Iron maiden

1975-1978: The Foundation. First lineups

The history of the Iron Maiden group is inextricably linked with the name of its founding father, ideological mastermind and permanent leader of bass guitarist Steve Harris, a native of the London East End . After graduating from college, Steve was a member of various rock bands, but very soon realized that he had an individual idea of ​​the music that he would like to play, and the best embodiment of his own plans was to create his own team. The Iron Maiden group was founded in late 1975. The name of the group, translated from English "Iron Maiden", was borrowed by Steve from the movie "The Man in the Iron Mask ", which featured a medieval instrument of torture with the same name.

The first line-up included vocalist Paul Day , guitarist Terry Rance and Dave Sullivan, drummer Ron Rebel Matthews and Steve Harris himself. After the very first performance, the Iron Maiden members received news of the existence of a group with the same name, which prompted the musicians to immediately register their name. The group immediately began to give concerts in clubs, and although the fees for performances were insignificant, the band's popularity grew with each performance. At that time, the Iron Maiden sound was much heavier than other artists. Also, from the first performances, machines for visual effects ( eng. Bubble machine and smoke machine ) were used as elements of the show - all this attracted new fans to the group.

Shortly after another performance in the Cart And Horses pub (London-Stratford area), Paul Day left the group, who played 26 concerts with Iron Maiden and was forced to leave the group due to the “lack of charisma” ^[5] . He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock (also a former Smiler member), who had a less powerful voice, but was more artistic on the stage. Dennis often performed a trick with blood capsules during speeches: he ran a sword through the lips while biting through the capsules in his mouth, after which he began to whip blood from his mouth ^[5] . Listening with Wilcock was also held by Dave Murray , who claimed to be the second guitarist: the band realized that it was necessary to change the sound, and this was possible only with the involvement of new members. With the addition of Dave, it was supposed to increase the number of participants to six people, but Dave Sullivan and Terry Rans, due to their inability to feed their families, speaking in pubs alone, announced their departure from the group (the version was also expressed that their departure was caused by the advent of the more technical guitarist Murray ). Soon, Iron Maiden was joined by second guitarist Rob "Bob Sawyer" Angelo.

Showing his leadership skills, Dennis Wilcock often clashed with the rest of the group. Soon, due to personal dislike, he demanded that Harris dismiss Dave Murray, otherwise he threatened to leave the group. Harris realized that finding a good frontman was more difficult than a guitar player, and therefore succumbed to Dennis's conditions. Soon, Bob Sawyer and Ron Matthews were fired in the same way.

Terry Voprom became the new guitarist, and Barry "The Lightning Rod" Graham took the place of the drummer. Realizing that one guitarist is not enough, the team found a solution in the person of Tony Moore, who became the keyboardist of Iron Maiden. But after several speeches, it became clear that such a decision was not the way out. In the spring of 1977, Wilcock announced his retirement ^[6] . Graham's game was getting worse, and the irrelevance of the keyboard after the first performance, no one in doubt.

As a result, Harris invited his former Smiler colleague Doug Sempson to the place of the drummer. In place of the second guitarist, it was decided to accept Dave Murray again, although this time he was opposed by Terry Voprom, who used to play himself and did not want to join the second guitarist, which was the reason for his departure. A new vocalist was soon hired by Paul Di'Anno , a slob and hooligan, who became the first real Iron Maiden frontman.

At about the same time, the band began experimenting with the mask of the Kabuki Theater, which hung on the wall above the drummer and at a certain moment, according to the idea of ​​the band, spewed blood (the ideological legacy left by Wilcock). In the future, this mask served as a prototype for creating the symbol of the Eddie group.

Changes in the lineup still did not stop, as the group was in search of a second guitarist. Paul Todd stayed in the band for a week, Tony Parsons - for several months, Mad Mac played only a couple of appearances. Harris recalled: “Davey was so good that he could take on most of the work. Finding a second guitar player was our first priority, but finding someone needed to fit in with Davey, which was really hard ” ^[7] . However, at the same time, the band tirelessly gave concerts throughout the kingdom.

