School of Iron Maiden: A heavy metal study guide
School’s out, and a totally rippin’ summer lies ahead. With all the late nights and beer bongs, who has time to tackle that summer reading list? Never fear, metalheads, Iron Maiden songs are like study guides with guitar solos. Just bone up on some classic British metal, and in the process, prepare to ace next semester’s lit class—or maybe not. The band—which plays this Monday at the Comfort Dental Amphitheatre—has always had a literary streak, and here The A.V. Club evaluates some of Iron Maiden’s attempts at condensing whole mythologies and volumes of classic literature into seven-minute metal opuses.
Song: “Brave New World,” Brave New World (2000)
Inspired by: Shaken by strains introduced by the industrial revolution and futurism’s blind devotion to science-as-progress, Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian classic depicts a world where children are born in factories, love is taboo, and the populace is controlled through genetic engineering and drug therapy.
To read or to rock? Singer Bruce Dickinson briefly alludes to the criminality of love and drug-dependent drones—as well as dragons and dying queens, neither of which feature in Huxley’s material. Pretty metal, but it’s probably not going to help you skate through your essay.
Song: “Lord Of The Flies,” The X Factor (1995)
Inspired by: Man’s animalistic nature bubbles to the surface as a group of British schoolboys are marooned on an island in William Golding’s 1954 masterpiece. As they descend into savagery, Lord Of The Flies examines mob mentality, the lust for power, and man’s darkest sides.
To read or to rock? The themes of evil and barbarism fit perfectly in an Iron Maiden song, making the band’s version of the tale a rare legitimate study aid in its catalogue, but only if it’s used as a supplement to the novel (or one of the screen adaptations).
Song: “To Tame A Land,” Piece Of Mind (1983)
Inspired by: Frank Herbert’s classic Dune wrapped up themes of ecology, imperialism, race consciousness, and evolution (and those totally freaky sandworms) into an incredibly dense, self-contained universe that set the standard for modern science-fiction.
To read or to rock? Dune proved too complicated and sprawling for even director David Lynch to make much sense of it in a three-hour feature film, so trying to distill it into a mere seven minutes of prog-metal is just too much to ask of any band.
Song: “Murders In The Rue Morgue,” Killers (1981)
Inspired by: Edgar Allan Poe introduced the detective story to American readers in 1841 with his short “The Murders In The Rue Morgue.” An amateur sleuth outwits the police, unraveling the mystery behind a pair of grisly homicides in 1840s Paris.
To read or to rock? Songwriter and bassist Steve Harris doesn’t even attempt to tackle the 40 or so pages of Poe’s text, with a retelling that’s vague and only loosely connected. It takes four minutes to listen to this track—four minutes that could have easily gone into actually reading the text.
Song: “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner,” Powerslave (1984)
Inspired by: Killing an albatross has disastrous consequences for the mariner in Samuel Coleridge’s 1798 poem, ultimately damning him to wander the earth teaching others to love the bits of God reflected in nature. Yeah, it’s kind of hippie.
To read or to rock? Going so far as to borrow lyrics from Coleridge’s original, Iron Maiden plays it remarkably true to the source, even—in a totally un-metal moment—entreating us to love all God’s creations. This track is definitely a suitable stand-in—go ahead and skip the poem without risking your C average.
