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Iron Maiden: Fifty Years of the Beast
Beware the hard rock pioneers Iron Maiden boast numerous awards, countless No.1 albums and singles worldwide and over 130 million sales. And with 2025 marking fifty years since their founding – on Christmas day, no less – there is simply nobody like them.
With three generations of fans oiling the jaws of the war machine, Maiden have roved across continents for fifty years, uniting fans worldwide under the twin banners of great music and unforgettable visuals. Between the talismanic talent of Bruce Dickinson, the genius songwriting of Steve Harris and the demonic undead gaze of Eddie, there is nowhere to hide from one of heavy metal’s last true behemoths.
This book celebrates the epic, all-conquering albums and gets under the skin of a group of characters unlike any other. Using new stories from over 80 original interviews, renowned music writer Joe Shooman has painted a truly kaleidoscopic, 360-degree portrait of Iron Maiden and their immortal music. Own it, listen to it and get ready to run for your lives.
With three generations of fans oiling the jaws of the war machine, Maiden have roved across continents for fifty years, uniting fans worldwide under the twin banners of great music and unforgettable visuals. Between the talismanic talent of Bruce Dickinson, the genius songwriting of Steve Harris and the demonic undead gaze of Eddie, there is nowhere to hide from one of heavy metal’s last true behemoths.
This book celebrates the epic, all-conquering albums and gets under the skin of a group of characters unlike any other. Using new stories from over 80 original interviews, renowned music writer Joe Shooman has painted a truly kaleidoscopic, 360-degree portrait of Iron Maiden and their immortal music. Own it, listen to it and get ready to run for your lives.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 14, 2025
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4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 20, 2025
Thank you to Michael O'Mara Limited for this ARC!
As a younger Iron Maiden fan, I appreciate their music but knew little about their history. I went to see them in June on their Run For Your Lives tour and their performances were phenomenal! I requested this arc because I wanted to learn more about their history and given their age, I knew there was a lot I didn't know.
Joe Shooman has put together a very thorough account of Iron Maiden's history. It covers their early days, all the band member changes, the band members themselves, rumours, progress through the years, album history and to my absolute delight, Eddie's history! I always just accepted that Eddie was like Iron Maiden's mascot but didn't think much more on it. It was great to read how he came to fruition and ended up a permanent fixture.
There are a lot of anecdotes included in the history and a few that stood out for me were the ones involving AC/DC (at the time of writing this review, I am soon to see them on their tour too) and Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne (with Ozzy's recent passing, there are a few mentions that I haven't read anywhere else in all the media coverage).
While reading this historical account, there are only a few things that I noted that makes this into a 4⭐️ read instead of a 5⭐️ read. Joe seems to enjoy shortening bands names throughout the book, including Iron Maiden but he is inconsistent with it, either using Iron or Maiden. I just feel like he should stick to one or the other as it feels like I'm reading a book by two different authors in places. The section 'The Story' at the beginning is a little hard to follow. It's as if Joe is trying to follow a chronological history but gets over excited and mentions things that happen in later years then jumps back, making it a little hard to follow what years we're actually reading about. In this section, a bunch of names that I am not familiar with are mentioned, some only in passing, which also makes it hard to remember who I'm reading about.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this and plan on getting the book as a gift for the person I went to see them with.
As a younger Iron Maiden fan, I appreciate their music but knew little about their history. I went to see them in June on their Run For Your Lives tour and their performances were phenomenal! I requested this arc because I wanted to learn more about their history and given their age, I knew there was a lot I didn't know.
Joe Shooman has put together a very thorough account of Iron Maiden's history. It covers their early days, all the band member changes, the band members themselves, rumours, progress through the years, album history and to my absolute delight, Eddie's history! I always just accepted that Eddie was like Iron Maiden's mascot but didn't think much more on it. It was great to read how he came to fruition and ended up a permanent fixture.
There are a lot of anecdotes included in the history and a few that stood out for me were the ones involving AC/DC (at the time of writing this review, I am soon to see them on their tour too) and Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne (with Ozzy's recent passing, there are a few mentions that I haven't read anywhere else in all the media coverage).
While reading this historical account, there are only a few things that I noted that makes this into a 4⭐️ read instead of a 5⭐️ read. Joe seems to enjoy shortening bands names throughout the book, including Iron Maiden but he is inconsistent with it, either using Iron or Maiden. I just feel like he should stick to one or the other as it feels like I'm reading a book by two different authors in places. The section 'The Story' at the beginning is a little hard to follow. It's as if Joe is trying to follow a chronological history but gets over excited and mentions things that happen in later years then jumps back, making it a little hard to follow what years we're actually reading about. In this section, a bunch of names that I am not familiar with are mentioned, some only in passing, which also makes it hard to remember who I'm reading about.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this and plan on getting the book as a gift for the person I went to see them with.
November 23, 2025
Dispensable if occasionally delicious potted history of the Beast. The conversational tone is a bit odd, but charming in small doses. Some interesting if unexpected interviewees (the PR guy?), which is emblematic of the unofficial status, I guess. 3.5⭐️
July 4, 2025
An interesting and informative history of this legendary and iconic band. Three cheers for Edward!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews