, Eddie's Lil Helper) are in red. The Moderator Squad (LooseCannon, SinisterMinisterX and The 7th Son) are in orange. The News Team (Shadow, The Saint) are lightish blue. The Historians (LooseCannon, Iron Duke, Perun) are lightish red.

Why r u flaming me?

Some members of this BB are rather picky when it comes to proper spelling and intelligent posting. Some posters known to flame people for this rather often (or having it done rather often) are Maverick, Perun, Pineapple Hunter and SinisterMinisterX. Nobody likes seeing poor spelling and grammar, and it really reduces the enjoyment of reading and posting on this BB.
This flaming policy is not uncontroversial, and there are some people, most notably Real World and LooseCannon, who will post rather sour replies to these flames, stressing that it is a moderator's job to remind people of the forum rules. This has almost become a silent war with the two sides entrenching firmly and no real compromise in sight.
It is advisable for anyone to respect the forum rules and think about what they are posting, and to re-read them for spelling and grammar to not make themselves part of this.

What's up with this "This is not the IMBB" stuff?

Most members of this BB are not very fond of the Official Iron Maiden BB, commonly known as the "IMBB". The members of that BB are reputed to make very unintelligent posts with poor spelling and grammar, as well as constantly flaming people for their opinions and things like that. The Maidenfans BB takes some pride in preventing itself from becoming this way. The methods used by the particular moderators and some regulars are different and sometimes conflict with each other (see above point), but in general, you will find that most people here have the goal of keeping this BB from becoming the way the IMBB is.
Therefore, if you quote the IMBB, that quote is rarely taken seriously (unless it is a valuable piece of news information). If you make posts that resemble those on the IMBB, most people here will react sourly, and so on.

Why is the IMBB down?

We don't care.

What is the Iron Maiden Commentary?

The Iron Maiden Commentary is a huge website devoted to commenting on each release the band has made, yes, even each song. It attempts to answer any question imaginable on the releases of the band (however, not on the band and its members themselves), and anybody with a question on Iron Maiden is advised to look for an answer here first.

I don't agree with the Commentary on this subject!/The Commentary missed something there!

Although the Commentary is the most comprehensive Iron Maiden-related encyclopaedia available, it is neither complete, nor is it the last word. Most of what is written there can be considered as undisputable facts (especially the song commentaries), but not everything. A lot is Maverick's personal opinion. While his opinions are always founded and reasoned, almost everybody here has found something (s)he doesn't agree with, and that is perfectly OK with Maverick. This is why there are the Commentary Forums which allow you to comment on every Iron Maiden song. You can post your opinions on the songs and the commentaries there, as well as point out anything Maverick has missed in your opinion. This is in fact the very nerve of the Commentary, and it has nourished from contributions of other people to become the biggest beast of ineffable wisdom there has ever been!

Your Iron Maiden Top Ten?

This thread appears every couple of months. It is natural for a fan to want to know other people's favourite songs, and therefore you can't really be blamed for this, however, it is advisable to check the board's history. For any kind of poll, please check the "Best Of/Worst Of Polls" forum, and if your poll hasn't been already been posted, just post it yourself.
Alternately, you can check Top10Songs.net, a website by a regular poster here, SinisterMinisterX, where many other members of this board have posted their lists.
By the way, my list is:

The Evil That Men Do
No More Lies
The Thin Line Between Love And Hate
Children Of The Damned
Lord Of The Flies
Lightning Strikes Twice
Judgement Of Heaven
Rainmaker
Still Life
Strange World

How can you not like <insert song/album name here>???!!!

Opinions are different. It is a fact of life you will have to put up and live with. In fact, some of the best friendships are based on contrary opinions, as it always gives you something to talk and argue about.
Even a fact that seems undisputable, such as the fact that "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a brilliant song, can at some point be attacked, even by a fellow Maiden fan. It may be hard to swallow, but it really is something you have to put up with.

There is another band named Iron Maiden!

