iron maiden

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harris, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers. The band have released 41 albums, including 17 studio albums, 13 live albums, four EPs and seven compilations. They have also released 47 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 lineup 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 '' The Number of the Beast'' – its first album with Bruce Dickinson, who replaced Paul Di'Anno as lead singer – which was a turning point in their career, helping establish them as one of heavy metal's most important artists. '' The Number of the Beast'' is among the most popular heavy metal albums of all time, having sold almost 20 million copies 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. Released in 2006, '' A Matter of Life and Death'', their 14th studio album, reached top sales in dozens of countries, initiating the series of Iron Maiden's highest-ranked albums. Their 2010 album, '' The Final Frontier'', peaked at No. 1 in 28 countries and received widespread critical acclaim. Their 16th studio album, ''The Book of Souls'', was released on 4 September 2015 to similar success, debuting at No. 1 in the album charts of 24 countries with physical sales and summary in 43 territories with physical and digital sales. Most recently, their 17th studio album, '' Senjutsu'', was released on 3 September 2021 and eventually reached No. 1 in 27 countries.

As of 2022, Iron Maiden have sold over 130 million copies of their albums worldwide, despite minimal radio and mainstream media support. As of 2021, the band's catalogue's sold over 200 million copies worldwide, including albums, singles, compilations and videos. By 2022, their releases have been certified Silver, Gold and Platinum around 600 times worldwide. Iron Maiden have become one of the most influential and revered rock bands of all time, and is credited with influencing countless bands and genres. Critics have stated that the band elevated heavy metal to an art form, proving that academic and musical inspirations can coexist. The band is also hailed as one of the greatest live acts of all time.

The band and its members have received multiple industry awards, including the Grammy Awards and its equivalents in other countries. Other accolades the band has received include Brit Awards, Silver Clef Award, Nordoff-Robbins Award, Ivor Novello Awards, Juno Awards, Guinness Book of World Records, Public Choice International, Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards, ECHO Awards, Top.HR Music Awards, Žebřík Music Awards, honorary doctorates, State Prizes, sales recognition, charity and sport awards among many others. Iron Maiden were inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk, BPI Hall of Fame and Kerrang! Hall of Fame. The band is also a part of permanent exhibitions of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, British Music Experience, Rock in Rio Wall of Fame and Wacken Open Air Hall of Fame.

Iron Maiden's lyrics cover such topics as history, literature, war, mythology, society and religion. Many of their songs are based on history, classic literature and film. , the band have played some 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.

History

Early years (1975–1978)

Iron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day, 25 December 1975, by bassist Steve Harris shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributed the band's name to a film adaptation of '' The Man in the Iron Mask'' from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, the title of which reminded him of the iron maiden torture device. They originally had the name Ash Mountain, but most of the band members preferred the name Iron Maiden anyway, so that name was chosen shortly after the band formed. After months of rehearsal, Iron Maiden made their debut at St. Nicks Hall in Poplar on 1 May 1976, before taking up a semi-residency at the Cart and Horses Pub in Maryland, Stratford. A few decades later, the pub was officially named "The Birthplace of Iron Maiden" and turned into a music pub with many mementos of the band's early years as part of London's rock music history.

The original lineup was short-lived, with vocalist Paul Day being the first casualty as, according to Harris, he lacked "energy or charisma on stage". He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who used makeup and fake blood during live performances. Wilcock's friend, guitarist Dave Murray, was invited to join, much to the dismay of the band's guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance. Their frustration led Harris to temporarily disband Iron Maiden in 1976, though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist. Harris and Murray remain the band's longest-standing members and have performed on all of their releases.

Iron Maiden recruited yet another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who was sacked for embarrassing the band on stage by pretending to play guitar with his teeth. Tension ensued again, causing a rift between Murray and Wilcock, who convinced Harris to fire Murray, as well as original drummer Ron Matthews. A new lineup was put together, including future Cutting Crew member Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar and drummer Barry Purkis (better known today as Thunderstick). After a single gig with the band in January 1978, Moore was asked to leave as Harris decided that keyboards did not suit the band's sound. Dave Murray rejoined in late March 1978, which Terry Wapram disapproved of, so he was sacked. A few weeks later, Dennis Wilcock decided to leave Iron Maiden to form his own band, V1, with Wapram, and drummer Barry Purkis left, as well. Doug Sampson was at Dennis and Thunderstick's last gig and so joined the band afterwards.

