I love Maiden's eponymous debut, and the opening track might be my favorite because of it's position. There are several tunes on the album I like just as well, but it's a great start. I'm no Dickenson detractor per se, though in my way I am. The vocalist on the debut is my favorite. Was he only on that first album, or did he do others?
I listen to Preist a fair amount, but almost never British Steel, literally I've listened to the entire album through fewer than five times in the past, well... let's say 40 years. Why you may ask? Well I'm going to tell you. It's the cover, it makes me intensely uncomfortable. That freaking razor, it creeps me out just writing about it. I recall some film where someone attempts suiside in the bath tub with a razor like that, and they break the thing in half. There are lots of Preist album with covers I love, so maybe I'm missing out on some fabulous tunes, but what's to be done about it. Apparently I have a delicate psychological condition.
The cover on the first Maiden album, by the way, is one of my favorite album covers of all time so there is that.