Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden

Originally released on 14 April 1980 by EMI Records in the UK
In the US it was released 17 August 1980 by Harvest and Capitol Records.

The North American version included the song "Sanctuary", released in the UK as a non-album single.

In 1998, along with the rest of the band's pre-1995 releases, Iron Maiden was remastered with "Sanctuary" added in all territories. However, 2014 vinyl reissues, 2015 digital releases and 2018 CD reissues use the original track listing across the globe. The re-release also features a different cover; a digital recreation by original artist Derek Riggs, with a portion of the original artwork instead being used on the disc itself.

It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton.

"Running Free" was released as a single on 8 February 1980, reaching No. 34 in the UK Singles Chart. The band also performed the song on the UK TV show Top of the Pops, refusing the usual tradition for artists to mime and thus becoming the first group to perform live on the show since The Who in 1972. Vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who wrote the song's lyrics, describes it as "a very autobiographical song, though of course I've never spent the night in an LA jail. It's about being 16 and, like it says, just running wild and running free. It comes from my days as a skinhead."

"Sanctuary" was originally penned by guitarist Rob Angelo, a member of Iron Maiden in 1977, who was paid £300 for the song's rights. The "Sanctuary" single was released on 7 June 1980 and charted at No. 29, with the censored cover of Eddie, the band's mascot, standing over Margaret Thatcher's body earning the band publicity in the British press. Managers Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor's management company would be named after the song.

"Strange World" is credited solely to Harris, Paul Day, the band's original vocalist from 1975 to 1976, asserted that he also contributed to the song.

"Charlotte the Harlot", their only song to have been written by Dave Murray alone, is the first of four Iron Maiden tracks about the fictional prostitute "Charlotte", although Murray states it was "based on a true story".

"Phantom of the Opera" is one of Harris's favourites and is still performed live relatively frequently. With many mood and time-changes, Harris marks it as "the first song I'd written that was a bit more proggy" The first press features the complete version of the track which is 7:20 in length. This has a short coda/reprise at the end, separated from the rest of the song by a few seconds of silence. Most other vinyl pressings have the shortened version. Only the UK Fame-edition, the Japanese pressing, the Greek pressing, the later released Czech pressings and the 2024 pressings have the full length track too.

"Transylvania" is an instrumental piece composed by Harris, which was later covered by Iced Earth on the album Horror Show.

All of the album's songs, excluding "Strange World" (and the instrumental "Transylvania"), have been re-recorded with Bruce Dickinson on vocals, either on live albums, studio B-Sides or both. "Iron Maiden", "Running Free", "Phantom of the Opera" and (as bonus track) "Sanctuary" were released on The Number Of The Beast

Although Iron Maiden have since criticised the quality of the album's production, the release was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number four on the UK Albums Chart and helping the band achieve prominence in mainland Europe.

1980
New Zealand

1981

1982
Australia

1983
Venezuela

1984
Argentina promo

1985
Brazil

1986
Peru

1988 US

1990
Brazil

1991
promo

1993
South Korea

1997 UK

2012
Japan picture

2014
US

2020 EU picture 40th anniversary

2021
5000 US picture 40th anniversary

2023 Chile

2024
EU