After Bruce Dickinson joined Iron Maiden, the band skyrocketed to fame and achieved huge album sales with the release of "The Number of the Beast" (1982), which still remains their best-selling record. Those early albums with the band influenced a vast number of new musicians, including members of Metallica, whom Bruce had the chance to meet. Over the years, he has praised the band and revealed which two of their albums he likes. The 2 Metallica albums Bruce Dickinson said he likes "Metallica (The Black Album)" (1991) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwPg8gJq_Kw&pp=ygUTd2hlcmV2ZXIgaSBtYXkgcm9hbQ%3D%3D "Ourselves, Judas Priest and Pantera all reached a crossroads where we had the chance to really step up to the next level. But none of us had the balls to do it. Metallica did, though. You have to give them huge credit for grabbing the opportunity when it came up, taking the risk and deservedly reaping the enormous rewards. You cannot underestimate their achievement with this album." “It’s one of those seminal albums that just gets it right. It’s extremely well-produced, and every note on that album is totally under control. I admire how they did it, and what they did with the songs. It was very effective, it undoubtedly did help push metal into the mainstream. I know it wasn’t Mutt Lange who produced it, but Bob Rock had that similar thing where the producer was very much in control." "We could never do an album like that, because we’re not that under control, and we don’t want to be. With us, the wheels would fall off the bus and we’d end up firing the producer!" Bruce Dickinson told Classic Rock in 2021. The Black Album remains Metallica (The Black Album)’s best-selling album, with more than 20 million copies sold worldwide. It includes classics like "Enter Sandman", "Sad But True", "The Unforgiven", "Wherever I May Roam", and "Nothing Else Matters". In 1991, when the album was released, Iron Maiden was still promoting "No Prayer for the Dying" (1990) and would release, the following year, "Fear of the Dark" (1992), one of their most praised records. "Death Magnetic" (2008) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us59k765Z0E&pp=ygUHY3lhbmlkZQ%3D%3D The other Metallica album praised by Bruce is "Death Magnetic" and his favorite song from that record is "Cyanide", which he praised to Lars Ulrich when he hosted the frontman on his radio show in 2008 to promote the album. “This is actually a great record. But I do think that management needs their head examined for their choice of first track. ‘Cyanide’, man. That track, that has got legs on it and balls on it and everything else. That’s a great track!” Bruce Dickinson said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Released in 2008, "Death Magnetic" was Metallica’s ninth studio album and the first to feature bassist Rob Trujillo. Produced by Rick Rubin, in addition to "Cyanide", it also includes strong tracks like "The Day That Never Comes", "The Unforgiven III" and "The Judas Kiss". When the record was released, Iron Maiden was on a recording hiatus that lasted from 2006, when they released "A Matter of Life and Death", until 2010, when "The Final Frontier" came out. Over the past decades, Metallica and Iron Maiden have been considered the two biggest Heavy Metal bands still active. Both continue to tour around the world, playing sold-out stadiums and arenas. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich were especially influenced by Iron Maiden, particularly by the band’s first two albums, "Iron Maiden" (1980) and "Killers" (1981). They even had a fanboy moment with the band’s founder, leader and bassist Steve Harris in the early ’80s. James Hetfield told that story on Metallica's official channel in 2017. James Hetfield said: “1981, hanging out in Hollywood, California driving around. It’s Ron McGovney (First Metallica bassist), me and Lars (Ulrich) in the back seat and seeing Steve Harris, (we) found out where they stayed, seeing Steve Harris walking down the street and us, you know. Dorky shy metalheads (screaming) ‘Hey Steveeee’. He actually turns around and starts walking towards us and we are like ‘Ahhhh’ (In total shock).” “It was our first brush with somebody kind of cool and famous. So that always stuck with me. Steve Harris, super down to earth and really cool guy, nothing has changed. I mean, he showed up at the show that we did. It’s really cool when other musicians are hanging out watching you do what you do. It takes you to another level, you gotta kind of go to ‘Olympic Metal’, ‘Medal! Whatever (laughs), you got Olympic mode, like you step it up. Our setlist was at least like 5 minutes faster, the set time. Lars was so nervous ‘Oh my god, Steve Harris is watching me! This part sounds too much like Iron Maiden?’ (Laughs).” “Usually halfway through the show you figure ‘Okay, he is gone and he moved on to the next thing’, But no, the whole show was standing there, the whole show to the very end and not only he was there the whole time, he got in the vehicles with us (laughs), came to the hotel with us. Like, super cool guy and then we got to see them a couple days later. Likewise, super hospitable there,” he said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
