Iron Maiden's BEST Guitar Harmonies (Part1) 

Yes, yes, yes. Imagine it is 1980. Imagine this. You put on the radio you hear disco, pop music, AOR. Punk is fading out, New Wave in Britain is rising. Back in Black is out and everyone goes bananas. Early on in April a band with a weird name, even weirder Cover comes out. You listen to the album and its exciting one song after the other. Eventually you reach Phantom of the Opera and its "what on earth"??? (WTF actually)! The song structure, duration, bass lines, guitar lines. You have been hearing Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Saxon, AC/DC with Bon. But this is different. This is where you become a lifetime fan...

If ever one of the Iron Maiden guitarists kicks the bucket , you'll have my vote of confidence to take his place.

Harmonizing guitars are the main reason I truly fell in love with Maiden. I wish they would still do them more often. Songs like "Déjà Vu" or "Only the Good Die Young" are so damn fun because of the nonstop harmonizing riffs.

Totally agree on seventh son having the best harmony in any Iron maiden song. That whole instrumental part is just magic. It's right up there with the pre-chorus of the evil that men do for best moment in any maiden song.

The loneliness of the long distance runner 2:26 the best music ever

It's a shame the stopped playing harmonies....My favourite ever is the acoustic outro of The Prophecy..there is some real magic in it.

I really never got into Iron Maiden until the Somewhere In Time record came out. I missed a couple of years before that record. Not sure why I didn’t notice them much before then. Wasted Years was what did it for me.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son might be my all time favourite Maiden song. The second half is just majestic.

Infinite Dreams has my favourite guitar harmony. Gives me the feels every time

Great work. You deserve more subs!

So true. The harmonies at the end of "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" are the best thing that heavy metal has ever seen. No band, not even Iron Maiden themselves, will ever top that level of classic metal majesty.

Seventh Son is the favorite song to me. Especially the part you played here is amazing.

EVH made taps popular, tony iommi, made heavy riffs popular, and iron maiden put harmonies on the map for guitarists

Thank you for ALL your work on everything. But especially for this. The harmonies... Maybe my #1 reason for loving Maiden's music. I cannot wait for the 2nd part !

Awesome list, Nico! If I may, here are 5 harmonies I love: 5. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner 1:53-2:24 4. Rime of the Ancient Mariner 10:07-10:33 3. Fear is the Key 3:07-3:25 2. Fortunes of War 4:38-5:02 1. When the Wild Wind Blows 9:03-9:28 (which is also a bass harmony!) Cheers!

I very much enjoyed it thanks. I didn't want phantom of the opera to end😁

I knew it! The harmonies at the end of Seventh son of a seventh son have always been top on the list but I could never pick just five... No way! The song itself has so much darkness and seriousness as well as an epic quality to it that when those harmonies come in, the whole mood changes and it's as though a bright ray of light shines down and washes all that darkness away. 👍👍👍👍

how i love the harmonies in phantom of the opera, especially live with 3 guitars

Mine favorite parts will always be The Duellists & Big Orra & Flash of the blade and many more

Flash of the Blade, Deja Vu, The Prophecy and Montsegur definitely need mentions.. phenomenal guitar work in those songs and some of the most underrated

aren't Maiden harmonies just the BEST!!! loved the song selections!!

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was so impressive! And Revelations is such a close second, sounds so beautiful!

The harmony at the start of deja vu is beautiful too

Phantom of the opera's harmony was what got me into maiden. But my all time favorite is the one in run silent run deep.

Guitar harmonies are one of the key reasons Maiden sound like they do. To get those harmonies in tune is an amazing feat. Congratulations sir!

Phantom of the Opera harmony is my favorite all time guitar harmony. Especially like the version on live after death.

