IRON MAIDEN's BRUCE DICKINSON -

IRON MAIDEN's BRUCE DICKINSON - "My Own Career Fell Off A Cliff..."

Billboard have done a large Q&A with IRON MAIDEN frontman BRUCE DICKINSON. The following is an excerpt:

Q: In the period when you were out of the band (1993-98), did your solo work fulfill you?

A: "The reason I left Maiden was that I genuinely didn't know if I was getting that buzz anymore from doing new stuff. Nothing bad happened, there were no disagreements. The machine ran like clockwork, and that's when I started to get really antsy.

Also, the cult status of the band meant that whatever you did, people would go, in a patronizing fashion, 'Oh, nice effort.' I didn't think they'd have any problem finding another singer, but their subsequent career path hit a few oily patches on the road.

My own career fell off a cliff, and I decided I'd have one go at completely reinventing (myself), so everybody thought I'd gone raving mad, and I came up with an album called Skunkworks (1996). It got great reviews, but the record company wasn't sure.

Then I did a record called The Chemical Wedding (1998), which was digging really deep into territory I'd never been to before, but keeping a rock sensibility.

I think it's fair to say it was a fairly groundbreaking album, did really well sales-wise and I could see myself having a successful global cottage industry as an artist. Clearly it was never going to rival Maiden. But at the same time, looking at Maiden, it was obvious something was going to crack."

To read the full article, check it out on Reuters.com.
(thanks: www.MaidenFans.com)

IRON MAIDEN - Frontman BRUCE DICKINSON And EDDIE Issue Metal Hammer Awards Acceptance Speeches; Video Available

IRON MAIDEN have issued the following update:

Being on tour in Canada, Maiden weren't able to appear at the Metal Hammer Awards in person, so we thought you'd like to check out the acceptance videos. First up, Bruce accepts the award for Best British Band on stage in Edmonton:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45aBbd6ZhUY&eurl=http://www.bravewords.com/news/91794


Then Eddie ropes in Nicko to help him accept his "Icon" award:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9QE71WGkzE&eurl=http://www.bravewords.com/news/91794


Following is BW&BK's scribe Mark Gromen's review of Iron Maiden's recent New Jersey show:

Rumors that the current tour is comprised of material solely from Powerslave on are inaccurate, at least at the Susquehanna Bank Center, in Camden, NJ, the outdoor venue across the river from Philadelphia. In fact, apart from the DiAnno era, the song selection spanned ’82 to ’92, with a hefty collection from the earlier years. A beautiful night to be under open skies, yet Bruce Dickinson took the stage wearing a toque, as Maiden opened with ‘Aces High’. High energy, right from the start, followed by ‘2 Minutes To Midnight’ and Piece Of Mind’s ‘Revelations’ before the band took a breather. For ‘The Trooper’, the singer donned what appeared to be a Mounty outfit, waving the Union Jack feverishly atop the second floor that ringed the stage. In the right (addled) state of mind, this “greatest hits” set rivalled the enjoyment witnessed by European festival sets from SCORPIONS and ACCEPT! The stage was bathed in blue and aqua green for ‘Wasted Years’, which saw Janick Gers extended his guitar neck into the crowd, for fans to strum, as the song concluded. Red was the color for ‘Number Of The Beast’, giant plumes of flame shooting from the stage. Hell and fire, indeed. Dickinson mentioned, “A bit of jazz coming up. 1, 2, 3, 4… ‘Can I Play With Madness’ which sounds positively poppy compared to the rest of the set. On the floor, center stage, is the eye within a pyramid symbol that also appears on the US dollar (a subtle reminder of what this retrospective tour is raking in, big time). For ‘Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’, Dickinson lost the toque, replaced by an equally unnecessary (given the balmy weather) wardrobe, a well-worn, shawl-like wrap, reminiscent of Merlin, or some other wizard. He stood on the upper tier, above drummer Nicko McBrain, but absent during the lengthy instrumental section, the purple-lit stage filled with fog. This marked the first time the trio of guitarist stood abreast. As the song picked up pace, fireworks ignited over the band’s head, onstage. The backdrop changed as red phosphorous burned brightly to herald ‘Powerslave’, Dickinson reappearing in trademark feathered mask. Founder/bassist Steve Harris was flanked by the guitar tandem of Adrian Smith and Dave Murray to start ‘Heaven Can Wait’. Gers punctuating the infectious chorus (sung by the suddenly appearing radio contest winners) pogo jumping like an epileptic jack-in-the-box. As much as I hated Maiden in the late '80s and throughout the '90s, these shows (dating back to the ill-fated Ozzfest dates) are loads of fun! ‘Run To The Hills’ sees the final chorus trading alternate lines with the crowd. A single, repetitive cymbal crash announces ‘Fear Of The Dark’, the audience again taking the cue, picking up the “woah, woah” chant right away. The signature ‘Iron Maiden’ ended the proper set, the ubiquitous Eddie making a mummified entrance from behind the cracked golden sphinx bearing his image. The band returned for a pair of Seventh Son tracks (‘Moonchild’ and ‘The Clairvoyant’). Neither would rank as essential Maiden, so their inclusion in the encore is a bit strange, but somehow it works, ultimately wrapping up the evening with ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’. Killer.

Iron Maiden headline Saturday’s (June 21st) Hvy Mtl festival, in Montreal, QC. Watch for a full report on BraveWords.com.

A BW&BK Photo Gallery can be found here.