Iron Maiden - Women In Uniform

Like most nerdy/geeky teenagers, I was a massive Iron Maiden fan, having brought all of their albums (until around 2006/2007 when I stopped dead). What finally hit the nail on the head for me was after their fiftieth live album sounding exactly the same as their studio albums (all of their live albums do, thus negating the point of them). And After Rock In Rio, there's simply no need for any other versions of The Trooper. Iron Maiden though, really were a one-band revolution, combining the DIY punk ethos with galloping riffs, fast solos, complex song structures and operatic and aggressive vocals. Like Judas Priest and Black Sabbath before them, Maiden changed the musical landscape. Their early stuff with Paul Di'Anno is now often overlooked, the focus always on their Dickenson stuff. This is a fucking tragedy, as Di'Anno's punky rasp is what initially set Iron Maiden apart from the other NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) bands at the time, giving them a very sexual predatory edge. Their first two albums are easily amongst their best, it shows a band taking risks and experimenting to find their sound, Something they wouldn't do again until 1995's The X Factor, featuring Blaze Bailey on vocals.

First up is Women In Uniform. A slow menacing march starts us up before jumping into fast paced metal. The verse sings over that slow beat, punching up with the very very punky active chorus, I think they really do like their women in uniform. we get a galloping march ending each segment with a harmonised little lick from our guitarists and then all melts into a nice fast section. During a very hyperactive reprise of the chorus, we get a solo being played underneith it, this goes on for like a minute before fading. This is a pretty decent track, nothing fantastic but is a damn good solid metal track.

The B Side, Invasion, is of a long tradition of Iron Maiden battle songs,  fast paced energetic tracks about previous wars, potential wars or fantasy wars. Steve Harris has a WW2 obsession (like most brits!). It jumps straight into the hyperactive riff, Di'Anno bouncing in his voice, then we get to this little break, which is fast yet stands out from the rest before returning to verse and guitar wailing solos. I'm sure someone will correct me, but sounds like Adrian Smith (EDIT: No, It wasn't). The track just carries on this fast pace, it's proper heavy metal of the Maiden variety.

All in all, this is hardely essential buying, but if you like a bit of loud rock, then you can go much more wrong. This is solid Maiden, which means it's a cut above most contemporaries.