After a... longer and slightly more sudden hiatus than planned, Bledd and Sam are coming home to talk about all things Iron Maiden. Before we get stuck in to The X Factor and Virtual XI (and boy, do we get stuck in), join us for a bit of a chat about current band events* and Bruce Dickinson's UK tour.

(*Not that current, as this was recorded just before the 'Run For Your Lives' tour announcement. Classic.)

We're excited to be back... again!

This week, we're continuing our foray into Bruce Dickinson's swansong with Maiden, 'Fear of the Dark'. How does it compare to the album before? And is it a fitting note for Maiden's iconic frontman to end on (for now)? Join us and find out!

Only a week later than originally billed, Sam and Bledd dive in to Maiden's proggiest album to date - Seventh Son of A Seventh Son. Is it actually that proggy? Is it even a concept album? Who knows - the only thing we're sure of is there'll be synths galore.

With the Maiden lads having kicked off The Future Past Tour, Bledd and Sam take a break from their usual album analysis to mark the occasion instead.

Instead, join us as we put together our dream Maiden gigs, covering everything from set-lists to just how many pyro displays go off.

On this week's ep, Sam and Blev continue to get in to the weeds on Maiden's ode to guitar-synths, 'Somewhere In Time', and lavish praise on Adrian smith.

This week, Blev and Sam kick off their discussion on one of Maiden's oddly less talked about albums. Join them as they delve in to a world replete with Adrian Smith's songwriting and guitar synths.

On this week's edition, Blev and Sam get in to the weeds of the songs on Powerslave and ask the big questions, like does an album really need two songs about sword-fighting? (Spoiler: no)

Alright, now we're getting to the good stuff. Back to the albums proper. This week, Blev and Sam delve in to the background behind one of Maiden's most iconic albums, Powerslave.

After an *ahem* extended break, your Maiden Voyagers are back. Join Blev and Sam as they catch up on all things Maiden, lay out a couple of plans and just generally dust off a few cobwebs before getting started on the next slate of albums.

In the season one finale, Blev and Sam continue their excavation of Iron Maiden's fourth album, 'Piece of Mind'. Join them as they attempt to come to terms with the artistic dichotomy between tracks like 'The Trooper' and 'Quest For Fire'.

While this is the end of the first set of episodes, don't fret. Maiden Voyagers will be back towards the end of February with more pedantic opinions!

In this week's episode, Blev and Sam jump in to Iron Maiden's fourth album. Filled with some of the band's biggest classics, join them as they give Piece of Mind a piece of their mind. 

Join Blev and Sam on the final part of their discussion on all things The Number of the Beast - featuring the all new segment 'Lawsuit'!

Right. No more detours. We're charting the good ship Maiden Voyagers on a course back to the band's studio albums.

But what about Iron Maiden themselves? After the uh... mixed 'No Prayer For The Dying', can the band course correct with 'Fear of the Dark'? Join Bledd and Sam as they fare the rising tides of the '90s and Bruce Dickinson hops out on a life boat.

Join Blev and Sam as they continue their deep dive in to one of Iron Maiden's biggest artistic statements, The Number of the Beast, in this second of three parts.

Join Blev and Sam as they finally tackle the addition of Bruce Dickinson to the Iron Maiden fold in the first of this three-parter on the all-time classic 'The Number of the Beast'.

Blev and Sam take a brief pause from their regularly scheduled album deep-dives to have a chat about some (semi) recent goings-on in the world of Iron Maiden. 

On this week's episode, Blev and Sam continue their deep dive in to Iron Maiden's second album, Killers. Join them as they delve in to the album's tracks in borderline excruciating detail.

This week, join Blev and Sam as they start to delve in to the difficult second album, Killers. As well as covering the run-up to the album's release and the various band tensions that come with it, Blev quizzes Sam on obscure trivia and Sam attempts to fact-check some of the many question marks left over from Eps 1 and 2.

This week, Blev and Sam continue their deep dive in to the early years of Iron Maiden. Join them as they discuss the band's first full length release and classics such as "Iron Maiden"... off the album "Iron Maiden"... by the band "Iron Maiden".

In the debut episode, join Blev and Sam as they dive into the early days of Iron Maiden and everything that led up to the band's genre defining debut album.

In a slight change to our scheduled programming, we're not jumping in to 'Fear of the Dark' just yet. Instead, Bledd and Sam talk all things 'The Mandrake Project' - including their ultimate fanboy experience of meeting Bruce Dickinson at the album's launch event. Good times!

After a... little break, Bledd and Sam are back to continue their voyage through Iron Maiden's storied discography. Honestly though, they needed that time to steel themselves for the choppy waters of Maiden in the 1990s.

But first, before they get in to the rumbling waves of Fear of the Dark, join the two seafarers as they talk shop about Maiden current affairs (well, "current" to January, when this episode was recorded) and put Bledd's trivia knowledge to the test.

It's the final episode of the season! Join Bledd and Sam as they cast a critical eye on 'No Prayer For The Dying' and round up the ranking results for the discog so far.

