Album Suggestions for a Newbie

Riggatoni

Riggatoni

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Iron Maiden is a band I have been getting into recently. I've only really listened to the self-titled debut and Powerslave, and I thought the latter was an excellent album. But since I am a member of a Iron Maiden fan forum, and I liked Powerslave so much, I feel that I should listen to more.

There are a lot of albums (17), and I don't want to waste my time with the "bad" ones.

What albums should I continue with next? Does each era/decade have a different sound that I could get into?
 
chaosapiant said:
I’d pick a live album like Live After Death or Rock in Rio. From there, check out the studio album of any live track you find particularly good.

Edit: that said, there are no “bad” Maiden albums imo
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Thanks! I've heard good things about live Iron Maiden albums, especially Live After Death.

Yeah, I put quotations around "bad" for a reason... Iron Maiden are too good to mess up and make a St. Anger album, quality wise.
 
Riggatoni said:
There are a lot of albums (17), and I don't want to waste my time with the "bad" ones.
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It's funny to think that Maiden's discography has gotten big enough to warrant threads like these. The conventional wisdom is to just go through the "classic" 80s albums, but at this point the reunion albums make up about a third of the discography and there are people here who think it's the best they've done.

This might be blasphemous on an Iron Maiden forum, but while I get a ton of enjoyment out of pretty much every Maiden album, I think their strength is more in consistency than anything else. In other words, I don't think there's a single Maiden album that is front-to-back all killer no filler. They haven't made a perfect album which means a lot of them are kinda in the same level, which means you can start pretty much anywhere and get similar results (your mileage will vary more with the 90s albums). No bad albums, but also I'm not sure if there is a single album that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

With that in mind, I think @chaosapiant gives solid advice to go with a live album. Iron Maiden is primarily a live band and Live After Death and Rock in Rio each give a good overview of the band's catalog at the respective time. Live After Death is basically a greatest hits package and set the template for all Maiden tours to follow. Rock in Rio is my favorite live album of theirs. In terms of performances it’s unmatched, but it also is a perfectly crafted setlist. It’s insane to think that they managed to cover their entire career (only two albums are omitted) and still have a heavy focus on the new album. You get a lot of Brave New World, but you get plenty of other material as well including a good summary of the overlooked Blaze years.

I would also put in a good word for En Vivo for similar Setlist reasons as Rio. Not quite as good of a performance though.

After that just figure out what studio albums your favorite songs came from and listen to those next.
 
I agree with Mosh (for the most part. I do think there are a couple of perfect albums), but while Live after Death and Rock in Rio in conjunction will give you the "greatest hits and fan favorites" up until 2000, you will also miss out on two fantastic 80's albums (Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, the latter only represented with 1 song on RiR, and Somewhere in Time isn't covered at all) if you're working your way back to the studio albums represented, as they were released after Live after Death.

In terms of the reunion era (2000-now), my favorite albums are Brave New World (which RiR covers about half of, as it was the album they toured back then) and A Matter of Life and Death from 2006, and thus, I recommend those two to get into newer Maiden.
 
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Thanks, guys. I should've clarified I was asking for a friend, not myself. But this information will help me, since I'm not a newbie, but I'm also not really a iron maiden "veteran".
 
If Powerslave was your favorite, I would say Seventh son of a seventh son is a great next step! Piece of mind have a little similar sound as well. From the newer stuff, I would recommend A matter of life and death, most songs on that album is similar to Rime of the ancient mariner and Powerslave
 
I would listen to The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

After that I would go for the albums by the current lineup. Start with Brave New World and work your way through them in chronological order.

If you like what you heard so far you can listen to the remaining albums.
 
My first Iron Maiden album was Flight 666 and that got me into them, has a good selection of their big 80's hits. After that I got myself Piece Of Mind, Iron Maiden, Killers and Brave New World (can't remember the exact order).
 
For the golden era of the band, the best, apart from Powerslave, are Somewhere In Time, Piece Of Mind and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.

For the not so bad era, you have No Prayer For The Dying (better than Fear Of The Dark).

For the Blaze Bayley era, the best is The X Factor.

For the reunion era, I can advise you Brave New World, A Matter Of Life And Death and Senjutsu.
 
I don't think there can be a textbook answer for this. I got into Maiden around the time when The Book Of Souls was coming out, while I had already listened to a few classics like The Trooper, Aces High, The Number Of The Beast, I still really liked the album which has some really different songs compared to what I had listened to at that time. But since we are at it, and you have already listened to Powerslave, I will say, The Number Of The Beast and Piece Of Mind are also pretty close. You can also go for Brave New World.
My favourite album is actually Somewhere In Time, which again has a very unique sound compared to the previous five and don't get me started on Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son... as already said, each Maiden album has something new and different to offer.
 
TheMercenary said:
For the golden era of the band, the best, apart from Powerslave, are Somewhere In Time, Piece Of Mind and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.

For the not so bad era, you have No Prayer For The Dying (better than Fear Of The Dark).

For the Blaze Bayley era, the best is The X Factor.

For the reunion era, I can advise you Brave New World, A Matter Of Life And Death and Senjutsu.
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Good suggestions!
 
Really depends on what kind of music you prefer from before... If you like more classic rock sound, you can start with Number Of The Beast or Piece of Mind.

If you have a diverse music taste, you can't go wrong with Seventh Son. A Matter Of Life and Death and Brave New World are also great albums.

So, all in all, I'd say Seventh Son followed by Piece Of Mind, Brave New World, A Matter Of Life And Death and Number Of The Beast.

Leave the 90's albums and TFF for last as they are very specific. Plus don't get discouraged by Dance Of Death's mix which is horrible.

Have fun.
 
matic22 said:
Really depends on what kind of music you prefer from before... If you like more classic rock sound, you can start with Number Of The Beast or Piece of Mind.

If you have a diverse music taste, you can't go wrong with Seventh Son. A Matter Of Life and Death and Brave New World are also great albums.

So, all in all, I'd say Seventh Son followed by Piece Of Mind, Brave New World, A Matter Of Life And Death and Number Of The Beast.

Leave the 90's albums and TFF for last as they are very specific. Plus don't get discouraged by Dance Of Death's mix which is horrible.

Have fun.
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I've actually been listening to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son today. I really dig it; the compositions are great and there's a bit of prog (but not too much).

Right now, it's my second favorite Iron Maiden album, behind Powerslave.
 
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Well, everyone knows that Virtual XI is the best ( :D ) but I'd go with the live albums as well. Live After Death for the early 80's material, Powerslave, Somewhere In Time and SSOASS for the late 80's, Rock In Rio for the reunion plus a few 90's tracks. A Matter Of Life And Death for one of the more popular reunion albums and then Senjutsu for being the most recent album.

Other than that branch out and take a look at the origin albums from songs on the live album that you liked.
 
I suppose it depends on whether you're already into rock/metal or not, but I'd offer a total newcomer Brave New World, 'cause...
  • It's their best album.
  • It features their longest-serving lineup.
  • It's a good bridge between the upbeat eighties albums and the longer 21st century albums, but not "too long".
  • It's a bit more mature-sounding than their eighties albums, though the 80's cheesiness is obviously something I love, it might be off-putting to newcomers.
  • Bruce's vocals are at their peak.
From there I'd go back to Seventh Son, then forward to AMOLAD.
 
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