The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[Ben_Jamin]

Look, not to argue, but... to argue, I don't think that's accurate.   For every pop star that is fleeting, there's an LA Guns that is riding on the one hit from back in '85 like it's a life preserver.  Quiet Riot.   Ratt.  Dokken.  They ARE the pop stars of rock/metal.   

And even those acts that WERE relevant for a time - Priest, Twisted Sister, Motley - you can't say they are still as relevant now.  Motley is a fucking joke, IMO.   I love Priest, and they just came out with one of the better albums of their career, but they aren't the pioneers they were in 79-84. 

My kid put a LITERAL powerpoint presentation together dissecting the music AND lyrics of Swift's 1989 (contrast: I used to have a book that I would write all the songs and writers and lyrics of my favorite acts - Ozzy, AC/DC, Kiss). 

Maybe I'm biased because I see one part of it, but while there's few people in my circle - a coupe of high school friends - that have my musical acumen or could take me in a music trivia event, that doesn't mean their fandom is lesser.   I see this music being as important to my kid as Iron Maiden is to me.  I see my stepson - who is as blue collar as they come - getting lost in the music he listens to now.   And sure, she isn't as big a fan of Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers now as she was then, and he's not as big a fan of Korn as he was, but I'm not as big a fan of Fastway or Queensryche as I was then. 

You're not going to tell me that there's not the same people at a Metallica show - there for the t-shirt and to hear "Enter Sandman" - as there are at a T-Swift show.

Music is music, and this notion that one genre has something over on another is as old as music itself, and as wrong as it ever was.

Coming off the Taylor Swift discussion. I feel it's appropriate to say here...The university I am attending is offering a Taylor Swift class for the upcoming fall semester.

[wolfking]

Coming off the Taylor Swift discussion. I feel it's appropriate to say here...The university I am attending is offering a Taylor Swift class for the upcoming fall semester.

You must be joking?

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

I don't think they are. What a shame

[TAC]

Apparently Basket Weaving 101 must've been full.

[Ben_Jamin]

You must be joking?

I am not. It's a class dissecting her songs and albums, relating it to how she impacted the economy, social media, among other things. It's an expansion of Stads kids' PowerPoint presentation on Swifts 1989 album.

Doesn't surprise me as there also was a TuPac class that did the same thing with his lyrics.

Also, I attended a presentation by Mariusz Kodak, who played with Trans-Siberian Orchestra as a violinist. It was on Progessive Metal and how it effects body movement. It was an amazing presentation, with song samples from Tesseract, Periphery, Animals as Leaders, and Dream Theater. This was extra credit for my Song Ethnography class.

Honestly, you can study music to discover a lot about a culture. And Taylor Swift is one that you can use to show a lot. An example is her impact on people and how as a pop artist, she can influence certain aspects of US culture. Which is using your soapbox and platform to project your opinions on matters of interest. Such as Bruce using his to say to the "Metal heads" that pop is inferior and won't stand the test of time, because it's mainly manufactured. But why does Taylor Swift have such an impact on people? That is one question you could ask and find out in the Taylor Swift class. 

And also....DragonForce covered 'Wildest Dreams' in Power Metal style and the crowd loved it. Funny thing is my brothers kids went to that show just to see DragonForce, but also they don't really like Taylor Swift. 

Believe me, if these pop songs were in a different style and genre, a lot of people would enjoy them.

[DoctorAction]

Sounds interesting to me. Wouldn't choose it as a degree course, probably, but I could say that about a bunch of things.

There's nothing smart about music snobbery. Think your taste is better than that guy's over there? Guess what? He prefers his.

[TAC]

Honestly, you can study music to discover a lot about a culture.

Yes, totally fair.

[Stadler]

I don't think they are. What a shame

Why is that a shame?  First, this isn't the first time this has been done.  My kid graduated college last year and took two popular music classes; one was on Queen and I forget the other one. It's about half of what Ben said - studying culture through the lens of popular music - but it's also the literature aspect as well.

I think this is an awesome way to introduce new concepts in a way that resonates with the students. I applaud it.

[TAC]

When I was in high school, in one of my Religion classes I led a discussion on a couple of songs..
UFO- Just Another Suicide
Gary Moore Empty Rooms

[Stadler]

When I was in high school, in one of my Religion classes I led a discussion on a couple of songs..
UFO- Just Another Suicide
Gary Moore Empty Rooms

One of my English classes at Uconn had us deliver the teacher a song and we had to write about that song (a series of essays).  It was awesome; I used "Ripples" by Genesis.

