Iron Maiden

Clássico

I first bought this record a little after Number of the Beast came out. At first, I was surprised at how different it sounded compared to what I expected from Iron Maiden. Either way, I still enjoy it. Highlights for me are Remember Tomorrow and Sanctuary. I love Phantom of the Opera, but find they've done it better on live versions. The drums on the record feel haphazard, and never quite nail the groove like they did on the live version that was on the Women in Uniform single.

Pretty good guitar licks and what not.

WTF, I liked this album and I am not a heavy metal guy. But this album had some subtlety. This album had some intelligence. The vocals are ok, not objectionable. The guitars definitely shred but they don't sound over the top, they don't go on too long and the don't sound pretentious. Yup I liked this album, really never thought that would happen. Now if they can just do something about those God awful covers. 3.75 🌟

Classic!

Listened to a lot of Maiden though my dad while growing up. Enjoy the Bruce era more but it's still a solid old school metal album 4/5

This is a great album but I don't think it's their best.

great debut

Prowler is a standout!

Haven't heard a full Iron Maiden album before. Absolute head banger. Enjoyed the music and need to add more of this to my playlists. 1. Phantom of the Opera 2. Prowler 3. Running Free

Phantom of the Opera, Transylvania, the transition into Strange World and Iron Maiden (x3) are all 'cheff's kiss'. Di'Anno, not so much.

A classic metal album, with great Eddie artwork. Funny how in the 80s this was considered heavy metal, but seems really light and simple as far as the genre goes nowadays. Always loved the twin guitars of Iron Maiden.

I can totally see why this album was important to developments in metal in the 80s. Surprisingly listenable.

Less hard than I would have imagined for Iron Maiden tbh

I'm usually not a metal fan, but I enjoyed this one!

Well, after Aimee Mann this sounds like Beethoven. Not my type of music, but the guitars, bass, and drums are legit. A lot more swing to the drums than I expected. Singer can sing. Incredible debut album. Torn between 4 and 5 stars.

A very fair debut, though I possibly do prefer Killers out of the two Paul Di'Anno albums, and the 1998 reissue actually scores over the original by adding the non-album single "Sanctuary" ("Remember Tomorrow" makes more sense as a third track than a second).

Das hat Spaß gemacht. Ein gelungener Erstling.

Really good! Actually a lot more varied than I was expecting, this album flew by.

it took me half the album to get used to the glammy bluesy kinda sloppy guitar riffs and garage band aesthetic, but shit still headbangs

good rock album.

This kind of early metal is the only good metal

As a huge metal head, I've never really actually got on with Iron Maiden. This ones ok

Some solid metal, vocals were pretty weak. 7/10

good harvey metal! 🤘🤘🤘

Solid although they definitely hit their full stride later.

LP

un bon premier album. Paul Diano fait bien la job et PHantom est ma préférée depuis toujours presque de Maiden donc j'ai un partie prit. On est plus loin du Maiden Dickinson, ca sonne un peu plus punk parfois, mais c'est très bon. 4.25

Uu! Monen kaverini mielestä tää on nimenomaan paras Meirenin levy! Itse olen enemmän Dickinsonin aikakauden kasvatti. Mut onhan tää tiukka NWOBHM-levy! Ei siitä pääse mihinkään. Ai saatana onhan toi viiminen, nimikkobiisi aivan älytöntä kohkausta. 4/5

Nautinnollista ja hauskaa kitarointia, tuntuu että äijillä ollu kivaa levyä tehdessä. 4/5

o ápice ainda estava por vir

I really love listening to early metal, which I would not have predicted even a few years ago. This album has a lot of the elements of what will come in the future for metal embedded in it, but it also has a lot of elements of 70s rock in it. It feels like a very transitional album, one that clarifies the roots of the metal genre 4/5

My heart sank when I saw this come up... heavy metal?! I'm not going to lime heavy metal!! But... the music is actually pretty compelling, thrusting bass riffs a guitar solos a plenty. A revelation!

The riffs are surprisingly catchy. B-Side is a bit weaker but it's still all very solid. Shoutouts to Phantom of the Opera which is probably the best IM song.

This is from 1980? Wow. I'm actually pretty surprised by this. I've never paid any attention to Iron Maiden - and to be fair I absolutely will not after this - but I was surprised at how punky it is. I was expecting heavy metal, and there is definitely notes of Deep Purple in this - but I was not expecting punk. And there's oodles of it. The drumming is actually pretty swing too. I mean, this album has to get 5 stars because it's both influential and I quite enjoyed it. But does it inspire me to listen to more Iron Maiden? Nope.

Heavy metal de los Maiden. Ningún megahit. Un 4.

Finally some more metal! I enjoy their later stuff a bit more, but a good jamming album. 4

Top

Interestingly enough there were tons of solos across the album. Not as much singing as I had expected. Not bad though, typical metal. 7/10.

Surprised I haven't really listened to any Iron Maiden before, this is good fun

go on have a 4 and a bottle of newky brown

Metal

Had already heard a couple of songs in this album and liked them but didn't find any others that particularly stood out to me during a full listen.

Wow, the first Iron Maiden album. It's definitely not their best (in particular regarding vocals), but it's still pretty solid. I really liked Strange World and Phantom Of The Opera was pretty good too. This might honestly be more of a 3 than a 4. But, well, the nostalgia factor.