Harris, Murray and Sampson spent the summer and autumn of 1978 rehearsing while they searched for a singer to complete the band's new lineup. A chance meeting at the Red Lion, a pub in Leytonstone, in November 1978 evolved into a successful audition for vocalist Paul Di'Anno. Steve Harris stated, "There's sort of a quality in Paul's voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge". At this time, Murray would typically act as their sole guitarist, with Harris commenting, "Davey was so good he could do a lot of it on his own. The plan was always to get a second guitarist in, but finding one that could match Davey was really difficult".

Record contract and early releases (1978–1981)

On New Year's Eve 1978, Iron Maiden recorded a demo, consisting of four songs, at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge. Hoping that the recording would help them secure more gigs, the band presented a copy to Neal Kay, who, at the time, was managing a heavy metal club called "Bandwagon Heavy Metal Soundhouse", located in Kingsbury Circle, northwest London. Upon hearing the tape, Kay began playing the demo regularly at the Bandwagon, and one of the songs, "Prowler", eventually went to No. 1 in the Soundhouse charts, which were published weekly in ''Sounds'' magazine. A copy was also acquired by Rod Smallwood, who soon became the band's manager, and, as Iron Maiden's popularity increased, they released the demo on their own record label as '' The Soundhouse Tapes'', named after the club. Featuring only three tracks (one song, "Strange World", was excluded as the band were unsatisfied with its production), all 5,000 copies sold out within weeks.

In December 1979, the band secured a major record deal with EMI and asked Dave Murray's childhood friend, Adrian Smith of Urchin, to join the group as their second guitarist. Due to his commitment to Urchin, Smith declined and Dennis Stratton was hired instead. Shortly afterwards, Doug Sampson left due to health issues and was replaced by ex-Samson drummer Clive Burr at Stratton's suggestion on 26 December 1979. Iron Maiden's first appearance on an album was on the '' Metal for Muthas'' compilation (released on 15 February 1980) with two early versions of " Sanctuary" and "Wrathchild". The release led to an ensuing tour that featured several other bands linked with the new wave of British heavy metal (NWoBHM) movement. According to different sources, between May 1976 and December 1979, the band played about 200 shows in Great Britain.

Iron Maiden released their self-titled album in 1980, which debuted at No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart. The album includes other early favourites such as " Running Free", "Transylvania", "Phantom of the Opera" and " Sanctuary" – which was not on the original UK release, but appeared on the US version and subsequent remasters. The band embarked on a headline tour of the UK, before opening for Kiss on their 1980 Unmasked Tour's European leg as well as supporting Judas Priest on select dates. Iron Maiden also appeared, to much acclaim, at the Reading Festival 1980 with almost 40,000 in attendance. They were second to top of the bill on the Saturday, with UFO headlining. After the Kiss tour, Dennis Stratton was dismissed from the band as a result of creative and personal differences, and was replaced by Smith in October 1980. In Europe, Iron Maiden played 28 shows to about 400,000 people (mainly Kiss fans). In December, the band played at the Rainbow Theatre in London, where their very first live video was filmed. '' Live at the Rainbow'' was released in May 1981, and the cuts "Iron Maiden" and "Wrathchild" from this video received heavy rotation on MTV during its first hours on the air as the first metal videos ever.

Their eponymous debut album achieved critical acclaim in Japan, where Iron Maiden were named "The Best Newcoming Foreign Band" by readers of ''Music Life'' magazine and received their very first Gold certification. Four decades later, Iron Maiden's debut album was ranked No. 13 of "The Greatest Hard Rock & Metal Albums Ever" published by journalists of opinion-forming '' Rolling Stone'' magazine and also named the third-most important metal debut album of all time. ''Iron Maiden'' is ranked at the similar positions in many other polls worldwide.

