Iron Maiden Albums Ranked From Worst to Best
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- Опубліковано 21 чер 2021
- This week kicks off the 2nd round of personal picks from the three Listographers. First up is Joe who seized the opportunity to bring some metal to the channel. It's Iron Maiden week, baby!
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Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The band's discography has grown to 40 albums, including 16 studio albums, 13 live albums, four EPs, and seven compilations. They have also released 45 singles and 20 video albums. Two electronic games have been released with Iron Maiden soundtracks, and the band's music is featured in a number of other video games.
As pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal movement, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s. After several line-up changes, the band went on to release a series of UK and US platinum and gold albums, including 1980's eponymous debut album, 1981's Killers, 1982's The Number of the Beast, 1983's Piece of Mind, 1984's Powerslave, 1985's live release Live After Death, 1986's Somewhere in Time, 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1990's No Prayer for the Dying, and 1992's Fear of the Dark. In 1982 the band released its album The Number of the Beast, the first with Bruce Dickinson, who replaced Paul Di'Anno as lead singer. This was a turning point in their career, helping establish Iron Maiden as one of the most important heavy metal artists in history. By 2010, more than 14 million copies of the album had been sold worldwide. Since the return of lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith in 1999, the band has undergone a resurgence in popularity, with a series of new albums and highly successful tours. Their 2010 album, The Final Frontier, peaked at No. 1 in 28 countries and received widespread critical acclaim. The sixteenth studio album, The Book of Souls, was released on 4 September 2015 to similar success, debuting at number one in the album charts of 24 countries.
By 2017, Iron Maiden had sold over 100 million copies of their albums worldwide, despite little radio or television support According to MD Daily Record by 2021 all audio-visual releases of the band have sold in over 200 million copies worldwide, including regular albums, singles, VHS', DVDs and all compilations. Iron Maiden have become one of the most influential and revered rock bands of all time and helped spawn an entire genre of music. According to many critics the band elevated heavy metal to an art form, proving that academic and musical inspirations can coexist.
The band and its musicians have received multiple nominations, honours and awards including Grammy Awards and equivalents awards in many countries, Brit Awards, Silver Clef Award, ECHO Awards, Juno Awards, Emma-Gaala Awards, Nordoff-Robbins Award (International Achievement 2002), Ivor Novello Awards, Guiness Book of World Records, Public Choice International, Online Music Awards Germany, The Rocks Awards, Metal Hammer Awards, Kerrang! Awards, Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards, Honorary Doctorates and sales recognition awards. Iron Maiden were inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk and Kerrang! Hall of Fame in 2005. The Band was hailed as the most successful British metal group on British Channel 4. In 2012 The Number of the Beast was voted as Best British Album Ever in the public poll related to Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. In April 2021, the ex-members of the band were inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame. The band is also a part of permanent exhibitions of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the British Music Experience.
Iron Maiden's lyrics cover such topics as history, literature, war, mythology, society, religion. Many of their songs are based on history, classic literature and film. As of October 2019, the band have played circa 2500 live shows, performing for tens of millions of fans. For over 40 years, the musicians have been supported by their famous mascot, "Eddie", who has appeared on almost all of their album and single covers, videos and merchandise. Originally designed by Derek Riggs, Eddie became the main attraction of Iron Maiden live shows, which feature theatrical elements like coloured backdrops, inflatables, pyrotechnics, elaborate lighting rigs, props and stage sets.
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Let us know your thoughts on Maiden down in the comments, and leave us your ranking as well. Thanks for watching!
#IronMaiden #AlbumsRanked #WorsttoBest
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listographymusic.com
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SCREAMMM For me Listography!
Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Wait for it left hand side …. Wait for it …..
The first band I was ever obsessed with.
1. Killers
2. Number of the Beast
3. Piece of Mind
4. Powerslave
5. Iron Maiden
6. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
7. Somewhere in Time
8. Brave New World
9. A Matter of Life and Death
10. Fear of the Dark
11. Book of Souls
12. The Final Frontier
13. No Prayer for the Dying
14. Dance of Death
15. The X Factor
16. Virtual XI
The love for killers is great!
The two blaze albums at the bottom. How original. Bet u didn’t even listen to them
@@paulmcgrath6118 Where would you rank them, and what would be your bottom two?
@@paulh6673 I would definitely have X factor in the top ten, my bottom two ? It’s like picking my least favourite child but book of souls doesn’t do much for me, senjetsu I’m not crazy about either . For me personally my top six are seventh son, piece of mind , X factor , iron maiden, killers and brave new world . Number of the beast is overrated imo
The first 7 Maiden albums are the best.
I think the book of souls is so underrated I actually love this album
I've been reflecting, and I think it's good to get the non-metal fans opinion, and I think it just shows that once you start listening to metal and enjoy it for a long time, you stop realising that the longer songs, even if they have lots of switch ups, just are a bit self-indulgent and you can achieve the same thing with short songs.I really think if Steve took the risk, shortened his songs and started thinking, that a great idea he has to extend the song, will be improved, if he simply starts a new soul.
Maybe Steve gets a good idea to extend the song and stays with it, because he thinks that he won't have an idea of such quality, or can't twist that same idea into a new song.I think he should have given this a go.there are some weaker songs on the book of souls, which might have been improved if he had cut "book of souls" for example into, and started the 2nd half as a new song of great quality.Because that song,,as a Masterpiece, But Doesn't need tTo be thatLong.