LE METALE!!! Prefs: Prowler, Sanctuary, Running Free, Phantom of the Opera, Iron Maiden Moins pref: Strange World

Iron Maiden were already pretty naff by the time i came across them as a child. But I never got around to listening to this. I can imagine situations where this might be just the soundtrack I want/need/can't get enough of

I really like this, but I don’t think I love it. Skilful without showing off. Progressive but not pretentious. Intricate yet still accessible. Hard as fuck but not like offensively aggressive. I just can’t remember what any of the songs go like?

Guitars are great throughout. Transylvania was an awesome jam.

There’s a lot of mediocre rock that came out of the 80s but man Iron Maiden isn’t one of them. Their guitar is insane. Phantom of the Opera is so cool

Iron maiden is so crisp, I love the song Trooper though It's not on this album. I was happy to hear songs like "phantom".

I didn't expect to like this one, but I actually quite enjoyed it. Didn't hurt that I was angry while listening to it, which somehow works well. Fave track: Transylvania

I wonder what the Iron Maiden boys think about the whiny song about being a teenage dirtbag. I figure that they partly think they're above it and partly think it's pretty cool to be name-checked like that. Best track: Iron Maiden

Uhhh that was awesome.

Heavy metal de los Maiden. Ningún megahit.

Developed an affinity for Iron Maiden after a particularly good My One Track Mind episode. I like this earlier, more raw incarnation of the band.

Later they became better

Something I know about myself is that classic metal can often sound "tinny" for me. That being said, I like the raw feel of this debut and think that there are excellent performers at work.

Growing up my brother listened to a lot of Iron Maiden, but I never really go into it. I regret that because this is so much more awesome than I thought. The instrumentals in particular are super good.

Honestly I didn't find anything extremely special about this album. It was kind of just like another rock/metal band. The guitar solos were good and the singing wasn't too annoying.

Surprisingly excellent. Loved the harmonized guitar solos.

Not my fave Maiden album by a long shot, but still a cracker.

Liked this a lot more than I expected.

Thought Iron Maiden were just a singles band, actually really enjoyed this. 4.3

- songs on here are probably going become popular soon on tiktok - heavy metal is not really my thing but … so far prowler seems fire - hope after listening to this album i don’t get a headache - since there from the uk minus one star jkkk

I remember thinking this was a massive sound when I first heard this in the 80s. Sadly It’s a lot thinner sounding than I remember, but the songwriting, melodic guitars, tempo changes, and pure energy ensure it remains a classic for me.

I rock with iron maiden now

it’s been a full week now and of course it comes back around to metal my expectations were really low I don’t really like metal, especially the Iron Maiden songs I’ve heard in the past but this album was actually pretty good I really liked the first two songs Prowler and Remember Tomorrow the next three songs Running Free, Phantom of the Opera and Transylvania not so much I mean track four had some nice bits in the middle but overall not really for me that transition from Transylvania to Strange World tho, track six is really good I like my rock progressive, I will eat up any art rock shit you throw at me, whether it’s King Crimson or Steve Hackett, Godspeed You! Black Demon or Silver Mt. Zion I just really love that kind of stuff, and I felt parts of that in this album I’d say Remember Tomorrow was my favorite song. It had a nice intro, decent hook and nice, compatible vocals the song really worked well for me close second is Strange World, also really nice and fairly proggy the two finals songs after that don’t I didn’t really love either anyway, really fun album, a few songs that were less than great but I thought that there was something to enjoy from every song and tracks 1, 2 and 6 were are really awesome I’ll give it an 8/10 I really liked it, it was really cool I doubt I’ll ever listen to any other Iron Maiden (unless it shows up on here) but I’m glad I listened to this album

Clasico

Fuckin Maiden BRO!

Me gustó así en general. Por ahí escuché un guiño a (¿de?) Papa Roach, aunque puede ser mi sobre interpretación de siempre

This was a riot!

Eddie's an absolute lad isn't he? I enjoyed this way more than I was expecting to, I thought we were in for much more guitar wankery. It's a lot more classic hard rock, as opposed to metal, than I was anticipating. Very good.

Eddie's an absolute lad isn't he? I enjoyed this way more than I was expecting to, I thought we were in for much more guitar wankery. It's a lot more classic hard rock, as opposed to metal, than I was anticipating. Very good.

War doch gar nicht so schlimm wir vermutet. Völlig schlimmeren Metall erwartet, aber einen verspielten Rock bekommen. Die bekloppte Bass Kaskade von „Transylvania“ kriegt einen Extrapunkt. Überhaupt irgendwie voll reifer Songs. Geläuterte 3.5

I liked more than I expected to. Surprising / decidedly good. Also kinda reminds me of Bowie for some reason (could imagine Bowie vocals on top sometimes)

Awesome

Sure there’s better. But this is Maiden.

First time I actually listened to Iron Maiden and I really liked it!

Planting seeds of the greatness to come. Prowler is one of their best tracks ever In my opinion.

not their best but still an excellent album

This is not as heavy as I would have imagined. Production value seems light. More like hard rock than metal. Oh god the screaming. You know, this isn't *awful*. I could have seen my younger self listening to this maybe in my screamo days. This is kind of like classic rock screamo. I ended up liking this a hell of a lot more than I thought I would. Not what I thought they'd sound like. I'm really glad I listened to it.

Really solid debut from one of the best and most legendary Heavy Metal bands of all time.

Excellent debut which perfectly captures the essence of early Iron Maiden, a mix of punk rock energy and prog rock stylings without the over indulgence. The musicianship and writing is top notch whilst Di’Anno’s vocal range and quality is integral, so much more than a proto-Dickinson. A massively influential heavy metal album.

