What are the best opening and closing songs from each Iron Maiden album and how do they rank? That's what we dig into here, pouring over the band's extensive album catalog and analyzing the songs that left their first and lasting impressions on us as we listened to their music.

The opening songs are so key to an album, and it's rare that Maiden really missed on the opportunity to set the tone properly for what was to come. In fact, you've got songs such as "Aces High," "Where Eagles Dare," "Moonchild" and more that have become beloved amongst Maiden's faithful, kicking off what would become iconic releases in the process.

But what about the closing songs - the coda, the lasting impression, the final notes that continue to ring out in your head once the needle drop reaches its end? This can be where a band goes epic in scale ("Rime of the Ancient Mariner" anyone?), leaves you with a powerful gut punch or pulls back to provide an eerily calm resolution. Maiden have been adept at doing each of those things with their album closers.

READ MORE: Seven Super Nerdy Things We Love About Iron Maiden's 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'

There's a storied history of stellar album openers and closers within Iron Maiden's legendary catalog, and here we get into the difficult task of ranking both the openers and closers from best to worst. Check out the rankings below.

Ranking the Opening Song on Every Iron Maiden Album

Ranking the opening track on every one of Iron Maiden's studio albums.

Gallery Credit: by Ed Rivadavia

Ranking the Closing Song on Every Iron Maiden Album

Gallery Credit: Ed Rivadavia

How Many Songs Each Iron Maiden Member Has Written

Here's a breakdown of Iron Maiden's song-writing credits.

Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita

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