Iron
Maiden Forever...
The birth of Iron Maiden in 1976 proves to be the one of
the greatest events in the history of heavy metal. Ever since the doom-laden
Black Sabbath had released the first heavy metal album, newer bands began to
dominate the scene and the few bands that were trying to bring back the glory of
heavy metal literally started the NWOBH. Bands like Saxon, Samson and of course
THE BEAST!!.
Steve Harris who was a former pub rocker in Smiler who had
also played in bands like 
Gypsy’s Kiss started the band. With the fall of
Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and the other legends, Maiden and
priest proved that they were not turning punk and remained faithful to their
roots.
Initially Maiden had several band lineup changes before
they could actually get themselves the right lineup that could take them
anywhere. The most notable band member to enter the fold was that of David
Michael Murray who played in Maiden and in Urchin along with Adrian Smith. Just
six months after Dave joined the band, he was fired as a result of a fight with
the vocalist of the time Dennis Wilcock. Steve realized a major ingredient
missing in the soul of Iron Maiden and watched a performance of Urchin, which
featured 
Dave on guitar. Steve now wanted not only Dave, but Adrian too. As we
all know Adrian Smith refused to join Maiden seeing the possibility of Urchin
making it big. So Steve respected the man's determination and wished him all the
best. Dave’s re-entry in to the fold resulted in the leave of Dennis Wilcock
and drummer Thunderstick to leave the band. Paul Dianno and drummer Doug Samson
who was eventually replaced by Clive Burr soon replaced them. Soon Dave began
contributing all his time to Maiden and they were soon out with their first
album. This is a classic and has had an influence on umpteen bands that are
doing well today.
Seeing the success of his buddy's iron Maiden, Adrian
decided that he would like to make his way into the band and soon Dennis
Stratton was out of the band leaving the two high 
school pals Adrian and Dave
play as the guitarists to Iron Maiden. Dennis was fired due to several reasons.
The officials say that he was intending on changing the course of music of the
band. Other sources say that he and Rod were not getting along and were having
personal problems working together.
Next followed "Killers" which did extremely well
and this was an even bigger break to the band. Here is when the band embarked on
their first world tour, which lasted a few months. They played Europe, USA,
Canada and Japan. They played 125 gigs and also registered “Maiden Japan”,
an allusion to the legendary “Made In Japan” by Deep Purple.
After the tour, things weren’t going too well among the
band members especially with the vocalist Dianno who kept drifting further away
from the band. This was due to several reasons stemming from his addictions and
different direction in music. He didn’t bother about his voice and continued
to harm himself considerably. Soon, Maiden began searching for a new vocalist
and since Steve had "Bruce Bruce" from Samson in mind he was one of
the auditions and stood out.
Soon the Maiden fans from England were introduced to the
new man in the band and they loved the
new experience. His smooth and flowing
voice made the fans dub him as the "Air Raid Siren". The difference
between Bruce and the former Dianno was that Bruce was more into the hard rock
and heavy metal genre than Paul. Paul was a former reggae artist and so his
vocals weren’t so typical as that of the former rock legends like Gillan and
Osbourne.
All wasn’t great with the band at this point of time too
since Bruce was having quite a few problems with his ex-bandmates back in
Samson. Bruce was bound to Samson legally and was hence unable to write any
music for this new band. this made him incapable to write any material for the
new album.
Very soon the next album was out and this would mark one of
the greatest and most influential metal albums of all time. "The Number Of
The Beast" made history by making Iron Maiden known to the rest of the
world as the band from London that composed hits like 'Run to the hills"
and "Number of the beast", apart from other classics like
"Hallowed be thy name" and 'Total eclipse".
The great success was also caused by several criticisms
made by religious institutions, which dubbed the band as "devil
worshippers". But nothing mattered more than the sales and Maiden killed
it. The album was first on the British band’s charts. The band introduced
itself in the American market and what followed was the Beast On the Road tour
where they played 180 shows. Clive Burr was also greatly recognized now. He was
voted the third best drummer in the world. Unfortunately he was to leave the
fold pretty soon.
There was an instance when Iron Maiden albums were piled up
alongside Ozzy Osbourne albums and were set ablaze. The records did not burn
away and this caused great panic and fear among many while it challenged many
more to taste the supernatural.
The world tour was great and Maiden came out victorious.
But there was yet another change in the line-up that was awaiting them. Clove
Burr, the master drummer whose drumbeats were as sounded like rain beating hard
on the rooftop, was leaving. His departure was due to several reasons, firstly
he was exhausted by the hard life on the road and secondly he wasn’t getting
along too well with Steve. His replacement was the former mascot (Eddie) Nicko
McBrain who’s personality, stage presence and fast bass pedal kicking has made
him to be known as one of if not the greatest drummer even today. He is also
known well for his awesome sense of humor and also his very popularized fights
with Steve Harris.
The next albums were "Piece Of Mind" and "Powerslave"
which followed were very much similar to "The Number Of the Beast".
Bruce was a key songwriter in these two albums and thus relieved Harris to just
about 50% in each of the albums. Adrian and Bruce formed a real partnership in
classic writing. These two albums contributed all time classics like "The
Trooper", "Flight Of Icarus", "Aces High" and "2
Minutes To midnight".
The Slavery tour is by far the most memorable tour of the
band. This was an extensive tour and lasted almost a whole year. The fatigue of
this tour lasted on the band as Bruce Dickinson pointed out that this could mark
his departure from the band. The band experienced for the first time a real and
extensive tour and the "World Slavery tour" literally made slaves out
of them. Bruce wanted to leave metal and become a folk singer but that would not
be so. Steve later explained that the band would never embark on such a
strenuous tour ever again. They played “Rock In Rio”, Hammersmith and Long
Beach Arena in Los Angeles.
The released "Live After Death", their very first
live album and probably the most fertile one. The quality of the performances is
just fabulous. This was recorded over a period of four days in Long Beach Arena,
Los Angeles. The instruments synchronize perfectly and this is one of the few
live albums that would go down in history as a true classic.
After a break of a year, the band united to write and
record their follow up studio album to "Powerslave". The new LP would
have a lot of guitar synth "Somewhere In Time" was yet another true
album which was made it really well. This album is very smooth with tracks like
"Wasted Years" and "Heaven Can wait". Steve Harris continues
with his history lessons in "Alexander The Great", a ten-minute track
that is filled with facts about the legend and fantastic guitaring. This album
is one where Bruce did not contribute to song writing and Harris became the main
man yet again with efforts by Adrian and some by Dave as well.” The Loneliness
Of the Long Distance Runner" is another great song where Adrian and Dave
twin guitar extraordinarily well. This album was greatly anticipated and did not
disappoint the fans.
Soon Maiden was out with a different type of album, which
focused on a theme. "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" was a sensation.
The album was filled with keyboard synth and sounded totally different. On the
live performances it was Michael Kenney who took care of the synthesizing while
Adrian and Steve mastered it while recording. This was practically the first
theme album that Maiden ever completed. It was all about
“The Clairvoyant” Doris Stones who explained his death and turned
insane before it. The twin guitaring of Adrian and Dave sound MINDBLOWING with
the high synthesizing. Moreover,
the album has contributions from all the Maiden members except Nicko. Steve
writes 87% while Adrian writes 37.5%, Bruce with 50% and Dave with 12.5%. This
has an amazing effect on the album. Songs like "Infinite Dreams" and
"Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" are absolute sensations. The classics
include "The Evil That Men Do" and "Can I Play With
Madness". The concerts that promoted this album were very well decorated
with Derek Riggs eddies which were relevant to the album.
After the tour, the band decided to take a years rest. This
enabled Nicko McBrain to play drum demos in several music festivals like the
British. In 1985 Adrian and McBrain had made a solo demo at the Marquee.
Although none of this was formally edited, the underground market produced
pirate versions of events like “Live In London” and “The Whole Population
Of Hackney” Dave soon joined Nicko and Adrian and made a demo “Rhythms Of
The Beast”. He then later went and decorated his house and spent the rest of
his time with the family. Bruce formed his own band with Janick and a few others
and began working with them. Adrian formed ASAP and the end of the beast fast
appeared to be approaching. ASAP was a very different band when compared to
Maiden. The band’s music was very bluesy and not in the least heavy metal.
