Iron Maiden discography

The discography of Iron Maiden, a Leyton, East London-based heavy metal band, consists of fourteen studio albums, six live album, five compilations, four box sets, four extended plays, forty singles, sixteen videos, and forty one video clips.

Iron Maiden was formed in 1975, by bassist Steve Harris. Iron Maiden released their self-titled debut in 1980 peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release, [Wall, Mick (2001), p. 143.] and the group became one of the leading proponents of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. The following year they released their second album, titled "Killers". This new album contained many tracks that had been written prior to the release of the debut album, but were considered surplus. With songs already shaped on the road well in advance, only two new tracks were written for the album: "Prodigal Son" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue". [Wall, Mick (2001), p. 183.]

In 1982 Iron Maiden released their best-selling album entitled "The Number of the Beast", which would be their first album to peak at number one on the UK Albums Chart and additionally became a Top Ten hit in many other countries.Wall, Mick (2001), p. 228.] For the second time the band went on a world tour, visiting the North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The tour's US leg was marred by controversy stemming from an American right-wing political pressure group that (wrongfully) claimed Iron Maiden was Satanic because of the new album's title track.

Returning from their break, the band adopted a different approach for their 1986 studio album, titled "Somewhere in Time". This was not a concept album, though it was themed loosely around the idea of time travel. It also included associated themes - history, the passage of time, and long journeys. It featured, for the first time in the band's history, synthesized bass and guitars sounds to add textures and layers to the sound. Though considered different from the norm of Maiden sounds, it charted well across the world, especially with the single "Wasted Years". The experimentation on "Somewhere in Time" led to a follow-up in "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", 1988. Adding to Iron Maiden's experimentation, it was a concept album featuring a story about a mythical child who possessed clairvoyant powers. The album peaked one on the UK Albums Chart and number six on the Billboard 200.

In February 1999, Bayley left the band by mutual consent. At the same time, announced that both Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith were rejoining the band, and that Janick Gers would remain. Iron Maiden now had three guitarists and a successful reunion tour, The Ed Hunter Tour.

In 2006, Iron Maiden released their newest studio album "A Matter of Life and Death". While the album is not a concept album, war and religion are recurring themes in the lyrics throughout, as well as in the album's artwork.cite web | url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=54636 | title=IRON MAIDEN Drummer, Guitarist Talk About New Album | date=2006-07-05 | accessdate=2006-09-17 | publisher=Blabbermouth] A successful North American and European tour followed the release of the album. It was during this tour in 2007 that Iron Maiden played in Bangalore, India for the first time in front of 35,000 fans. The band also headlined The Desert Rock Festival in Dubai, selling out the festival with a crowd of 20,000.

Discography

Studio albums

Box sets

Videography

Videos

Music videos

References

;Certifications"Note: For the certification databases below, user must define search parameters as "Iron Maiden"."
*cite web|url=http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php|title=CRIA - Search Certification Database|publisher=Canadian Recording Industry Association|accessdate=2008-08-31
*cite web|url=http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH|title=RIAA - Gold & Platinum: Searchable Database|publisher=Recording Industry Association of America|accessdate=2008-08-31;Specific

External links

* [http://www.ironmaiden.com/ Iron Maiden Official Website]
*Discogs artist | artist = Iron+Maiden | name = Iron Maiden discography
*MusicBrainz artist|id=ca891d65-d9b0-4258-89f7-e6ba29d83767|name=Iron Maiden