Rewind: 10 Iron Maiden T-Shirts Sure to Prove Your Metal Cred

Maiden Nation is counting the hours before Saturday night's gig up north at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, but any self-respecting Iron Maiden fan should have been cuddled stoically studying Neil Daniels's new tome Iron Maiden: The Ultimate Unauthorized History of the Beast, released in late June.

Daniels's Maiden textbook is bursting with behind-the-scenes photos from the past four decades of the group (formed in 1975) plus shots of nearly every piece of merch the group has released, from shirts, stickers and hats to a collection of set lists, backstage passes and ticket stubs.

Plus, if you ever wanted to own a picture of lead singer Bruce Dickinson in tight blue man-panties, you are in luck.

Even if you are just a casual Maiden fan, you will find yourself salivating over some of the gear in the book, plus marveling at how many lineup changes the band has made. Check out the cover art created by Derek Riggs, who gave birth to the band's mascot, Eddie.

Interspersed with the fan documents and trinkets are essays on certain chapters in the band's history. It's unauthorized, so band input was obviously minimal, but they would have just made the book as thick as a phone book.

I can only imagine the things they have in storage. Somewhere there must be a warehouse full of Eddies.

This is definitely a must-own for any Maiden fan or any fan of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene. For metal-merch fanatics like me, it's like porn. I would do bad things for the Maiden baseball tee on page 81. Be sure to check out Nathan Smith's look at Maiden fashion today on Rocks off, too.