By Meltdown | 101 WRIF Detroit
If you’re into deep dives on heavy metal and rock history, there’s one name you probably already know: Martin Popoff. The guy’s written over 130 books on everyone from Rush to Dio to Van Halen—and now he’s dropped a beast of a new book on one of the biggest bands in metal: Iron Maiden.
I had the chance to talk to Martin recently, and I’ll be honest—this dude is a walking metal encyclopedia. His latest book, Hallowed By Their Name, clocks in at 666 pages. Yes… 666. Metal doesn’t get more on-brand than that.
“I want every chapter to be about the albums,” Martin told me. “From the production, to the cover art, to every single track… I want people to read about an album and go throw it on while they’re reading.”
📚 A True Fan’s Deep Dive
Now, I thought Martin had already written a Maiden book—turns out he had, kind of. But this new one is the definitive version.
“It’s actually an amalgamation of three earlier, self-published books,” he explained. “But now it’s a full-on biography, with added chapters on Senjutsu and Bruce Dickinson’s Mandrake Project, plus over 400 color photos.”
This isn’t just secondhand info from press releases, either. Martin’s been talking to the guys in Maiden since the ‘90s.
“I’ve probably interviewed the band more than 30 times,” he said. “But I also bring in other press material, reviews, my own analysis… I never want to write a rock book without actually interviewing the band.”
🛫 Global Domination, Maiden-Style
We got to talking about Maiden’s global impact. Let’s face it—they’re one of the few metal bands that can sell out massive stadiums anywhere in the world.
“To me, they’re the most cosmopolitan metal band out there,” Martin said. “They go to places no one else plays—South America, Asia, all over Europe. Bruce flying the plane on the Flight 666 tour? That just made it easier for them to get everywhere.”
And then there’s Eddie. The mascot. The myth. The t-shirt god.
“Nobody’s done the mascot thing like Maiden,” Martin said. “Sure, Megadeth has Vic Rattlehead, Motorhead’s got Snaggletooth, but Maiden just hammered it. Dozens, maybe hundreds of versions of Eddie over the years. He’s on everything.”
I mean, let’s be real—Eddie’s face on a black t-shirt might be the most iconic rock image ever.
“You can spot it from a mile away,” Martin added. “With the red and white logo and that garish color scheme—it’s so distinct. It just works.”
In Part 2, we’ll dive into how Hallowed By Their Name got the band’s blessing, Martin’s thoughts on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and how Iron Maiden compares to Metallica, AC/DC, and even Judas Priest.
🎸 Until then, throw on some Maiden, grab a copy of Martin’s book, and check out the full chat on WRIF.com.