1978-1981: The path to glory

The accumulated money allowed the musicians to make the first demo , which was recorded at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge ^[8] . On the eve of the New Year (at this time discounts were offered) Iron Maiden recorded four songs - “Prowler”, “Invasion”, “Iron Maiden” and “Strange World”. A studio session cost the group £ 200. But the musicians could not redeem the master film , deciding to return in a week. At the time of their return, the studio lost all records, so Iron Maiden had to be content with tape copies. The demo was not very popular until it turned out to be the Bandwagon DJ, fan of heavy music Neil Kay. In many ways, thanks to him, the composition “Prowler” soon reached No. 1 in the metal chart .

Soon the band was invited to live at the Soundhouse Club. The increased popularity attracted the attention of several independent labels who were ready to sign a contract with the band (which they thought was pretty punk ), but only on condition that Iron Maiden cut their hair long. Harris, who did not go for smaller compromises, categorically answered with all refusal.

Through his acquaintance, Harris met Rod Rod Smallwood, who soon became the group's manager and remains with him to this day. Rod immediately organized several concerts for the group. On September 3, they performed at the secret Motörhead concert at the “Music Machine” club. A few days later a funny thing happened to the group. Five minutes before entering the scene at The Swan, police arrested Paul Di'Anno for unauthorized wearing cold weapons. Iron Maiden were forced to perform in three, playing mostly instrumental compositions. Nevertheless, several songs were still performed in the original versions, with Steve Harris taking the vocals.

To attract more attention, Smallwood advised to publish three songs - “Invasion”, “Iron Maiden” and “Prowler” - as a separate single that could be distributed at concerts. The proposal was implemented with the release of the single "The Soundhouse Tapes" (in honor of the institution of Neal Kay), released by their own label Rock Hard Records. 5000 copies were printed, which were sold out in a matter of months, even taking into account the fact that it was possible to buy the record only at concerts of the group or by ordering by mail ^[9] .

The group also received media attention: leading rock journalist Jeff Barton devoted a separate article to them for the first time in the magazine Sounds, where among other things he published a series of articles about groups representing the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

The growing popularity attracted the attention of EMI representatives, who, impressed by the band’s concert, immediately signed a contract with them (December 1979).

Strenuous work, tight tour schedule, alcohol, smoking, lack of sleep - all at once affected the health of Dag Sempson, causing his departure. The new drummer was Clive Burr ( born Clive Burr ) (d. 2013) from the Samson group, who was invited to audition by guitarist Dennis Stratton , who had just joined the band. The new lineup immediately went to the studio to record their debut album with producer Will Mellon ( Will Mallone ). However, even before it was released, a single with the song “Running Free” appeared on the store shelves (the Burning Ambition thing was recorded on the other side, recorded back in the old line-up). Despite its simplicity, “Running Free” is one of the brightest songs in the early days of Iron Maiden, and it’s not surprising that the single easily hit the Top-50 English charts . Eddie first appears on the cover of this single. In March 1980, for the first time since The Who Iron Maiden, they performed live on Top Of The Pops. The performance in the program contributed to the growth of the group’s success, with the result that the single “Free Free” rose to 34 positions in the English charts .

The debut album, the band with the same name - Iron Maiden - was released in April 1980 and was immediately successful: it rose to fourth place in the UK album sales chart ^[10] , which is not surprising, since the album was a collection of the best songs performed by the band during previous four years. The album was a heavy Sabbath - style heavy metal , but faster and more energetic, with some punk rock influence, with warlike and unbridled lyrics. Already on the first album, designed by Derek Riggs , a stuffed zombie imp named Eddie the Head began to appear. Eddie became the mascot of the group and is now depicted on all the covers of her albums. Eddie also appeared on stage during the group's concerts (first Rod Rodwood ran in a mask, then tour managers). On the covers of two early singles, “ Sanctuary ” and “ Women in Uniform ”, Eddie was depicted fighting Margaret Thatcher , the British Prime Minister, which at first acquired a protest and slightly scandalous reputation for the group.

