Product Description

Just as punk was mutating into new wave and the '70s were coming to a close, Iron Maiden came onto the British music scene as part of a movement known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Named for a mediaeval torture instrument, Iron Maiden was founded by bass player Steve Harris and released their self-titled debut in 1980. Roughly produced by Will Malone, the songs were influenced by the group's fascination with horror films ("Phantom Of The Opera") and the macabre ("Transylvania", "Prowler"). Driven by Harris' driving bass andPaul Di'Anno's raspy vocals, songs such as the moody "Remember Tomorrow" and the more aggressive "Charlotte The Harlot"also featured the melodic interplay of guitarists Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton. "Running Free" was the album's anthem and landed Maiden a slot on Top Of The Pops, where in their refusal to lip-synch, they became the first band to play live on the show since The Who's 1972 appearance.

Track Listing

1. Prowler
2. Sanctuary
3. Remember Tomorrow
4. Running Free
5. Phantom Of The Opera
6. Transylvania
7. Strange World
8. Charlotte The Harlot
9. Iron Maiden
10. Iron Maiden
11. Phantom Of The Opera

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2625 in Music
• Released on: 1998-09-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
This opening sonic salvo from Steve Harris's East End stalwarts pretty much defined the late 1970's post-punk rebirth of rock traditionalism known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Featuring the strident cockney roar of the band's original lead vocalist Paul Di'Anno, Iron Maiden capitalised on the band's enormous grass-roots live following by storming immediately into the upper reaches of the album chart. A perfect balance of the irresistibly catchy ("Running Free"), the intricately epic ("Phantom Of The Opera") and the roguishly profane ("Charlotte The Harlot"), it's an assured debut, superficially marred by somewhat pedestrian production values. Newly enhanced with the addition of video clips and assorted other multimedia goodies, Iron Maiden--specifically the blazing, fretboard ferocity of its closing title track--is an utterly essential element of any self-respecting metal-head's record collection. Furious, whiplash headbanging is not so much recommended as completely unavoidable. --Ian Fortnam

Customer Reviews

An awesome debut, before they got famous.
This album is bloody awesome. This is the start of Iron Maiden the great and they only got better and better. Here we have the vocalist Paul Di'ianno who was before one of the greatest vocalist of all time Bruce Dickinson. Paul Dianno is a really good vocalist. My favourite songs are Sanctuary, Running Free, Remember Tommorow, Phantom Of The Opera(amazing), Strange World(which sounds so much like Rainbows Catch The Rainbow) & the classic title song Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden's first 2 albums are occansionaly overlooked because of iron maidens masterpiece The Number Of The Beast but they are damn good albums. This is a great for maiden fans, new maiden fans buy The Number Of The Beast. UP THE IRONS!!!!!

A good, if limited debut
I recall 'Iron Maiden' being one of a spate of releases by new heavy metal bands at the close of the 1970s. What most of them had in common was a lack of the finesse and class of the previous generation of hard rockers. In truth, they had a different agenda. Rather than being blues-oriented, they tended to opt for a leaner, faster sound, leading to a genuinely separate heavy metal genre.

Iron Maiden's inspiration isn't exactly signposted with any subtlety: stock characters from horror fiction. The music tends to be very rough around the edges, but this works effectively on the first two tracks. The beginning of 'Sanctuary' could almost come from the punk era, while the drum opening to 'Running Free' recalls any number of glam rock hits. Perhaps surprisingly, two of the best tracks are the slow ones, 'Remember Tomorrow' and 'Strange World', on which the band are at their most controlled. Their closing signature song is also good. Their weakness is exposed on the longest track, 'Phantom Of The Opera'. It starts well enough, but they don't have the skills to carry off a long track with tempo changes. Anyone weaned on the likes of Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple will yawn at some of the passages here, while the instrumental 'Transylvania' is also dull. A fair start to the band's recorded output, then, but definitely not their best.

Iron Maiden 1
This is a decent album to start with and, although it doesn't feature the iconic Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Paul Di'Anno's voice is still very good.
There are no stand out tracks that I would constantly listen to, but that doesn't mean they're all bad.
The CDROM content is okay and a great way of giving you your money's worth of space on the disc. It includes two very grainy videos; you are able to change the size from small to about half the size of your screen but no full screen option is available, which is no big loss since it's very low quality even on the smallest setting. Also included is a detailed biography, a family tree explaining where all the band members come from, a list of tour dates, album art for all the remastered CDs, many pictures and samples of music from other albums.
Packaging is a standard CD case and comes with a booklet containing lyrics for all songs and loads of pictures and album art.
All in all a decent buy to complete a collection, but not as good as some of their later stuff.
Highlights: `Running Free', `Phantom Of The Opera', `Charlotte The Harlot'.

Track Listings

1. Prowler 03:56 ***
2. Sanctuary 03:16 ***
3. Remember Tomorrow 05:28 ****
4. Running Free 03:17 ****
5. Phantom Of The Opera 07:07 ****
6. Transylvania 04:19 ****
7. Strange World 05:32 ****
8. Charlotte The Harlot 04:12 ****
9. Iron Maiden 03:36 ***

Total Time: 40:43 ***½