Ranking the Iron Maiden albums

I'd sorted out my mental Iron Maiden ranking by eighteen, around the time I gushed over the albums for pennies. I don't listen to them much any more, what with being all old and craving diminishing novelty, but listening along with Martin Popoff's Album by Album book was an excuse for a retro retrospective and to see where the newcomers slotted in.

I might as well make my vital opinions a matter of public record. Here are my The Top 16 Iron Maiden Studio Albums. Up yours, Irons.


Fear Is the Key:

Paul Di'Anno era
Bruce Dickinson era
Blaze Bayley era
Reunion era


16. No Prayer for the Dying (1990)

I had all of the classic era under my belt by the time I bought this, unheard outside of the funny hit single, so I had the correct context for disappointment. Stripping back to basics was probably the right call at the time, but these repetitive and forgettable songs are the sound of a band lacking inspiration and/or effort. It's not the worst album in the world, but a lot worse than thousands of brilliant albums you won't ever listen to because you're spending that time listening to sub-par Iron Maiden again, through loyalty or lack of imagination.

Fave: No Prayer for the Dying

15. Virtual XI (1997)

Traditionally at the bottom of my list, but I've decided No Prayer annoys me more. This is a dull album that I've now listened to one more time too many, but expectations weren't all that high anyway, and it didn't kill the momentum like the other one. Shucks, some of these rascals even pop into my head from time to time. The main sin is that it's an old-school eight-song LP padded out to CD length through interminable repetition. I shouldn't be sick of an album by track two.

Fave: The Clansman

14. Dance of Death (2003)

A decent album, but not one I ever really felt like coming back to once the novelty wore off. They're more experimental than they've been in a long time, cutting back on the repetition to make more creative use of the playing time, but nearly all of it proved disposable in the long run. Even as an excited teenager getting his first new Iron Maiden album drop, trying to find things to love in the deeper cuts was a chore. Some of the lyrics are distractingly awkward and the indecisive production that goes for a raw, live sound then polishes it with strings comes off feeling as unfinished as the artwork.

Fave: Montségur

13. The Book of Souls (2015)

Outside of the big two – likely their best songs of the 21st century (so far) – I've barely listened to this album. It's not them, it's me. At some point over the decade, Iron Maiden doing minor variations on their '90s sound stopped being something to get excited about, though Bruce's left-field piano epic was literally jaw dropping. It turns out the rest is pretty good too, it just leaves me uncomfortably numb.

Fave: Empire of the Clouds

12. Iron Maiden (1980)

A rough but promising start, it's not Paul and the random guitarist that make this feel off brand so much as the thin production, primordial songwriting and uncharacteristically down-to-earth lyrics, especially on 'side A' (if I'm going to pretend I'm old and cool enough to have experienced these on vinyl rather than MP3). But then 'Phantom' kicks off the more indulgent second half and we've arrived (though I listened to the Live After Death version a lot more). I get why people who loved the early stuff would be disappointed when they became great changed.

Fave: Phantom of the Opera

11. Killers (1981)

I'd already heard the next few albums by this point, and burned CDs with blurry inkjet printed covers, but this was the first one I committed to buying when I happened to see it cheap. I was disproportionately disappointed by all the differences, but over the years it's been a grower. With Adrian on board and Martin Birch producing, it's got more in common with the next album than the first, but it's still not 'proper' Iron Maiden yet. The advantage of my teenage squeamishness is I haven't listened to these songs too often, so they still sound fresh with plenty of surprises.

Fave: Genghis Khan

10. The Final Frontier (2010)

I'd stopped paying attention to what was going on with 'Maiden and metal in general by the time this album materialised out of nowhere, so it was a pleasant surprise with no baggage of hype. It might well be as dark as its predecessor, but thanks to the extracurricular associations of it being one of my early travel albums, I've always got paradoxical good vibes from these songs of doomed astronauts, murder and suicide. Though the story-first approach makes it less interesting musically.

Fave: Coming Home

9. Fear of the Dark (1992)

Like Killers before it, the cloud of disappointment lingered for a long time before I came to appreciate this one on its own terms. The popular title anthem sets expectations that most of the album fails to live up to, but it's also harmed by association with its predecessor. If they'd skipped over No Prayer, Bruce's half-arsed hard rock swan song would be an interesting curiosity rather than merely the more listenable of a mediocre pair. There's more filler than ever, but there are more songs generally, including some influential keepers. They'd keep drawing from this spooky well throughout the Blaze era and beyond.

