20 facts you may not know about Iron Maiden

For you Iron Maiden fans, here's 20 things you may or may not know about Bruce and Co.

20
-One of the co-authors of the 2008 film Chemical Wedding is none other than Bruce Dickinson. This movie shares the name with one of Bruce's 1990s solo albums
19
-The only song Iron Maiden ever recorded completely on acoustic guitars is "Journeyman", which closes out the band's 2003 album Dance of Death

18
-When Blaze Bayley was dismissed in 1999, bassist Steve Harris was, not surprisingly, hesitant to let Bruce Dickinson, better known to all as "The Air Raid Siren" back into the band
17
-Between 1994-1999, Blaze Bayley replaced singer Bruce Dickinson. Bayley had some success with his band Wolfsbane, who in 1989 was the first UK group on Rick Rubin's Def American label

16
-The band's ninth album, Fear of the Dark, was their first cover not designed by Derek Riggs, who usually designs the band's artwork. This album cover was designed by Melvin Grant

15
-Originally, "Bring Your Daughter...to the Slaughter" was written by Bruce Dickinson for his first solo album. But he was pestered by Steve Harris to use it on Maiden's 1990 album No Prayer for the Dying

14
-Prior to joining Maiden, guitarist Janick Gers was part of Maiden's competition. He was the main force behind New Wave of British Heavy Metal band White Sprit, who are best known for their almost identical Deep Purple-like sound

13
-The video for "Can I Play with Madness" marked the final appearance for Monty Python member Graham Chapman, who played the ornery professor. He died in 1989

12
-During the early part of their career, Maiden refused the use of synthesizers. But the band surprised fans when they utilized them on their Somewhere in Time LP, on almost every song except "Wasted Years"

11
-If you look VERY closely at the Powerslave album cover, you can see that some of the hieroglyphics are messages and doodles, such as "bollocks", "Indiana Jones was here" "Wot, no Guinness?"

10
-Depending on where you bought the album, the last track on Piece of Mind could be listed as "Dune" and/or "To Tame a Land". The reasoning is Frank Herbert, author of the highly popular sci-fi series, wasn't a heavy metal fan and didn't give his blessing on this

9
-Despite a lot of religious fervor over their track "The Number of the Beast", Maiden recorded a backwards message for the Piece of Mind track "Still Life". It was drummer Nicko McBrain doing a comedy accent, but nothing occult-related
8
-Bassist Steve Harris, to this day, regrets putting "Total Eclipse", which appears on The Number of the Beast, on the B-side of their 1982 Run to the Hills instead of the less popular "Gangland", which made it on to the album

7
-Martin Birch, who produced a lot of Maiden's albums, was involved in a car crash during the recording sessions for The Number of the Beast. When he received his repair bill, he was horrified to find that the cost was 666 British pounds. He insisted that an extra pound should be added to fix the number
6
-The iconic art on the front of Maiden's The Number of the Beast album featured a blue sky instead of black and stormy-looking. This typo was due to poor quality at the factory where it was printed and was later corrected in 1998

5
-Prior to being considered "unreliable", previous Maiden singer Paul DiAnno had replaced an even more unreliable singer named Dennis Wilcox, who told bassist Steve Harris that the band should model their image on Kiss, even down to the members of Maiden donning the Kiss makeup

4
-On the song "Charlotte the Harlot" from Iron Maiden's debut album, the main character appeared in later songs, such as "22 Acacia Avenue" (1982), "Hooks in You" (1990), "From Here to Eternity" (1992)
3
-Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, both guitarists in Maiden, were friends in childhood. Smith bought his first electric guitar from Murray for five British pounds

2
-Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, but properly known as Eddie the Head, earned its nickname simply because when Maiden was first starting out, "Eddie" was nothing more than a head hanging above the stage, specifically above the logo and the drum kit where Nicko McBrain now resides

1
-While most bands find success rather quickly, Iron Maiden formed on Christmas Day 1975. And for the next four years, they scraped by, fighting for fame until they signed with EMI Records