Rank the Albums

[The Educated fool]

After reading Teamrock.com's rankings of Iron Maiden's studio albums today, I thought this might prove to be a thread that got people talking... let's see. While I didn't necessarily agree with the author's picks, (which you can read HERE (http://teamrock.com/feature/2016-07-05/every-iron-maiden-album-ranked-from-worst-to-best)) I did definitely agree with him that ranking Maiden's albums is a tough thing to do. In the end, it's all about what appeals to you most, after all... and the worst Maiden album still has moments of actual metal brilliance anyway, in my humble opinion, so it's more a case of least-best than worse, as it were... :cool:

If, then, I were to rank Iron Maiden's catalogue of studio albums based on my opinion, the list would read:

17. Virtual XI
16. Killers
15. The Final Frontier
14. The X Factor
13. A Matter of Life and Death
12. No Prayer for the Dying
11. Dance of Death
10. Iron Maiden
9. Fear of the Dark
8. Senjutsu
7. Somewhere in Time
6. The Book of Souls
5. Brave New World
4. Piece of Mind
3. Powerslave
2. The Number of the Beast
1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

What say you, folks? Thoughts? Opinions? Concession? Outrage? Let's talk about it! :cool:

[Jennie-5128]

To do it the other way round to you:

1, Brave New World
2, Fear of the Dark
3, Iron Maiden
4, Number of The Beast
5, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
6, The Final Frontier
7, No Prayer For The Dying
8, Powerslave
9, Piece of Mind
10, Somewhere In Time
11, Book of Souls
12, A Matter of Life & Death
13, Dance of Death
14, The X Factor
15, Killers
16. Virtual XI

A lot of this is to do with the memories I associate with the albums rather than pure musical quality per se. BNW was such a blast of fresh air; FOTD was my daughters obsession when she was little, etc.

[Gonzo]

Exactly my thoughts, Jennie. I will always rank Piece of Mind as the most influental album in my life. It may not be the best, but it is the best to me.

Short story. A long long time ago, while visiting my fathers best friend I saw a vinyl of Piece of Mind... Nethless to say, it blew my mind. So, there I was, scared as shit, but somehow I couldn't take my eyes off of that cover. Everytime we visited this guy, who later became my godfather, I watched that picture for hours, literally hours.

At that time I was 3 or 4 years old, I did not know what it was, I did not understand how someone could have that horrid but captivating image in his apartment. Until one day, they played the vinyl. Euphoria is the only word that comes to my mind.

A few years after that he passed away, I inherited his collection and now that vinyl is framed in my bedroom, despite my girlfriends request, signed by the band members. Piece of Mind, for me will always be the best album ever.

In order to get that copy signed I had to stay for 3 weeks in the hotel where they were going to stay.

Oh, Virtual XI and The X Factor suck. Sorry Blaze.

[Jennie-5128]

Gonzo, yeah, someone bought my daughter a toy drum kit when she was 3. The image of her drumming away and shouting "Feel of the Dark! Feel of the Daaaarrrk!" never fails to bring a big grin to my face. She plays keyboard now...

(and yeah Blaze never really fit well with me in Maiden either. I like Wolfsbane tho :) )

[Gonzo]

You know, when I take care of my niece. We play this game all day. She's 6 and already a Heavy Metal fan. She lives in Florida and I live in Argentina, but I travel at least once a month to the states for work. In Halloween 2014 she wanted me to go with her to trick-or-treating, her mother wanted her to dress as a Disney Princess. She replied that she wanted to go get a costume with me and her daddy.

Needless to say, I got a Helloween Pumpkin mask, his father was lucky enough to find a Quiet Riots Metal Health look alike, and she picked up a Powerslave Eddie mask!!!!!! Poor his mother. Hahahahaha. If I find any pictures I'll be sure to post them.

BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!!!!

[Jennie-5128]

Well done you :)
Your niece is lucky to have someone like you who loves her :)

*cough*

Anyway, topic.

I wonder if a fan of Blaze-era will come to this thread?

[The Educated fool]

@Jennie

I'm not surprised to find out that we agree (relatively) on where the Blaze-era albums would fall on a list like this... I think Blaze was a tough sell for most Maiden fans. He did his best though, and there were still some excellent songs on those albums, in my opinion, but yeah, compared with the rest of Maiden's output, a bit weaker. I'm a little more surprised to see that we agreed on Killers though. :cool: I thought that might be more contentious. Cool to see that FOTD and NPFTD get some love on your list too... I think they're both chronically underrated.

@Gonzo

Would love to see some pics... that sounds like a cool Halloween!

Great story about POM too. :cool:

[Tunak]

Greetings from Chile :)

1, Powerslave
2, Piece of Mind
3, Number of The Beast
4, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5, Killers
6, The X Factor
7, Iron Maiden
8, Brave New World
9, Somewhere In Time
10, Book of Souls
11, Fear of the Dark
12, A Matter of Life & Death
13, The Final Frontier
14, Dance of Death
15, No Prayer For The Dying
16. Virtual XI

The X Factor and Killers are underated af.

[Jennie-5128]

Tunak, the COVER of Killers is ace but musically I find it v underwhelming...

But then your picks are radically different from mine all round :)

Maybe because we're opposite sides of the planet? ;)

[Tunak]

Tunak, the COVER of Killers is ace but musically I find it v underwhelming...

