Judas Priest vs Iron Maiden: Choose Your Side
This is part two of my blog series on metal appreciation. You can also Check out part 1 – Metal Appreciation 101: The Beginning.
Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. Most old-school metal fans prefer one or the other. Occasionally people will claim to like both equally, but just between you and me, they’re lying.
Up front disclosure: I fall on the Judas Priest side of the argument. I mean, the classic image of 80’s Iron Maiden that I always think of has Bruce Dickinson running around in bright patterned spandex pants and huge white sneakers:
Contrast that fashion disaster to Judas Priest front man Rob Halford:
Sure, he’s gay. But he’s also tough. And cool. (And spiky). And that always appealed to me far more than Bruce’s sneakers, personally. I was first introduced to Priest through my best mate Gossy, who was in turn influenced by her older brother, who was somewhat of an early metal fan.
It cannot be denied that both bands have contributed an enormous amount to the history of metal. Going back to our big-arse genre diagram, Sam Dunn (remember him? check the first installment if you don’t) has grouped Iron Maiden into the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” (1979-1983) group (affectionately known as NWOBHM by historians – and I’m serious) whereas Judas Priest have been put into “Power Metal” (1976-present). I’m a bit surprised by that – I usually think of Priest as being very much British New Wave – and although they are mentioned on both the NWOBHM Wikipedia entry and in the NWOBHM Encyclopedia (yes, of course there is one) they do not have a dedicated entry themselves, so I guess I stand corrected.
Anyhoo… while both bands have had on-again off-again careers, Judas Priest have been around the longest, so we’ll start with them. Judas Priest start to get interesting, in my opinion, with Killing Machine (released as Hell Bent For Leather in the US). This is when they got properly heavy and started the leather and studs thing. I had this on tape when I was younger and listened to it in my walkman (remember them?) constantly. Here’s Hell Bent For Leather, live, complete with onstage motorbike:
YouTube – Judas Priest – Hell Bent For Leather
That album was followed up by British Steel in 1980, which is often considered their best work. Here’s Breaking The Law, which has a rather hilarious film clip:
YouTube – Judas Priest Breaking The Law
I wouldn’t recommend holding up a bank using only guitars, even if you do have KK Downing and/or Glen Tipton with you.
From Screaming For Vengeance, Priest’s 8th studio album released in 1982, check out You Got Another Thing Coming:
YouTube – Judas Priest – You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Looking through YouTube, there’s so much I’d like to link to here, but I will try and limit myself. To wrap up the Judas Priest segment, I will include Turbo Lover from 1986’s Turbo, which is one of Gossy’s fave songs. There are some people who consider Turbo to be low point in Priest’s career, as it features synthesizers and is much more mainstream than their previous work. I dunno though – it’s Priest, isn’t it? You decide for yourself:
If you’re interested in Judas Priest, there’s two other episodes in the band’s history that you may want to read up about. Firstly there was the “subliminal messages” trial, where the parents of two boys who committed suicide sued Judas Priest in 1990, claiming the album Stained Class contained the subliminal message “do it”. The law suit was eventually dismissed, although not before causing a considerable financial burden to the band. As Rob Halford pointed out during the trial, commanding fans to commit suicide would be counter-productive; if such a thing were possible, bands would be more likely to instruct listeners to “buy more records”.
Secondly, the era involving Tim “Ripper” Owens, who joined the band in 1996 after Halford left, is quite interesting. Owens was the singer in a Judas Priest tribute band called British Steel – and his transition to the “real thing” was the inspiration for the film Rock Star, although the details differed quite a bit in the final version of the movie. It’s not a bad flick, either.
Judas Priest have continued to release good albums since the “classic period” that I’ve outlined here – for example, 1990’s Painkiller was particularly well received. A new Priest album is set for release in 2008: titled Nostradamus, it is apparently a concept album based around the prophet of the same name
Onto Iron Maiden. Their early history is confusing – they went through a number of singers and guitarists (I think) before settling on a mostly stable lineup (I think). You’re free to try to untangle the Wikipedia entry yourselves.