It gets better and better doesn’t it. I don’t mind the longer songs. Most songs have the 3 lead guitar sound that has truly evolved on BOS & Senjitsu
I love how much love (two of you) gave to Fear Of The Dark! I always see it middle or low on lists, but it's probably my favorite too. Admittedly, it's got that early-90s vibe, but I dig that for sure!
I honestly rate Book Of Souls pretty darn highly. I LOVE “red and the black.” Don’t think I remember any of you mentioning that song. The bass work alone in it is amazing
"The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" is based on a short story by the British novelist Alan Sillitoe and the subsequent 1962 film inspired by this story. Keep up the good work.
Here's my full ranking;
01: Power Slave
02: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
03: Somewhere in Time
04: Number of the Beast
05: Piece of Mind
06: Iron Maiden
07: No Prayer For the Dying
08: Brave New World
09: A Matter of Life and Death
10: Fear of the Dark
11: Killers
12: Virtual XI
13: The Final Frontier
14: Dance of Death
15: Book of Souls
16: X Factor
Now Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want and do a Morrissey list!!
This has become my favourite UA-cam music channel, btw. Fantastic stuff! I love it!
We have the same top 6 down to the number!
I'm glad to see Stranger In A Strange Land , from Somewhere In Time, getting so much love. For me it's one of their best songs. Has a dynamic, epic and anthemic sweep to it. I enjoy singing it. I really get into it and the lyrics are pretty good too.
Y’know what? I appreciate that you guys can embrace a broad range of discographies from new wave to metal. You guys are honest about your degree of familiarity and fandom. It’s appealing that you guys are such good friends and it sets apart this channel and keeps me watching
. #1- powerslave
#2- number
#3- piece of mind
#4- 7th son
#5- killers.
#6- somewhere in time.
Book of souls and fear of the dark have moved up for me after more frequent listens . The Live after death and maiden japan ep was the records that put me over the top.
Prayer and X factor are the 2 stinkers:
when X factor came out though I remember trying so hard to like it and defend it, listened to it 3 times and then I kind of dumped Iron Maiden for 5/6 years before returning to them slowly when Brave new world and dance of death arrived. Great job - please keep it up
Good list 😅 for me 1. Piece of mind even quest for fire. After hearing still life I think a bit of comic relief suits the mood for a bit before some death and destruction again. Perfect album. 2. Dance of death . Slow start bit once it gets rolling! 3 is tough can change everyday but today it's powerslave. 4. For today is seventh son and 5. Number of the beast . Honorable mention Killers . I have trouble ranking it but it's in the top 5 and can be 1 on any given day. Mine even has Paul s Auto graph . And I have a killers tattoo
1. Somewhere in Time
2. Powerslave
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. Piece of Mind
5. Book of Souls
But I love everything really favourite band of all time
Right there with you on Somewhere in Time
16. X Factor
15. Virtual XL
14. Book of Souls
13. The Final Frontier
12. No Prayer For The Dying
11. A Matter of Life and Death
10. Dance of Death
9. Fear of The Dark
8. Seventh Son of A Seventh Son
7. Brave New World
6. Peace of Mind
5. Somewhere In Time
4. Powerslave
3. Killers
2. The Number of The Beast
1. Iron Maiden
Great show as usual guys.
Been a fan for a long time and I’ve always thought Fear Of The Dark was their most underrated album. It just came out at the wrong time. I remember as a 15 year old telling kids at school how good it was and they all told me that Iron Maiden and metal in general was dead.
My favourite is Somewhere In Time
I really like the lists you guys put up. The contrasts are cool, but it's the agreement with certain albums I really appreciate.
Saw a Maiden list where Killers was put next to the bottom. I get personal opinions, but that just shows a lack of understanding for the WHOLE catalog.
Once again. Very cool gentlemen.
Great review, now it's time to bring on the Priest! If you aren't really familiar with them I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by their 70s output (except for their first Rocka Rolla). They are really more hard rock albums with some metal elements, and with some surprisingly good slow songs mixed in here and there, which I'd think would fit your tastes to a certain extent.
My Top 16 Iron Maiden Albums, with Favorite Tracks.
16. Virtual XI
(Favorite Track: The Angel and the Gambler)
15. The X Factor
(Favorite: The Sign of the Cross)
14. A Matter of Life and Death
(Favorite: Different World)
13. No Prayer for the Dying
(Favorite: Hooks in You)
12. Fear of the Dark
(Favorite: Afraid to Shoot Strangers)
11. Dance of Death
(Favorite: Journeyman)
10. The Book of Souls
(Favorite: Speed of Light)
9. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
(Favorite: Can I play with Madness)
8. Brave New World
(Favorite: Out of the Silent Planet)
7. The Final Frontier
(Favorite: Satellite 15... The Final Frontier)
6. Somewhere in Time
(Favorite: Wasted Years)
5. Powerslave
(Favorite: The Duelist)
4. The Number of the Beast
(Favorite: Invader)
3. Iron Maiden
(Favorite: Transylvania/Strange World)
2. Killers
(Favorite: Murders in the Rue Mourge)
1. Piece of Mind
(Favorite: The Trooper)
There You Go, My Ranking.