They band soon reconvened to record their next album, but
Adrian wasn’t happy with the new direction that Maiden appeared to be heading
for. While the rest of the band had just arrived after more than a year’s
break, they were all taking the musical direction of Iron Maiden into a very
aggressive and heavy territory while the melodic Adrian wanted to have it the
other way. He left the band and began putting his entire effort in ASAP. Janick
was soon taken into the band on Bruce’s recommendation. He was an entirely
different person from Adrian. Unlike Adrian who prepares everything before he
actually begins to grind, Janick goes along with the flow. Janick was a much
more aggressive player than both Adrian and Dave. Unlike the timid Adrian,
Janick onstage was a monster with flaming hair. He was indeed the perfect
addition for the new aggressive album.
The new album was recorded at Steve’s House. Maiden had
evolved and while many old fans disapproved of this change, new fans came colder
to the beast. In my opinion, No Prayer For The Dying is not the best album of
the band. This was a very raw album as compared to the very polished recordings
of the past. While Maiden at one hand was recording really hard and raw music,
ASAP was making really soft ballads with Adrian on vocals and guitar. The music
was more of blues and less of metal or rock. While No Prayer For The Dying did
have slow-fast ballads like the title track and “Mother Russia”, songs like
“Tailgunner” and “Holy Smoke” were just rockers. “Bring Your Daughter
to The Slaughter” was a composition of Bruce for the movie “A nightmare on
Elm Street V”. What followed was another big tour with Blaze Bayley’s
Wolfsbane as the opening act. They played 84 shows in 17 countries. The band
again took to a period of musical inactivity but were back in the studio in
1992.
1992 saw the band recording “Fear Of the Dark”. This
album followed in the footsteps of its predecessor but was much more matured.
This indeed was a classic album with songs like
“Afraid to shoot strangers”, “Wasting love”, “Childhoods end”
and the title track. The album also had rockers like “Be quick or be dead”
and “The fugitive”. The tour that followed was amazing. They were going to
be on the mainstage for the Donnington festival. While they played at the
Donnington Castle, the fans saw Adrian Smith play alongside the other band
members on “Running Free”. But he later said that he was not going to join
the band.
The next album that the band would release would be “A
Real Live/Dead One”. The album in itself was a very good one but is a lot
rawer than the previous live rendering of “Live After Death”. Janick takes
the lead and plays much more aggressively in this album. The most notable aspect
of this album is that it includes classics like “Prowler”, “Remember
Tommorow”, and “Transylvania”.
The Donnington performance was soon released live as a 2 CD
set the same year. The album was very good and the crowd’s presence was even
more notable in this album.
Things weren’t going too well with the band during the
fag end of the tour. Bruce dropped the bomb during the middle of the tour saying
that he was leaving the band and that he wasn’t going to continue the tour. He
continued to say this until finally in 1993 he really did leave and the band was
left looking for a new vocalist. The band received 4959 audition tapes. These
included former vocalist Paul Dianno among others. But in the end the voice of
one Blaze Bayley from Wolfsbane caught the attention of Steve Harris. Steve had
already seen the skills of this young man when Wolfsbane had toured with Maiden
earlier on. Blaze was to make an important decision regarding whether he would
join Maiden or not. For he knew that if he did he would attain worldwide fame
and fortune but he was also aware that if he left, it would sound the death
knell of Wolfsbane. But in the end the offer seemed too great to put down.
Maiden was indeed the best band in the world and being the front man of the best
metal band was indeed a great privilege.
This was a very critical point in the career of the Beast
as they all knew that a new vocalist would never sound the same as Dickinson and
that could be a bit problematic. Bruce never was the heart of Iron Maiden but at
any case it is a vocalist that defines the band and needless to say Bruce was
the most perfect vocalist and the best frontman Maiden could have. In the past,
the introduction of a new frontman had created a lot of problems with other
bands. When it came to Black Sabbath for example, Ronnie was certainly superior
to Ozzy but Sabbath was over when Ozzy left. When Coverdale joined Deep Purple,
the fans really never accepted him. They associated Gillan to be the mainman of
the band and no one could ever take his place. During his eleven years with the
band, Bruce had earned himself the same name and position in Iron Maiden.
Maiden was out with their next album ‘The X Factor” in
1995. This album saw Maiden change their style. The songs were much slower,
heavier and darker. Steve’s bass was very prominent and very often would
create a sense of insignificance to the two guitars. The new vocalist was pretty
good and contributed well to song writing. But the fans rejected the album.