Indeed, 'Arry's gang has not been the first music group to take the name "Iron Maiden". In the 1970s, there was a doom band that had the same name as "our" Maiden. The band was not very successful and eventually disbanded. There is a Wikipedia article on them.

Sharon is a bitch!

The now legendary "Ozzfest Incident" spawned a lot of bad blood and hatred. Sharon Osbourne still regularly dishes out, but the official Maiden camp is trying to forget the event. Nobody here appreciates any further discussion of the incidents either, so please respect that.

Hey, I wanted a serious answer to my post!

This one is not unique to this particular BB, but indeed appears here frequently.
If a question is easily answerable, or not answerable at all (for example asking about future tour dates before they have been announced), some regulars will reply with humourous posts that might even evolve into humourous debates. This is nothing personal against the original poster, just a nudge at the poster telling him that he does not need much effort to find out the answer himself.
Likewise, if a poster posts too much of a specific question for anyone here to know (i.e. the setlist of a particular concert ten years ago of which no bootleg exists), this might even go unanswered. If the poster is very persistent, this might even go so far that (s)he is flamed. Please, just think about the questions you ask.
Apart from that, if you post your thread on an inappropriate board, some members may do some bullshit posting before the thread gets moved by a moderator. Please note that no post whatsoever is taken seriously when posted in the Madness forum! Even if you write down your deepest personal emotions, posting it in the Madness forum means it will be regarded as bullshit!

Who is drumming on Virtual XI?

Nicko McBrain.

There has been some controversy on this subject matter in the past. The reason for this is that Nicko's drumming on Virtual XI is not up to part with any of his other performings. Most noticeable, there are virtually no drumfills on the album, and in general, the drumming is very much in the background.
Nicko has given reasons for this, and more importantly, Maverick has posted that Blaze Bayley himself has described this "theory" that Nicko isn't drumming, or even that Steve took over the drums, as "bollocks". Whenever anybody brings up this subject, people will react very sourly on this BB. However, it is sometimes jokingly refered to, and a spoof theory that the first lines of "Fear Of The Dark" were sung by Blaze has also been put up at one point.

Why can't we discuss the member's private/family lives here?

Because it is none of our business. A private life is a private life because it is private. Many people have difficulties with accepting that celebrities are people too, and believe they give up all rights of leading a private life when they become famous. Unfortunately, some celebrities believe this themselves and open their lives for voyeurs to peek in. If you think this only happens in the glamour world of Hollywood and royal European palaces, you are gravely mistaken. One of the currently most prominent examples is none other than Heavy Metal's very own Ozzy Osbourne.
The members of Iron Maiden are keeping their private lives largely private, and we have no right of peeking in.
This changes slightly when the members themselves are revealing details, however this has hardly happened so far. Even then, it is largely uninteresting to this community, unless it is actually important to the music the band makes. In this case, it is interesting for our understanding of "The X Factor" that Steve Harris suffered from his divorce or that his father died for the explanation of "Blood Brothers".
Another case is that of Lauren Harris, Steves daughter, who is currently starting a musical career that is greatly supported by her father and the official Maiden camp.
These, however, are exceptions and shouldn't make us believe that we are, or have any right in, participating in the member's lives.

Why are you posting news on BLAZE/Di'Anno/Sack Trick etc.?

Apart from this BB and the hosting of the Commentary, Maidenfans.com is mostly a news service for anything Maiden-related. As such, it is appreciated in many internet communities (including the IMB. Many Iron Maiden fans are also interested in the solo and side projects and careers of the individual members and like to be kept updated about them. Apart from that, these bands are considered as "related" to Iron Maiden, i.e. as part of the Iron Maiden family tree.

List of commonly used abbreviations

Long terms are very often abbreviated, and this can lead to some confusion. The following is a list of abbreviations related to this board. It is not an explanation of abbreviations such as "lol" or "IMHO". You can find those out very easily elsewhere.

