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

Oh, sorry. I guess being #1 in 24 countries and #4 in the US (after a five-year album hiatus, mind you), plus selling out dozens of concerts really means nothing. My bad.
 
Number 6 said:
Oh, sorry. I guess being #1 in 24 countries and #4 in the US (after a five-year album hiatus, mind you), plus selling out dozens of concerts really means nothing. My bad.
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Never said it means nothing. It does show that US is out of sync with other countries, prefering US bands.
It also shows that there are a lot of metal fans and that there are enough to take a new album's sales to No.1

In NZ Maiden very rarely get on the radio. Why is that? But quite often we get Metallica, we also get Ozzy, GnR, Evanescence, ACDC, but very rarely Maiden, even when they get a No.1 album. It also takes way less sales these days to get No.1. If you have a strong loyal fan base, even in a niche music style, and you time things right, you can get no.1. especially if you are considered one of the best in that niche.
 
A niche band would never have Maiden's chart success and concert sales without media attention. The fact that Maiden isn't on the radio hardly makes them a niche band, especially today when fewer and fewer people listen to the radio. They might have once been one (when radio airplay actually meant something), but they haven't been anymore for a long time.

Would a niche band surpass Taylor Swift in concert sales? I don't think so.
 
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Another one: how would a niche band be able to attract such a wide audience across all kinds of different genres?
 
matic22 said:
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.
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That is not love for Maiden among non metal fans. That is love for one ("poppy") Maiden song among non metal fans.
 
ManuelMaiden95 said:
Iron Maiden is less mainstream than Metallica but in no ways can be classified as a "niche" band as someone said when it is probably the second most popular Metal band worldwide or close to it.

Even though most fans are metalheads they also have fans inside the Rock fans in general and they are a well known band by the general public at least in name.

A niche band is a band that is only known inside the certain group that follows them, they would have almost no fans inside the general Rock scene and certainly their names wouldn't be well known by the general public.
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I agree. There's no way that Maiden is a niche band. For example, Opeth is a good example of niche band when it comes to the metal world, because only progheads and metalheads know that band.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
For what it's worth, I think the story of the success of AJFA is plain to see - it followed a rather popular album and it was possibly the catchiest Metallica release at the time. One, Eye of the Beholder, Dyers Eve, even the title track, long as it otherwise is - I'd put forth the controversial opinion that those might be even catchier than most of the Black Album (apart from the main hitters Sandman-Sadbuttrue-Unforgiven-Nothingelse). Throw in the One video and the fact they'd been finally gaining momentum, partly because the fact they have been playing and touring for some time already, partly because the Cliff death gave them some publicity as well.
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Even if AJFA is somewhat a catchy album, it cannot be nowhere near as catchy and accessible as Piece of Mind.
 
Jer said:
I’m not sure that’s true — from 1980 to 1983 or so there was a lot of attention on some of these bands in the U.S. Judas Priest’s “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” was an absolutely huge hit here, and “Run To The Hills” was pretty well known at the time. Def Leppard obviously went
stratospheric in 1983, though you might argue that they didn’t count as part of the genre anymore.
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Judas Priest can't be counted as a NWOBHM band, because they were the 70's band. Saxon is definitely the second most notable NWOBHM band after Maiden and they never really caught on in America, while they were a big deal in their homeland and Europe in general. Although they are not a part of NWOBHM(but they are very influential in metal world), Motorhead was always far from any commercial success in the US and they have a cult following there.
Another example: power metal is huge in Europe and unpopular in the US and Maiden was definitely the most influential band on power metal.
 
There's really no way to argue that Iron Maiden is a niche band.
As I said, a niche band has fans only inside a specific group, Maiden has lots of Rock fans in general who also like the band, and a niche band certainly is not a well known name by the general public, Iron Maiden name is known by almost all the general public under 60 even if they can't name a song.

Niche bands are as someone said above Opeth, Carcass or if you want to name a more popular one even Slayer could be more of a niche band since their fans are metalheads almost entirely and are not a name that all of the general public is aware of.

Iron Maiden certainly is not a niche band. They are in fact one of the few Metal artists whose names are known by all the general public along with Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath and very few others.
 
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ManuelMaiden95 said:
if you want to name a more popular one even Slayer could be more of a niche band since their fans are metalheads almost entirely and are not a name that all of the general public is aware of.
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Your post is spot on, except I'd point out that this specific argument is more suitable for Anthrax than Slayer.
 
I've always considered Maiden a "very big cult band". They've never gone diamond like Metallica, AC/DC, or Van Halen, their platinum period in the 80s was still relatively modest for the era with no multi-platinum juggernauts or MTV hits like may of their contemporaries had, they get minimal to no radio support in most major markets throughout the world, they've never entered the 'zeitgeist' like Guns and Roses, Kiss, and Ozzy , they were underground in the major markets throughout much of the 90s, and they drop off the charts after only a few weeks with almost all of their albums.

But...

They have been able to enjoy unfettered creative freedom accompanied by a jet-setting millionaire lifestyle for decades, all without the prying eyes of the tabloids or pop culture media. They are one of the few bands that can sell out Madison Square Garden, and then grab a beer at the hotel bar after the gig and do so anonymously 99% of the time. That to me is the best success of all.
 
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soundwave said:
I've always considered Maiden a "very big cult band". They've never gone diamond like Metallica, AC/DC, or Van Halen, their platinum period in the 80s was still relatively modest for the era with no multi-platinum juggernauts or MTV hits like may of their contemporaries had, they get minimal to no radio support in most major markets throughout the world, they've never entered the 'zeitgeist' like Guns and Roses, Kiss, and Ozzy , they were underground in the major markets throughout much of the 90s, and they drop off the charts after only a few weeks with almost all of their albums.