Hello, been watching you guys alot, even when it were a solo show, you have a very good thing going, one thing i would love to see on this channel is all you three going through the discography of the japanese Kraftwerk "Yellow Magic Orchestra" (and Kraftwerk too, if you havent......) i thought it were about time to tell you i enjoy your channel and its highly entertaining, keep up the good work dudes !! peace from Norway ;)
1. Piece of Mind
2. The Number of The Beast
3. Powerslave
4. Killers
5. Brave New World
6. Somewhere In Time
7. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
8. Iron Maiden
9. A Matter of Life and Death
10. Dance of Death
11. The Book of Souls
12. Fear of The Dark
13. The X Factor
14. The Final Frontier
15. No Prayer for The Dying
16. Virtual XI
Joe, the bizarre lyrical themes is one of my favourite aspects about Somewhere In Time. I think it's a welcome change up from the previous records, and allows for the softer, spacier sound of the record. It's hard to take your foot off the gas when you're constantly shouting about warfare and death.
I also really like Alexander the Great, I don't mind the lyrics because they are so upfront, they don't pretend to be something they're not. I think it's musically interesting throughout and it's a blistering performance by Dickinson, one of his best.
1. Iron Maiden
2. Powerslave
3. Killers
4. Seventh Son of the Seventh Son
5. Number of the Beast
6. Piece of Mind
7. A Matter of Life and Death
8. Somewhere In Time
9. Dance of Death
10. No Prayer for the Dying
11. The Final Frontier
12. Fear of the Dark
13. The Book of Souls
14. The X Factor
15. Brave New World
16. Virtual XI
Very tough to rank their albums. Such a fantastic metal band! And they're my number one metal band of all time.
Love Dianno he ruled - the right guy at the right time to launch them
The first proper concert I went to was Iron Maiden in Dublin in '93 - Dickinson's "final" tour. Awesome gig!
1 Somewhere in Time
2 7th Son
3 Piece of Mind
4 Powerslave
5 Brave New World
hearing kramzer talk about the repetitive intros on X factor and then immediately skimming through that whole album on spotify for the first time to instantly notice what he was talking about was actually hilarious.
Great episode. Ready for songs tomorrow.
My list:
16. Virtual XI
15. The X Factor
14. The Final Frontier
13. Dance of Death
12. A Matter of Life and Death
11. No Prayer for the Dying
10. The Book of Souls
9. Fear of the Dark
8. Iron Maiden
7. Brave New World
6. Killers
5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. Number of the Beast
3. Powerslave
2. Piece of Mind
1. Somewhere in Time
P
I like it
This is amazinggggg thank u guys I'm a big fan
Scream for me Listography! The Duellists an overlooked gem- good call Jason. Perhaps Killers has some of the debut's leftovers and thus not as strong top to bottom but Wrathchild and title track combined with Martin Birch's arrival make it the slightly better of the 2 for me. And the 3 albums immediately following are what place Maiden at the top.
The line up from the third album was one and done and it to me really was never topped. Just a special vibe.
Well done for mentioning
“Run to the hills”
Specifically
Was their breakthrough song
In uk. Still have my 7” pic sleeve single
Important song. Especially thought provoking for Irish Americans slagging off brits
I felt sorry for Joe while watching this. That said, these are the only 5 Maiden studio albums I need:
5. Seventh Son of the Seventh Son
4. Somewhere In Time
3. Piece of Mind
2. Number of the Beast
1. Powerslave
But I listen to Live After Death the most.
I would keep those five, and add Iron Maiden and Killers to that list. The first two albums (both of which featured Paul Di'Anno on vocals) were amazing.
16. X-Factor
15. Fear of the Dark
14. Virtual XI
13. No Prayer For the Dying
12. Book of Souls
11. Brave New World
10. The Final Frontier
9. Iron Maiden
8. A Matter of Life and Death
7. Dance of Death
6. Somewhere in Time
5. Killers
4. The Number of the Beast
3. Piece of Mind
2. Powerslave
1. Seventh Son of A Seventh Son
Watch at 47:00 to see Joe completely losing his mind.
I don't blame him. Fear of the Dark does not belong anywhere near the top of the list.
Serves him right for ranking Remain in Light #7 in Talking Heads Listography. I threw my computer across the room when he did that.
@@12spanku I agree. Fear Of The Dark sucks. I only like 2 songs off that album.
And Jason has Killers way too low. But respect for having Seventh Son up high because that is a solid album. Probably Top 5 for me.
@@burmajones803 That is true.
Joe’s mild mannered disapproval is the one of the best things about this group.
Right before work, but my evening viewing is sorted now.
Jason we had almost the exact same ranking..switch #6 and #1 and we have same ranking. this was excellent thanks!!! great video
That’s pretty crazy -Jason
" Somewhere in Time " easily slots into my all time top 50. One of the few albums where I'd give every song at least a 4 out of 5. Plenty of albums could legit be number 1, should be a good watch.
I disagree the loneliness of the long distance runner is a, bit of a durge, never understood the love for this very dull song. The same with Alexander the great. Deja vu I actively detest and wasted years though a good song with a good beat is more pop than metal. The rest of the songs are brilliant though.
Joe comes through again with an awesome pick!
Why don’t you just marry him?
@@TastesLikeMusic I don't presume to be worthy of Joe.
Before this I only really knew The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind and Powerslave. Love them all but for whatever reason I never had any of their other albums. I'd discounted the first album years ago because I just couldn't get past the lack of Bruce Dickinson. I ran out of time to listen to all the albums to do a proper ranking here but I will say I enjoyed the first two albums this time around more than before. The last album I got to was No Prayer For The Dying which was a notable step down from everything else I'd heard. I skimmed a bit of the Blaze Bayley stuff and wow, not great.
Throughout this I introduced Iron Maiden to the next generation though. My six year old son loved them.
