Iron Maiden: Album Discussion

I deliberately saved this album for later when I started doing those.. um, scorings or reviews of the Maiden discography (I still suck at giving scores, especially 1-10) and the 40th anniversary sounds like a good timing to finally tackle this one.

So here we go!

Self-titled debut album of the band is widely considered as a pure classic, full of raw energy, hunge with couple of more proggressive, and "sophisticated" pieces thrown in here and there. General consensus for fans, casual listeners and the band members alike seems to be that it's a great album with poor production, and to a large extent, that sums it up rather appropriately.

Guitars sound a bit too brittle, especially given the brisk vibe the guitar work on the album otherwise provides and overall, the album sounds a bit too musty to fully support the power of the music, that nevertheless has such a strong edge that the production alone can never diminish it.

The song selection is a good, varied mix of straightforward, even aggressive "off the streets" rockers like the album opener, Prowler, that in all of it's grittiness might be one of the most anthemic songs ever written about someone rushing "through the bushes - with it open wide!" Just imagine if it was played between 2016-19 and the chances with inflatables that have made their comeback to the stage productions... Packed with strong riffs, clever hooks and a big chorus, Prowler is definitely a great opener for their first studio album. The second song, Remember Tomorrow is much more subtle and cryptic piece of songwriting and along with the other slower track on the album, a brilliant Strange World, one the best vocal performances by Paul Di'Anno. Songs like Running Free and the album closer Iron Maiden are often considered and are definitely renowned as more of a standout live numbers than actual studio recordings, but there is undoubtedly some unique sharpness in these original recordings - which are definitely worth a a listen or two every now and then and they offer and interesting, even charming contrast to the most recent live recordings of the mentioned songs.

Another notable classic is the legendary Phantom of the Opera, which closes the side A of the vinyl in a very appropriate manner, showing what this band is about. While containing some relatively rare elements, such as layered vocal lines, in a Maiden song (and given his way, Dennis Stratton would have elaborated that part much more), the 7-minute "epic" is packed with to-become-signature elements of Steve Harris' songwriting, planting the seeds for songs like Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. While this original studio recording is a brilliant showcase of the pure talent of both, the musicianship of the then current line-up and Steve Harris' astonishing potential when it comes to writing (and borrowing) songs, it's also a song that has been adapted very well by the more recent line-ups, with more beefy guitar work by Adrian Smith and the wonderful sense of theatrics and drama that Bruce Dickinson provided. While I personally find The Number of the Beast as Clive Burrs' best recording stint in the band, his work on the debut is also notable, being a huge part of the sharp and aggressive vibe of it. The instrumental track Transylvania, which is also cleverly placed to open the second half of the album after the enormous Phantom of the Opera, is still considered as their strongest instrumental by many and even the sometimes bashed Charlotte the Harlot has some great hooks, even if it's not quite the highlight and probably benefits from being a part of this record; I wonder if it's status would be different if it was ditched in favor of Sanctuary and thrown in for, say, Killers or as a single b-side.

While the debut album of one the most legendary bands ever is a good one, it also leaves a lot of room to grow, planting some seeds and hints of the glorious future that loomed ahead. While not a flawless record, it's definitely tightly packed and well balanced album full of quality songs played by a hungry band full of "burning ambition" - even if the often mentioned production doesn't quite live up to the material and performance. In all of it's rawness from the sound and song material to the cover art, there's some still some charm in it, that new and old listeners alike can enjoy.

As for the songs, I've never found scoring them that comfortable or easy, but maybe something along these lines:

Prowler - 7-8?
Remember Tomorrow -8.5
Running Free - 8?
Phantom of the Opera 9
Transylvania 8?
Strange World 8
Charlotte the Harlot 7? 6? 8? ehhhhh
Iron Maiden 8

Resulting a solid 7/10 or close to 8/10?
Powerful album with a strong selection of songs, but not entirely fulfilling or magnificent. Leaves some hunger and while it never actually stumbles, it doesn't quite blow you away either.

