The age-old cliché is that in a band, be they heavy metal or psych rock, the guitarist writes the songs. To extend that further, the singer never helps with load-in, and the drummer is always late to practice. Iron Maiden's ever-present riffer Dave Murray, however, believes the band's success has come from the fact that they break that mold.
Since forming in 1975, when they originally leaned into the punkier side of metal, bass player Steve Harris has been their most active songwriter. Their most definitive hits, from the war-mongering gallops of The Trooper to the proto-prog epic Hallowed Be Thy Name, have come from Harris' imagination and perpetually twitching fingers. Murray believes that has been to their benefit.
