Your Top 10 Non-Maiden Bands

Perun

Perun

His name struck fear into hearts of men
Staff member
We've had similar topics before, but with the anticipation for a new Maiden tour, I feel like it's always worth getting to know each other by talking about what our favourite music, both Maiden and non-Maiden is. Feel free to post your lists, but also don't be shy to tell us why you rank the bands this way! And when you're done, why not give us your top ten Maiden songs and let us know how you rank the Maiden albums?

My list is as follows (not really ranked):

1. Queen
2. Atlantean Kodex
3. Primordial
4. Moonsorrow
5. Grand Magus
6. Dio
7. Iced Earth (yes - despite everything)
8. Black Sabbath
9. Rainbow
10. Manowar
 
Only have a top 2 non-Maiden for definite

Thin Lizzy
Judas Priest

Probably a long list of bands that I have most of their albums and am a big fan of, but would find it would only be a negative thing to start ranking them.
 
It's a tough one for me, I'm not entirely sure I can put these in order, but sure, why not.

1. Unleash the Archers
2. Blind Guardian
3. Black Sabbath
4. Rush
5. Iced Earth (yep, still)
6. Amon Amarth
7. Dio
8. Sabaton
9. Rainbow
10. Queen
 
In no particular order

Rainbow - Rising is one of my favourite albums and Richie Blackmore is my favourite guitarist alongside Dave Murray. Most of Rainbows albums are brilliant, with Rising and Down to Earth being the best.

Avantasia - maybe they band I listened most to last year. The gig in Oslo last summer was absolutely phenomenal. The Metal Opera 1, Scarecrow and Ghostlights are my favourites.

Metallica - I give Metallica a lot of shit, but until 1991 they were insanely good. Almost on par with Maiden.

Queensryche - just like Metallica they were amazing until they stopped being amazing some time during the 90's. Geoff Tate was the best singer in metal from 86 to 1991 and Operation: Mindcrime is one of the albums of all time.
 
There are a couple of lingering memories of my early years on this list, but most of them I have gotten into in 2017 or later.

1. Dream Theater
2. Metallica
3. Megadeth
4. Helloween
5. Stratovarius
6. Linkin Park
7. Avenged Sevenfold
8. Sabaton
9. Hollywood Undead
10. Judas Priest
 
Off the top of my head, assuming all Maiden-adjacent bands are also off-limits:

1. Rush
2. Megadeth
3. Metallica
4. Gamma Ray
5. Genesis
6. George Lynch (in all his various band and solo incarnations)
7. Alice In Chains
8. Depeche Mode
9. Queensrÿche
10. Skyclad
 
Jer said:
Off the top of my head, assuming all Maiden-adjacent bands are also off-limits:

1. Rush
2. Megadeth
3. Metallica
4. Gamma Ray
5. Genesis
6. George Lynch (in all his various band and solo incarnations)
7. Alice In Chains
8. Depeche Mode
9. Queensrÿche
10. Skyclad
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Rush, Gamma Ray, and Queensryche are currently #24, #21, and #19 on my list. I'd say that QR has already peaked for me but the other two have the potential to rise 5 or so spots higher.
 
Bruce's (AOB, TCW, TOS are great, Skunkworks - interesting)

1. Metallica (first five albums are legendary)
2. Judas Priest
3. Nightwish
4. Therion
5. ABBA
5. Pink Floyd

6. Manowar
7. Dio
8. Savatage
9. Marillion (early)
10. King Diamond (especially The Puppet Master and Abigail)

Avantasia (first two albums)
Ghost - Prequelle
Rainbow - Rising (is great like Bruce's TCW)
Rammstein - Mutter
Several classic Scorpions album
Several Magnum albums
Slayer (mainly Reign in Blood and Seasons in the Abyss)
Megadeth (only Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction)

Saxon, Gamma Ray, Dire Straits, Enya, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield, and many others
 
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Primordial for sure, then it gets difficult.
Arcturus, Negură Bunget, Sabbat, Thorns, Enslaved, Dark Millennium, My Dying Bride, (old) Ulver, (old) Bathory, (old) Nuclear Assault, (old) Slayer, (old - and latest) Sodom, Old Wainds, Old Firehand, Old Surehand and Old Shatterhand (ok, forget about the last three) - nah, 10 ist zu wenig.
 
Right now, in the order they came to mind:

-Black Sabbath
-Deep Purple
-Rainbow
-Iced Earth
-Candlemass
-Children of Bodom
-Thin Lizzy
-Symphony X
-Lovebites
-Mastodon
 
Can't believe I forgot Bruce Dickinson. He is definitely top 10. But putting together a top 10 is a bit of a challenge. I realised that a lot of my favourite bands have quite uneven discographies, and some of them I haven't heard all of their albums. Judas Priest for example, there are a handful of albums I haven't listened to. I am missing some Helloween albums also but they are probably top 10 as well.
 
