Ranking the Beast! Iron Maiden //// 1980 to 2015! ////

Maiden's classic lineup. From left to right: Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Nicko McBrain, Adrian Smith & Steve Harris.

I'm home, alone and bored so I decided to rank Iron Maiden's entire studio discography while blasting their albums all day. Follow me into Maiden's world...but at a respectable distance, please...

16. Virtual XI (1998)

I do think this is the truly only bad Iron Maiden record. The shorter songs are lame and the longer ones like The Clansman and The Angel and the Gambler in particular are the most repetitive numbers they ever did. Both soporific Harris tracks that repeat the same lyrics ad nauseam like “Don’t you think I’m a saviour/Don’t you think I could save you/Don’t you think I could save your life...” till you die or boredom.

Blaze Bayley is the Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels) of this whole affair. While not entirely blameless as his performance is underwhelming, I see him more as a victim of the bad songwriting of band leader Steve Harris. There’s some good riffs and leads from Murray and Gers here and there but not enough redeeming factors to make this a decent album. It’s the only Iron Maiden album I don’t know own, I’ll probably buy it one day for the sake of completion only...

Favourite track: Uhh? I don't know, man.

15. No Prayer for the Dying (1990)

The Maiden album that was released the year I appeared in this world isn’t totally worthless at all despite some of what people say. After Adrian Smith’s departure and Janick Gers’ arrival, Harris and company went in a more streamlined and hard rock-esque direction. Judging with Bruce Dickinson’s facial expressions in the promo pictures, not everyone were happy with that decision. While not a particularly intriguing, original or memorable album, there’s some good moments such as Harris’ “The Assassin” and “Mother Russia” and the epic “Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter” which was originally a Dickinson track for one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Compared to Fear of the Dark, No Prayer for the Dying is a more direct album but it doesn’t have the same quality in its songwriting. This would had been a forgotten album if would had been released by anyone else than Maiden.

Favourite track: "Mother Russia"

14. The X Factor (1995)

The first album with Blaze Bayley turned out to be the only decent one he’ll do with the band during his short tenure as Maiden’s singer. The X Factor (X since it’s their tenth record) is a dark album with some brilliant songwriting such as “Sign of the Cross” or “The Aftermath” but ultimately it’s a cluttered and overlong album.

It’s also hard to retain yourself from wishing that Bruce Dickinson should had been there despite Bayley’s more than competent performance. I also always liked Janick Gers as a composer. He brings subtlety and intelligence to the band and always did.

As Iron Maiden’s first seventy minute release, it’s the album that started that trend of wanting to put too much on their records. Nonetheless, it’s still much better than its shorter brother.

Favourite track: "Sign of the Cross"

13. The Final Frontier (2010)

The Final Frontier is their most uneven modern album. It’s overlong with its seventy-six minutes rundown and it’s hardly justified. It’s saved by some quality songwriting such as the quick “The Alchemist” or the excellent epics “Starblind” and “The Talisman” but weaker moments like the Harris-penned snoozefest closer “When the Wild Blows” makes this the weaker Maiden since they’re active as a sextet. 

Still, I have fond memories of that album as I saw them for the first in 2010 when the record was about to be released. They only played El Dorado and focused more on Brave New World and Dance of Death alongside a plethora of classics.

Favourite track: "The Talisman"

12. The Book of Souls (2015)

The latest Maiden release is the only one I actually reviewed in details so go read the full thing here. Despite some grandiose moments, it’s the weakest of their last five albums that came after Bruce’s comeback. The double album is overlong (that’s redundant to write) and shows the band not caring about editing their thoughts at all.

The album could had been pretty strong with only its four longest tracks (Dickinson’s “If Eternity Should Fail’ and “Empire of the Clouds”, its title track and one of the best Harris epics “The Red and the Black”), this would had been a great fifty minutes record but alas!

The shorter tracks are mostly forgettable (some are pretty good like “Man of Sorrows” though) and don’t add much to Maiden’s discography so it’s not as strong as it could have been. Old man Bruce sounds really great on this record too.



Favourite tracks: "If Eternity Should Fail" and "The Red and the Black"

11. Fear of the Dark (1992)
Like James Bond’s GoldenEye, this is the only truly good Maiden album released during the 1990s. While I always thought this had spectacular songs, I also found the album to be cluttered by fillers. My opinion changed a bit recently as I started to like tracks such as “Childhood’s End” that I didn’t really dig before. I still wish the album was tighter and some songs such as the clunky rocker “Weekend Warrior” could had been removed to put it in the 45-50 minutes ballpark.

