Names and Ages...

Paul Bruce Dickinson - 7/8/1958, Worksop Notts, England.

Michael Henry (Nicko) McBrain - 5/6/1952, Edmunton, Londres, England.

Janick (Jan) Robert Gers - 27/1/1957, Hartlepool, Lancashire, England.

Adrian (H) Frederick Smith - 27/2/1957, Hackney, England.

David Michael (The Blonde Bomber) Murray - 23/12/1956, Edmunton, London, England.

Steve ('Arry) Harris - 12/3/1956, Leytonstone, England.

(Blaze) Bayley Cook - 29/5/1963, Birmingham, West Midlands, England.

Clive Burr - 8/3/1957, London, England.

Paul Di'Anno - 17/5/1959, Chingford, London, England.

Dennis Stratton - 9/11/1952, London, England.

The Name Iron Maiden...

Influencies of Iron Maiden...

Wishbone Ash, Montrose, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, UFO, Rainbow, T. Rex, Free, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Genesis.

EX MEMBERS

STAFF TECNIC

Dave 'Lights'     Vic Vella       Doug Hall        Wally Grove     Michael Kenney        Ross Halfin and George Chin       Jeff Daniels and Manu da Silva (Picture here)

Rod Smallwood     Andy Taylor     Merck Mercuriadis

ROODIES

'The Killer Crew': Ian Day, Robbie Price, Steve Gadd, Roger Middlecoat, Martin Brennan, Steve Smith, Peter Clark, Andy Corns, Sean Brady, Andy Ball, Lucy Crossman, Mark Barryman, Paul Stratford, Ashley Groom, Ian Walsh, Richard Bell, Steve Cox, Richard Wearing, Jesus Guerrero, Tony Wigens, Loopy, Alfredo.
'Web Team': Sarah Philps, Matt Brewer, Mark Bridgeman, Shrike, Sarah Polglase, Johnny Burke.

PRODUCERS

Will Malone, Martin Birch, Nigel Green, Kevin Shirley and Tony Wilson.
 

The History of Martin Birch...

In the Beast on The Road Tour, The producer Martin Birch was involved in a car accident with a group of church-goers. Ironically the bill for the repair came to £666, a figure which Birch refused to pay, instead opting for a higher amount £668.

On a more positive note, actor Patrick McGoohan was very accommodating when a request was made to allow the band to use a spoken intro from the cult TV series, The Prisoner, in which McGoohan was the lead actor. McGoohan was a big name in 1982, and Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood was nervous about making the request. The conversation between McGoohan and Smallwood allegedly went:

The origin of Osiris is obscure but by 2400 BC Osiris played a double role: He was both a god of fertility and the personification of the dead king. This dual role was in turn combined with the Egyptian dogma of divine kingship: The king at death became Osiris, god of the underworld; the dead king's son, the living king, was identified with Horus, god of the sky. Osiris and Horus, therefore, were father and son. The goddess Isis was the mother of the king and was thus the mother of Horus and wife of Osiris. The god Seth was considered the murderer of Osiris and the adversary of Horus.
According to the most traditional form of the myth, Osiris was slain or drowned by Seth, who tore the corpse into 14 pieces and flung them over the earth. Eventually Isis and her sister Nephthys found and buried all the pieces except the phallus, thereby giving new life to Osiris, who thenceforth remained in the underworld as ruler and judge. Horus then successfully fought against Seth and became the new king of Egypt.
Osiris was regarded as not only the ruler of the dead but also as the power that granted all life from the underworld, from sprouting vegetables to the annual flood of the Nile. From about 2000BC onward it was believed that every man, not just the deceased kings, became identified with Osiris at death. The process of becoming Osiris, however, did not imply resurrection, for even Osiris did not rise from the dead. Instead it was the assumption of immortality, both in the next world and through one's descendants on earth.