In May, the band went on a big English tour, opening Judas Priest performances, and then arranged a series of their own concerts. Before the performance in Edinburgh, it turned out that Clive Barr had earned a serious indigestion and could not play. Nevertheless, the head of the tour team Vic Vella and other road builders brought Clive onto the stage in his arms and sat down at the drum set. He played the concert, but at the end of it he fainted without rising from the drums. At the end of the summer, Iron Maiden support Kiss in Europe and play at the festival in Reading in front of the UFO . On his return from touring, Dennis Stratton left the band due to personal and creative disagreements with Rod Smallwood. ^[11]

Adrian Smith , the leader of the Urchin group and former classmate of Dave Murray, became a new guitarist. He was invited to join Iron Maiden before Dennis Stratton, but Adrian hoped to succeed with his group, but he still failed.

In December, Iron Maiden once again made innovators: EMI released the full version of their concert at The Rainbow Theater, which until that moment had not been solved.

The second album, Killers , was rather coldly received with criticism , although this time the producer was made by Martin Birch ^[12] . Iron Maiden held their first world tour, visiting the United States, Canada and Japan. At this time, most musicians were unhappy with the work of vocalist Di'Anno: he drank a lot, used drugs and often could not sing at the required level. By decision of the group, Paul was fired, his place was taken by Bruce Dickinson (another former Samson member), who later became the most famous “voice” of Iron Maiden. Di Anno continued his career, founding the band Killers , the band with the “virgin” of the same name as his last album, but he is known for his time only as the first vocalist of Iron Maiden.

1981-1985: Internationally Popular

The appearance of a less punk and more artistic than Di Anno, the frontman accompanied the growth of the group's popularity. In 1982, The Number of the Beast was released, the third album of the band and the first with Dickinson. Bruce, although he performed all the vocals on the album, did not even appear in the credits in the first edition, as he had a contract with another company that threatened him with a claim. The album was a breakthrough for the group, taking first place in the sales charts in Britain ^[13] , hitting the top ten in the United States , Canada and Australia ^[14] . In support of the album, the band conducted a tour of Beast on the Road , which ended with a sold-out concert at the New York Palladium. The American part of the tour was accompanied by public pressure, as the group was accused of Satanism because of the title track of the album.

In December 1982, drummer Clive Barr left the band due to personal problems and difficulties with his continued presence in the band. To replace him was invited drummer Niko McBrain , with whose participation the band soon released the next album, Piece of Mind . The new disc was the first to reach platinum status in the United States.

Inspired by the success of the record, Iron Maiden released the album Powerslave in September 1984, which included the favorite fans of the song “ 2 Minutes to Midnight ”, “ Aces High ”, and “Rime of The Ancient Mariner”, based on the self-titled poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and continuing more 13 minutes ^[15] . The World Slavery Tour , held in support of the album, until recently was the largest in the history of the group, as it included 193 performances and lasted more than 13 months ^[15] . The tour was one of the grandest in the history of rock ^[16] . Eddie was now ruled not by a man sitting inside, but by a complex mechanism.

On these albums, Iron Maiden began to pay much less attention to a shockingly mystical theme, for which they were criticized by religious organizations. The themes of fantasy and history became dominant in the lyrics. The song To Tame a Land was written based on Frank Herbert 's Dune , Trooper contained the story of the Crimean War , Where Eagles Dare and Aces High narrated the events of World War II , etc.