But then your picks are radically different from mine all round :)

Maybe because we're opposite sides of the planet? ;)

Hahaha, maybe geography influences our taste in music :O

And Killers... is most of all a sentimental thing, I associate killers with good memories :)

[Jennie-5128]

Well, you know, when it's winter here it's summer there etc. ;)

Good memories are always a great reason to rate an album highly; I have some great memories which are very strongly associated with music :)

[jpmusic]

Here's mine:

1. Powerslave
2. Brave New World
3. The Number of The Beast
4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Killers
6, Piece of Mind
7. The Book of Souls
8. A Matter of Life & Death
9. Iron Maiden
10. Somewhere In Time
11. Dance of Death
12. The Final Frontier
13. Virtual XI
14. The X Factor
15. No Prayer For The Dying
16. Virtual XI

[Vaseodin]

Interesting to see the differences in people's lists. Here is mine:
1 . Powerslave
2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
3. Somewhere in Time
4. Book of Souls
5. Piece of Mind
6. Number of the Beast
7. The X Factor
8. Iron Maiden
9. Dance of Death
10. Killers
11. Final Frontier
12. Brave New World
13. Fear of the Dark
14. A Matter of Life and Death
15. No Prayer for the Dying
16. Virtual 11

Yea I like Book of Souls that much.

[Vaseodin]

Here's mine:

1. Powerslave
2. Brave New World
3. The Number of The Beast
4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Killers
6, Piece of Mind
7. The Book of Souls
8. A Matter of Life & Death
9. Iron Maiden
10. Somewhere In Time
11. Dance of Death
12. The Final Frontier
13. Virtual XI
14. The X Factor
15. No Prayer For The Dying
16. Virtual XI

I think you meant for #13 to be fear of the dark

[Orc71]

Ok here is Mine:

1. Piece of Mind
2. Powerslave
3. The Number of The Beast
4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Somewhere In Time
6, Brave New World
7. Fear of the Dark
8. The Book of Souls
9. No Prayer For The Dying
10. Killers
11. Iron Maiden
12. A Matter of Life & Death
13. Dance of Death
14. The Final Frontier
15. The X Factor
16. Virtual XI

Piece of Mind is my favorite because I heard it when it was new and it's also when I discovered Iron Maiden for the first time so it has a lot of memories connected to it for me.

[Vaseodin]

Seems everyone agrees Virtual XI is their worst album. There are a few good songs on there, but most are overly long for no reason and the production is terrible. Although still better than many other bands' best work.

[Jennie-5128]

Although still better than many other bands' best work.
Indeed, & exactly

[The Educated fool]

The X Factor and Killers are underated af.

Right on man. I agree too, that The X Factor is very underrated... there really are a lot of great tunes on there. I'd love to hear Bruce take on Judgement of Heaven or The Aftermath live one day (a day I strongly suspect will never come, but hey... :cool:)

@ Vaseodin:

Virtual XI definitely has its moments, I agree. Clansman is actually amazing, IMO... though I MUCH prefer Bruces' live version on Rock in Rio to the original.

[Tunak]

Right on man. I agree too, that The X Factor is very underrated... there really are a lot of great tunes on there. I'd love to hear Bruce take on Judgement of Heaven or The Aftermath live one day (a day I strongly suspect will never come, but hey... :cool:)

@ Vaseodin:

Virtual XI definitely has its moments, I agree. Clansman is actually amazing, IMO... though I MUCH prefer Bruces' live version on Rock in Rio to the original.

Mmm, I think the dark athmosphere of The X factor don´t fit with bruce style, but what the hell!, he did a excellent job with The Clansman. Interesting at least.

[emvigno]

Well, here goes...

1: Powerslave
2: Number of The Beast
3: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4: Somewhere In Time
5: Brave New World
6: Piece of Mind
7: Book of Souls
8: Fear of the Dark
9: Killers
10: Iron Maiden
11: A Matter of Life & Death
12: The Final Frontier
13: No Prayer For The Dying
14: Dance of Death
15: The X Factor
16: Virtual XI

Close to a few ones here...

[Watchman]

No album is bad, this is a ranking from godlike to "fine"...

1. Somewhere in Time
2. Brave New World
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. The Number of the Beast
5. The Book of Souls
6. Piece of Mind
7. Dance of Death
8. A Matter of Life and Death
9. Powerslave
10. Iron Maiden
11. The Final Frontier
12. Killers
13. The X-Factor
14. Fear of the Dark
15. Virtual XI
16. No Prayer for the Dying

[The Educated fool]

Book of Souls really was a monster, wasn't it?

[Elindor]

Here's mine !

1. Brave New World
2. Fear of the Dark
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. The Book of Souls
5. Dance of Death
6. The X-Factor
7. Piece of Mind
8. The Number of the Beast
9. A Matter of Life and Death
10. The Final Frontier
11. Killers
12. No Prayer for the Dying
13. Virtual XI
14. Somewhere in Time
15. Iron Maiden
16. Powerslave

That's based on my favorites songs of the band and how much I keeped from each album in my personnal library. I must admit though it's been a very long time since I didn't listen for the full albums #11 to #16 - like, 10 years. So my taste could have evolved a little and I should give it a try !

[The Educated fool]

Start with Powerslave... \m/ \m/

[Nekroliun]

I cant rank them all cuz i didnt hear them all but from what ive listened to this is my opinion:
1. The Number of the Beast
2. The Book of Souls
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. Powerslave
5. Dance of Death
6. A Matter of Life and Death
7. Brave new World
8. Virtual XI
9. The Final Frontier
10. Somewhere In Time
11. Piece Of Mind
12. Killers
13. Iron Maiden
14. Fear of The Dark
15. No prayer For The Dying
16. The X Factor

Still new to the band, as you can see only 9 out of 16, prob gonna listen to final fronier, killers, x factor and virtual xl now cuz i wanna see why they are so bad, im not listening to the final frontier cuz i think its bad, its the opposite since it got such good reviews i really wanna get it

EDIT: adding the ones didnt listen to, just cuz i did listen to them now, i bet u are saying that im crazy cuz i said virtual XI is my 8th fav album, i just liked it alot, thats nothing wierd

[The Educated fool]

None of them are really bad actually... at all. I'll take Virtual XI over a LOT of other bands' best albums, myself. \m/

[Watchman]

i dunno why the angel and the gambler is hated, i thinknits great.

The song isn't bad at all, but it is to damn long. "Don't you think I'm a saviour. Don't you think I could save you. Don't you think I could save Your life" for a lot of minutes. It is getting boring after a short time and makes me wanna skip to the next song. The Single Version is much shorter and no bad song IMO.