No Adrian, no synths - it's all change in the Iron Maiden camp as the 1990s rear their head. Join Bledd and Sam as they jump in to the band's 'No Prayer For The Dying'.

It might get bumpy.

For this week only, Maiden Voyagers becomes... Dickinson's Voyagers? Dickinson's Detours?

We couldn't decide on a name.

But ahead of delving in to Iron Maiden's 'No Prayer For The Dying', Bledd and Sam take a moment to analyse frontman Bruce Dickinson's first solo effort. Marking a stylistic departure of sorts for Dickinson and introducing guitarist Janick Gers, it certainly lays the groundwork for Maiden's next release.

In a slight departure from our scheduled program, Bledd and Sam take the opportunity to reflect on Iron Maiden's Future Past Tour (again) now that it's wrapped-up (and they actually attended a show). Join them for a tale of Dixie Chicken and Utilita Arena. 

Just as a small disclaimer, this episode was recorded before Nicko went public with his health issues. We discuss some of his playing, but obviously that vital context is missing so do please keep that in mind. Wishing Nicko all the best in his recovery - what a beast!

In our second part of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Bledd and Sam spend far too much time analysing one of Iron Maiden's most renowned albums. But does it live up to the hype?

I mean, yes. Obvs. But still, let's talk about why it's so good.

It's all change in the Iron Maiden camp... again. Exit Bruce Dickinson and enter Blaze Bayley of Wolfsbane.

Recorded way back in the distant past (well, okay, spring this year), you can finally join Bledd and Sam as they jump in to the next chapter of Maiden history. New singer, new album, same old hijinks?

It's the new millennium and, yet again, it's all change in the Maiden camp. Goodbye Blaze and hello Bruce... and Adrian. 

Yes, this week Bledd and Sam start delving in to the "reunion" album, 'Brave New World'. But is it a reunion if the band never broke up? All these questions and more answered in this episode of Maiden Voyagers.

The scene is set for Iron Maiden's next foray in to the late '90s music scene. Join Bledd and Sam as this week they go through 'Virtual XI' in agonising track-by-track detail.

It can't be as bad as it's rep, can it?

...can it?

It's 1998. It's nearly the new millennium. Virtual reality is all the rage (sort of). France '98 (the footie world cup) is imminent.

And who else is better placed to bring all these disparate elements together in to one cohesive artistic statement? Why, only Iron Maiden of course.

This week, Sam and Bledd start exploring the second album of a new era of Maiden - Virtual XI. Join them as they take a perhaps unsurprisingly skeptical glance at the band's follow up to The X Factor. 

Alright, time to get down to brass tacks (or whatever the expression is). This week, we continue our look into one of Iron Maiden's most maligned albums - the first featuring young upstart, Blaze Bayley.

Join Bledd and Sam as they reflect on Blaze trying to fill some of the biggest boots in heavy metal and whether 'The X Factor' deserves its negative rep.

In our last episode of the year, Bledd and Sam get to grips with what really matters about 'Brave New World' - the music.

Join them as Bledd swoons over the album and Sam complains that every song is too long. (Spoilers, much?)

Despite our slightly chaotic release schedue, this is arbitrarily the start of a new season (there is some kind of logic to it, I promise).

So with that out the way, join Bledd and Sam as they catch up on all things Maiden from departures to tours, before they get started on a whole new slew of albums.

Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Or you can email the show on maidenvoyagerspod@gmail.com

You can also help top up our Trooper fund on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/maidenvoyagers 

Okay, okay, we're finally back to round out "Season 3" with our definitive* history of Iron Maiden's first venture in to the world of gaming, Ed Hunter. Or is that Melt? 

Join Sam and Bledd as they go in to the troubled development of the game and use the term "zeitgeisty" so often that it loses all meaning.

*May not actually be definitive

Before voyaging back in to the albums proper, Bledd and Sam continue their detour with another special guest interview.

In this week's episode, we welcome Serena Cherry, vocalist of post-metal band Svalbard and mastermind of black metal outfit Noctule.

Join the three of us as we cover everything from difficult midsize band syndrome, the unfair stigma surrounding power metal and how it wasn't cool to like Iron Maiden in the 2000s.

For the uninitiated, check out both Svalbard and Noctule on their Bandcamp pages. 

Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Or you can email the show on maidenvoyagerspod@gmail.com

You can also help top up our Trooper fund on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/maidenvoyagers 

In another slight change to the usual proceedings, we're taking a bit of a detour on our Maiden voyage. This time, we're joined by our first ever guest - Graeme Farmer, guitarist of heavy metal band, Seven Sisters.

Join Bledd and Sam as they interrogate Graeme about Seven Sisters, Iron Maiden and how his experience with the band has impacted his own musical journey. Enjoy!

The new Seven Sisters album, 'Shadow of a Fallen Star Pt. 2', is out 28 March and the lads are touring the UK in May.

Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Or you can email the show on maidenvoyagerspod@gmail.com

You can also help top up our Trooper fund on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/maidenvoyagers 

Sam's tonsilitis be damned, we are finally back on air! And we are also finally ready to tackle Iron Maiden's 2003 album 'Dance of Death'.

