IRON MAIDEN

From the get go, Iron Maiden's Self-Titled debut shows a band whose compositional skills were far superior than their contemporaries (Def Leppard, AC/DC etc.) and so presented a Heavy Metal music with abrupt tempo changes and distinctive sections within their songs with a degree of complexity. The mastermind behind this whole invention is Bassist Steve Harris, who possesses a unique, distinctive tone to his Bass Guitar (in the same league as Jack Casady from Jefferson Airplane) and plays a big role in the trademark sound Maiden have had throughout their career. Phase 1 of the band featured vocalist Paul D'anno, who has a harshish, punky attack to his singing, but can also sing softer passages tastefully. I don't want to review track by track as you've probably read many other reviews already which do so, but sure-fire classics would have to be opener 'Prowler', which is a melting pot of punk/prog and metal, the proggy 'Phantom of the Opera', the almost Floydian 'Strange World', and 'Remember Tomorrow' with it's soft/heavy contrasts. Great album 4/5