Is Iron Maiden the biggest metal band in the world right now?

18 pages still going strong, huh? If we're actually talking about "metal" bands and not AC/DC or Guns N Roses (both of whom still probably wouldn't win...), there is one answer:
  • Metallica can sell out football stadiums and giant arenas with no opening band, and force their fans to endure Jim Breuer yelling "YEAH" into a microphone for an hour.
  • Metallica are the only band (not just metal) that have performed on all 7 continents (and they did that all in the same year).
  • Metallica can play The Grammys, perform with Lady Gaga, have terrible sound issues, and still be viewed favorably by fans.
  • Metallica can release an album in any year and it will be the top-selling metal album that year.
 
Could I ask - Are you IM fan at all? I know Metallica is the (commercially) bigger band than Maiden, but sound and music of Maiden and many British Metal Legends (Sabbs, Priest) are more significant and valuable to me, its always very subjective feeling.
 
I am a much larger fan of Maiden than Metallica, hence why I’m posting this here and not a Metallica board. But that doesn’t make me overlook certain facts about general popularity.
 
RLonger said:
Could I ask - Are you IM fan at all? I know Metallica is the (commercially) bigger band than Maiden, but sound and music of Maiden and many British Metal Legends (Sabbs, Priest) are more significant and valuable to me, its always very subjective feeling.
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Cute, but the thread isn't about personal views and opinions. It's about numbers and word of mouth. @MrKnickerbocker is correct in every point he has made.
 
RLonger said:
Could I ask - Are you IM fan at all? I know Metallica is the (commercially) bigger band than Maiden, but sound and music of Maiden and many British Metal Legends (Sabbs, Priest) are more significant and valuable to me, its always very subjective feeling.
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The question was if Maiden is the biggest metal band in the world, not if they're the best metal band in your opinion. The answer to the latter question is for the listener to decide; the answer to the actual question is "no".
 
No, as far as I am concerned, the biggest metal band is Haggard. They have 20 people in the band.

Let me leave the obsession with numbers and sizes for a second: Iron Maiden is the most influential band in the history of metal music.
 
Xennon said:
No, as far as I am concerned, the biggest metal band is Haggard. They have 20 people in the band.

Let me leave the obsession with numbers and sizes for a second: Iron Maiden is the most influential band in the history of metal music.
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Most influential: Maiden and Sabbath. IM is the biggest British metal band if we would focus on numbers.
 
Xennon said:
Iron Maiden is the most influential band in the history of metal music.
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I can think of like ten other bands more influential than Maiden, but I'll agree that they're one of the most influential bands in the genre.
 
Number 6 said:
IMO, it's impossible to determine which band is the most influential.
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I think we can be fairly sure the Sabbath is one of the Top 2, with maybe The Beatles next to them for "Helter Skelter" and because they were Sabbath's biggest idols.
 
Diesel 11 said:
I think we can be fairly sure the Sabbath is one of the Top 2, with maybe The Beatles next to them for "Helter Skelter" and because they were Sabbath's biggest idols.
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I don't buy that because the entire "who influenced who" discussion is something that varies a lot from artist to artist.

I think a top 10 in no particular order is doable, though.
 
I thought we talk about typical metal bands, even "Nile Song" (1967) from Pink Floyd may be considered as the proto-metal or so. What about Vanilla Fudge, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly or some stuff from Hendrix?
 
Jer said:
If I had to guess which metal bands most Americans would know, in no particular order:

Metallica yes
Megadeth maybe
Black Sabbath yes
Slayer yes
Anthrax no
Pantera no
Iron Maiden yes
Judas Priest yes
Ozzy Osbourne yes

Also some very popular hard rock acts:

Guns ‘n’ Roses
AC/DC
Van Halen
Journey
Def Leppard
Poison
Mötley Crüe
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Rammstein is a lot bigger in Europe. They’re not as big here in the US. SOAD is huge on the west coast. That’s all I hear on my local metal radio station.
 
Iron Maiden is the second most popular heavy metal band overall.
The first one by popularity is clearly Metallica.
And I'd say Maiden is a bit more popular than Sabbath and Ozzy.
Also more popular than Rammstein, yes maybe Rammstein has more air play but Iron Maiden has more fans overall I think.

And Metallica makes the big difference in the US really. If we count the rest of the world it is more popular than Maiden but not by much.
It's just that the US is the biggest market and Metallica makes the difference in sales there.
 
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