Iron Maiden

This post is not about the torture device. You want torture, you go elsewhere. As much as I'd love to talk about poking holes in somebody with a coffin, it's just not gonna happen on a family-friendly blog. Sorry.

It's long been disputed what my actual taste in music is. When I tell people the truth, they burst out laughing and ask if I'm serious. Obviously they don't realise that I am always serious. It's how I get my kicks. So this is me, being serious and telling you exactly what I like in music.

The question "What sort of music do you listen to?" can be answered in three ways, both equally shocking considering my placid and all too often cold nature. Two words: Heavy Metal. Yeah, the Professor's into his metal, man. He's a hard-rockin' legend with his six string, tearing up the fretboard with lightning fast riffs and bursting eardrums with his screaming lyrics. (Not really. I'd like to be, and I do occasionally fly off the wall with some pretty funky riffs on that dear old Ibanez, but just no to the screaming lyrics. Just no.) It usually surprises people even more when they learn that I play the electric guitar. Yeah, that is the truth, that is.

The second of three ways is: Avenged Sevenfold. This band, for those without knowledge, has the heaviest sound of all artists I've ever heard, utilises screaming vocals from time to time and perhas has the speediest drummer of all time. They also seem to be in love with bad language and those little 'parental guidance' markings that adorn the covers of pretty much every album they ever produced.

The third and best way for me to answer is with a final two words: Iron Maiden.

Simply the best band ever to happen since the creation of the guitar, they've released fifteen studio albums under three different singers (Paul Di'Anno, Bruce Dickinson and Blayze Bailey), reformed with Bruce Dickinson (the best of the three) and done countless tours. I like them because the lyrics are good, they don't scream and the rock they produce with those three guitars, bass and drum kit are just the bomb. But I also like their album covers, which Dragon seems to think are 'scary'. Look below and try to tell me that that's scary.


That's the album cover from 'The Final Frontier', Maiden's 15th studio release. Just sayin'.

Iron Maiden fans (myself included) are always on the lookout for the next Maiden album, but I personally am more on the lookout for the next super-strange album cover that it is set to posess. Iron Maiden have long been into keeping a mascot, and in their case the mascot is none other than Eddie the Head, an unusually unsual (barely) humanoid figure that continues to strike fear into the heart of viewers even now. Over the years, he's changed a lot but remained recognisable. The above example (nicknamed 'Space Eddie', and he is the incarnation that has deviated most from the path of the True Eddie the Head) is by no means the weirdest. If any Eddie were to be classed as 'strangest', it would be that from the cover of the album 'Piece of Mind', which bore a crazed Eddie wrapped up in chains and what looks to be the remains of a straightjacket.

However, Maiden isn't about Eddie the Head. It's about great music and incredible, searing guitar solos that manage to occur without time actually having to slow down that much. And it's about many, many years of bad hairstyles and even worse clothes. But I digress.

I know for a fact that Bill's a pretty big Iron Maiden fan, but not as big as me. I have a poster of Eddie the Head on my wall and I can sleep at night. That makes me a big Maiden fan. (Bill, I dare you to dispute me.) There's no doubting that Iron Maiden have made a major contribution to British Heavy Metal and music culture over the years. Hopefully, they'll continue to exert an influence over it for a while yet. Maybe, just maybe, they'll release a few more studio albums while they're at it.