Previous scores (not sure how appropriate they ended up being, but yeah)

Randalf said:
Killers: around 7.5
The Number of the Beast:
around 8
Piece of Mind:
around 9 or even above?
Powerslave: Another 9? I just hate 1-10 and how hard it is to properly score these. :D
Somewhere in Time: 9 (A BLASPHEMY?)
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: 10
 
I've decided to start a Maiden binge since it's been a while since I properly went through their discography and rated the songs. I want to be clear first and foremost, I'm going to largely be rating the songs in the context of their albums and not the band's canon as a whole. This means a song I like significantly less than another may receive a 10 if I just have a blast listening to it. Just a note.

Iron Maiden (1980)
  • The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is pretty garbage, but I do love how they put into words something I never seriously thought about before with Maiden: "Their blend of punk, early metal, and progressive rock fused into a blistering assault of guitars, a driving rhythm section, and soaring vocals." We're not yet at the "soaring vocals", but everything else perfectly describes this album. Personally, I find a lot of Maiden's peers and predecessors to bring interesting things to the table, but don't execute it quite to my liking. The NWOBHM scene has a lot of cool vibes, but the artists just don't really do anything for me. The major exception being, of course, Iron Maiden. They weren't just cutting edge, they meant so much more than the other bands of the time. They really had passion. It wasn't just metal. It was music.
  • And talk about a blistering assault, the guitars on this album are raw and grimy yet played with a precision that tricks you into thinking they're well-oiled and polished. And they marry well with the "driving rhythm section". I don't think that Clive was nearly the player that Nicko is, in both creativity and execution, but he knew how to lay down a beat, man. And Steve's bass is a powerful, pumping piston that really keeps things moving like clockwork. This is the working man's Iron Maiden album, when they were young and hungry and jumping at the chance to record some fucking music.
  • The production isn't perfect, but I don't think Maiden have ever had a perfect production job. I like it overall. It fits the vibes of the album.
  • Everything that Maiden would go on to do is pretty well outlined here. "Phantom" is a great proto-epic with a biting metallic vibe yet written like a prog rocker. Lots of great twists and turns in it, and of course the instrumental section is terrific, one of the highlights of the record. Then there's the rockers of course and two attempts at ballads in "Strange World" (a pretty gorgeous, oozing, mysterious song for the band) and "Remember Tomorrow". I actually had a moment in the latter where I was like, woah, I can actually hear The X Factor in this! The DNA is all there.
  • Talking of "Remember Tomorrow", for some reason it really clicked with me this time. I've never been a fan of it till now. It's got a nice mix of quiet and loud. When the fake chorus riff kicks in I was bangin'.
  • But that leads me to say that I don't think I've ever enjoyed this album quite so much as I did now. It's just really, really fun. Rock 'n' roll with bite.
  • Paul still isn't perfect, but I like what he brings to the table on here. But for the record, that infamous drunk performance of "Charlotte" we all know and love is really nothing really new. On the studio version it's hard to make out what he's even saying. His voice is kinda all over the place, but it's really not something that bothers me. It's part of the vibe.
  • And speaking of "Charlotte", it's still a dumb song, lyrically. They're just so fucking stupid. But at the same time, it's fun. It's a fun start to an insignificantly significant character in the Maiden canon.
  • Oh, and "Transylvania" is a strong first instrumental, but Iced Earth did it WAY better on Horror Show. Fact.
As a whole, it's a monumental album in the history of metal. Not quite at perfection level but fun and pumping and just the kind of record you throw on to rock out to. A great start to the Maiden discography.
  1. Prowler - 9/10
  2. Remember Tomorrow - 10/10
  3. Running Free - 10/10
  4. Phantom of the Opera - 10/10
  5. Transylvania - 8/10
  6. Strange World - 9/10
  7. Sanctuary - 9/10
  8. Charlotte the Harlot - 8/10
  9. Iron Maiden - 10/10
Total: 92%
 
Oh, and "Transylvania" is a strong first instrumental, but Iced Earth did it WAY better on Horror Show. Fact.
No chance. The original is perfect. Their version of the song is one of the not so good covers of Maiden imo.
 
No chance. The original is perfect. Their version of the song is one of the not so good covers of Maiden imo.
Their version is beefier and much more haunting. I don’t think I ever saw the Transylvania in “Transylvania” until I heard their version.
 
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