In 1981, Iron Maiden released their second studio album, '' Killers''. Containing many tracks written prior to their debut release, it had only two new songs written for the record: "Prodigal Son" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (the latter's title was taken from the short story by Edgar Allan Poe). The leitmotif of the lyrics was a murder contemplated from different perspectives. Unsatisfied with the production on their debut album, the band hired veteran producer Martin Birch, who would continue to work with Iron Maiden until his retirement in 1992. The record was followed by the band's first world tour, which included their debut performance in the United States, opening for Judas Priest at The Aladdin Casino in Las Vegas. Iron Maiden played 45 shows in North America to several hundreds of thousands of fans, including two headline gigs in Canada. ''Killers'' made the band's USA album charts debut, reaching No. 78 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and they booked 132 shows to promote the album. The musicians played the small or mid-size venues using standard type of stage equipment including 200 lamps, smoke machines, two backdrops with Eddie and four members of the crew wearing Eddie masks when the song "Iron Maiden" was played live.

The band's second album featured the single " Twilight Zone/Wrathchild" (released as a double A-side) and speed metal opus " Purgatory", as well as two instrumental songs – "The Ides of March" and "Genghis Khan" – and the proto-thrash title track. The music style of the album inspired generations of thrash, speed and power metal bands. The cover illustration by Derek Riggs became the first of many more iconic covers in the history of the genre. ''Killers'' sold much better worldwide than the debut album, hitting the one million mark a year after launch, earning the group Gold certificates in Germany, Japan, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France (double Gold) and in the United Kingdom. The album debuted at No. 12 in the UK and reached the Top 10 and Top 20 in many countries around the world.

The UK tour included the band's headline performance at the Hammersmith Odeon. However, Paul Di'Anno's addiction problems led to the cancellation of several German dates. In some of those cities, local fans reacted with street riots. Iron Maiden then toured Japan for the first time in seven shows. All tickets were sold out in record time, but further problems with Di'Anno forced the band to cancel two shows. The concert recordings from Nagoya were used on the mini-album ''Maiden Japan'' ('' Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan), which was released in September 1981. The band visited Yugoslavia as a headliner of the Belgrade festival with 50,000 people in attendance. It was the first time the band had played behind the Iron Curtain and also a groundbreaking performance for a new generation of heavy metal artists in the so-called Eastern Bloc. During the summer, Iron Maiden played several festivals in Europe, including appearances as "very special guests" at the Golden Summernights 1981 festival series held at Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg with 100,000 people, but also in Stuttgart and Darmstadt in front of an audience of tens of thousands.

Success (1981–1985)

By 1981, Paul Di'Anno was demonstrating increasingly self-destructive behaviour, particularly due to his drug usage, about which Di'Anno comments, "It wasn't just that I was snorting a bit of coke, though; I was just going for it non-stop, 24 hours a day, every day ... the band had commitments piling up that went on for months, years, and I just couldn't see my way to the end of it. I knew I'd never last the whole tour. It was too much". With his performances waning, Di'Anno was immediately dismissed following the Killer World Tour, at which point the band had already selected his replacement.

After a meeting with Rod Smallwood at the Reading Festival, Bruce Dickinson, previously of Samson, auditioned for Iron Maiden in September 1981 and was immediately hired. The following month, Dickinson went out on the road with the band on a small headlining tour in Italy, as well as a one-off show at the Rainbow Theatre in the UK. For the last show, and in anticipation of their forthcoming album, the band played "Children of the Damned" and "22 Acacia Avenue", introducing fans to the sound towards which they were progressing.

