Góðann daginn!

Núna ætla ég að segja frá sögu Maidens í “stuttu” máli(hefði getað haft þetta miklu lengra en ég gat það ekki af því að þetta var verkefni fyrir skólann). Það gætu verið einhverjar fljótfærnisvillur í þessu þannig að ég bið ykkur um að sleppa því að gera skítaköst!

Og hér kemur svo ritgerðin:

In 1975, there was a guy called Steve Harris. He had been in two bands, called Gypsy’s Kiss and Smiler. Those bands didn’t worked out so he went off to start a new band.
It was in May when he formed Iron Maiden. The original line-up was: Steve Harris(bass), Paul Day(vocals), Terry Rance(guitar), Dave Sullivan(guitar) and Ron Rebel(drums). The first gig they played was at the Cart & Horses in Stratford, East London. This line-up played twenty five shows together.
In the first five years the line-up changed a lot!
Steve thought that Paul Day was a good singer but his stage performance wasn’t good enough, so he fired him and hired Dennis Wilcock. He was big KISS fan and had make up on stage and had good stage performance but wasn’t very good singer. He used to this trick, where he stabbed a sword through his cheeks and the blood splashed all over the stage! This became a part of the ‘Iron Maiden’ song.
Next to leave the band was Terry Rance and Dave Sullivan. In stead of them Dave Murray came instead on guitar. So now the line-up was: Steve Harris (bass), Dave Murray(guitar), Dennis Wilcock(vocals) and Ron Rebel(drums).
A guy called Bob Sawyer came in the band to play guitar but he was only for few gigs and then he left. Dennis fired Dave because of a disagreement, but Steve regretted it almost immediately!. Steve recruited Tony Moor, which was a keyboard player, but he lasted for one gig, it didn’t work to have keyboard in some of the songs.
Next one to go was Ron Rebel and Barry Purkis came instead of him, but he only played at one gig. Instead of him came Doug Sampson – Smiler’s old drummer- who worked with both Steve and Dennis before Maiden.
Now they only had one guitar player and Steve got Dave back, so now Dave was in again!
Dennis was the next one to go. He was losing focus and didn’t see no focus in Maiden in the future. So now they were only three left. The next one too join the band was Paul Di’anno. Now the line-up was Steve (bass), Dave (guitar), Doug (Drums) and Paul (vocals).
At this time Maiden started almost playing at the Ruskin Arms every week. But they thought it wasn’t good enough, it was ok to be famous in East End but it wasn’t good enough to start a career. So they decided to record a demo tape of the bands material. They booked Spacewood in Cambridge on New Years Eve 1979. They recorded Iron Maiden, Prowler, Strange World and Invasion.
They gave the demo to Neal Kay, who was a heavy metal DJ. He was trying to give exposure to new heavy metal bands, who were trying to start a career. Steve and Dave gave him the tape but also a lot of other wannabe rock bands. It took him few weeks to go over all the demos, but when he heard Maiden’s demo he was overwhelmed and he said it was the best demo someone had ever give to him. He started to play some songs at the club and some of them got into the top 20 request list in the British music paper, which he was in charge of. So that was the beginning of Iron Maiden’s career. But they only needed someone who really understood them and really knew what they wanted, someone who could take them to next level.
Steve gave a guy called Andy Waller a copy of the Spacewood demo which he handed over to a guy called Rod Smallwood. Rod had been manager for couple of bands before, but he had decided to go and study in a university and stop being a manager! But Andy gave Rod the demo and he listened to the tape and liked it. But he didn’t wanted to say ‘yes’ to them when he only had listened to the demo. He called Steve and booked two gigs to see Maiden live and see how they were doing. The first gig was at the Windsor Castle pub in North London, but they didn’t played, because Steve got into an argument with the owner because the owner wanted them to go earlier on stage but Steve didn’t. The owner gave them one choice ‘to go on stage now or not go at all’. So they didn’t played that night! The next gig was at the Swan in Hammersmith. But Rod couldn’t either see the band play in full swing. Paul Di’anno was arrested five minutes before the gig! He was outside the pub and two policemen decided to take a routine of everyone there and unfortunately Paul was carrying a knife and the police took him away. But the band went on stage and played the songs instrumental and Steve tried to sing but it didn’t work out. But Paul came back and could sing the last three numbers, but that wasn’t enough for Rod, he needed more! Rod booked the band everywhere over Britain and the band got great responses. This is where the ‘Green Goddess’ was born. It was a truck that Vic Vella converted into storage come band hotel come transport. They used the van to go between places when they were going on all those places to play. Rod said to them that he could give them some advices and get them record deal but he didn’t knew if he would manage them!
Now we have to go fast over this or this will take the whole day!
They got three albums record deal at EMI.
Now they needed second guitar player and they hired Dennis Stratton, who they knew from pubs where he had been playing, so they knew he could play. The next problem was Doug Sampson. He couldn’t handle all the touring so they took him out of the band and instead of him comes Clive Burr, who is a very good drummer!
So now they needed to find a good producer that they were happy with. They hired a guy called Will Malone who had good experience.
The first single they released was ‘Running Free’ in February 15th.Before they released their first album they needed a good cover. Rod had contact with a guy called Derek Riggs who was very good to draw. Rod took a look at some of the pictures and saw one he liked, that was Eddie who now is a big member of Iron Maiden. He’s on all the album covers and all t-shits and posters and you can say that he is almost ‘Iron Maiden’! So now the had cover for the album so they released the album ‘Iron Maiden’ in 11th. April1980.This album contains songs like ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Phantom Of The Opera’. The album got number four in the British charts, Rod said he could see it coming. Now was Rod willing to be the manager of the band. They went on a forty-two date tour of their own in Britain. On that tour Eddie appeared first onstage in person, who was played by roadies.
They also went on a supporting tour around Europe with Kiss! But on that tour there was a problem with Dennis Stratton. He spent more time with the Kiss crew than Maiden. And after that tour they fired him because he wasn’t very much into the music and didn’t wanted to be with them and stuff so they god rid of him. The last thing Dennis did with Maiden was recording ‘Women In Uniform’ video. Then he was out! To replace him was Adrian Smith, who Dave had known since they were young. They had been playing together when they were younger so Dave knew he was good.
Now the band had for first time a real twin guitarist. Dave and Adrian were just great together!
Now it was time for new album! They started writing songs and in February in 1981 they released ‘Killers’. This album contains the great song ‘Wrathchild’! This album only reached number twelve in the British charts. With the release of ‘Killers’, Maiden went on their first world tour and it began on March 15th and was 125 gigs long within 180 days, covering Britain, Europe, America, Japan and Australia. But on that tour Paul couldn’t handle all the touring and his voice didn’t kept up and he was taking drugs and stuff and they had to cancel the whole German tour because of Paul’s voice!
And like Steve said:

“I’m not against people doing what they like, as long as it doesn’t mess up their gig. Well Paul was letting it mess up his gig!”

After the tour they had a meeting and after a bit of talk they decided Paul was out! Even Paul said he couldn’t handle what they were doing! So he was out!
The one to replace him was Paul Bruce Dickinson, or better known as Bruce Dickinson! He even remembers saying to himself “I’m going to sing for that band!” And Steve thought that he was going to watch him if something would go wrong with Paul!
They asked Bruce to learn six songs, well, he learnt fifteen! And when they had played few of the songs he got the job! Bruce is one of the most powerful and greatest singers in Metal and he got great stage performance and is awesome live! The fans liked him right away and those who didn’t liked him liked him after they had heard him singing and everyone forgot about Paul! The first single Maiden released with Bruce was ‘Run To The Hills’ in February 1982. It went in to the top seven at the British charts and was their first top ten single! And in Australia it got to number 5!
Then they released the album ‘The Number Of The Beast’ on 22nd of March 1982. This album contains a lot of great songs like ‘Children Of The Damned’, ‘Twenty Two Acacia Avenue’, ‘Run To The Hills’, ‘The Number Of The Beast’ and ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’. This album hit number one in British charts and stayed there for a week! There are also many fans who think this is their best album. But unfortunately there where some people in the USA who thought they were Satanists because of the text in some of the songs. But it’s not true that they are Satanists! The Beast on the Road tour was about 187 shows and over 308 days and was the start of Maiden’s excessive touring! From this point and on over the next years, Maiden decided to have it like: album/tour/album/tour! But these tours weren’t just some small tours! No, they were always three times the average, growing after each album! But when they were touring so much they had to leave their family and that almost destroyed the band after the fifth album!
On this tour Maiden started to have huge stage show! Giant Eddie came onstage for first time and the show was amazing!
After the Beast on the Road tour Clive couldn’t handle it anymore! He said it wasn’t for him to be touring all the time so he was out! Nicko McBrain replaced him. Nicko is an excellent drummer and has been voted for the best drummers in the world! The guys knew Nicko before he joined Maiden so they contacted him and he was in! So now the line-up is: Bruce Dickinson(vocals), Steve Harris(Bass), Dave Murray(guitar), Adrian Smith(guitar) and Nicko McBrain(drums).
The first single they released with Nicko was ‘Flight Of Icarus’, released on 11th April 1983.
The next studio album was rehearsed in Jersey, recorded in Nassau and mixed in New York! It was ‘Piece Of Mind’ and it was released on 16th May and got on number three at the British charts! This album contains songs like ‘Flight Of Icarus’, ‘The Trooper’, ‘Die With Your Boots On’ and ‘Revelations’.
The World Piece Tour began on 2nd May and included 143 shows in just 196 days! The album stayed in the charts for forty-three weeks!
The highlight of the tour was headlining Dortmund, Germany. They were top of the bill included with Ozzy, The Scorpions, Judas Priest and Def Leppard! And like Steve said:

“Four years ago w were playing at the Ruskin Arms, now we are headlining a bill that includes all my old heroes!”

After next album and the tour the band would never be the same again!
They went again to Nassau for recording. This album had an Egyptian theme. This theme would fit in nicely with the stage show, which Bruce believes “was the best show Maiden ever put on”!
The debut single was ‘Two Minutes To Midnight’ and was released in August of 1984 and reached number eleven. The album ‘Powerslave’ was released a month later, in September, and reached number two in British charts! This album contains the songs ‘Aces High’, ‘Two Minutes To Midnight’ and ‘Rime Of The Ancient Marnier’. This album is classic amongst Heavy Metal fans and every Metal fan from the eighties had one of those!
The World Slavery Tour was just too much! They played 300 shows in 346 days is almost impossible! They were playing four to five gigs in row which is just crazy! Bruce said that it was the first time he thought about leaving the band! I mean, this is just crazy, it almost destroyed the whole band! The show was just amazing and the stage was huge and Eddie had never been so big as he was at this tour! So that’s probably the reason why they released ‘Live After Death’ the live video and a double album! ‘Live After Death reached number four in British charts and the live video is one of the biggest selling live videos of all time!
After this tour they would never tour like this again! The tour took it’s toll mostly on Bruce, who was willing to throw the whole Heavy Metal thing away and started to write ‘folky’ type songs! The only band in Metal history that has toured like this is Kiss, and it was also too much for them!
The next album would sound very different than the last albums. The debut single was ‘Wasted Years’ released on 6th September 1986. It reached number eighteen in Britain. The album ‘Somewhere In Time’ was released few weeks later. The release was at the same time as the Thrash Metal had been very popular in the U.S. and the press believed that this ‘cleaner’ sound wouldn’t work out for them, it wouldn’t stand in the same field as Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeath. But the truth is, without Maiden, these bands would never have existed as all have sited Maiden as a major influence, something that the press didn’t saw! This album contains songs like ‘Wasted Years’, ‘Stranger In A Strange Land’, and ‘Heaven Can Wait’.
‘Somewhere On Tour’ wasn’t so big as ‘World Slavery Tour’. It only lasted for eight months and the band was able to enjoy themselves! By the end of the tour, ‘Somewhere In Time’ became the most successful selling album in Britain at that time. At the end of the tour they released documentary film called ’12 Wasted Years’ who was about their history to this time.
The next album was Maiden’s first, and to this point, only concept album. An idea that Steve came up with relating to Doris Stokes and him wondering if she, as a clairvoyant, could forsee her own death. This was the idea for the myth that surrounds the seventh son of a seventh son. The album was recorded in ten weeks in Munich just before Christmas in 1987.
The debut single was ‘Can I Play With Madness’ released on 20th March in 1988 and entered the British charts at number three and stayed there for three weeks! The album ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’ was released a little bit under a month later and went straight number one at the British charts. But it wasn’t only at the top of the charts, it also had four top ten singles – ‘Can I Play With Madness’, ‘The Evil That Men Do’, ‘The Clairvoyant’ and ‘Infinite Dreams’. This was also the first time that Maiden used keyboard, which gave the album amazing atmosphere!
The Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour was in twenty-five countries and it took seventh months. It was also the first tour where maiden had a keyboard player, Michael Kenney, Steve’s bass technician. The main gig was playing at Donington! To play at Donington is every bands dream! The gig where the whole world used to turn to every year. It was the biggest Donington ever, it was 107.000 fans and Maiden played blistering set! But they were very nervous before the gig! Bruce says that he didn’t remember the first twenty minutes of the gig, because he was so nervous!