Fave: Afraid to Shoot Strangers

8. Brave New World (2000)

I'd checked out most of their older stuff first, but this was the current album when I got into them, so it's always had that strange, personal connection that makes me fonder of it in theory than in practice. The return of Bruce can't be downplayed, since the songs he co-wrote stand clear above the samey 'Virtual XII' material and were recognised with pride of place. I haven't sat through the sagging middle too often, aside from Adrian's song, which was a lightweight favourite back in the day. Oh yeah, Adrian's back too.

Fave: Brave New World

7. A Matter of Life and Death (2006)

Brave New World coasted on goodwill and Dance of Death was tough to love, but the sextet came into its own the third time around, with more dynamic songs proving the case for surplus guitars and Bruce fully commiting on the creative front now that his solo band was seemingly done. It's not their most welcoming album – from that oppressive cover to the heavy production and song lengths – but when I've been in the mood, it's one of the most satisfying listens from start to end. Like a serialised show, plucking out individual tracks just feels weird.

Fave: The Longest Day

6. The Number of the Beast (1982)

When a band's best-known album doesn't happen to make your well-read top five, it's important to keep the smug elitism in check or you risk underrating unreasonably for the sake of cosmic balance. A couple of the songs are below par and holding it back, yes, and it's the end of an era as much as the start of a new one, well done, but remember it's got their all-time best song on it, their most fun song and some great deeper cuts. One to pick and choose from rather than settle down with, though Live After Death takes care of that for you.

Fave: Hallowed Be Thy Name

5. The X Factor (1995)

I've always got along well with their 'dark' album, which is how I still think of it, even with some of the more recent contenders. Where the previous album pined for radio play, these ponderous dirges don't care if even the fans like them (many didn't), and with Steve in totalitarian control, there's no outside producer or outspoken ex-singer to question whether every intro really needs to be that long. I realise that some of the same things I criticise Virtual XI and later albums for, I enjoy here. It's about mood and freshness. Oddly considered an outlier by many, despite this still being their core style today.

Fave: The Sign of the Cross

4. Somewhere in Time (1986)

A lot of my favourite Iron Maiden bits are scattered somewhere in Somewhere, but the whole is a little lacking. It's the first since Killers that feels like releasing an album for the sake of it, but I'm glad they bothered, knackered as they were from the ridiculous world tour. Changing up the sound for something more melodic and polished was the right way to go, as concerning as that might have been for fans in the era of hair metal. I've always thought of it as Adrian's album, since Bruce took time out from writing and Steve's contributions are frankly inessential.

Fave: Stranger in a Strange Land

3. Piece of Mind (1983)

With Nicko on board, the band's all here and the last traces of mainstream relatability have been purged (for now) to focus entirely on nerdy literary references and films Steve Harris happened to see recently. The first two thirds might be the most consistent run of any album, even if I prefer some track-for-track equivalents elsewhere, but the last few have always felt a little lacking in the epic finale stakes. They'd get there. Very soon. These '80s bands didn't dawdle.

Fave: Revelations

2. Powerslave (1984)

I'd seen a few Iron Maiden music videos, which had steadily grown on me, but nothing off this album, so the reasons why I decided to check this one out first are lost to the sands of time. Straight out of the hangar, 'Aces High' was exactly what I'd been hoping for, but better. By the time I reached the colossal double whammy of the closing songs, I had a new favourite band. The entire middle is filler, admittedly, but solid and distinctive filler, and I like having those deep cuts together to contrast and appreciate. I bought the unplayable vinyl LP just to look at it.

Fave: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)

Reenergised after the transitional noodling of Somewhere in Time and an unprecedented calendar year without an album release (surely an omen of the endtimes), Maiden rose to the implicit challenge of Powerslave by outdoing their own excess and presenting a shiny concept album with insane art. The typically tight deadline might have helped them avoid collapsing into pompous self-parody, but the priority was clearly to make a solid collection of songs rather than worrying too much about fitting them into a narrative, though the clash of dark themes and joyful singalongs was too weird to be a mainstream hit. This was far from my favourite when I first heard it, but successive listens wore me down and revealed all the arcane glory.

Fave: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Honourable mention: Live After Death (1985)

Live albums are cheating, and I didn't fancy sitting through the ever-expanding roster of compulsory live supplements to every album release and struggling to compare those, but it would be remiss of me if I didn't give a shout-out to my real favourite Iron Maiden album. If I was being tediously tactical I'd just plump for whichever best-of has the best tracklist, but I used to listen to this one a lot – on vintage cassette on a budget walkman, because I was a pioneering hipster (whose discman may also have broken). Maiden England was a good follow-up that covered the next couple of classic albums and some more old cuts with minimal overlap, much appreciated.

Fave: Phantom of the Opera