1. 6.5/10 2. 7/10 3. 7/10 4. 8/10 5. 8/10 6. 9/10 DAMN 7. 6.5/10 8. i don't remember

8 tracks and 39mins of pure metal brilliance. For a debut metal album they show incredible range and are clearly incredibly talented musicians and accomplished at creating rich and complex arrangements. Prowler, Iron Maiden, Running Free, Strange World and of course the spectacular Phantom of the Opera. Maybe a couple of missteps (Charlotte the Harlot) and I was never a bog fan of Remember Tomorrow but overall a fantastic album

Not too shabby. Not to my taste but not bad at all :)

Great metal album

Really good, but left me wanting to listen to the albums featuring Bryce Dickinson after! Still a good listen though, I had never listened to this album, just Prowler.

Solid metal, especially 40 years old. Clear influence on Metallica and Slash. Swings and rocks. Great musicians.

Liked it

I'm surprised that I like it as well as I do. Had I been 10 years younger when it came out, I probably would have owned it. It's not my style, but it's pretty good. I listened to it twice.

Interesting to listen to a groups early work! Enjoyed it.

Actually really enjoyed this one. Good music to do shit to.

I like Iron Maiden since my teenage years, but to my own shame, I never listened to all songs from this first album. It's a great thing how much these songs sound fresh comparing with more recent Maiden songs. It looks like a great 2021 metal album. Absolutely a great album!

Kann man schon gut weghören :-)

You can't argue with a classic.

Just some rock n roll. Nothing wrong with that. Less metal than I was expecting. I wasn't familiar with their super early stuff. Lots of fun!

Yeah It's Iron Maiden and I like Iron Maiden. This is what they do. Nothing special in here to elevate it to 5 but a great CD none the less

I liked it? I guess I'm on the positive side of neutral. I liked some songs more than others.

I was already a fan of Iron Maiden so I really enjoyed the album. However, none of the songs really wowed me.

\m/

Damn. Do I like Iron Maiden?

kovgg

Thoroughly enjoyable. Mad guitar solos and what not.

3.8

Enjoyed this one. Not enough that I’m going to explore the rest of their catalog but was good to head bob along to

Take them to the Iron Maiden... Excellent!

this was good.

always great

Lots of awesome loud drums and guitars, vegan hippie pacifists will hate it!

Kinda up and down but overall a fun album

Lyft driver recommended this to me, wasn't all that bad!

Fun album

I remember this album being a a lot heavier but that’s 80s metal for you I guess. Pretty inoffensive all things considered.

Ich bin positiv überrascht gsi

Good

Better than I thought

Enjoyable listen and impressive technically, but just not my taste right now

No es mi estilo fav, pero sé reconocer a unos grandes de la música

Une bonne surprise. Je n'avais jamais osé aborder par préjugé les croyants trop métaleux. Ce qui n'est visiblement pas le cas. Mes coups de cœur : Prowler, Remember tomorrow, Running free et Transylvania. Mention honorable pour l'intro de Strange World.

Shades of light and dark. I like the guitar riffs but they don't really stand out. Maybe it's due to the simplicity of the music. Does seem quite repetitive but does give a good headbang. 3/5

Pretty fun stuff, although based on what I’ve heard of them, I get the impression that I’d enjoy their later albums more.

Favorite song: Prowler

These guys are some of metal royalty. Not a huge Iron Maiden fan and never really got attached to them, but always nice to hear some debut albums by some big name bands

Not my thing but it was fine.

It's pretty good for early heavy metal. You can tell how young the singer is, compared to later offerings. It had a surprising mix of songs, all of which were well done for the genre. Overall no major complaints, just not something I want to put on regularly.

I simply don't care for Iron Maiden. The music might be technically well executed, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Being mostly metal-illiterate, was surprised how much I found this more enjoyable than not. Guess all this time I’d been judging Iron Maiden by its album art.

great guitar work i like it but it’s not playlist worthy

The first Maiden song I ever heard was surely Phantom of the Opera, which soundrackrd an advert for Lucozade energy drink featuring Olympian Daley Thompson bursting out of the starting blocks. I liked the tunes which had similar energy, when they moved away from that galloping style such as on the power ballad Strange World it didn't really work for me.

Buen album, mala producción

It was good but not super good, I liked it for the most part but the day after listening to it, I cannot for the life of me remember any of the songs on the album except for Phantom of the Opera, so...

Good

Never been a big fan of Heavy Metal, though i can't lie i did enjoy this album a bit.

Full rock cool

Sólido, classic iron Maiden. No es el metal que mas me gusta, pero suena muy clásico y si pasa eso, es por algo. Un tema, strange world, se fue añadido a la playlist porque muy bueno. Baladita metalera. El resto, bastante musica de hechiceros y sorcerers, como me gusta llamarlo. Pero bien. 7/10

Not the biggest Iron Maiden fan but their galloping riffs do always sound incredible

J’ai été très positivement surprise par l’album Iron Maiden, qui mélange les rythmes et les sonorités du hardrock classique avec des sonorités presque pop (début de Remember Tomorrow notamment et voix dans Running Free et Strange World pour un mélange des deux), qui rend cet album accessible à des amateurs d’autres genres de musique que le rock. Je trouve d’ailleurs ce mélange de voix et d’instruments très intéressant dans l’album.

