Iron Maiden Side Projects

So for some reason today I felt inspired to try and track down the "before/after I was in Maiden" projects of basically whoever I could find. Some of these are more obscure than others, like the relatively low-fi recording of early Bruce Dickinson with the band Speed. And others, like Samson specifically are relatively known within the old school metal community. This will probably be easier if I just go through one by one (in no particular order). Keep in mind that I didn't include any of Bruce Dickinson, Blaze, or Paul Di'Anno's actual solo material because these are more mainstream and easy to find.

Gogmagog: This is a super group of sorts made up of Paul Di'Anno and Janick Gers and Clive Burr of Maiden along with a guy from Def Leppard and another guy from White Snake/Sabbath. You'll want to hear this one, its not super shitty and very interesting hearing these people playing together. I like the energy in these songs, especially "It's Illegal, It's Immoral" a lot. Reminds me a lot of Arena anthem-oriented bands, but these songs are pretty amusing too. Here

Speed: I don't know shit about this band. But I do know Bruce Dickinson sings on these two songs, so if you are a Maiden fan its for sure at least worth listening to. They have a pretty bluesy sound. Maybe you'll be down. Here

Pyscho Motel: This is another one of Adrian Smith's side projects that doesn't even come close to rivaling Maiden, however this one is certainly better than ASAP (that is just one super fucking cheesy record). I haven't really listened to this whole record yet, but this band has a really have alternative almost grungy hard rock sound. For sure worth a listen for Maiden fans, especially because Smith is an awesome guitarist and I love his leads. Plus Dave Murray is featured on at least one of the tracks (With You Again). By the way, this is their second album. Here

White Spirit: This is Janick Gers band before Maiden (well actually I think he played with Bruce's solo group first). It actually isn't bad. Mind you there are some cheesy keyboards that may make you chuckle at the time period, but I enjoyed listening to this one. Plus some of those cheesy keyboard hooks are actually really fucking catchy, especially on "Red Skies". Also listen to the first track "Midnight Chaser" and try to tell me that it doesn't sound exactly like Maiden's "Two Minutes To Midnight." Anyways, you should actually download this one it's worth having. Here

Wolfsbane: This was Maiden's third singer Blaze Bayley's original band. Personally, I love Blaze and like his work with Maiden and post-Maiden better. However, it is always fun to hear people's roots. Wolfsbane is a little poppier than Blaze's other stuff but it isn't awful. I actually like some of it a lot, the only problem is that it is relatively generic, which makes sense as this definitely still rests in Blaze's formative years as a vocalist.. Just give it a listen and judge it then. Here

Xero: This is actually the first one I found today. Supposedly Bruce Dickinson is singing on one of the tracks, but its actually pretty hard to tell on this pretty early recording. Still definitely need to give this one a couple more listen, but figured I may as well post it with the rest. Here

Samson: This was Bruce's first "big" band before Maiden. I'm getting lazy now so you can look this one up on your own if you want more information. But you should know that the drummer's name is Thunderstick. Yeah. Enjoy

I'll post more stuff if I find it later, but this should do for now.