Iron Maiden Albums in Order: All 17 Studio Albums, 1980 to Now

Iron Maiden have released 17 studio albums between 1980 and 2021, starting with Iron Maiden and currently ending with Senjutsu. Three singers, two golden eras, one wilderness period in the mid-90s, and not a single year off the road until the pandemic forced one. Here's the full list in order, with enough context on each to know what you're getting into.

We play this catalogue for a living, so we have opinions. You'll find them below.

The full list

The Di'Anno years (1980-1981)

Iron Maiden (1980) is rawer and punkier than anything the band made afterwards. Paul Di'Anno's snarl suits songs like Running Free and Prowler, and Phantom of the Opera already shows Steve Harris writing seven-minute epics before the band could really afford to.

Killers (1981) sharpened everything. It's the first album with Adrian Smith on guitar and the first with producer Martin Birch, who would shape the band's sound for the next decade. Wrathchild and Murders in the Rue Morgue are still in tribute setlists everywhere, ours included.

The golden run (1982-1988)

This is the stretch that made Iron Maiden the biggest heavy metal band in the world, and honestly, you could hand any of these five albums to a newcomer and not be wrong.

The Number of the Beast (1982) introduced Bruce Dickinson and went straight to number one in the UK. Run to the Hills, the title track, Hallowed Be Thy Name. If you only ever own one Maiden album, it's this or the next one.

Piece of Mind (1983) brought in drummer Nicko McBrain, who's still there 40-odd years later. The Trooper and Flight of Icarus are the singles, but Where Eagles Dare and Still Life reward anyone who listens past track four. Our own Piece of the Beast tour pairs this album with Number of the Beast for a reason: played back to back, they're the sound of a band at full gallop.

Powerslave (1984) has Aces High, 2 Minutes to Midnight and the 13-minute Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and it launched the World Slavery Tour, still one of the most gruelling tours any band has undertaken. Somewhere in Time (1986) added guitar synths and gave us Wasted Years, which might be the most quietly loved song in the whole catalogue. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) is the concept album, a second UK number one, and for a fair few fans the best thing they ever did.

The wobble (1990-1998)

No Prayer for the Dying (1990) swapped Adrian Smith for Janick Gers and stripped the sound back. It's patchy, though Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter somehow became the band's only UK number one single. Fear of the Dark (1992) gave the live set one of its permanent fixtures in the title track, then Bruce left.

The two Blaze Bayley albums, The X Factor (1995) and Virtual XI (1998), get a rough ride and it's not entirely deserved. Sign of the Cross and The Clansman are proper songs, and Bruce sings them happily now. But the production is flat and the band sounded tired. We cover this era in more depth in our deep cuts guide.

The reunion era (2000 to now)

Bruce and Adrian came back in 1999, making Maiden a three-guitar band, and Brave New World (2000) is the sound of everyone remembering why they were good. The Wicker Man and Blood Brothers earned their places in the set immediately.

From there the albums get longer and more progressive: Dance of Death (2003) has Paschendale, one of Harris's best war epics; A Matter of Life and Death (2006) was played front to back on tour, which took some nerve; The Final Frontier (2010) hit number one in 28 countries; and The Book of Souls (2015) was the band's first studio double, closing with the 18-minute Empire of the Clouds, written by Bruce on piano.

Senjutsu (2021) is where the catalogue currently ends. Recorded in Paris in early 2019 and held back through the pandemic, it's 82 minutes of slow-building, moody epics. Not the album to start with, but The Writing on the Wall and the title track have real weight to them.

Where should a new listener start?

Start with The Number of the Beast, then Powerslave, then Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. That triangle covers the anthems, the gallop and the prog. We've written a full beginner's guide to Iron Maiden if you want a proper route through.

Better yet, hear the songs live. With Maiden themselves off UK stages until at least 2028, an evening with a tribute act is the closest you'll get to the real thing. We play over 70 songs from across all 17 albums. See where we're playing next.

Frequently asked questions

How many studio albums do Iron Maiden have?
Seventeen, released between 1980 and 2021. The debut was Iron Maiden in 1980 and the most recent is Senjutsu from September 2021.

What is Iron Maiden's most recent album?
Senjutsu, released on 3 September 2021. It's a double album running 82 minutes, recorded in Paris with producer Kevin Shirley.

Which Iron Maiden album should I listen to first?
The Number of the Beast (1982). It has Run to the Hills and Hallowed Be Thy Name, and it's the album that defined the band's sound once Bruce Dickinson joined.

Who sang for Iron Maiden before Bruce Dickinson?
Paul Di'Anno sang on the first two albums, Iron Maiden (1980) and Killers (1981). Blaze Bayley later covered the two albums Bruce sat out in the 1990s.

Are Iron Maiden releasing a new album?
Nothing has been announced. The band spent 2025 and 2026 on the Run For Your Lives 50th-anniversary tour playing songs from their first nine albums, with no word yet on studio plans.

Last updated: 3 August 2026.