The Iron Maiden album Bruce Dickinson called a “sack of shit”
Although Bruce Dickinson didn’t help found Iron Maiden, he played a pivotal part in their legacy, and without him, the band would have never conquered everything they set out to achieve. During his two stints with the group, Iron Maiden produced their best work, and Dickinson felt the group floundered at the beginning of their career before his arrival.
Iron Maiden was formed in 1975, but it wasn’t until the arrival of vocalist Paul Di’Anno in 1978 that things finally started to get off the ground for the hard rock outfit. After creating an underground buzz and successfully releasing music independently, they finally penned a recording deal with EMI, who released their first album in 1980.
The eponymous debut charted at four in the United Kingdom, establishing Iron Maiden in the process. Furthermore, the record was critically lauded and sold well across the continent. However, at the time, the band didn’t put too much consideration into the final product, and the recording process only took 13 days.
At the time, the punk movement was still going strong, and despite having no connection to the scene, many in the press classified Iron Maiden as punk. This reaction was never their intention when they set out to make the record, and they were horrified that so many people could believe they were a punk band.
Although Dickinson was yet to join Iron Maiden at this stage, he holds strong opinions about the record, which he believes is the weakest chapter of their career. With that, he also points out that bassist Steve Harris shares his perspective and holds resentment towards the self-titled effort.
Dickinson told Spin: “If you look at all the old Steve Harris interviews — he hates punk rock. The first Maiden album sounded punky because it sounded like a sack of shit. He hates that record. The first singer [Paul Di’Anno] gave it a little bit of that kind of vibe, but the punk thing was nailed to the band by the press.”
“The band absolutely hated it, because there was no way on God’s green earth Maiden were ever, even remotely, a punk band,” he continued.
While Di’Anno was also the vocalist on Iron Maiden’s second album, Killers, rather than Dickinson, the latter believes that was the turning point for the band and put them on the correct trajectory. He remarked: “As soon as Killers came out, which was a proper sounding record, it was obvious — where’s the punk thing on Killers?”
Dickinson concluded: “You’ve got ‘Murders in the Rue Mourge’ which basically could have been off of Deep Purple’s In Rock, you’ve got ‘Prodigal Son,’ a proggy, sweet little ballad, you’ve got ‘Twilight Zone,’ all this kind of stuff — where’s the punk thing? Don’t get it.”
While few Iron Maiden fans revere their debut album as their best work, it played a crucial role in their journey and was a learning curve that helped them arrive at their destination. Every band makes mistakes during its career; fortunately for Maiden, it happened at the start of its story.
