The low quality level of more or less popular metal music today

[JayKeeley]

crap haha

I well into 'heavy metal' years before that

oh fuck I'm old but metal was thriving as a genre after maiden released thier first album
and don't forget there was saxon, angelwitch, diamond head, judas priest etc sabbath were being very metal with dio, motorhead of course, but lemmy always said they weren't metal (rock n' roll)

maiden were very much the most popular metal band
but there were seas of denim and leather at gigs well before the number of the beast

Yeah of course I recognize all that!! BUT, what I'm saying is that the massive surge, the worldwide explosion, the movement from small gigs to arena-sized audiences all pretty much kicked off at Number of the Beast.

Think about it: "Number of the Beast" and "Run to the Hills" were top 10 hits on the pop charts!

I know that Maiden had previous singles released like "Women in Uniform" and "Running Free", but none of that was as 'electrifying' as the stuff from NotB.

Honestly, IMO, NotB was when 'heavy metal' became a household name. It was no longer stuck at the Ruskin Arms or whatever. I bet if you charted out the growth of metal popularity in the 80's, it grew exponentially around the globe right at NotB.

 

[unhinged]

Iron Butterfly & Led Zeppelin invented heavy metal, dammit!

led zeppelin were never a heavy metal band
iron butterfly weren't either
but I like them

it doesn't really matter anyway does it?

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

I agree with JayK, though Def Leppard & Judas Priest (and maybe even the Scorpions) had enjoyed some moderate mainstream success at that point as well.

 

[Erik]

the movement from small gigs to arena-sized audiences all pretty much kicked off at Number of the Beast.

eh, judas priest toured arenas all kinds of arenas in 1978 and probably earlier... black sabbath wasn't small either... i'm not buying this

 

[Erik]

I agree with JayK, though Def Leppard & Judas Priest (and maybe even the Scorpions) had enjoyed some moderate mainstream success at that point as well.

meh... "british steel" #4 in the album charts + total world tour followed... not so "moderate"

black sabbath had "paranoid" at #1... not so moderate either

 

[lizard]

yeah but the Scorpions never really broke (at least in America) until Uli Roth left and took his Hendrixian fixation with him, so...early eighties?

 

[NAD]

Robert Johnson invented heavy metal in the 1920's you chodes.

 

[Erik]

imo metal mainstream popularity 1970-1985:

..../
.../.
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not:
....__
....|..
....|..
....|..
__ |.

 

[unhinged]

Yeah of course I recognize all that!! BUT, what I'm saying is that the massive surge, the worldwide explosion, the movement from small gigs to arena-sized audiences all pretty much kicked off at Number of the Beast.

Think about it: "Number of the Beast" and "Run to the Hills" were top 10 hits on the pop charts!

I know that Maiden had previous singles released like "Women in Uniform" and "Running Free", but none of that was as 'electrifying' as the stuff from NotB.

Honestly, IMO, NotB was when 'heavy metal' became a household name. It was no longer stuck at the Ruskin Arms or whatever. I bet if you charted out the growth of metal popularity in the 80's, it grew exponentially around the globe right at NotB.

ok as a catylist I can see your point
from what I remember the album entered the charts at #1
(no sleep till hammersmith did the same)
but that would not have happened if the metal scene wasn't already pretty huge
but it was underground in the sense that there was zero media coverage apart from the friday rock show (r.i.p. tommy) and skant to nil recognition by the music press
I remember the first time I saw maiden on the cover of sounds...I nearly shat
but diano was still in the band then, it really wasn't fashionable haha

 

[lizard]

Robert Johnson sold his soul to Satan so he could bend dem strings.

If that ain't metal, I don't know what is.

and he was poisoned cause he was chasing 'tang.

METAL

 

[unhinged]

this of course is the new wave of british heavy metal...

 

[NAD]

Robert Johnson sold his soul to Satan so he could bend dem strings.

If that ain't metal, I don't know what is.

and he was poisoned cause he was chasing 'tang.

METAL

See? lizard knows what's going on.

 

[Erik]

maiden already did a headlining world tour with killers in '81

 

[NAD]

I remember the Bang Yer Head video from the early 80's, my cousins loved that shit. They wore funny hats that had like flaps on the back to make it look like you had long canvas hathair. They were pretty metal.

I was listening to Suicidal Tendencies, Duran Duran, and The Police instead.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

maiden already did a headlining world tour with killers in '81

not in arenas, at least not outside of Europe/UK

Maiden opened for Priest in 1982 in the U.S., btw

 

[Erik]

Maiden opened for Priest in 1982 in the U.S., btw

they also did a few headlining dates

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

they also did a few headlining dates

http://www.maidenfans.com/index.php?ACT=module&name=rwtourdates

That's a good site for the history of Maiden's tours. On the Killers tour, I don't know the Euro/world venues, but the U.S. venues held ballpark 3-6,000 apiece.

On the Numbers... tour, the dates w/ Priest were major arenas (13-20,000), but I'm not sure which dates were headlining as you say, or which were with Priest. I know the bulk of the U.S. dates were opening for Priest.

Their first proper U.S. headline tour was for Piece of Mind.

 

[Erik]

check here instead, it is better

http://www.maidenfans.com/imc/?url=tour02_killers/dates02_killers&lang=eng&link=tours

i haven't said anything about arenas, i just said they did a headlining world tour which is true (although yes the overwhelming majority of us dates were in support of priest)

anyhoo a band that isn't already VERY POPULAR doesn't get to do world tours, was my point

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Nice, that was the link I was really looking for, ha ha.