Biography of Iron Maiden

From their origins as a bar band in the mid 7'0s to being one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the '80s, England's Iron Maiden has proven through many albums, many world tours, and a few personnel changes that it takes a lot to put a good band down.The man who has held the group together through the rough times is bassist Steve Harris who, as a struggling musician for other small bar bands, wanted to created a group that was like no other. Some of their theatrics were somewhat tacky in the early days, but by the late '70s they were already gaining a respectable following and their fan club was growing. Eventually they got signed to EMI in 1979 and the band released their self titled debut album in 1980, the band featuring Paul Di'Anno on vocals and Dave Murray on guitar. In the US the album was released on Harvest Records, a label known for so-called "weird" bands (i.e. Pink Floyd) but with the help of some live film clips, Americans were exposed to this band through a new cable network called MTV.Their second album, Killers, also helped the band gain a huge following all over Europe and America, but within the band there were problems. Out went Di'Anno and in came Bruce Dickinson, former vocalist for the NWOBHM band Samson (where he was known as Bruce Bruce). Another change was the addition of guitarist Adrian Smith (who had joined just prior to the Killers album, replacing Dennis Stratton), and it was this line up (along with drummer Clive Burr) that recorded the album that took them over the top. The Number of the Beast was released in 1982 to adoring fans, and it sold extremely well due to a few things. One was effective video clips on MTV, another was intense touring, and maybe the main one was the controversy of the album cover, which featured Eddie (the band's mascot) lurking behind the devil, leading some to believe the band were practicing Satanists.Nonetheless the band's impact was hard, and over the next eight years they would be the hardest working and possibly one of the most imitated bands in heavy metal. Iron Maiden has been around the world too many times, their albums have sold in the millions, and their sound is easily recognizable from other bands. ~ John Book