In 1982, Iron Maiden released their third studio album, '' The Number of the Beast'', which became the band's first No. 1 record on the UK Albums Chart, was a Top 10 hit in many other countries and reached No. 33 on the ''Billboard'' 200. At the time, Dickinson was in the midst of legal difficulties with Samson's management and was not permitted to add his name to any of the songwriting credits, although he still made what he described as a "moral contribution" to "Children of the Damned", "The Prisoner" and " Run to the Hills". For the second time, the band embarked on a world tour, dubbed The Beast on the Road, during which they visited North America, Japan, Australia and Europe, including a headline appearance for 40,000 people at the Reading Festival. Iron Maiden played 188 shows in 10 months. For the very first time, they presented a conceptual setting, including specially designed stage and lighting with almost 400 lamps. Also for the first time in the history of the band, a movable, three-meter-tall Eddie was presented on stage during the performance of the song "Iron Maiden".

The Beast on the Road's US leg proved controversial when an American conservative political lobbying group claimed that Iron Maiden were Satanic because of the new album's title track and "demonic" cover art, to the point where a group of Christian activists destroyed Iron Maiden records in protest. In recent years, Dickinson stated that the band treated this as "silliness" and that the demonstrations in fact gave them "loads of publicity". An American professor, Bryan A. Bardine, referring to the visual aspect of the band's third album, stated the authors' message seems to be understandable: "This album evokes power, passion and music that present darker themes and images".

The band played over 100 dates in North America, supporting Scorpions, Judas Priest and Rainbow. Iron Maiden headlined some Canadian dates, New York, Chicago free show and solo stops. They also performed at the biggest American festivals – Day on the Green, SuperFest, Pacific Jam, Rock Fest – which were held at big stadiums such as Rich Stadium, Anaheim Stadium, Oakland Alameda Coliseum or Comiskey Park, among many others. Iron Maiden were quickly promoted to the hard rock extra-league and avant-garde of heavy metal. '' The Number of the Beast'' is considered to be the groundbreaking album for modern heavy metal and has been back on the album sales charts and the all-time heavy metal albums polls constantly. The album's crowning track, titled " Hallowed Be Thy Name", is considered one of the few most important in the history of the genre. It has repeatedly held leading positions in various polls. After the first year of its release, 2.5 million copies were sold. A new and hugely successful chapter in Iron Maiden's future was cemented: by 2010, the album had sold over 14 million copies worldwide. The "Golden Era" in the band's history had begun. Today, ''The Number of the Beast'' is considered one of the major albums of all time (Top 3, Top 5) in heavy music, and by December 2021 it had sold almost 20 million copies worldwide. In December 1982, drummer Clive Burr was fired from the band and replaced by Nicko McBrain, who previously played for Trust. Although Harris stated that his dismissal took place because his live performances were affected by offstage activities, Burr objected to this and claimed that he was unfairly ousted from the band.

Soon afterwards, the band journeyed for the first time to the Bahamas to record the first of three consecutive albums at Compass Point Studios. In 1983, they released their fourth studio album, ''Piece of Mind'', which reached the No. 3 spot in the UK and No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' 200. ''Piece of Mind'' features the successful singles " The Trooper" and " Flight of Icarus", the latter being notable as one of the band's few songs to gain substantial airplay in the US. Other notable songs of the album are "Where Eagles Dare" (named after the Clint Eastwood movie), "Revelations", "Die with Your Boots On" and the epic "To Tame a Land", which is based on Frank Herbert's ''Dune''. Iron Maiden played 151 concerts in Europe and North America as a part of the World Piece Tour. For the very the first time, they booked a massive North America tour as headliners. Nearly 90 shows took place in 10,000+ capacity arenas, and the band sold out Madison Square Garden with a crowd of 20,000. In London, they played four consecutive nights at the Hammersmith Odeon, then toured many large venues across western Europe, including an extensive German leg. The World Piece Tour was concluded by two headlining performances at the Rock & Pop Festival at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund. The show was broadcast live to 300 million people with the exception of the song "Iron Maiden" due to the band's "violent behaviour on stage".

