Iron Maiden - Biography

Last Editor: BUNCHDEMETRICE				Iron Maiden Biography -   Name : Iron Maiden Profession : Music Band

Iron Maiden Trivia -

N/A

Iron Maiden Detailed Biography -

Dickinson vowed from the start that he was his own man – in his own words, he "wasn't going to wear frilly collars and cut his hair". Legendary DJ, Tommy Vance had told Dickinson not to join the band – advice which was ignored. Dickinson's debut with Iron Maiden was 1982's album The Number of the Beast, which is recognised as a classic of the heavy metal genre. This album was a world-wide success providing definitive songs such as "The Number of the Beast", "Run to the Hills" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name", considered by many to be one of the best metal songs ever written. For the first time the band went on a world tour, visiting the United States, Japan and Australia. The tour was marred (or perhaps promoted) by controversy coming from religious groups that claimed Iron Maiden was a Satanic group because of their dark lyrics, which supposedly spoke of Satan. The allegations centered around one song, "The Number of the Beast", a song ostensibly about a bad dream. The members of Iron Maiden tried to deflect this criticism by insisting that the lyrics were based on a dream of Steve Harris's, but the accusations persisted. A group of Christian activists destroyed the band's records (along with those of Ozzy Osbourne) by burning them in a large fire. This contoversy, unfortuanately, is thought to be one of the main causes of the stereotype that all heavy metal is Satanic. However, these acusations of Satanism were largely based on misinterpretation of the song. Iron Maiden's current drummer, Nicko McBrain, is a born-again Christian, and is happy to play the song, which he sees as a warning against Satanism. On the same tour, producer Martin Birch was involved in a car accident with a group of church-goers. Ironically the bill for the repair came to £666, a figure which Birch refused to pay, instead opting for a higher amount. On a more positive note, actor Patrick McGoohan was very accommodating when a request was made to allow the band to use a spoken intro from the cult TV series, The Prisoner, in which McGoohan was the lead actor. McGoohan was a big name in 1982, and Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood was nervous about making the request. The conversation between McGoohan and Smallwood allegedly went: McGoohan: "What did you say the name of the band was again?" Smallwood: "Iron Maiden" McGoohan: "A rock band, you say... do it!" Back cover from Powerslave album Before heading back into the studio in 1983, they replaced drummer Clive Burr with Nicko McBrain and went on to release four albums which went multi-platinum world-wide: the dark and ultra-heavy Piece of Mind, featuring "Flight of Icarus" and "The Trooper" (1983), Powerslave featuring "2 Minutes to Midnight", "Aces High", and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1984), Live After Death (1985) and Somewhere in Time (1986). The band gathered huge audiences worldwide, especially in South America, Asia, Australia, and the United States. Support in these areas remains to this day, with the possible exception of the United States. Satanic accusations persisted - there was a lot of controversy about occult messages in many bands' music at the time, normally discovered by playing the offending track backwards. On the Piece of Mind album, a backward message was placed at the start of the track "Still Life" as a kind of internal joke. Reverse this track, and you will hear drummer McBrain clearly saying "Hmm, Hmmm, what ho sed de t'ing wid de t'ree bonce. Don't meddle wid t'ings you don't understand", followed by a belch. McBrain later admitted this to be his "famous" impression of Idi Amin Dada. It translates to the following: "What ho said the monster with the three heads, don't meddle with things you don't understand." Also on the Piece of Mind album, renowned author Frank Herbert came into conflict with the band when they wanted to record a song named after the book Dune. Not only did Herbert refuse to allow the song to be called "Dune", he also refused to allow a spoken quotation from the book to appear as the track's intro. Bass player Steve Harris's polite request was met with a stern reply from the agent: "No. Because Frank Herbert doesn't like rock bands, particularly heavy rock bands, and especially rock bands like Iron Maiden". This statement was backed up with a legal threat, and eventually the song was renamed "To Tame A Land" and released in 1983. Experimentation In 1988, the band tried a different approach for their seventh studio