Pylon Grazen

Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10

Yeesh, my relationship with heavy metal is pretty embarrassing. I own a fair number of metal CDs, and I appreciate them, but I very seldom ever listen to them. Yeah. It's pretty sad. I should listen to heavy metal more, especially Iron Maiden. Their music is not ugly, it's kinda intelligent and it can really cook when it wants to. Heck, I'll just go out and say it. I like Iron Maiden! I wrote an earlier draft of this review two years prior to posting it on donignacio.com and I'm pretty sure my only previous knowledge of this group came from the movie Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure when the metalhead heroes were excited to be sentenced to the Medieval iron maiden. Today, I know their material a bit better, and I have to say that I really enjoy their albums!

Iron Maiden was released in the golden year of 1980, which was absolutely the first year of '80s heavy metal. Despite the frightening album cover, this stuff is shockingly tame especially considering I grew up with peers addicted to '90s metal who I thought were stupid. This is just guitar-oriented rock music in the spirit of heavy metal of the '70s. They're metal, but they're also accessible.

"The Phantom of the Opera" rules. I've now demoted Andrew Lloyd Webber's song as my favorite song called "The Phantom of the Opera." It's a multi-part, whopping 7-minute metal suite that's actually quite interesting. Furthermore, this band can accomplish this feat while still sounding 100 percent awesome and never, for a moment, getting cheesy or insincere.

Not quite the awesome of songs, but two very noteworthy achievements for this band is the songs "Remember Tomorrow" and "Charlotte the Harlot." Both of those songs metamorphose from heavy metal into (not quite generic) ballads. Even then this band doesn't sound cheesy. And the metamorphosis between the two starkly different styles is flawless. Now, that's worth taking with you! Two other points of interest are "Sanctuary" and "Running Free." "Sanctuary" is a certifiable PUNK song, and "Running Free" can be classified as new wave (though also with strong metal leanings). Very interesting debut, and I must say with much happiness that right away Iron Maiden doesn't fit with the stereotypical view of a heavy metal group.

Overall Score: 8.5 out of 10 (This isn't the perfect heavy metal album, but I think the whole world agrees with that. I will say that it's a load of fun if you're willing to give it the shot! Yeah, I'm even talking to non-metalheads.)

Average Song Score: 8.4 (These are generally well written songs that are fun to hear! Some of them, such as "The Phantom of the Opera" qualify as impressive.)

Album Tilt: 8.5 (There are dull moments, but the better moments tend to make up for that.)

Artist Rating: 8.5 (For the genre they're pretty good at this.)

Track Reviews

Prowler 9/10

This is simply an entertaining heavy metal song. It has very fast paced riffage (though it's not thrash-metal) which gives the song its spunk. The electric guitars are very good here, though I think they shine better on other parts of this album. (Although, the electric guitar solo is brilliant in the middle of this.) The melody is good for heavy metal (that's a compliment because heavy metal doesn't always need a good melody). This is marks a solid album opener and quite an excellent intro for Iron Maiden altogether. It's heavy metal but it's not pretentious or cocky, and it's enjoyable, accessible, and spirited. What else do you want?

Santuary 9/10

Er... is a punk song! Not heavy metal! Hah! (Early punk is a genre that I really like, much more than heavy metal in general, so maybe that's why I secretly hold this heavy metal band's debut in such high regard.) I like the punk riff a lot, and the beat. The electric guitar stuff in here rules!!!! Electric guitar doesn't always turn me on considering that I'm an egghead, but this does. Again, though, this is punk. These guys certainly are professionals. This punk is in pristine condition!

Remember Tomorrow 9/10

This totally rules, and I don't care what anyone else has to say about it! That's surprising because this is a ballad! It starts out relatively quietly with some very light acoustic guitar strumming. The melody is quite appropriate though not remarkably hooky (it excels at what it tries to accomplish, which is much more than I can say for a lot of bands). The song metamorphoses several times into louder bits and then back to the quieter stuff again. The end of it is a louder jam-type section. I must say that they prove that they are talented even when they do that. When I hear a lot of bands trying to constantly switch between quiet and loud, it's danged awkward. This, however, was done with tact. Hey, this isn't actually a stupid band!

Running Free 8/10

Er ... a new wave song? Does this sound new wave to anyone else? The drum beat resembles those Adam Ant songs. But, the guitar crunches and the singing style (the typical heavy metal scream-sings) and the electric guitar solos are undoubtedly heavy metal, though. Wow! What a unique song! That said, I don't really think it's a great song, because I don't really find it that aesthetically pleasing or so incredibly spirited, but this is verrrrrrrry interesting.

Phantom of the Opera 10/10

This is more of that heavy metal that we thought we were buying when we bought this album! (And, no, this isn't the song that starts out with those organs! That's Andrew Floyd Hamster.) It's amazing that despite that this is a 7-minute song, it manages to totally rule all throughout. This kinda proves that Iron Maiden were a great band not just because they could shred guitar. This song actually has interesting development with several distinct sections. The first is a quickly paced heavy metal song with some really impressive guitar work and heavy metal singing (with somewhat of an awkward vocal line, I think) but it doesn't suck. The second part is my favorite that's based on a nice, jumpy loop! The third part features a rather inspired electric guitar solo (that leaves bands like Kiss in the dust with dirt caked on their face paint). The fourth is an interesting electrical guitar loop that sounds like classical music! These are all instrumentals and they all manage to keep my interest. And the guitar playing is really nice! Again, this sort of stuff doesn't always turn me on, but heck, if all heavy metal was like this, then I'd definitely be a metal-head. Well, maybe not, but ... hey, I thought about it.

Transylvania 8/10

This is a largely instrumental song (that's decidedly heavy metal) with some pretty impressive instrumentals on it! But, I don't know, maybe because it is the song after "Phantom of the Opera," that I just don't think it's as good. It just doesn't sound as inspired! It has adrenaline pumping through its veins, though. That's all their is to like about *some* heavy metal, anyway.

Strange World 7.5/10

This has kind of a creepy atmosphere, but what makes this song notable is (and I'm sure that I'm not the only person with this opinion) the flaming electric guitar solo near the beginning of it. Other than that, I kind of find this song boring. There are other electric guitar solos in the song, but they're not nearly as engaging as that intro solo. So, the song gets duller as it crawls to its conclusion. That's never a good look.

Charlotte the Harlot 7/10

Here is another heavy metal song that's almost thrashy (I don't know if I totally like that part, because it's not, well, great or particularly spirited or moving). It slows down, though, and turns into another ballad! This is the second time they did that without sounding totally awkward or stupid! (Styx can't do anything as graceful like that to save their lives, even though that's what that band exists for.) Anyway, I actually like this song more for what it tries to accomplish than how much I genuinely enjoy it, which is kind of weird for a heavy metal band. The problem is that the melody isn't interesting whatsoever.

Iron Maiden 8/10

I guess in keeping spirit with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden decided to have a song called "Iron Maiden" in their eponymous debut album. Nevertheless, this really isn't the best song in here. It's very spirited, though, which is something that I can definitely appreciate again without being stupid, cheesy, or cocky. It just doesn't capture me like some of these other songs did! Oh well, not every song by Iron Maiden can be great, can it!

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