The song Charlotte the Harlot probably made me start listening to Iron Maiden more than just hearing them on the radio because (and I know this is bad) when I was in school back in the day there was a girl I knew named Charlotte and I used to call her Charlotte. the Harlot for knowing the song. This was actually when I was a kid about 8 years old and I ended up with her having her as a girlfriend when she was about 14, so it all worked out in the end.
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in London in 1975 by Steve Harris and have had many members over the years (too many to list). The most prominent members are Dave Murray, Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, Nicko McBrain, Dennis Stratton and the current line-up is: Bruce Dickinson (lead vocals), Dave Murray (guitar), Adrian Smith (guitar, backing vocals), Janick Gers (guitar), Steve Harris (bass, backing vocals) and Nicko McBrain (drums). This lineup has remained constant since 1999.
Maiden is one of the most successful heavy metal bands and has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. The name Iron Maiden was taken from an old torture device of the same name, and the band actually formed on Christmas Day in 1975. The group went through many band changes during their first few years of performing and it wasn’t until they signed with EMI in December 1979 that they began recording their work in earnest. Iron Maiden’s self-titled debut album was released in 1980 and rose to #4 in its first week on the charts. The same year, Iron Maiden toured the UK and opened for Kiss and Judas Priest, helping to give them public notoriety.
Bruce Dickinson joined the band shortly after the release of the second album (Killers) and went straight to another UK tour. The Number Of The Beast was released in 1982 and was Iron Maiden’s first UK number 1 album and they went on to go on a massive world tour including Canada, US, Australia, Japan, Germany and the UK. There was controversy in the US when a group of Christian activists burned Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne records, claiming they were satanic. Shortly after the tour saw the release of the third album Piece Of Mind, which was a huge success.
Iron Maiden then went on another huge tour called the World Slavery Tour and it consisted of 193 shows over 13 months and is recorded as one of the biggest tours in music history. The following years saw Iron Maiden change the way they made their music and the inspiration behind it. In 1986 Somewhere In Time was released and was based on the ideals of time travel and was the first album to contain synthesized guitar and bass sounds which were used to add layers and textures to their sound. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son was released in 1988 and was about a mythical boy with magical abilities and was also the first album to contain keyboards and went to number 1 on the UK chart.
No Prayer For The Dying was released in 1990 to great success and the song Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter soared to give Iron Maiden their first UK #1 single. The song was recorded for the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. In 1992 Fear Of The Dark was released and was the first album recorded specifically for CD and was much longer than previous LP releases.
Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden in 1993 to pursue his own solo career, but he still went on a farewell tour and recorded two live albums (A Real Dead One, which contained songs from 1975 to 1984, and A Real Live One, which contained songs from 1986 to 1992).
The next album to come was The X Factor and it was released in 1995 but it did not receive as much success as their previous albums. Best Of The Beast was released in 1996 and was the first compilation album and it only contained one new song (Virus). Virtual XI launched in 1998 and was even less successful than The X Factor.
In 1999 Bruce Dickinson returned to the band and in 2000 they released the album Brave New World and launched Iron Maiden back onto the charts and into the minds of the UK public. Maiden went on another massive world tour (over 100 dates) ending at the Rock In Rio festival in Brazil in 2001. The band played to around 250,000 fans and the show was recorded and released as a live album (Rock In Rio). .
Iron Maiden have released several albums since then (Dance Of Death, Death On The Road and A Matter Of Life And Death) and still continue to tour. Iron Maiden has influenced many bands and won the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement in 2002 and was also inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk in 2005.
My top 10 Iron Maiden songs are:
01. Run for the hills
02. The number of the beast
03. Charlotte the Whore
04. Can I play with the madness?
05. Holy Smoke
06. Fear of the dark
07. Hooks on you
08. Run Free
09. The evil that men do
10. Sanctuary