1986–1989: Sound Experiments

In the late 1980s, Iron Maiden moved away from aggressive sound to a more experimental sound on the albums Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son . Seventh Son ... has become a semi-conceptual album . Although, unlike the similar works of Blind Guardian and Manowar, the album did not contain a detailed script and text interludes, the lyrics of this album add up to a story about the life of a child endowed with visionary abilities and suffering from it. The album is based on the books of science fiction writer Orson Scott Card . Unlike the previous album, where musicians used guitar synthesizers, on the new release, keyboards were used. The Seventh Son of Seventh Son was called by critics the “more accessible” creation of the collective than their previous work. ^[17]

During the subsequent tour, the group became the headliner of the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park on August 20, 1988, playing in front of the largest audience in the history of the festival (107,000 people) ^[18] . Kiss , David Lee Roth , Megadeth , Guns N 'Roses and Helloween also participated in the festival ^[19] . However, the festival was overshadowed by the death of two fans in the crowd during a Guns N 'Roses performance; as a result, the festival was canceled next year ^[18] . The tour ended with several concerts in the UK in November and December 1988, and concerts at the NEC Arena, Birmingham, were recorded for a concert video called Maiden England ^[20] . Throughout the tour, Harris bassist Michael Kenny played on the keyboards ^[20] . Since then, Kenny has acted as the concert keyboardist of the group, and also participated in the recording of the next four albums of the group ^[21] . In 1989, the group took part in the Rock Aid Armenia festival, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Spitak earthquake .

1989-1993: Sunset

In 1989, after the tour was over, guitarist Adrian Smith with his group ASAP released a solo album entitled Silver and Gold ^[22] . In 1990, vocalist Bruce Dickinson began a solo career with former Gillan guitarist Janick Gers, collaborating with the album Tattooed Millionaire ^[23] , followed by a tour ^[24] . At the same time, to mark the ten-year anniversary of the band's first recording, Iron Maiden released The First Ten Years , a series of ten CDs and double 12-inch vinyl. Between February 24 and April 28, 1990, separate pieces were released one after the other, each containing two of Iron Maiden singles, including the original b-sides.

Shortly after starting work on a new album, Adrian Smith left the group due to lack of enthusiasm. His place was taken by Yannick Gers, the first new member of the group in the last seven years ^[24] . The album, No Prayer for the Dying , was released in October 1990 and contained “ Bring Your Daughter ... to the Slaughter ”, the first (and only) single No. 1 of the group in the British charts, originally recorded as Dickinson’s solo group for the soundtrack to the film A nightmare on Elm Street 5: A child of sleep ^[25] .

Dickinson did a solo tour in 1991, after which he returned to the studio with Iron Maiden to record the album Fear of the Dark . The album released in 1992 was noticeably longer (since it was the first Iron Maiden album released on CD), and included several songs that became favorite among fans, such as the title track or “Afraid to Shoot Strangers”. The CD also features Wasting Love, one of the few Iron Maiden ballads. The album included songs that were first written by Gers, but at the same time there were no tracks on it that were recorded jointly by Harris and Dickinson.

In 1993, Bruce Dickinson left the band and continued his solo career. At the same time, he agreed to stay with the band for a farewell tour and two live albums ^[26] . The first, A Real Live One , included songs created from 1986 to 1992 and was released in March 1993. The second, A Real Dead One , included songs created from 1980 to 1984 and was released after Dickinson left. In the summer of the same year, the group first visited Russia, giving three concerts in a row at the Moscow Olympiysky Sports Complex. The last concert with Bruce was filmed and released under the name Raising Hell ^[27] .

1994–1999: The Age of Blaze Bailey

In 1994, the group auditioned hundreds of vocalists, both known and unknown, before choosing Blaze Bailey , a former member of Wolfsbane ^[28] . For the reason that his style of singing was significantly different from the manner of performance of his predecessor, Bailey received a controversial reception among fans ^[29] .

The group released the album The X Factor , which took the lowest position in the album charts in Britain (debuted from 8th position) ^[30] . Harris, the main songwriter, experienced personal problems at the time because of the breakdown of his marriage, which, according to fans and critics, was reflected in the failure of the album. It is also worth noting that X Factor was the first since the debut album of 1980, where the sound engineer was not the legendary Martin Birch. His place was taken by Steve Harris.

In 1998, the Virtual XI album was even more commercially unsuccessful. At the same time, he marked the partial return of Maiden to a more traditional material for himself.