album, titled Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. This was a concept album featuring a story about a mythical child who possessed clairvoyant powers based on the book Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card. For the first time, the band used keyboards on a recording (as opposed to guitar synths on the previous release). In the opinion of some critics, this produced a more accessible release. The band also headlined the annual Monsters of Rock Festival for the first time this year. The 1990 edition of the Guinness Book of Records contains the following entry: "Largest PA system: On Aug 20th 1988 at the Castle Donington "Monsters of Rock" Festival a total of 360 Turbosound cabinets offering a potential 523kW of programme power, formed the largest front-of-house PA. The average Sound Pressure Level at the mixing tower was 118dB, peaking at a maximum of 124dB during Iron Maiden's set. It took five days to set up the system." Decline For the first time in seven years, the band had a line-up change with the loss of guitarist/vocalist Adrian Smith. Former Gillan guitarist Janick Gers was chosen to replace Smith, and in 1990 they released the raw sounding album No Prayer for the Dying. This album went back to the heavy style of the band. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson also began experimenting with a raspier style of singing that was a marked departure from his trademark operatic style. Nonetheless, the band obtained their first (and to date, only) number one hit single "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter". It was released at the start of January, the slowest time of the year for record sales, and was one of the first records to be released on several different formats with different B-sides, thus encouraging fans to buy several copies. The single holds the record for being the fastest release straight in to number one and straight out of the charts again over the following couple of weeks. The song was originally penned and recorded by Bruce Dickinson for the soundtrack to the fifth Nightmare on Elm Street movie. Before the release of No Prayer for the Dying, Bruce Dickinson officially launched a solo career alongside Iron Maiden, with Gers as guitarist. Dickinson performed a solo tour in 1991 before returning to the studio with Iron Maiden for the album Fear of the Dark. Released in 1992 it had several songs that were popular amongst fans, such as the title track and "Afraid to Shoot Strangers". In 1993 Bruce Dickinson left the band to further pursue his solo career. However, Bruce agreed to stay with the band for a farewell tour and two live albums (later re-released in one package). The first, A Real Live One, featured songs from 1986 to 1992, and was released in March 1993. The second, A Real Dead One, featured songs from 1975 to 1984, and was released after Bruce had left the band. He played his farewell show with Iron Maiden on August 28, 1993. The show was filmed, broadcast by the BBC, and released on video under the name Raising Hell. Magician Simon Drake performed grisly illusions on the performance, culminating in Dickinson's "death" in an Iron Maiden. However after Bruce's departure from the band there was a great deal of bad feeling toward him from the other band members. Winds of change The band auditioned hundreds of vocalists, both unknown and famous, (among them James LaBrie of Dream Theater and Doogie White of Rainbow) and finally chose Blaze Bayley in 1994, formerly of Wolfsbane. Bayley had an altogether different style to his predecessor, which received a mixed reception amongst fans. After a three year hiatus, Maiden returned in 1995 with the hour-long album The X Factor. The album was generally seen as having dark, brooding songs that seemed more melancholy and introspective than usual. Chief songwriter Steve Harris was going through serious personal problems at the time with the break-up of his marriage and the loss of his father and many feel the album's sound is a reflection of this. The 11-minute epic "Sign of the Cross", opening the album, is perhaps the stand-out track, and even Bayley's detractors tend to recognise it as a classic. The band spent most of 1996 on the road before returning to the studio for Virtual XI (1998). The album contained few notable tracks, with only "The Clansman" and "Futureal" surviving on future tours, and chart positions were observably lower. One of the most criticised tracks was the single "The Angel and the Gambler", which was all that many people heard of the album before deciding not to buy it. Virtual XI failed to reach the one million mark in worldwide sales for the first time, and thus sounded Bayley's death knell. Reunion Bruce Dickinson