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Rating: Every now and then I find myself "getting lost" in damp and dirty basements owned by shady characters as untrustworthy as they are brilliantly eloquent, always with some strange story to tell. Basements where you can find everything: old radios still perfectly working (or so the shady seller assures me), improbable erotic horror comics from the '70s (cute but in such a lousy state that you're forced to leave them there so time can finish disintegrating them), and still, pieces of rusty iron from various origins, still-sealed 8-tracks, and a lot, a lot of dust, the ideal habitat for various species of yet-unknown microorganisms and hallucinogenic mold.
Oh, I forgot, besides the very interesting things just mentioned, you can also find records of various types, but more specifically, tons of vinyl by the great Papetti. Sometimes, I go there just to pass the time, but alas, after thirty, you start not to look kindly on the passing of time, also because it passes more quickly, so I'll have to stop frequenting these places and devote myself to healthier and, above all, more profitable activities.
Right on one of these descents to the underworld, after having seen dozens of naked breasts, um, covers of Papetti (and then they censor the Poison cover...), I decided to take a look at the few CDs left. That's how a cover caught my eye (yes, only one: the other was closed due to dust). It was a close-up of a punk-haired zombie with a typically English brick wall in the background. I-R-O-N-M-A-I-D-E-N... never heard of them. Well, but I like the cover, so I take it.
But in places like this, buying one thing is never worthwhile, so (again riding the "I like the cover, I take it" wave) I also picked up a Papetti collection from '77 that bore an imprint commemorating one hundred years of sound recordings. The guy gave me a good price, I thanked him and left. As I was leaving, I noticed piles and piles of cat food. Down low, in a poorly lit area, was a bowl that looked clean, unused in fact. I knew the old man had a cat, but to be honest, I had never seen it. No one had ever seen it. Occasionally, however, you could hear it roar. A friend of mine tells that a young and reckless metalhead, a friend of a friend of his cousin, had peeked into the back and never returned. But you know, the back room (where it is rumored there are very rare original Beatles vinyls, among others) is accessible only to a few elect.
But let's listen to these Iron Maiden. I press play and a distorted riff starts with a sharp and slightly dated sound (I read 1980) to which a melody with wah-wah is added... "Prowler" is the name of the track and it immediately reminds me of the cover with the punk zombie. No, the music is not punk but heavy metal and you can hear harmonizations that remind me of Thin Lizzy, but with a fury reminiscent of punk. "Remember Tomorrow" instead starts with a dark bass arpeggio by Steve Harris (who is also credited as the principal composer) and alternates quiet moments with powerful heavy lashes. It continues swiftly with the dynamic "Running Free" introduced and led by the unique drumming of such Clive Durr. These guys know what they're doing! I open the booklet (two measly pages) and immediately notice some live photos of the group: I don't know why, but I imagined the bassist with striped tight pants like Pete Way, but unfortunately, in these photos, he is not well visible. The following "Phantom Of The Opera" and "Transylvania" are phenomenal: the first, complex and articulated, once again shows the band's ability to alternate heavy parts with melodic moments (but a dark and "gothic" melody), while the second is a bone-crushing instrumental that surely our guys will use live. Absolutely top-notch the guitar duo formed by Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton: fast and fluid the first, more bluesy the second. Dreamy arpeggios and a bass that seems to come from the afterlife instead open "Strange World," a great ballad somewhat à la "Little Wing" (do I need to say by whom?), but the truce lasts only a moment and our guys return to the assault with the metallic rock n' roll of "Charlotte The Harlot," composed by guitarist Dave Murray and with a Paul Di'Anno (the band's voice) deserving a round of applause, and with the closing "Iron Maiden" which certainly will take no prisoners live.
At the moment, I don’t know if this album has any follow-ups, but I think I'll do a little research online... anyway, really a great purchase!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Prowler (03:55)
Walking through the city, looking oh so pretty,
I've just got to find my way.
See the ladies flashing. All there legs and lashes.
I've just got to find my way.
Well you see me crawling through the bushes
With it open wide.
What you seeing girl?
Can't you believe that feeling, can't you believe it,
Can't you believe your eyes?
It's the real thing girl.
Got me feeling myself and reeling around,
Got me talking but feel like walking around.
Got me feeling myself and reeling a...
Got me talking but nothing's with me...
Got me feeling myself and reeling around.
02 Remember Tomorrow (05:27)
Unchain the colours before my eyes,
Yesterday's sorrows, tomorrow's white lies.
Scan the horizon, the clouds take me higher,
I shall return from out of fire.
Tears for rememberance, and tears for joy,
Tears for somebody and this lonely boy.
Out in the madness, the all seeing eye,
Flickers above us, to light up the sky.
Unchain the colours before my eyes,
Yesterday's sorrows, tomorrow's white lies.
Scan the horizon, the clouds take me higher,
I shall return from out of fire.
04 Phantom of the Opera (07:20)
I've been looking so long for you now you won't get away from my grasp.