The second since Bruce's reunion, does it measure up to the loft bar set by 'Brave New World'? With Bledd and Sam's views so coloured by nostalgia, does it even matter? Find out all this and more!

Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Or you can email the show on maidenvoyagerspod@gmail.com

You can also help top up our Trooper fund on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/maidenvoyagers 

This week, our Maiden Voyagers find themselves dancing with the dead as they leap in to... well, 'Dance of Death'. Join Bledd and Sam as they go through the album itself proper, bask in their collective nostalgia and offer some unsolicited advice on how you could make the album better. Oo-er.

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Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Or you can email the show on maidenvoyagerspod@gmail.com

You can also help top up our Trooper fund on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/maidenvoyagers 

Yes, yes, these episode titles are getting bad. What do you want from me?

This week, we're joined by Adam Blackwood, vocalist of gnarly death metal band Angron. Join us as we chat all things guttural and the influence of Maiden's songwriting, while Sam says 'like' far too much. There's a lot of laughs, too. Lovely stuff.

You can find Angron's music on Bandcamp and Spotify, plus follow them on Instagram.

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Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Or you can email the show on maidenvoyagerspod@gmail.com

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It's an unexpected bumper bill of an episode!

With the Run For Your Lives tour in full swing and Maiden marking their 50th anniversary, we thought what better way to mark the occasion than jump all the way right to the studio beginning with 'The Soundhouse Tapes'? We dive into the EP's history, its legacy and of course the music itself.

But that's not all! We've got a hype check on the current tour, some very exciting podcast news, a brief return of Pedant's Corner and of course Be Quiz or Be Dead. Get stuck in!

SPOILER WARNING: We discuss the Run For Your Lives setlist between 06:10 - 14:25, so avoid that if you've somehow managed to avoid hearing what's on the tour so far!

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Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Let's rewind the clock a bit. We've covered Brave New World already - but in the immediate aftermath of Bruce Dickinson's return to Iron Maiden, what happened to Blaze Bayley? Well, who better to tell us than the man himself.

Determined to forge onwards, Blaze immediately got to work putting together his solo debut, Silicon Messiah. A slab of heavy and traditional metal, the album has seen a real resurgence in recent years, but how Silicon Messiah received at the time? Blaze Bayley joins us to tell all as we delve right in to it.

A huge thank you to Blaze for joining us and for his management making it happen - it was a real treat for us. You can keep up to date on everything Blaze at BlazeBayley.net

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Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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Is it just me or does it feel like this season is lasting forever? But hey, after another impromptu break for unexplained reasons (blame life), we are back to provide your regularly scheduled Iron Maiden-themed idiocy. Well, sort of..!

This week, Bledd and Sam recount their pilgrimage down to That London to catch the lads play one hell of a homecoming show. They also take a little bit of a detour to comment on another homecoming show, Black Sabbath's Back to the Beginning and take a moment to discuss Ozzy's legacy following his recent passing. 

...what's that? You're still waiting for A Matter of Life and Death? Look, it's coming. We promise. But first this. And then More Balls to Picasso. Why? Because it's our show and we can make all the terrible decisions we want.

(Please keep listening to our nonsense)

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This week, your voyagers continue their trip into Bruce Dickinson's solo discography with their second part exploring Balls to Picasso and its recent reimagining, the imaginatively titled More Balls to Picasso.

Join them as they dive in to the material proper this time, both in its original and gussied up 2025 forms, along with some other nonsense.

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With its recent reimagined re-release, it seemed only fitting that Bledd and Sam take a look at Bruce Dickinson's idiosyncratic second album, Balls To Picasso.

Join the Maiden Voyagers in the first of this two part side-quest as they look at the album's troubled development and discuss the two other albums that could have been!

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They said it'd never happen! They said it couldn't be done! They said the podcast was dead!

They were wrong!

...ahem.

Yes, faithful listeners, we are finally back to tackle Iron Maiden's 2006 album, A Matter of Life and Death. For whatever reason, recording these episodes was completely cursed but we finally got a chance to sit down at the end of last year and crack on. 

And boy, do we waffle on. Both episodes on the album are dead long, so join us as we make up for a few months of inactivity with a couple of bumper episodes - Part 2 drops next week!

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Enjoy the show? Join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

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You didn't think we were going to make you wait two weeks, did you? Oh, you. No, this time we're being uncharacteristically ahead of time and jumping back in to Iron Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death. No albums left behind!

This is the last episode for this "season", we're going to regroup a little and figure out what's coming next (other than The Final Frontier, of course). It's been lovely hearing from you all since last week's episode, we'll try not to be gone too long!

In the meantime, if you like what you do, why not support us in some way? You could join the Maiden Voyagers community on social media:

Instagram: @maidenpod Bluesky: @maidenpod.bsky.social X: @maidenpod

Or you can email the show on maidenvoyagerspod@gmail.com

You can also help top up our Trooper fund on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/maidenvoyagers 

Anything helps make us more visible!