1982’s Number of the Beast, their third album and first international success, was the first to feature current vocalist Bruce Dickinson. From that release, here’s the title track:
YouTube – Iron Maiden – Number of the beast
Another classic is Run to the Hills. I dunno about the video clip for this one:
YouTube – Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills
Here’s a live clip for Flight of Icarus, from their next release, Piece of Mind from 1983:
YouTube – 4 – Iron Maiden – Flight Of Icarus
Their later albums – which were plentiful – get a bit weird, and to be honest I don’t know many fans who don’t prefer early 80’s Maiden to later Maiden. So I’ll leave you with one last clip, Aces High, from Powerslave:
YouTube – Iron Maiden – Aces High
So… Priest… Maiden… it’s up to you. As I mentioned at the beginning, you can claim to like both. But deep down you know you have a favourite: so let’s hear it in the comments. When MTV’s Headbanger’s Blog asked Who Rocks Harder?: Judas Priest or Iron Maiden? it was definitely Priest that got more comments. I know that’s who I picked.
I can’t finish without some more Priest, so how about this: Parental Guidance, the anthem of the 80’s. Sing it with me kids:
We don’t need no
no no no
parental guidance here
Thanks Kay
I can’t choose… but that’s just cos I need to hear more, I think :p
Must say, wasn’t *that* into either really… definitely still like Black Sabbath more, and think there’s going to be more further along that I’ll like more (slightly heavier stuff I think). But that’s ok, I can’t like everything, heh.
Old Maiden vs New… actually I think there’s a new category: fans who like the old stuff and the really new stuff. Skipping some in the middle
Of course the more grizzled old school fans probably wouldn’t admit it since it’s far cooler to insist the old stuff was better (for any band, ever). But since I have no metal cred whatsoever* to worry about I’m free to admit I really like Brave New World 
* Evidenced by ipod having only a little bit of metal and that’s all filed generically as “Metal”. It was filed under “\m/ Metal \m/” for a while but a rogue sync messed that up…
Carn Ben, Judas Priest > old Maiden > new Maiden!
Even though I like both of them, as the author says, deep down you know that your fav is one of them. For me, its the IRONS!!!!!
Up the Irons!! Keep rockin’
Although both bands rock. I think that Maiden is a little better. They have more great albums and preform better live. Judas Priest can get a little corny at times, listion to hell bent for leather. However Priest has more variety. But im still gonna stick with maiden.
[...] from all over the world rocking out in a massive rockin’ mosh pit. We all know where the goatlady stands with Maiden, but I will admit, even with the stupid clothes, even with the pants of Bruce [...]
Don’t Bring Your Daughters to the Slaughter(or if they come tell them to stay at the back out of my way) | hell bent for wacken '08 | 3 aussies at WOA '08 said this on March 18, 2008 at 7:57 am |
Yea, I gotta side with Maiden here. No band has since replicated their unique dual guitars along with their galloping rhythm. And stage presence? Iron Maiden brought some insane energy to the table, with Harris and Dickinson competing for the stage constantly. It’s too bad many current musicians don’t understand that just standing on stage and playing your music doesn’t constitute a ’show’. And if you wanna get technical, Maiden was around from 1980 and sold 100 mil plus records – with virtually no radio play. Priest sold something like… 35 mil with another 6 years (i may be worng on that #, it’s something around there) and WAY more studio releases under their belt (more throw away songs if you ask me).
Arguing vox is though though, as Halford has an absolutely amazing range, and Dickinson just has that cutting tone….
You should check out Thin Lizzy if you aren’t already familiar with them. and i don’t just mean the big hits.
Any maiden fan should hear the Thin Lizzy song “Massacre” which Maiden went on to cover, Lizzy were on of their biggest influences and pioneered the dual lead guitar technique, and you can kind of hear that “galloping” rhythm in some of their songs, (you can also hear it in some old Irish tunes, which in turn influenced Lizzy)
Yeah, love Thin Lizzy – and there’s so much more to them than ‘the boys are back in town’!
I was surprised to see the remaining band members are playing Wacken this year as a tribute to Phil Lynott. Should be interesting to see!
MAIDEN ALL THE WAY. I just saw them last wed. They were amazing and you should never doubt them. Bruce has awesome pants by the way. At the concert he had chopped pieces of hanging leather strung together it looked so cool. Rob Halford is actually gay just in case you didn’t know (I am not putting him down or anything). Somebody may have already posted that but i didn’t read all the posts. I didn’t even read initial post. I was just looking up pictures, I don’t even know of this goatlady you speak of.
Maiden has so many great songs as well as Judas Priest they are both of my favorites but Maiden is the greatest.
I just wanted to put in my two cents for my favorite band.
UP THE IRONS! I LUV BRUCE!
