The iron maiden is a made-up piece of torture equipment consisting of a human-shaped cabinet with sharp spikes lining the interior. When closed, the spikes would hypothetically press lightly against the prisoner, requiring them to stand perfectly straight and still to avoid piercing themselves with the spikes.

It appears that the iron maiden was first conceived of in 1793 by Johann Philipp Siebenkees, a German professor of (among other things) archeology. According to Siebenkees' pamphlet on the subject, it was first used on August 14, 1515, and was used as a particularly gruesome means of execution; he claimed it was used to fatally wound a coin forger, mauling him in such a way that it took him two days from him to die from the injuries.

It is unclear why he invented it. It may have been a misinterpretation of the Schandmantel, a medieval German shaming device akin to a heavy barrel (without the spikes) -- although his rather thorough, and gruesome, back-story indicates that it may have been an intentional hoax. In either case, it caught the public's imagination, and replicas of iron maidens were popular attractions in museums and travelling shows for centuries, and have made numerous appearances in fictional works.

Iron Maiden are an influential Heavy Metal band, formed in the late 1970s by bass guitarist and songwriter Steve Harris.

Although Iron Maiden have gone through a number of line-up changed over the years, Steve is still the driving force (and many consider genius) behind the band.

The band has been very successfull over the years, with many singles and albums doing well in the charts in both the US and UK. Iron Maiden were the first band to sell out top US venue Long Beach Arena 4 days running, and have played literally hundreds of other venues world-wide.

The recent return of singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith (and departure of former Wolfsbane frontman Blaze Bayley) has resulted in a Maiden which resembles that of the glory days, and fans worldwide hope that the upcoming album and tour will result in a resurgence of interest.

See http://www.ironmaiden.com/

An overview of all the Iron Maiden albums:

Iron Maiden

Killers
The Number Of The Beast
Piece Of Mind
Powerslave
Live After Death
Somewhere In Time
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
No Prayer For The Dying
Fear Of The Dark
A Real Live One
A Real Dead One
Live At Donnington
The X Factor
Best Of The Beast
Virtual XI
Ed Hunter
Brave New World

Added September 27, 2000

 
The song Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden was written by Steve Harris, and can be found on their debut album, also called Iron Maiden. It is considered to be the Iron Maiden Anthem.

Lyrics:

    Won't you come into my room
    I wanna show you all my wares
    I just want to see your blood
    I just want to stand and stare

    See the blood begin to flow
    As it falls upon the floor
    Iron Maiden can't be fought
    Iron Maiden can't be sought

    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

Since the day i heard the band until today, Iron Maiden has always been the most influential band for me. With their lyrics and feelings they give me, i easily and comfortly passed my angry teenage phase.

It was when i was 7 years old, i was so jealous of my brother's t-shirt and cried until my mom got me an Iron Maiden t-shirt too. Then after i grew up, i got into metal, i learned English and they had the best lyrics i've ever read. Like the songs, hallowed be thy name (it tells a story of a prisoner going to execution, best part is "as the guards march me out to the courtyard someone calls from a cell 'god be with you' if there's a god then why has he let me die?") or wasted years (it tells us to be proud and strong, which it is very important for a teenager].

Their first two albums can be described by new type of rock'n roll with non-sense lyrics, but with thrash metal and their political lyrics, Iron Maiden started to write some lyrics that make sense. For example, instead of writing "walking through the city looking oh so pretty i’ve just got to find my way,"(Prowler, album Iron Maiden) they started to write "white man came across the sea he brought us pain and misery killed our tribes killed our creed took our game for his own need" (Run to the Hills, album Number of the Beast.

The last but not least, they are not just rockstars, they are more human than anybody in the scene. Steve Harris is a West Ham United and football fan, Bruce Dickinson is an author and also a captain, he says "at the moment i'm flying planes full-time and it's now my proper day job until the maiden tour next year." He's also a fencer. You can see them in normal day life in the of Wasted Years

The other releases of Iron Maiden as follows:
Rock in Rio
Released in 2002, live album. It is the most crowded metal concert ever, there was 250.000 people watching this great show. I reckon that you also find a bootleg of this concert.
Edward The Great
Released in 2002, best of
Beast Over Hammersmith
Released in 2002, live album, part of the eddie's archive box
Best Of The B Sides
Released in 2002, best of, part of the eddie's archive box
The Bbc Archives
Released in 2002, live album, part of the eddie's archive box
Dance Of Death
Released in 2003
Line-up:
Bruce Dickinson: vocals
Dave Murray: guitars
Janick Gers: guitars
Adrian Smith: guitars
Steve Harris: bass guitar
Nicko McBrain: drums

The Iron Maiden Conspiracies

As we know, Iron Maiden is one of the most famous Heavy Metal bands out there today. With a huge base of fans across the world from many different walks of life, it seems only natural that there would be some conspiracy theories along the way. I write this node to inform you about the major conspiracies and rumours encircling Iron Maiden. Whether the rumours are true or false – you decide.

