It all started here: the galloping basslines, the soaring choruses, the skeletal Eddie mascot snarling on the sleeve. Released in April 1980, Iron Maiden’s full-length debut was nothing short of revelatory. Led by bassist mastermind Steve Harris and fronted by ex-skinhead Paul Di’Anno, Maiden set the gold standard for the burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal with the punk-injected single “Running Free”, the highlander prog of “Phantom of the Opera” and their harmonised signature ripper “Iron Maiden”. But they also flashed a talent for ghostly atmospherics on “Remember Tomorrow” (later covered by Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats) and for serialised fiction on “Charlotte the Harlot”, a character who would go on to appear in future Maiden epics. With a grittier, streetwise sound and fewer historical themes than they would later adopt when Bruce Dickinson took over on vocals, Iron Maiden stands as an essential building block in the infrastructure of heavy metal.