Iron Maiden Album Art Showdown

3 "Fear of the Dark (Live)" +3
2 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc] +2
1 "Aces High" +1
0 Maiden Japan [alt.]
0 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"

FOTD live single arts is just an instant like. Eddie plays bass, instantly cool. Even the one plain color is working for the best (the red continues ARLDO theme, which is nice). One of Derek's best drawings. A small gripe, it could have been a little more symmetrical on the left side.
Angel & The Gambler alt art is underrated. I love the colors (fit the album), probably the best idea for the song, and I like the nod to the Stranger In A Strange Land cover. Derek did a great Eddie with a classic vibe.
Aces High is just a classic, colors and Eddie's close up face. The cover looks dynamic(!), which is something.

Futureal cover is such a bad idea, one of their worst - they should have just used Derek's poster, which is cool enough. A missed opportunity for a memorable art since the early 90s. I didn't know Wratchild had a Japanese cover.
 
6 "Fear of the Dark (Live)" +3
4 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc] +2
2 "Aces High" +1
0 Maiden Japan [alt.]
0 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"
 
8 "Fear of the Dark (Live)" +2
5 "Aces High" +3
4 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc] +2
1 Maiden Japan [alt.] +1
0 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"

Aces High is an all time classic, the back cover of the picture disc is great too with a plane spiraling as the record plays. Fear of the Dark Live is another great, better cover than the real live one album cover. Maiden Japan alt is a decent gag but I thought they executed it much better on the Hallowed Live single with Bruce. Also the normal Maiden Japan cover is better. The Angel and the Gambler is ok, whereas the steamboat cover is great so I gave the final vote to Maiden Japan. The other two aren't great at all. Particularly, for Futureal given they could have used the Futureal Powerslave image instead.
 
10 "Fear of the Dark (Live)" +2
8 "Aces High" +3
4 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc]
1 Maiden Japan [alt.]
1 "Wrathchild" [Japan] +1
0 "Futureal"

Kinda like the "Wrathchild" photo with the Eddie behind the drumkit.
 
12 "Fear of the Dark (Live)" +2
11 "Aces High" +3
4 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc]
2 Maiden Japan [alt.] +1
1 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"
 
14 "Fear of the Dark (Live)" +2
11 "Aces High"
7 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc] +3
3 Maiden Japan [alt.] +1
1 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"

Futureal is ugly, Wrathchild just a live picture, which are always boring.

Aces High is a classic, but the Eddie is pretty goofy. Maiden Japan has a pretty cool atmosphere and details like the little hatchet on the stage floor.

I used to love the FOTD single cover but I slightly prefer TAATG due to its vibes.
 
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16 “Fear of the Dark (Live)" +2
14 “Aces High" +3
7 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc]
4 Maiden Japan [alt.] +1
1 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"
 
17 “Aces High" +3
16 “Fear of the Dark (Live)"
7 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc]
6 Maiden Japan [alt.] +2
2 "Wrathchild" [Japan] +1
0 "Futureal"
 
20 “Aces High" +3
18 “Fear of the Dark (Live)" +2
8 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc] +1
6 Maiden Japan [alt.]
2 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"
 
23 “Aces High" +3
19 “Fear of the Dark (Live)" +1
10 "The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc] +2
6 Maiden Japan [alt.]
2 "Wrathchild" [Japan]
0 "Futureal"
 
Promoted to the Finals:
"Aces High" - 23 points

Promoted to Round 2:
"Fear of the Dark (Live)" - 19 points
"The Angel and the Gambler" [alt. picture disc] - 10 points

Eliminated from the Tournament:
Maiden Japan [alt.] - 6 points
"Wrathchild" [Japan] - 2 points
"Futureal" - 0 points


Round 1: Ladder 9

1. "From Here to Eternity" (1992)
From Here to Eternity.jpg

2. "Sanctuary" (1980)
Sanctuary.jpg

3. "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo] (2000)
The Wicker Man US promo.webp

4. "Run to the Hills" (1982)
Run to the Hills.jpg

5. Killers (1981)
Killers.jpg

6. Donington Live 1992 (1993)
Donington Live 1992.jpg

Template:
0 "From Here to Eternity"
0 "Sanctuary"
0 "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo]
0 "Run to the Hills"
0 Killers
0 Donington Live 1992
 
3 Killers +3
2 "Run to the Hills" +2
1 "Sanctuary" +1
0 "From Here to Eternity"
0 "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo]
0 Donington Live 1992

Pretty stacked compared to last round. I do like the US promo photo for "The Wicker Man" and I've used it as an avatar a lot. Sadly it's just up against incredible competition from Derek Fucking Riggs.
 
6 Killers +3
4 "Run to the Hills" +2
2 "Sanctuary" +1
0 "From Here to Eternity"
0 "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo]
0 Donington Live 1992

Easy choices here.

Killers is a big classic of an album cover, Eddie is perfect on it. Top-notch, vibe too. One of their most iconic arts!
Run To The Hills has some strange faces, but the image is memorable in the Maiden world. The colors are great too.
Sanctuary is by default, although I love the yellow colors for those early singles and I am a big fan of Eddie's face on it.

From Here To Eternity is a missed chance to make an interesting cover with Eddie (even not a biker). TWM US promo cover with the band is very nice, it has the vibe, but without Eddie.
 
9 Killers +3
6 "Run to the Hills" +2
3 "Sanctuary" +1
0 "From Here to Eternity"
0 "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo]
0 Donington Live 1992

Killers may not be their best album, but in terms of album art, it’s certainly one of the most iconic.
 
Kalata said:
From Here To Eternity is a missed chance to make an interesting cover with Eddie (even not a biker).
Click to expand...

I feel like it's actually a pretty cool photo from the music video shoot...and a rare "just the band" photo for a singe. In line with what they were trying to do in the early 90s.

The cool biker chick from the video had her breakthrough role in Phantasm II a few years prior:


 
14 Killers +3
9 "Run to the Hills" +2
6 "Sanctuary"
1 "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo] +1
0 "From Here to Eternity"
0 Donington Live 1992
 
17 Killers +3
11 "Run to the Hills" +2
7 "Sanctuary" +1
1 "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo] +1
0 "From Here to Eternity"
0 Donington Live 1992

Piece of piss selecting the top 3, feel any one of those could have taken the 3 points. The other 3 are fairly crap, Wickerman the best of the 3, FHTE not a great picture and Donington is decent enough for a live video cover but I hate the layout of Iron Maiden, if Iron is on top of Maiden it should not be centred.
 
23 Killers +3
15 "Run to the Hills" +2
8 “Sanctuary"
2 "The Wicker Man" [alt. US promo] +1
0 "From Here to Eternity"
0 Donington Live 1992
 
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