Iron Maiden Album Art Showdown

[Diesel 11]

Welcome to the
Iron Maiden Album Art Showdown​

Inspired by @MindRuler 's Album Cover Art Cup and its popularity, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing but with Iron Maiden's album/single/etc covers. The following is a list of all the covers that will feature in the game. I think I got them all, but if you see something that I've missed, please let me know!

Spoiler: The Full List

IRON MAIDEN ERA

1. The Soundhouse Tapes (1979)
2. “Running Free” (1980)
3. “Sanctuary” (1980)
4. Iron Maiden (1980)
5. “Women in Uniform” (1980)
6. Live!! +one (1980)

KILLERS ERA

1. Killers (1981)
2. “Twilight Zone” (1981)
3. “Purgatory” (1981)
4. Live at the Rainbow (1981)
5. “Wrathchild” [Japan] (1981)
6. Maiden Japan (1981)
7. Maiden Japan [alt.] (1981)

THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST ERA

1. “Run to the Hills” (1982)
2. The Number of the Beast (1982)
3. “The Number of the Beast” (1982)

PIECE OF MIND ERA

1. “Flight of Icarus” (1983)
2. Piece of Mind (1983)
3. “The Trooper” (1983)
4. Video Pieces (1983)

POWERSLAVE ERA

1. “2 Minutes to Midnight” (1984)
2. Powerslave (1984)
3. “Aces High” (1984)
4. Behind the Iron Curtain (1984)
5. “Running Free” [live] (1985)
6. “Run to the Hills” [live] (1985)
7. Live After Death (1985)

SOMEWHERE IN TIME ERA

1. “Wasted Years” (1986)
2. Somewhere in Time (1986)
3. “Stranger in a Strange Land” (1986)
4. 12 Wasted Years (1987)

SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON ERA

1. “Can I Play with Madness” (1988)
2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
3. “The Evil That Men Do” (1988)
4. “The Clairvoyant” (1988)
5. “Infinite Dreams” (1989)
6. The First Ten Years (1990)

NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING ERA

1. “Holy Smoke” (1990)
2. No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
3. “Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter” (1990)
4. “Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter” [alt.] (1990)

FEAR OF THE DARK ERA

1. “Be Quick or Be Dead” (1992)
2. Fear of the Dark (1992)
3. “From Here to Eternity” (1992)
4. “From Here to Eternity” [alt. gatefold] (1992)
5. “From Here to Eternity” [alt. picture disc] (1992)
6. “Wasting Love” (1992)
7. “Fear of the Dark” (1993)
8. A Real Live One (1993)
9. “Hallowed Be Thy Name” (1993)
10. A Real Dead One (1993)
11. Live at Donington [o.g.] (1993)
12. Donington Live 1992 (1993)

THE X FACTOR ERA

1. “Man on the Edge” (1995)
2. The X Factor (1995)
3. The X Factor [alt.] (1995)
4. “Lord of the Flies” (1996)
5. “Virus” (1996)
6. “Virus” [alt. 1] (1996)
7. “Virus” [alt. 2] (1996)
8. Best of the Beast (1996)

VIRTUAL XI ERA

1. “The Angel and the Gambler” (1998)
2. “The Angel and the Gambler” [alt.] (1998)
3. “The Angel and the Gambler” [alt. picture disc] (1998)
4. Virtual XI (1998)
5. “Futureal” (1998)
6. “Futureal” [Riggs poster] (1998)
7. Iron Maiden [remaster] (1998)
8. No Prayer for the Dying [remaster] (1998)
9. Live at Donington [remaster] (1998)
10. Eddie’s Head (1998)
11. Ed Hunter (1999)

BRAVE NEW WORLD ERA

1. “The Wicker Man” (2000)
2. “The Wicker Man” [atl. US promo] (2000)
3. “The Wicker Man” [alt. picture disc] (2000)
4. Brave New World (2000)
5. “Out of the Silent Planet” (2000)
6. “Out of the Silent Planet” [alt.] (2000)
7. Rock in Rio (2002)
8. Rock in Rio [DVD] (2002)
9. “Run to the Hills” [live] (2002)
10. Eddie’s Archive (2002)
11. BBC Archives (2002)
12. Beast Over Hammersmith (2002)
13. Best of the ‘B’ Sides (2002)
14. Edward the Great (2002)