A matter of life and death is my favourite album as a whole listen through. Didn't like it at all at first but it just grew and grew and now I think there's literally no bad songs on it and it's the best mixed album in their catalogue to me. Everything is just awesome even though there are no super hits in the catchy sense. Just a great studio album with every song fitting together perfectly and the tightest they've ever sounded
I just saw Iron Maiden last night in Detroit and I had a blast! Lots of people at the show were extremely crazy about Maiden and everyone loved it. A lot of people came from many different countries, and there even were some Canadians that are also came! Everyone is still killing it, even in their mid 60s! Bruce Dickinson was very energetic! And they changed the stage for every single! It's definitely awesome! They played a lot of the hits and fan favorites! Definitely a band that you have to see! They always have a killer show.
Oh and Judas Priest and Queensryche are heading to my hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan on October 21. I've never seen both of them before, but my dad has. He's a huge fan of both! He's not a Maiden fan like his buddy is. My dad thought that he was going to boring, but he did know a couple of their songs and he likes that new Maiden song Writings on the Wall. He had a blast, too! Seeing Maiden was obviously on my bucket list for shows to see! It was totally awesome!
That was the best show I've ever been to! Maiden at Little Caesar's Arena
Personally, I think Bruce Dickinson should have stuck with producing for Blue Oyster Cult.
He puts his pants on one leg at a time, like everyone else. Except, after he's got his pants on he makes hit records, baby!
Oh shi…here we go. My favorite band of all time. Can’t wait to dive into this one.
I used to listen to Iron maiden back in the 80's, i saw them live in Arma di Taggia (Sanremo Italy) World Slavery Tour 1984 i think, I'm not into heavy metal anymore but i still like to listen to them from time to time. My top 5 Albums would still be:
1) Iron Maiden
2) Killers
3) the number of the beast
4) piece of mind
5) power slave
i think their first 4 albums were outstanding. powerslave was a step down, and somwhere in time was a consecutive step down; quit buying their albums (cassettes) after that, but still listen to the first 4 often.
Iron Maiden was using the Gallien-Krueger GK 250RL Solid State amps on Somewhere In Time. They were all the rage in the mid 80's and where also used by RUSH and The Police who both made better use of the amp by using the Clean tones and not the distortion channel. I have owned a couple of these amps and they sound really great (especially clean) but I definitely would not use one to record distorted rhythm guitar tracks. Great video, thanks. (P.S. I saw Iron Maiden with the Scorpions at The University of Washington in Seattle, 1982. Still have the shirt, Girlschool Opened :)
Also, number of the beast is great, bought it the day it came out and saw the tour, but 22 Acacia Avenue and Gangland are a bit on the weaker side (not as good as the weaker tracks on Piece of Mind imo). Also run to the hills I never need to hear again, way over played and I'm not into the chorus at all, a little too whiny). Hallowed be thy name though is definitely one of the best Maiden songs ever. Powerslave is a bit harder to get into but such a great album overall. Piece of Mind though is fantastic, I feel like it's the their "Dark Side of the Moon". Top 5
1. Killers
2. Iron Maiden
3. Piece of Mind
4. Number of the Beast
5. Powerslave
Honestly they lost me after that, Somewhere in Time is pretty good but not an album I would want to listen to again (just sold mine on discogs actually), need to re-visit Seventh Son but most of the stuff was so formula by then it was hard to listen to... No comparison to how good they were pre 1985. Great video though, thanks.
16. The X Factor ★ ½ - The Blaze Bayley albums are virtually interchangeable here at the bottom. I don’t think he’s a particularly good singer and he doesn’t fit the band, yet I don’t think he’s the real problem here, the problem is the songwriting. As the early 90’s albums showed, even a prime Bruce Dickinson couldn’t do much to elevate the songs when the quality of material dipped so drastically.
15. Virtual XI ★ ½ - Avoids last place by the tiniest of margins. Some of these choruses really makes it clear that they are scraping the barrel where songwriting is concerned.
14. Dance of Death ★★ - This is a record I’ve always had problems with, and even though this was the newest album when I had my Maiden phase, I didn’t care for it that much even back then. They stumble out the gate with Wildest Dreams, before momentarily redeeming themselves with Rainmaker, the best song on the album. Unfortunately this is where the real trouble begins. I consider this an album of four pillars, No More Lies, Dance of Death, Paschendale and Journeyman, plus a bunch of nothingness in between. The problem is none of those four songs are any good. No More Lies is a bunch of ill-fitting parts with some real jarring cuts between them, and a clunky, generic chorus. The title track is one of the worst songs in their catalogue, they have some nerve basing an almost nine minute song around that lousy guitar riff. Paschendale is the least bad of the lot, and I think it’s considered quite a classic among fans, it’s just never stuck with me. It puts a lot of emphasis on the lyrics, which is not what I’m looking for in my Maiden. Then Journeyman takes us out with a whimper. This song and Wildest Dreams try to recreate the energy of Running Free and Iron Maiden from the debut, but here they just sound like old men and it doesn’t work at all. There are some good ideas here, but none of them turn into actual good songs, Rainmaker being the exception. This turned into a bit of an essay, I’ll try to keep it more brief going forward.
13. The Final Frontier ★★ - I appreciate they are trying something here but these songs just go in one ear and out the other for me. Doesn’t do anything for me at all.
12. No Prayer for the Dying ★★ - A lousy album and a huge fall from grace after the 80’s.
11. Fear of the Dark ★★ - Definitely not the redemption after No Prayer for the Dying like some paint it to be, just a marginally better album. Some real weird choices on here, that three minute intro on Afraid to Shoot Strangers is just excessive to the extreme.