Both tours with Blaise were not without serious problems with the vocalist's voice. He could not withstand long loads, with the result that by the end of the tour his voice noticeably sat down. Some appearances in support of Virtual XI were canceled, which finally convinced Steve Harris of the need for change. Moreover, Blaise’s behavior on stage contrasted sharply with the rest of the band.

Bailey’s tenure at the Iron Maiden ended in January 1999 when he was asked to leave during a group meeting. ^[31]

1999–2002: The Return of Dickinson and Smith, Brave New World

While the group was considering replacing Bailey, Rod Smallwood convinced Steve Harris to invite Bruce Dickinson back to the group ^[32] . Although Harris admitted that he did not like this idea at first, then he thought: “Well, if changes occur, then who should we get? The fact is that we know Bruce and we know what he is capable of, and we thought: “Well, better that devil you know.” I mean, we cooperated well at the professional level for 11 years, so ... I really had no problems with it ” ^[32] .

In January 1999, the band entered into negotiations with Dickinson, who, during a meeting in Brighton, agreed to return ^[33] , along with guitarist Adrian Smith, who called a few hours later ^[34] . Considering Gers, who remained despite Smith's return, Iron Maiden had three guitar players. The reunion of the gold composition was marked by the tour tour of the Ed Hunter Tour, which was also timed to coincide with the release of the collection of the greatest hits of Ed Hunter .

One of the main concerns of Dickinson when returning to the group was “whether we really make a real modern album, and not just a comeback album” ^[32] , which as a result was named Brave New World and was released in 2000 ^[35] . Dissatisfied with the results recorded at Harris' personal studio, Barnyard Studios, located in his property in Essex, which was used for the last four Iron Maiden studio albums, the band recorded new material at Guillaume Tell Studios in Paris in November 1999 in conjunction with producer Kevin Shirley ^{[ 35]} . The album distinguished itself by a more progressive and melodic sound, present in some of the earlier recordings, with complex structures and keyboard orchestrations ^[36] .

The subsequent world tour consisted of more than 100 concerts and ended on January 19, 2001 with a performance at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, where Iron Maiden played in front of an audience of 250,000 spectators ^{[37] [38]} . The performance was recorded and released on CD and DVD in March 2002 under the title Rock in Rio ^[39] .

2003—2007: Dance of Death and A Matter of Life and Death

After Give Me Ed ... 'Til I'm Dead Tour in the summer of 2003, Iron Maiden released Dance of Death , their thirteenth studio album. As usual, there were historical and literary references from “Montségur”, in particular, telling about the fortress of the Cathars , conquered in 1244 ^[40] , and “Paschendale”, relating to a significant battle that took place during the First World War ^[41] . During the follow-up tour, the band performed in Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany, where a live album and DVD entitled Death on the Road was recorded and released in August 2005 ^[42] .

In 2005, the band announced the Eddie Rips Up to World Tour , which is linked to their 2004 DVD, entitled The History of the Iron Maidens - Part 1: The Early Days , which included only material from the group's first four albums ^[43] . In celebration of its early years, the single "The Number of the Beast" was reissued and reached number 3 on the UK chart. The tour included many headlining concerts and festivals, including a performance at the Ullevi stadium in Sweden to an audience of almost 60,000 people.

After this launch of European concerts, the band became one of the headliners of the American Ozzfest festival tour with Black Sabbath, their last performance at which received international press coverage after their concert was sabotaged by singer Ozzy Osborne's family, who was offended by Dickinson's remarks on his reality Show of the Osbournes .

In late 2005, Iron Maiden began work on their fourteenth studio album, A Matter of Life and Death , released in the fall of 2006. Although not considered a concept album, war and religion are repetitive themes in the lyrics as well as in the cover. The release received critical and commercial success, for the first time for the group, reaching the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart and receiving the Album of the Year award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honor Awards 2006 ^{[44] [45]} .

The second stage of the tour, which took place in 2007, was named A Matter Of The Beast in honor of the 25th anniversary of the release of the album The Number of the Beast , and included performances at several major festivals around the world ^[46] .