Blaze wasn’t Bruce and the fans refused to have an open mind as they listened
to the new record. The album did relatively poorly unlike its predecessor
“Fear Of The Dark” which was a chart topper.
In 1996, Maiden released “The Best Of The Beast”, a 2
CD set which consisted of the best Maiden songs over the past 16 years. The
album also included a live version of “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” with Blaze
on vocals and a new track that all members of the band (except Nicko) co-wrote.
“Virus” was a real good song, which was pretty different from what Maiden
has done in the past though.
There was again a long period of inactivity before the band
was out with their next album. The next album was again really good reverting
back to the original sound of Maiden. Blaze did a good job too, although he did
repeat his lines way too much on this record.
Maiden then released a couple of music CDs compiling the
beast material over the past many years and also an enhanced game in “Ed
Hunter”. Notably the final enemies that are to be eliminated were “The Four
Horsemen”. Umm that rings a bell in my ear. And in my opinion I guess they can
be defeated easilyJ.
Blaze wasn’t doing too well during the world tour owing to his injuries and rumors began to spread that he was soon going to be fired from the band. Rumors that Dickinson would return to Maiden were flooding the media. When it came to the best band in the world, expectations were high and everyone anticipated a reply to this comment from either Bruce or Maiden. Bruce took the first step and replied saying “Bollocks”. “As far as I’m concerned I Blaze is still in the band as far as I know”. But Blaze couldn’t stay in the band much longer. There were rumors that Blaze was not being treated as a fellow band mate any longer, there were also rumors that Blaze was in a separate compartment away from the others when the band toured together.
FEBRUARY 10th
FEBRUARY 10th
FEBRUARY 10th : This was the date when www.ironmaiden.com
formally claimed that Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith were back in the fold.
Jannick was going to stay and form a destructive axis of three guitarists with
Adrian and Dave.
'The idea of a three-guitar band excites me,' beamed
bassist Steve Harris when the news broke. 'It came from my suggestion. I said,
'Well, if Bruce is going to come back, why not get Adrian too? I didn't want
Janick to go, he's great, so why don't we have all three? When Adrian got up
with us at Castle Donnington in '92 and did 'Running Free', it felt great. And
he brings another dimension to the songwriting. There's no doubting Adrian's
talent - he even sings pretty well! And to have someone like him in the band,
he's so versatile. Without him, Maiden lost something.'
But in the midst of all this, the band had remained silent
about one major ingredient in the situation- Blaze Bayley. When asked to comment
upon the situation, Steve replied that he first wanted to hear a comment from
Blaze. Blaze however disappointed responded positively saying that Maiden had
made his dreams come true during the past five years and that he was happy to
help them out during that period. He wished the band all the best and mentioned
that he was not going to return to Wolfsbane, but was going to pursue a solo
career with an all-British band.
The band was now full equipped with not only the vocalist
who indeed was the “Air Raid Siren” but also Adrian whose departure marked
the beginning of Maiden’s downfall during the early 1990’s. With all the new
energy in the band, they began writing their new album pretty soon and in 2000,
Brave New World saw the light. The album consisted of ten songs written well.
Although the album didn’t have any historical reference, it consisted of
rockers, message songs and also epics. Notable songs in the album include the
rocking “Wickerman” and the ten-minute long “Dream Of Mirrors”. “The
Nomad” is another fabulous song from this with a lot of keyboards from Steve
and also a lot of good guitar pieces.
The tour went fabulous and the band again decided to take a
break before they reconvene to write their next album. The year 2002 was meant
to be a year with no touring but the fans did get an opportunity to see the band
perform a few shows. Clive Burr, the drummer for the first three Maiden albums
was suffering from multiple sclerosis and so the band did a few shows for the
Clive Burr Multiple Sclerosis Fund.
The next release was “Rock In Rio” a live extravaganza
of Iron Maiden performing in Brazil for the Rock In Rio festival in 2001.
The band also released another compilation CD called
“Edward The Great” and also a casket called “Eddie’s collection” which
included three double CDs and a lot of other Maiden collectables.
After the long break, the band soon got back in the studio
to record their new album “Dance Of Death” in December 2002. The album for
the first time features a song co-written by all the members of the band in
“New Frontier”. This is Nicko’s songwriting debut on CD. A lot to look
forward to in the future of this great band.