General
IM- Iron Maiden
IMBB- The Official Iron Maiden Bulletin Board
IMC- Iron Maiden Commentary

Iron Maiden songs and albums
(these are the most common ones. Most songs and albums get abbreviated at some point, but these are the ones you'll come across rather often).
ARDO- A Real Dead One
ARLDO (also: ARL/DO)- A Real Live/Dead One
ARLO- A Real Live One
ATSS- Afraid To Shoot Strangers
BNW- Brave New World
BOTB- Best Of The Beast
BYDTTS- Bring Your Daughter... ...To The Slaughter
DOD- Dance Of Death
DOTR- Death On The Road
ETG- Edward The Great
FOTD- Fear Of The Dark
HBTN- Hallowed Be Thy Name
LAD- Live After Death or Live At Donington (read the context)
NOTB- The Number Of The Beast
NPFTD- No Prayer For The Dying
POTO- Phantom Of The Opera
ROTAM- Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
RTTH- Run To The Hills
SIT- Somewhere In Time
SSOASS- Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
TXF- The X-Factor
VXI- Virtual XI

Other
AOB- Accident Of Birth
BD- Bruce Dickinson
TCW- The Chemical Wedding
TOS- Tyranny Of Souls

Why is Blaze written so funny?

Usually to distinguish between Blaze Bayley (the singer) and Blaze (BLAZE, B L A Z E , sometimes BLAZE or B L A Z E), his post-Maiden band. Some also use this way of writing the name to express their appreciation of and devotion to the band.

Are there personal disputes between the band members?

None that are officially confirmed or affect in any way their music. It is rumoured that Steve and Bruce do not get along with each other very well, and that Steve is not very fond of Bruce's behaviour on- and offstage. This appears to be confirmed by the fact that the two never do interviews together, and that Steve has commented on Bruce's rants during the 2005 Ozzfest tour. However, if there really is a problem between the two, they are dealing very professional with it by not making it public or making it affect their music.

Are there personal disputes between the board members?

Sometimes you get the feeling, eh?

Why did you kick me from the chatroom?

In the chatroom, you directly meet some of the members from this BB. Therefore, if you do not follow the rules of the chatroom, you get kicked after a few warnings.

What are the rules of the chatroom?

The same as on the BB: Proper spelling and grammar, no abuse of abbreviations and decent behaviour.

Who is in charge of the chatroom?

Maverick owns the chatroom, and a good number of regulars of this BB possess moderator status.

Can I become a chatroom mod?

The chatroom already has a sufficient number of moderators. Mod (or op) status is given to respectable regulars who ask for it and who can be trusted. Even if the big number of moderators suggests it, the status is not given at random.

Why aren't you talking about Iron Maiden in the chatroom?

The chatroom is usually visited by regulars who know each other pretty well and are often real friends. Therefore, they discuss what people discuss in mutual conversations, which is just about anything. Since it is the Iron Maiden chatroom, discussions about Maiden are welcome, and anybody entering is welcomed to start one, but don't expect that the people you see there will be talking about Maiden when you enter!

Why are you typing in random song names in the chatroom?

Some of the chatroom users have got Winamp or Windows Media Player tags that display what song is currently playing in the manner of:

NP: Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

Sometimes with song details. Some others occasionally type the titles in themselves. This is basically just a show-off and is hardly ever a part of the conversation.

I can't post links/use my Winamp tag/Copy from the chatroom like you can

You are most likely using the Java applet that can be reached directly from the Maidenfans.com website. The people who can successfully do the things you can't do are using mIRC. The details are described on the chatroom page.
If you are using mIRC but still can't do all that, you should consult mIRC help.

Can you say "hi" to Steve for me?

No. Neither Maidenfans.com, nor the Commentary or the chatroom have got anything to do with the members of Iron Maiden. If anybody claims to be Bruce or Steve or H or anybody else, they are playing a joke on you.

Do you want to buy my signed "Soundhouse Tapes?"

This is the wrong place to ask. Try eBay.

I made a post, but my post count did not get increased!

You posted either in the Best Of/Worst Of Polls forum or the Madness forum. These two are considered the "spam forums", and your post count does not get increased from posting there.

I have 500 posts! Don't call me a n00b!

