Overlooked Alternatives: Iron Maiden
Published September 05, 2006
Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death: There's no simple way to put it - Iron Maiden is a huge part of my musical life. I found them - they found me, maybe - in that sweet spot in every heavy metal fan's life, that period of waffling confusion that hovers around your 16th birthday. You can't really go anywhere, you can't really do anything - you're just there, waiting for something of consequence to happen.
Late summer, 1988: I had just gotten my permit for my driver's license - not much else was going on in my life, but I was discovering metal . . . and that's all I really needed to keep me busy. I'd already found one significant landmark album - Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime - and I apparently needed another one.
When you're a dorky fifteen year old with no interest in sports of any kind, about the only kind of group interaction I had was riding my bike to the mall with a couple of friends, where we'd struggle to find something to do. Eventually, we'd make our way across the street to a smaller strip mall where a Wherehouse records was buried between a Circle K and some hair salon. This was my music world at the time - not long before I found the somewhat limited world of indie music stores I had access to, but back in the days when a place like Wherehouse could actually be counted on to have a fairly decent selection of music. Those days seem a much longer time ago given the sad state that large corporate-chain music stores fell into early in the 90s.
Cruising the stacked rows of cassettes in the Wherehouse, you'd find them arranged like tiny books in a weird, shiny, plastic library. There was always the occasional cassette case turned face-forward, displaying its artwork, usually with a sale tag displayed below. Running my fingers across the alphabet of artists - and I still do this to this day - I would peruse what was still there and what was new. That particular day, something stood out - that blue cover, with the sea rippling below that decrepit half-torso'd character holding what seemed to be a baby in a womb, complete with umbilical cord that somehow had fingers attaching itself to the larger character's exposed ribs. What IS this?! Iron Maiden?! I knew the name, of course - how could I not? They were evil, everyone knew that. You know, "666, the number of the beast!" Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. That just reeked of evil, and I had to check it out.
I grabbed the cassette off the rack and immediately flipped it over. Ooh, cool, I thought - it was one of those cassettes with the wrap-around cards so the artwork covered the entire back. That meant, to me, anyway, the band was a class-act. And it was a clear cassette! Another plus! No one really wanted those lame off-white cassettes in the cheap-feeling black cassette cases - what you really looked for were the cool clear cassettes with the white printing. Oh, sure, they got beat up pretty quickly, but for a short while, that crystal-clear plastic was the thing you obsessed over. CDs have their clarity and relative sturdiness and vinyl has its warmth and vast artwork, but cassettes had the cool factor of a miniature, bonafide gadget going for them. While there's much I won't ever miss about cassettes, I will say this: shake a CD or a record and tell me if you hear little plastic parts clinking and rattling, or try stuffing one into a pocket to take along on a car ride.
- Overlooked Alternatives: Iron Maiden
- Published: September 05, 2006
- Type: News
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Metal
- Part of a feature: Overlooked Alternatives
- Writer: Tom Johnson
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Thanks Brian! It wasn't too long into my fascination with Maiden that I read that "Number of the Beast" was about a dream that Steve had, which was something I then threw in the face of everyone who tried to rip on them being satanic. Because, you know, it's terrible to sing about satanic dreams but perfectly acceptable to rap about poppin' caps in asses - that is obviously fictional. Except, of course, quite of few rappers have popped said caps in said asses . . .
fantastic stuff tom. hey, my first Iron Maiden was Killers. still have it....on vinyl.
Brian aka Guppusmaximus, judging by the DVD that accompanies the special edition, Harris doesn't sound like he's Christian, but rather agnostic. He claims that he is neither for or against religion. I think if he were Christian, he would simply come out and say it.
Maiden are probably my favorite metal band of all time. I've met and interviewed them, and have been listening to them for almost 25 years. I never believed for a second that they were satanic or anything like that. I am also not the slightest surprised that I still listen to their music and eagerly await every new offering and tour. These guys are timeless.
Triniman,
My memory is probably incorrect as I am finding out that it's just Mr. McBrain who is a born again Christian. I still feel that the guys are probably believers in God just not the whole religion thing. Religion tends to cloud up alot of stuff.... I guess I feel that way because of the song "Infinite Dreams", which is one of my all time favorites. It just shows their maturity and progression as a band.
Tom,
Singing...*oops*, I mean rapping about drugs and violence aren't frowned upon because it doesn't take much intelligence to write about shit like that. You actually gotta be quite sick in the head to shoot somebody. Writing about where you come from and whose bitch your gonna bang is easy to do,but, to write about deep emotions and thoughts about spirituality or just your stance on spirituality can show people that you can think for yourself. It scares people. It's a hot topic and has been for decades. Wether you're Agnostic,Christian,Jewish,etc... Talk of the afterlife is very effective. Everyone thinks about it...How can you not.
Oh well, enough of my soapbox!! Maiden's new release is killer(no pun) and it shows that they can still kick ass!!
F*ck Aerosmith... Bring on the Maiden!!
I agree with you about Infinite Dreams. It's a gem of a song.
I began listening to the new album for the first time this morning, but work got in the way. I did like what I heard, though. I may put in a review, if time permits.
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Maiden has toppled many an obstacle that most Metal bands have stumbled on, in that they are still straight forward with no editing tricks. Just pure talent!! Funny enough, you were correct on your gut feeling about Maiden...They are actually Christians.
I too remember my first time... I was 7 and I had gotten my hands on the "Killers" cassette while my brother and I were shopping Blue Mill Records. Safe to say, that's why I am BC's Metalologist and Yngwie Malmsteen Disciple(Thanks Glen)...Why? Cuz at 7, I don't think most parents want their kids to listen to "Murder in the Rue Morgue".("Gengis Khan" was the ultimate drumming song...)And,Being immersed this early in life led me to listen to so much Metal that I could teach a course about Metal History *Smirk* Anyways, Great Review!! And, I don't think anyone could ever outgrow The Maiden!!
Up The Irons!!