This one surprised me. At times it doesn't sound like a metal album at all, instead it sounds more like prog or psychedelic rock. I guess that makes sense since metal was still developing as a genre in 1980, but still strange to me since this is not what I'm used to hearing from Iron Maiden. While it isn't my favorite album by IM it was definitely worth listening to and exploring more metal during its developing years. Favorite track: Charlotte the Harlot 3.5/5

I do not enjoy a lot of heavy metal music but I have to say there were a few quite good songs here.

Solid workout album

Good

Why do all the songs sound the same to me? Guitar, guitar solo, change beat, add more guitar. Would rather listen to this than Dwight Yoakam though.

Far more familiar with Maiden after Bruce took over vocals, but this was solid, all the pieces are there, the dual guitars, Harris's thundering bass lines. I still think I prefer the later stuff, but really glad I had to listen to this today.

I liked running free, phantom of the opera, and strange world

intro song so tuffffffff

Ohne Bruce ohne mich. Klingt mir fast zu verwechslebar auch wenn schon klar ist dass es einfach auch Wegbereiter für vieles folgende (die Entwicklung von Judas Priest u.a.) ist (wenn ich da richtig Wikipedia gelesen habe) - aber ob ich das brauche? Nochmal. Hören möchte? Neee, eher nicht. Aber versteh die Begeisterung der Kutten.

Prowler - 3 Remember tomorrow - 4 Running free - 3 Phantom of the opera - 4 Transylvania - 3 Strange world - 3 Charlotte the harlot - 3 Iron maiden - 3

better than slayer look i'm the last person around you should trust to know about heavy metal, but this ain't it. this is classic rock. like van halen levels of "heavy metal". i'm not writing a long review. it's better than slayer, so it warrants 3/5. it's classic rock. there's some variety between songs, but not a *lot*. it's brief, it moves along. ya know, the usual.

their cover art is pretty sick lol Would I listen again: if i'm in the mood Deserves to be on this list: yes 3.2

Less cheesy than other songs I've heard of theirs.

Já não ouvia este há anos, achei bom mas existem escolhas muito melhores de discos de iron maiden para por nesta lista (powerslave, piece of mind, seventh son). Achei a phantom of the opera a melhor canção e de resto era fixe mas não ao mesmo nível que o number of the beast por exemplo. 3 grande

Cool

Goste mais do anterior

Album #176 Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden Wow, I didn’t think it was possible, but I actually found an enjoyable heavy metal album. I feel like in theory this shouldn’t be that hard for me to find, considering I enjoy my fair share of hard rock and hardcore punk, yet for whatever reason I have just yet to really click with a heavy/thrash metal album. But Iron Maiden’s debut does a lot of things right that other metal albums don’t. For one, the length is under 40 minutes, which is all too rare amongst genres that I disdain. The guitar playing, though heavy, is still technical and rhythmic to the point that I can actually make out what chords are being played. The album honestly seemed more in line with the punk movement at the time, which also added to my enjoyment of it. I feel like early metal is a lot more up my alley, due to it being more of an extension of other genres, and not its own solidified thing yet. Once ‘metal’ had its own sonic identity, bands just started feeding into the cliches and stereotypes that aligned with it; and in return got caricatures of the genre like Metallica. Though this is still very much a metal album in spirit, as can be seen by the corny album cover, which is seemingly a pre-requisite for the genre. Best Songs: Strange World, Iron Maiden, Prowler Worst Song: Remember Tomorrow Score out of 10: 7.5

It was pretty good, I can understand the fan base to a certain extent, could be better and the cove ris abysmal

Sólido álbum debut pero el género no me parece llamativo.

this album wasn’t bad. my favorite song was definitely “transylvania” i do like me some british metal!

Not as good as number of the beast but still a good album

Cool

Det er rimeligt fedt - dejlig hurtig guitar. Den svinger mellem en 3'er og en 4'er jeg er simpelthen splittet.

Der er noget fed nok tråd på albummet, og coveret er jo et levn fra en fantastisk men svunden tid. Der var mange edgy t-shirts i folkeskolen, der så sådan her ud, og de var røvfede Bliver altid overrasket over hvor lidt heavy, datidens heavy metal var Rigtig fint album i virkeligheden. Positiv overraskelse. Det er en stor 3'er, men desværre ikke helt en 4'er. 3.6

When I think of 80s Metal I kind of physically recoil. It's not my thing. It's never been my thing. But I guess that's half the point of working through this list. This album is pretty good. Still not my thing, so I don't think I’ll be back, but maybe I wont puke a little the next time a big name metal band shows up in my list. Baby steps.

Liked some tracks a lot more than others, but their guitar playing really does it for me, especially on Phantom of the Opera. 3.5

I love that it ends on "Iron Maiden" by Iron Maiden off their debut record Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden is pretty solid 80s metal, especially for a debut album. It defined this kind of thrash metal sound that you hear in stuff like Metallica and Megadeth, but it actually has a good bit of depth to it that's not just loud and fast. Overall, though, after a full listen there's nothing that really gripped me here. It was fine, sure, but not super memorable. Standout tracks were probably "Prowler" and "Remember Tomorrow" and then everything else starts to blend together. It's a 3/5 for me. There's better Iron Maiden on this list.

Confession time: I was a Metallica fan around the early to mid 90s. So there's that. Anyway, this is a pretty good rock album, but you can also tell it's from the 80s and a debut one - it's not exactly the most complicated composition, more of the wailing guitars-thing being quite prevalent at the time. I do like wailing guitars though, so 3,5 rounded down due to lack of variety and complexity.

