Yours Truly, Iron Maiden Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brave New World

First up, despite Bruce Dickinson being one of the co-writers on this song, it should not be confused with a song bearing the same name that Dickinson had recorded for the "Accident of Birth" sessions in 1997. According to the band, this single was the first song the crew had worked on since Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith had returned to the band - the pair had been gone for six and nine years respectively.

The song would garner a Grammy Award nomination in 2001 for "Best Metal Performance" but it would lose out to the Deftones and their song "Elite".

Answer: Piece of Mind

Inspired by events during the Crimean War and, in particular, the Charge of the Light Brigade, this was the second single to be released from the band's fourth studio album (1983). This also became one of the few Maiden songs to receive airplay in the US of any substance though, ironically, it was the popularity of the song's b-side, a cover of Jethro Tull's "Cross-Eyed Mary" that drew the initial attention.

Answer: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Though it is the second single to be released from this album, "The Evil That Men Do" (1988) helps stamp "Seventh Son..." as one of the defining albums of the heavy metal genre and is, in some respects, a form of resurrection for the band, after their creative rut that was "Somewhere in Time" (1986). On this tale of madness ("The Evil...") Maiden are at their gothic best and draw hints of mysticism into its story.

The title of the song is drawn from a line in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"... "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones", and whilst lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, has often used that quote to introduce the song in their live shows, the poetry is not reflected within the song.

Answer: Non Album Single

This was the third single that the band ever released, though, it is fair to say, that it doesn't rank amongst favourites of the group. The dislike stems from the fact that the recording strays away from the sound they were looking to establish at the time.

It is the cover of a recording by the Australian glam band, Skyhooks, which was a hit for them (Skyhooks) in that country. Consequently, it did make an appearance as a bonus track on the Australian version of the album "Killers" (1980) but nowhere else in the world.

The song was a hastily concocted track used to promote the UK leg of the "Iron Maiden Tour" that year.

Answer: No Prayer for the Dying

This song was written by Bruce Dickinson who recorded a version of it for the soundtrack to the film "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" (1989) but bass player, Steve Harris, fell in love with it and insisted that the band record it and release it.

It would become the second single off the album. Despite being a "throwaway", Dickinson claimed he wrote in three minutes, and having a number of things going against it, winning the Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst Original Song" in 1989 and the BBC rendering it little airplay, the song still topped the UK Singles' charts that year.

Answer: Powerslave

With its reference to the symbolic "Doomsday Clock" this track takes aim at nuclear war and, according to one of the song's writers, Bruce Dickinson, poignantly, government's "romance with war". At five minutes in length this became the band's longest running single until it was overtaken by the raucous "Infinite Dreams", which pegged in at a little over six minutes in 1989.

Answer: Number of the Beast

Released in 1982, the song was written by the band's bass player, Steve Harris. Whilst Steve has the sole credits for the song he couldn't have created it without considerable input from the band's lead singer, Bruce Dickinson. Bruce, however, still had some contractual issues with his previous band, Samson, and, as a result, could not be credited.

The single remains one of the band's most enduring numbers, is a staple at live gigs and has been voted by a number of music magazines as one of the greatest metal tracks of all time.

Answer: A Real Dead One

This song first appeared on the band's album "The Number of the Beast" (1982). Despite being regarded by critics as one of the great heavy metal songs and seen as one of the band's signature songs, it was not released as single from that album. Used to promote the band's 1993 live album, "A Real Dead One", this version was taken from a concert at Moscow's Olympic Arena on 4 June 1993 during the band's "Real Live Tour".

Answer: Somewhere in Time

Featuring a ripping guitar solo from Adrian Smith, this single was released by the band in 1986 as the second single from the album. The lyrics, which have nothing to do with the Robert Heinlein book of the same name. Instead, it focusses on the lonely death on the ice of an Arctic explorer, and the discovery of his body a century later.

The single's cover features the band's mascot, Eddie, in western garb and it pays homage to Clint Eastwood's portrayal of the "Man With No Name" during his spaghetti western adventures in the 1960s and is a thin allusion to the lack of identity of the explorer in the song.

Answer: Fear of the Dark

There is a character that Iron Maiden have created within their body of work called "Charlotte the Harlot". She first appeared in a song that bears her name on the band's 1980 "Iron Maiden" album. Since then there has been a saga built around her which Maiden fans generally call the "Charlotte Saga". Charlotte is a naïve, upper-class prostitute who is unaware that what she does is illegal. "From Here to Eternity" (1992), in which Charlotte takes a motorbike ride with the devil, represents the third story in that saga.

(Footnote) The other song in the set is "22 Acacia Avenue", which appears on "Number of the Beast" (1982). There is conjecture that "Hooks in You", from "No Prayer for the Dying" (1990), is also a part of that saga because of the opening lyric "I got the keys to view at number 22", however, Charlotte is not mentioned by name in the song.