Iron Maiden - Cross Eyed Mary

I have a special appreciation for cover versions. There's something about hearing an old song in a new light or seeing how one of your favorite bands re-interperets another. Here, Iron Maiden pays tribute to one of their forebears, Jethro Tull. The song was a B-side from the Piece of Mind era and got significant radio airplay. In fact, it was many Americans' first exposure to Maiden. It was popular enough that promoters begged the band to release it as a single, but they declined, not wanting to give the wrong impression of the band just for some quick success. This was probably the smart move as Maiden would go on to be well respected without much radio support and better known for their own compositions like The Trooper and Two Minutes to Midnight. A quarter-centurty on, most people don't even know about this cover.