Unlike other boards you may be posting at, here, a member gets respected not for the quantity but the quality of the posts (s)he makes. If you have 500 posts but they are made up only of statements such as "yeah lol" or "Miadne rulz", you will be considered a n00b, while when you have only 30 posts, but they are all well-written and intelligent, people will respect you.

Where is the Madness forum?

The Madness forum changes its name every once in a while. In general, you will be able to recognize it by its name already. If you really can't find it, it's the one named "Can I Play With...".

Is SSOASS really a concept album? What about SIT or DoD, can't they be considered concept albums too?

Although this is clearly discussed on the Commentary, the subject spawns some controversy from time to time. SSOASS is usually considered a concept album because the songs are related to each other and at least a part of the album tells a story. In the Heavy Metal world, a concept album is generally regarded as an album that tells a story, and as such, SSOASS can be considered a concept album.
Other Maiden albums have songs that match themes, but are unrelated to each other. gor wrote a good analysis of this which can be found in the depths of the Commentary forums, and Maverick has adopted a lot of this to the album commentaries. Therefore, Iron Maiden has made precisely one concept album.

I have a bootleg from the DOD tour that isn't mentioned on the Commentary!

Post-BNW bootlegs are not listed on the Commentary because virtually every gig has been bootlegged since.

What's the difference between A Real Live One, A Real Dead One and A Real Live Dead One?

A Real Live One and A Real Dead One were originally two sepparate live albums released a few months apart from each other in 1993. They were merged to one Double-CD Live album, A Real Live/Dead One with the enhanced CD re-releases in 1998.

What recordings have Iron Maiden made?

A Maidenfans regular, gor, has toiled hard and compiled the most complete list of official Iron Maiden recordings in this thread.

What albums have Iron Maiden released?

The currently promoted album discography (omitting all kinds of EPs, special releases, re-releases and all the likes) is as follows:

Iron Maiden (1980)
Killers (1981)
The Number Of The Beast (1982)
Piece Of Mind (1983)
Powerslave (1984)
Live After Death (1985) [Live]
Somewhere In Time (1986)
Seventh Son Of A Sevent Son (1988)
No Prayer For The Dying (1990)
Fear Of The Dark (1992)
A Real Live Dead One (1993) [Live]
Live At Donington (1993) [Live]
The X Factor (1995)
Best Of The Beast (1996) [Compilation]
Virtual XI (1998)
Ed Hunter (1999) [Compilation]
Brave New World (2000)
Rock In Rio (2002) [Live]
Edward The Great (2002) [Compilation]
Eddie's Archive (2002) [Compilation]
Dance Of Death (2003)
Death On The Road (2005) [Live]

This list is the same as promoted on the official website and the one you should use for orientation. However, there have been some further releases that were limited to specific territories, or in their numbers. For more information on them, please check the Iron Maiden Commentary.

Who is the singer of Iron Maiden?

Iron Maiden have had six singers throughout their history, and have made recordings with three of them. On the first two studio albums as well as a number of singles, EP's and live recordings before 1982, the singer was Paul Di'Anno. He was replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who was in the spot until 1994. He was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who, in turn, was replaced by Bruce again in 1999. Therefore, the current singer of Iron Maiden is Bruce Dickinson.

Why does the band have three guitarists?

In 1990, long-time guitarist Adrian Smith left the band and was replaced by Janick Gers. When Adrian Smith returned in 1999, the band did not want to lose Janick, so they added Adrian as a third guitarist.

What is so important about Steve Harris?

Steve Harris, the bassist, has founded the band back in the mid-seventies and has remained the only founding member and the only member who never left the band (even Dave Murray left for a short time). The band and its actions are mostly his brainwork, and he is the most prolific songwriter. Many fans adore Steve and he is sometimes called "Mr Iron Maiden".

Who is Eddie?

Eddie is the band's mascot, a zombie-like character who appears as the face of the band where almost every other artist puts a picture of themselves: Record sleeves, magazine covers, merchandise etc. He also makes an appearance onstage on every Maiden concert.

Who is Derek Riggs? Did he create Eddie?

