For me, it was difficult to choose these songs, because I love almost all Iron Maiden’s songs. They’re my favorite heavy metal band of all time, and I will always be grateful to them since they were the first metal band that I heard (when I was 12), and thanks to that, I have fallen in love with the genre ever since.
Of course, the list is a little selection, of what I think are some of their classics and if someone doesn’t know them yet and wants to dive into Iron Maiden and the metal world, these choices are a good way to start.
The songs are in no particular order.
Iron Maiden
The homonymous song of their first album (also named Iron Maiden), which just like their second album, Killers, had their first singer, Paul Di’Anno. Paul’s vocal style is more punk than heavy metal, so this is a very “in-your-face” type of song and lyrically is about someone’s going to catch you to submit to Iron Maiden.
The Number of the Beast
One of their most-known songs. It’s from their third album, named just like this song. This was their first album with Bruce Dickinson as their singer, and the last with Clive Burr, as their drummer. The lyrics are about a guy that has dreams about satanic rituals, and he doesn’t know if their dreams are real or not. This album and especially this song attracted the focus of some religious groups that started banning the band and talking against them, which resulted in more popularity for Iron Maiden.
Brave New World
Bruce Dickinson was out of the band for two albums (The X Factor and Virtual XI), in which he was replaced by Blaze Bayley. Brave New World album and song represent Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith, guitarist, triumphal return to the band. The song and album title are about Aldous Huxley’s novel of the same name.
For me, Brave New World’s album is one of my dearest, the song lyrics are very emotional (especially Blood Brothers) and it reminds me of the first time I saw them live, with this tour, one of my best-loved shows so far. That show was so impressive to me also, because of their opening show, none less that Rob Halford (Judas Priest singer), my second preferred band, after Iron Maiden. Rob, at that time, was out of Judas Priest, and I dreamed to see them also reunited one day. A dream that I have been fortunate to see become a reality, many times, since then.
Fear of the Dark (live version)
A captivating ballad from the same-titled album. I think the live version is absolutely superior to the studio version, since it really captures the emotion of the audience, and you can really get absorbed in that feeling. The video below is from En Vivo!’s presentation, recorded in Chile (of course I was present in that show, just as in every concert Iron Maiden has played in my country, except for their first one with Blaze Bayley in 1995).
Run to the Hills
Another track, from The Number of the Beast album, tells about America’s colonization by Europeans and their conflict with the native people that were living in these territories. The music is very fast-paced, and it gives you the impression of being a participant in these epic battles.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Another song from The Number of the Beast album. It debates death and the fear of what happens after we die, from a point of view of someone that is close to being executed. It makes you feel very emotional, just like this person, questioning God, but also trying to remain hopeful in the illusion of the afterlife.
Wasted Years
From their Somewhere in Time album. Moving, but with a positive message that calls us to get the most out of our time here. Don’t waste time, don’t dwell on the past, and just enjoy our life while we’re here.
The Trooper
An iconic song from the Piece of Mind album. It was inspired by a poem about the Crimea War “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The conflict (1853-1856) was between the Russian Empire against an alliance of French, British, Ottoman, and Sardinian troops. Bruce Dickinson usually waves the Union Flag of the United Kingdom in concerts, during this song.
Aces High
It’s a single from the Powerslave album. It tells about a battle of World War II, from the point of view of a pilot. It is preceded by an excerpt from the famous Winston Churchill’s speech “We shall fight on the Beaches”, which was used to keep the hopes up of the people of Britain during the war.
Stranger in a Strange Land
This is not a very famous or known song. But is very special to me. It belongs to the Somewhere in Time album. The lyrics are about an Arctic explorer who died frozen and was discovered several years later, preserved in ice. I used to listen a lot to this song when I was a teenage girl and didn’t feel like I belong in the city, where we had moved with my family, a couple of years before. To this day, whenever I hear this song, I still feel like this, like an outsider, not being understood or that I’m just on my own, but after all, aren’t we all?