The setting of the tour was the next step in the visual development of the band's concerts. Iron Maiden used, ''inter alia'', a 100,000-watt sound system, a first for any group, designed specially for large sports arenas. The lighting equipment, in addition to the standard ramps with spots, included four movable, triangular ramps, rising to different heights above the stage and illuminating the audience from different angles. These were the first ramps of this type in the world, and their construction became a significant step forward as a starting point for the creation of mobile, extensive lighting systems used on subsequent tours. The lighting platform was based on over 520 lamps. As with the previous tour, the band had a conceptual set design with a number of props referring to the image of the promoted album, the movable Eddie and his big head emerging from behind the stage, also more use was made of pyrotechnics.

UK magazine '' Kerrang!'' summed up the passing year, and readers were asked to select 100 best metal albums of all time, resulting with ''Piece of Mind'' ranked first, followed by '' The Number of the Beast'', and the band's other releases were all in the Top 50. The rankings in other regions of the world looked similar. Iron Maiden became the most serious contenders for the title of "the biggest heavy metal formation in the world". In the year of the premiere, the circulation of the fourth album exceeded 2 million copies sold. In September 1983, the band released a video compilation, '' Video Pieces'', which contained official clips from '' The Number of the Beast'' and ''Piece of Mind''.

Soon after the success of ''Piece of Mind'' and its supporting tour, the band released their fifth studio album, '' Powerslave'', on 9 September 1984. The album features the singles " 2 Minutes to Midnight" and " Aces High", an emotional title track, as well as "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", which is based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem of the same name and has a runtime of over 13 minutes. ''Powerslave'' was another chart success, reaching No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 2 in the UK as a result of band's record company EMI's third ''Now That's What I Call Music!'' pop compilation, which should not be listed.

The tour following the album, dubbed the World Slavery Tour, was the band's largest to date, consisting of 193 shows in 28 countries over 13 months, playing to an estimated three and a half million people. The most elaborate tour to date was famous for using custom-made props, such as extensible golden sarcophagi, a 33-foot Eddie appearing as a big and mummified walking phantom, the conceptual stage set with an Ancient Egyptian motifs and extensive pyrotechnics. The band's own equipment travelled in six 45-foot articulated trucks, and touring needed three buses for 60 road crew and two more for the musicians. The PA front system power had 153,000 watts and an additional 21,000 for stage monitors. A custom-built and flexible lighting rig held nearly 800 lamps in vast triangular ramps of moving aluminium. The band's 2008–2009 tour, Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, featured a stage set that largely emulated the World Slavery Tour.

The tour started in August 1984 with five shows in Poland. Iron Maiden were the first Western artists who brought full-scale production behind the Iron Curtain. Average attendance in Poland was estimated as 12,000 people, plus a few thousand outside each night. The inaugural show in Warsaw, held at Torwar Arena, gathered over 14,000 people and 5,000 more listened outside. In Budapest, some 50,000 fans filled a parking lot. Iron Maiden played to full-capacity crowds all over Europe and the UK. 105 dates in North America were massive successes. Many shows were played back to back in the same city, such as in Long Beach, California, where the band played four consecutive concerts at Long Beach Arena for a combined audience of 54,000 fans. In New York City, the band played five nights at Radio City Music Hall, and only Dickinson's falling ill prevented the five scheduled shows from becoming seven.

The band's third official video, entitled '' Behind the Iron Curtain'', was released in October 1984. The World Slavery Tour documentary brought footage of the band touring eastern Europe in 1984, performing shows in the countries visited, and additionally portrayed the musicians as playing at a Polish wedding in Poznań. The video contained two promotional clips for songs from the '' Powerslave'' album, brand-new live tracks, and special interviews with musicians and members of the road crew. ''Behind the Iron Curtain'' was the first documentary published by a Western artist that pictured them touring the countries of Eastern Bloc. MTV broadcast an expanded version (about one hour long) of the documentary, which became a part of the '' Live After Death DVD'' released in February 2008.

