Which songs by Maiden you considered as a classics ?

Iron Maiden
Phantom of the Opera
Sanctuary
Wrathchild
Number of the Beast
Hallowed be Thy Name
Run to the Hills
The Trooper
Aces High
Two Minutes to Midnight
Wasted Years
The Evil that Men Do
Fear of the Dark
The Clansman
Wicker Man
The Red and the Black
Death or Glory
 
The definition of a "classic" is always a bit controversial, particularly when it comes to the debate about how recognized the song must be among casual fans and people in general. So, I'd say there are two categories.

All-time heavy metal classics (or something(
In a nutshell, The Trooper, TNOTB, Run to the Hills, Hallowed be thy Name and such. Songs that are regularly played live and stuff like Children of the Damned, Phantom of the Opera, Aces High and Wasted Years also belong to this category. You can also throw in Flight of Icarus and The Evil That Men Do as well. Pretty much everything from the SBIT: The Best of 1980-88 album would do, with Fear of the Dark thrown into the mix. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is actually pretty acknowledged cut too, so I'd say it could be here as well.

So, pretty much the same as @DJMayes list here with some... liberal additions, hehe. :D
DJMayes said:
A classic by what sense? From my understanding of the word there would be significantly fewer than you've listed, and pretty much nothing recent. I'd go with:

1) Iron Maiden
2) Sanctuary
3) Running Free

(Phantom of the Opera is a song the band clearly love but I'm not sure it is *that* well known amongst more casual listeners)

5) Wrathchild

6) The Number Of The Beast
7) Run To The Hills
8) Hallowed Be Thy Name

9) The Trooper

(Revelations is played live a fair bit and Flight of Icarus broke them in America so I'll give honourable mentions)

10) Aces High
11) 2 Minutes to Midnight

(ROTAM and Powerslave deserve honourable mentions but just because they're revered here doesn't mean they're classics to a general audience)

12) Wasted Years

13) The Evil That Men Do

14) Bring Your Daughter... ...To The Slaughter (I don't care if the band doesn't play it and people here have other preferences, this is one of the more well known Maiden songs as their only #1)

15) Fear of the Dark

16) The Wicker Man

(Maybe Blood Brothers?)

It's a very conservative list but I really don't want to overstate what's a classic and what isn't. Alexander The Great isn't a classic Maiden song, it's effectively a meme amongst their more hardcore fans.
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Classics in a Maiden context/Fan favourites
All of the above with relatively well-known and critically acclaimed songs. Some of them are more or less considered to be "deep cuts." There's some more recent stuff as well. Killers, 22 Acacia Avenue, The Prisoner, Revelations, Where Eagles Dare, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Still Life, Stranger in a Strange Land, Moonchild, Infinite Dreams, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Paschendale (yes!), Sign of the Cross, SIDE 1 of BNW/the opener bunch: The Wicker Man (Ghost of the Navigator), Brave New World, Blood Brothers... Some others too, just giving a fair selection of examples. Arguably Afraid to Shoot Strangers and Dance of Death. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns is one of the ultimate post-reunion songs and a modern classic on it's own right, but I guess it's barely left out of this discussion for now. But I could see it becoming one of the more treasured cuts (even more than what it is already) when they bid their farewell to touring and studio work.

So I'm one of those who like to stretch the definition of classic a little bit.. :D For me, a Maiden classic is something that has definitely stood the test of time and is relatively well-known among more casual metal fans and also critically acclaimed. Something that hardcore fan and casual listener can both dig into and which makes - most likely - both of them feel that this one's a real masterpiece. Many "casual" listeners really acknowledge songs like The Wicker Man and Paschendale and even though they'll never reach the reputation of The Trooper and such, I consider them as modern Maiden classics. Both current collections, SBIT and From Fear to Eternity are pretty visibly featured in Maiden's artist-page on different streaming services as well so it's relatively easy for many casual listeners to dig into more recent stuff as well and find some favourites from there as well.
 
Diesel 11 said:
I still agree with myself here, but I'll take this seriously and pull out the "classics".

Iron Maiden
  1. Phantom of the Opera
  2. Iron Maiden
Killers
  1. The Ides of March / Wrathchild
  2. Murders In The Rue Morgue
  3. Killers
The Number of the Beast
  1. Children of the Damned*
  2. 22 Acacia Avenue*
  3. The Number of the Beast
  4. Run To The Hills
  5. Hallowed Be Thy Name
Piece of Mind
  1. Where Eagles Dare
  2. Revelations*
  3. Flight of Icarus
  4. Die With Your Boots On*
  5. The Trooper
Powerslave
  1. Aces High
  2. 2 Minutes To Midnight
  3. Powerslave
  4. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Somewhere In Time
  1. Caught Somewhere In Time*
  2. Wasted Years
  3. Stranger In A Strange Land
  4. Alexander the Great
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
  1. Moonchild*
  2. Infinite Dreams*
  3. Can I Play With Madness
  4. The Evil That Men Do
  5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
No Prayer For The Dying
  1. Holy Smoke*
  2. Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter
Fear of the Dark
  1. Afraid to Shoot Strangers*
  2. Fear of the Dark
The X Factor

Virtual XI
  1. The Clansman
Brave New World
  1. The Wicker Man
  2. Blood Brothers
Dance of Death
  1. Paschendale
A Matter of Life and Death

The Final Frontier

The Book of Souls

*Ones I could've left off.
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Pretty good list - all those have been played live at least on one tour except ATG which begs the question. Can a song a band never performed live be considered one of their "classics"?
 
Iron Lurker said:
Pretty good list - all those have been played live at least on one tour except ATG which begs the question. Can a song a band never performed live be considered one of their "classics"?
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I'd say yes. Time to bring up WatchMojo.com - ATG ranked sixth in their list of best Maiden songs, and you know how their lists can sometimes run. At any rate, ATG is a pretty popular song despite its never being played; I'd say it's a classic, certainly more because it's a live anti-staple.
 
Phantom of the Opera '80
Iron Maiden '80
Remember Tomorrow '80
Killers '81
Hallowed Be Thy Name '82
Revelations '83
The Trooper '83
Where Eagles Dare '83
Aces High '84
Powerslave '84
Rime of the Ancient Mariner '84
Alexander the Great '86
Moonchild '88
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son '88
No Prayer for the Dying '90
Fear of the Dark '92
Sign of the Cross '95
Futureal '98
Blood Brothers '00
Dance of Death '03
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg '06
The Longest Day '06
For the Greater Good of God '06
The Talisman '10
The Man Who Would Be King '10
When the Wild Wind Blows '10
The Red and the Black '15
The Book of Souls '15
 
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