10. A Matter of Life and Death ★★ ½ - Significantly better than Dance of Death but kind of wears you down with a bunch of mid-tempo stuff. Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg is a good late-period Maiden epic.
9. The Book of Souls ★★ ½ - This is a missed opportunity. Cut this down to size and you have a three and a half star record. Unfortunately it’s unbearably long, all of these second era Bruce are to be fair, but this one is really taking the piss. As it is it’s close to three stars but not quite.
8. Killers ★★★ - The weakest 80’s record for me but still a fun listen.
7. Iron Maiden ★★★ ½ - Always preferred this to Killers. Quite a unique record.
6. Piece of Mind ★★★ ½ - Some of their best songs can be found on here, and Nicko McBrain immediately makes his presence felt. Kind of falls apart on side two however.
5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son ★★★ ½ - This is a good album for sure, close to four stars, but I never enjoy it as much as the records I have above it. Doesn’t quite have the energy of the early Bruce stuff, nor the hooks of Somewhere in Time.
4. The Number of the Beast ★★★★ - This could easily be as high as number 2. It’s very fast and heavy throughout, which is both its weakness and its strength. Maybe the quintessential NWOBHM record, great performances throughout, but stays a bit too long in one lane. I’ve also never cared for the title track.
3. Powerslave ★★★★ - The peaks of TNotB are probably higher but this edges ahead on better variety and sequencing. The first two songs are just classics and I also love the title track.
2. Brave New World ★★★★ - Like every other 21st century Maiden record, this is too long. The last three songs could have been cut and I wouldn’t have missed them. With that out of the way, this is a very good record. It’s very much a stadium rock record, written with an eye on a massive world tour following the return of the classic era-lineup but it works so well. The songs are massive yet they don’t meander and are constantly moving forward. The best Iron Maiden album since the 80’s and I don’t think it’s even close.
1. Somewhere In Time ★★★★ - There’s not a lot separating my top four, but the main reason I’m giving the win to Somewhere in Time is this, it’s an album that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Bruce albums until this point had very heavy lyrical themes, and I never thought they did it particularly well. Here it’s more varied, a lot lighter and quirkier, and I think the same holds true for the music. I like all the songs on here, and if I were to go by the Jason criteria, this is definitely the Maiden record I would reach for most often.
With Metallica, Gn'R and now Maiden you've covered the three pillars of my music listening youth. And even though they hardly ever figure into my listening anymore, Maiden is the band of the three I put highest nowadays. They might top out at four stars, but I still like them a good bit. Really enjoyed doing this, nothing quite like music to make memories come flooding back.
Long time and old school Iron Maiden fan. Showing my age, I grew up with this band guys.
Here's my ranking
16. The X Factor
15. Virtual XI
14. No Prayer For The Dying
13. Dance Of Death
12. The Final Frontier
11. Book Of Souls
10. Fear Of The Dark
9. A Matter Of Life And Death
8. Brave New World
7. The Number Of The Beast
6. Killers
5. Seventh Son Of Seventh Son
4. Iron Maiden
3. Somewhere In Time
2. Powerslave
1. Piece Of Mind
The viewers were right Jason, the 3 album run from Piece to Seventh Son is pretty epic.
Thanks for the ranking video guys even though Jason and Kram are a bit off base. Hahaha
Happy with Jason’s pick for number 1! Seventh son has always been my favourite Maiden album. Tough discography to rank, a lot of great albums for sure.
I’m pretty surprised he didn’t screw this one up. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusicI noticed Jason’s usually not controversial with his number 1 picks. But there’s almost always an out of left field choice in the top 5 somewhere. 😂
Seventh Son is an amazing album
Fantastic album
16- Virtual XI
15- X Factor
14- Dance of Death
13-No Prayer for the Dying
12-The Final Frontier
11-A Matter of Life and Death
10-The Book of Souls
9- Fear of the Dark
8- Iron Maiden
7- Brave New World
6- Killers
5- The Number of the Beast
4- Piece of Mind
3- Powerslave
2- Seventh Son
1-Somewhere in Time
Powerslave is one of my all time favorite albums. It’s been with me since my very early high school days and I find that it hasn’t aged a day. I find it similar to opening a great book. Seeing it 5th in the ratings cuts me deep.
You guys made excellent points all throughout this video though. The Maiden catalog needs an updated listen from me as they were once one of my most listened to bands (and they’re fucking amazing live), however if I had to rank them today:
14.) No Prayer For the Dying
13.) AMLOAD
12.) Dance of Death
11.) Fear of the Dark
10.) The Final Frontier
9.) The Book Of Souls
8.) Iron Maiden
7.) Brave New World
6.) Somewhere in Time
5.) Killers
4.) The Number of the Beast
3.) Seventh Son
2.) Piece of Mind
1.) Powerslave
If you’re referring to the averaged list at the end of the video, Powerslave wasn’t really 5th, it was in a 3-way tie for third. -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic ah right on, I see now. Makes it a little easier to digest.