[Nekroliun]

The song isn't bad at all, but it is to damn long. "Don't you think I'm a saviour. Don't you think I could save you. Don't you think I could save Your life" for a lot of minutes. It is getting boring after a short time and makes me wanna skip to the next song.

Ye blaze repeated that a couple of times, and i agree that those *couple* of times is alot, it was a like 4 mins of dont u think i can save u, i dunno why but when blaze came everyone hated the albums they released, x factor and virtual xi, virtual XI isnt bad at all, and is currently my 8th fav album. (Deal with it) shouldve been like 5th but the "demon and that other guy" ruined it

[The Educated fool]

the educated fool (i see where u got ur name from)

I like the title and lyrics of that song all out of proportion to how much I like the song itself... although, for that album, it's a pretty good tune. :cool:

[Witkacy]

The song isn't bad at all, but it is to damn long. "Don't you think I'm a saviour. Don't you think I could save you. Don't you think I could save Your life" for a lot of minutes. It is getting boring after a short time and makes me wanna skip to the next song. The Single Version is much shorter and no bad song IMO.

Well... Have you heard ''Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter''? How many times Bruce sings ''Bring in your daughter'' there? ;)

[Witkacy]

OK - my turn :)

1. Killers (that's it ladies & gentlemen - is a masterpiece - heavy metal at its best, quite surprised so many people underrating the album, but I have my own theory which is very simple - ''no Brucie''... I bet if Maiden recorded this one with Mr Dickinson - a lot of you guys would say - fantastic, amazing, outstanding etc. :))
2. Piece of Mind
3. Somewhere in Time
4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Powerslave
6. Iron Maiden
7. Brave New World
8. Dance of Death
9. A Matter of Life and Death
10. The Number of the Beast
11. The X Factor
12. Virtual XI
13. No Prayer for the Dying
14. Fear of the Dark
15. The Book of Souls
16. The Final Frontier

[Nekroliun]

Well no album is bad tbh, every album is a good imo, its just that opinion exists and not everyone thinks the same way about an album. We all respect your opinion. But DAMN, poor final frontier...

[jpmusic]

OK - my turn :)

1. Killers (that's it ladies & gentlemen - is a masterpiece - heavy metal at its best, quite surprised so many people underrating the album, but I have my own theory which is very simple - ''no Brucie''... I bet if Maiden recorded this one with Mr Dickinson - a lot of you guys would say - fantastic, amazing, outstanding etc. :))
2. Piece of Mind
3. Somewhere in Time
4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Powerslave
6. Iron Maiden
7. Brave New World
8. Dance of Death
9. A Matter of Life and Death
10. The Number of the Beast
11. The X Factor
12. Virtual XI
13. No Prayer for the Dying
14. Fear of the Dark
15. The Book of Souls
16. The Final Frontier

Actually Killers is a terrific album in my opinion :) but I disagree with Final Frontier D: despite not being their best it certainly isn't their worst (not for me).

[Beeboo]

Death on the Road

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

Captured the crowd

Journeyman Live, wow!

[MetalWarrior]

Oh! my my.. Wish it was that easy, they aren't just maiden's albums,they are 'memories' intertwined with many of our lifelines. I can't set them in any order,there were ups and downs in our life,same as maiden's lifeline, when Bruce wasn't there it was difficult..... :(

[Nekroliun]

Well... Have you heard ''Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter''? How many times Bruce sings ''Bring in your daughter'' there? ;)

its probably just that bruce was singing, i would say that the angel and that other guy would be much better if brice sang it, still i think the devil and the gambler is a really good song

[The Educated fool]

Actually Killers is a terrific album in my opinion :) but I disagree with Final Frontier D: despite not being their best it certainly isn't their worst (not for me).

I'm more surprised by the placement of Book of Souls second last... say it ain't so, Witkacy! :cool: lol

[Aristo4]

1. Somewhere in Time
1. The Number of the Beast
1. Powerslave
1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
1. Piece Of Mind
2. The X Factor
3. Iron Maiden
4. Brave New World
5. The Book of Souls
6. No Prayer for the Dying
7. Dance Of Death
8. Killers
9. Virtual XI
10. Fear of the Dark
11. A Matter of Life and Death
12. The Final Frontier


No.1 the best album.

[OpticSugar]

alright, I'm late to the ranking party but here it goes:

1. Number of the Beast
2. Powerslave
3. Peace of Mind
4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Somewhere in Time
6. Killers
7. Iron Maiden
8. Book of Souls
9. Dance of Death
10. The Final Frontier
Brave New World
A Matter of Life and Death
Fear of the Dark
No Prayer for the Dying
The X Factor
Virtual XI


NOTE: the selections at the bottom without numbers I haven't really decided on yet. I'm not as familiar with these albums and I plan to rearrange them as I listen to them more. Seeing everyone's lists has encouraged me to give some of these albums another listen!

[Nekroliun]

Damn everyone is ranking final frontier as the worst! I thought everyone hated the x factor and virtual XI and not the final frontier!

[OpticSugar]

Not I... my rankings without numbers just have a low confidence... (but they're still loosely ranked).

[Aristo4]

Final frontier is still a ok album, like matter of life and death, just don't cut it for me as a whole.
Love the x-factor, and fear of the dark has some garbage in it (for maiden standards)

but i'm weird, don't focus too much to what I say :D

[maxdeviations]

1 - number of the beast. it gave us the greatest metal song of all time. "Hallowed be thy name"

[OpticSugar]

1 - number of the beast. it gave us the greatest metal song of all time. "Hallowed be thy name"

Without a doubt... plus, that album is just a masterpiece from beginning to end. There really isn't a bad song on it. The song Number of the Beast is just so explosive, I see pyrotechnics in my head every time I hear it!