BLAZE
vs BRUCE
To many longstanding Iron Maiden fans, Bruce
Dickinson has been and will remain the voice of Maiden. The introduction of
Blaze really put down a lot of the original work and several say that “The X
Factor” and “Virtual XI” were serious mistakes by the band. More
importantly while people buying these two Iron Maiden albums were distressed, a
dynamic duo of Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson produced some of the most
valuable material of the 90s. Other people who began thir miraculous adventure
in the light of Maiden during the Blaze-era, consider Blaze to be better than
Dickinson in several aspects. But the Maiden wasn’t Maiden with Bruce and
Adrian. Adrian was a real motive and driving force behind Iron Maiden. “No
Prayer For The Dying” suffered owing to Adrian’s departure. “Fear Of The
Dark” was a a return but was also lacking in some areas. “Accidence Of
Birth” and “Chemical Wedding” were great albums and really made Bruce a
prominent solo adventurer. But the two Blaze albums weren’t judged with
justice. Both the albums had their drawbacks but were providing a new direction
for the band. In “X”, Maiden attempted a bass-filled, low, deep, dark cloud
of the ill-effects of war. N “XI”, Maiden made Blaze repeat himself several
times. Way too many times though. There are several songs in both these albums
that I personally just adore, but I honestly haven’t gotten sick of listening
to either of these albums…. Good stuff!!
WORDS
ABOUT THE BAND:
I began my journey with “The Beast” since
the release of “Brave New World”. And since then there’s been no turning
back. I’m perhaps the biggest Maiden fan with such vigor, who began listening
so late to this awesome band. I began listening to Blaze very much after my
first record and I feel that the band had to go n a different direction. In the
case of low-class bands, the loss of a band member makes not much of a
difference. But in the case of Maiden everytime there has been a band lineup
change, it has effected the music. And that is because everyone plays an
important role in the eyes of Lord Harris. When Adrian left, the band changed
its course. When Bruce left, the band again changed its course. When they both
returned, the result was again pretty new and they again tried something new
which a lot didn’t approve of. But no successful band has remained the same
and sounded monotonous and was still successful. Change has always played a part
in music and even so in the life of a band. Change could be accepted by a few,
rejected by the others, or just widespread rejected by everyone (2003 release of
the 4 horsemen). Maiden has remained faithful to the fans. They are a fans band.
But the fans have not stayed faithful to the band. People have claimed that
Steve was the cause of “XI” and “X” not doing well. They have said that
he is the one who bosses around and gets things done the way he wants it without
consulting anybody. But does Lord Harris care? Guess not!! The man is honest to
the fans and has an open concience to what he has contributed over the past two
and a half decades. He has no regrets and he knows that he hasn’t done
anything for the money. Beginning Maiden, was the first time he claimed that he
did nothing for the money. Punk was the magic word, but Steve remained faithful
to his roots and honesty, determination and pride have brought him this fame,
fortune and a world of fans. Steve is a man who could look back on his life with
as few regrets and say that he is proud of it.
“…for in the end it is his autograph that
is most prized and is his hand that the audience wants to shake…”
UP
THE IRONS
The date was August 3rd 2003. The
concert was to begin at 7 pm and the show was opened by Motorhead and Dio.
Motorhead put on an extremely entertaining performance and really brought the
place into lively spirits. This was indeed one hell of a concert because it was
attended by not only the Maidenites but also several Motorhead and Ronnie James
Dio fans. The drummer of Motorhead was the star of the performance with his
(pretty) long drum solo that really brought the audience to their feet. The only
disappointment was that the stage and the props weren’t the best. The stage
was filled with amps and black equipment and made the audience believe that it
was impossible that men like Bruce Dickinson and Ronnie James Dio could move
freely onstage. They played classics like “Ace Of Spades’ and finished their
set with “Overkill”.
After the Motorhead performance, Dio was up
next. The performance was really awesome and Dio proved his voice to be one of
the best among all the Black Sabbath voices yet again. Dio certainly earned the
respect of all the audience. Even people like me who had never heard a Dio song
ever before were absolutely blown away by his awesome stage presence. Dio
certainly made as much use of the little vacant space on stage as he could and
proved to be like a god with the audience just bowing to the melodies. Dio too
had a drum solo, but wasn’t as long or as extraordinary as the Motorhead drum
solo. But it certainly got the crowd on its feet. On the whole Dio really rocked
the place and set the perfect prelude to the most important hour and a half of
my life. After the Dio performance, the audience spent a hell good lot of time
in acknowledging the band with a really well deserved applause.
