1980 saw the release of more classic metal albums than perhaps any other year in music. From AC/DC’s Back in Black to Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard of Ozz, Judas Priest’s British Steel to Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell, the new decade was ushered in with landmark albums from some of the genre’s biggest names. Add to this list the self-titled debut from five lads from East London who called themselves Iron Maiden.
Though initially lumped in with the then-burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement (which included bands like Motörhead, Def Leppard, Saxon and Angel Witch, all of whom also released albums that year), Maiden over the course of the decade rose to become one of the biggest and most successful acts in heavy metal, a position they still hold today, 30 years later. Along the way, the band’s sound influenced generations of newer metal acts, from legends like Metallica to contemporary headliners like Avenged Sevenfold.