[The Educated fool]

Have you ever seen the film MURDER BY NUMBERS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264935/?ref_=nv_sr_1)? It has a scene where a high school kid uses The Number of the Beast as a tool of seduction. Gotta love it! :cool:

Somewhat off topic, I know... but as OP, I retain the right anyway. lol :p

[OpticSugar]

Have you ever seen the film MURDER BY NUMBERS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264935/?ref_=nv_sr_1)? It has a scene where a high school kid uses The Number of the Beast as a tool of seduction. Gotta love it! :cool:

Somewhat off topic, I know... but as OP, I retain the right anyway. lol :p

I need to see that.

Anyone ever see The River's Edge?
It's an amazing 80's timecapsule. One of the main characters wears an worn-out Iron Maiden t-shirt inside out the whole movie. One of the first movies with Keanau Reeves... and Crispin Glover's best film IMO.

[The Educated fool]

Sounds pretty interesting to me... I shall have to give it a look!

[BillLion]

I need to see that.

Anyone ever see The River's Edge?
It's an amazing 80's timecapsule. One of the main characters wears an worn-out Iron Maiden t-shirt inside out the whole movie. One of the first movies with Keanau Reeves... and Crispin Glover's best film IMO.

Absolutely! I loved that movie! Any movie w/ Slayer on the soundtrack has to be worth checking out ;)

[The Educated fool]

Bump (#RiseAboveSpam)

[CapnFantasy]

Nice bump, I hadn't noticed this before. There are 300 other much more important things I should be doing but I have strong opinions on this (and all of this is of course my opinion):

1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (by FAR their best)
2. Number of the Beast
3. Powerslave
4. Piece of Mind
5. Brave New World
6. A Matter of Life and Death
7. Iron Maiden
8. Somewhere in Time
9. No Prayer For the Dying
10. Book of Souls
11. Dance of Death
12. Final Frontier
13. Killers
14. Fear of the Dark
15. The X Factor
16. Virtual XI


And of course, X Factor and Virtual XI are WAY below everything else. They're tedious albums with four good songs between the two of them. I'm surprised No Prayer is getting consistently ranked as low as it is, that's WAY better than Fear of The Dark, and I would call that their most underrated album. I'm a drummer, so much of that plays into my opinion of their albums. The totally dead snare on Fear of the Dark just kills the production on that album, plus other than the first and last tunes Judas My Guide is the only other that has any real life to it.

[The Educated fool]

I figured this one was worth the bump, since it had got people talking. Spambots had claimed this whole section, and bump time had come! lol

I agree that No Prayer is criminally underrated too... I've never understood it.

[Nekroliun]

I figured this one was worth the bump, since it had got people talking. Spambots had claimed this whole section, and bump time had come! lol

I agree that No Prayer is criminally underrated too... I've never understood it.
Yeah, this thread was big... also i agree, no prayer gets no luv... but tbh its nothing special, its best song imo is BYDTTS, one of the best maiden songs tbh...

[Hypnos]

16. Virtual XI
15. The X Factor
14. The Final Frontier
13. A Matter of Life and Death
12. The Book of Souls
11. Dance of Death
10. Somewhere in Time
9. No Prayer for the Dying
8. Fear of the Dark
7. Brave New World
6. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Iron Maiden
4. Piece of Mind
3. Killers
2. Powerslave
1. The Number of the Beast

I think you guys had iron maiden and killers ranked too lowly than what they deserve

[The Educated fool]

Killers tends to be a love it or hate it album, in my experience. (Not literally, of course... there are no Maiden albums I hate, personally. I do enjoy Killers less than most of the rest of Maiden's catalogue though).

Different strokes for different folks, always. :cool: Up the Irons!

[Nekroliun]

Wow why does everyone rank Virtual as the worst!

Its currently my most listened maiden album! It has amazing songs like: the clansman, two worlds collide (which is my fav), the educated fool, futureal, the angel and the nvm... and lightning strikes twice!

If someone can clarify why its shit then please... go ahead!

Its prob just blaze...

#MakeVirtualXIGreatAgain

[The Educated fool]

To each their own, Nekro my friend... :cool:

[Nekroliun]

To each their own, Nekro my friend... :cool:

I dont understand...

[Aristo4]

I think you guys had iron maiden and killers ranked too lowly than what they deserve.

yeah, but you have Somewhere In time as No10...im gonna jump off of a rooftop, bye world :p

[Aristo4]

Wow why does everyone rank Virtual as the worst!

Its currently my most listened maiden album! It has amazing songs like: the clansman, two worlds collide (which is my fav), the educated fool, futureal, the angel and the nvm... and lightning strikes twice!

If someone can clarify why its shit then please... go ahead!

Its prob just blaze...

#MakeVirtualXIGreatAgain

Aint shit, just not so great. Yes 1) its partially blaze 2) only 2 songs there can stand anywhere near( not above ofcourse) the classics. But even they not really :rolleyes:

[Nekroliun]

.

yeah, but you have Somewhere In time as No10...im gonna jump off of a rooftop, bye world :p
See ya in that other place

[Nekroliun]

Aint shit, just not so great. Yes 1) its partially blaze 2) only 2 songs there can stand anywhere near( not above ofcourse) the classics. But even they not really :rolleyes:

Tbh nothing can stand against the classics...

[The Educated fool]

I dont understand...


Basically, it's my way of saying that you're wrong, and that literally everything on No Prayer for the Dying is better than the best song on Virtual XI. ;) :p :cool: lol

(Aka: This is all opinion ayway, and I'm messing with you).

[Hypnos]

.

yeah, but you have Somewhere In time as No10...im gonna jump off of a rooftop, bye world :p

Hey, if I could rank each album no. 1 I would.

[Aristo4]

I did, check my post, its doable :p
Page 4

[Nekroliun]

Basically, it's my way of saying that you're wrong, and that literally everything on No Prayer for the Dying is better than the best song on Virtual XI. ;) :p :cool: lol

(Aka: This is all opinion ayway, and I'm messing with you).