left the band in 1993, before returning in 1999 In February 1999, Bayley left the band, apparently by mutual consent. The main reason for his departure was his inconsistent onstage performance - Blaze's voice was not up to the rigours of a full-on Maiden tour. At the same time, the band shocked their fans when they announced that both Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith were rejoining the band, which meant the classic 1980s lineup was back in place - plus Janick Gers, who would remain. Iron Maiden now had three guitarists for the first time. This led to a successful reunion tour. "Majesty of Gaia" Hoax An internet hoax cirulated in 1999 in newsgroups concerning the band's reunion. The rumoured new album's title was Majesty of Gaia and a fake track list appeared alongside a purported single title, "Heaven's Gate". Enthusiastic fans paid money to a website called "CDEurope.com" for reserved copies until Rod Smallwood exposed the hoax on the band's website. He announced the band were instructing the legal departments of EMI Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US to take action. The eventual new album was Brave New World and it was released in 2000. "Brave New World" and "Dance of Death" In 2000, a more progressive period began for the band when they released the album Brave New World. The songs were longer and the lyrics spoke about both dark themes and social criticism. The band gained a new fan base when they began exploring the genre of progressive metal, and the world tour that followed ended in January 2001 with a show at the famous Rock in Rio festival in Brazil. The band continued with their progressive trend in the album Dance of Death released in 2003. The album went platinum in several countries and left no doubts that the band was still a force to be reckoned with. On 4 July 2004, two former Iron Maiden vocalists, Blaze Bayley and Paul Di'Anno sang "Running Free" together at the Rock The Nations 2004 festival in Istanbul, Turkey . In 2005, Iron Maiden announced a tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of their first album and the 30th anniversary of their formation. The band re-released the "Number of the Beast" single, which went straight to number three in the UK charts. The band hit the road to support the 2004 DVD entitled The Early Days, in which the band celebrates the music mainly from its 1980-1983 period. The band's show in Gothenburg on Saturday 9 July 2005 was broadcast live on TV across Scandinavia. The Swedish back catalogue album charts published just over a week later were as follows: Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast Iron Maiden - Edward The Great (Best Of) Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind Iron Maiden - Killers Iron Maiden - Powerslave Iron Maiden - Live After Death Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark Iron Maiden toured the United States with a stint on the 10th anniversary Ozzfest tour, playing before Black Sabbath from July 15 through August 20, 2005. The band performed a shortened version of its Early Days European set, usually lasting about an hour. Several nights of the Ozzfest tour saw Iron Maiden headlining due to Ozzy Osbourne experiencing throat problems. Iron Maiden also played several "Off-Fest" dates headlining in places such as Toronto and Denver. During this tour, the band was added to the Hollywood Rockwalk. Ozzfest Incident At Iron Maiden's last Ozzfest performance (August 20th 2005 at the Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, CA), the band had their sound turned off several times, eggs were thrown towards the stage, and chants of "Ozzy" were shouted through the PA system. This was the work of Sharon Osbourne, who took to the stage and called Bruce Dickinson "a prick" after they performed their encore, followed by a large portion of the crowd booing her off the stage. She officially admitted this in a scathing letter, accusing Bruce of heckling her husband, which she signed "The Real Iron Maiden". As planned, Velvet Revolver went on to complete the final dates of the tour in place of Iron Maiden. The band completed its summer tour by headlining the Reading and Leeds weekend festivals on the 26th and 28th August 2005, playing classics from the first four studio albums to a combined audience of approximately 120,000. Future Plans A new DVD, Death on the Road, was released on the 6th of February, 2006 in the UK and on February 21st in the US and Canada. Documenting the 2003-04 Dance of Death, the mastering was finished at the end of February 2005 by Kevin Shirley. A new album has been announced, to be released before the November, 2006 tour dates in Scandinavia. The forthcoming album