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Class 6(66)
Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden
23/09/09 || Habakuk
Introduction
Isn’t this is a pretty worthless paragraph? At least it contains a rhetorical question now.
Songwriting
8. A day at the zoo. Look, an elephant, and whee, another elephant! He’s got huge teeth! A lion! There’s a giraffe! It’s eating leaves from a tree. Here’s a rhinoceros, it is heavy. Over at the pond, there are some flamingos, and they are standing on one leg! And monkeys! I like turtles. I can also see a mountain goat. And here comes a tiger! It is yellow with black stripes and a tiger. There is a gorilla and also snakes. Iron Maiden also hadn’t really found their style yet, but had a lot to get off their minds, as their debut is a bit of a mixed bucket. Just like the zoo! No, not like the zoo. We get simplistic, almost punkish outburst like “Prowler” or “Running free”, and I think Maiden never sounded more punk than on these two, the (semi- ?) epic “Phantom of the opera”, a couple enjoyable softer songs, an instrumental that probably resembles their later style the most, two straight-forward rockers (actually quite fast for the time they came out), and, well, “Charlotte the Harlot”, which is a bit like “Phantom of the Opera” light and a personal favorite of mine. Now speaking of favorites, “Prowler”‘s beginning is to die for, and the whole song remains awesome. Every debut album should start something like that. By the way, they almost copied the beginning for “The mercenary” on “Brave New World”. It’s just about twice as good on here. “Phantom of the opera” takes a completely different direction, but it’s just as perfect. There is so much to discover in that song it never gets old for me.
Two minor complaints though, I can’t really enjoy the title track and “Sanctuary” as much. I know they’re both pretty iconic, and the choruses are indeed great, but overall they do sound a bit dated. The heaviness they relied on is just a bit bland from today’s perspective. The high level of awesomeness on the rest of the material helps me forget about these little things pretty quickly though.
Production
6. Nineteen-eighty. I think I can even hear some metal part of the drum kit click rhythmically during the all-drums intro to “Running free”. It’s like they didn’t grease the pedals or something. Just like they used to roll back in ’80. Other than that though, I can appreciate the sound for its relative rawness. The clean but thumpy bass sound makes up for the guitar production that’s a bit thin and the slightly muffled drums, and the vocals are placed comfortably at the front, just at the right volume. So yeah, it’s solid given its age, but nothing spectacular. It doesn’t take away any of the charm though, as the cool stuff can always be heard.
Guitars
7. Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton, the world-renowned guitar duo. No wait. Okay, I don’t know who this Stratton guy is. I don’t see much twin guitar madness yet either (“Transylvania” being an exception), but they trade off a couple of solos quite nicely. However, to be honest, this album at times sounds like there’s only one guitarist. Very good and with some decent groove at that, but some missed potential. I have a feeling it has something to do with this Dennis-dude. Wonder why they sacked him. So yeah, it’s all good, but not the double-Maiden-fretboarbastomania™ we got so used to later on.
Vocals
9. Paul Di’Anno is not Bruce Dickinson, but that doesn’t matter. Dickinson’s polished style doesn’t fit with punkish young gun-songs like “Running Free” as well anyway, in my book. Di’Anno however just sounds like he’s wearing a leather jacket 24/7. Raw, energetic and a bit greasy but with vocal lines that make the girls hop on his ‘cycle anyway, rollin’ them a-big eyes. That’s right, he’s a rockarr! I dig it, and I can’t really say whether I prefer Dickinson or him, as they both fit their respective albums like a glove. In this case, it’s probably one of these leather gloves without fingers and a hole on the back of the hand.
Bass
10. Nietzsche knows how long I tried to nail “Phantom of the Opera” or “Charlotte the harlot” on bass. Steve Harris plays shitloads of awesome basslines, he plays them fast as hell, shifts tempos and rhythms seamlessly, he’s the album’s backbone as well as oftentimes a lead instrument, you can hear him and his fat bass sound clearly all the time, but he never ever gets in the way, although in almost any 20-second bit and you’ll find a fill somewhere. That’s a fucken wow. This is how you play bass. And no, I never had these songs down. Actually, I’ve basically given up bass playing. But they were great fun, let me tell you that. Ten, ten, ten, 10, zehn, dix, tio, diez, sayı, 1010, dieci, getal. Hands down. There can hardly be enough praise for Steve Harris’ performance on this album.
Drums
6. Clive who? Nah, Clive Burr at least made it into some metal history books. More because of the fact that he was drumming in Iron Maiden than because of how he was drumming, I reckon. He’s a solid and steady drummer on the debut, but that’s about all I can say. “Transylvania”‘s galloping horse part doesn’t have double-bass accentuating it, for example. Why? Ask Clive. He obviously didn’t even have a second pedal to begin with, or he hid it well. So yeah, good good, but a lot of room for improvement. Nothing to write a metal history book about indeed.
Lyrics
7. Hmm. I’d actually have to read up on them. The downside of Paul Di’Anno’s raw voice is obviously that it’s nowhere near as comprehensible as Bruce Dickinson’s and consequently doesn’t stick to your head as well. Doesn’t matter much, though, as there’s not much to go to crazy about. It’s all about being a young dude hanging around in the city, being chased by “the law”, and all that kind of stuff. No history lessons, thankfully, but in the end a rather enjoyable result.
Cover art
7. Iconic and ugly. Nicko McBrain might not have drummed on “Iron Maiden”, but I do get a certain vibe here.
Logo
10. If you don’t understand, just write about your day at the zoo.
Booklet
6. Look, I’ll be up-front with it. I don’t know. It’s 16.000 kilometers away from here, and the re-release. Probably very nice and justifying 6 hard-earned points.
Overall and ending rant
This album is the shit, it sounds young, it sounds ambitious, it sounds hungry. Quite obviously it doesn’t sound like most other Iron Maiden albums, but in terms of quality, it’s up there with the rest. It might not be as unidirectional as many of their later works, but instead it’s got a few rough edges to it that make it even more worthy of the classics-status than the band’s history alone would already justify. If any album deserves to be called a raw diamond, it is this one here. An essential listen to see a band evolve into one of the greatest metal bands in history.
- Information
- Released: 1980
- Label: EMI
- Website: www.ironmaiden.com
- Band
- Paul Di’Anno: vocals
- Dave Murray: guitars
- Dennis Stratton: guitars
- Steve Harris: bass
- Clive Burr: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Prowler
- 02. Remember tomorrow
- 03. Running free
- 04. Phantom of the opera
- 05. Transylvania
- 06. Strange world
- 07. Sanctuary
- 08. Charlotte the harlot
- 09. Iron maiden