But...

They have been able to enjoy unfettered creative freedom accompanied by a jet-setting millionaire lifestyle for decades, all without the prying eyes of the tabloids or pop culture media. They are one of the few bands that can sell out Madison Square Garden, and then grab a beer at the hotel bar after the gig and do so anonymously 99% of the time. That to me is the best success of all.
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You are right, although I would point out that outside of the US Iron Maiden is bigger than some of the artists that you mentioned like Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen and Kiss.
They have album sales similar to Van Halen (both around 90 to 100 million) and bigger than Ozzy (70 million) and Kiss (75 million) worldwide.
Also at least in Latin America they play bigger venues than those bands.

Definetely what you say holds true in the US but surely not worldwide or at least not in Latin America and probably not in Europe based on what people say.

I mean, if you were to consider Maiden a big cult band then you would have to consider Ozzy and Kiss even more so at least in Latin America that is where I live but also in Europe.

Also talking about the media, when Maiden comes to play to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, etc there is much more fuzz in the media trying to get an interview, etc than when Ozzy or Kiss come.

They are indeed less popular than Metallica, Guns and AC/DC which you also mention, but two of those bands are Hard Rock so they're not even Metal which for obvious reasons tends to be a smaller market.

What I am trying to say is that Iron Maiden unlike other bands that have a more uniform following they have vastly different levels of following around the world so we can't generalize.
What's true to the US and maybe some other countries as well like New Zealand as other user said doesn't mean it is the case in other regions.
As I explained, certainly it doesn't apply to Latin America and some parts of Europe where they are more than a big cult band.
 
ManuelMaiden95 said:
They are indeed less popular than Metallica, Guns and AC/DC which you also mention, but two of those bands are Hard Rock so they're not even Metal which for obvious reasons tends to be a smaller market.

What I am trying to say is that Iron Maiden unlike other bands that have a more uniform following they have vastly different levels of following around the world so we can't generalize.
What's true to the US and maybe some other countries as well like New Zealand as other user said doesn't mean it is the case in other regions.
As I explained, certainly it doesn't apply to Latin America and some parts of Europe where they are more than a big cult band.
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Most people in NZ know who Axl Rose is, and Slash. They recognise them by name and also by sight.
Most people in NZ know November Rain, Don't Cry,
Most people in NZ have no idea who Bruce Dickinson is. Don't even try and mention any of the guitarists names. They wouldn't know Hallowed, or Trooper. Some people know Number of the Beast, well they have heard of the title, but they wouldn't recognise the song if they heard it.

I know Europe has a big metal scene, especially the Scandanavian countries. But do they get Maiden on mainstream radio? Does Maiden play more often than Guns n roses or Kiss or Ozzy. I doubt it, but I could be wrong.
 
A sign that Ozzy and Kiss are not that popular in France is that they don't venture in arenas anymore, contenting themselves with festivals: Ozzy's last arena concert in Paris was 2010 and Kiss's was in 2015 (both at Le Zénith, the second biggest arena in the capital only). By way of comparison, last year Iron Maiden managed to sell out one of the two concerts at Bercy Arena (the biggest one) just one month after playing Hellfest festival.
 
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MindlessPieces said:
Most people in NZ know who Axl Rose is, and Slash. They recognise them by name and also by sight.
Most people in NZ know November Rain, Don't Cry,
Most people in NZ have no idea who Bruce Dickinson is. Don't even try and mention any of the guitarists names. They wouldn't know Hallowed, or Trooper. Some people know Number of the Beast, well they have heard of the title, but they wouldn't recognise the song if they heard it.

I know Europe has a big metal scene, especially the Scandanavian countries. But do they get Maiden on mainstream radio? Does Maiden play more often than Guns n roses or Kiss or Ozzy. I doubt it, but I could be wrong.
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Certainly they play bigger venues than Ozzy and Kiss in Europe and Latin America. This has been stated repeatedly.

About Guns N' Roses this wasn't even an argument because they're not even a Metal band.
They are Hard Rock and with tons of ballads.
Of course the Metal market is smaller and for that reason comparing them makes no sense.
 
MindlessPieces said:
I know Europe has a big metal scene, especially the Scandanavian countries. But do they get Maiden on mainstream radio? Does Maiden play more often than Guns n roses or Kiss or Ozzy. I doubt it, but I could be wrong.
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I don't know how it is for the rest of Europe, but Maiden is absolutely adored by mainstream rock radio here. They probably get as much airplay as Metallica does, and they're probably close to being the top two in terms of airtime allotted.
 
ManuelMaiden95 said:
Certainly they play bigger venues than Ozzy and Kiss in Europe and Latin America. This has been stated repeatedly.

About Guns N' Roses this wasn't even an argument because they're not even a Metal band.
They are Hard Rock and with tons of ballads.
Of course the Metal market is smaller and for that reason comparing them makes no sense.
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This was addressing the niche aspect of Maiden.
If they aren't niche then they will be getting played on mainstream radio, they will be competing with GnR, ACDC, Kiss etc.
I understand they are pulling big crowds at concerts, but there are a lot of metal fans around.
I'd like to know how close Maiden are coming to the mainstream market.

In NZ you'd be silly to ring up the radio and request a Maiden song, they just won't play it. But GnR, Kiss, ACDC, Metallica (especially black album) they are fine with.
 
Number 6 said:
Again: lack of mainstream airplay alone DOES NOT make a band niche.
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I highly successful and popular band, won't get played on the mainstream radio, why is that?
Is it because of their inappropriate words? Do they swear alot?
Maybe their inappropriate content, maybe they say controversial stuff???
Is there a big conspiracy by mainstream radio not to play Maiden?


Or, is it because Maiden are not appealing to the target market, to the mainstream public?
 
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