Album covers: alternate versions, different Eddies?

STUDIO ALBUMS:

Iron Maiden (1980) - 1998 remastered edition cover.

im 98.jpg

No Prayer For The Dying (1990) - 1998 remastered edition cover.

npftd 98.jpg

Fear Of The Dark (1992) - the unfinished album cover by Derek Riggs.

fotd by derek.jpg

The X Factor (1995) - alternative album cover/the back cover.

txf alternative.jpg

Virtual XI (1998) - the original cover without the football pitch and orange is the dominant colour (not red).

vxi early version.jpg

Dance Of Death (2003) - the original unused album cover.

dod original.jpg

The Book Of Souls (2015) - The witch doctor, the heart and the jungle setting.

This comes from an interview with Mark Wilkinson:

''It looked very different to how it ended up because the original drawings that I did, Eddie had hair. I tried to imagine him as a witch doctor with typical 'Eddie' hair but making it even more crazy! Rod really liked the Eddie but said to get rid of the hair and the face markings that I put on him. I think Rod maybe thought they were a bit too 'Maori'. He wanted a more 'voodoo' look, so it was a constantly evolving process.
The sort of 'jungle' feel as well. Going on to a sacrifice to the sun with the heart''.

tbos original concept.jpg

Senjutsu (2021) - alternative cover/the back cover.

senjutsu alternative.jpg
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MORE INFO:

In the original sketch for Piece Of Mind, Eddie was on his knees.
In the original sketch for Somewhere In Time, Eddie was with hair.
 
STUDIO ALBUMS:

Iron Maiden (1980) - 1998 remastered edition cover.

View attachment 20608

No Prayer For The Dying (1990) - 1998 remastered edition cover.

View attachment 20609

Fear Of The Dark (1992) - the unfinished album cover by Derek Riggs.

View attachment 20610

The X Factor (1995) - alternative album cover/the back cover.

View attachment 20611

Virtual XI (1998) - the original cover without the football pitch and orange is the dominant colour (not red).

View attachment 20612

Dance Of Death (2003) - the original unused album cover.

View attachment 20613

The Book Of Souls (2015) - The witch doctor, the heart and the jungle setting.

This comes from an interview with Mark Wilkinson:

''It looked very different to how it ended up because the original drawings that I did, Eddie had hair. I tried to imagine him as a witch doctor with typical 'Eddie' hair but making it even more crazy! Rod really liked the Eddie but said to get rid of the hair and the face markings that I put on him. I think Rod maybe thought they were a bit too 'Maori'. He wanted a more 'voodoo' look, so it was a constantly evolving process.
The sort of 'jungle' feel as well. Going on to a sacrifice to the sun with the heart''.

View attachment 20615

Senjutsu (2021) - alternative cover/the back cover.

View attachment 20617
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MORE INFO:

In the original sketch for Piece Of Mind, Eddie was on his knees.
In the original sketch for Somewhere In Time, Eddie was with hair.
Great research work as always!
 
LIVE ALBUMS:

Live After Death (1985) - the original cover.

lad original.jpg

Maiden England (1989) - the cover for the 2013 DVD of the concert.

me 13.jpg

Live At Donington (1992) - 1998 remastered edition cover.

lad 92.jpg

A Real Live Dead One (1993) - unused cover made by Derek Riggs.

arldo.jpg

Flight 666 (2009) - I'm not 100% sure if it's official, but this artwork is made by Derek Riggs.

flight 666 cover by derek.jpg
 
I forgot to add in the STUDIO ALBUMS section:

The Final Frontier (2010) - sketches made for the album by Melvyn Grant.

Edit: About the album cover - originally, they didn’t want the craft all ripped to shreds, but to look like a hatch had come off and Eddie to be slithering in among the skeletal crew.

tff.png
 
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Agree. It looks more like an alien. I wish he was in full-length (the first one in the middle row looks a bit like him?). I like the original one too.

The centaur also has a potential.
Yup! The centaur looks like an evolved form of the first one or whatever. He also holds a guitar and it seems to me like a part of this idea got into TFF tour poster.

1654523872841.png

Hah, this and that unused Riggs art that was posted the other day in a different thread got me dreamy about the visual stuff that could have been. ;) It would be so damn cool if one day they published a gigantic artbook with all the illustrations, sketches, alternative art etc. Something like Run for Cover, but bigger, more comprehensive.
 
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