"Sanctuary" first appeared on the Metal For Muthas with "Wrathchild". This is why neither one made it on the first album. I guess by the time the single was issued Tony Parsons was no longer a member of the band so they redid it with Dennis. "Wrathchild" was Adrian Smith's audition piece, and I guess he must have done such a great job with it that they decided to stick that onto the next single.
Already "Running Free" was a single, but only in Europe and I think this single was performed by the quartet lineup Di'anno / Murray / Harris / Sampson, which would make sense that "Sanctuary" would be the first thing done by the lineup that would appear on the album, but since by now there were two versions of "Sanctuary floating about in UK but never heard in USA, they stick on the new version of "Sanctuary" which has the same lineup as the rest of the album.
"Twilight Zone" comes out as a single soon after Adrian joins, but again only in the UK but not in USA. This is why it appears on USA pressings of Killers but not in the UK and everywhere else. Again, it makes sense to stick it on this album because the lineup that did "Twilight Zone" is the same that did the second LP.

For the first time the band used keyboards on a recording (as opposed to guitar synths on the previous release). In the opinion of some critics, this produced a more accessible release. The band also headlined the annual Monsters of Rock festival for the first time this year. The 1990 edition of the Guinness Book of Records contains the following entry: "Largest PA system: On Aug 20th 1988 at the Castle Donington 'Monsters of Rock' Festival a total of 360 Turbosound cabinets offering a potential 523kW of programme power, formed the largest front-of-house PA. The average Sound Pressure Level at the mixing tower was 118dB, peaking at a maximum of 124dB during Iron Maiden's set. It took five days to set up the system."

Frank Herbert...

In the Piece of Mind album, renowned author Frank Herbert came into conflict with the band when they wanted to record a song named after the book Dune. Not only did Herbert refuse to allow the song to be called "Dune", he also refused to allow a spoken quotation from the book to appear as the track's intro. Bass player Steve Harris' polite request was met with a stern reply from the agent: "No. Because Frank Herbert doesn't like rock bands, particularly heavy rock bands, and especially rock bands like Iron Maiden". This statement was backed up with a legal threat, and eventually the song was renamed To Tame A Land and released in 1983.

Why does the vinyl version of " Live After Death" have more tracks than the CD version?

The CD version of LIVE AFTER DEATH includes everything that the first three sides of the LP version contain. The fourth side is not included.
Also, "Running Free" is shortened from about 8:16 on vinyl to about 3:16 on the CD by eliminating the crowd interaction. An experienced listener can even tell where the track has been cut.
The common factor between the first three sides of the LP is that they are recorded at the Long Beach Arena in California, whereas the fourth side is recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon (now known as the Hammersmith Apollo) in London.
The vinyl version of "Live After Death" is around 100 minutes and there's no way these could fit on a single CD. Granted, they could have released a double CD but there might have been price considerations.
The songs extra on the LP version are: "Wrathchild", "Children Of The Damned", "22 Acacia Avenue", "Die With Your Boots On" and "Phantom of the Opera".
The "Live After Death" video is also recorded at the Long Beach Arena but on a different night and contains a full gig, complete with intro and encore. It closes with "Sanctuary" which is neither on the CD nor the LP but on "Running Free Live" single.

Who is Vic Vella?

Vic Vella is an old Maiden roadie whao was with them since late 70's. He became a real friend of the band and often helped them in troubles. Maiden decided to record a song devoted to him. They took Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven", rewrote lyrics, entitled it "Roll Over Vic Vella" and put on "From Here To Eternity" single.

 

One curiosity about Dave Murray...

On 13 October 1979, guitarist Dave Murray hit upon so many girls after a gig at Manchester's UMIST that he created a storm of protests from disgruntled males. The next week, Sounds magazine printed a notice :

"I would just like to warn Dave Murray the lead guitarist of Iron Maiden that if he steps foot inside Manchester again I will personally pummel his brains in, cos he's ruined what I thought was an ace relationship with my girlfriend. And may I point out that no matter how much she rubs his name in my face I still think Deb Brown of Wythenshawe is the best yet.
JealousDave.

What interesting may be found on "Somewhere In Time" cover?

          "Somewhere In Time" cover references/neato things...

