466. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

I feel it is important to admit, before I review this album, that I was quite a big metal head during my teenage years. However, I never really got into Iron Maiden, other than the big singles that everyone knows. I have their greatest hits, and never found them interesting or varied enought to really invest in the way I did with Metallica, for example. Well, until St Anger came out. So I thought that this album would be slightly generic metal, and whilst more accessible than Sepultura, not particularly engaging.

I hadn't realised that Iron Maiden actually existed sans Bruce Dickinson, and I was even more surprised to find that they were really quite good without him. This, their debut album, featured Paul Di'Anno (his stage name - he's actually from East London) on lead vocals and Dennis Stratton on guitar. Di'Anno lasted two albums with the band, before he was removed due to issues with drugs and an inability to cope with the grinding tour lifestyle. Stratton managed only one album before leaving due to 'musical differences'. His career has faded out since, which is a real shame as he is obviously a hugely accomplished guitarist. Iron Maiden recruited their replacements from rival bands (Urchin and Sansom) to secure a consistency to their sound.

Prowler kicks things off with a melt-your-face good riff, and the start-stop half way through really kicks things up a notch. Sanctuary is a bit of a miss for me, with a fairly generic metal structure and sound that could be Def Leppard or some other, slightly lesser, band. It does have a very realistic police siren complete with stereo panning that was slightly disconcerting when driving. Remember Tomorrow is a pretty epic song, with that classic acoustic-y intro and gentle singing that builds into something much brasher, complete with outrageous fretwork on the solo, but that never loses the driving intensity of the rhythm section. It reminds me a lot of Something Wicked era Iced Earth, which is high praise indeed. Running Free I thought would annoy me, as it is so repetitive, but it actually grew on me as the week went on. It does manage to capture the arrogance of youth pretty well, and is a great driving track, with some powerful percussion-led sections. Phantom of the Opera is pretty overblown, but just about manages to pull it off. The machine-gun-quick guitar actually makes it hard to hear the lyrics properly, but in a way that adds to the intensity of the recording. Di'anno's natural tone is much deeper than his replacement's, and I can imagine Dickinson's voice soaring over the top of the melody, which would be an interesting alternative. Translyvania was originally only on the US recording, and having an instrumental of this quality really allows the band to shine. Strange World is a bit of a miss for me, and doesn't really do much - it just drifts a bit, lacking direction, sounding like a studio jam that shouldn't have made the cut. Charlotte the Harlot certainly has drive, and is pretty catchy, but I'm not sure about the message - it's pretty demeaning. The album closer, also called Iron Maiden, is full of contrasting tones and rhythms, and wraps things up in an enjoyably succinct manner, clocking in at 4 minutes and change. It was the track that Chloe most enjoyed, and part of me thinks that may be because it means she can soon listen to something else.

I enjoyed this album a lot more than I had anticipated. It is much more varied even within each song than I would have thought, with the contrasting rhythms and melodies in particular driven by the outstanding guitar solos. It reminded me of being 15 again and just starting to enjoy the complexity of the Metal scene, which is what led me to get into bands like Tool and Nine Inch Nails. Anything that reminds you of your youth that vividly, particularly when you've just hit 31, is worthy of a high score.

Chloe's rating: 5

Chloe's favourite track: 9

Olly's rating: 8

Olly's favourite track: 3

Next week is 519. Hearts and Bones by Paul Simon, the one before Graceland. Not familiar at all with this album, but I do enjoy a bit of Paul Simon, so hopefully it's a previously unheard gem.