FUN FACTS
- Iron Maiden (1980) is the eponymous debut album of British rock band and metal icons Iron Maiden. It was released on April 14, 1980. It peaked at Number 4 on the UK Albums Charts.
- Is it punk? Is it metal? That’s a great question, and an existential dilemma that bassist Steve Harris rejects because he didn’t think early punk bands knew how to play their instruments. Which—I don’t know if that’s fair. You can decide for yourself when you listen to the album.
- The iconic cover art of Iron Maiden‘s mascot, Eddie, was painted by artist Derek Riggs, who would go on to paint all of Iron Maiden‘s art for the next 20 roaring years.
- Iron Maiden (1980) was recorded and produced in just 13 days. Producer Wil Malone was infamously neglectful of the whole project. Although the band was never satisfied with the production quality, the final product was celebrated by fans and critics for its “raw power and energy” and made Iron Maiden a household name.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
So, if the band’s early years are anything to go by, I bet their entire history is chock full of interesting stories.
Like, in addition to Steve Harris being unimpressed with the punk label being attached to Iron Maiden, I learned that Dennis Stratton was eventually fired from the band because he liked the Eagles. Which sounds funny and absurd as hell. You can choose to see it as pure snobbery or a band really sticking to their vision.
My dad describes punk music as having this monolith sound—”like a solid, heavy piece of rock that comes down on you as one unit.” I don’t know if that’s accurate to say, but I understand what he means. And I reckon if that’s true, then maybe Steve Harris was adamant about not wanting to be pigeonholed because he thought Iron Maiden had a much more complex and layered sound.
And if you listen to it, you know, for a debut album that was half-way abandoned by its producer, Iron Maiden (1980) effuses, as the critics claim, raw power. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it is layered. That is made pretty evident by Phantom of the Opera, a 7-minute dramatic high-octane song based on the Gaston Leroux novel and subsequent Andrew Lloyd Webber play, and Transylvania, an equally riveting 4-minute guitar riffs-infused instrumental inspired by Bram Stroker’s Dracula.
There’s definitely a running theme with the characters that make up Iron Maiden‘s dark world: classic villains, night ghouls, and modern day ruffians, the perverts, the delinquents, and the social pariahs.
They threaten unsuspecting pedestrians with what I guess is the 80’s version of dickpics, as the flasher in Prowler does: Well you see me crawling through/ the bushes with it open wide/ What you seeing girl?/ Can’t you believe that feeling, can’t you believe it/ Can’t you believe your eyes?
They take pride in escaping responsibility and authority, as the misfits do in Running Free: I spent the night in an LA jail/ And listened to the sirens wail/ They ain’t got a thing on me/ I’m running wild, I’m running free, yeah
I don’t particularly care for Charlotte the Harlot, where they whine about a girl working as a hooker. I think it’s a ridiculous fixation, but Dave Murray apparently wrote a whole saga about it. Which, in the immortal words of HRH Mariah Carey, “Why are you so obsessed, Dave?”
All in all, Iron Maiden (1980) is the loud, energetic and raw thesis statement of Iron Maiden‘s musical vision, invincible to shitty industry agents and unforgiving to people who simply don’t share it.
FAVORITE MOMENTS
Honestly? The cover art! My two favorite songs from the album, Phantom of the Opera and Running Free have incredible cover arts.
There’s Eddie in a cape single-handedly playing the organ so awesomely on top of a magic mountain that he shreds his own shirt off. Rad. And then there’s some poor Bucky Barnes-looking roadie running down an alley from a punk rock Slenderman into the talons of an off-frame villain. From one vice to another, perhaps?
Each cover is so distinct and so cool that you can easily imagine a mythology for each one. It helps that the songs themselves stir up stories in your head.
Running Free, for example, makes me feel like a kid in one of those 80s films where they’re running from teachers, bullies, parents, cops, zombies, monsters, whathaveyou. Steve Harris‘s bass builds up the momentum, then Clive Burr‘s accelerando right at the hook breaks the song into a cathartic sprint. What about you? What fake memories do the songs conjure for you?
FURTHER DIVE
Full disclosure. I chose the albums for Further Dive based on which cover arts were the coolest. Although Killers (1981) is only a little higher than Iron Maiden (1980) on Loudersound’s Iron Maiden Albums: Ranked from Worst To Best (number 7 to the debut album’s number 8), I’m happy enough to say Somewhere in Time (1986) and its cyberpunk Eddie cover is in their top 3. I’m definitely listening to it in the future.
FOR YOU
Here are some talking points. Feel free to email me (mxaboha @ gmail dot com) to let me know what the album made you think! What it made you feel!
- Have you ever run away from something or someone before, like the neighborhood bully or your mother? If not Iron Maiden‘s Running Free, what song would you choose to capture that moment?
- Do you hang out with art snobs? What secret interest would make them not want to hang out with you anymore?
- Check out all the Iron Maiden Eddie art by Derek Riggs in this Loudwire article. Which one do you think will describe your 2021 and why?
Iron Maiden © 1980, Parlophone Records Ltd. All Lyrics and Cover are the property of Iron Maiden, Derek Riggs, Parlophone Records Ltd., and Warner Group Music. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I © 2010, Warner Bros. Entertainment. Band Photo © 1981, Robert Ellis.
MIXAMIXES 