Fine enough example of early metal, not as good as most of Iron Maiden's other albums let alone the rest of the genre, still good to give a listen just to see what was taking place back in the 80's but not worth much more than to look at it historically in my opinion.

Purposeful dynamic. Gets in, makes its point, gets out. Everyone's standing around asking wtf just happened. I don't know, but something certainly did.

Surprised about this one. I was expecting a lot of heavy metal and came away with some interesting rock. It felt like the tail end of the 70's and a change of sound coming into the 80s.

Not a huge fan of this genre but this was not bad.

A little bit of a mixed bag, but there were some great tracks on here. “Running Free” is an anthem, and I adore any time a band releases both a song and an album with their own name. In spite of a pretty iconic album cover, the band doesn’t seem to have a fully baked identity at this point. At times they sounded a bit like other groups, in particular reminding me of The Moody Blues on “Strange World.”

never expected this to be something I could even tolerate, but this is fine

Like okay. Way better than i expected from them

Last song was very satanic

Enjoyable but not their best work.

Iron Maiden is awesome, but I do think this is a bizarre pick. If the list absolutely wanted to include a Paul Di'Anno Maiden album, I don't see why it wouldn't be Killers, which I think is a better collection of songs. Although, on another hand, listening to the debut in 2026 is kind of an interesting exercise. *And* if the idea here was to capture a unique moment for Maiden, I suppose this kind of makes sense, because they got quite a bit closer to the classic Maiden sound on Killers. Although, it's also a case of a debut that feels unique less because of a series of intentional decisions, and more due to the band not quite getting the formula right. But I must admit that in the grand scheme of things, the Iron Maiden sound was closer to full realization than you'd think. But there are some glaring differences across this album, many of which admittedly arise from the differences between the lineup here and on Maiden's most iconic run. Most notably, Di'Anno's vocals aren't bad, but they *certainly* don't feel like Iron Maiden. He's a little more gravelly than Dickinson, and I think that Dickinson *is* a much better fit for the band with his incredibly distinct operatics. Every once in a while there is also a guitar line that feels really weird when compared to the more familiar Maiden, and I kind of chalk that up to the presence of Dennis Stratton, who didn't even make it to Killers. But, this album *does* still feel as representative of The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal as Maiden's best. The sound here is still very much a combination of speed metal and some distinct influence from prog. And Steve Harris is still the primary songwriter here, which is pretty clearly identifiable. There is even the seed of Maiden's more ambitious moments here on Phantom Of The Opera, which is the longest, most intricate song here. But the song does end up over-extending itself a little. Although, a lot of the simpler songs here really define the sound on *this* album, and make it worth the occasional visit. Prowler, Running Free, Iron Maiden, and even the instrumental Transylvania are a blast. Maiden still conjures up some exciting precision and energy here, and the result is a great heavy metal album, even if it doesn't translate into one of the better Iron Maiden albums. But, I would still advise fans of the band to spin this. There is a lot to love, and it kind of captures a unique moment in the band's history.

I enjoyed this one. I hear Metallica’s beginning in some of the tracks here.

I definitely got something out of this record. Iron Maiden gets high praise from the metal acts of the 1980s onward, and this album showed their influence as well as what influenced the group. Like the major bands of the 1970s (Yes, Rush and Led Zeppelin come to mind), two-three styles appear in the same song. The first three showed the influence of Zeppelin’s soft-loud shifts with instrumentals that show prog rock style playing. To their credit, Iron Maiden rips through their guitar parts in double time, which gave them a kick lacking in most progressive rock of the decade. The latter quality showed up enough that I could hear why Metallica and Megadeth cite them as a favorite band. Great to hear speed metal phrasing to give these longer songs a dose of kinetic energy. Unfortunately, I also heard the future of hair metal. The last three songs featured clear signs of the power ballad that became a horrible trait of late 1980s hair metal. This element appeared frequently, surprising me with their pop song quality. There was less operatic singing than what I have experienced in my brief listenings to Maiden, but less bombast did not make “Strange World” and “Charlotte the Harlot” any more palatable. On a closing side note, I know Iron Maiden got caught up in the “don’t listen because these guys are preaching Satanism” frenzy of the 1980s. Maybe there is heavy devil worshiping in the lyrics, but I did not hear anything approaching the “evil” of Black Sabbath or even Judas Priest. In fact more evil and more speed would have boosted the record.

Out of my usual genre selection, but for first impressions it was solid. Its biggest win is that there is never a dull moment, even if something isn't up my alley it was entertaining. "Remember Tomorrow" and "Strange World" were high points, especially the latter as it differed from the rest of the album in a way that is usually my speed. I'd give Iron Maiden another try. Is this the start of me becoming a heavy metal fan? As long as it keeps the room cool.

Better than I was expecting. Not my style but still pretty good.

3.5

Oh putain le OG Iron Maiden, je suis presque impressionné d’écouter ça ! La première chanson sur un Album de ce groupe quoi ! Bah c’est très bien ! Les rifs sont cools, ça fait pas vieux, et ça fait du bien de pas connaître les sons Transylvania a de la bonne batterie Au global un bon album, 7/10

Great start to what would become a phenomenal band.

Ambitious and not the worst thing I've ever heard

(4/7) fine for my run but could do without the long instrumentals

Iron Maiden has never been my thing, but to be fair there are some good songs on this album.

Classic albums I didn't hear this for absolutely years, always strange to hear songs without brucey

yeah this sounds like iron maiden

Solid. I like the production on this more than some of its contemporaries.