2007–2009: Somewhere Back in Time World Tour and Flight 666

On September 5, 2007, the band announced their world tour, Somewhere Back in Time , which was linked to the release of their Live After Death album on DVD. The set list of the tour consisted of hits of the 1980s, with particular emphasis on the stage decoration of the Powerslave era. The first leg of the tour, which began in Mumbai, India, on February 1, 2008, consisted of 24 concerts in 21 cities, the group flew almost 50,000 miles on its own charter plane called Ed Force One. They gave their first concerts in Costa Rica and Colombia, and also since 1992 their first concerts in Australia and Puerto Rico.

The Final Frontier and the Following Days

The fifteenth studio album The Final Frontier was released on August 16, 2010. The first single was the song "El Dorado". The Final Frontier World Tour started in North America in June, then moved to Europe , where it passed through stadiums and major festivals. In the North American part of the tour, Dream Theater acted as support. The continuation of the tour in 2011 affected Russia. The 2011 tour began on February 11 in Moscow, and on July 10, the band first visited St. Petersburg with a concert.

In 2012, the Iron Maiden began the Maiden England Tour. The first concert was held on June 21 in Charlotte , and the last - on October 2, 2013 in Zurich. At most concerts, the band plays the best hits of the 1980s and focuses on the Seventh Son of Seventh Son , which in 2013 will be 25 years old. During this tour, Iron Maiden came to Russia again: July 16 to St. Petersburg and July 18 to Moscow.

The band’s latest studio album, The Book of Souls, was released on September 4, 2015 ^[47] . Having received critical and commercial success, the album headed the British chart for the fifth time in the history of the band ^[48] .

In February 2016, the band went to the World of Book of Souls World Tour, where they played concerts in 35 countries in North and South America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe, including their first performances in China, El Salvador and Lithuania ^[49] . In the wake of the tour, on November 17, 2017, The Book of Souls live album was released : Live Chapter .

In the summer of 2016, the group released the mobile game Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast ^[50] . Inspired by the name of the game, the band currently holds the Legacy of the World Tour from 2018 to 2019, starting with European shows in 2018 ^[51] .

Logo and corporate identity

The Iron Maiden corporate logo has embellished all of the band’s releases since their debut, The Soundhouse Tapes (1979) mini-album. The font comes from the design of Vic Fear’s poster for a 1976 science fiction film, The Man Who Fell to Earth , although Steve Harris claims to have developed it himself, using his architectural draftsman abilities ^[52] .

In 2016, the group released its own beer - El Trooper. The label shows a cover picture of the 1983 single “The Trooper”, after which the beer is named ^[53] .

Influencing other performers

According to Guitar World , Iron Maiden's music "influenced generations of newer metal bands, from legends like Metallica to current stars like Avenged Sevenfold " ^[54] ; Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich noted that “he always had incredible respect and admiration for them” ^[55] . Kerry King of Slayer stated that “they meant so much to me in their early years,” and Scott Iain of Anthrax says that “they had a major impact on my life” ^[56] .

M. Schadoes from Avenged Sevenfold claims that Iron Maiden "is by far the best live band in the world, and their music is timeless," while Trivium singer Matt Hifi comments that "without Iron Maiden, Trivium would not existed. "

Other heavy metal artists who name the band as influences are Chris Jericho , WWE wrestler and Fozzy vocalist ^[57] , Cam Pipes, 3 Inches of Blood vocalist ^[58] , Vitaly Dubinin , bassist for the band “ Aria ” ^[59] and Mikael Oerfeldt, guitarist and vocalist Opeth ^[60] . In addition, pop singer Lady Gaga pointed Iron Maiden as her favorite band, stating that “their fans live, breathe and die for Maiden, and this is my dream. Maiden has changed my life. ” ^[61]

Steve Harris, bassist Iron Maiden and lead songwriter ^[62] , said he was influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath ^[63] , Deep Purple ^[63] , Led Zeppelin ^[63] , Uriah Heep , Pink Floyd , Genesis , Yes , Jethro Tull , Thin Lizzy , UFO and Wishbone Ash ^[64] . In 2004, Harris explained that the “weight” of the group was inspired by “Black Sabbath and Deep Purple with a small amount of added Led Zeppelin” ^[65] .

