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

The majority of FNM's The Real Thing and Angel Dust are straight, riff based metal songs. I agree Rammstein isn't metal, they have metallers on guitars, the genre is called Neue Deusche Harte and is a mix of both rock/metal, older drone/noise industrial and techno.
 
The majority of FNM's The Real Thing and Angel Dust are straight, riff based metal songs. I agree Rammstein isn't metal, they have metallers on guitars, the genre is called Neue Deusche Harte and is a mix of both rock/metal, older drone/noise industrial and techno.
I wouldn't classify FNM or Rammstein either one as real metal, but they definitely both belong on the board as much as the other one, which was my point. Ulver, for example, only had 3 albums with metal elements and Ministry is almost straight thrash a lot of the time. The point is, Metal Archives is very subjective and a band not being on there shouldn't be a deciding factor if they're metal or not.
 
Metal Archives is an independent thing and guys who run it set up the process.
I'm also of opinion that exclusion of those bands means nothing. Metal Archives is a first class source for unknown metal. Rammstein, Slipknot, Korn...don't need the exposure.
 
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.
It surprises me, the ongoing popularity of Metallica.
Personally, I'm not very keen on anything they've done since AJFA. But I do find AJFA to just drag on and on.

I don't listen to the black album anymore, but recognise that that album was their breakthrough beyond the Heavy Metal niche.
Load and Reload are just dull. Certainly I'd be surprised if many people listen to those albums much. St Anger was a complete disaster, Lulu was just a freaky weird side thing, Death Magnetic was mostly dull and had major sound issues, Hardwired has one decent song, the rest are somewhat of the black album ilk to me, not really my cup of tea, but I can see why people might like that album.

But in my opinion, Metallica met huge mainstream appeal with TBA, but have offered nothing since of value. So that was 28 years ago that they last created an album of any relevance. They have had large hiatus, they have done a hugely disasterous couple of albums (St anger and lulu) and just mediocre stuff since. And Yet their fans are soo very hyped on them. I'm sure many of them are hoping at their concerts that they play heaps from the first three albums. But anyway, I don't understand how they can keep their popularity so high. But the do!!!

IM on the other hand have never met any mainstream success. They have stayed as a niche band, but are hugely popular amongst metal fans. In a way they do owe some of their ongoing success to Metallica who have been the bridge from mainstream or rock into Metal. Once there these "metal" listeners then discover Maiden.
 
Same with Maiden fans, most of them don't care at all if Metallica is more popular because for them it is more meaningful what the Metal community thinks and don't give a damn if Metallica has more casual listeners.
Speaking from the "I"
I would say that I don't care what anyone else thinks, even if Maiden were the most hated band in the world or in the metal community, I'd still like them. I don't care that much what others think, even what the "metal community" think.

Well, I would like more people to be into Maiden cause then I could talk about them and their songs, but it doesn't influence my own opinion or tastes.
 
I'm a non metal fan, and I they're my favorite band. I know many others like me, but none who actively listen to Metallica.
 
I'm a non metal fan, and I they're my favorite band. I know many others like me, but none who actively listen to Metallica.
Explain how IM can be your favourite band and yet you aren't a metal fan. It would be like saying you aren't a rap fan bet m and m is your favourite artist or you aren't a country fan but Merlin haggard is your favourite artist. I don't get it.

If maiden is your favourite band then you are most definately a fan of metal
 
Explain how IM can be your favourite band and yet you aren't a metal fan. It would be like saying you aren't a rap fan bet m and m is your favourite artist or you aren't a country fan but Merlin haggard is your favourite artist. I don't get it.

If maiden is your favourite band then you are most definately a fan of metal
To be fair, I’m not a fan of rap but I quite enjoy Run The Jewels. Some bands transcend their genre.
 
It would be like saying you aren't a rap fan bet m and m is your favourite artist or you aren't a country fan but Merlin haggard is your favourite artist. I don't get it.
Why, you already explained it yourself. That's exactly what I said about Maiden.

Let me make it clearer for you: I don't really care about any other metal bands except for Maiden. I don't listen to Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, or anything in the genre, except for Maiden. I'm a pop fan, and all other of my favorite artists are pop artists.
 
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IMO the genre is not a good level of analysis for this particular debate. Metal music might have many components that Maiden carries, but also Maiden has many things that go beyond the sound of mainstream metal music.

A highly un-metal friend of mine just listened to FoI, and her reaction was like, "wtf this vocal is shouting and his highs are all over the place and so on!!!"

What she doesn't like was clearly the drama of Iron Maiden, such as these moments that Bruce does not simply try to sing according to the rules, but gives his voice to the characters that are supposed to say the words passionately-- "in the name of God my father I fly!!". This is what makes Bruce's performances so surprising to me, but the outsiders may not like it. (who cares? :p)

Of course, I had to explain to her that Bruce is one of the most capable singers of all time, and what she does not like is probably, if that's the right word, the energy of his music. In the next attempt, I played Revelations, since I believe it would be an easier song for her to get used to the Maiden sound. Expectedly, she just loved the melodies and the way Bruce sings it.

I believe anyone can love Maiden--at least some snapshots from it. But the key is to find the right gate to enter the 'intersected worlds' of it.
 
I believe anyone can love Maiden--at least some snapshots from it. But the key is to find the right gate to enter the 'intersected worlds' of it.

Spot on. For example, a lot of my friends don't like Maiden. But, for some strange reason, they think Wasted Years is a great song and they love it. So, if it's my turn to chose a song and I want some Maiden, Wasted Years is a very safe choice.

So, if you are amongst non-metal fans, play the Wasted Years card.
 
What you think: do famous Metallica songs from the 80's appeal more to non-metal listeners than famous 80's Maiden tunes? For example, is "One" more appealing than "The Trooper"?
I don't think "appealing" is the right word here, but the popularity of both songs is kind of on the same level. Metallica is really fucking big.
 
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