Always the most literate of the 1980s-era metal bands, British metal masters Iron Maiden often tapped historical events and the great works of literature for subject matter when writing songs. For their 1984 opus Powerslave, the band looked to 18th century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic work “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and penned a 14-minute song of the same name. The song condenses the tale down, but hits on most of the high points of the story. Singer Bruce Dickinson sums it up best in his usual intro to the song when they perform it live: “This is what NOT to do if a bird shits on you.”

Check out Iron Maiden performing “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” live in concert here below.

Clive Burr, who was the original drummer for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, has passed away at the age of 56 from complications from Multiple Sclerosis. His former band members report that the drummer died peacefully in his sleep at home on March 12, 2013.

Burr joined the legendary group in 1979. Iron Maiden was and remains to this day one of the more high profile bands of the New Wave of British Metal during the late 1970s. Burr had lent his drum talents to the first three Iron Maiden albums, which are still regarded by Maiden fans around the world as some of the band’s best musical achievements: the self-titled Iron Maiden debut album, Killers, and The Number of the Beast. Those first two albums also sported the original singer Paul Di’Anno, who was later replaced by the soaring high-pitched vocalist Bruce Dickinson. By the time of The Number of the Beast, the band was on the crest of achieving worldwide success and legendary status as a Heavy Metal unit.

Classic Albums – Iron Maiden: Number Of The Beast
Netflix Streaming
DVD
Directed by Tim Kirby
Starring EDDIE, Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Steve Harris, Clive Burr, Martin Birch, Rod Smallwood, Nicko McBrain, Ross Halfin
Isis Productions/Eagle Vision
Originally Released: December 4, 2001

When Netflix added nearly all of the Classic Albums series to their streaming collection last week, it was inevitable that I would draw attention to the series in this review. The big question for me was: which Classic Albums episode do I review? Being a music geek, and especially (first and foremost) a Metal Head, the choice was incredibly tough. With bands such as Metallica, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Rush, and many more among the features now online, it took me a while before I settled on a title.

Favorably rated as one of the most memorable and cornerstone albums in Metal history, Iron Maiden: The Number Of The Beast now seems, in retrospect, the appropriate selection for this review. The band is frequently cited as one of the fundamental acts that bolstered the genre of metal, having blasted onto the scene among the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal – and they continue onwards to this day, renewing their legacy with new releases that strengthen their music identity.

I’ve often said this to fellow metalheads, but it’s pretty much true: Bruce Dickinson can make anything interesting. Not only is he the air raid siren vocalist for Iron Maiden, but he is also an accomplished solo artist, professional fencer, author (he wrote a kids’ book!), and of course, a qualified pilot.

In fact, for those who haven’t seen the Iron Maiden: Flight 666 documentary, Dickinson actually pilots Ed Force One, a customized 757 that carries the personnel and crew and gear for Iron Maiden when on tour. It’s pretty mind-blowing seeing that stuff all set up in one single plane, watching Dickinson pilot it out into the skies, land it, and then change into his stage gear to scream it out loud on top of the very gear he just flew across the world. Seeing this in action in the Sam Dunn documentary is damn impressive.

Anyway, Dickinson recently recorded a training video called Safety in the Balance for the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The premise of the clip is to discuss the precise requirements in load and balance on aeroplanes, and emphasizes the importance of the mathematical precision to ensure that aircraft, ground staff, crew, and passengers are kept safe.

There’s a new compilation album coming out from Iron Maiden, and the awesome music and brutal album cover (click image for the full view of awesomeness) will be coming out on May 23, 2011. For those who are both curious and generous, that’s nearly a week after my birthday [hint-hint!]. Seriously though, this new 2-disc album looks like a ripper. It’s called From Fear to Eternity and focuses on the last 20 years of the band.

In 2009, the Irons released a compilation called Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980-1989, which focused on their first 10 years of reshaping, redefining, and dominating metal. This new album is being touted as the follow-up, and focuses on the releases Maiden has put out there from 1990 – 2010, and is a nice way to celebrate 30 years of the most influential bands in metal.