Oh... good to know :D

[Nekroliun]

Damn... nekromancy sure has amazing results in reincarnating dead threads...

[Aristo4]

Basically, it's my way of saying that you're wrong, and that literally everything on No Prayer for the Dying is better than the best song on Virtual XI. ;) :p :cool: lol

(Aka: This is all opinion ayway, and I'm messing with you).

Come on, the assassin and hooks in you cant be better than futureal and the clansman :p

[Nekroliun]

come on, the assassin and hooks in you cant be better than futureal and the clansman :p
agreeation!

[The Educated fool]

Come on, the assassin and hooks in you cant be better than futureal and the clansman :p

I actually would pick both over Futureal... The Clansman though--at least the Rock in Rio version--I would concede edges them out. :cool:

[scott-5496]

Mine would beast shown below. Never a fan of Blaze vocals and the song writing then was not my cup of tea.

1, Powerslave
2, Piece of Mind
3, Somewhere In Time
4, Book of Souls
5, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
6, Number of The Beast
7, Brave New World
8, The Final Frontier
9, A Matter of Life & Death
10, Iron Maiden
11, Killers
12, Fear of the Dark
13, No Prayer For The Dying
14, Dance of Death
15, The X Factor
16. Virtual XI

[FlyingV]

My $0.02

I basically stopped after 1992 when Bruce split. I have heard some latter pieces I liked but can't critique past that point, which hamstrings my assessment.

Iron Maiden has to be in the top 3. I am a Paul fan though his power/range is nothing like Bruce's... different animals though, and the feel of this album is a seedy, dangerous one that Bruce can never touch. More importantly, EVERY song has merit and strength. One of the biggest shortcomings of the band is that they can produce an an unbelievable riff then spin it 90 degrees to some ill-fitting poppish melody, or worse, they can produce an album with 4-5 classics/anthems and a similar number of irrelevant cutting room b-sides (somewhere in time comes to mind).

Powerslave has to be another top 3. This is the one where Bruce found his groove with the band and the power and maturity peaked for them (at least during their most influential era). It has its share of filler like Back in the Village and (perhaps Lossfer Words) but these anthems are among their best work, including Aces, 2 minutes, and Rime. Even the "solid-middle" tunes like Flash and Powerslave destroy the best offerings on many of their other albums.

Number of the Beast is simply a classic. Probably the 3rd of the top 3... a seemless transition from the gritty punkish rock of the Paul D era to the melodic metal that defined thier sound ever after. So many great anthems and classics on this.

Killers, Seventh, Piece, and Stranger are all great, but known for the inconsistent classic track/irrelevant track Maiden is famous for. Prayer is absolute crap as far as maiden-caliber music is concerned. This was the album that nearly caused me to quit Maiden.

FotD was the album that redeemed them... amazing melodic guitar work, powerful vocals and listenable songs... definitely a top 5.

[KuroKitty]

Here's mine

1.Killers
2.A Matter of Life and Death
3.Iron Maiden
4.The Number of the Beast
5.Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
6.Piece of Mind
7.Brave New World
8.Powerslave
9.Book of Souls
10.No Prayer for the Dying
11.Somewhere in Time
12.Fear of the Dark
13.The Final Frontier
14.Dance of Death
15.The X Factor
16.Virtual XI

Never really listened to the Blaze ones so that's why they're the last two.
A Matter of Life and Death is higher for me because it was the first album I was introduced to when I was just 13 and i love every song it.

[The Educated fool]

A Matter of Life and Death was a very solid album. :cool:

You should give the Blaze albums at least one spin, some time... they may surprise you. It's easier to acknowledge them now too, then it was at the time, since Bruce came back and order was restored since then. :cool:

[Bobo]

A Matter of Life and Death was a very solid album. :cool:

You should give the Blaze albums at least one spin, some time... they may surprise you. It's easier to acknowledge them now too, then it was at the time, since Bruce came back and order was restored since then. :cool:

(First post!)
I'd argue that A Matter of Life and Death is probably tied with Brave New World as the strongest they've put out since Bruce came back!

As for my ranking, I'd have to go with:

1) Somewhere In Time
2) Powerslave
3) The Number of the Beast
4) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5) Killers
6) Brave New World
7) A Matter of Life and Death
8) Iron Maiden
9) Piece of Mind
10) Dance of Death
11) The Book of Souls
12) The Final Frontier
13) Fear of the Dark
14) The X Factor
15) No Prayer for the Dying
16) Virtual XI

[KuroKitty]

I wasn't even born yet when Bruce Dickinson departed Iron Maiden lol
The Blaze Era was when I was just a baby and as far as I know Bruce returned in 1999 when I was 3 years old. (I'm 20 yeah I know I'm a young Maiden fan lol)

So I wasn't around when all this stuff happened sadly lol but I do see what you mean.
I prefer the albums with Bruce and Paul Di'anno though.
I just adore Bruce Dickinson's voice so much,when I got a Matter of Life and Death album,opened it and saw what they looked like for the first time on the cover art thingy.I still remember buying that CD for just ONE song lol but eventually it evolved to the WHOLE album.Love ALL the songs on it now.

[Sussexsaint]

Blimey that last post makes me feel very old indeed - first saw them on the Somewhere in Time tour.

Loving Book of Souls and will have to have a listen to some of the more 'recent' albums as the last studio album I bought was Fear of the Dark

Best album ever ?

Bit of a cop out but 'Live after Death' - brilliant performance - great recording and a sublime selection of tracks from Powerslave, Piece of mind etc

[The Educated fool]

Bit of a cop out but 'Live after Death' - brilliant performance - great recording and a sublime selection of tracks from Powerslave, Piece of mind etc

lol--Maybe a slight cop out, but I can't fault the pick. Live After Death might be the most classic metal live album of all time.

... for my money though, my favourite Maiden live album is actually Rock in Rio. :cool: For me, the live versions of the tunes from Brave New World--and the unexpectedly brilliant resurrections of Sign of the Cross, and most especially The Clansman--put it over the top.