"This is a very boring painting" - backwards message just behind Eddie's right leg

Ruskin Arms reference (old pub they started playing at)

Clock says 23:58 (2 Minutes To Midnight)

West Ham 7 Arsenal 3 - soccer score, showing their favorite team West Ham well in the lead. Incidentally, West Ham are THE IRONS - see section 24

Aces High bar, complete with a spitfire flying above.

The Rainbow bar (another old club they frequented in the early days)

Live After Death, Blade Runner on the movie theater

The movie theater is the Philip K. Dick cinema, who is the author of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", on which the movie Blade Runner is based.

Marquee Club (another old club they frequented in the old days)

Phantom Opera House

"Bollocks again and again" under "Phantom Opera House". This might be a reference to the hidden "Bollocks" message on the Powerslave cover.

Ancient Mariner Seafood Restaurant

Herbert Ails on the overpass (probably a reference to Frank Herbert, author of DUNE, who wouldn't allow Maiden to use it as a song title).

"Tonight GYPSY'S KISS", under the 23:58 sign (hard to see) - reference to Steve Harris' very first band

Hammerjacks - a reference to one of the band's favorite bars in the US, Hammerjacks Night Club in Baltimore, MD. The Night Club closed on Jan 1 94. The concert hall is still open, however.

Long Beach Arena

Nicko is dressed in old-time flight goggles (reference to him being a pilot).

Nicko is also wearing a shirt saying: "Iron What?"

On the back cover there is Icarus falling from the Sun with burning wings in the top right corner, in front of the Bradbury Hotel. This of course refers to "The Flight Of Icarus."

The "Bradbury Hotels International" sign - is this possibly a reference to the popular futuristic author Ray Bradbury (author of such classics as "The Martian Chronicles", "Ice Nine", etc.)?

If you look closely, you can see the shadow of the reaper on the back cover in front of the pyramids.

The pyramids refer to the sleeve of "Powerslave".

All the Japanese around the covers could be connected to "Maiden Japan" and IRON MAIDEN's other performances there.

"Maggies revenge" on the back cover refers to Margaret Thatcher. She and the British government had a dispute with IRON MAIDEN back in 1980/1981 with the "Sanctuary" and "Women In Uniform" singles, depicting her as dead on the ground (killed by Eddie, of course) and hiding behind a wall observing Eddie picking up chicks, respectively.

The street Eddie is standing on is Acacia Avenue, a reference of course to "Charlotte the Harlot" and "22 Acacia Avenue", the Charlotte series. (You can see this above the IRON MAIDEN poster on the extreme right side).

In one of the windows on Acacia Avenue, you can see a girl (supposedly Charlotte the Harlot herself) sitting in a chair.

Bruce Dickinson is holding a brain, ala PIECE OF MIND.

Tehe's bar is where they got the guys to sing backup vocals in the singalong part in "Heaven Can Wait."

Batman standing under Tehe's bar sign

Tardis from Dr. Who is above the Rainbow Club sign

Asimov Foundation Building in background

Tyrell Corp. right above the causeway (replicant manufacturer in Blade Runner)

Cat with halo, which seems to pop up all over the place

Eye of Horus above Webster sign to left of Eddie's gun

One of Eddie's eyes is actually a 'laser'. This probably comes from the "2 Minutes To Midnight single"... Just remember the picture from this single: Eddie has a "pirate's eye", probably because of the nuclear holocaust (the nuclear mushroom-cloud in the background).

There is a litter box right under Eddie's left leg attached to the lamppost. This is exactly the same as the litter box attached to the light post on the IRON MAIDEN debut album, to the left of Eddie next to the wall. Pretty obscure! :)

Also, there is a metal plate that connects Eddie's nose to the top of his head. If you look at the wall to the right of sign that has the football (excuse me, 'soccer' for y'all in the US!) score on it, you will see that little metal plate with two screws that Eddie always has on his head (since the PIECE OF MIND era at least, when he was lobotimized. The screw is there now to keep his head all together in one piece!).

There are also these neon signs, one of which says something in Hebrew, the other one in Russian. The Hebrew bit probably means "God" (?), the Russian bit is pronounced KEPHIR and means "yoghurt". This is (or rather was) a rather common sign on the buildings indicating a milk-store in Russia.