I think Maiden is soooo much better than priest, but each to their own! PS.I LUV BRUCE!
im goin with the metal gods
judas ftw
[...] not surprised. Iron Maiden couldn’t fill Burswood Dome in Perth, even with Bruce Dickinson’s hilarious pants and a promise of playing nothing that didn’t come out in the 80’s, so who would have [...]
Judas Priest lose Cavalera Conspiracy for Australia, change Perth venue « enter the goatlady said this on August 13, 2008 at 2:57 pm |
Priest Priest Priest Priest Priest!!!!! are gods
@Hizer and @pizzapie555 – finally, some intelligent commenters
it’s very close, i love both bands but ima have to go with Iron Maiden!!! i love bruce’s pants!!! and they have great songs!!! but judas preist still kicks ass!!!
MAIDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Up To Irons From Croatia!!!!!!!
Well, MTV is an American tv channel, and so they have the most viewers there. That is basically why Priest won that contest – they’re bigger in America than Maiden are. In Europe Maiden is biggest. Myself, I love Maiden and Priest ain’t nearly as good as them, in my opinion. However, Priest rock som serious butt as well.
awnser me this who old stuff is better from the get go
my fav song is stranger world by maiden first album but i think priest had that bitch in the bag
Definitely it’s priest. Every album by them has a new concept. Being in a band, i think priest’s songs are harder to play. Tracks like Victim of changes, painkiller, cathedral spires, hellrider and prophecy are way beyond maiden’s capability. Although they sound great but it’s just the same in every album.
they dont sound the in every album, first 2 albums have punk/heavy sound, then comes dickinson and number of the beast, piece of mind, and powerslave are pure heavy metal.Each of them are different. Somewhere in time and Seventh son of a Seventh Son are experimentations with sin but they still have that heavy sound. Then No prayer for the dying is return to the old rough sound. the X-Factor and Virtual XI has Blaze Bayley with his goth vocals.
sorry that sin its guitar synthesizers.
IRON MAIDEN RULES i don’t realy like Judas Priest because the singer Rob Halford not have a good voice!!!!
IRON MAIDEN RULES
!!!UP THE IRONS!!!
Are you sick?
You don’t like rob’s voice?
Iron maiden no where near Judas priest.
I have played most of the songs by maiden And priest.
Maiden – Most of the songs are easy to play and sounds the same.
Priest – Tough to play, Different, Hell awesome.
By the way , What made you think Rob’s voice is bad?
Can Bruce sings high notes better than rob?
!!!UP THE IRONS!!! FROM SERBIA
UP THE IRONS
Well…this is pretty much a “why you should live priest over maiden.”
Well. I love both priest and maiden…..both are the creme de la creme of metal. But im going to have to go with Maiden..but damn I love Priest also!
I LOVE MAIDEN!!I LOVE YOUR 80`s pants too!!
Love Maiden, but I have to go with Priest.
Saw both multiple times – IM has cool stage with Eddy but Priest sounds better (compare Live after Death to Unleashed in the East there’s no contest especially Victims and Sinner)
Best Albums -
JP – Sad Wings of Destiny
IM – Killers – PD kicks BD
Both put out garbage – Living after Midnight and Run to the Hills – but both can rock heavy when they’re not worried about record sales.
I think theres a couple things wrong with this article. mainly the enormous bias towards judas priest. not only does it have more than twice as much info about judas priest, the iron maiden section ends with a judas priest song. also aces high is from powerslave, not piece of mind. I think the writer probably doesnt listen to iron maiden very much and just looked up their wikipedia page in an effort to let people know he likes judas priest. Personally I like Maiden much better but JP still is excellent. P.S. iron maidens middle and later work are actually very good, if youve actually listend to them and not just read on wiki that they werent as popular during that time…
Stained Class and Painkiller are the two best Judas Priest albums and you ignored them both. And you obviously know nothing about Iron Maiden.
Priest are the Metal Gods and Rob Halford rocks, so for me it’s Priest, all the way!!!
Maiden is a kickass group but I’ve got to go with Priest. The “Dickenson vs Halford” battle is an old one but I’m gonna have to go with Halford here too. Not taking anything away from IM or Dickenson but Halford and Priest are just pure no-nonsense heavy metal, very little frills, leathers, spikes and bikes all the way. Both bands kick ass but I’ll go with Priest FTW in the end.