[Rain88]

1, Brave New World (uncommon opinion but it's the perfect album for me)
2, Piece of Mind (perfect album)
3, Iron Maiden (what made iron maiden)
4. Virtual XI (yep, I like blaze bayley, sue me)
5, The X Factor (yep, I like blaze bayley, sue me)
6, Somewhere In Time (almost perfect album)
7, Book of Souls (just because iron maiden is showing that they can still make good albums)
8, Number of The Beast (it's only 8 cause I believe the title song is overrated)
9, Dance of Death (the album that got me into maiden)
10, Powerslave (the impossible choices starts here)
11, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (feel bad for putting it here)
12, Killers (not my cup of beer)
13, A Matter of Life & Death (meh)
14, The Final Frontier (can't remember a song in it)
15, Fear of the Dark (not sure what were they thinking)
16, No Prayer For The Dying (i wish it didn't exist)

[90mphyorker]

1/ Somewhere In Time
A Matter of Life and Death
Powerslave
Iron Maiden
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Dance of Death
The Number of the Beast
Piece of Mind
Brave New Worl
The Final Frontier
Book of Souls
Killers
The X Factor
No Prayer for the Dying
Fear of the Dark
16/ Virtual XI

Only 1 and 16 never change. The others orders can swap around. I still like Virtual XI. just Maidens weakest album.

[PsiH86]

1) All albums!

Here such chart at me.)))
In each album there is the charm!

[beastmaster]

In term of musical i think Seventh Son is a masterpiece, but yes Powerslave has to be the best album in term of concept and songs melodic.

And i agree, No Prayer for the dying is in the lowest level among all maiden album (its even worse than virtual album)...its like diz album losing the magical touch of Steve Harris, nothin special.

Wonderin could it be another instrumental song from Maiden since Ides of March, Genghis Khan or Losfer Words...??? .... its been a long long time not seeing their instrumental works...

-beastmaster-

[mikmar]

My rank :

01. Piece of Mind
02. Powerslave
03. Somewhere In Time
04. The Number Of The Beast
05. Killers
06. Iron Maiden
07. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
08. Fear Of The Dark
09. Dance Of Death
10. The Book Of Souls
11. A Matter Of Life And Death
12. No Prayer For The Dying
13. The X Factor
14. Brave New World
15. The Final Frontier
16. Virtual XI

Piece Of Mind also has the best sound and the best production for me. Martin Birch was the best !!! Powerslave and Somewhere In Time also have an excellent sound !!!!
Iron Maiden the worst sound but contains the best Iron Maiden song for me:

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA !!!!

and ... the second best song for me is ....

DUNE (TO TAME A LAND) !!!!

[vpachev]

Cool topic. I am gonna cheat a bit and rank the albums in eras and the eras themselves. This way some ablums will drop undeservingly too low, while others be up, but what can you. Here it is:

I era 1980-1999
1. Seventh son of the seventh son
2. Powerslave
3. Somewhere in time
4. Killers
5. Iron Maiden
6. The number of the beast
7. Piece of mind

II 2000-today
8. A matter of life and death
9. Brave new world
10. Book of souls
11. Dance of the death
12. Final Frontier

III 1990-1999
13. X factor (love it)
14. Fear of the dark
15. No prayer for the dying
16. Virtual XI

[Muzzleloader]

How about ranking the live albums, I'll have to give that a thought about their rankings. You can also try ranking the producer of the live videos, I will put Steve Harris last. He needs to let us see more than a few seconds of a shot.

[vpachev]

Never gave more than a few listenings to the live albums. I am bored of the trooper, fotd and few others. Books of souls from the Live Chapter on the other hand is one hell of a performance.

PS: Actually I lied, I grew up watching Live After Death and Maiden England, but then it was most about Eddie and the stage show. Maiden England holds a special place to this day in my heart.

[Muzzleloader]

I grew up on Live After Death, so it will always be my favorite. I think that Beast Over Hammersmith is a better album, they just played their butt off before they hit the big time. Maiden Japan showed their potential of what was to bebome. All the following live albums are just to polished. The videos show the stage show, but Steve just does to many cuts to make it enjoyable to watch. The 4 or 5 same songs get old, but they do play there new material which can be a change of pace from other older groups.

[The Educated fool]

How about ranking the live albums, I'll have to give that a thought about their rankings. You can also try ranking the producer of the live videos, I will put Steve Harris last. He needs to let us see more than a few seconds of a shot.

No problemo, amigo... I gotcha covered there too. :cool:

CLICK THE BUMP (https://forum.ironmaidenlegacy.com/showthread.php?4401-What-s-your-favourite-Maiden-live-album)

[grigorow]

This will be my first post here. Being a Maiden fan for the last +30 years, I could not resist the opportunity to rank their albums. I think I haven't done it in a long time. Anyways, my favorite album will be forever Somewhere in Time. That was my first IM album. I remember hearing the first few notes from Caught Somewhere in Time, and was hooked for life. It's amazing what a few notes can do to your life... haha. Anyways, here is my list:

1. Somewhere in Time
2. The Number of the Beast
3. Powerslave
4. Brave New World
5. Piece of mind
6. Killers
7. 7th Son of a 7th Son
8. Dance of the Death
9. Iron Maiden
10. Virtual XI
11. Fear of the Dark
12. A Matter of Life and Death
13. Final Frontier
14. Book of souls
15. X factor
16. No prayer for the dying

1 to 9 are all incredible albums. Very difficult to rank. I can listen any of those albums non stop for a week without being bored. But after that it gets a bit difficult. :

Virtual XI, in my opinion it's not a bad album. Some songs are repetitive and overlong. But the guitar work is top notch in my opinion. The twin guitars in the second half of the song Don't look to the eyes of stranger are amazing!.

