Some of the biggest names in British rock and metal have been announced as the “Album Champions” for this year’s National Album Day, the event launched in 2018 to celebrate the album as an artform and encourage a younger generation of fans to listen to full-length records. The ambassadors for this year’s event, which takes place on Saturday 18th October, sees metal legends Iron Maiden joined by Architects, Nova Twins and Wolf Alice.
Speaking about the importance of shining a light on long-players, Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson said, “Albums matter. They always have not just to Maiden but to all of the band members that have done solo projects – none of them have just toured – they have always recorded and released product too – especially me!! The rush of first seeing the vinyl or the CD or back in the day the cassette for the first time never leaves you, and it’s great that fans are coming full circle to enjoy the totemistic experience that was lost for a while in this digital era.”
The band’s long-standing manager Rod Smallwood agreed. “Back in the day, and before the internet made the smallest snippet of conjecture about a band into global news, we had to rely on the release of a new album to do the heavy-lifting for us – it would herald new music of course, but also launch a tour, market the band to a wider audience with the title and the cover and - the bit I always loved - birthed a new Eddie!” he said. “When things really exploded for Maiden back in 1982, with The Number of The Beast, the band were still finishing the album right up to going out on tour to promote it! They were different times and an amazing experience to connect with our fans.”
This year’s event will see National Album Day celebrate rock music, with a press release stating the aim “to highlight some of Britain’s most influential rock artists and bands.”
National Album Day is overseen by the BPI, the UK association of record companies and independent label, and ERA, the digital and retail association also behind Record Store Day. Now in its eighth year, it has promised see activity and promo action from its chosen Album Champions as the day gets closer.
