when have Maiden been at their biggest??

[Back in the Village]

And I don't mean waistlines!!!

I have been listening to Maiden and been a devout follower since 1985 or so. They have never been "fashionable", have enjoyed very little airplay on mainstream radio or TV yet they have still managed to sell nearly 100 million albums and sell out concerts all over the world. All this you already know.

But the vibes I am getting at the moment with the focus on the band from people like Sky, CNN, Billboard and kerrang just seems a little unprecedented. Are they now after 30 years finally getting the recognition they deserve from the media?? Are Maiden bigger now than they have ever been?

With a base of loyal fans now in their 30's, 40's and 50's (and maybe older) they are also attracting a new generation of fans. Can anyone think of a time when maiden have had more spotlight on them and enjoyed more success. I know that the band themselves shy away from publicity and the "rockstar" lifestyle but it makes me feel warm inside that the band I have loved for twenty odd years are getting the attention they deserve.

Please have your say...

 

[Forostar]

It depends which criteria one prefers to use.
Maiden surely sold most records faster in the eighties, especially in the U.S.A.


Awards in the eighties in the U.S.A.:

Killers
Released: June 1981
Gold: 20 Januari 1987

The Number Of The Beast
Released: 29 March 1982
Gold: 4 October 1983
Platinum: 2 October 1986

Piece Of Mind
Released: 16 May 1983
Gold: 28 Juli 1983
Platinum: 5 November 1986

Powerslave
Released: 3 September 1984
Gold: 7 November 1984

Live After Death
Released: 14 October 1985 
Gold: 18 December 1985

Somewhere In Time
Released: 29 June 1986
Gold: 18 November 1986

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Released: 11 April 1988
Gold: 6 June 1988

The last golden album Maiden got in the U.S.A. was No Prayer For The Dying, awarded 27 November 1990. That was a millennium ago. 

 

[Lovro]

It depends which criteria one prefers to use.

Definetly. The name Iron Maiden gets bigger and stronger every day, the band themselves...well...they are doing tours with mainly old songs, they are realising they`re getting old. Still, they tour, record... I could never say that Maiden had their peak, only phases.

 

[Back in the Village]

How many albums do you need to sell in the US to go Gold and then Platinum? It surprises me how few seem to have achieved that status

 

[Dr Cox]

In the USA it's 500,000 copies sold for a gold record for an album, if you get up to 1,000,000 sales it then goes platinum. It's a different amount for each country and whether the record is an album or a single as well, this link has a good table showing the different values for each type of record:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_reco ... tification

I think in terms of selling records, Maiden were probably biggest in the 1980's, especially in the USA, think pretty much every album from Iron Maiden to No Prayer for the Dying hit Gold for the band. Their popularity dipped during the mid to late 90s, as it did a bit for most metal bands, but their popularity has boomed again since Bruce and Adrian returned to the fold, although i doubt they sell as many albums these days with the advent of downloading etc. people don't tend to buy albums as much as they used to.

 

[SinisterMinisterX]

And I don't mean waistlines!!!

Fuck. When I read the title, before clicking into the thread, that's the first thing I thought of.

I was fully prepared to pull "facts" out of thin air to support a thesis stating that Maiden were fattest during The X Factor era.
I don't know or care if that's true - I was just going to post some inventive madness.
But now you want me to be serious ... oh well, all right.

...with the focus on the band from people like Sky, CNN, Billboard and kerrang just seems a little unprecedented...

With a base of loyal fans now in their 30's, 40's and 50's (and maybe older)...

First of all, I'm not a Kerrang reader, but my general impression is that they've always been all over Maiden.

As to the rest - your second statement there is the key. Kids who were Maiden fans in the 80s have grown up, and now hold jobs in the media.

Maybe you're too young to remember this, but about 20 years ago the media loved to write about artists who first hit the big time in the 1960s. That's because those kids had grown up, and used their media jobs to write or talk about the bands they loved.

Same thing is happening now, in all sorts of media. I hate reality TV, but look at who's getting featured in the VH1 reality shows ... Bret Michaels, Flava Flav, etc. People who first got big in the 80s. You can find exceptions, but most of the reality TV "stars" out there are around 20 years famous now. It's not entirely because they're washed-up has-beens - the TV producers were fans as kids, and are recruiting their aging idols to dumb down the unwashed masses.

Next decade we'll see the 90s revival. Wait about 7 years, and I bet Pearl Jam will make a huge comeback to mainstream popularity. (Which they fucking deserve, being a great band.)

 

[Perun]

Next decade we'll see the 90s revival.

Such as Wayne's World being screened in the cinema again? Fuck, I'm there!

 

[LooseCannon]

We're not worthy!  We're not worthy!  We're scum!  We suck!