We regret to inform you that Paul Di’Anno (Andrews) of Iron Maiden has passed on to the other side at age sixty-six. As the paper of record tells us, he had an illustrious career as a vocalist for one of the top three NWOBHM bands:
Di’Anno was the lead vocalist for the band from 1978 to 1981. They completed two albums titled “Iron Maiden” in 1980 and “Killers” in 1981 before current vocalist Bruce Dickinson replaced him.
A statement announcing his death, per Daily Mail, read: “On behalf of his family, Conquest Music are sad to confirm the death of Paul Andrews, professionally known as Paul Di’Anno. Paul passed away at his home in Salisbury at the age of 66.
Di’Anno will go down in history as one of the contributing forces to arguably the best Iron Maiden album, Killers, which merged punk, prog, and heavy rock into a new form that used the riff (versus vocal, as in rock) vocabulary of Black Sabbath to make a new artform.
After Di’Anno left the band, Iron Maiden streamlined their style and then spent the next ten albums trying to get the mix of influences right, producing some stunning work in the process, but losing the innocence and raw emotionality of the Di’Anno years.
Tags: iron maiden, paul di'anno, RIP
I’ll insist the eponymous Debut is their Best. Killers is more consistent, and it’s the most Pure Heavy Metal of all their records. Seventh Son is concrete too, more a mix of hardrock & metal though. The X-Factor deserves some praise for its consistency & solid atmosphere, but by that time they are out of ideas.
I enjoy the first album, but IMHO the second is the perfect balance without full integration of the parts of metal:
* Proto-punk (Stooges)
* Heavy rock (The Who)
* Prog (King Crimson, Yes, Camel, Genesis, Greenslade)
* Soundtracks (misc wops)
* Proto-metal (Black Sabbath)
That’s the NWOBHM mix there, since they started in the early 1970s before the Ramones, Sex Pistols, etc. streamlined punk rock.
two down, six to go
8. Dennis and Blaze
get it right faggot
I am NOT looking forward to the influx of posers coming in trying to front that Maiden sold out with Dickinson, shut up you faggots. Maiden was never a punk band and never supposed to be.
Killers is easily a top 3 album tho.
I can’t imagine “Killers” without the raw attitude Paul brought to the vocals. As vital as Bruce was to the direction Maiden moved toward – and his skill-set suited that very well – I hope Paul’s contribution never gets overlooked. RIP.
Speaking of their second album, I was glancing at my copy and was surprised to see that all compositions but two are credited entirely to Steve Harris. It doesn’t really matter – simply caught my eye. Maybe they just go by lyrics for credits in the gay UK. Who knows.