You've been living so long in hiding in hiding behind that false mask.
And you know and I know that you ain't got long now to last.
Your looks and your feelings are just the remains of your past.
You're standing in the wings, there you wait for the curtain to fall.
Knowing the terror and holding you have on us all.
Yeah, I know that you're gonna scratch me, maim me and maul.
You know I'm helpless from your mesmerising cat call.
Keep your distance, walk away, don't take his bait.
Don't you stray, don't fade away.
Watch your step, he's out to get you, come what may.
Don't you stray, from the narrow way.
I'm running and hiding in my dreams you're always there.
You're the Phantom of the Opera, you're the devil, you're just out to scare.
You damaged my mind and my soul it just floats through the air.
Haunt me, you taunt me, you torture me back at your lair.
06 Strange World (05:46)
Was many years ago that I left home and came this way,
I was a young man full of hopes and dreams,
But now it seems to me that all is lost and nothing gained,
Sometimes things ain't what they seem,
No brave new world, no brave new world,
No brave new world, no brave new world.
Night and day I scan horizon, sea and sky,
My spirit wanders endlessly,
Until the day will dawn and friends from home discover why,
Hear me calling, rescue me,
Set me free, set me free,
Lost in this place and leave no trace.
Stranger in a strange land,
Land of ice and snow,
Trapped here in this prison, yeah!
Lost and far from home.
One hundred years have gone and men again they came that way,
To find the answer to the mystery,
They found his body lying where it fell on that day,
Preserved in time for all to see,
No brave new world, no brave new world,
Lost in this place, and leave no trace.
What became of the man that started
All are gone and their souls departed
Left me here in this place
So all alone
Stranger in a strange land
Land of ice and snow
Trapped inside this prison
Lost and far from home
What became of the man that started
All are gone and their souls departed
Left me here in this place
So all alone
Stranger in a strange land
Land of ice and snow
Trapped inside this prison
Lost and far from home
Stranger in a strange land
Land of ice and snow
Trapped inside this prison
Lost and far from home
Stranger in a strange land
Land of ice and snow
Trapped inside this prison
Lost and far from home
07 Charlotte the Harlot (04:12)
Giving a swish with your arse in the air,
Don't you know what they're saying?
Charlotte you're so refined,
When you take all the love that they're giving.
Sticking with every man that you find,
Don't you know what they're after?
Charlotte you've got your legs in the air,
Don't you hear all their laughter?
CHORUS:
Charlotte the harlot
Show me your leg.
Charlotte the harlot
Take me to bed.
Charlotte the harlot
Let me see blood.
Charlotte the harlot
Let me see love.
Taking so many men to you room,
Don't you feel no remorse.
You charge them a fiver only for starters,
And ten the main course.
You've got no feelings,
They died long ago.
Don't you care who you let in,
Don't you know you're breaking the law,
With the service you're giving.
CHORUS:
There was a time when you left me standing there,
Picking up pieces of love from the floor,
Well Charlotte you left me alone in there,
To make your ends as a bloody whore.
Well Charlotte you told me you loved me true.
Picking up pieces of love yesterday.
Well Charlotte your drawers are off off colour too,
'Cause you're making love all day.
Verse 1
Verse 2
CHORUS
08 Iron Maiden (03:34)
Won't you come into my room,
I wanna show you all my wares.
Want to see your blood,
Want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to flow
as it pours upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can't be fought,
Iron Maiden can't be sought.
Chorus:
Oh Well, wherever,
Wherever you are,
Iron Maiden's gonna get you,
No matter how far.
See the blood flow watching it shed
Up above my head.
Iron Maiden wants you for dead.
Won't you come into my room,
I wanna show you all my wares.
Want to see your blood,
Want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to flow
As it pours upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can't be fought,
Iron Maiden can't be sought.
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Other reviews
By jigoro
The Irons ARE the NWOBHM.
I even consider it superior to the much-touted ‘The Number Of The Beast’ two years later.
By carlito12
The initial guitar break, sharp yet at the same time overwhelming, transports you to a different dimension.
'Running Free' is one of the masterpieces: the rhythm is wonderful, making some of today’s groups envious.
By sexyajax
Their unmistakable formula, made of sudden tempo changes, epic melodies, and twin guitar solos based on thirds intervals, finds its first and best composition in this 1980 debut.
Honestly, the only metal I can listen to is by Pantera, Metallica, and Iron Maiden; the rest, in my opinion, is all c...p.
By carloirons
"If a 20th-century rock band decided to call themselves Iron Maiden, they decided not to go unnoticed."
"The album is undoubtedly a masterpiece, one that can change your life. In my case, it fully succeeded. Long live the masters. UP THE IRONS!!!"
By thetrooper
It begins with "Prowler"... where Maiden flex their muscles and show that they are inventing something new.
Iron Maiden, never missing from any Maiden concert, is speed metal at its peak with Burr and an unbeatable Di'Anno.
