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Iron Maiden is one of the most popular Heavy-Metal groups of all time;
the band was founded by Steve Harris in London, ENGLAND, on Christmas
Day 1975 with an initial line-up of vocalist Paul Day, guitarists Terry
Rance and Dave Sullivan, Harris on bass and Ron 'Rebel' Matthews on drums.
Soon Iron Maiden became a popular band playing London's East End club
circuit; however, the line-up changed frequently over the following four
years, members were fired or quit for various reasons; since it's beginning,
Iron Maiden has had 18 different band members.
Day was quickly replaced by Dennis Wilcock who was the inspiration for
Eddie, Iron Maiden's perennial grim mascot.
Released in late 1979, "The Soundhouse Tapes" was the very
first record of the band; containing three early day live favorites, the
original 7-inch vinyl's initial 5,000 unit pressing sold out via mail
order in less than a week and in turn engendered a recording deal with
EMI Records.
The big break was when their first album was released in April 1980, a
self-titled LP which stormed the U.K. chart at #3 spawning the hit single
"Running Free"; the line-up by now was: vocalist Paul Di'Anno,
guitarists Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton, bassist Steve Harris and drummer
Clive Burr.
The band's sophomore effort, 1981's "Killers", proved to be
a more focused and developed affair than its predecessor, it failed to
crack the top 10 in U.K. but reached the #78 position on the U.S. Top
200 LPs & Tapes chart while the main single, "Wrathchild"
hit the top 40 of The Mainstream Rock chart; it was the first Iron Maiden
album to feature guitarist Adrian Smith but would also prove to be vocalist
Paul Di'Anno's last with the group.
The first album recorded with singer Bruce
Dickinson was "The Number Of The Beast", released in March
1982; topping the national chart in Britain and becoming their first U.S.
top 40 record, it generated a pair of all-time classic Metal anthems:
"Run To The Hills" and the demonic title-track which was Maiden's
first U.K. #1 hit.
"Piece Of Mind" followed a year later reaching #3 on the National
British Albums chart and #14 on the American Billboard Top 200 list; it
included the Mainstream Rock top 10 hit "Flight Of Icarus",
the worldwide cult hit "The Trooper" and was also the first
album to feature new drummer Nicko McBrain who replaced Clive Burr.
In September 1984 the band returned with their fifth studio album, "Powerslave",
which hit #2 in U.K. and #21 in U.S. highlighted by the complex antiwar
tale "2 Minutes To Midnight", this single reached #11 on the
British Pop Sales chart and #25 on the U.S. Rock airplay chart. During
the next year, on the World Slavery Tour, Iron Maiden played to their
largest ever crowd, 200,000 people at the Rock In Rio Festival and eventually
released the double-disc live set "Live After Death" which hit
#22 on The Billboard 200 chart.
The band tryed to update their sound with the use of synthesizers for
their sixth studio album, "Somewhere In Time"; the record was
released in June 1986 and soon crashed into the U.K. top 3, later it reached
the top 30 in the States but failed to yield chart hits.
"Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", the last Maiden's LP with guitarist
Adrian Smith, until their late-'90s reunion, followed two years later,
peaking at #1 on the British chart and reaching the #12 spot on the American
Billboard Top 200; a total of four singles were issued in the U.K. all
top 10 "Can I Play With Madness", "The Evil That Men Do",
"The Clairvoyant" and "Infinite Dreams".
Smith was replaced with Janick Gers in 1990, just before "No Prayer
For The Dying"; it became the band's sixth consecutive top 3 album
entry in the U.K. and peaked at #17 in the U.S. generating a British #1
hit with the controversial "Bring Your Daughter...To The Slaughter".
The Heavy-Metal kings charted again at #1 in U.K. with their ninth studio
record, "Fear Of The Dark", upon its May 1992 release; this
album was also a big success on the other side of the Atlantic, where
it leapt to #12.
In March 1993 Bruce Dickinson quit.
Iron Maiden resurfaced in October 1995 with "The X Factor",
the band's first album with new vocalist Blaze Bayley; it was a lackluster
affair and a poor seller reaching #8 on the British Pop chart and #147
on The Billboard 200.
In the spring of 1998 the group released "Virtual XI", another
marginal chart entry in U.S. and barely sneaked into the U.K. top 20.
Longtime lead singer Bruce Dickinson,
Bruce Bruce as known on stage and guitar hero Adrian Smith rejoined the
fold in 1999 and with a three guitar front assault Iron Maiden churned
out "Brave New World" in May 2000; their twelfth studio album
put them back into the top 10 in Britain and hit the top 40 of The Billboard
200 while the main single, "The Wicker Man", peaked at #19 on
The Mainstream Rock chart.
Nearly three and a half years later the sextet released "Dance Of
Death", it rose to #2 on the U.K. Albums chart and reached #18 on
The Billboard Top 200.
Another three years passed before Iron Maiden returned with a new studio
record and in September 2006 they issued their fourteenth LP, "A
Matter Of Life And Death"; the set includes the singles "The
Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg" and "Different World".
Iron Maiden biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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