Solid enough, but a little boring compared to my fav Iron Maiden albums. Not enough stands out to bring it to the next level.

In the summer of 1980, Iron Maiden were the hottest thing around. Their debut album had just come out and they were touring Germany with Kiss. I was 13 and too young to go to the concert at the Cologne Sporthalle. But we played the debut record over and over again. It really was a new form of hard rock... ‘Heavy metal’ was a new term back then, and indeed this music was faster, more aggressive, “harder” than what had previously been considered ‘hard rock’. Added to that was the eerie aesthetic of the artwork. Although I’m not really much of a fan of heavy metal, I do like the early Iron Maiden. I’m probably one of the few fans who lost interest in the band when singer Paul Di Anno left. Bruce Dickinson was certainly a stroke of luck for the band and fits better overall into the band’s musical concept, but I preferred Di Anno’s punk attitude – less cliché, more decadence. The contrast between his “un-metal” vocals and the band’s fast riffs and bass lines remains unique. Musically, the album isn’t quite on a par with their second album “Killers”, but that’s not down to the band’s performance, but rather the mediocre production. Nevertheless, you can’t help but be drawn in by the band’s raw energy. An album that set the tone in many respects for 1980s rock music.

An unfortunate case here where perhaps being too good and too prevalent hurts the score, because this album walked so Iron Maiden could run. This feels very spit-and-sawdust for the efforts of one of metal's most storied and beloved bands, and it's incredibly tough to fully appreciate what this album has to offer when you have tracks from Powerslave, Piece Of Mind, or basically any album where Bruce Dickinson is on vocals. Bless him, the vocalist here just cannot compete with that signature sound, and that's not to say this is a bad album or a bad effort, but it's certainly an unrefined one compared to the discography of the future Maiden they're competing against. In no way bad, but not a huge amount going on here, and anyone who recommends you the self-title as your first Iron Maiden album would be doing you a disservice. Influential in its era it may be, but today, when Iron Maiden are a household name (literally in my case, hazy family connections mean they're the outfit I have the most actual links to), this is not the signature sound or highest quality of their work. I really hope this list has more than just this album from them, because if the 1001 book authors just slapped this album down for being the first album by a big band I'll be sorely disappointed. Looking forwards to crossing paths with Maiden later on my list of albums, now that I have their weaker work out of the way. Good stuff, but a shadow of the Iron Maiden so many of us know.

Good but not my favorite.

🤘RAHHHHHHHHH

I think I liked this one slightly more than the other? But again, maybe because the bass is driving and interesting more so than anything else I'd actually remember

Songs were okay, but nothing that made me want to come back to this album

I’m never going to like this style of music, but I get why it appeals. It was a lot less histrionic and was more direct and raw than I’d expected, and there was a trace of punk influence which is unsurprising for the time.

3.5+

136. iron maiden

Fun to listen to these guys in their first album--I wasn't familiar with most of this stuff. You can kind of tell they are still a band finding their sound. Not having Dickinson yet kind changes the vibe as well. Paul Di'Anno sounds a little like Lemmy without being as good as Lemmy. Still, where would metal be if this album never came out. Transylvania is a cool song. 3/5

A good album that I would never choose to listen to on my own

Phantom of the Opera has a great intro that makes me want to drink Lucozade, but much of this album has too much widdly-diddly for me

Another album I've heard before. I don't know if I'd ever listen to it on my own though. Pleasant enough for a Sunday morning. 3/5

W Iron Maiden, not the greatest album they got though

Heavy metal, little too heavy prefer Metallica

I love Iron Maiden, but they just aren’t Iron Maiden yet in this album. It’s still too Deep Purple and not enough over the top nerd metal.

i had high hopes but it didnt really stand out

Heavy but with melody. Not really my cup of tea, but passed faster than I expected

3,4/5 Mog i.

Their first LP. While I’m not a fan at all I do appreciate when music is played well. It’s ranked 8th overall in their catalog by their fans.

Звучит как пародия

Мой Топ 1 самых ужасных обложек в истории музыки. Плакать хочется от работ этого художника. Коллега, ну как так. Гитары прикольные, голос скучный. Что-то приколдесное есть в мире Iron Maiden. Но флер нормисности преследует такие группы. Наверное, из-за фанатов...

Любовь к хэви-металлу это музыкальный аналог ношения серьги в правом ухе у мужчин

в сравнении с последними альбомами даже неплохо, 3.5

I'm amazed at how tame this sounds in retrospect, kind of like Ozzy's albums from around the same time. It's very polite and well mannered and I sometimes wish it would get a little more gnarly and crazed. Still, great playing and songs like "Phantom of the Opera" and "Transylvania" are fantastic. I don't really know their later stuff but this is fine hard rock of its era.

I'd give this 3.5 if it were an option, but I guess I'm closer to 3 than 4. Never heard Iron Maiden pre-Dickinson actually. Di'Anno has the chops and is less melodramatic but also less interesting. Musically it has moments where it's absolutely stunning - Phantom of the Opera into the instrumental Transylvania was the high point for me, mesmerising guitars and rhythms. The rest here though - I can respect it, but it just didn't click with me much. Pretty run of the mill early heavy metal, which isn't a genre I care much about (outside of maybe Ozzy)

Phantom of the opera was good, so was Transylvania

I typically enjoy the bands that Iron Maiden influenced more than Iron Maiden but I found this pretty decent and way ahead of its time.

