Phantom of the Opera (Iron Maiden song)
| Iron Maiden | ||||
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| Studio album by Iron Maiden | ||||
| Released | 14 April 1980 | |||
| Recorded | January 1980 | |||
| Studio | Kingsway Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 37:35 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Wil Malone | |||
| Iron Maiden studio albums chronology | ||||
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| 1998 remastered version cover | ||||
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| Singles from Iron Maiden | ||||
*Not an original album track, but added to later editions |
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 9/10 |
| Record Mirror | |
| Sounds |  |
| Sputnikmusic | 4.5/5 |
*Not an original album track, but added to later editions
Iron Maiden is the debut studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was issued by EMI on 14 April 1980 in the UK, and a few months later in North America, originally on Harvest/Capitol Records and subsequently Sanctuary Records/Columbia Records in the US. The North American version also included the song "Sanctuary", previously 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 (but 2015 digital releases and all vinyl reissues use original tracklisting around the globe). It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton.
Although Iron Maiden have since criticised the quality of the album's production, the release was met with critical and commercial success, debuting at No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart as well as achieving prominence for the band in mainland Europe.
This was the band's only album produced by Will Malone, who Iron Maiden have since claimed lacked interest in the project and effectively left them to produce most of the album themselves, which, according to bassist Steve Harris, was completed in just 13 days. Recording took place at Kingsway Studios, west London in January 1980, with the band taking time out from the 1980 Metal for Muthas Tour to complete the final mixes at Morgan Studios, northwest London in February. Prior to the sessions with Malone, the band made two attempts in December 1979 with two different producers while still a four-piece. Guy Edwards, the first, was dismissed as the band were unhappy with the "muddy" quality in his production, while Andy Scott was sacked after insisting that Harris use a pick rather than his fingers. After these efforts, the band decided not to sack Malone as Steve Harris describes that they could "bypass him and [go] to the engineer." The group criticised the quality of the production, although many fans still prefer the raw quality of the sound recording. Although AllMusic states that this style was "clearly drawing from elements of punk rock," Harris later stated that the band despised everything about punk.
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Wikipedia