Iron Maiden: Album by Album:

RAWK!

I had the great pleasure of recieving a review copy of an amazing Iron Maiden discog table book. 245 pages, 16 albums spanning 1980-2015

The goal is simple, sixteen albums reviewed and deconstructed in order of release with straight conversation by fans and peers on both epic and bombed albums.

Martin Popoff collected his personal musings regarding one of the die hard New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) plus 15 esteemed guests from Maiden Coverbands to Maiden Band members.

Released in October 2018, this book was PACKED with photography, singles cover art, ticket stubs and back story that I have not seen elsewhere.

Participants included (among others):
Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (Overkill)
Marty Friedman (at minimum, Megadeth)
Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater)
Blaze Bayley (Iron Maiden)
Nita Strauss (musician)
Chris Jericho (wrestler)
Matt Heafy (Trivium)
Kirsten Rosenberg (musician)
Ahmet Zappa (musician) ( )

Iron Maiden: Album by Album from Martin Popoff consists of 16 chapters, one for each studio album, of several Maiden fans (and peers) discussing each album. I was torn between 4 and 5 stars but went with 5 for the simple reason the book was exactly what it set out to be. I refuse to mark down because the book wasn't what it never set out to be.

The book as a whole has a strict structure with each chapter being a discussion about one album. Within each chapter there is a loose structure where Popoff makes sure certain aspects are always covered, such as production values and such. But most of the conversation, while prompted by Popoff's questions, go off in whatever direction each speaker wants to go. Kinda like when you and your friends are talking about something. A question sets you off but you make whatever connections matter to you.

The conversations range from close analysis of some songs to placing the songs/albums in the larger context of the music business and even to some extent world politics. We also have talk about what the band meant to some of these people when they were young and first discovered them. There is a lot of information to glean from these conversations but just be aware this is not a track-by-track technical overview of production, engineering, or the music performance itself. This is a bunch of knowledgeable people sitting around and having fun talking about one of their favorite bands. There is talk about how some things were done but that is few and far between since that wasn't the purpose of the book. This is less for the "fan" who thinks fandom is pretending not to be a fan but rather a (usually semi-literate in music) technician and more for the fan who may or may not be musically inclined but likes to hear about the history of a band. This is an oral history ABOUT the band rather than OF the band.

I recommend this to any Maiden fan (of course) as well as those interested in the history of how a band evolves over time and how a band can influence their fans and peers. The participants include musicians, rock critics/historians, even a wrestler/rock musician. We have a former (short term) Maiden member as well as a former Megadeth member as well, so this isn't just a group of everyday fans. If you're a fan of Maiden yourself, you'll have plenty to both agree and disagree with in the book, just like in any good conversation among friends.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )