Iron Maiden

b> Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden originates from East End of London and was formed in 1975 by Steve Harris a well known local bassist at that time. The band became one of the most famous heavy metal bands in the world opening up a new era of high pitched singers and music avenues that was never explored before. This band alone has sold over 100 million albums world wide and became one of the top heavy metal bands ever rated. Iron Maiden was nominated and won the Ivor Novello Awards for international achievement in the year 2002. And in the year 2005, the band was inducted into the Hollywood Rock WalkThe band have been a name tag with several key groups and performed with the most scintillating names out there in the music world in different arenas and timeframes. The band has played alongside Black Sabbath, Donington's Monsters of Rock and in the Download Festivals and the Reading and Leeds Festivals.The band was highly influenced by several musicians during their era. Thin Lizzy, UFO, and Deep Purple became everlasting impression sources for the band. Even the icon of the band, Eddie, which really was a mascot that came to life on the album covers was an amalgamation of sci-fi and horror scenes.

One great association and credit that goes to this band alone is the introduction of high pitched vocal cords with heavy metal genre. Hundreds of bands have attempted to come close to the perfection level of the band and imitate the level of noise, volume, and control of the heavy metal band. One great contributor to the overall success was Bruce Dickinson. Rob Halford and Judas Priest were also no exception to the rule. Also, their harmonic riff style has been implemented by infinity of bands from all metal branches. The list of bands that have been completely baffled by the music of Iron Maiden and try vehemently to imitate the band has grown exponentially. Anthrax, Dragonforce, Slayer, Trivium, Iced Earth, Children of Bodom, Cradle of Filth, Metallica, The Black Dahlia Murder, Between the Buried and Me, Gamma Ray, Helloween, and Testament are all bands that have been tempted to movie in that direction that has been carved by the legendary band.

The band like many other bands that moved a generation had their share of hiccups and drastic changes in band members. Paul Day who was the first vocalist of the band was hired soon after the launch and was replaced by Dennis Wilcock. Murray was inculcated as a guitarist much to the dismay of the other guitarists and caused a split among the band in 1976. And in 1977 Bob Sawyer was introduced to the band and soon was hired after a rift with the band members. Murray was later on reinstated into the band. It was not until 1978 that the band finally got the break that they were anticipating. After several of years honing the skills of the band and eliminating the errors of poor management, the band came out with their first demo labeled The Soundhouse tapes. The album only had three songs in it yet sold a good 5,000 copies the very first week. Prowler became an instantaneous hit and the music was highly appreciated in the local heavy metal magazines. The band struck a deal with EMI in 1979 and in 1980, the band came out with another album labeled Metal for Muthas.

The turning album for the group was really their 1980 album called Iron Maiden made number 4 in the UK charts. The band with the heavy metal lyrics and sounds were now carving a permanent place in the hearts of heavy metal lovers. They were able to open avenues that were not available to the generations. Running Free, Transylvania, Phantom of the Opera, and Sanctuary were all major hits all across the world. These songs were introduced in the States and were as much successful in States as they were in UK. Another successful release came out labeled Piece of Mind and several tracks were appreciated in the heavy metal arena. And in 1986, the band changed course to the previous centripetal heavy metal lyrics and personified guitar music to a more time drive and theme intensive album labeled Somewhere in Time. This was the first album that incorporated synthesized bass and guitar sound that added new textures and veneers to the music that the band played. Wasted Years became another super hit and the crowds welcomed this anticipated album.

The success of the variation of this particular album became the harbinger for the release of a similar album called the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Another introduction into the music was the keyboards as apposed to synthesizers. The years between 1994 to 1999 were the most notorious and self inflicting. The band was facing a drift from the popularity and was not able to garner the prowess to further ignite the love of their fans. The 1995 release called X Factor reached the lowest chart position for an album in UK. A similar occurrence with the 1998 release of Virtual XI. In 2003, Iron Maiden released Dance of Death. As usual, historical and literary influences continued?Montsegur in particular being about the Cathar stronghold conquered in 1244 and Paschendale relating to a significant battle during World War I. history and time have always been the primal themes for this band.

The band performed their last performance at the Ozzfest in 2005 in CA. that particular performance will be remembered by their fans for the longest time. In due course, irrespective of the major additions and subtractions of the band members, the group was added onto the VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The band was ranked fourth on MTV's Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All Time. Iron Maiden also won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002. And the most important achievement of the band was their induction into the Hollywood Rock Walk during their tour in the United States in 2005.