Rocking Tunes: Check
Kicking type treatment: Check
Iconic Characters: Check
Merchandise coming out of their asses: Check
Band members not dead: Check
Business Savvy: Check
No, it’s not KISS it’s Iron Maiden. Up the Irons!
You have to hand it to Iron Maiden and their dedication to their mascot Eddie. He’s gotta be second to McDonald’s Ronald McDonald in terms of mascot power and if they met in the Thunderdome you know the ginger clown wouldn’t be coming out.
With their 2008 tour coming to a close, a new DVD and best of album out there is no better time to do an Iron Maiden feature.
I want to preface this feature to say I’m not a major Iron Maiden fan. In fact, if a gang of fans surrounded me and told me to whistle a Maiden tune I’d be screwed. Chalk this up to my age and the fact I was a Sepultura fan during my metal days of the 90′s. I have however had this feature ordained by the two official metal fans in the office.
I was initially going to feature all the covers of Iron Maiden and showcase Eddie’s 27+ year career. Little did I know that there is almost a hundred covers and thousands of pieces of merchandise sporting his face. So I’ve taken the easy way out and just focused on the studio albums. Well I added the few extra ones the band features on their official website too.
The majority of Iron Maidens artwork from 1980 were created by Derek Riggs. He’s just released a book titled “Run for Cover the art of Derek Riggs” which not only has hundreds of full page illustrations but sketches and back story to each cover. Including info about deadlines, egos, falling out and other juicy bits. I’m still getting through it. So rather than rewrite all of this I encourage any fan to pick up a copy.
One interesting point Derek makes is that albums could have up to 15 different pieces of artwork covering posters, mag covers, tickets, singles and what not. It was this mass saturation he attributed to the success of the albums and pity’s those bands that tried to do the same with just one piece of art.
The album cover also becomes part of the stage show for the band. Whether it be props or costumes the members where. They really put their all into an albums concept. No live show would be complete without an entrance from Eddie.
Kicking type treatment: Check
Iconic Characters: Check
Merchandise coming out of their asses: Check
Band members not dead: Check
Business Savvy: Check
No, it’s not KISS it’s Iron Maiden. Up the Irons!
You have to hand it to Iron Maiden and their dedication to their mascot Eddie. He’s gotta be second to McDonald’s Ronald McDonald in terms of mascot power and if they met in the Thunderdome you know the ginger clown wouldn’t be coming out.
With their 2008 tour coming to a close, a new DVD and best of album out there is no better time to do an Iron Maiden feature.
I want to preface this feature to say I’m not a major Iron Maiden fan. In fact, if a gang of fans surrounded me and told me to whistle a Maiden tune I’d be screwed. Chalk this up to my age and the fact I was a Sepultura fan during my metal days of the 90′s. I have however had this feature ordained by the two official metal fans in the office.
I was initially going to feature all the covers of Iron Maiden and showcase Eddie’s 27+ year career. Little did I know that there is almost a hundred covers and thousands of pieces of merchandise sporting his face. So I’ve taken the easy way out and just focused on the studio albums. Well I added the few extra ones the band features on their official website too.
The majority of Iron Maidens artwork from 1980 were created by Derek Riggs. He’s just released a book titled “Run for Cover the art of Derek Riggs” which not only has hundreds of full page illustrations but sketches and back story to each cover. Including info about deadlines, egos, falling out and other juicy bits. I’m still getting through it. So rather than rewrite all of this I encourage any fan to pick up a copy.
One interesting point Derek makes is that albums could have up to 15 different pieces of artwork covering posters, mag covers, tickets, singles and what not. It was this mass saturation he attributed to the success of the albums and pity’s those bands that tried to do the same with just one piece of art.
The album cover also becomes part of the stage show for the band. Whether it be props or costumes the members where. They really put their all into an albums concept. No live show would be complete without an entrance from Eddie.