10 Hard Rock Albums That Were Worth The Wait

By 1982, Iron Maiden had themselves a pretty decent line-up.

A legendary line-up of Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Steve Harris, and Nicko McBrain went from strength to strength on albums from 1983's Piece of Mind to 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, gaining laudits and acclaim at each instalment. While Maiden dominated the 80s, the 90s would be a different kind of beast altogether.

At the turn of the decade, guitarist Smith would depart the band citing creative frustrations and four years later, vocalist Dickinson would also follow suit. The kings of UK heavy metal had splintered, and replacements Janick Gers and - sadly more notably - Blaze Bayley could not fill the void left by the high-profile departures.

As the start of the decade began the darker times for the band, the end brought the news that both Dickinson and Smith would rejoin Maiden full time. With Gers remaining, a new three-pronged guitar attack with Dickinson at the helm got to work on album twelve: Brave New World. Fans and critics alike praised the re-energised sound of the band, with an almost sense of relief in hearing Dickinson's signature vocal performance return.