IRON MAIDEN's 'Frontier' Tops Italian Chart For Third Consecutive Week

According to FIMI (Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana),the Italian branch of the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry),IRON MAIDEN's new album, "The Final Frontier", has topped the official Italian chart for the third consecutive week.

As previously reported, "The Final Frontier" has also spent the past three weeks at No. 1 on the Norwegian chart. According to the Norwegian music blog Lydverket, this ties the best chart stretch IRON MAIDEN has enjoyed in any country during the band's 30-year recording career.

Rod Smallwood, IRON MAIDEN's longtime manager, told The New York Times that more than 800,000 copies of "The Final Frontier" had been shipped to retailers around the world by the end of August, with the group having sold about 85 million records in its 30-year career.

"A lot of bands could learn a lot from MAIDEN," Smallwood said. "MAIDEN is essentially about the relationship with the fans, and nothing comes between that. They don't want to be rock stars. They just enjoy playing for the fans."

According to David Kassler, chief operating officer of EMI for Europe, digital tracking services showed only small levels of illegal downloading of "The Final Frontier", which is attributable in part to the fact that IRON MAIDEN's songs do not fit the mold of a radio single — three of them, on the newest release, are more than nine minutes long.

"You'd expect some people to be pirating, but they don't," Kassler told The New York Times. "They want the physical album. They love the artwork, the lyrics. It's something they want to show their friends and family."