Iron Maiden also made their debut appearance in South America, where they co-headlined the Rock in Rio festival with Queen for an estimated 350,000–500,000 in attendance. The tour was physically gruelling for the band, who demanded six months off when it ended (although this was later reduced to four months). This was the first substantial break in the group's history, including the cancellation of a proposed supporting tour for the new live album, with Bruce Dickinson threatening to quit unless the tour ended. In October 1985, Iron Maiden published their first double live album, ''Live After Death'', which was a critical and commercial success, peaking at No. 19 on the ''Billboard 200'' and No. 2 in the UK. The album was recorded at Long Beach Arena and also features additional tracks from four nights at London's Hammersmith Apollo. ''Live After Death'' is widely regarded as one of the greatest live albums of all time and has been described by ''Classic Rock'' as "the last great live album of the vinyl era" and a seminal heavy metal live release. Along with the album, an official video with the same name was released, and it debuted at No. 1 in the UK charts and topped music video charts worldwide. ''Live After Death'' live video was digitally remastered and released in 2008 as a part of the "History of Iron Maiden" series. In November 1985, Iron Maiden were named the best rock and metal band in the world and awarded at Public Choice International. This recognition sealed their status as the biggest heavy metal band in the world.

Experimentation (1986–1989)

Returning from their time off, the band adopted a different style for their 1986 studio album, '' Somewhere in Time.'' For the first time in the band's history, synthesised bass and guitars were featured to add textures and layers to the sound. The release charted well across the world, particularly with the single " Wasted Years", but notably included no writing credits from Dickinson, whose material was rejected by the rest of the band. While Dickinson was focused on his own music, guitarist Adrian Smith, who typically collaborated with the vocalist, was "left to isown devices" and began writing songs on his own, coming up with "Wasted Years", "Sea of Madness" and "Stranger in a Strange Land", the last of which would be the album's second single. The album was the band's biggest American chart success to date, reaching No. 11 on the ''Billboard 200'' and No. 2 in the UK charts. It almost immediately reached Gold status in the UK and Platinum in the US, where it eventually went Double Platinum, according to band's official biography, ''Run to the Hills''. The Somewhere on Tour production was the most ambitious to date. ''Somewhere in Time'' features "Caught Somewhere in Time" as an opening track, the anthemic "Heaven Can Wait" and the progressive epic opus "Alexander the Great" crowning the album. Band used seven or eight 45-foot articulated trucks packed with over 100 tons of equipment, three crowd buses for 60 people and two nightliners for five musicians. The band-owned, customised Turbosound system was probably the biggest in the world used indoors. Total power (PA and stage monitors) was estimated at 180,000 watts. The vast and flexible lighting rig held over 1,100 lamps hung over a futuristic stage set, including flying space ships, inflatable props, laser guns, pyrotechnics, hydraulic stands, backdrops and monumental Eddie's appearance.

Somewhere on Tour was a big success everywhere. The band played 157 shows for two and a half million fans. Eighty-one shows in North America were spectacular success, and the musicians booked the bigger indoor arenas and some stadiums, too. Once again, Iron Maiden visited Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia to play for tens of thousands fans in each country. A massive UK leg, including six nights at Hammersmith Odeon, was sold out in advance. In October 1987, Iron Maiden released the '' 12 Wasted Years'' video documentary, focusing on the history of the band from 1975 to 1987. It included several rare videos and interviews from the band's career, some of which were later included on the 2004 documentary '' The Early Days''. In March 2013, Iron Maiden included the full documentary in a reissue of their 1989 concert film, ''Maiden England''.

The experimentation evident on ''Somewhere in Time'' continued on their next album, ''Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'', which was released in 1988. A concept album recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich and based on the 1987 novel '' Seventh Son'' by Orson Scott Card, it was the band's first record to include keyboards, which were performed by Harris and Smith. After his contributions were not used for ''Somewhere in Time'', Dickinson's enthusiasm was renewed as his ideas were accepted for this album. Another popular release, it became Iron Maiden's second album to hit No. 1 in the UK charts and reached No. 12 on the ''Billboard 200.'' It initially only achieved a Gold certification in the US, in contrast to its four predecessors. The album incorporated many progressive rock influences and spawned three hit singles – "Can I Play with Madness", "The Evil That Men Do" and "The Clairvoyant" – along with the expressive "Moonchild", "Infinite Dreams", an epic title track, "The Prophecy" and "Only the Good Die Young", which was inspired by Aleister Crowley's works.