Of course Judas Fucking Priest !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the way !!!!!!!!!!!
Finally, some smart comments
Of course it´s IRON MAIDEN,
Hey man, if you like priest it´s ok,
But you have to know a lot more of Maiden to make the comparation
In Mexico and everywhere in the world:
Iron Maiden rules
UP THE IRONS!!!
Interesting comparisons, though a bit biased. That’s what blogs are for. Personally I go with Maiden. I certainly don’t have a problem with Priest, they just never hooked me like Maiden did.
To the blogger, goatlady? Just a few factual errors. The Number of the Beast album was released in 1982, not ‘81. “Aces High” appears on the Powerslave album, not Piece of Mind as mentioned above.
Overall a good blog and interesting reading. Thanks!
lol, so glad I’m allowed to be biased – I did say I was, right at the very beginning
Thanks for your factual corrections, shows I should have gone to wikipedia rather than trusting youtube – will update the post accordingly.
Stay metal \m/
Iron maiden suck! Steve Harris takes credit for writing riffs that other people wrote like well the intro to Iron Maiden… Read the Run to the HIlls biography. Steve is a god but he is not flawless, he merely copied what Judas Priest did. The entire Maiden sound of the early eighties was already done in the Judas Priest albums like Sad wings, Sin after sin and Stained class.. (the galloping and all). yeah, maiden put a twist on it and made it heavier but I prefer Rob’s studio voice over Bruce’s voice. Rob’s voice has feeling while Bruce’s voice just sounds like somebody told him what to do.. Wonder who??
Hitler Harris??
I used to be a big Maiden fan till I found Priest. Why go with the copy (maiden) when you can have the original (Priest)..
Priest..rules… One clarification… My favorite albums are sad wings, sin after sin, stained class and painkiller.. and a other good songs here and there.
But hands down Judas Priest rule and Iron Maiden suck!!!
Yay, I like it when people agree with me. Rob Halford has a Christmas album coming out that I just pre-ordered! Must post about that…
You’re an idiot fanboy.
Ian Hill has nothing on Steve Harris.
Oh, Priest all the way. British Steele says it all. I love Maiden but the guitar sway in unison still give me the chills.
We seem to be seeing a swing the way of Priest of late. Interesting, very interesting… thanks for weighing in!
I think it’s absolutely hilarious how everyone who takes Priest’s side never compares Ian Hill to Steve Harris.
Both bands are the best fucking metal bands around. The only way to really break it down is who is the better live band….and of course that would be Maiden hands down (or hands up if your rockin’, which you should be, unless your fucking too drunk). Love em’ both though.
Saying that Maiden is a “copy” of Priest is the most laughable thing I have ever came across on a metal board.
I won’t deny that Stained Class contains some galloping bass rhythm that may be latter found in some Maiden’s material, but so does 2112 by Rush (opening tune). Does it mean that Priest copied Rush? No!
Although I do like Priest to a certain degree, all in all, Maiden’s music is far more complex, both instrumentally, lyrically and song structure wise. I really don’t think that Priest, even in the early days, could come with something to oppose to the mighty Phantom of the Opera, not even with Victim of Changes.
Last but not least, Maiden’s dual lead is also more intricate than Priest’s, which seems to carry on mainly in unison, rather than in thirds or fifths, like Maiden.
i genuinely cant deside one second i think judas priest because theyve been longer but then i think iron maiden because of their intensity but then i think priest because their intense then i think maiden because of the hits
its not i dont have a favorite its i cant decide my favorite
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! (head explodes)
oh no, no head explosions please, you’ll get brain matter all over my nice clean blog!
It’s ok, you’re allowed to like both
Maiden were my first metal band and my first gig so although I did eventually come to love Priest I’ll have to say … UP THE IRONS!
Also, I prefer Bruce’s voice. Rob can sing, bloody hell, but Bruce has the smoothness in his that Rob seems to lack.
Go and listen to Sands of time, Beyond the realms of death. Fact is Bruce can’t sing high notes as good as Rob.
There is no comparison between JP and IM.
Glenn Tipton owns all guitarists of maiden. Well but only those will understand this, who know about guitar, arpeggios and all.
Most of the noobs think that all those pentatonic solos by Maiden guitarists are unmatchable hehehehehehee [:D]
Judas Priest sold 15 milions albums nort america and 45 millions worldwide ( non single, video, maxi single, rare, compilation
All hail \Judas Priest./