The Dickinson/Gers duo shines in the songwriting department with the outstanding rapid fire opener “Be Quick or Be Dead” and one of Maiden’s only ballad “Wasting Love”. While the singalong title track is almost as overplayed as “Hallowed be Thy Name”, it’s still pretty damn good. There’s a kind of intricacy that the band will develop further when Bruce will come back but at that time, it was to be the swansong of the air raid siren as he left Maiden to focus on his solo career.

Favourite track: "Wasting Love"

10) The Number of the Beast (1982)

One of the seminal Maiden albums and the first with Bruce after Paul Dianno’s departure suffers immensely from its success. Its best tracks such as the title track but particularly “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and the catchy “Run to the Hills” are overplayed songs that I can’t really listen anymore. Combined with the fact that the album has noticeable fillers such as “Invaders”, “Gangland” or the b-side added to the 1998 remaster (which is the version I heard the most as a thirty year old dude) “Total Eclipse”, Number is simply an overrated album and Maiden’s weakest of their superb 1980s run. The power of some of its tracks is undeniable live though, especially “Hallowed...”.

Favourite track: "Children of the Damned" (nowadays)

9) Piece of Mind (1983)
The second album with Bruce Dickinson is a mixed affair. On one hand, it has two of their best 80s track with “Where Eagles Dare”, “Flight of Icarus” and the massive hit “The Trooper” but on the other hand, there’s “Die With Your Boots On”, “Quest For Fire” or “Sun and Steel”, some of their weakest ones. I’m a big fan of the Dune epic “To Tame a Land” though and I wish they’d play it live during their modern era. Maybe with Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune movie, they will? In the end, Piece of Mind turned out to be an unequal and transitional album for the quintet before the golden trilogy that followed it.

Favourite track: "To Tame a Land"

Maiden's lineup after Adrian Smith's departure in 1989. Janick Gers is between McBrain and Harris.

8) A Matter of Life and Death (2006)

Released a week before I started my last year of high school, AMOLAD definitely has a special place in my heart but it also has some super strong songwriting. Outside of the quick opener “Different World” which is quite ordinary, I like all the songs here but especially the jewels “Brighter than a Thousand Suns”, “For the Greater Good of God” and “The Legacy”. All those tracks are around eight and nine minutes and are some of the finest “progressive” writing the band ever did.

The biggest downfall of the album is the fact it wasn’t mastered on purpose to give it a “live” feel. While I can understand that decision, it just makes the album feel unfinished. That and the fact the middle of the album is somewhat weak is why I can’t rank it over its two predecessors. I remember playing that album for my dad in the car and he said something like “that dude definitely sounds great for his age” and he does. Bruce forever.

Favourite track: "For the Greater Good of God"







7) Killers (1981)

The last record to feature Paul Di’anno always felt like a weaker brother to the self titled debut. It’s a very good record but some of the rockier influences lose me a bit. It does mark the arrival of Maiden’s best guitarist in Adrian Smith though! It’s an aggressive album and I think it lacks nuance compared to both its predecessor and the other 1980s albums. It compensates with a ballsy semi punk attitude and strong straightforward compositions. It's still a classic moment in NWOBHM but the best was to come.

Favourite tracks: “Genghis Khan” and “Killers”

6) Brave New World (2000)

The triumphant return of both Bruce and Adrian led to a return to form in the year 2000. It’s crazy to think that it’s already two decades ago... Brave New World is an expansive album full of twists and turns and a very dynamic feel. It has some of their more diverse compositions from the sentimental “Blood Brothers” to the ethnic/world music aspects of “The Nomad”, there’s a bit of everything on there.
The album is at its strongest in the middle with “Dreams of Mirrors” and “Fallen Angel” but I was always a bit left on my appetite with the two last numbers (“Out of the Silent Planet” and “The Thin Line Between Love And Hate”), they’re not displeasing but not on the same level as the highs of the album.

Favourite track: “Dream of Mirrors” for his unforgettable chorus.

5) Dance of Death (2003)

The worst thing about Dance of Death is obviously its unfinished artwork left uncredited because Dave Patchett (known for his outstanding work with fellow Brits Cathedral) obviously didn’t want to be known for that atrocious rough computerized draft. The music itself is excellent, it features one of the best mix between shorter heavier tracks such as “Rainmaker” or “Montségur” or longer numbers like “Dance of Death”, “Paschendale” or the gorgeous acoustic and orchestral number “Journeyman”. It has a pretty unique atmosphere too, it's mature heavy metal played by masters of their own peculiar style.

There’s contribution from everyone and it includes drummer Nicko McBrain’s sole songwriting credit with “New Frontier”. The trio of Dickinson/Smith/Harris and the duo of Harris/Gers definitely wrote the best things on there though. This is best Maiden’s best “newer” album even if it’s older than any kids in high school...

Favourite track: “Dance of Death” with its distinguished lead guitars.