These guys obviously have not listened very much.to power slave, or aces high and 11:58 are weak songs, shows you do not have much depth in your taste. The sam guy rated fear of the dark as a "really good" song. Fear of the dark does not compare to those 2 other songs in the slightest. It is totally a throwaway song, except for the riff.a The other 2 songs riffs melodies and lyrics are all deep, intense and have masterful lyrics Try working out what they are about.The songwriting is amazing, 11:58 I can see someone who doesn't know what it's about, think it's just a gorefest, but it's written about the Western elite mentality, arundthe only time in history when the US and Soviet Union got to 11:58, which is a doomsday clock reference to the closest ever time for a total world war 3. Thisis a historical fact if you do your research happening around the time of the Cuban missile crisis, but it wasn't widely reported. Aces high gives a great intense feeling of what the fighter pilots were going through in the Battle of Britain particularly, when the likelihood was that the Germans were going to win and invade, but the quickly trained high IQ members of the British public were put in Spitfires and told if they didn't succeed everything was over.Harris completely captures this in the intensity but also the depth of the lyrics.
The fact that one guy is wearing a white snake T-shirt really sums him up
One of my all time favorite bands. I understand its great importance, but for me DiAnno's records are below almost all of Dickinson's, and Blaze's will always be at the bottom. I actually enjoy Bruce's live versions more than Paul and Bayley's studio tracks. My ranking would be:
Masterpieces:
1. Seventh Son
2. Powerslave
3. Piece of Mind
4. The Number Of The Beast
5. Somewhere In Time
6. Brave New World
Excellent:
7. Fear Of The Dark
8. A Matter Of Life And Death
9. The Book Of Souls
Very Good Records:
10. Killers
11. The Final Frontier
12. Iron Maiden
Acceptable:
13. Dance Of Death
14. No Prayer For The Dying
Awfull Records (especially for the vocalist):
15. The X Factor
16. Virtual XI
Greetings from Gran Canaria
Once again our lists are pretty similar groupings wise👍 nice list once again
Great chat! A footnote to the comment about "Run To The Hills" being the first song (or metal song) addressing the plight of the American Indians - Judas Priest did it with "Savage" (1978) and Queen with "White Man" (1976).
17. The X Factor (1995)
16. Virtual XI (1998)
15. No Prayer For The Dying (1990)
14. The Final Frontier (2010)
13. The Book Of Souls (2015)
12. Senjutsu (2021)
11. Fear Of The Dark (1992)
10. Brave New World (2000)
9. Dance Of Death (2003)
8. A Matter Of Life And Death (2006)
7. Seventh Son Of The Seventh Son (1988)
6. Iron Maiden (1980)
5. The Number Of The Beast (1982)
4. Powerslave (1984)
3. Killers (1981)
2. Piece Of Mind (1983)
1. Somewhere In Time (1986)
Great list!
Woah wasn’t expecting Fear of the Dark sooo High! But it’s good to hear some fresh takes!
I just found your channel. Good stuff, agree with the rankings for the most part. I would say both "Number of the Beast" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" are "perfect" albums where every song on those albums are good. My quick and dirty rankings: 16. No Prayer for the Dying 15. Virtual XI 14. The Final Frontier 13. The X Factor 12. Book of Souls 11. Matter of Life and Death 10. Fear of the Dark 9. Powerslave 8. Dance of Death 7. Killers 6. Brave New World 5. Somewhere in Time 4. Piece of Mind 3. Iron Maiden 2. 7th Son 1. Number of the Beast
Oh Yeah this is what I've been waiting for my favorite band.
Holy shit I didn't expect that very cool!!!
I saw Maiden on Fear of the Dark tour in Chicago. ....and I lost the shirt I bought
Well done guys!
Great ears from that top right dude. They actually used solid-state Gallien Kruger amps for the first time on Somewhere in Time. That's some great hearing, only marred by placing Fear Of The Dark anywhere close to the top. Anyhoo. Cheers dudes!
Underrated Visionary themes in the lyrics/album covers that are now standard 'conspiracy' topics that are now ubiquitous: transhumanism/time travel/secret tech (SIT), satanism (NoTB), Numerology (7th Son), Egyptology/Illuminati (PS), Dystopian cityscapes (BNW), Demons/Aliens (the 'Eddie' talisman), Dance of Death even alludes to Eyes Wide Shut.
I enjoy your videos precisely for the dissent between you three, and the fan bases! Seems like everyone has a controversial placement! Here's mine...
1. Powerslave
2. Number of the Beast
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. Brave New World
5. Somewhere in Time
6. Iron Maiden s/t
7. The Final Frontier
8. Killers
9. Senjutsu
10. Piece of Mind (Probably my most controversial placement!)
11. Book of Souls
12. Dance of Death
13. A Matter of Life and Death
14. Fear of the Dark
15. No Prayer for the Dying
16. Virtual IX
17. The X Factor (I find this album borderline unlistenable.)
Somewhere in time my favorite Maiden album
Here's my list!
1. Powerslave - One of my absolute favourite metal albums of all time. Hands down fav Maiden!
2. The Number of the Beast - Undeniable, unassailable. Total Eclipse is better than Gangland.
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - Fantastic mix of styles here, sounds great front to back!
4. Brave New World - Maybe a track too long but damn if these songs aren't incredible!
5. Piece of Mind - Really great but slightly overrated. Quest for Fire isn't good.
6. Somewhere in Time - Great songs, but synths can be a bit distracting.
7. Iron Maiden s/t - Raw, but has a swagger to it. Remember Tomorrow is brilliant.
8. The Final Frontier - Way underrated. A few tracks too long, and a few tracks are too long.
9. Killers - Great performances but less memorable songs.
10. Book of Souls - See TFF above. No bad tracks but enough material for two separate albums.
11. Dance of Death - A number of lengthy and unmemorable tracks. Title track is bad.
12. A Matter of Life and Death - See BoS and TFF. Lob off maybe three songs, shorten most.
13. Fear of the Dark - Half good. What works is awesome, but what doesn't is terrible,
14. No Prayer for the Dying - Same, but with even less memorable tracks. Tailgunner is cool.
15. Virtual IX - More focused but the songs aren't great, and Blaze is the wrong singer.
16. The X Factor - A bloody mess, almost unlistenable. Bruce's vocals on live versions of Sign of the Cross are worth checking out.