Fear of the Dark, is not bad neither, but Bruce singing with a raspier voice did not do it for me. Also, have a lot of fillers. On the good side, the song fear of the dark is a classic, songs like Afraid to shoot Strangers, Be quick or be dead and the under rated and never sung live Judas be my Guide are great. Otherwise, a lot of bland filler songs.

The last 3 albums (AMOLAD, FF, BOS) are the same album for me. LOTS of over long songs, with lots overlong slow intros and slow outros. It's like hearing the same song over and over again. When I hear a song from those albums I can't even say from which album it is. That being said, If you look at the songs individually, there are great songs there: Benji Bregg, The Legacy, The Man who would be King, Empire of the clouds, etc. But in the end, in my opinion, they are boring albums. Maybe if you pick the best 8 songs from the 3 albums you can make 1 great album and call it A Matter of a Final Book of Souls, or something like that.

The last 2 albums in my list, are, in my opinion, bad albums. The early 90s in general were horrible for fans of 80s heavy metal (some horrible Metallica albums still give me nightmares) From X factor I like the song The Edge of Darkness (Apocalypse Now is one of my favorite movies) and from No Prayer I like Tailgunner. The rest I think rank from forgettable to bad (Hooks in you???)

Looking forward to seeing them live for a 6th time (1991, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012) in a few months!!!

[Patrice-1201]

1. 7th Son of a 7th Son
2. The Number of the Beast
3. Somewhere in Time
4. Powerslave
5. Piece of Mind
6. Brave New World
7. Killers
8. A Matter of Life and Death
9. Dance of the Death
10. Iron Maiden
11. Fear of the Dark
12. Final Frontier
13. Book of souls
14. X factor
15. No prayer for the dying
16. Virtual XI

And here is mine, although the top varies with my mood ;-)

[Ironstyle]

In term of musical i think Seventh Son is a masterpiece, but yes Powerslave has to be the best album in term of concept and songs melodic.

And i agree, No Prayer for the dying is in the lowest level among all maiden album (its even worse than virtual album)...its like diz album losing the magical touch of Steve Harris, nothin special.

Wonderin could it be another instrumental song from Maiden since Ides of March, Genghis Khan or Losfer Words...??? .... its been a long long time not seeing their instrumental works...

-beastmaster-


In term of musical i think Seventh Son is a masterpiece, but yes Powerslave has to be the best album in term of concept and songs melodic.

And i agree, No Prayer for the dying is in the lowest level among all maiden album (its even worse than virtual album)...its like diz album losing the magical touch of Steve Harris, nothin special.

Wonderin could it be another instrumental song from Maiden since Ides of March, Genghis Khan or Losfer Words...??? .... its been a long long time not seeing their instrumental works...

-beastmaster-

I gotta say that I disagree on the No Prayer statement. Though I completely respect your opinion (and everyone else's that feels the same; I know there's a lot. I'm the minority here), I must come to the albums defense.

Possibly only because it was my first Maiden album, but hey, I got a lot of love for it. I understand why people tend to not like it; it's not as epic as the famed SSoSS that came before it. It's probably their second shittiest sounding album sonically, next to The X Factor (freakin love that album, too), and Bruce sounds like he stuffed sand paper down his throat right before recording his vocals. But the guitar riffs are awesome, the dual harmonies just kill it and the songs are pretty catchy. It's an all around fun album to listen to. Not their best, but not a bad album either. All this is my opinion only, of course.

I'd love to see Maiden play Tailgunner live. That was the first tune I heard by them.

Some of you may ask "how they hell was NPFTD your first album?!" Well, I was born in 1985, so I didn't exactly grow up with Maiden. I discovered them right around the time BNW came out. I was playing video games and my older brother walked in to my room, handed me NPFTD and said I might enjoy it. It was unlike anything I had heard before. At that time I was listening to Green Day, the Offspring and AC/DC. Say what you will, I still love those bands!

But Maiden was on a whole different level. Since then I've been a hard core metal head. NPFTD changed my life, no exaggeration.

On to my rank. This is gonna be really hard because there's not enough number 1 spots...

01. Brave New World - I can listen to this album front to back all day. But then...I can with most their albums.
02. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
03. Powerslave
04. Dance of Death
05. Killers
06. The Final Frontier
07. Number of the Beast
08. Piece of Mind
09. Somewhere in Time
10. Book of Souls
11. A Matter of Life And Death
12. Iron Maiden
13. No Prayer for the Dying
14. The X Factor
15. Fear of the Dark
16. Virtual XI

This order changes a lot. Virtual XI is at the bottom, but I didn't really wanna put it there. It's a great album, and for all the people that say Blaze sucks, listen to his solo stuff. It's incredible. Also, 'Don't you think I'm a savior, Don't you think I could save you, Don't you think I could save your life". I get it, he says it way too much. But don't forget good ol' Bruce: "Out of the darkness, Brighter than a thousand suns!" He says that a crap ton too and no one gives him shit, haha. Great song though. One of my favorites on that album.

Now I'm off to listen to Maiden all day. Cheers!

[Muzzleloader]

I dont really have a favorite recording. Some are better than others and I may listen to some more than others, but it depends on my mood and I listen to them all. Maidens mediocre music is still better than some groups best album.

[Ironstyle]

Can't disagree with that, Muzzleloader!

[Mitch-4441]

Asking me to rank all of Maiden's albums is tough for me even though some are better than others imo. Personal favorites of mine are Powerslave, Brave New World, Final Frontier, Killers, and NoTB. As far as an all time favorite song, that took awhile for me to decide but without hesitation it would definitely be Aces High.

[The Educated fool]

An interesting article about my all-time favourite album. You can read it HERE (https://www.loudersound.com/features/how-seventh-son-of-a-seventh-son-lifted-iron-maiden-to-heavy-metal-immortality). A tiny bit off topic from the listing, I suppose, but my thread, my rules. :cool:

[druid138]

Great article, amigo! I haven't posted my ranking yet, so here goes (best to worst):

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Somewhere in Time
Powerslave
A Matter of Life and Death
The Final Frontier
Brave New World
Killers
Iron Maiden
Piece of Mind
The Number of the Beast
The Book of Souls
Fear of the Dark
Dance of Death
No Prayer for the Dying
The X Factor
Virtual XI

For extra credit, I want to say that Phantom of the Opera into Transylvania is the best set of two consecutive songs on any Maiden album. Change my mind.