Dance of Death booklet band picture

4) Iron Maiden (1980)

The debut of the legends is hella strong. It has some of my favourite Maiden songs and for a 1980 record, it’s really really diverse just like Judas Priest’s Sad Wings of Destiny was four years prior. Maiden’s first epic “Phantom of the Opera” is outstanding, the ballad “Strange World” features Paul Di’anno at his top and the quick tracks like “Prowler”, “Running Free” and the title track are pure heavy metal fun. The instrumental “Transylvania” is also bloody incredible too.

This laid the foundations of the band while being a totally unique album on its own and that’s a rare thing to see in metal.

Favourite song: "Phantom of the Opera"

Iron Maiden in 1980. From left to right, Dave Murray, Clive Burr, Paul Di'anno, Dennis Stratton & Steve Harris.

The Golden Trilogy

3) Somewhere In Time (1986)

Fully embracing synths and sci fi, Somewhere In Time is a tremendous album by a band at the peak of their abilities. It sounds somewhat dated now in 2020 but placed in its historical timeline, it’s an important album in terms of scope and vision. It did a lot for progressive metal as we know it today (see Fates Warning, Shadow Gallery, early Dream Theater...)

It’s an album dominated by the vision of both Adrian Smith and usual main songwriter Steve Harris, they basically shared songwriting duties and both of their sides are great. Apparently, Bruce wanted a more acoustic direction but was overruled by the rest of Maiden. Things would had been different!

To me, this is Maiden’s busiest album, it’s almost exhausting to listen to. Harris’ bass is loud, McBrain is all over the place, there’s a lot of synths but damn, the compositions are compact and tight. At times, this feels like beefed up AOR and it’s wonderful.

Despite Harris’ book report lyrics, “Alexander the Great” is one of those great Maiden epics and only rivalled by “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”.

Favourite song: "Alexander the Great"

Band picture during the Somewhere In Time era

2) Powerslave (1984)


The 2^nd album of Maiden’s classic lineup (Harris, Smith, Murray, McBrain and Dickinson), Powerslave is as gigantic as the pyramid on its artwork. The 1984 classic has some of their best hits in “Aces High” and “2 Minutes to Midnight” and features phenomenal songwriting and musicianship by a band at the top of their abilities. 

Powerslave was the last vanguard of true heavy metal before the apparition of thrash, death and black metal in the 2^nd half of the decade and it has all the required tricks and more. Strong instrumental track: check. A super heavy singalong banger (title track): check. An epic conclusion: check! In fact, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” was their longest song till the release of The Book of Souls half a decade ago...

Powerslave’s best qualities are its intensity and its epic scope both included in a palpable fifty minutes masterpiece. It's possibly their most influential album as well, you can hear odes and homages to it in both USPM and European heavy/power metal but not many bands come close to it.

Favourite Track: "Powerslave". It has Maiden’s best riff.

The band in 1988

1) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)

The last 1980s Maiden record and the last to feature to classic lineup, Seventh Son is also my favourite record by the British legends. It’s Maiden at their smartest and most intriguing. Dickinson is full in force after no songwriting credit on SIT and his contributions are pure fire, particularly “Moonchild” written with Smith.

It’s Maiden at their peak at everything. This album has the best vocals, the best sound of their 1980s run and the best compositions. It also has my all-time favourite track from theirs in “The Clairvoyant” and its maddening chorus.

“There's a time to live and a time to die,
when it's time to meet the maker?
There's a time to live but isn't it strange
that as soon as you're born you're dying?”

People shit on the single “Can I Play With Madness” but damn, it’s a catchy pop heavy metal song in an album full of darker, melancholic numbers such as “The Evil That Men Do”. Overall, this is a perfect album and ends the golden age of heavy metal in a spectacular way.

Favourite tracks: “The Clairvoyant” and the occult epicness of the title track

Thank you for reading! Iron Maiden is an important band for every metal fan (or should be!) and it was fun to come back to the basics in this difficult era. Staying home all day while blasting Maiden was definitely an easy but marvelous decision. Y’all should do the same. If I made you listen to one of their records then I'll be happy.

They're a band with distinct and diverse eras and like fellow metal giants Metallica or Judas Priest, they were able to keep a relatively stable throughout their history. The changes that happened shaped the band into what it is. Low points in a career are normal, it's how you rise again that defines the quality of a band. While not everyone shares the appreciation I do for their later albums, Iron Maiden didn't content themselves with mediocre attempts at rewriting the same olde formulas, they tried to push their musicality somewhere and managed to expand their horizons.

They're also still one of the best live bands in the world despite being in their sixties. I'll surely go back to see them when live gigs are gonna be a thing again. You never know when such legends decide to call it quits. I'm still mad I never saw Rush live.

Up the Irons!

-Your quarantined host, Antoine