The 3 Best Iron Maiden Songs Steve Harris Ever Wrote, According to Nicko McBrain

Longtime Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain dove deep into the band's catalog during a recent fan event, listing his picks for the three best songs bandmate Steve Harris has ever written.

McBrain, who joined Iron Maiden in 1982 and played with them until his retirement from touring in 2024, made his picks during last month's "An Evening With CapnHarris" event hosted at his Rock n Roll Ribs barbecue restaurant in Florida.

Fans and co-hosts took turns drawing Iron Maiden songs out of a bucket alongside McBrain, who then argued in defense of his favorite of the two. Those preliminary winners then went onto a bracket for McBrain and fans to again vote for their favorites.

READ MORE: How Many Songs Each Member of Iron Maiden Has Written

You can watch the full segment below and see which song won the tournament — which, mind you, is different than the songs McBrain highlighted as Harris' best.

Nicko McBrain Praises 'Stunning Piece of Music' From Latter-Day Iron Maiden Album

When co-host James Tucker drew the Powerslave deep cut "Back in the Village," audience members were likely prepared for an intense song shootout. But McBrain instantly swatted the song down in favor of his own pick: "When the Wild Wind Blows," the epic, 11-minute closing track on 2010's The Final Frontier about an elderly couple that builds a fallout shelter in anticipation of a nuclear war.

READ MORE: The 8 Best Iron Maiden Songs Over 8 Minutes Long (Ranked)

"It's a stunning piece of music," McBrain enthused. "It is, in my opinion, the second best song Steve Harris has ever written, next to 'Hallowed [Be Thy Name]' and 'The Red and the Black.'" The drummer did not, however, directly disclose the No. 1 Steve Harris song and, while we'd prefer not to speculate, we think we have a reasonable idea at which of the other two songs takes that top spot.

Notably, those three songs are written exclusively by Steve Harris.

The drummer continued: "It's got a great storyline to it. It's a tragedy. It's a love story but with a tragic ending, isn't it?"

Then he deadpanned: "Also, we named our beans in this restaurant after 'When the Wild Wind Blows.'"

Nicko McBrain's Favorite + Least Favorite Iron Maiden Albums

McBrain also ranked all 17 Iron Maiden studio albums from his least favorite to favorite at last month's event. Notably, he put the band's self-titled debut (which featured drummer Clive Burr) in last place. "I'll tell you what, the production on that wasn't the greatest, but nevertheless, still a good album," he said.

The top spot went to Maiden's monstrous 2006 album A Matter of Life and Death. "That's definitely my favorite album," McBrain said, while citing long-form epics such as "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" and "Lord of Light" as standout tracks.

Watch Nicko McBrain's Iron Maiden Song Tournament

See how WE ranked every Iron Maiden song below!