Its also so fun to hear them playing three guitar harmonies on their old songs that they play live today, just wish they would play more songs from Somewhere in time, those songs would be so good with adding a third guitar for those maniac melodies 🤘

Man, killer picks. The Afraid to Shoot Strangers harmony is ridiculously powerful, especially with those keyboards alongside it. I suppose you didn't touch on anything from Somewhere in Time in this video because that record probably deserves a whole video by itself :)

By no means am I a great guitarist, I play for fun, but what I enjoy is coming up with a riff & figuring out how to play it on different parts of the guitar, it gives a sense of accomplishment & opens up different options, it helps figure out the structure of a potential song or an already established song that I'm trying to figure out on my own! This is 1 of the many reasons I love Iron Maiden, they play variations of similar riffs! Great video, triple Nico is pretty epic👍

I really love the harmonies from purgatory

Absolutely love the last 3 mins of seventh son, it's one of the most beautiful piece of music i have ever heard 😅

It's so hard to pick one. It's like you said, when we think about Maiden the first thing that comes to our mind instantly are dual guitar harmonies, and man... Adrian and Dave are masters on that subject. Out of all these excellent choices, 7th Son is my favourite! There's just something on that song, and album that I can't quite explain. The only way I can describe that album is like "a planetary alignment of some sort, that most bands can't replicate, and even if they do, that only happens once in a life time". Curious to see the next episode 😁

You´re right Nico, that final part of 7th son is incredible, wonderful and sophisticated at the same time. So hard to choose among many, their range is vast, you find them in almost every song.

Killer playing man, especially 7th son🤘🤘🎸

some of my favorite parts of these Maiden songs are the harmonies, I love how Steve weaves these harmonies into their songs. And they are way too much fun to play, love this series Nico...

Great choices Nico. Always loved that Revelations section, and as for Seventh Son....I totally agree, best 3 minutes of music ever, now I have to go listen to the album this morning :)

Afraid to Shoot Strangers is a fav of mine, and you’re right, it goes even harder live. Saw it in 2012 and was amazed.

Watching the videos of them playing Seventh son live on the 13/14' tour you can definitely see how powerful the three-guitar harmony is when played live. It always make my heart rate go up. I wish they'd play that again, although it's rather unlikely. Cheers, Nico!

Nico Number 1!!! In the next Part I hope for the inclusion of "The Duellists" interlude, so good.

All Maiden is magical, but my favorite harmony is the double decent,then double build up to the lead in gangland. Love it, love it

Best band, best channel

February 2000, I came from school and find a show being broadcasted on tv. Got instantly hooked by the sound and started recording on a VHS tape. Later I found out to be Iron Maiden’s Maiden England 88. Listened to that seventh son harmony to the point that I almost worn out the tape LOL.

Personally, Infinite Dreams is my favorite all round. The harmony in that song is just too good imo

I really love how these analyses make me appreciate old songs with new perspectives! I always knew something quirky was going on in "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Another Maiden trademark (although not necessarily a harmony section) is how Steve will occasionally join the guitars in the bridge of a song, eg. "Aces High" or "Hallowed Be Thy Name". I feel it makes the riff sound even more "massive". And a testament to Steve's skill too--imagine doubling Adrian, Dave and Janick in live tempo on a bass!

Among their best harmonies, Flash of the Blade!

Afraid to shoot strangers is one of the most underrated tracks of IM. In my opinion is on the top 10.

Phantom of the Opera harmony is the most eargasmic one in my opinion.

Maaaan its extremely difficult to make that list… but is even harder to make it sound like you just did! Congratulations Nico, it sounds like a beast every single riff.

I was praying for your number one. Completely agree, 3 minutes of absolute magic.

The whole ending part on Seventh Son is just phenomenal!

Alexander the Great, the one before the main solo.

Totally 100% agree with your no1 choice. Was wondering if it was going to be 7th son and it was. Your stock just went up👌. Nice job. Like to note there's so many fun and great sounding variants you can do to that melody. But hey, why mess with perfection.

I knew the first as soon as I saw the vídeo title. Its also my favorite... waiting for a part 2...

love it! - Afraid to shoot Strangers is one of my favourites. Your sound is great!

As always, amazing work!!🤘

Great work!