has no confirmed release date, a title has not been given, but it will be produced by Kevin Shirley. McBrain also said that the new album will be a concept album, the first one since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son . Bruce Dickinson and Eddie did a public service announcement for British television with "The Seat Belt Dummies" in 1991. The seat belt dummies were in the audience playing air guitar and Eddie is shown. The dummies remark that, "if you don't wear your seatbelt, you may end up looking like this (points to Eddie)". At the end, Bruce says "Don't forget, buckle your safety belt, mate". Iron Maiden is referenced prominently in the lyrics to the 2000 hit "Teenage Dirtbag" by American punk-pop group Wheatus. The song tells of a lonely, nerdy teenage boy who secretly yearns for a pretty female classmate, Noelle, while listening to Iron Maiden. Noelle later surprises him by declaring herself to be a "teenage dirtbag" too, and inviting him to join her at an Iron Maiden concert. Bruce Dickinson returned the favour by singing on Wheatus' third single "Wannabe Gangstar". The band is mentioned several times in episodes of Beavis and Butt-head. Songs featured include "The Prisoner", "From Here To Eternity", and "Running Free". In the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill and Ted travel back in time to medieval England, and are caught talking with the King's daughters. The King decides to "put them in the Iron Maiden" at which point Bill and Ted look at each other and say, "Iron Maiden?! EXCELLENT!". Later in the movie, Bill and Ted break into Ted's father's police station to break out some of the historical figures by using a tape recorder with Ted's voice. At the end of the tape, Bill and Ted exclaim together, "Now opening for Iron Maiden: The Wyld Stalyns!". In adventure game Escape from Monkey Island, when players make Guybrush look at the iron maiden in the jail on Lucre Island he says the same thing. In the computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the song "Two Minutes To Midnight" is played by the V-Rock radio station. Also, the "ROCK" in the logo of V-Rock is written using the angular font used in the Iron Maiden logo. The player can also see a parody of Eddie on posters on the concert hall in the downtown area of Vice City. Several computer viruses contain references to the band, such as the "Seventh Son", "Evil Men" and "V800" infections. Phantom of the Opera (see below for clip) was used in two UK television commercials in the late 80s to mid 90s. One commercial for KFC saw Colonel Sanders bungee jump as the music speeds up while letting his audience know of his latest offerings. The second, and more well known, was a commercial for Lucozade where we see Daley Thompson preparing to race (albeit as a training exercise) and, once again as the music speeds up, he is seen sprinting from his starting blocks. Canadian punk band Sum 41 made reference to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest in the hit single Fat Lip where they state: "Heavy metal and mullets it's how we were raised. Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised." "Aces High", "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "Man on the Edge" and "The Trooper" were featured in the video game Carmageddon II. Japanese pro wrestler Akitoshi Saito uses "Ghost of the Navigator" as his theme song. Eddie is an unlockable character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. One of his special moves has him play air guitar along with an Iron Maiden riff. Iron Maiden's signature font is used for Heavy Metal and Hard Rock reference and even skate/snowboarding sub-culture. Jimmy Savile reputedly played a piano version of the song "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" Nicko McBrain appear as a guest star on the long running British children's show 'The Sooty Show' on the episode "Hidden Talent". The highlight being a battle of the drums between the Iron Maiden drummer against Sooty and Sweep. The character L. Raptor of Capcom's Darkstalkers videogame series was based off of Maiden's Eddie. Phantom of the Opera Listen (help·info) – From the debut album, featuring Paul Di'anno on vocals. Run To The Hills Listen (help·info) – A top ten hit in the UK, and vocalist Bruce Dickinson's debut. Caught Somewhere in Time Listen (help·info) – This clip showcases the band's trademark twin guitar harmonization/"galloping" bass. Sign of the Cross Listen (help·info) – The band's third recording vocalist Blaze Bayley, singing on the opening track from the "X Factor" album. Brave New World Listen (help·info) – Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith return in 2000 to critical acclaim.