DANCE OF DEATH ERA

1. Visions of the Beast (2003)
2. “Wildest Dreams” (2003)
3. “Wildest Dreams” [DVD] (2003)
4. Dance of Death (2003)
5. “Rainmaker” (2003)
6. “Rainmaker” [DVD] (2003)
7. No More Lies - Dance of Death Souvenir EP (2004)
8. The History of Iron Maiden - Part 1: The Early Days (2004)
9. Death on the Road (2005)
10. The Essential Iron Maiden (2005)

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH ERA

1. “The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” (2006)
2. A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
3. “Different World” (2006)
4. “Different World” [DVD] (2006)
5. “Different World” [digital] (2006)
6. Somewhere Back in Time - The Best of: 1980-1989 (2008)
7. Flight 666 (2009)

THE FINAL FRONTIER ERA

1. “El Dorado” (2010)
2. “The Final Frontier” (2010)
3. The Final Frontier (2010)
4. “Coming Home” (2010)
5. From Fear to Eternity - The Beast of 1990-2010 (2011)
6. En Vivo! (2012)
7. Maiden England ‘88 (2013)

THE BOOK OF SOULS ERA

1. “Speed of Light” (2015)
2. The Book of Souls (2015)
3. “Empire of the Clouds” (2016)
4. The Book of Souls: Live Chapter (2017)
5. Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast: Live in Mexico City (2020)

SENJUTSU ERA

1. “The Writing on the Wall” (2021)
2. “Stratego” (2021)
3. Senjutsu (2021)
4. Senjutsu [alt.] (2021)
5. “Total Eclipse” (2022)
6. Beast Over Hammersmith [w/TNOTB] (2022)

I've put the list through Google's number generator to shake up the rounds so we will not be going through chronological order.

This game will work like the Album Cover Art Cup. The first round will feature 20 ladders with 6 albums each (7 in Ladder 20). You will award 3 points to your favorite album cover; 2 points to your 2nd favorite; and 1 point to your 3rd favorite. The other three covers will receive 0 points. Example:

0 The Number of the Beast
0 Piece of Mind
0 Powerslave
0 Somewhere in Time
0 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
0 No Prayer for the Dying

Update the number in front to keep things consistent, and add on how many points you added to the side.

3 Powerslave +3
2 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son +2
1 The Number of the Beast +1
0 Piece of Mind
0 Somewhere in Time
0 No Prayer for the Dying

The winner will be promoted to the finals; the two runners-up will be promoted to Round 2.

My goal right now is to update this game every day/every two days, but I'll play around with this based on the amount of responses. Let the games begin!

---

ROUND 1: Ladder 1

1. Fear of the Dark (1992)


2. Best of the Beast (1996)


3. Live After Death (1995)


4. Brave New World (2000)


5. "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc] (2000)


6. "Different World" [digital] (2006)


Template:
0 Fear of the Dark
0 Best of the Beast
0 Live After Death
0 Brave New World
0 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
0 "Different World" [digital]

 

[Diesel 11]

3 Live After Death +3
2 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc] +2
1 Brave New World +1
0 Fear of the Dark
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

What an utterly stacked opening ladder! I really feel bad about voting in this one at all. I think all of these covers are great at what they do; Live After Death and Fear of the Dark are legendary; "The Wicker Man" is kind of the single cover that should've been; Brave New World is fun, Best of the Beast is a nice Eddie compilation for a compilation album; and I even kinda like this "Different World" cover - easily the best of the three they put out. Painful choices. I don't think I even voted for what I expected to vote for going in.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Love it! Thanks for doing this game!

5 Live After Death +2
4 Brave New World +3
2 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
1 Fear of the Dark +1
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

 

[Azas]

8 Live After Death +3
4 Brave New World
3 Fear of the Dark +2
3 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc] +1
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

Live After Death is quite possibly the best Eddie-related artwork. Fear of the Dark is a very uneven album, but its cover — along with the Killers artwork — is strikingly iconic.

 

[Cat Milk Supreme]

11 Live After Death +3
5 Fear of the Dark +2
5 Brave New World +1
3"The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

Unlike our host, I have zero difficulty picking these. I find LAD the only totally Tippity Top All Time Classic in this round. Possibly my favourite Eddie ever. I certainly would have no qualms if this won the whole thing.