It was 9pm and the IRONS were to hit the stage
at 9.25. This was the biggest dream of mine coming true and till I actually
heard them play their first song onstage, I really believed that there would be
some mishap and I wouldn’t get to see the band. By 9.15, the Dio equipment had
been completely removed. But no new equipment had been added on new to the
stage. Even the huge Dio banner had not been removed. A few of the backstage
crew came onstage and were messing around with the amps and other black
equipment but didn’t remove it. Then came the soundchecks – they sounded
really un-Maiden and appeared as if Maiden and the backstage crew were teasing
my dead on anticipation to see Maiden.
But still although the drums and guitars were
heard, they were not in sight. Then came the Gods of metal, from the side of the
stage and went behind a lot of the black equipment that covered the stage. It
absolutely, completely covered them and they were not visible in the least. When
I saw Steve Harris, I yelled my soul out and then saw Adrian, Dave and the
others followed just behind. The crew then brought down the Dio banner. And what
followed was more soundchecks. The black equipment was still on stage and the
spotlights were still not on the stage.
Then a familiar tune came to my ears from the
soundcheck. The band was now playing “Doctor Doctor” from the Beast Of The
B-sides. Although the tune seemed new to most of the audience, it sure seemed
familiar to me. But the band was still not onstage and time was killing me and
anticipation was getting into my veins, nerves, everywhere. They completed the
song and then……
The lights went out and all of the audience
were on their feet. No one really cared much about the stage props. Now
everything was about the music and Iron Maiden. The crowd was roaring, but this
was just the beginning. The very well known deep voice could be heard and came
out with a “Woe to you that…”. A couple of lights came on and hit the two
sides of the stage where the two Number Of the Beast eddie banners on either
side of the stage. When the music began, the center was lit too, and the main
Number Of The Beast eddie was seen on a HUGE banner right in the middle. More
importantly, the 6 men of Iron Maiden were now on stage performing the song that
has captured hearts since 1982. Most of the amps were now removed in a the small
gap of total darkness and Bruce was running all over the stage and on top of the
amps. Steve was playing in that very familiar style of his, Dave in his little
corner playing the song that he has played several thousand times over the
years. Adrian was playing in his taunt muscular style next to Bruce while Janick
was OFF THE HOOK!!! Janick was all over the place and hard to be seen. His legs
and hair were all over the place. He was moving like a tornado with the famous
ave that he always sways all over the place almost banging into Steve in several
occasions. When the time for the “666” arrived, the lights went out and huge
“666” lights filled the place with bright light.
Before Dave had completed his guitar solo, Janick who was just behind him
doing the splits, took the opportunity to grab Dave’s leg. Dave was almost on
the ground, but managed to get his balance and play a perfect solo while trying
to kick Janick. Now that Dave’s solo
was done, Janick was in the opposite side of the stage and the spotlight was now
on Adrian who played in the most fantastic way I have ever seen a guitarist
play. Again the lights went out and “666” filled the place as the audience
chanted along. At the end of the song, Dave wasted no time in using his axe as
an axe and charged towards the tornado that moved away and made Dave miss him
completely.
The middle banner instantly changed to “The
Trooper eddie” banner as Bruce Dickinson yelled out “The Trooper”. The
song brought every single person to their feet and Bruce convinced every single
person that he was still the Air Raid Siren as he was in the 80s and that he
hadn’t lost any of it and that no one could ever take his place. He was and is
the voice of the greatest band in the world and forever will remain so. Adrian
and Janick played a twin guitar solo that sounded so wicked. This was followed
by Dave’s solo which he played with perfection. Steve’s bass was like a
machine gun, both in the way it sounded and the way he held it. Nicko was the
only member who was completely hidden behind his humungous drum kit with one
little bass drum that sounded so nice. The madman was certainly not overshadowed
by the rest of the band. Bruce was waving the British flag all over the place
and later threw it on the banner. The band members looked like Gods and had all
the power in the arena.
This tour was all about fun and playing songs
that hadn’t been played in a while and so Bruce asked the crowd “If your
gonna die…? And the bend went ahead with “Die with your boots on”. The
band was so good at this and Adrian’s vocals were sounding like that of a man
who must give up his guitaring for a career in singing. But Maiden does need
Adrian Smith as a guitarist. He is indeed one of the best guitarist in the world
and he’s not giving that up.