Derek Riggs is a professional artist who created all artwork for the band in the eighties, but has since been only rarely involved with Maiden until in 2000 he announced that he would never work for them again.
Contrary to common belief, Riggs did not "create" Eddie in the sense of the word; Eddie made his appearance on very early Maiden gigs as a mask behind the drummer that would spit out red liquid all over the place. Riggs, however, has been responsible for Eddie as he appears in all paintings until 1992 and can therefore be considered as Eddie's "father".

Who is Clive Burr? What is his problem?

Clive Burr was Iron Maiden's drummer from 1980 to 1982 when he departed. In 2001, it was publically announced that Clive suffers from MS (Multiple Sclerosis). The band have since decided to help an old friend and set up a trust fund for fans to donate and played several charity gigs for him.

What is the most famous Iron Maiden song/Iron Maiden's greatest hit?

Like most other great rock bands (i.e. Queen, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones etc.), there is not one famous song you can identify Iron Maiden with, but many. However, unlike most great rock and pop acts, Iron Maiden have not relied on single releases and airplay to become popular, so it is not as easy to determine which songs are more popular or more "important" than others. Most Iron Maiden fans will tell you to listen to an album rather than to a song to get an introduction.
If you, however, for any reason or no reason at all, must know the titles of the most famous or most popular songs, there are several ways of getting this kind of information. You can go to rock/metal bars and stick around for a couple of hours, and visit these places frequently to get an idea. You can talk to metalheads and people who have some access to this world and try to find out which Maiden songs they will frequently name, or you can see if you find some Metal compilations which contain Maiden songs. There are also some radio and TV programmes you can consult, but the reliabilty varies from country to country.
My own personal experience in the named fields has led me to compile the following list:

The Prisoner
The Number Of The Beast
Run To The Hills
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Where Eagles Dare
The Trooper
Wasted Years
Bring Your Daughter... ...To The Slaughter
Fear Of The Dark
The Wicker Man

However, this list is not undisputable and certainly only correct for the places I visit/people I talk to/other things I do frequently. Other people will without doubt have made other experiences.

Commercially speaking, the highest charting Iron Maiden single was "Bring Your Daughter... ...To The Slaughter" which hit no.1 in the UK charts in 1990/91. However, even though the single stayed at the top spot for two weeks, "Run To The Hills" is confirmed to have sold more copies although it "only" reached number seven. Some other high-charting (i.e. top 5) singles would be "Can I Play With Madness", "The Evil That Men Do", "Holy Smoke", "Wildest Dreams" and, recently, re-issues of "The Number Of The Beast" and "The Trooper".

I have only heard a few songs. Which album should I start with?

The answer to this question is very subjective, as each fan has his/her favourite album and will tell you to listen to it first.
The band/their management have attempted to solve this problem by releasing (to date) four compilations which contain a more or less representative collection of material from the band's career. Maybe Ed Hunter should not really be mentioned because it is a computer game which costs you 30 to 35 Euros to get hold of in the first place.
With the exception of the original 2 CD/4 LP edition of Best Of The Beast which is no longer commercially available, all these compilations are fundamentally flawed, though. Many fan favourites are missing, and the compilations give you more of an overview of what kind of music the band has made in their twenty-five years of recording history rather than a selection of their best material.
A better way to start is with live albums. Iron Maiden has released a great lot (some would say too much) so far, and while the main focus is always on the material of the album they are touring to, it always includes some of the classics. The most popular live album is Live After Death, however it only includes material up to 1984. A more recent one that is also very popular is Rock In Rio which was recorded in 2001 and is demonstratively focused on the more recent years.
Both live albums contain a large array of very popular songs and can be considered as good starting points.
If you want to start with a studio album, though, it must be said that the styles of the albums vary, and none can be held representative for all albums. On the other hand, the recent three (Virtual XI, Brave New World, Dance Of Death) do somewhat manage to draw a line between the releases of the eighties and the more recent material and can be considered as a good representation of what the bands music has been like throughout the years.
Nevertheless, most fans will tell you to listen to Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind or Powerslave first, as these albums are considered their "classic" albums and are without doubt among the most popular metal albums ever.
In general, it must be said that every Maiden album is a good album, and any one can serve to introduce you to this truly unique world.

