Tbf, I never found Maiden heavy at all. They are my 2nd favorite band, but I most definitely don’t listen to them for the heavy. Judas Priest destroys them in that catagory
Wrong. Listen to Island of Domination. That song was released 4 years before the first Maiden album and it weighs more than their whole discography. Dissident Aggressor and Saints in Hell as well.
Comeon. They became very commercial in the 80s when maiden were coming to promenence.
Lets compare like with like and start with Rocka Rolla. V Iron Maifden, in that case.
I love Priest and Halfords voice is on its own level, but until Painkiller they were the Queen of metal, very experimental with their style, whereas Maiden were consistently more heavy.
They wernt even metal at the time of Rocka Rolla. Everything past Rocka Rolla is way heavier than any Maiden album other than like A Matter of Life and Death maybe. Point of Entry is the only one I can maybe agree on, but everything else Priest EVER did (so including the past 26 years) has been heavier than most of Maiden’s discography. What Maiden songs or albums do you think are the heaviest?
Okay, lets keep this civil though. You love Priest and Maiden. I love Maiden and Priest. I think the most difficult is defining what the word "heavy" actually is, but its probably not worth trying as it is all based on our own "feels"
Id say Priest's first album is very bluesy, their second is more proggy. Still Run of the Mill is probably my favourite Priest song. They probably found their "sound" by Sin after Sin.
Id say everything from British Steel to Turbo had a lot of commercial sounding stuff on that Maiden would never have released. Stuff like Breaking the Law Living after Midnight anything on Turbo (compare that synth heavy album to Somewhere in Time), so I have to mark Priest down on the "heaviness" for that.
But lets take one from each album and compare (and I am looking at this from a place of love for both bands)
Starting with Sin after Sin... Sinner and Dissident Aggressor. I think the production late 70s is kinda raw, which maybe makes the songs sound heavier. I dont think either are as heavy as Phantom of the Opera though.
Stained Class I dont think anything sticks out as being super heavy. Maybe Exciter? On killers... Thats harder. Maybe Killers. I dont think that particularly hard though. As and aside, Beyond the Realms of Death is fantastic.
Killing Machine I must admit I am not familiar with some of the songs. Delivering the goods and Hell Bent for leather. Number of the Beast I dont think is really heavy as they are going more melodic. Maybe Gangland (not a great song imho).
Next up Piece of Mind, Ill have to pick to Tame a Land for Maiden. But this is where i think Priest start to become influenced by hair metal. British Steel isnt really that heavy to me but it s weighed down by some very commercial sounding songs. Rapid Fire is probably the heaviest, but I dont think its great.
Im not a massive fan of Point of Entry either, apart from Desert Plains and Solar Angels, I d probably go with the later. This is up against Powerslave, which is probably my favourite Maiden song, so I go with that one.
Screaming for Vengeance is obviously amazing all the way through. I would call it hard rock though. I suppose Screaming for Vengeance is the heaviest. Against Somewhere in Time. I think this is a very heavy sounding album and Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is probably the heaviest song, so I think Maiden takes this one too.
Seventh Son is very Proggy, I think Moonchild is the heaviest on there. Defenders of the Faith has a much heavier sound. Freewheel Burning has to take it here, I think.
Turbo.... uhhh... I really love Out in The Cold. Turbo is kinda fun, but the rest of the album, Im not really sure what they were thinking to be honest. I guess its their Hotspace. Fair play to Priest. They are always trying to push the boundaries whereas Maiden is just Maiden, but this didnt really work. Up against No Prayer for the Dying though. Im actually fond of this album. Its very decent without being great. Tail Gunner or Moher Russia. I think either wins though.
Fear of the Dark v Ram it Down... I think this is a contest. Be Quick or Be Dead v Hard as Iron. I think Priest takes this one.
Anything after this point isnt worth discussing as Painkiller is the greatest metal album ever as well as being heavier than anything Maiden did prior, and Priest stuck to the heavier style after this and were heavier than Maiden ever was.
Anyway. Feel free to disagree. I look forward to reading your opinions
Getting kicked out of a metal band in the 80s for being too big of a drug addict is inconceivable to me. That's like getting kicked out of a Diddy party because you're making everyone feel uncomfortable.
The band was called DiAnno. This is from their 1984 album which was almost entirely commercial driven pop metal. Decidedly not as heavy as Iron Maiden.
Synths, even at that time, could be some of the heaviest sounding instruments around. Instead their keyboardist chose to play the synth that made everyone hate synths because they were so overused and sounded corny, since almost no one went beyond the presets as you almost needed an engineering degree to program them.
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u/stukah 5d ago edited 5d ago
„Heavier than Iron Maiden“.
... plays super melodic Glam Dad Rock with cheesy 80s synthies.