{"id":31656,"date":"2025-09-19T14:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/31656\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T14:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:58:09","slug":"nine-classic-deep-cuts-iron-maiden-need-to-dust-off-for-their-2026-run-for-your-lives-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/31656\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine classic deep cuts Iron Maiden need to dust off for their 2026 Run For Your Lives shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Iron\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/a><\/p>\n

The Beast are back! One year after kicking off their blockbuster 50th-anniversary Run For Your Lives shows in arenas and stadium across Europe, Iron Maiden<\/a> will return to their native continent for a victory lap of epic proportions<\/a>. Their 11 2026 summer dates will bring the tour \u2013 where they\u2019re set to continue playing material exclusively from their first nine albums, Iron Maiden to Fear Of The Dark<\/a> \u2013 to new markets such as Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. Plus, they\u2019ll return to Paris\u2019 La D\u00e9fense Arena for a spectacular where phones will be banned and filming for an upcoming release will take place, and there\u2019s a mysterious UK date on July 11 to look forward to.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, with their second go around Europe, Maiden will shake up their setlist and pull out some long-unplayed stuff. Here are our suggestions for what they should dust off. And, if you want more Maiden coverage from us here at Hammer, make sure you grab our new issue, which contains exclusive interviews with Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris that explore the heavy metal<\/a> titans\u2019 five-decade history. Order now and get it delivered directly to your doorstep. <\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Metal\n<\/p>\n

Remember Tomorrow (Iron Maiden, 1980)<\/p>\n

As of 2025, it\u2019s been exactly 20 years since Maiden last treated a live audience to Remember Tomorrow. Frankly, that\u2019s criminal. This slow-burning ballad may be a Paul Di\u2019Anno-era track, but it\u2019s perfectly suited to the vocal range of his successor Bruce Dickinson, as it rises from pensive verses to hardy riffing, backed by bombastic cries of \u201cFiiiiiiiiire!\u201d Plus, if you want evidence of how beloved this debut album number is, it\u2019s been covered by fucking Metallica<\/a>. Get on it boys!<\/p>\n

Another Life (Killers, 1981)<\/p>\n

Initially, Maiden couldn\u2019t get enough of playing this Killers<\/a> ripper. Another Life was a fixture of their setlist after the album came out, even persisting into the first full-length tour with Dickinson in 1982. After that, though, it would take 23 years and a leg of shows dedicated to material only from the band\u2019s first four albums for it to rear its head again. Now, it\u2019s been another two decades since it last got busted out, and it\u2019s increasingly looking like a \u2018now or never\u2019 situation.<\/p>\n

22 Acacia Avenue (The Number Of The Beast, 1982)<\/p>\n

There are songs from breakthrough opus The Number Of The Beast<\/a> that Maiden have never played, namely Invaders and Gangland. However, they\u2019re a bit wank. So instead we\u2019re nominating 22 Acacia Avenue. This proggy saunter into the brothel where Charlotte The Harlot works has gone unperformed since 2003, despite it flaunting the vocal heroics of Dickinson and the masterful songwriting of guitarist Adrian Smith. For all its winding riffs and tempo changes, it still has that excellent \u201c22, the avenue!\u201d hook at its heart.<\/p>\n

Sun And Steel (Piece Of Mind, 1983)<\/p>\n

The rarest of the rare. In the more-than-40 years since Piece Of Mind<\/a> came out, The Beast have never once brought Sun And Steel to the stage, and that\u2019s a damn shame. This late-in-the-tracklist entry is a barrelling rocker. It matches its high energy with words about the excitement and violence of a good sword fight (unsurprisingly, lyricist Dickinson started competing in fencing championships just a couple years later). Bring this out during next year\u2019s tour and we\u2019ll see who the real Maiden aficionados are.<\/p>\n

Flash Of The Blade (Powerslave, 1984)<\/p>\n

Bloody hell, another sword fighting song?! Yes, but with just cause: Flash Of The Blade is badass. From those opening tap-along guitars to the lyrics about St George and dragons, through the virtuosic soloing, this Powerslave<\/a> number almost bleeds adrenaline. By the time that closing chorus kicks in with its army of backing vocals, we feel exhilarated enough to benchpress a tectonic plate. Somehow, Flash\u2026 has never once graced a Maiden setlist, so imagine the stadium-wide joy when that riff finally kicks in.<\/p>\n

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The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner (Somewhere In Time, 1986)<\/p>\n

Maiden played Loneliness\u2026 on the very first date of the 1986 Somewhere In Time world tour, then immediately shelved it. It\u2019s remained on the sidelines ever since, to the chagrin of diehard fans and even some band members themselves. Harris told Classic Rock<\/a> in 2023, \u201cThat\u2019s something I would love to play.\u201d Respectfully, do it you cowards! That slick lead guitar, those sprinting verses, those empowering howls of \u201cI\u2019ve got to keep running!\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s all so fucking good! And it needs to come back.<\/p>\n

Infinite Dreams (Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, 1988)<\/p>\n

Seventh Son\u2026<\/a> was the prog metal apex Maiden had been building towards since their debut, and songs like Infinite Dreams \u2013 with its six-minute run-time, tonal shifts and lack of a chorus \u2013 showed it. The monolith was a fixture of the band\u2019s 1988 world tour, but hasn\u2019t been heard live since. Even their 2013\u201314 setlist, which emphasised Seventh Son\u2026 material above all else, ignored it. Who knows, now could be Maiden\u2019s very last chance to dig this buried treasure up for their shows.<\/p>\n

Tailgunner (No Prayer For The Dying, 1990)<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all heard your jokes about how naff No Prayer For The Dying<\/a> is, and it seems Maiden have too: the last time they played something from it was when they added Bring Your Daughter\u2026 to their 2003 setlist. The one No Prayer\u2026 song that almost matches the band\u2019s former glory is Tailgunner, which weaves through complex riffs and a punchy chorus. Given it\u2019s not been performed since 1992, why not give this diamond in the rough a well-deserved and long-overdue dust-off?<\/p>\n

Be Quick Or Be Dead (Fear Of The Dark, 1992)<\/p>\n

Fear Of The Dark isn\u2019t the strongest Maiden album, but it\u2019s been immortalised by its stone-cold classic of a title track. Why the hell hasn\u2019t Be Quick Or Be Dead enjoyed even a sniff of that recognition? Released as a single in 1992, this is a no-holds-barred thrasher where Dickinson tears into contemporary politics, and it\u2019s arguably the most alive the band sounded that decade. It\u2019s languished in retirement since 1993 and needs to come back, especially with its lyrics remaining tragically relevant in the 2020s.<\/p>\n

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\"Iron\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/a>Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives 2026 tour dates:<\/p>\n

May 23: Athens OAKA, Greece
May 26: Sofia Vasil Levski Stadium, Bulgaria
May 28: Bucharest Arena Na\u021bional\u0103, Romania
May 30: Bratislava N\u00e1rodn\u00fd Futbalov\u00fd \u0160tadi\u00f3n, Slovakia
Jun 02: Hannover Heinz von Heiden Arena, Germany
Jun 10: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Jun 17: Milan San Siro Stadium, Italy
Jun 22: Paris La D\u00e9fense Arena, France
Jun 28: Lyon-D\u00e9cines Groupama Stadium, France
Jul 07: Lisbon Est\u00e1dio da Luz, Portugal
Jul 11: TBA, UK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Image credit: Future) The Beast are back! One year after kicking off their blockbuster 50th-anniversary Run For Your…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-31656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}