BEST IRON MAIDEN STUDIO ALBUM

Powerslave (easiest poll yet)

Piece of Mind is also weak. Powerslave for me.

Essentially we also need a poll on their live albums. Or would Live After Death simply win by a landslide?

Yes.

Piece of Mind's got some really good tracks on it. Killers is the only totally dud free record of the bunch.

I had to vote Powerslave because that's the only one I've heard in its entirety. This in no way makes it any less awesome; I just don't know if I'd like any of the others more.

"Aces High", though!!!!!

Their first seven albums are all great, and even A Matter of Life and Death is exceptionally strong. But I'm going with the sentimental selection of Powerslave...it was my introduction to Maiden in 84, and I still feel it's their strongest album front to back.

piece of mind is kinda weak (with some great tracks, true), but I never understood why people dis somewhere in time. maybe it's the keyboards? I dunno, I like em. also, 'deja vu'! and the cover!

as for the best of em all... I'm gonna have to ponder this on the tree of woe. but my gut says powerslave for having two songs about fencing in a row. and yeah, 'aces high'!

Why do I get the feeling this poll will be one of those ones where every one says "killers" then Number Of The Beast wins easily.

Powerslave trumps the 2 before it and the 1 after. The way the question's worded nothing else makes sense.

Somewhere in Time for me.

Probably because it was the first one I really got into. By the time I got into Iron Maiden I was already into Metallica and Slayer. I never really liked them for their "heaviness" - never found them to be very heavy when they were in full rock-out mode - so I went for the more atmospheric new agey albums. I preferred the lyrical themes on Somewhere in Time more than on previous albums, and the artwork was some of the coolest they did (I used to have this big very detailed Somewhere in Time poster on my wall, which I used to stare at while listening to the album on headphones). It was journey music, and I listened to it in the same way I listened to ambient music years later.

Looking back as an adult, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son were probably the result of Iron Maiden getting old, running out of ideas, and grasping to stay relevant, but that's OK. Full disclosure, I've never listened to any of their material later than Seventh Son. I went backward and collected their older stuff, then lost interest in them altogether.

I know a lot of fans who really do believe their last album is on of their best.

It is really good. Best since Seventh Son, definitely.

Also, a collection of the best songs from the much-vilified Blaze Bayley era would actually make for a very strong album. Too bad the actual albums were so bloated and lacking in focus, because there are some hidden classics, stuff like "Sign of the Cross" and "The Clansman".

I haven't heard anything after Fear Of The Dark apart from the newest one.

i'd say powerslave except i don't know if i ever want to hear "rime of the ancient mariner" again. so i go for brave new world. there's not a song on it that doesn't rule. it's one of my favorite rock albums of the 90s. "wicker man," "brave new world," "dream of mirrors," and "the nomad" can't be fucked with

I voted for The Number of the Beast although I haven't heard it in its entirety in over 20 years. But boy did they ever become the worst band in the world for a while. Didn't they have a song called "Wasted Love?" That might be the worst song ever recorded.

"Wasted Love" was pretty bad. My least favourite is still "Holy Smoke" from No Prayer. It was practically a novelty song...how far my heroes had fallen.

"Wasted Years"

Oops, "Wasting Love" is the title I meant. "Wasted Years" is an undeniable classic.

I wonder what would win a favourite Iron Maiden song poll.

Had to go for the debut, just edging out Killers. It all went downhill when The Foghorn joined, in retrospect.

This is tough. Those first five are just about as good as you can get (Seventh Son is great too). I heard "Flight of the Icarus" today at the gym. I actually like the studio version better than on Live after Death, it's slower, it works better. This poll is impossible, it's either Beast or Powerslave.

Jeez, all these Killers votes are making me wish I gave that one a bit more attention back in the day. I do wish they kept their original singer, even tho I didn't find the earliest material as consistent. Powerslave and Number Of The Beast are my favourites, from which I guess I'll choose "Beast" for its occasional rhythmic trickery, and because "Mariner" was pretty damn tedious.

Also: Hated Somewhere In Time and never bought another Maiden album after that.

the answer is number of the beast. fantastic closer ('hallowed'), and the most consistent thing they ever came up with. best track is 'the trooper', however.

genrally...an overrated and not great band ;/

actually i thought dance of death was the last one they put out...behind the times with these podgers

"genrally...an overrated and not great band ;/"

Totally wrong. And I don't understand the dislike for "Mariner"

they aren't bad, and most of the output is fairly melodic and listenable. it's just that they constantly leave me cold on some level or another. perhaps it's because i've always thought the guitars should be a little bit louder and heavier in the mix. i dunno. maybe it's just because i'd rather listen to megadeth.

