Your Top 5 Iron Maiden albums

Siddharth

Siddharth

Long Distance Trooper
There have been numerous threads regarding favourite Maiden songs and ranking all the studio albums but for a band having a wide discography ranging across 17 records to their name, we will not only be listing but discussing our top 5 favourite albums by the band!

My Top 5:

5. A Matter Of Life And Death
In my opinion, the best post-reunion record by the band. If there is a "desert island" Maiden album, I would go for this! Solid rockers like the opener Different World and The Pilgrim, anthems like The Longest Day, epics like For The Greater Good Of God and The Legacy, to mid-range epics like These Colours Don't Run. Love the overall atmosphere of the album.

My review of the album - HERE

4. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
One of the very best records from what I call the band's golden age. The guitar tone and the overall theme of the album is just awesome. Each member is at the top of his game. Favourite songs: The Evil That Men Do, The Clairvoyant, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son and Infinite Dreams.

My review of the album - HERE

3. The Number Of The Beast
Bruce's first record with the band. The energy is just infectious on this one. The album that gave us some of the most iconic songs not just by Maiden but in the whole genre like Hallowed Be Thy Name, The Number Of The Beast, Run To The Hills and The Prisoner. Not to mention, Clive's drumming is also pivotal for its legendary status.

2. Powerslave
You just can't go wrong with Powerslave. The entire band in its prime with a take-no-prisoners approach. Aces High, 2 Minutes To Midnight, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Powerslave, Flash Of The Blade all top notch bangers! Definitely put the band's name among the very legends of Heavy Metal!

1. Somewhere In Time
My favourite album by my favourite band! The tone of this album feels like a warm blanket in a chilly winter. The songwriting, the overall instrumentation in the songs are rock-solid. Favourite songs: The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner, Deja-Vu, Wasted Years, Alexander The Great.
 
1 No Prayer For The Dying
2 Debut
3 Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
4 Somewhere In Time
5 The Final Frontier

I really love SIT for its 1980s style melancholy.
 
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1. Piece of Mind, first Maiden album I bought, special place in my heart.
2. Number of the Beast
3. Powerslave
4. Seventh Son
5. A Matter of Life and Death.

Best live album of all time for me is Live After Death.
 
1. Virtual XI
I've made no secret about my love for this album. Yeah, I'm aware of its shortcomings. How couldn't I be? It all everyone talks about with regards to it. Nicko's performance is woefully uninspired. The production is weak. A few edits here and there could've been quite effective (funnily enough I disagree with DLTTEOAS or TAATG being shortened, my choices would be the final choruses for WTWC and TEF which go on for a bit too long without real changes).

Blaze sounds much better and more comfortable on this album compared to TXF. The general songwriting is incredibly close to the style of BNW. The focus on singable guitar melodies and catchy choruses seals the deal. People should really listen to the live versions (Futureal and The Clansman with Bruce, the rest with Blaze's solo band) to see how strong this material can be when presented in a different form.

Kalata said:
5.Virtual XI (yes I know I can say SSOASS or Powerslave, but melancholic vibes are special to me)
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2. A Matter Of Life And Death
VXI is my favorite, in large parts due to nostalgia, but this one probably qualifies as their best album in my opinion. Incredibly consistent, not a single weak song on there, great production, phenomenal performances. So many little details and intricacies in the arrrangements. I really hope we'll get an official live album of the 2006 leg at some point to really appreciate the differences. Also, really cool album cover.

3. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
By far the best album of the 80s and another almost perfect record. OTGDY is the only track I find to be a bit weaker than the rest. The chorus just doesn't do it for me. The rest though? Bloody amazing. Moonchild's chorus is an absolute earworm (the guitar work!), the acoustic outro to The Prophecy is almost hypnotizing, and the final minutes of the title track are contending for the best music they've ever recorded. The artwork is gorgeous as well.

4. Fear Of The Dark
Now for some more controversial takes again. Yeah, songs like Chains Of Misery or FHTE are kinda goofy. So what? A happy-go-lucky song about cowboys vs native tribes, or a song essentially quoting the main melody of "When The Saints Go Marching In" while singing about Satan and demonic nightmares is pretty goofy as well. Having fun is not mutually exclusive with heavy metal. I take the songs on FOTD for what they are.

You have atmospheric and darker songs like ATSS, The Fugitive or the title track. The dumb but fun rockers like FHTE, COM or WW. The incredibly underrated Childhood's End, with its parallels to TETMD. Judas Be My Guide, unfortunately forgotten despite being one of their best rockers. Wasting Love, filled to the brim with gorgeous melodies. I love almost all songs on the album, The Apparition being the sole exception.

I've always loved the production on the album, with its dreamy and mysterious vibe. It's one of the more unique sounding albums. I also adore the extensive use of acoustic guitars throughout the album. Unfortunately something they didn't pursue further; nowadays those are mostly used for an intro to a Gers/Harris epic at best. The artwork is one of the more iconic ones.

5. Dance Of Death
This one swaps positions with FOTD, they are essentially tied for me. This one doesn't have any songs I outright dislike but even the weakest tracks have something I can appreciate. Wildest Dreams is not the most exciting song, but the VI VII I progression after the chorus and Adrian's lead work is phenomenal. Never really cared for Paschendale, but the tapping lick is brilliant. Montségur consists of one half obnoxious and annoying power metal cheese and one half one of the coolest and heaviest tracks they've ever recorded.

