#147
By Andrew Anthony
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Genre: New Wave of British Heavy Metal
Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Andrew Anthony Rating: 3 stars
Andrew’s Highlights:
Remember Tomorrow
Running Free
Strange World
Reviewed by Andrew Anthony
I was a latecomer to the whole Iron Maiden thing. I had a fairly sheltered childhood and early adolescence, growing up in a conservative, devoutly Utah Mormon upbringing. I wouldn’t really discover my love for hard rock and heavy metal for a couple more years, but my appreciation for Iron Maiden would come even later, when I was in my early 20s.
During my teen years, Iron Maiden t-shirts were the de rigueur uniform of the junior high and high school burnouts. We used to joke that you could tell when Maiden came to town, because the fans finally had a new shirt to replace the one they wore all year long from the previous tour. Because I associated Maiden with “those” kids, I wouldn’t have been caught dead listening to “that devil band”. (Secretly, as an early budding horror fan, I was absolutely fascinated by the imagery of Maiden’s iconic mascot, Eddie the Head.)
So, this is Maiden’s eponymous debut, the first of two albums to feature lead singer Paul Di’anno. This is very much a band still in its embryonic stage but showing occasional flashes of the bombastic metal juggernaut that they would eventually become. My first exposure to Maiden was Run to the Hills, one of their bigger hits, featuring Di’anno’s replacement, the operatic Bruce Dickinson, on vocals. So, I was a bit surprised by Di’anno’s much more guttural, punk-sounding voice. Kinda threw me off, to be honest, although I chose Remember Tomorrow as one of my favorite tracks in large part because Di’anno slows it down and sings quite soulfully. He’s actually got a decent set of pipes when he wants to.
Musically. this album is not nearly as sophisticated as later works, although Steve Harris already demonstrates the monster bassist that he is with his trademark “galloping” style of fingerpicking. The guitar work is not nearly as fun as on later albums, when Dave Murray would be joined by Adrian Smith and they would explore the harmonic twin guitar sound that the band is known for.
Lyrically, the band has some growing to do as well. One of the things that most surprised me when I first started getting into Dickinson-era Maiden was how intelligent their lyrics were, drawing on inspiration from classic literature and historical events. This album---eh, not so much. Remember Tomorrow and Strange World show some promise, but Running Free’s stereotypically brainless metal lyrics are only overlooked because the song is so fun. Prowler and Charlotte the Harlot are just EWWW. And Iron Maiden, the titular track, is a repetitive and dull way to end the album.
So, for a metal debut, it’s no Appetite for Destruction or Kill ‘Em All, but it does show some promise. Just you wait, though…in a couple of years, Di’anno will be traded in for Dickinson, Smith will join the band and create a much better guitar dynamic, and Harris will start collaborating with the well-versed and literate Dickinson on improved lyrics, and Iron Maiden will become the 80s metal juggernaut that we all know and love. Heck, I’ve grown to appreciate Maiden so much, I might even buy a t-shirt!
https://open.spotify.com/album/5nyyw7ThJdClJ0jPisOta3?si=F40CgRb-RYqAf_kGgf7MvA
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