Band: IRON MAIDEN, Album: IRON MAIDEN, Song: TRANSYLVANIA

What the f***in' hell was that!!!!!????....the intro hit like a thousand freakin' bullet trains colliding between my ears!!...no time to recover...the melody kicks in like four ancient mythical beasts awakening from their slumber of aeons...each weilding its weapon of mass destruction....hellbound to bitch slap mankind out of this world and into  the realms of Iron F***in' Maiden!!!!!!!!!....still hungry for the blood of unbelievers,posers and listeners of crap music....they continue their onslaught with blistering leads,bass runs and thundering drumming that summon their minions from the deepest, darkest pits of hell to forever seek and possess the souls of mankind with the spirit of Heavy Metal!!!!!!!!!!!!....and I'm one of those minions with a metal mission......HelllllYeahhh!!!!!!!!!

Murray and Smith Ripping Out Solos - The Early Years

That was exactly how I felt when I heard this instrumental for the first time about 15 years ago.This metal masterpiece was composed by founder and bassist Steve Harris while he was with his previous band Smiler.Steve came up with the basic idea of the song while walking home from a local club called the Cart & Horses. He presented the song to his band at the time but everyone in Smiler found most of his songs too complicated, and refused to play them.

Steve Harris (Bottom-Far left) in his former band "Smiler"

When he formed Maiden, "Transylvania" became a regularly played song during the early days. The piece would be the guitar solo spot of guitarist Dave Murray in live performances from 1980-82 as heard on the "Beast over Hammersmith" live recording from March, 1982. Another example was featured on the album "BBC Archives" recorded at The Reading Festival in August of 1982 which is of note when co-lead guitarist Adrian Smith had to play the second lead guitar solo before the finale as Murray had to replace his guitar which went dead.

Early Band Shot with Dennis Stratton (3rd from Left)-the guitarist who was replaced by the now legendary Mr.Adrian Smith

Listen to this classic instrumental via the Youtube link below and you'll know what I'm talkin' about.

Band : IRON MAIDEN, Album : IRON MAIDEN, Song : RUNNING FREE

Running Free was the first single released by Maiden on the 8th of February 1980 on a 7" 45 rpm vinyl record format. Written by Harris and Di'Anno this song is the third track on this landmark album.The song is basically about a troubled 16-year-old boy who runs away on a pick up truck, ends up in an LA jail and picks up a woman from a bar later on. The song is known to be one of the band's more traditional rock numbers and is still played at Maiden gigs today with the band members individually named by the lead singer during Harris's bass-solo.

The single's cover art is famously known as the first official appearance of the band's mascot Eddie the 'ead. However, his face is obscured because the band did not want to unveil their mascot until the album's release. Several band names (Scorpions, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin...) are spray painted on the wall behind the youth in the picture, which may be some of the band's influences.

Running Free is a dirty,gritty,straight forward rocker which never fails to get the crowd going when performed live.I personally love this song as a guitarist due to its simple hard rock riffs and slightly complicated double picking repetitive lead licks which also serve well as a warm up exercise for me.

A classic song that is worth a listen!! So get your ass to the Youtube link below and do what you have to!! 

Dave Murray - Guitar God In The Making