After ‘Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour’ Maiden took one year off. And in the meanwhile, Adrian didn’t wanted to be in the band anymore so he quit! Janick Gers replaced him. Janick played with Bruce on his solo album ‘Tattooed Millionaire’ so they knew he was good.
The single for next album was ‘Holy Smoke’ and it got in number three in the British charts!
The album ‘No Prayer For The Dying’ was released in 10th October 1990 and the album got in number two in the British charts! This album contains songs like ‘Tailgunner’, ‘Holy smoke’ and ‘Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter’.
The debut single for next album was ‘Be Quick Or Be Dead’ released on the 13th March 1992 and to this day is probably their heaviest single. It reached number two in the British charts. The album ‘Fear Of The Dark’ was released a month later and got in number one in British charts! That album contains songs like ‘Be Quick Or Be Dead’, ‘From Here To Eternity’, ‘Afraid To Shoot Strangers’ and ‘Fear Of The Dark’.
This tour was the last tour that Bruce would be on so Steve wanted to do the most of it and they released two albums, ‘Live At Donington’ and ‘A Real Live Dead One’, and two live videos, ‘Live At Donington’ and ‘Raising Hell’!
Bruce had decided to leave the band and start a solo career. The whole band was upset of that decision who he made in the middle of the tour, but he wanted to finish the tour just so the fans could see him for last time!
On that tour they also played their first gig here in Iceland!
Next problem was to find a new singer! They had auditions and a lot of people came, somewhere between eleven and twelve hundred people! They listened to all the tapes and in the end they found one they liked! It was Blaze Bayley who came in the band in January 1994.
The debut single for the next album was ‘Man On The Edge’ released on 12th September 1995. It reached number twelve in the British charts!
The album ‘X Factor’ was released in October in 1995 and got number eight in the British charts! This album contains songs like ‘Man On The Edge’ and ‘Sign Of The Cross’.
The ‘X Factour’ began shortly after the release of the album and it was 139 shows in one year.
In November in 1996 they released their first ‘Best Of’ album – ‘Best Of The Beast’. This album contained one completely new song – ‘Virus’.
The debut single for the next album was ‘The Angel And The Gambler’ released on 9th March 1998 and reached the top ten of the British charts.
The Album ‘Virtual XI’ was released in 15th March in 1998. This album contains songs like ‘The Clansman’ and ‘Futureal’.
On the ‘Virtual XI Tour’, Blaze had many problems with his throat and he just couldn’t handle so much touring so they had to get dir of him because it wasn’t working good enough!
Next thing they did was to release a PC game and double ‘Best Of’ CD!
Then when Blaze left Bruce and Adrian came back in the band and now they were six in the band for first time!
Then they released a new album ‘Brave New World’ released in May 29th 2000. And it got in number seven at the British charts. Then in 2002 they released ‘Rock In Rio’ which is a live album. It was concerts from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and there were 250,000 audience and that is the biggest concert that Maiden have ever played on!
Then again in 2002 they released a ‘Best Of’ album called ‘Edward The Great’.
And again in 2002 they released a box called ‘Eddies archive. This box contained three CD’s ‘Beast Over Hammersmith’, ‘Best Of The B’Sides’ and ‘The BBC Archives’. Those CD’s contained songs that they had written before and also some b’side songs.
Then they released ‘Dance Of Death’ in 8th September in 2003 and it got in number 2 in British charts!
Then they released live album called ‘Death On The Road’ in 2005, those concerts are from Germany.

So that’s where they are today!

Heimildir:

Mark Snedden – Iron Maiden FC magazine, Biography.

Iron Maiden. 2004. Iron Maiden – The Early Days, part I, EMI.


Takk fyrir mig:)