After the blockbuster tour in North America, Iron Maiden were headliners of the Monsters of Rock festivals in Europe for the first time. They headlined stadiums and festivals in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. During the following tour, the band headlined the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park for the first time on 20 August 1988, playing to the largest crowd in the festival's history, with an estimated 107,000 in attendance. Also included on the bill were Kiss, David Lee Roth, Megadeth, Guns N' Roses and Helloween. The festival was marred, however, by the deaths of two fans in a crowd-surge during Guns N' Roses' performance; the following year's festival was cancelled as a result. The tour concluded with several headline shows in the UK in November and December 1988, with the concerts at the NEC Arena, Birmingham, recorded for a live video, entitled ''Maiden England''. The video debuted at top spots of worldwide music videos charts.

To promote the album, the band hosted an evening of television, radio and press interviews at Castle Schnellenberg in Attendorn, Germany, prior to the record's release, before holding a small number of "secret" club shows under the name "Charlotte and the Harlots" at Empire, Cologne and L'Amour, New York. In May, the group set out on a supporting tour, which saw them perform 103 shows to well over two million people worldwide over seven months. To recreate the album's keyboards onstage, the group recruited Michael Kenney, Steve Harris' bass technician, to play the keys throughout the tour, during which he would perform the song "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" on a forklift truck under the alias of "The Count" (for which he would wear a black cape and mask). Kenney has acted as the band's live keyboard player ever since, also performing on the band's four following albums before Harris took over as the group's sole studio keyboardist on 2000's ''Brave New World''. Stage set and equipment, which has been taken by band, was transported in dozens of trucks and was the most elaborate to date and one of the biggest in the world, including over 200,000 watts of PA and over 1,500 spot lamps. Iron Maiden was included in the Guinness Book of World Records Museum for its performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in 1988.Guinness Book of Records 1990 ed. p. 155.

Upheaval (1989–1994)

During another break in 1989, guitarist Adrian Smith released a solo album with his band ASAP, entitled '' Silver and Gold.'' Vocalist Bruce Dickinson began work on a solo album with former Gillan guitarist Janick Gers, releasing ''Tattooed Millionaire'' in 1990, followed by a tour. At the same time, to mark the band's 10-year recording anniversary, Iron Maiden released a compilation collection, '' The First Ten Years'', a series of 10 CDs and double 12-inch singles. Between 24 February and 28 April 1990, the individual parts were released one by one, each containing two of Iron Maiden's singles, including the original B-sides. The band also released the career-spanning video compilation entitled '' The First Ten Years: The Videos'' (in 1992 re-issued as ''From There to Eternity''). The 1980s were closed by the group with over 25 million albums sold, 10 million of which were in the US, along with over 5 million videos sold in the States, which gave Iron Maiden six of 120 Gold and Platinum certificates received worldwide. ''The Number of the Beast'' became the band's best-selling album, achieving sales 6 million copies in the eight years since its release. All the achievements sealed the group's status as the largest representative of the heavy metal genre at the time. Iron Maiden set new records in the UK: six singles in the Top 5, 10 double maxi-singles in the Top 10, the highest position ever for a debut single from a rock band, the most albums in the Top 10 for a British performer (excluding The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Queen) and 20 singles consecutively released on the charts.

Soon afterwards, Iron Maiden regrouped to work on a new studio record. During the pre-production stages, Adrian Smith left the band due to differences with Steve Harris regarding the direction the band should be taking, disagreeing with the "stripped down" style that they were leaning towards. Janick Gers, having worked on Dickinson's solo project, was chosen to replace Smith and became the band's first new member in seven years. The album, '' No Prayer for the Dying'', was released in October 1990. It contained the hit singles " Holy Smoke" and " Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter", the band's first – and, to date, only – UK Singles Chart No. 1, originally recorded by Dickinson's solo outfit for the soundtrack to '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child''. The song was banned by the BBC, and only a 90-second live clip on Top of the Pops was shown. In 1990, Bruce Dickinson received the Golden Raspberry Awards in category "The Worst Original Song" for the band's most successful single in Great Britain. Dickinson's composition was nominated to an American Music Award in category "Best Rock Song". In 1992, " Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter" received another nomination to Brit Awards in category "Best British Single". Iron Maiden's eighth studio album debuted at No. 2 in the UK albums chart and No. 17 on the ''Billboard 200''. ''No Prayer for the Dying'' signalled the return of Iron Maiden to the roots of their musical style, in particular in its simplicity of composition and raw sound.