1. The Drumming on ‘Virtual XI. The drumming on Iron Maiden’s 11th album ‘Virtual XI’ was not done by the drummer Nicko McBrain but instead by the bassist (and founder) Steve Harris. This idea came about when a theory arose about the construction of the album. The theory goes that Steve writes the basic drumming track so Nicko has an idea about what to play. A lot of people began to comment about the finalised drumming tracks on the album not being up to Nicko’s usual standard and that Steve must have done the drumming for the album. The theorist said that there was no evidence that Nicko had done the drums, and he refused to believe he had.

The drummer Nicko McBrain reputedly said to a small group of fans attending a Drum Test before a gig that Steve did not do the drum tracks but he himself did. It was also pointed out to the theorist that even if Nicko had been sick or otherwise incapacitated and couldn't do it, they'd either have waited for him to get better, or got a studio drummer in.

2. Virtual XI Bass – Although the original post on the Iron Maiden Bulletin Boards have been lost through the sands of time. I have been able to piece together how the rumour started. Someone posted something along the lines of;

“This was from an interview in The Times today...

Jim: "Nicko, is it true you played the bass on the Virtual XI album?"

Nicko: "Yes it is, Jim.’

There, proof beyond all doubt that Nicko really played the bass on VXI! Spread the word!”
Obviously intended as a joke, this post was taken seriously by one or more of the forum members, giving birth to the rumour.

3. Fear Of The Dark Vocals. For this rumour I actually do have the post in question. Mostly because it’s the latest rumour to hit the BB

“Source: www.realrumoursthataretrue.com/blaze1104.html

In the light of getting a new band together, RRTAT had the rare opportunity to speak to Blaze Bayley, former Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden frontman. Some very shocking things were found out in the interview!

RRTAT: "Blaze, how do feel about the complete change in your band's line-up over the last year?

Blaze: "It's not easy to cope with, having people coming and going all the time. With John Slater and Steve Wray I thought we had a stable foundation within the band after Rob Naylor left, but it wasn't to be."

RRTAT: "Did it make you think about giving your musical career a rest?"

Blaze: "Of course not! Lots of bands go through changes and come out of it even stronger. When Paul Di'Anno left Maiden, they got Bruce to replace him, and look how much the band's success soared! I hope that with the brilliant new musicians BLAZE now have, we can get back out on the road in earnest to support the new album."

RRTAT: "Talking of Maiden, have you had the time to pick up their new DVD?"

Blaze: "Not yet, but I plan to very soon. To be honest there are lots of things that even I don't know about the early days of the band!"

RRTAT: "Are you excited about the possibility of being involved in the making of a subsequent DVD release, detailing your time in Maiden?"

Blaze: "Yeah, it'll be great to be able to tell my story as the singer of the greatest band in the world. I have some old footage of some of the performances we did on The X Factor and Virtual XI shows, and more than anything I'd love the fans to be able to see what the band were like at that time. Of course, there's also the little unknown stories about my involvement with Maiden, even before Bruce announced his departure."

RRTAT: "Really? Would you feel like telling us?"

Blaze: "I think that'll lie in rest for now."

RRTAT: "Oh you think so? Well I just happen to have a contract here for a certain record and management company who'll actually promote your albums properly and let you do decent-length world tours in lots of different countries and venues... but if you're not interested..."

Blaze: "Hey, every man has his price, I'm sold! Well, not many people know that Bruce didn't actually sing all of 'Fear of the Dark'. The start, the start, the start, the start, the start... it's me!"

RRTAT: "Are you mad?"

Blaze: "I'm tough as steel!"

RRTAT: "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. So Blaze, are you saying, under the oath of the sacred truth of all news and media, that you sang the quiet bit at the beginning of 'Fear of the Dark'?"

Blaze: "Yes. Yes I am."

RRTAT: "This interview's over!"

-----------------------------------

Not a lot of people know THAT!”

For those that can't be arsed to read it all: In summary it says that Blaze Bayley sung the intro to the famous Iron Maiden song 'Fear of The Dark'. Many people took this rumour seriously (including me).

4. ‘Sirensvoice’ - A person who claims to have done a lot for Iron Maiden. The most prolific claim he has made is that he wrote the lyrics to the Iron Maiden single "Wildest Dreams", he sent them to Bruce Dickinson, who claimed them as his own. He also claims to have told the band to release "Visions of the Beast" a compilation of videos - and he told Maiden to support its release with a tour. The most recent of his claims is that he told Iron Maiden to release a DVD chronicling the history of the bands early days, entitled "Early Days". I expect when they support the DVD with a tour, he will have said the tour was his idea. In light of the recent murder of 'Dimebag' Darell, I have deemed this to be a very dangerous and suspicious rumour.

5. Blaze is the Messiah. Another Rumour about vocalist Blaze Bayley. This one came about the release of his First album “Silicon Messiah”. The album featured pictures of Blaze looking a bit... well... messiahish.

6. Iron Maiden are Satanists - This rumour has been floating around ever since Iron Maiden's third album Circa 1982 'The Number Of The Beast'. They say the lyrics in the song praise Satan etc... Let me clear this one up for you - Iron Maiden are not Satanists. The song was based on a dream Steve Harris had. Thats all there is to it.

In conclusion, all of these rumours - unfounded as they may be - are all, without exception, true.

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