What topics do Iron Maiden's songs deal with?

Lyrically, Iron Maiden's music covers various topics, but the most recurrent ones are: Horror stories, History, Literature, Religion, Politics, Films and, more recently, Personal/psychological themes.
For further information, the Iron Maiden Commentary is the perfect place to answer your question.

What is the "warn bar" and why hasn't anyone else got one?

The warn bar is an index of how many warnings you have received from admins and moderators, so if you're on 0% then everything is alright. You can only see your own warn bar, but admins/mods can see everyone's.

What side/solo projects are there?
Most members got involved in some side project at one point while they were in the band, and if anyone left a band, they usually pursuited a more or less (rather less) successful solo career. The following is a non-exhaustive list (Dennis Stratton, Paul Di'Anno and Clive Burr have been in particularly many solo projects after Maiden) of side and solo projects of members after they left Iron Maiden(only band members on or after the first album are listed):

Dennis Stratton
Lionheart
Praying Mantis
Paul Di'Anno (The Original Iron Men)

Paul Di'Anno
Lone Wolf
Di'Anno
Gogmagog
Battlezone
Praying Mantis
Killers

Clive Burr
Clive Burr's Escape
Trust
Stratus
Gogmagog
Desperados
Praying Mantis
Elixir
True Brits

Adrian Smith
ASAP
Psycho Motel
Bruce Dickinson

Nicko McBrain
McBrain Damage

Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson
Skunkworks

Blaze Bayley
BLAZE

Bruce also sung on a version of "Smoke On The Water" on the "Rock Aid Armenia" charity album in 1989 and an obscure cover of "I Wanna Be Elected" with Mr Bean. Steve and Nicko did a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll" with two tennis players. Paul Di'Anno and Dennis Stratton took part in an All-Star Project with Lea Hart in 1989, and Dennis played on a NWOBHM all-star album with members/ex-members of Maiden, Samson, Praying Mantis, Whitesnake and others.

What bands did the members play in before they joined Maiden?
Most (if not to say all) members played in a band before they joined Maiden. The following list follows the same principles as the above one. Mentioned are only those of significance (i.e. bands that did a few pub and club gigs before disbanding or the members left are not mentioned):

Steve Harris
Gypsy's Kiss
Smiler

Adrian Smith
Urchin

Bruce Dickinson
Samson

Nicko McBrain
Trust

Janick Gers
Gillan
White Spirit
Gomagog

Blaze Bayley
Wolfsbane

What bands covered Maiden?

Maiden is one of the few bands that have actually received a myriad of cover and tribute albums over the years. They are listed in the Commentary. There are some big names among those who paid tribute to their heroes, such as Iced Earth, Lemmy, Grave Digger, Children Of Bodom, Cradle Of Filth and many, many others. In fact, almost every great metal act has done a Maiden cover at one point or the other. Not included with any tribute album is, for example, Metallica's cover of "Running Free".
However, there are very few "regular" covers, i.e. covers that were not intended for tribute albums. One of the best known of these is Iced Earth's cover of "Transylvania" which can be found on their album "Horror Show".

It must be noted at this point that some covers are very close to the originals, but poorly produced (or basically lacking sound quality), so that some people think they are demos. One track known to pop up with this label every once in a while is "Alexander The Great". People usually also complain about "Bruce's poor singing style" on these- it must be noted that if it doesn't sound like Bruce, it isn't Bruce, and the recording is a poor cover, not a demo!

What does "Up the Irons" mean?

"Up the Irons" is in fact an old West Ham battlecry. West Ham United is a football club from London's East End which Steve is an avid supporter of.
When the club was founded it went by the name of "Thames Ironworks" and that's where "Up the Irons" came from.
"Up the 'ammers" is used nowadays, too, but the traditional nickname for West Ham still is "the Irons".