Never was able to shake the idea that he did that just as much to get a bunch of free cassette tapes. 

[TAC]

One of my English classes at Uconn had us deliver the teacher a song and we had to write about that song (a series of essays).  It was awesome; I used "Ripples" by Genesis.

Never was able to shake the idea that he did that just as much to get a bunch of free cassette tapes. 

I went to Bryant, but one of the classes I took, and aced, was Creative Writing. I wrote a couple of awesome stories.
But, we were talking about screenplays, and I brought in a copy of my all time favorite movie, River's Edge, and the teacher liked it so much, she played it for the class.

[wolfking]

When I was in high school, in one of my Religion classes I led a discussion on a couple of songs..
UFO- Just Another Suicide
Gary Moore Empty Rooms

Empty Rooms, in religion class?  Why?

[Podaar]

Empty Rooms, in religion class?  Why?

*biting my tongue**biting my tongue**biting my tongue*

[TAC]

*biting my tongue**biting my tongue**biting my tongue*

Fucking say it!

[TAC]

Empty Rooms, in religion class?  Why?

So, for the UFO song, that was in a classroom setting. We were talking about suicide I think.

Actually, I played the Gary Moore on a Retreat. We spent the day in the next building over and for my group that day, the teacher running it asked me to make a presentation...what love meant to me. I extrapolated the literal lyrics to something more general. The teacher liked it so much, when another group went on a different day, they asked me to present to that group.

[wolfking]

*biting my tongue**biting my tongue**biting my tongue*

Out with it!

[wolfking]

So, for the UFO song, that was in a classroom setting. We were talking about suicide I think.

Actually, I played the Gary Moore on a Retreat. We spent the day in the next building over and for my group that day, the teacher running it asked me to make a presentation...what love meant to me. I extrapolated the literal lyrics to something more general. The teacher liked it so much, when another group went on a different day, they asked me to present to that group.

Ah, that makes more sense.

[TAC]

Man On The Edge from the Ed Hunter tour.

Man, this song can return anytime it wants to. I love how up front on the stage Adrian is for this song, and at about 2:52, Janick and Adrian have a moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRryIl8iAF0

[wolfking]

Bruce sounded really good on this one.  This is one I actually never really loved on the album but the Ed Hunter version rips.  I love Dave's long bend at the end of the solo here, cool shit.

[Grappler]

I loved The Ed Hunter tour so much.  My first time seeing Maiden, with Bruce and Adrian back in the band.  They were on fire and ripping through every song, hit after hit after hit.  That ballroom was so hot, sweaty and packed with people.  Bruce was at his absolute best and sang the hell out of the Blaze songs. 

Audio only, and the audience noise dies down after a few songs.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj0u6xhHpFs

[wolfking]

Such a shame there was no official recording or video of that tour bar a few songs.

[Dream Team]

And for the record, I'm not singling out Taylor Swift. I've never heard a single note of her music. There are brilliant pop writers and maybe she's one of them.

That's me too and I'm extremely happy to keep it that way, but with one caveat: about 4 months ago amid the non-stop lovefest here I forced myself during a moment of weakness to click on a song to see of I could determine what all the hype was about. All I heard for the first 30 seconds was sex noises so I turned it off. High art right there  . But then I had a brilliant idea: maybe James should incorporate those when he does his vocals for DT16 and maybe that will help them sell more records and tickets? 

[Grappler]

That's me too and I'm extremely happy to keep it that way, but with one caveat: about 4 months ago amid the non-stop lovefest here I forced myself during a moment of weakness to click on a song to see of I could determine what all the hype was about. All I heard for the first 30 seconds was sex noises so I turned it off. High art right there  . But then I had a brilliant idea: maybe James should incorporate those when he does his vocals for DT16 and maybe that will help them sell more records and tickets? 

They're calling you back to your home....DT already did this on Home. 

[Stadler]

That's me too and I'm extremely happy to keep it that way, but with one caveat: about 4 months ago amid the non-stop lovefest here I forced myself during a moment of weakness to click on a song to see of I could determine what all the hype was about. All I heard for the first 30 seconds was sex noises so I turned it off. High art right there  . But then I had a brilliant idea: maybe James should incorporate those when he does his vocals for DT16 and maybe that will help them sell more records and tickets? 