2.75 - I expected to really hate this, but I was into it a bit. Their sound caught me off guard in a few tracks. I might need to listen to more.

Another dip into last century's metal, I had no idea Iron Maiden would be my top pick. Speed and pop and better singing, what a combo.

It was good! But I honestly don't think I liked it as much when comparing to Metallica, and I gave that a 4. I really liked it, but it all sorta blended together a bit into just one big metal album. I mean I guess that what this is... doi. But like thats all it is, doesn't have much more to it. I'd be curious to dive into their later stuff like the Run to the Hills shit to see where they get to later on.

EI tää niitä Maidenin ykköslevyjä oo ja Dickinson taisi tulla vasta myöhemmin ruoriin, mutta kyllähän täällä ihan hyvääkin menoa on

hyvää rokkia

Liked this way more than I thought I would

as someone who isn't really a fan of iron maiden this album really surprised me with a less hardcore setlist and was super refreshing

Det funka å trene til dette 💪

Pretty decent, all are pretty good songs but feel kinda similar until the last few with more calmer sounding melodies breaking up the tone. I like strange world, remember tomorrow and transylvania the most out of the album. Gonna give it another listen soon

Morning in Riga

Pleasantly surprised. Particularly enjoyed Phantom of the Opera. More heavy rock than heavy metal.

Fine.

Strange choice of Maiden albums. OK, but no real hits.

Not really a fan but was alright

Guitar: great Bass and drums: great Vocals: irritating Lyrics: annoying This is the kind of thing that convinced me that I don't like metal, even though you'd think I'd like it considering some of the other stuff that I like. I would give this record a 4 if it were all-instrumental, because it is headbanging-worthy. But then he starts singing again.

Surprisingly I liked it

Tasty

I enjoyed this album where I didn't enjoy Metallica's first album and it comes down to the listening experience. Audible vocals and solos beat the metal drone wall of sound. The lineage to hard rock is also more evident in this album.

Honestly better than expected

Iron maiden es iron maiden. Esta muy bien, pero no es lo mejor

Not bad at all, especially for a debut... but it's not as good as Number of the Beast. (and let's be real, it was never going to be)

Ba chiar I fost super ok

Venjuleg rokkplata? Er það ekki bara?

Great debut. Iron Maiden got a lot better though

When I was a kid I used to be obsessed with Iron Maiden. But unfortunately, as a got older, I started having less time for those lyrics and the whole cheesiness of their act and grew out of it. It's interesting to go back to it in my fifties. The first one is quite expressive and raw when compared to the theatricality that came after. It's quite hard rock-based as well, I guess the lyrical and operatic voice of Bruce Dickinson helped paved the way for the band to become more heavy metal inspired.

I really appreciate an album with some genuine variety in their sound and a clear definition between songs. I respect the artistry and passively enjoyed the album…not enough to revisit but can see why it was included in this list.

I’m a Bruce purist when it comes to Iron Maiden, but this has some good tracks on. Hope we get more.

in german we say: „das fetzt gottlos krass“

better than i expected

surprisingly didn't hate this

I feel like I get more on board in the Bruce Dickinson era, but the guitar work and the DNA of the band is all still here. Remember Tomorrow was covered by Opeth and that makes it most memorable for me

First two tracks are my favourites. Probably only need to listen to half of it to get my Iron Maiden fill for a while.

A bit screamy. Would try again in a different setting.

Pretty good. Some songs are nuts in a good way and some in a bad way. All of the songs that mention women are kind of stinky. “Prowler” is not good. “Phantom of the Opera” is awesome, love the speed. but I admittedly have not seen Phantom of the Opera. “Transylvania” and “Strange World” go hard! but then followed by whatever the fuck “Charlotte the Harlot” is… that gave me whiplash. “Iron Maiden” is classic. Overall I like the album and I will definitely listen to it again and just skip a couple songs…

I enjoyed this album a lot more than the other Maiden album on this list. Once I discovered they had a different vocalist for this album, I think that was the key difference for me. No disrespect to Bruce, but it’s just too operatic for me. Although, I’m sure that’s what people enjoy about him. But Paul Di’Anno has a good balance of not going too over the top. Also, this album had way more melodic moments than I expected. Good balance of beauty and rocking out. I’d actually give this album a 3.5 or 3.75

musical theatre for dumb guys. production's great, appreciably silly, overall good hang

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. I got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby. Come with me Friday don't say maybe.

not for me but I liked this better than the metallica one

In this album, the songs were high energy, and you can tell that a lot of care and attention was paid to the instrumentals. I prefer this style of rock music to the 70s psychedelic and bluesy rock style that came before. It was a decent listen overall.

I thought it was a bit samey, but nice. 3/5

Not my cup of tea but refreshingly not what I expected. Cool album

fine.

Probably better than I remembered. IM has it's place and should be respected for longevity and some influence if not musicianship. I was expecting not to want to ever listen to another, but that's not the case. I'd see what the rest of their stuff was about before saying never. 2+

Kind of ineffectual for me, it’s interesting to compare to later Iron Maiden albums. A bit more bluesy, proggy perhaps with hints of what was to come. A band finding their feet. Prefer these vocals to Bruce Dickinson - I think? Or maybe it’s just different. Some pure shredding behaviour on this, love to see it. 3.0/5.0 Best Song: Remember Tomorrow

Is this the best iron maiden album? Is Bruce Dickinson the problem? I enjoyed this a lot more than i thought i would, it still wasn't great i think iron maiden are a bit crap generally, but this was the most enjoyable album ive heard from them, I definitely prefer this singer to BD. Best song: Running Free

Strong debut offering from the heavy metal pioneers. Sans Bruce Dickinson and with some longer experimental tunes, the album betrays some 70s prog rock influences and is all the more enjoyable for it

Those attentive to my reviews may think I love this album. And I do dig it in a cozy way. It’s just too soft for the genre.

