Two Minutes To Midnight!

Powerslave (photo of Catrick Swayze and Eddie’s courtesy of my wife).

This week my social media feeds began filling up with celebrations of Iron Maiden’s first album, which (like me) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. This article that was linked to me by a friend highlights the fact that this is actually the 40th anniversary of a LOT of incredible metal, including the fantastic British Steel by Judas Priest.

I have long been a metalhead, but I’m a recent convert to the awesomeness of Iron Maiden. It started a couple of years ago when I saw them in concert with my buddy Chris. I was actually there to see their opening act, Ghost. However, Maiden’s performance, and the intensity of their fans, charmed me. Subsequently I started keeping an eye out for used Maiden albums on vinyl. This was rewarded in March of last year when used copies of Killers, Number of the Beast, Powerslave, and Live After Death showed up at our local record shop (Graywhale). I’ve subsequently found a copy of Piece of Mind and the rest of their albums are perpetually on my radar whenever we go record hunting.

In any event, I just wanted to dedicate some space and give a shout out to three rad things to come out of 1980: Iron Maiden, British Steel, and me!