The new wave of British heavy metal became a milestone musical movement for heavy metal music, which started in the mid-70s. It drew significant attention from music critics and metalheads with its diverse mainstream and underground styles combined with fast and aggressive songs. Along with sounds, the lyrics consisted of escapist themes such as mythology, fantasy, horror, and various elements from them.
Iron Maiden was considered among the notable bands for the wave with Def Leppard, Motörhead, Saxon, Diamond Head, Venom, and Raven. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Iron Maiden greatly influenced that era’s youth and young generation musicians when they decided to pursue professional careers as musicians. One of them was Metallica lead singer James Hetfield, and he revealed that some of the band’s albums were very important to him.
James Hetfield’s Favorite Iron Maiden Albums
Iron Maiden released their self-titled debut studio album on April 14, 1980. Even though the band received criticism because of their production quality, the record became popular and commercially successful worldwide. Thanks to the album’s well-crafted sounds and lyrics and the band members’ talents as musicians, especially their lead vocalist Paul Di’Anno’s one-of-a-kind voice contributed to Iron Maiden’s success.
It was followed by their second studio album entitled ‘Killers,’ which was dropped on February 2, 1981, and it got critical acclaim from music critics and a newly-formed fan base. However, none of them knew that it was the band’s singer’s last album. Di’Anno’s alcohol and cocaine addictions were sabotaging their live performances, eventually leading to his dismissal from the group. His departure was terrible news for a young man from the newbie band Metallica.
During one of the interviews he joined, Hetfield named early Iron Maiden albums, which probably meant the records that Di’Anno performed in their early years. The frontman stated that he loved the new wave that made him feel good because it was part of his memories from his youth. Also, Hetfield paid tribute to the era with Metallica’s ‘Remember Tomorrow’ cover, which was initially released on Iron Maiden’s first album. Metallica shared it in the ‘Hardwired… to Self-Destruct’ deluxe edition.
In Hetfield’s words, he said:
“Early Iron Maiden albums. I love the new wave of British Heavy Metal. That makes me feel good; it reminds me of youth.“
Moreover, Hetfield voted for his favorite artists to choose the 100 best singers of all time in 2008 via Rolling Stone Magazine. Di’Anno took place in his list along with Ronnie James Dio, Chris Cornell, and many more. When he was young, Hetfield probably got disappointed after the singer was fired from Iron Maiden because of his destructive behaviors in 1981. The band’s new frontman became Bruce Dickinson replacing Di’Anno.
You can check out the band’s cover and albums below.
