Since their debut album in 1980, British heavy metal rockers Iron Maiden have dazzled audiences throughout the globe with their signature sound and epic stage performances. The band has sold over 130 million albums worldwide.
But the casual observer might not recognize that the source material for many of Iron Maiden’s songs can be traced to varied topics, including history, mythology, and films.
Join us now as we take a trip through the Iron Maiden archives to root out the story behind the song in the Los Angeles Public Library Catalog.
Iron Maiden produced an epic, 8-minute song about the Macedonian Conqueror who brought Greek culture to the east on their 1986 album Somewhere in Time. This definitive biography of the military genius details the man behind the myth with breakdowns of epic battles and key events in Alexander's lifetime. Iron Maiden will be performing their "Alexander the Great" song for the first time for American audiences on this tour.
In 1983, Maiden broke barriers in the heavy metal genre with their song "Flight of Icarus," based on the ancient Greek myth of Icarus. While escaping from the island of Crete with waxen wings, Icarus flew too close to the sun and plummeted to earth. Read about Icarus and countless other gods and heroes in this easy to read volume by renowned scholar Edith Hamilton.
A longtime staple of the Iron Maiden set has been the rousing number "The Trooper," based on an infamous historical incident, the Charge of the Light Brigade, where a British Cavalry unit was destroyed by Russian artillery. In this comprehensive history of the Crimean War, author Figes lays out the infamous battle and other points in this three-way conflict between Britain, Russia, and the Turks.
No stranger to the classics, Iron Maiden recorded a 14-minute adaptation of the classic romantic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in 1984. Here, the reader can fully immerse themselves in the epic journey relayed by an aged sea voyager to a wedding guest in the Coleridge poem. With critical analysis by Harold Bloom.
In this action-packed World War II epic, Allied officers Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton lead a daring expedition behind enemy lines in the Bavarian Alps. This film inspired the rousing 1983 Maiden song of the same title.
Iron Maiden sampled a famous voiceover by actor Patrick McGoohan for their 1982 song, "The Prisoner," based on the famous and critically acclaimed British television series. Following the exploits of a former government intelligence agent exiled to a strange village inhabited by political prisoners, The Prisoner is regarded as one of the best television series ever. Featured in this volume are essays about the series and an interview with McGoohan.
Iron Maiden was inspired to release its song "The Duellists" in 1984 based on the Ridley Scott film chronicling a decades-long feud between two French officers in the Napoleonic Era. Based on a short story by Joseph Conrad, The Duellists features beautiful cinematography and memorable performances by Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel.
Uniting nomadic tribes and forging one of the largest empires in all history, Genghis Khan is a figure shrouded in controversy. Iron Maiden even wrote an instrumental ode to the Mongolian Warlord on their 1981 Album, Killers. Author Lange attempts to separate the myths from the man in this biography.
Iron Maiden, ahead of Hollywood, wrote their epic "To Tame A Land" based on the groundbreaking science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert. However, the band could not title the song "Dune" due to a dispute with Herbert. Despite the controversy between the late author and the band, the song remains a beloved deep cut in the Iron Maiden archives.
Iron Maiden will play the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Tuesday, October 8, with special guest The Hu.