The guitarists of the band, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, have their own distinct influences and playing style. Dave Murray is known for his legato technique, which, he claims, “evolved naturally. I heard Jimi Hendrix using legato when I was growing up, and I liked that style of play ” ^[66] . Janick Gers, on the other hand, prefers a more improvised style, mostly inspired by Ritchie Blackmore ^[67] , who, he claims, differs from Smith's “rhythmic” sound ^[68] .

Vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who typically works in collaboration with guitarist Adrian Smith ^[69] , has an operatic vocal style inspired by Arthur Brown , Peter Hammill , Ian Anderson and Ian Gillan ^[70] , and is considered by many to be one of the best heavy metal vocalists -metal of all times ^{[71] [72] [73] [74]} .

Throughout his career, the band’s style has remained largely unchanged, despite the addition of guitar synthesizers on Somewhere in Time (1986), keyboards on the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) ^[75] , and an attempt to return to their “simplified” sound early material on No Prayer for the Dying (1990) ^[75] .

• 1980 - Iron Maiden
• 1981 - Killers
• 1982 - The Number of the Beast
• 1983 - Piece of Mind
• 1984 - Powerslave
• 1986 - Somewhere in Time
• 1988 - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
• 1990 - No Prayer for the Dying
• 1992 - Fear of the Dark
• 1995 - The X Factor
• 1998 - Virtual XI
• 2000 - Brave New World
• 2003 - Dance of Death
• 2006 - A Matter of Life and Death
• 2010 - The Final Frontier
• 2015 - The Book of Souls ^[47]

The group was recorded many tributes , in the recording of the latter participated such groups as Metallica and Machine Head :

• Made in Tribute (1997)
• A Call to Irons (1998)
• A Call to Irons 2 (1999)
• Maiden America (1999)
• Children of the Damned (1999)
• 666 The Number One Beast (1999)
• 666 The Number One Beast Volume 2 (Final Chapter) (1999)
• Transilvania 666 (2000)
• Slave to the Power (2000)
• Made in Scandinavia (2001)
• A Call to Irons Volumes I & II (2001)
• Tribute to the Beast (2002)
• Tribute to the Beast Vol. 2 (2003)
• Anatomy of Evil (2003)
• Piano Tribute to Iron Maiden (2005)
• Maiden Heaven (2008)

Since 2008, Iron Maiden chartered the Boeing 747-400 for his world tour, re-equipped to meet the needs of the group and called the musicians "Ed Force One". In 2016, the Boeing 747-400 , prepared by the Russian airline Volga-Dnepr , became the team's touring plane, with Eddie on its tail, and the logo with the name of the group on the fuselage. The aircraft is operated by Bruce Dickinson himself.

• Mick Wall. Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorized Biography. - 3rd ed .. - Sanctuary Publishing, 2004. - ISBN 1-86074-542-3 .
• Wall, Mick; Ling, Dave. Iron Maiden, the Authorized Biography (2nd ed.). - Sanctuary Publishing, 2001. - ISBN 1-86074-287-4 .
• Stenning, Paul. Iron Maiden: 30 Years of Beast - The Complete Unauthorized Biography. - Chrome Dreams, 2006. - ISBN 1-84240-361-3 .
• Phillips, William. Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal Music / William Phillips, Brian Cogan. - ABC-CLIO, 2009. - ISBN 978-0-313-34801-3 .

• The official Iron Maiden page on Myspace
• Iron Maiden Video on YouTube
• The official Iron Maiden Facebook page
• IRON MAIDEN RUSSIAN WEB-CLUB
• Iron maiden commentary
• Iron Maiden on the Encyclopaedia Metallum website
• Iron Maiden Profile at Last.fm