[The Educated fool]

Right on, man! Interesting to see TNOTB so low in your picks, and AMOLAD so high! I like these lists. It's always cool to see everyone's individual tastes, though I get that ranking them can be tough! lol

Phantom into Transylvania does kick a lot of ass, for sure! :cool:

[Amarthir]

Being a bit on the young side and moderately new iron maiden fan I'm not as well versed in their music as everyone else it but I did spend the last week listening to their entire discography for the first time on my YouTube music app and here's my rough listing. Most of their songs I've only listened to once because of the absolute number of them but I'm sure this list will definitely change over time.

God tier:
Brave New World
Fear of the Dark
The Book of Souls

Top Tier:
Number of the Beast
Powerslave
Piece of Mind

High Tier
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Somewhere in Time
The Final Frontier

Mid tier:
Dance of Death
A Matter of Life and Death
Killers
Iron Maiden


Low Tier:
No Prayer for the Dying
The X Factor
Virtual XI

[HK-47]

Being a bit of a nutjob (and a Maiden nut), here are my rankings, done in tiers.

God Tier-
The Book of Souls
Somewhere in Time
Seventh Son
Virtual XI
The X Factor
Iron Maiden
Killers
Number of the Beast
No Prayer
Piowerslave
Piece of Mind

Top Tier-
The Final Frontier
Brave new World
AMOLAD
Dance of Death

High Tier-
Fear of the Dark

[fanghorria]

Great article! Saw it a few days ago so I spend some great hours re-listening some albums and reconsidering my ranking

So, best to worst:

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Number of the Beast
Powerslave
A Matter of Life and Death
Iron Maiden
Piece of Mind
Somewhere in Time
Killers
Brave New World
Fear of the Dark
Book of Souls
Dance of the Death
No Prayer for the Dying
Final Frontier
X factor
Virtual XI

[Highace]

Ranking all of them sure is a challenge. I'll try my best though. Here goes:
16) Virtual XI
15) No Prayer For the Dying
14) The Final Frontier
13) Dance of Death
12) The X Factor
11) Fear of the Dark
10) A Matter of Life and Death
9) Brave New World
8) Book of Souls
7) Somewhere in Time
6) Killers
5) Iron Maiden
4) Number of the Beast
3) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
2) Piece of Mind
1) Powerslave
This could totally be a subject to change since I'm not 100% familiar with all their songs but for now, this is probably the most accurate ranking I could give.

[kkkreg5]

Here's mine:

16. Virtual XI
15. The X Factor
14. Killers
13. Iron Maiden
12. The Final Frontier
11. No Prayer For The Dying
10. Fear Of The Dark
9. Dance Of Death
8. A Matter Of Life and Death
7. Book Of Souls
6. Number Of The Beast
5. Brave New World
4. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
3. Piece Of Mind
2. Powerslave
1. Somewhere In Time

That was harder than I thought...

Before Eddie Trunk does his list, how about the top 20 songs? No live tracks, covers CAN be included.

[Nekroliun]

I think now i can actually rank the albums better, i guess u can say my tastes "evolved", so here is nekro's album ranking 2.0

16. No prayer for the dying
15. The X Factor
14. Iron Maiden
13. Killers
12. Fear of the Dark
11. Virtual XI
10. The Final Frontier
9. Brave New World
8. A Matter of Life and Death
7. Dance of Death
6. Piece of Mind
5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. Book of Souls
3. Number of the Beast
2. Somewhere in Time
1. Powerslave

Powerslave, SiT and NotN are the hardest to judge cus honestly ranking 3 perfections is hard. But in the end, powerslave trumps it. Its just too good.

Now ranking top 20 songs? Thats a really hard one. Ranking songs is really hard cus i have so many favs. Its impossible to rank them. So heres my fav 20 in no particular order as they are all amazing imo.

Wasted years
Ghost of the Navigator
Dance of Death
Dream of Mirrors
Caught somewhere in time
Empire of the clouds
For the greater good of god
Lord of light
Revelations
The clansman
Speed of light
The book of souls
Killers
Hallowed be thy name
Holy smoke
The trooper
To tame a land
Powerslave
The man who would be king
Rime of the ancient mariner

This is hard, ur forcing me to not include some great songs here bud

[kkkreg5]

I know. Ranking is like picking your favorite child! We're not supposed to, but we do...

[purplepeople]

16. Virtual XI
15. Fear Of The Dark
14. No Prayer For The Dying
13. The Final Frontier
12. The X Factor
11. Somewhere In Time
10. Dance Of Death
9. Killers
8. Brave New World
7. Iron Maiden
6. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
5. Piece Of Mind
4. Book Of Souls
3. A Matter Of Life and Death
2. Number Of The Beast
1. Powerslave

[Beddie]

16.Dance of Death
15.Matter of Life and Death
14.X Factor
13.Final Frontier
12.Virtual XI
11.No Prayer for the Dying
10.Brave New World
9.Seventh son
8.Fear of the dark
7.Book of souls
6.Number Of The Beast
5.Piece of Mind
4.Killers
3.Somewhere in Time
2.Powerslave
1.IRON MAIDEN

[Beddie]

Best songs for each album
16. None of them
15.Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
14.Man on the Edge
13.The Alchemist
12.Angel and the Gambler
11.Bring your Daughter...To the Slaughter
10.See Title
9.Can I play with madness
8.See Title
7.Speed of Light
6.Run to the Hills
5.Revelations
4.Purgatory
3.Alexander the Great (Birth(AD)-Death(AD))
2.See Title
1.Prowler