The NWOBHM is one of those things that I occasionally enjoy, but usually in smaller doses than a full album. Having not heard any pre-Bruce Dickinson Iron Maiden before, this album made me realise how key he is to their classic sound. But anyway… These guys can clearly play, but a lot of the tracks seem really structurally messy and incohesive to me; loads of disparate sections with little tying them together. ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is a prime example of this. Also, some tracks are lyrically cringeworthy, especially ‘Charlotte the Harlot’ which is frankly embarrassing. Overall not bad though.

Wow, a heavy metal album I didn't hate! I am making my mom proud over here. I liked the vocals on this album, the guitar was radical, and it didn't just sound like noise. Good for what it is

Listening to this first album feels uninspired from the perspective of 2026; like every other 80’s heavy metal album. But Iron Maiden were trend setters, and it was the other bands who followed behind mimicking their sound.

i think i understand why this album is on the list, but it's not my fave. "phantom of the opera" is rightly heralded as a classic, but it's really the only one here that is. i'm not in the paul di'anno camp, and his vocals are partly why I don't like their debut that much.

I had fun!

fun stuff

It was fine, it didn't really do much for me but it didn't upset me either. I'm not sure if I was in the right frame of mind for it, but it seemed to go by rather quickly but without any malice or interest.

Standouts Prowler Phantom of the Opera

Solid debut 👍 do miss Di’anno’s vocals in the later entries.

Zawsze mnie zaskakuje, jak spokojne i nieinwazyjne są te wszystkie metalowe albumy z groźnymi okładkami. Spodziewam się czegoś ciężkiego, a dostaję psa, który sporo szczeka, ale nigdy nie gryzie. 6/10.

Interesting

Enjoyable early metal. Probably pretty groundbreaking at the time, but this sound would become a staple of 80s hair metal as the years go on. It's aight. I liked it fine, but nothing I would come back to. I liked that they had a song on this album called iron maiden. Artist: Iron Maiden Album: Iron Maiden Track: Iron Maiden

im so bored bro

Good stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, this album has some cracking tracks (Phantom of the Opera is fantastic) but overall it is the weakest of Maiden’s early albums. As a debut it certainly set the agenda, but is miles away from Number of the Beast or Piece of Mind. Was enjoyable to listen to again - and ended up propelling me into re-listening of a few of their classic 80’s albums - but doesn’t get beyond a 3 for me when I put my nostalgia aside.

I can hear later bands in this and can understand why it's popular

I have never listened to a Paul Di'anno Maiden album before, and it was quite surprising. An album of 2 halves for me. The first half was just standard heavy rock, whereas the second had the beginnings of the Iron Maiden sound. Which begs the question, how much input did Mr Harris have into the first half? Do I think they would have reached the heights they have without Bruce's vocals? To be honest, no I don't think they would. But as a debut album, with the seeds of future glories evident, it was good enough but not spectacular. A solid 3.

I approached this with trepidation, like I do with all Metal albums with shitty skull faces on the front. Its just so tacky. Do they think its scary or something? I worked witha chap who had a skull smoking a fag tattooed on his arm (in the 21st century the meaning has changed I believe) and was a massive Iron Maiden fan, I did ask if he like his tattoo, to which he replied 'yes'. He's now long dead after troubles with hard drugs, but I cannot connect that to his love with Iron Maiden,and nor should I. Who am I to judge? Ah back to the album. It was actually better than I thought it would be, no running to the hills for me with this offering. Plenty of was wah pedal, a pleasant surprise! No overly over the top operatic singing either. Reasonable tunes too. Difficult decision.

I'm not too averse to a bit of maiden. But couldn't really get into this today. One or two tracks on here felt almost close to hardcore in style, as much as metal. And given the era this was released in, maybe those genres aren't so different after all.

Good thing they found a new lead singer …

keeping the seat warm for Dickinson

Need Bruce!!! Glad they got heavier and faster in their later albums.

The prowler got me going every time I tried - but at times this album seemed lethargic

Not my taste but obviously great for someone

Maidens första. Intressant att få höra deras ursprung. Några bra låtar men inte lika bra som senare skivor. Kul att lyssna in mig mer på dom senare. Helhetsbetyg: OK

3.3

Without this album the more influential wouldn't have existed, but it's not top of the line for Maiden.

pretty good but not as distinctive as other heavy metal on this list

3.5 stars. Short (37 min) debut album showcasing their heavy metal style. Not bad but not their best work. Standout is "Transylvania".

Me pasa que solo por ser Iron Maiden me encantaria ponerle 5 estrellas, pero este álbum no es tan bueno como otros de ellos. Aun así es interesante y es una muy buena introducción a la banda desde sus inicios.

I remember why I never listened to them... because the cover was too scary. It's actually just some standard metal music.

3.5⭐️/5 02.23.2026

pluspunkt, weil innerhalb der songs teilweise dieselbe spontanität, wie innerhalb des albumzusammenhangs herrscht

Decent mix of metal and rock. Good but I don't know how often I will come back to it. Some of the slower stuff didn't land for me. 7/10