On the other hand, soooo many great things to hear. Rainmaker, the super melodic short rocker. NML and DOD, epics full of amazing melodies and great story telling by Bruce. Gates Of Tomorrow might get a ton of hate, but I genuinely adore the amount of vocal harmonies and their playing around with modal interchange. Journeyman has a lot of the latter as well, with some truly stunning verses. Age Of Innocence might have shitty lyrics, but the music is great; we get the James Bond chord progression!

The production is a wreck, especially compared to BNW and AMOLAD, and the less we talk about the cover the better. BNW had them still getting into the groove of things and featured a lot of similarities to VXI; this one showed that the reunion is here to stay, they still have something to say and to prove, and they aren't out of ideas yet.
 
Dont wanna rank them, its to hard and it varies

Senjutsu
Senjutsu is easily in my top 5 Maiden albums, maybe because of when it came out and how much joy it gave me during the pandemic and all the crap that came with it. The record just brought me so much happiness, and I have such wonderful memories from when it dropped and the first time I heard it. I also just think it’s a really great album, it feels mature, clever, and still different, even though everything is recognizably Maiden. I especially love how Bruce sings on it compared to Book of Souls. And Steve’s songs, Hell on Earth, Death of the Celts, and The Parchment are just fantastic. The whole band sounds so inspired too, which is amazing and super cool given their age. And the songs live were just incredible. I absolutely love this album.

Somwhere in Time
Somewhere in Time is also in my top 5 Maiden albums. I just love the way it sounds, absolutely love the guitars. The overall sound of the album is just so awesome and cool. And of course, the cover art, plus hearing the Blade Runner theme before Caught Somewhere in Time live, that was fantastic. My whole experience of the Future Past tour also plays into this, how amazing I thought it was, and how epic it felt to see the show live without being spoiled beforehand. And Caught Somewhere in Time is my favorite Maiden song. I also think it’s so great to have Adrian’s songs on the album and it feels really fresh after Powerslave
Powerslave
And speaking of Powerslave it’s of course also in my top 5. I don’t even need to say much more. That record is just pure metal, so damn cool and powerful. Rime of the Ancient Mariner is probably my number two after Caught Somewhere in Time, its such an insanely good song, it almost shouldn’t even be possible. And then the album cover, and Live After Death on top of that. It really doesn’t get any better.

Piece of Mind
Piece of Mind is of course also in my top 5, pretty much for the same reasons as Powerslave. I love Where Eagles Dare. And finally, Nicko was in the band, that’s basically my “real” Maiden. That lineup and that whole period between Piece of Mind and Seventh Son… honestly, nothing gets better than that.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
And finally, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, pretty much a perfect album. End of story.
 
Alright let's try.
1. Somewhere in Time: It's the only easy one to rank imo. There is not a single track I skip (maybe HCW is the closest to a skip track). I love it's sound, it's cover, even my favourite Maiden hit is in there (Wasted Years). Caught Somewhere in Time is their best album intro and especially the main riff is one of their best. It's futuristic, melodic and I also love the synth-guitars.
Then, it gets more difficult, but I think today my number 2 is:
2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: Another album with synths, but this one is a concept album. As a concept album is not that great imo, BUT as just an album it's exceptional. I love the vibe of it and all of the songs , except CIPWM honestly. It's number 2 today, but maybe tomorrow it will be number 3 or 4, but it will always be in my top 5.
3. Piece of Mind: Alright Revelations is my favourite Maiden track at the moment and in general I love the storytelling in this record, like Flight of Icarus and Still Life ( not Quest for fire). If it's second side was stronger, it would surely be my number 2. Not a big fan of TTAL, even though I really like the Dune franchise. It's a youthful and energetic album and it has it's very serious moments (like Revelations).
4. A Matter of Life and Death: The long and mid paced album done to perfection. Maiden (especially Steve) in the reunion era love their lengthy songs. They try to make the song as lengthy and layered as possible. This is their best attempt at that. All the albums after AMOLAD seem bloated to me (except songs like Hell on Earth or The Book of Souls). This is a serious album with war and religion themes. As an atheist and pacifist, I can relate to this album, but I understand that it's a bit dark and too serious to be a hit or something. You can't listen to "For the Greater Good of God" and not think about the lyrics.
" Are you a man of peace or a man of holy war?
Too many sides of you, don't know whick anymore"
5. Brave New World : Maybe an emotional pick, but we wouldn't have Iron Maiden without this album. This reunion saved the band and honestly it doesn't have any bad songs. I'm born in the early 90s, so this one, DOD and especially AMOLAD mean a lot to me, as I was at the right age to get into metal and this is the first version of Maiden I really digged. I didn't even know " The Trooper" or " Number" when I listened to these albums. This one is not as deep as AMOLAD, it's a bit like 80s Maiden and Blaze Era blended together. Some songs that could be in AMOLAD, like the title track, but also some songs that could be in SIT, like Out of the Silent Planet. It's a diverse album, but somehow it seems coherent.
Honorable Mentions : All the 80s albums. You can't go wrong with any of them. Powerslave is a filler sandwich, but the first 2 and especially the last 2 songs are some of the best metal songs ever (Powerslave is in my top 5 songs). Number is a bit overplayed, but Acacia used to be my fav Maiden song and Hallowed might be the best metal song ever. The Paul albums are a lot different to anything after them, but I really like the debut especially.
 
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