Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Maiden = Bogeymen

So I'm listening to a bit of Iron Maiden this afternoon, and I'm wondering what on earth made these guys the "bogeymen" when they were in their heyday... Their message wasn't particularly evil or radical. There is a song called "Flight of Icarus" which is merely about the old Greek myth. We're not talking Charles Manson here.

I think like a lot of metal bands of the day, they just sounded angry about whatever they were saying. Think Twisted Sister... They just sang a song about how they were no longer going to take it. They never mentioned what they weren't going to take. Corporate Violence? Intolerable working conditions? Objectification of women? Advertising saturation? It's anyone's guess, but I have a difficult time believing it was any of the above. Maybe just a snarl and an angry tone was enough.

I guess the ultraviolent cover art may have added to them being the devil incarnate.

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