FOTD is totally acceptably second tier Maiden Art, for me. Iconic for sure but it marked something of a change when it came out and I find it kinda weird. But still, iconic and cool if I don't look too closely.

BNW just has something I like, the colours maybe. This cover just instantly makes me think of the music, the particular vibe of that album, the guitar sound, the ethereal notions.

I care not for the rest. No love for any cgi Eddie's. I felt betrayed when they started doin that shit, betrayed I tell you!

Wicker Man barely looks like an Eddie although I don't think it's super bad as a whole piece.

BOTB is just weird. LAD Eddie is too skinny, mouth too wide and looks to have a flat head. Troopers saber arm is way too long. Killers axe arm is oddly proportioned and his face is shit also. SiT has Killers vibes that I don't think suit it and theheads too big for the body.

No Prayers face is too narrow. Reminds me of something else I can't quite put my finger on. He looks like a dick.

The other 2 are great. Are these exact replicas from original Eddie's, does anyone know? Whole thing kinda looks like Derek started at the bottom full of beans, taking his time and then went "fuck it." Or maybe he got told he was only gettin paid for 1 more day so he better hurry up.

From a cultural stand point I see this as the end of the age of quality Eddie's. The early 90s took a distinct and different turn but it still looked like effort was being put into the art. From BOTB onwards its massively evident that the art budget has been obliterated.

 

[Kalata]

Such album art game for Maiden is a must!

Round 1 is already tough.

12 Live After Death +1
8 Fear of the Dark +3
7 Brave New World +2
3 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

FOTD is one of the most impactful and brilliant Eddies! Legendary. The cover doesn't even need details for a background, wow to say that. BNW really captures you with its colors and Eddie's face, love the futuristic look. LAD is iconic and the colors add.

Wicker Man alt art was really close to get my vote, I like it a lot (it should have been the single cover). BOTB is just a collage of Eddies (with no real background), while Different World is quite nice, but CGI against drawing, the rest are more epic.

 

[Kalata]

BNW just has something I like, the colours maybe. This cover just instantly makes me think of the music, the particular vibe of that album, the guitar sound, the ethereal notions.

Well said.

BOTB is just weird. LAD Eddie is too skinny, mouth too wide and looks to have a flat head. Troopers saber arm is way too long. Killers axe arm is oddly proportioned and his face is shit also. SiT has Killers vibes that I don't think suit it and theheads too big for the body.No Prayers face is too narrow.

Good remarks. Also, when it's the first compilation album, they/he should have added the other Eddies (SSOASS, TNOTB, FOTD, even TXF), a more developed background would have helped with that.

Btw, I remember an interview with Derek from the 90s in which he mentioned having big art featuring all Eddies so far! Now that would have been really curious.

From a cultural stand point I see this as the end of the age of quality Eddie's. The early 90s took a distinct and different turn but it still looked like effort was being put into the art. From BOTB onwards its massively evident that the art budget has been obliterated.

Maybe the details on the arts were because Derek wanted them (he was bored in the 90s, not enough time?), the idea for the Eddies was with the band. The other artists were probably different. FOTD cover had different ideas and artists at first, VXI, BNW and AMOLAD have the needed details. The real drop was for live albums & singles arts, after 1990/1993.

 

[Cat Milk Supreme]

Maybe the details on the arts were because Derek wanted them, the idea for the Eddies was with the band. The other artists were probably different. FOTD cover had different ideas and artists at first, VXI, BNW and AMOLAD have the needed details. The real drop was for live albums & singles arts.

Well yeah, Derek was bored of Eddie by the 90s, I believe I read that somewhere but if the band gave him adequate time and money I'm sure he may have done something better for the Best Of.

VXI has details, yes but it's nowhere near the quality of Riggs' top stuff. Maybe that's an entirely stylistic choice but could also be that they wanted to spend less and so got an artist who is less established/not as good. Either way, the concept and execution is a far cry from Riggs in his pomp.

AMOLAD has details and maybe fits the tone of the album better than if Eddie was up front but again, not a patch of the 80s albums. By the time it came out we hadn't had a Tip Top Eddie in maybe 15yrs. Eddie was a thing of the past to me by 2006.

