IRON MAIDEN AT 50 by Daniel Bukszpan (Motorbooks/The Quarto Group)

With its striking cover art ‘IRON MAIDEN AT 50’ joins the legion of Maiden books that adorn many collections. Taking its cue from their 50th anniversary, Daniel Bukszpan weaves his narrative around 50 highlights in the band’s career, starting with ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Harris’ (unfortunately dwelling on the myth that the band was created – rather than named – on Christmas day in 1975) and ending with a eulogy for Paul Di’Anno and a nod towards Blaze Bayley’s health issues. (Chuck in Bruce Dickinson’s throat cancer, highlighted in chapter 45, and you realise just how unhealthy life can be for an Iron Maiden vocalist...)

It’s obviously not easy to come up with anything new to say about one of the most famous metal acts on the planet, but Bukszpan’s format allows him plenty of scope to intermingle the Maiden story around his 50 highlights. For better or worse the author can be quite opinionated, although it’s hard to disagree with his observations, for example, that the 72 minute ‘A Matter Of Life And Death’ “gets a bit trying to sit through” or that ‘No Prayer For The Dying’ “is full to bursting with mediocrities.” But it’s an interesting story, well told, and the book is crammed full of awesome photos augmented by a fascinating collection of memorabilia and topped off by a very nifty illustrated album discography.

If there’s a downside to the book it’s that it pretty much jumps straight in with the early line-up of Di’Anno, Murray, Harris and Sampson, and you’ll scan the index in vain looking for any references to Terry Wapram, Tony Parsons or Paul Mario Day. There’s also an issue regarding the band’s rise to fame. Bukszpan cites sociologist Deena Weinstein when he suggests that “in addition to Maiden’s furious live sets, they were accepted partially because the public was now ready for them. [Weinstein] said the 1976 Judas Priest album ‘Sad Wings Of Destiny’ had created a heavy metal blueprint, and Iron Maiden benefitted from following it. ‘When Iron Maiden was starting off in ’78, ’79, there was already a genre with rules for them on what to play, what to say, how to look, et cetera,’ she said.” Really? As teenage metal fan in the UK fighting against a tide of punk at that time, I would suggest that at a lot of Maiden’s popularity was that they toured incessantly and that they were different – they were trend setters, not herd followers; seeing them live in December 1979 was a game changer for me, as I’m sure it was for many other young metal fans. And while ‘Sad Wings Of Destiny’ is a great album, it was one created with kaftans and fedoras. Priest’s ‘Killing Machine’ did set a template for many a NWOBHM band, but by the time that was released in October 1978 Harris was already assembling the material to record for that first oh-so-important demo.

But, minor gripes aside, it’s impossible not to get swept along by the author’s enthusiasm for Iron Maiden. “The music possesses you before you even know what hit you,” he observes, which is not a bad summary of their catalogue, and his passion for the band makes for a fascinating read.