I kinda love them because the guitars aren't very loud/high in the mix! maybe it's the bass player inside me.

Each to his own Charlie. I agree that they aren't "heavy" per se, and I still don't understand why they are currently a three guitar band, four if you count Harris, whose bass is essentially a lead instrument.

i guess when they reintroduced dickinson and smith (and it was sort of necessary that BOTH came back into the fold, so as to fulfill the whole return-to-the-glory years mystique) they were confronted with a bit of a dilemma as to what to do with gers. i'm sure he's barely hanging in there and doesn't contribute a great deal. but i suppose the band's neither better or worse for it.

After careful consideration - Powerslave it is! Number was really the only thing close for me. And you know what? 'Matter of Life and Death' rules! It's a prog-metal masterpiece, it is. (and an old acquaintance from my college days - Tim Bradstreet - drew/designed the awesome cover! - yes the Derek Riggs covers are missed!).

i'm grateful for this thread. haven't listened to maiden in probably more than a year.

listening to 'beast' and am really quite enjoying it. had forgotten all about 'children of the damned'!

perhaps it's because i've always thought the guitars should be a little bit louder and heavier in the mix. i dunno. maybe it's just because i'd rather listen to megadeth.

That's always been one of my favorite things about Maiden. They're sort of a finesse band, where it's quite obvious they could punch it up if they wanted to, but don't feel the need. That's what Judas Priest is for.

I'm down with keeping Gers in the lineup, I think. Loyalty should count for something. I saw them at the Meadowlands last year, and I had no idea where he was in the mix, though.

Jeez, all these Killers votes are making me wish I gave that one a bit more attention back in the day.

you're not dead yet! I was huge a maiden fan in the early 80s and hadn't listened to them for at least a decade, last year I went back and listened to everything up through powerslave and decided killers is stone cold classic. dickinson's a little too dungeons and dragons for me, and I love the production job on killers. drums still have that 70s warmth.

Or would Live After Death simply win by a landslide?

the full length maiden japan ain't nothing to sneeze at, either.

the thing is watching the 3 guitar players on stage at the same time shredding their asses off, fighting eddie and spinning the guitars around their necks is really exciting. along with steve and bruce running around doing their thing its almost like a 3 ring circus.

I'm glad to see some love for "A Matter of Life and Death"! I remember we had a couple of people return it/sell it back used on the grounds that it was a terrible album, that Bruce couldn't sing anymore, the band had totally lost it, etc.

I just couldn't understand where all that was coming from. My only real complaint is that the album is just too long -- a little editing could've gone a long way.

nobody likes blaze right? please nobody?

There's a handful of Blaze songs that, as I said earlier, are actually very good. Sign of the Cross, The Clansman, Man on the Edge, Futureal, Lord of the Flies...that said, the Bruce versions of each of those songs slay the originals.

can't recall those except for 'man on the edge'. 'virus' is another track i remember, though not with a great deal of fondness. for some reason i can't help but lump blaze in with the likes of danzig or lee ving. his delivery has a certain cock-rock stigma to it that's out of sync with the maiden mentality.

Yeah, Blaze was strong with Wolfsbane, but just a weird fit in Maiden. Held his own on the new songs, but he butchered the oldies.

"Virus" is a weird, ugly song...if I recall correctly it was a response to the critical drubbing the band took in those first few Blaze years. A career low point for a band that usually took the high road.

Ha-ha. The lyrics for that song read like a Minor Threat song or something like that. Funny that a non-Bruce song includes the "rapier lies" line. Is that a reference to something Dickinson said?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

get those votes in!

Absolutely everything up through Powerslaveis fucking priceless, but if I had to pick one, it'd be the first one I ever picked up, that being Killers. Second choice: Piece of Mind

The Bruce version of "The Clansman" on Rock in Rio is positively transcendental. Amazing performance.

I voted for Seventh Son. It has everything I love about Iron Maiden in one epic, catchy package.

Although my pick was Powerslave, it's impossible to argue with any of the other first seven albums.

Seriously. Somewhere in Time has a lot of filler, but also some of their very best moments ("Wasted Years," "Caught Somewhere in Time," "Heaven Can Wait"), and even the filler is pretty fun. Well, not fun, per se, since the album is a bit of a downer, but songs like "Sea of Madness" are still catchy.

Adrian Smith was a huge reason for the success of Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son...he really came into his own as a songwriter. The band really missed him when he left, and us fans were stuck with rote Harris compositions for years afterwards.

And Smith was the guy who came up with that classic groove riff on "2 Minutes to Midnight".

"Lucifer's Friend", "Powertrip", "Saint Vitus" and "Belfegore" also qualify as doubly-eponymous. Interesting how it's only hard-rockers who do this.

Another band who have done this is hard-rockers Living In A Box.

Piece of Mind (1983) 3

insane

I think Piece of Mind is the 3rd best Maiden record. After the Dianno albums.

Powerslave got a good showing in this one. was my first Maiden album, and hell, I think it still gets unfairly overlooked sometimes (although ok, ok, it does have two of their biggest concert staples ever, so it isn't THAT overlooked).

Lol at BNW getting a vote.

It's not so much that POM got only three votes, but that it tied with the not-very-good SIT, well, I can't get behind that. Even SSOASS > SIT

I love Seventh Son. I'd even consider voting for it as my fav depending on the day of the week.

SiT, though, is second tier Maiden.

Yeah, Seventh Son holds up, despite the synths. Great songs, not a dud on that album, really.

An interesting poll would be the best Maiden album from 1990-2010.

i'd take brave new world, easy

If Maiden were less stereotyped as a metal band they could have gain even more fans imo.
They have much more in them.

If Maiden were less stereotyped as a metal band they could have gain even more fans imo.

They're one of the biggest bands in the world. More than 85 million records sold.

Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son are both fantastic. Though the band pretty much ends right then and there for me.

To answer thread revive q in a not very metal way, "Living in a Box" by Living in a Box from the album Living in a Box.

I would've voted Piece of Mind although I'm a casual fan i.e. I've not heard anything past Somewhere in Time.

An interesting poll would be the best Maiden album from 1990-2010.

Agreed - let's do it.

Best Iron Maiden Studio Album 1990-2010

once again 'brave new world' gets robbed

http://www.stereogum.com/1667509/iron-maiden-albums-from-worst-to-best/list/

Nah, I stand by it. It's a really good album, but A Matter of Life and Death and Final Frontier benefit a great deal from their ambition and warranted placing a little higher.

I'd put Piece of Mind at number one myself. "Sun and Steel" is a solid song, "To Tame A Land" is classic, and the first half is a phenomenal stretch.

the hooks are so huge on 'brave new world' though. "dream of mirrors" is one of their best epics, a total trip. my favorite maiden album after 'powerslave' for sure

Good list. i can definitely live with that.

dear God. so far I feel like this new Maiden album is finally the album I've been wanting them to make since Bruce rejoined the band. I've been iffy on most of the post-Bruce reunion material other than BNW and Final Frontier (and don't consider either to be A-work). the epics aren't wearing out their welcome either!

I would have settled for good, but this shit's hitting me in all the right places. nervous tho as I still have yet to the closer which I've been told is ridiculous.

there's riffs all over this thing too, which post-2000 Maiden has often been light on.

I'm only up to the title track and I want to cry this thing is so fucking face melting

goddamn

just bloody blistering so far, i love it

tempo changes! hooks! solos! yaaaaaaaah

do we need a new thread for this album? is there a new thread?

mebbe. finally getting my second listen in - "If Eternity Should FAil" is such a great opener.

why not start a new thread? It might help other ilxors check it out and get it into ilx eoy polls

THINK OF THE POLLS

:)

Piece of Mind (1983) 3

madness

been re-spinning Number lately and while I've always loved it I always considered it overrated. but starting to believe that was due to overexposure to "Number of the Beast" and "Run to the Hills", etc, cos listening to it fresh after years of not hearing it, and I've enjoyed it a lot more.

btw they played "Children of the Damned" when I saw them the other night. I'm still shaking from that.....

Piece of Mind got so fucking jobbed in this thing.

Live After Death is so far and away the best thing they did, but I think I would have gone Killers or Seventh Son.

Really surprised POWERSLAVE is ranked so highly here. I mean, it's a fine record, but....

it's one of my favs, but it was also the first I heard

Powerslave always sounds thin and laboured to me - especially next to the beefy wallop of Live After Death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECbJdeh1VvA

lmao i love the results to this poll, i was just listening to the s/t and thinking about how awesome it is, kinda posed between their own embryonic style and extreme thin lizzy worship, it smokes. clive burr is a monster

First 5 albums are unimpeachable, would still vote Powerslave

Powerslave is awesome

love "Flash of the Blade"

Bruce Dickinson up there w/Andy McCluskey in terms of possessing a voice that remains undimmed by time

They should tour together.

we just saw them last week & they are still awesome. I never cease to be amazed by Bruce’s energy...well, all of them really. I still can’t stand Janick and his stupid “heavy metal jazzercise” antics but it’s nice they gave him a home I guess.