The band next proceeded with “Revelations”, one of
my favourite songs that really involved the crowd when they chanted “hey , hey
“ whenever the spotlight fell on them. Adrian and Dave were playing so many
twin guitar pieces that sounded just downright perfect.
The next song was “Wickerman” and Adrian Smith just
killed the show with fantastic guitaring. Steve’s bass was killer and Bruce
used the audience so well by getting them to sing along very well and maintained
his voice and tone to nothing less than perfection.
“Hallowed Be Thy Name” was a song which I really
anticipated and was just overjoyed to hell when the bells began to chime. The
voice of Bruce sounded so clear and smooth, just like in 1985 during the Slavery
tour. The band played this song extremely well convincing me that there will
never be a better live band than Maiden.
Bruce then gave a little talk about downloading music
and his opinions about it. He often got cheered and often booed but as for me,
his command would be obeyed faithfully. Bruce then announced the release of the
new album and then Maiden got it on with “Wildest Dreams”. When I first
heard the song on the net, it sounded very different and I didn’t necessarily
like it much, but it dominated the show. The intensity of the song surpasses the
crowd pleasing effect of “Wickerman”. The chorus involves a lot of crucial
vocals on the part of Adrian who sounds fabulous.
With a little story about medieval Scotland, the band
then played “The Clansman”. This song was one that I really didn’t expect
and it really blew me away. The song sounds so damn good with Blaze, but with
Bruce, it goes to a height of greatness that is almost impossible to reach.
Janick didn’t play much of a crucial role during the song and went ahead to do
about 10 180 deg turns and was still at it when he stopped. He certainly
doesn’t have any fluid in his brains and if he does, he is superior to the
average human. His guitar solo was played by Adrian.
Steve then caused extensive damage with fantastic bass
on Clairvoyant. The psychadelic effect of the song made the crowd go on a frenzy
and everyone was blown away. This song is one of the hard songs of Maiden to
play to such an extent of perfection, Maiden accomplished at it. Then came out
the 12 foot very much anticipated Eddie. This time, Eddie was dressed up as
Edward The Great and came up with his red robe. He passed by Bruce who was
paying a visit to Nicko and came up to Janick who started beating at the
monster. Eddie fought back and slapped jan with his huge hands. Janick then left
the red eyed monster and continued with the song. As eddie left the stage, he
glared at Janick and made his way out.
“Fear Of The Dark”, a song everyone has heard live
and loved by one and all. The song was played so good and Janick and Dave
changed their guitar solos. This made the audience listen with both eyes and
mouth wide open.
“Iron Maiden” was next and Maiden did it so good.
The song may not be the best Maiden song when heard on a personal stereo, but
kills when is heard live. The song was one hell of a killer and was done with
intense fury and the style and everything was just awesome!. During this song,
the Eddie head came out from behind Nicko’s drums. It was the Ed Hunter Eddie
and his torso was huge. His head opened up and smoke filled the place. As his
opened head s exhausted of the smoke, a brain came and neatly fit in its place.
It then closed its head and began moving its arms and mouthing the lyrics.
Heaven can Wait was the next classic Maiden song that
was played. Maiden played this song so well and in the end it was a dream come
true to hear on of the best songs from the “Somewhere in time” album.
“Heaven can…?” Bruce asked and “wayyyaaiait” was the reply of the
audience.
The band then went backstage for a small break and
appeared back with Bruce introducing each band member and then went ahead to
perform “2 Minutes to midnight” Adrian shared his long guitar solo with
Janick who changed his little part of it. Janick plays so fast. Its like his
fingers are lightning.
The band concluded the concert with “Run To The
Hills”. This is like the anthem for Iron Maiden and as every one expected,
this was the last song although not necessarily the best. I wish they ended with
“The Trooper” or “Hallowed”, but it was all great.
On the whole Maiden made my dream come true and everything was more than what I could have ever imagined. August 3rd was the biggest day of my life and forever will. Watching the band perform live is the biggest experience a hardcore fan would ever have. The band sounds a million times better live than heard on a live album. The voice of Bruce is that of the Air Raid Siren once again and hell yeah!! Maiden Forever!!
