‘You'll take my life but I'll take yours too / You'll fire your musket but I'll run you through / So when you're waiting for the next attack / You'd better stand there's no turning back!’ At a time when many in the mainstream media were fixated on their devilish imagery and the horror movie antics of Eddie The Head, The Trooper tapped into the true derring-do at the heart of Iron Maiden’s central players. Of course, we’re well aware there are stone-cold classics missing here. We’ve approached the task with a view to encapsulating that overarching history and paying tribute to the often-transformative live performances by the band’s current (definitive?) line-up: bassist/bandleader Steve Harris, vocalist Bruce Dickinson, guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, and livewire drummer Nicko McBrain. Having dropped at least 10 5/5-worthy albums over the last four decades, the process of whittling their peerless catalogue of 165-odd songs down to a shortlist of just 20 has been even more painful than most. Purveyors of epic bombast, playful darkness and rollicking intrepidity, their 16 albums thus far have seen variations in style (moderate) and quality standards (sometimes lurching), but the promise of adventure and fist-pumping good times has always been delivered upon.
Over 45 years since a rabble of London rockers first came together under the banner on Christmas Day 1975, the name Iron Maiden has become utterly synonymous – perhaps even more so than those of Metallica, Judas Priest or the mighty Black Sabbath – with heavy metal culture.