How you can possibly judge ANYTHING about a band/artist - other than simply whether you like it or not and honestly, probably not even that, but you be you - after 30 seconds is beyond me. What if the first 30 seconds are "Revolution 9"?  Beatles, really suck don't they?       Genesis; Duchess; wow their drummer must really blow if they have to use electronic drum machines, amirite? 

[TAC]

I loved The Ed Hunter tour so much.  My first time seeing Maiden, with Bruce and Adrian back in the band.  They were on fire and ripping through every song, hit after hit after hit.  That ballroom was so hot, sweaty and packed with people.  Bruce was at his absolute best and sang the hell out of the Blaze songs. 

Audio only, and the audience noise dies down after a few songs.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj0u6xhHpFs

That sounds great!

We've talked before about how hot these shows were. I saw them a week before you in Boston and it was the hottest show I've ever been to.
Unfortunately it was one of the shows that Adrian missed. Still, seeing them in a theater was unbelievable.

[MirrorMask]

The Ed Hunter tour was my second time seeing Maiden, and obviously first time with Bruce and Adrian. I could have written the rest of Grappler's post - the place was on fire, it was ultra packed, ultra loud, the band was firing on all cylinders and Bruce was a f'kin vocal god in everything. It's still one of the very best concerts I've ever seen after a quarter of a century of live shows.

[TAC]

It's one of my favorite shows as well.

[wolfking]

The setlist was also one of Maiden's very best.

[TAC]

The setlist was also one of Maiden's very best.

I totally agree.

[Grappler]

The setlist was also one of Maiden's very best.

Definitely.  I bought the Hamburg 1999 bootleg VHS and played the hell out of it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TguoHe72n80

I think later tours had deep cuts that I preferred over some of the songs in 1999 (I'd take Die With Your Boots On over Killers any day), but really appreciate that they played a good mix of Dianno, Bruce and Blaze songs....and almost every single song is one of their big, hit songs.  Seeing Maiden in a 5,000 capacity ballroom was really special. 

[Mosh]

The further we get from Ed Hunter, the more special of a tour it is. You've got Maiden still mostly playing in medium sized theaters and no album with "only" eleven albums to pull from (versus 17). It's a fantastic spread of the discography. I like the themed tours and think Maiden have handled their catalog as well as you possibly can with so many albums, but that was a one of a kind moment for them. Also still a few songs that haven't been touched since that tour.

[devieira73]

Apparently a new Maiden album in 2026!
https://www.ironmaiden666.com.br/2024/04/bruce-dickinson-confirma-novo-disco-do-iron-maiden-para-2026.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3rqVvIwLLed-r7ugIUr_k5KR5ltgdNvOuR5Q0BTfZOEgDZgzunmBlEbdw_aem_Ac1U6EqG6xvMtDATXgM6KHBtrSEvHjzhSY9Pz1hGbTUWLXrXVZy44EqCR5R5abeyfQ5UiRT3bLT6uIAHGh3kGISc&m=1

"I'm going to be quite busy for the next 2 or 3 years. I have the comic to do, which is a considerable amount of work, as I write the script and every three months we have a new episode. Obviously, I'm on tour until the end of this year and next and already thinking about more solo tours. And there will also be a big Iron Maiden tour in 2026 and another album, meaning there will be no shortage of work."

[Stadler]

Apparently a new Maiden album in 2026!
https://www.ironmaiden666.com.br/2024/04/bruce-dickinson-confirma-novo-disco-do-iron-maiden-para-2026.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3rqVvIwLLed-r7ugIUr_k5KR5ltgdNvOuR5Q0BTfZOEgDZgzunmBlEbdw_aem_Ac1U6EqG6xvMtDATXgM6KHBtrSEvHjzhSY9Pz1hGbTUWLXrXVZy44EqCR5R5abeyfQ5UiRT3bLT6uIAHGh3kGISc&m=1

"I'm going to be quite busy for the next 2 or 3 years. I have the comic to do, which is a considerable amount of work, as I write the script and every three months we have a new episode. Obviously, I'm on tour until the end of this year and next and already thinking about more solo tours. And there will also be a big Iron Maiden tour in 2026 and another album, meaning there will be no shortage of work."

I'm in!!!!

[TAC]

Nicko will be 72 when they tour here in the fall. I'm honestly not banking on seeing them after this coming tour. I'm hopeful for sure, but I'm going into this one as likely the last time I see them.

[Stadler]

Nicko will be 72 when they tour here in the fall. I'm honestly not banking on seeing them after this coming tour. I'm hopeful for sure, but I'm going into this one as likely the last time I see them.

Are you going to Worcester?