The No Prayer on the Road tour was booked for 120 shows in Europe, North America and Japan. The main support act for Iron Maiden were an American thrash metal band called Anthrax. The tour started with 20 dates in British music theatres and was continued in European and American arenas. Thirty-three shows in continental Europe were sold out to 530,000 fans. In 1991, Iron Maiden played North America, Japan and outdoors in France, Denmark and Switzerland. For the first time, the band headlined Roskilde Festival for 60,000 fans. Following large-scale stage shows the band played in the '80s, musicians opted for a less elaborate production, including only mobile and the big Eddie, traditional lighting rig and large backdrops. Once again, Iron Maiden played for some two million fans.

After another extensive tour and some more time off, the band recorded their next studio album, '' Fear of the Dark'', which was released in 1992. The title track is now a regular fixture in the band's concert setlists. Achieving their third No. 1 in the UK albums chart and No. 12 on the ''Billboard 200'', the release also included the No. 2 single "Be Quick or Be Dead", the No. 21 single "From Here to Eternity", "Wasting Love" and pacifistic anthem "Afraid to Shoot Strangers", which is based on the 1990–91 Gulf War. The album featured the first songwriting by Gers, and no collaboration at all between Harris and Dickinson on songs. The extensive worldwide tour that followed included their first-ever Latin American leg (12 stadium and arena shows after a single concert during the World Slavery Tour), and headlining the Monsters of Rock festivals in seven European countries: UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Sweden. Iron Maiden's second performance at Donington Park, for a sold-out audience of 75,000 (the attendance was capped after the incident in 1988), was filmed for the audio and video release '' Live at Donington'' and featured a guest appearance by Adrian Smith, who joined the band to perform "Running Free". Christian organisations prevented Iron Maiden from performing in Chile and accused musicians of being "emissaries of satanic propaganda".

Fear of the Dark Tour 1992 included 66 concerts played on five continents for well over a million fans. The band presented a powerful and elaborated lighting rig (over 1000 lamps and lasers) and scenery partly reminiscent of the 1980s. The setting of the Monsters of Rock concerts was completed by the huge Eddie crowning the stage and screens. Iron Maiden made their first appearance in Iceland and returned to Oceania after a seven-year hiatus. The tour in Japan was the largest in the history of the group. The tour witnessed the personal conflicts between Bruce Dickinson and rest of the band.

In 1993, Bruce Dickinson left the band to further pursue his solo career, but agreed to remain for a farewell tour and two live albums (later re-released in one package): the first, ''A Real Live One'', was released in March 1993 and featured songs from 1986 to 1992, and the second, ''A Real Dead One'', was released after Dickinson had left the band and featured songs from 1980 to 1984. The tour did not go well, with Steve Harris claiming that Dickinson would only perform properly for high-profile shows, and that at several concerts, he would only mumble into the microphone. Dickinson denied that he was under-performing, stating that it was impossible to "make like Mr. Happy Face if the vibe wasn't right", and that news of his exit from the band had prevented any chance of a good atmosphere during the tour. On 1 May 1993, the band performed at the "Primo Maggio Free Festival" in Rome, Piazza San Giovanni. According to different sources, the crowd was estimated between 500,000 and 1 million people. The band toured an extensive Italian leg and visited Russia for the very first time, playing three consecutive nights at Moscow's Olympic Stadium. Bruce Dickinson played his farewell show with Iron Maiden on 28 August 1993. The show was filmed, broadcast by the BBC
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