You can find it written on the credits page of every Iron Maiden album to date. It's Steve supporting his fave team. However, fans eventually took it up, screaming it at concerts and other occassions - without even knowing that it was referring to the football club.

Will the next Iron Maiden album be called <insert name here>?

Whenever a new studio album is announced, people are quick to make up cool new names and sometimes even song title lists for whatever reason (usually to fool people). Among those having appeared in the context of Brave New World and Dance Of Death were "Twins Of Fate" and "Majesty Of Gaia". It must be said that, even though you think you have the information from a reliable source, even if it's Janick Gers' pet cat, any information on a Maiden album circulating fan communities is a rumour and must be treated as such. The only official title for the next Maiden album will be the one announced by the band themselves. Any information spread before an official band announcement has to be treated as wrong and should not be believed.

Has Maiden ever played in <insert place name here>?

The Commentary offers a well-researched and visually very appealing list of tour dates and venues. However, it can occur, and Maverick has stated so himself, that there occasionally are conflicting informations on dates and/or venues. Therefore, it is advisable to check a second source. This website may serve as such.

Maiden copied a riff/somebody stole this from Maiden!

When we are dealing with music, we must be aware that there are only so many notes, and there is only this much you can do with them. It is almost inevitable that two people can think of the same guitar riff or melody, and this does not necessarily mean (s)he/they plagiarized it from somebody else. It can even happen that they do not even know the similar song, even if it is from such a famous artist as Iron Maiden. In fact, you can even hear some songs within Maidens discograpy that have similar riffs, melodies or even lyrics. This doesn't mean the songwriters are uncreative or plagiarizing, it only means that we are stuck with a limited margin of musical possibilities.
However, it can occur that a piece of music or lyrics are lifted from other songs. The motivation can range from uncreativity to admiration and can be viewed as tribute or plagiarism. Even Maiden have lifted some pieces of their work from other artists. The most obvious example is some lyrics from the song Hallowed Be Thy Name and parts of the instrumental section of The Nomad, both taken from songs of a band named Beckett. The band have, however, covered a song from that band as a B-Side. This song even contains some lyrics that were re-used for "Hallowed", so it can't really be said that they wanted to keep it a secret and gave everybody who was interested a very strong hint (which hasn't been quite understood until very recently, though).
When somebody finds a riff that bears too striking similarities to a Maiden riff to be coincidental or anything like that, it is always interesting to compare, but people should remember not to make too big a deal of it, as that tends to annoy other fans.

Did the Maiden members play any songs live during their solo concerts? Are they doing it now?

Yes. Bruce played a number of songs during his "Tattooed Millionaire", "Accident Of Birth", "Chemical Wedding" and "Best Of" tours. They were largely cut from his live releases, only "The Prisoner" is available officially on the "Alive At Studio A" album (now as a bonus track on "Skunkworks"). Among the songs that were played on later tours are "Powerslave", "Flight Of Icarus", "Two Minutes To Midnight" and "Run To The Hills".
Blaze have and still are playing a lot of Maiden material also. It mostly derives from "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", but they have also played "Wasted Years". You can find several live recordings including "Virus", "When Two Worlds Collide", "Sign Of The Cross" and "Futureal" on the live album "As Live As It Gets". Some other songs Blaze have played live are "2 AM", "Como Estais Amigos" and "Look For The Truth". A bootleg recording of the latter can currently be downloaded from the Blazefans website.
Paul Di'Anno plays many Maiden songs live, exclusively from the time he was in the band. His setlists consist of about 80% Maiden material. A lot can be found on his many live releases with Killers ("Live", "New Live & Rare", " Killers Live At The Whiskey") and released under his own name ("The Beast Live", "Wacken Rocks", "The Beast In The East") and pretty much everything else you're able to pick up.



More as I think of them.

Credits

This FAQ was originally written by Perun, but has since received contributions from:

SinisterMinisterX
Maidenfreak
dogigniter
charlotte
gor
MigDaimon
Shadow

Thanks everybody! [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\"\" border=\"0\" alt=\"smile.gif\" /]