1.Judas Priest
2.KISS
3.Bruce Dickinson
4.Accept
5.HammerFall
6.Helloween
7.Gamma Ray
8.Saxon
9.Rainbow
10.Stratovarius

Next are: Krokus, Nightwish
 
Not including solo artists, which would mean John Coltrane, Miles Davies, Buddy Rich, Tom Waits, Georges Brassens, Serge Gainsbourg, Manos Hadjidakis, Parov Stellar, RZA & Bob Marley would be serious contenders to make this list.
  • The Doors
  • Jimi Hendrix Experience
  • The Beatles
  • Led Zeppelin
  • Archive
  • Massive Attack
  • Edgar Broughton Band
  • Iced Earth
  • High Tone
  • Savatage
Honourable mentions: Procol Harum, Pink Floyd, Warlord, Motörhead, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Portishead, Metallica, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath.
 
In no particular order and without including Maiden-related artists (otherwise Bruce Dickinson would be there):

Manic Street Preachers
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Rush
AC/DC
Deep Purple (mostly with Gillan on vocals)
Status Quo (from 1972 to 1980 they were unbeatable)
Los Suaves
Barricada
Leize
Accept (with Udo)

Judas Priest, the Ramones, Rata Blanca, UFO (with Michael Schenker), Barón Rojo, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep get honourable mentions. Too many bands I really like!
 
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I’ll keep this all metal/hard rock since that’s the general consensus around here. I definitely won’t get into rankings, but let’s see what I can do…

Dio - I’m gonna lump Dio Rainbow and Dio Sabbath in here, as to include those bands in my list would be a lie. My favorite of their works was done with Dio.

Symphony X
Opeth
Dream Theater
Armored Saint
Metallica
Clutch
Rush
Nightwish


the last one would be some sort of toss up between Judas Priest, Sabaton, Megadeth, or Kamelot - all bands who I love and listen to regularly but who have large parts of their discography that I actively shy away from.
 
My top two favorites are Bob Dylan and Neil Young and number three on are bands so:

The Beatles
The Velvet Underground
Metallica
Tool
The Flaming Lips
Slayer
Black Sabbath (Ozzy only)
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Misfits (Danzig era only)

Iron Maiden would fit in behind The Velvet Underground and before Metallica.
 
Moonspell
Mastodon
Ghost
Gojira
Devin Townsend (or anything he touches)
Samael
Rotting Christ
Rammstein
Darkthrone
Emperor/Ihsahn (I consider Ihsahn just an extension of where Emperor left off)
 
Jer said:
1. Rush
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This question goes out specifically to you, solely for the fact that you ranked Rush as #1:

I love the shit out of Moving Pictures. It's one of the greatest albums I ever heard. It's also the only album from them that I'd say that I'm familiar with. As much as I also love the 2112 track, the rest of the album usually doesn't do much for me.

What 3-5 other albums would you point a Rush rookie towards?
 
Abas said:
This question goes out specifically to you, solely for the fact that you ranked Rush as #1:

I love the shit out of Moving Pictures. It's one of the greatest albums I ever heard. It's also the only album from them that I'd say that I'm familiar with. As much as I also love the 2112 track, the rest of the album usually doesn't do much for me.

What 3-5 other albums would you point a Rush rookie towards?
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Rush goes through a lot of different eras. Personally, if you really liked Moving Pictures, I would listen to Permanent Waves, Grace Under Pressure, and Signals. All of them came out around the same time as Moving Pictures and are all generally held in high regard by most fans.
 
Abas said:
I love the shit out of Moving Pictures. It's one of the greatest albums I ever heard. It's also the only album from them that I'd say that I'm familiar with. As much as I also love the 2112 track, the rest of the album usually doesn't do much for me.

What 3-5 other albums would you point a Rush rookie towards?
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Rush went through enough different eras that to make the best recommendation it would help to know why you loved the shit out of Moving Pictures. Different people respond more to different elements of their sound.

For context, I think Moving Pictures is their second best album overall. The closest albums to that one in terms of time, approach, and quality are probably Permanent Waves (1980) and Grace Under Pressure (1984), which would be good ones to try. My personal favorite Rush album is Power Windows (1985), but it’s drenched in synths and reverb, which aren’t to everyone’s taste.

If you want to dip into their proggier 70s material, I’d recommend A Farewell To Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978). If you want to hear some heavier stuff, try Vapor Trails (original mix, 2002) and Clockwork Angels (2012).

You can check out my Rush discography ranking and reviews if you want more details. (You can click through the “>” next to any of the albums to see a full track-by-track review.)
 
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