Yes. Oh yes!! Yes again.....Fuck yeah, and finally.....OMFG YESSSSSSS!! We are spoiled for choice really, but hard to disagree with anything in there. SSOASS is just sheer magic from start to end. I absolutely love Adrian's tone. Dave's higher melody lines usually get the love, but you just have to tune your ear out slightly and hone in on what Adrian is playing....it's sublime!!

Great work as ever

Amazing!

That’s so good! Thank you!

Great selecton. I must admit, I'm weak for the harmony section in The Duelists after H's solo, lol.

Brilliant video, thanks so much

Beautiful ...

Indeed, these Seventh son's melodies are colossal!100% with you!Welldone!

Great list, great explanation and great execution... as usual! Looking forward to part 2 and 3 and ...

That vid was very enjoyable, badass! Cheers! Up The Irons!

Great choices, especially No. 1! Really looking forward to Part 2

Just craving for that 2nd part man! Awesome and inspiring list

Middle of Powerslave next hopefully 🙏

Espectacular video 🔥🔥🔥

Great picks

Losfer Words is the most sophisticated, going out of armonizing rules (Adrian's input for sure) and Sun and Steel one is total Maiden for me, this one goes over a chromatic chord progression. Cheers.

AWSOME. JUST AWSOME. WOW.

Fantastico Nico, si può essere più o meno d'accordo sui primi cinque posti, ma il modo in cui li analizzi fa venire voglia di riascoltare con sempre più attenzione questi brani e queste armonizzazioni su cui a volte non facciamo tanta attenzione nonostante fin da piccoli li abbiamo ascoltato e riascoltati fino a rovinarne i dischi e i nastri. Non mi aspettavo Murder. Ma è fantastica quindi che dire ... Grazie!

You make it look so easy!

Splendid..!

hard to choose only five, great video Nico

Wow! Those would be exactly the same parts I would have picked!!! We hear the Maiden same way, thanks so much. You have the class and talent to do these videos just the right way :)

Love your choices, can't wait for the next part:). This music is just so awesome🤩! Great job Nico, you're the one

That's a great list! I also was fascinated as soon as i heard those harmonies in Revelations. They're the reason it's one of my favorites from Piece of Mind

Revalations. Beautiful song and beautiful lyrics. Probably my favourite Maiden song.

Brutal my friend. Nice selection and I agree with the last one, the final section of seventh is hell of a fun to play.

Revelations.... Such a lovely harmony!

Man, I've already told you in the past that you are in my mind!!! You feel maiden music as I feel to! You are the man that I can talk about maiden music as I talk to myself! Please, on the next part, include one of the best ever maiden melodies...Judgement of Heaven...

Awesome list. I think the seventh son ending is just ahead of the deja-vu mid section for me. Would love to see it in the next video

You never fail to impress me with how much effort goes into your videos. Great stuff again, thanks

Some great harmonies! I really like Revelations, and today I have been listening to Revelations by Dragonforce which is great too-and very melodic!

Just brilliant man! Thank you for teaching me a thing or fifteen!

Great List! Revelations is my fav Maiden song of all time and I‘m glad you included it :)

Mitico Nico 🚀🚀

Beautiful goldtop

Thank you nicko... Regards

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!! BRILLIANT VIDEO, NICO!! I have NEVER anticipated a video so much in my life!!! My favourite Maiden era is from 1980-1988 so I love this!!

#1 is Amazing!!! So lyrical , it put a spell on me when i first heard it

Nico, adoro o seu trabalho, não pare nunca!!

Absolutely fantastic video Nico! 7th sons ending is as good as music can be made...everything together building it up is pure magic. UP THE IRONS 🤘

Awesome 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

That was such ear candy to listen to... Thank You!

This is probably my favorite of your videos yet and I can tell it will be a fantastic series! Thank you for the perfect performances, this made my week! It’s very rewarding being a fan of your channel. Hope I can shake your hand someday Nico!

Totally agree. Indeed the number one is a masterpiece. Best Nico! Keep the nice work and just don’t bother with the haters!