Now I read :). Which Darkness we are talking about?, And who says that the only good music from Europe relates to the NWBHMB???... Come on, there were real BAD bands in that generic_denomination. True that Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were leading the rock scene during, almost, 15 years, but we are forgetting some bands like Saxon or Uriah Heep, just to mention a few, not to mention Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Yes... There were GOOD rock bands before, in my honest opinion.
Nowadays still there are good bands: The Gathering, Cradle of Filth, Children of Bodom, Gamma Ray, Helloween, Stratovarius... Some of this bands, even I don?t like them all, made their career in the Early 80?s and are still a reference, more creative and alive that Iron Maiden theirselves!!!!.
By the way, ever tried to distinguish the different Iron Maiden eras???. You may be surprised to see that there are some songs that are actually identical to anothers in the same era, it?s something strange. Well, same happens with most Stratovarius records since Visions (let?s give them a little margin to be creative) and with other bands.