Run to the Hills

Iron Maiden are the last act standing from the late-1970s onslaught of the New Wave of the British Heavy metal movement, after other kindred metallists have fallen by the wayside. To a large extent, Iron Maiden's singular blend of astonishing, dextrous triple-guitar interplay, brutal, punishing rhythms, intentionally grandiose classical-literature influenced lyrics, and of course, Bruce Dickinson's distinctive, attention-grabbing air-raid siren wail place them several notches above the rest of the heavy metal crowd. Iron Maiden mostly earned their stripes in the 1980s, and while they may have lacked the ostentatious showmanship and rock-star glitz and glitter of other metal gangs, but they more than made up for it with their experienced, adept playing and aggressive, dynamic musical template, with landmark albums like 'The Number of the Beast', 'Powerslave' and 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' comprising no-brainer must-haves in any self-respecting metal enthusiast's library. Check out one of the band's most enduring standards, the thumping, throbbing 'Run to the Hills', captured in a superior live reading at the Rock in Rio festival in 2001.