Got wasted with a friend of a friend over in Chiswick a few years go and he used to hang out with Bruce Dickinson. Lovely guy apparently.
Never listened to an album. No intention of ever doing so unless you boys change my mind .
UA-cam comment admin man. Need to leave a comment on one of your other videos boys.
Respect
Up the Irons! Great video.
Any plans to do album ranking videos for Judas Priest and Blue Öyster Cult.
Not immediately. But someday. - Joe
my top 4:
1. Piece of mind
2. Seventh son
3. Powerslave
4. Somewhere In Time
Nice Whitesnake shirt Kram. Funny/disturbing story about them (not at all related to Iron Maiden): My sister and I went to a Whitesnake record signing in Minneapolis back around 1987 the day before they were opening for Motley Crue at the Met. When we finally got to the table after waiting in line for over an hour, Coverdale gave my sister a kiss on the lips. According to her he slipped her the tongue. She was 12. Rock and roll I guess.
Whitesnake - the band name could be construed as both sexist AND racist! Gotta love 80s hair metal. 🙄
I’m a massive Iron Maiden fan, looking forward to this
One of my all time favorite bands, great to see everyone's rankings. Here is mine :
1 - Piece Of Mind
2 - Somewhere In Time
3 - The Number Of The Beast
4 - Powerslave
5 - Brave New World
6 - Iron Maiden
7 - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
8 - Killers
9 - The Book Of Souls
10 - Dance Of Death
11 - The Final Frontier
12 - A Matter Of Life And Death
13 - No Prayer For The Dying
14 - Fear Of The Dark
15 - The X Factor
16 - Virtual XI
Jason and Kram both have Fear of the Dark in the top 5? I would have lost a lot of money betting against that.
we all would have lost.
Jason having Fear of the Dark and Brave New World at Fear of the dark at number 5 , Brave New World 4. we all would have lost money .
Agreed middle at best.
Still waiting for the Cure remastered listography. Or a Dinosaur Jr. one.
The Cure have an album on the way. I suspect they'll wait for that to drop and include it in the listography, like they did with Dylan.
Just wanted to hear Jason’s take on the Blaze Bailey material. Was not disappointed 🤗
I just do my top 10, as I haven't heard anything after Brave New World.
10. Brave New World
9. Killers
8. No Prayer for the Dying
7. Iron Maiden
6. Fear of the Dark
5. Powerslave
4. Piece of Mind
3. The Number of the Beast
2. Somewhere in Time
1. Seventh Son
No prayer for the dying is underrated. So many good songs on that album.
For not only one, but two of you to state that Aces High isn't a great song breaks my heart in unrepairable ways.
Kramzer hating on "Infinite Dreams" and Seventh Son when they are two of my favorites from them :o
"Seventh Son" will be in my top 10 songs. That song is evil (by which mean good.)
How dare he!!
Off the Powerslave album, Flash of the Blade is used in Dario Argento's Phenomena.
I can't get past their early 80's stuff; basically the first 5 albums. The release of 'Run to the Hills' was what got me into Iron Maiden in the first place. I bought the vinyl album and from there, I bought their earlier stuff and got to really appreciate it. I remember loving 'Strange World' from their first album, as well as 'Run to the Hills' and 'Flight of Icarus' amongst others. Although Bruce Dickinson is great, we can't forget Paul and his contribution...
They’ve always been one of my favorite bands but also one of my worst meet and greet experiences. I met them at a cd signing just before seeing them on the first tour with Blaze and they just looked liked they wanted to crawl in a hole and die and barely spoke. I guess looking at the album they made with him they had good reason but still that stayed with me lol
I will say that whilst I agree the length of some later albums does make them less immediately accessible, Book of Souls and A Matter are examples that have really grown on me....I think of them as Opera performances more than metal....🎀🧐
Jason has good ears-On both Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son, Adrian and Dave used Gallien-Krueger solid state amps. Much less ballsy sounding than tube amps they’ve used the rest of their career. A shame that the Sonic’s are a bit compromised on those two because the material is quite strong.
The two dudes on the top of the screen are fired. Powerslave rules.
Agreed. - Joe
My top 10 (everything after Brave New World hasn't sparked multiple listens for me, as well as the Blaze albums):
1. Beast
2. Somewhere
3. 7th
4. Piece
5. Powerslave
6. Killers
7. Iron Maiden
8. Fear
9. Brave
10. No Prayer
4 thru 7 are pretty tightly grouped, could shift around week to week
Maiden was originally Steve Harris' dream/baby...it's no surprise the galloping base drives the band👍
Really love some Iron Maiden albums, I was familiar with most of these albums, heard all of them at least once except Virtual XI and The X Factor ( I had heard a bit of these albums before). First time I have listened to any bands whole discography (this large) in preparation for a youtube show like this from start to finish in a few days. I think the 90s are a low point for the band, the 80s a high point, the 00s somewhere in the middle.