BNW has details, it's fine but the Eddie and the clouds isn't top drawer and the city scape seems a bit too clean to me compared to the almost half finished cloudy bit. Dunno, always found a strange dichotomy between the upper and the lower sections of this one. But it has something, fo sho.

In terms of the live albums, I'm quite a fan of Live One and Dead One but maybe I'm not in the majority there. But yeah, after that is a different story.

 

[Vaenyr]

Goddamn, what a brutal (and very blue ) opening round

15 Live After Death +3
10 Fear of the Dark +2
8 Brave New World +1
3 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

 

[Siddharth]

16 Live After Death +1
13 Fear of the Dark +3
10 Brave New World +2
3 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

Fear Of The Dark is top 3 Maiden art for me!

 

[MindRuler]

19 Live After Death +3
15 Fear of the Dark +2
11 Brave New World +1
3 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

Best Of The Beast (wtf zero points?) isn´t that bad but the patchwork of Eddies doesn´t really slap.

 

[Diesel 11]

Best Of The Beast (wtf zero points?) isn´t that bad but the patchwork of Eddies doesn´t really slap.

Yeah I gotta be honest, I didn’t expect BNW to be as popular as it must be. I kinda thought BotB was up @Azas ’s alley. I’ve always thought it wasn’t an amazing cover, but it was a fun one for a great compilation.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

20 Live After Death +1
18 Fear of the Dark +3
13 Brave New World +2
3 "The Wicker Man" [alt. picture disc]
0 Best of the Beast
0 "Different World" [digital]

BNW just has something I like, the colours maybe. This cover just instantly makes me think of the music, the particular vibe of that album, the guitar sound, the ethereal notions.

I so feel that, it's like this for me too. I always thought having this kind of connection with the music is in a way the aspiration of the cover art. I see that as giving the music life in the visual dimension.

 

[Azas]

BOTB’s artwork feels too much like a mish-mash to me — just a pile of Eddies, almost caricature-like. And I don’t believe for a second that so many people vote for Brave New World purely on the strength of its cover. The art itself is very so-so, imo; nostalgia has to be part of the equation. Of course everyone is free to vote however they like — I’m just expressing my disbelief. No offense meant.

And that Different World single cover? It’s not better than some AI examples. I don’t like it at all.

 

[Vaenyr]

BNW just has something I like, the colours maybe.

The bottom half of the BNW cover is okay, nothing spectacular. Kinda gives me Dream Theater or Symphony X vibes.

The top half is what makes this cover legendary. I really love Eddie's face (imo among the best he's looked in their entire discography), the colour scheme and the contrast with the font for the album title.

 

[MindRuler]

Oh and by the way kudos to @Diesel 11 for the idea!
I was almost detoxed from the Album Cover Art Cup so this came at the right time!

 

[Cat Milk Supreme]

And I don’t believe for a second that so many people vote for Brave New World purely on the strength of its cover. The art itself is very so-so, imo; nostalgia has to be part of the equation. Of course everyone is free to vote however they like — I’m just expressing my disbelief. No offense meant.

I definitely wouldn't deny that. Big nostalgia for me with this album for many reasons and it's impossible to untangle that from my vote for the artwork.

The whole thing felt very fresh, the light colours, the whole style of the booklet, the music, the reunion itself.

But nostalgia aside I certainly think it's better than the 3 I didn't vote for, which are all lower tier Maiden art for me.

 

[Kalata]

and I even kinda like this "Different World" cover - easily the best of the three they put out.

I like the exact single cover of Different World better, more of Eddie is shown. The colors are cool in both.

 

[Kalata]

It was used for a stage Eddie, but I wonder if this Wicker Man art could have been used as an album cover. Is it that strong or appropriate for the band? I guess so. It's better than Derek's one.

 

[Kalata]

The top half is what makes this cover legendary. I really love Eddie's face (imo among the best he's looked in their entire discography), the colour scheme and the contrast with the font for the album title.

This. BNW's face is timeless, like FOTD Eddie. If the city was a drawing (not CGI), I think it would have been even better. Still it's quite good. The two halves of the cover are done by two different artists. Unique fact. Btw, I want to see a full length of BNW Eddie, I really do.