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Screams and riffs
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The denim and leather gang is still a name to reckon with
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Taking its name from the medieval torture device, Iron Maiden was part of England’s late-70s crop of heavy-metal bands that boasted simple guitar riffs, bone-crunching chording and shrieking vocals.
Formed in 1976 by Steve Harris and Dave Murray, the first incarnation of Iron Maiden was inspired by the do-it –yourself punk ethos, and the group released an EP, The Soundhouse Tapes, on its own label, Rock Hard Records.
Iron Maiden, the band’s 1980 Capitol debut album, was pure, unadulterated screaming heavy metal.
It went Top 5 in Britain, the following year’s Killers made # 12. America, however, was slower to embrace the denim-and leather-clad group, which distinguished itself from its peers with unusually literate songs (written by Harris) full of hellish imagery (Children of the Dammed) their themes borrowed from films (The Number of the Beast) inspired by The Omen-II and ancient mythology (Flight of Icarus). Maiden was certainly one of the few bands of any genre to employ a mascot, a 10- foot rotting corpse named Eddie.
The Number of the Beast, featuring new vocalist Bruce “Air Raid Siren” Dickinson, topped the LP chart in Britain and initiated a streak of seven consecutive platinum or gold albums in the U.S., despite virtually no radio or TV exposure.
The follow-up, 1983’s Piece of Mind, went to #14, Somewhere in Time made # 11. Beginning with Seventh son of a seventh Son, sales began to slip, In 1990 Adrian Smith, who came aboard in 1980, left to form A.S.A.P. with drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr.
Janick Gers took his place in time to record No prayer for the Dying, Maiden’s last album to go gold in the U.S.. It contained Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter, a song originally recorded by Dickinson alone for the Nightmare on Elm Street, part 5 soundtrack. Iron Maiden has weathered its numerous personnel changes without a hitch.
By the time of his 1993 exit from Maiden, Dickinson, a top rated fencer and swordsman had already published a novel, The Adventures of Lord Iffy Boatrace, and released a solo album.
A. GEORGE ANTONY
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