20. Stryper — The Trooper
As a fan of ‘80s metal, for many years I was pretty suspicious of the band Stryper. The Christian metal band violated everything I held dear about the sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll ethos that made the era’s metal bands so darn cool. That changed a few years ago when I listened to an interview with frontman and guitarist Michael Sweet. After hearing him describe the composition and recording process for their breakthrough hit “To Hell With the Devil,” I decided to revisit their catalog. I remember thinking, “this is a darn good metal band.” I then discovered their 2011 covers record The Covering, which contains expert recreations of many great classic rock and metal tunes, including this take on Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper.” Stryper keeps the full throttle of guitar and drums from Maiden’s original. Sweet (smartly) doesn’t try to emulate Bruce Dickinson, but instead sings it in its own voice. It’s a cover that’s bound to win the band a few converts. — Curtis Zimmermann
19. Big D And The Kids Table — Iron Maiden
You wouldn’t know right from the start that this is a ska cover. The drums and guitar sound similar to the original, with a quick tempo and high energy. But then the big band horns kick in. They’re not overpowering the main sound, but they’re enough to signal what this cover’s approach to the song is. Although I associate heavy metal with well, being heavy, the vocals in this cover are actually more scream-y than in the original. This pulls the cover from punk towards screamo territory. Heavy vocals are often accompanied by an escalation of the ska-style instruments, but this doubling down on difference deftly walks a fine line, never tipping into kitsch. — Sara Stoudt
18. Vitamin String Quartet — The Number of the Beast
In the ‘80s, long before disinformation went viral on the Internet, rumor, gossip and bad news coverage led society into a tizzy about numerous manufactured scandals. There was the fear of razor blades in Halloween candy (spoiler alert: never happened). The rumor that the kid from the Life cereal ad died by eating Pop Rocks and drinking a Coke (nope). Perhaps my favorite was the myth that heavy metal music led kids to Satan worship. In reality, all the metal bands were too busy trying to get laid to worship the devil. Iron Maiden’s 1982 smash “The Number of the Beast” played into this fear with its multiple occult references: “Six six six, the number of the beast/Hell and fire was spawned to be released.”
As time has worn on, I can’t help but think the lads were having a little fun with everyone: both playing into the Satanic rumors and mocking them at the same time. Beyond the words themselves, the song has a strong melody, which makes it ideal for an instrumental cover. On their 2003 Iron Maiden tribute album, the Vitamin String Quartet did just that – performing a classically arranged instrumental version. During the intro, one almost can’t help humming along, even without the words. The arrangement still contains enough shrieks and harsh slides on the violin to maintain an aura of menace, even if it doesn’t lead to a moral panic. — Curtis Zimmermann
17. Steve ’n’ Seagulls — Run to the Hills
Opening with accordion and banjo, Finnish country band Steve ‘n’ Seagulls bring the driving energy, if not the electric instrumentation, to Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills.” As the chorus kicks in, the banjo work by Matias Haavisto is truly impressive, speed-running through some tasty licks with a droning accordion in the background. With a rising bridge and reprised penultimate chorus that are more interesting than the original song, this is an incredible version of Iron Maiden’s lyrically challenging but musically catchy classic. — Mike Misch
16. Algal the Bard — Fear of the Dark
One would think it impossible to invent any new musical subgenres, but in the vein of “everything old is new again,” the last decade has seen bardcore, the medievalization of modern music, arise, develop, and thrive. Using lutes, recorders, hurdy gurdies, and other instrumentation of the (auld) day, the best of these covers show us how to party like it’s 1499, with a lilt and a smile. Algal the Bard has made a specialty of these, and “Fear of the Dark” shows him addressing the Maiden wrought of Iron. The melody be fair and shall bring joy to both noble knights and fair maidens across the land. — Patrick Robbins
15. Umphrey’s McGee — The Trooper
One thing about Iron Maiden’s music that strikes me again and again is the band’s capacity to groove. When the drums are pounding and the guitarists are soloing, they can feel like an amped up jamband. So I’m surprised that more jambands haven’t covered them. One of the few jamband covers I’ve come across is Umphrey’s McGee take on “The Trooper” The band captures Maiden’s riffs. Vocally, well, their ambitions outweigh their abilities and they can’t quite hit the high notes. Even so, one only wishes other jambands would follow them down the dark hole into Maiden’s catalog, as there’s plenty of room for improvisation. — Curtis Zimmermann
14. Eläkeläiset — Katkaistu humppa [The Number of the Beast]
My Lordi, the Finns love Heavy Metal. So, even when a bunch of pensioners (the band’s name is the Finnish for “pensioner”) are looking for source material to entertain their fellow like-minded friends, they frequently venture into heavy metal territory. And by “like minded” we mean heavily lubricated people of all ages, looking to dance their way late into the night. They also take their comedy very seriously, as one should. You have to rehearse the difficult music and the comic timing to make this work, mere random chaos neither stirs not entertains. In this version, taken from Swedish TV, the song is overlayed onto the video from the original “Number of the Beast,” making the entertainment (or sacrilege) complete. — Mike Tobyn
13. Damone — Wasted Years
In 2006, while attending graduate school in North Jersey, I worked briefly as a record store clerk. One of the most distinctive songs that I remember from that period was Damone’s orchestral, acoustic take on Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years.” When playing the album Out Here All Night in the store, I would often skip straight to the cover. The string-heavy arrangement, combined with Noelle LeBlanc’s haunting vocals, caught the attention of many shoppers and helped me shift multiple copies of the album. Given that these were the golden years of iPod and iTunes mania, just selling any CD felt like a victory. — Curtis Zimmermann
12. Otu — Gangland
The “in the style of” cover has become a bit of an internet staple in the last decade. There are a number of talented content creators, mostly on YouTube, who take requests from their fans to play a given song in the style of another artist. But Otu is different. Because Otu is Finnish metal musician Olli Suurmuune who, after releasing a straightforward solo album back in 2012, revived this name in 2022 to start putting out albums of “in the style of” covers when he’s not doing his day job in various Finnish and American metal bands. He’s perhaps best known for his Moonic of a Down album featuring pop hits as if they were originally by System of a Down.
For his cover of “Gangland,” everyone’s least favorite track on The Number of the Beast, Otu performs it as if he was American sludge metal/stoner metal band High on Fire. The vocals are shouted with none of Dickinson’s range. The bass is way up in the mix and the guitar is way sludgier. The first guitar solo is simpler and the second is noisy – neither sounds remotely like the classic Maiden guitar sound. Otu leans into both the punkier nature of this Maiden song and also the overall griminess of American sludge. He doubles down on this black sheep of a track and revitalizes it even though he’s doing a bit. That’s because he’s just very good at this. — Riley Haas
11. Yahel & Tammy ft. Riko — Fear of the Dark
Steve Harris may have a literal fear of the dark, and all that may entail. Ghosts and goblins on one level, but also the late-night trip back to the hotel in an unfamiliar city. Earthly as well as unearthly dangers abound after dark, perhaps even in an empty room, with only your imagination for (unreliable) company. Do you know how you could avoid those dangers? You could stay in the nightclub on the holiday island, with other people. Perhaps neon wards off evil spirits. If you don’t invite the vampires into the disco they can’t come in, and if you dance until dawn they won’t be waiting for you outside. Much safer. — Mike Tobyn
