the father of Eddie: the legendary Derek Riggs

[OpticSugar]

This thread is devoted to Iron Maiden's first (and by far best in this writer's opinion) album cover artist: Derek Riggs

Let's discuss:
- what are your favorite (Riggs) album covers?
- what are some of your favorite details or re-occuring elements in his work?


To get things started:

Here's a great link that displays and talks about all of the album cover and singles artwork that he created:
http://hubpages.com/entertainment/Iron-Maiden-Album-Covers-by-Derek-Riggs

Here's an interview with Riggs in 2010:
http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/08/17/the-austerity-programs-just-foley-interviews-legendary-illustrator-derek-riggs/

Here's an interview with Riggs in 2013:
http://www.auburn-reporter.com/entertainment/222973471.html

[Nekroliun]

My favorite derek covers?

1.hallowed be thy name (Beast eddie looks epic)
2.Purgatory
3.Stranger in a Stranger Land
5.Live after Death
4.Can i play with Madness
5.Aces High
6.Number Of The Beast
7.Powerslave
8.Running Free
9.The Trooper
10.Somewhere In Time

One of my favthings in his work is the wierd, and demented/Messed up style of things, like the half eddie half beast of purgatory, so wierd and looks pretty eugh but is awesome

[BillLion]

Nice thread.

Killers is one of my faves he did. Also love Somewhere in Time

[OpticSugar]

Nice thread.

Killers is one of my faves he did.

found this on a random search...
1128

[Nekroliun]

What. The. Hell

Is fat killers backround flipped to reveal what killers eddie is looking at in the cover xD

[BillLion]

Nice, pretty cool!

[OpticSugar]

I started a collection my favorite Riggs painted Iron Maiden album covers... basically, everything he ever did up until Seventh Son. I searched for the highest resolution versions that I could find and put them all in one place. There's even a folder for the singles covers.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6CnGw50f-zTQ1gySWlsM2RfVDg?usp=sharing

enjoy

[vgta99]

My favorite cover is not the very best album, but this cover is amazing with the lot of details in it
1129
I like the Eddie face with this nasty smile. This hand to take the VR player like a gamepad, only to manipulate his soul to make his puppet.
Around him like a mantle, the land of hell with desperate souls and flames...
You can see also the band in the bottom left corner.
Really unbelievable works of Derek Riggs

[Aristo4]

Sorry virtual is not Riggs's

its his as some others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvyn_Grant

[Nifelheim]

That reversed killers art is cool but not Riggs. It's fan art.

[OpticSugar]

That reversed killers art is cool but not Riggs. It's fan art.

I know... I just thought it was a neat concept.

[Aristo4]

http://www.ironmaidencommentary.com/?url=album06_sit/sitzooms&link=albums&lang=eng

For anyone who hasn't seen this...coolest maiden fansite

This cover is out of this planet.

[vgta99]

Sorry virtual is not Riggs's

its his as some others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvyn_Grant

Whaaaaat?
lol many years in the wrong way...
My bad

[Aristo4]

Whaaaaat?
lol many years in the wrong way...
My bad

Chill :p

btw his Fear of the dark cover is also one of my favourites

[Nekroliun]

Well melvyn did an amazing job making virtual xi's cover!

And btw the only reference that i already knew from the somewhere in time cover was the 2 mins to midnight reference... But the sad thing is that the 2mins2midnight reference that i got was from stranger in a strange land's single cover...

[slauki]

I started a collection my favorite Riggs painted Iron Maiden album covers... basically, everything he ever did up until Seventh Son. I searched for the highest resolution versions that I could find and put them all in one place. There's even a folder for the singles covers.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6CnGw50f-zTQ1gySWlsM2RfVDg?usp=sharing

enjoy

thank you very much, thats great :-) i think i like the somewhere in time cover the most, but plenty of them are really epic...

[OpticSugar]

And btw the only reference that i already knew from the somewhere in time cover was the 2 mins to midnight reference... But the sad thing is that the 2mins2midnight reference that i got was from stranger in a strange land's single cover...

You must have been looking at the CD and not the LP album cover... when you hold the actual album 12" cover in your hands, you can't help but get drawn in on all those tiny little details hidden away in there. The art for those Derek Riggs albums were designed for that size... where everything after that 80's era was designed for CD releases. Something really got lost with album art when the compact disc took over (I don't just mean for Maiden, but for the entire music industry). If an artist ever tried to put that much detail into an album cover in the 90s, it just got lost and unnoticed... never to be really appreciated.

Sadly, I lost all my Maiden albums in a flood that hit my storage unit, so that is why I put together that collection of hi-res Maiden album covers.

Artisto4... Thanks so much for that link! Great fansite, and it made me aware of so many more references that I didn't totally understand before!

[Aristo4]

Try the album section too, pressing on every studio album's cover....a ton of info about every individual song, which I also had no idea about until I found this site 10 years ago :cool:

[OpticSugar]

I will have to spend some time in this site!

I also really enjoyed this site:
https://maidenrevelations.com

He does some really good 'retro reviews' of the albums, and his historic blogs are amazing - chronicling the classic era Maiden through the 80s! I learned a lot from his writing.

[The Educated fool]

Great thread, and some very cool links! :cool:

My "Top Fives" for album and single artwork done by Derek Riggs would be:

Albums

1. Powerslave
2. Somewhere in Time
3. Piece of Mind
4. The Number of the Beast
5. Live After Death

Singles

1. The Number of the Beast
2. Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter
3. Purgatory
4. 2 Minutes to Midnight
5. Run to the Hills

[Nekroliun]

After looking at all of the amazing art works i reaised just how many references there are in the speed of light music vid, seriously! That thing has ALOT of references

[Witkacy]

Evening folks :)

I can recommend a book of Derek's arts and so stories behind it - Run For Cover...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/Mr.Maiden/P1000076.jpg

Sometime ago I emailed to Derek with kind ask of permission to use one of his arts (the one with Eddie with Polish and so British flags) on some Polish IM forums... He not only agreed but told me the story what was behind this art and later on when his book came out I've ordered it asking for signing it and even got a drawing of Eddie made by Derek himself and also signed...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/Mr.Maiden/P1000202.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/Mr.Maiden/P1000203.jpg

[Nekroliun]

Dude... IM SO FREAKING JELLY GIMME DAT SHIT

*Opens his dusty email* lets see here... HA GENIUS! now whats his email... Shit...