16: The X Factor
15: Virtual XI
14: No Prayer for the Dying
13: Book of Souls
12: Dance of Death
11. A Matter of Life and Death
10: Fear of the Dark
9: Brave New World
8: The Final Frontier
7. Iron Maiden
6. Powerslave
5.Killers
4.Piece of Mind
3.Somewhere In Time
2. Number of the Beast
1.Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Loneliness of the long distance runner was a British movie. Interesting inspiration for a metal song!
Yes, starring the awesome Tom Courtenay. 🤟
@@mattymac1399 absolute legend
And now you have to rank Judas Priest as well
Ohhhh we will. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Looking forward!
@@TastesLikeMusic I'm really looking forward to Judas Priest.
Can you do a Rolling Stones ranking video? I know Jason did it a few years ago but I'd love the other guys their opinions.
Eventually. -Jason
Atfer grinding through a few of these Lp lists of yours, I'm team Joe all the way! No idea what planet those other 2 guys are from....Powerslave a 6? Ludicrous. Maybe I'm still reeling from the Billy Joel episode lol.
Agree on No Prayer for the Dying (not that the Blaze albums are not worse)
Thought they would never come back from that
16. Virtual XI
15. The X Factor
14. Fear of the Dark
13. No Prayer For the Dying
12. Book of Souls
11. The Final Frontier
10. A Matter of Life and Death
9. Somewhere in Time
8. Brave New World
7. Dance of Death
6. Iron Maiden
5. Piece of Mind
4. Killers
3. Powerslave
2. The Number of the Beast
1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Got into Maiden around 1990 with No Prayer. My friend made me a tape of Live After Death and the rest is history.
Iron Maiden is damn good! Also Joe, speaking of metal, have you ever been into Slayer at all? And if so, is Reign in Blood really their best work or is it overrated?
Not nearly as familiar with Slayer as the others. I think south of Heaven might be my fave. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusicyeah, that makes sense. The debut Show No Mercy has always been my favorite!
Funny that you should mention the Priest vs Maiden rivalry. I've always liked both so I;ve never understood that. Both great Metal bands.
Terrific review there. Any chance of a UFO one in the near or not too distant future?
Interesting to hear and read the debates on Killers. Heavy on the stomp, crush, kill attitude but objectively I think one has to admit several of the songs just don’t hold up. What’s the saying… you’ve been writing the first album all your life then it’s like uh oh …. You really want another album? 😄
Thanks Guys Great Show, The Maiden Freak that I am here's my rankings, UP THE IRONS !!!.
1. Powerslave = 5 Skulls or Eddies
2. Killers = 5 Skulls
3. 7th Son = 5 Skulls
4. Piece Of Mind = 4.3 Skulls
5, The Number Of The Beast = 4.1 Skulls
6. Brave New World = 4.1 Skulls
7. Somewhere In Time = 4 Skulls
8. Iron Maiden = 4 Skulls
9. No Prayer For The Dying = 3.8 Skulls
10. Final Frontier = 3.5 Skulls
11. Dance Of Death = 3.2 Skulls
12. Book Of Souls = 3 Skulls
13. Fear Of The Dark = 3 Skulls
14. A Matter Of Life And Death = 2.8 Skulls
15. X Factor = 2.5 Skulls
16. Virtual XI = 1.5 Skulls
For me:
1. Brave New World
2. Powerslave
3. The Number of The Beast
4. Piece of Mind
5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
6. Somewhere in Time
7. Dance of Death
8. A Matter of Life and Death
9. Book of Souls
10. Iron Maiden
11. Killers
12. The Final Frontier
13. No Prayer for The Dying
14. Virtual XI
15. Fear of the Dark
16. X Factor
Looking forward to the new release.
Said it before - love how you guys have no pretense. Doesn’t matter that some old guy with some metal or classic rock magazine gave such and such recent album five stars (e.g. “it’s their best album in 25 years.”) If you think it sucks, you say it sucks. You don’t rank things so much based on context - you go more by what the music is telling you, now.
Piece of Mind came out for me in 6th grade. I can’t not be in a 6th grade 1983 mindset to some extent when I hear it. If an album doesn’t hold up for someone now without the context, it doesn’t hold up. That’s interesting for me to hear.
I get having a different opinion on post 2000 maiden vs priest but interms of the 80 they’re both stone cold top tier bands how can you not like both
Powerslave, a double 6? Ouch guys. Jason and Kramzer need to get on the metal train.
UP THE IRONS!!!
Book of Souls was mostly written by Gers and Smith and stuff. Sounds a bit Scottish sometimes. We saw the Tour twice.
Have The Book of Souls T Shirt. Top Favorites are Piece Of Mind, Numbers, Killers. mtw in L.A. Halloween Weekend 2021.
Solid as usual gents. However....Somewhere in Time back when it came out had "Wasted Years " as the lead single and it was in hevay rotation on MTV and that song was honestly the closest to a mainstream hit they have ever had. Its quite possibly their most commercial sounding song as well. I recall a lot of the die hards were not happy because they felt Maiden were selling out while other people who couldnt get into Maiden due to their music just being as dense jumped on the train because they finally had a very accessible song to work with....not to mention Adrians opening riff is pretty classic. Most Metal heads instantly know that riff.....and its also one of the riffs you constantly hear in Guitar Center being played by the novice players trying to show off haha. (Even though its a ridiculously simple riff)
Book of Souls should be top 10. It’s not boring…very progressive and varied.
I thank Somewhere in time Is the greatest heavy metal album of all time.it is the most complex album, especially on guitar and you cannot compare it to "AC/DC", it is as step into progressive rock, but still maintaining the heavy metal vibe, but not self-indulgent like so much progressive rock is