Metal Reviews

number of the beast is my favorite, i think it edges out piece of mind as a quinessential maiden album.

Holy crap -- I can't believe more people haven't said Number of the Beast! It's got the songs Number of the Beast, 22 Acacia Avenue, The Prisoner (personal fave of mine), Run to the Hills, etc. on it.

Guess everybody is different, and I still vote for Number..., but that and Piece of Mind and Powerslave are what I would consider the must-haves of the Maiden output. O'course, some people might say Killers and others will say Seventh Son..., but I think those inbetween three albums (not including ...Time) are something special, different from what came before or after.

Number of the beast is a great album but i find the title track a bit overrated

yeah number of the beast is over rated, and so is run to the hills, however 22 acacia avenue, the prisoner, invaders...basicly everything else on the album out weighs the over rated ones, which still aren't bad just godly.

prisoner is probly my favorite song on the album, with the exception, maybe, of hallowed be thy name.

Somewhere In Time. Great album! IMO it's under rated. The opener is tough, many of the songs are extremely catchy, and it has the ultimate "Alexander the Great" on it, that you'll prolly never hear live because it's so hard to play.

Piece Of Mind just shades it for me. Possibly cos it was the 1st Maiden album i bought which always brings back great memories. Number Of The Beast & Powerslave come close though. But both have a couple of weak tracks on them though (Gangland & Back In The Village).

Nothing by Iron maiden is over=rated.

Certain Maiden songs are overrated when compared to other Maiden songs. Like Run to the Hills.

And Number of the Beast. And The Trooper.

They're still great songs.

That they are. That they are. Well, maybe not Number of the Beast so much. But the others for sure.

Powerslave!!!

I would have to go with Number of the Beast. If only for the fact that "Hallowed be thy Name" is one of the greatest songs in metal history. In reality, you could start almost anywhere.

Number of the Beast. The "hit songs" might be overrated, but this album is still excellent and solid. Piece, Powerslave and Seventh are very close though.

Either Somewhere In Time or Brave New World. Maiden did a lot of experimenting on both SIT and the follow-up 7th Son, but I prefer SIT.

BNW is just classic, Maiden's return in top form after Blaze left the group. Though Blaze did as good of a job as he could, it seems he was held back by Steve's writing and poor performances of Bruce's classics.

The highlight of Brave New World: "Oh, I fucking missed it!"

I kid BNW was pretty good, not their best in my opinion, but an excellent Maiden release.

Which is the song on Piece of mind which isn't great ,neither funny?
By the way,i think Nico's drumming is rather boring,especially compared to Clive's!

In complete agreement. I think Brave New World is a side of Maiden that we'll never see again. The Wickerman, the Mercenary, and The Fallen Angel are all good songs, but the other songs (Blood Brothers, Thin Line Between Love and Hate) are not of this world. Even Maiden's old 10+ tracks can't touch the epic feel BNW gives you. I guess for me it was what I was waiting for, an eerie marriage between Bruce-era and Blaze-era.

As far as Somewhere in Time, again, its the atmosphere. Has a lot to do with the production, melodies, and Bruce's uncanny singing of those lyrics. A true underdog in the Maiden catalogue.

Then I'd go with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Piece of Mind, Powerslave... and that's all that really catches my attention anymore. That and a couple Blaze-era songs.

Depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for pure nwobhm go for either Iron Maiden or Killers. If you're looking for a classic Maiden album, then either Number of the Beast, Powerslave, Piece of mind will do. My suggestion Number of the Beast. The reason? It's just one of those classic albums! Cult lyrics, great guitarwork, Dickinson screaming at the top of his lungs whith that "rough" edge in his voice (instead of that irritating squealing vibrato he uses live these days) etcetc

Put Seventh Son, Piece of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere in Time on a table, close your eyes, scramble the albums and pick one. You can't go wrong!