The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[MirrorMask]

Speaking of the future, looks like a summer 2018 tour in Europe is almost a given, and that the assumption that it has a "Legacy of the Beast" theme might be true. Furthermore, Kevin Shirley confirmed he has some studio time with Maiden ahead of him...

Best case scenario: in the winter Maiden record a new album, do in the summer another Gimme the Ed style tour (random classics and a new song) and then it's new album tour 

At worst, we'll still get some live activity next year with a new set, Bruce is reported to have said multiple times at shows that last year was the final run for The Book of Souls!

[Mladen]

Best case scenario: in the winter Maiden record a new album, do in the summer another Gimme the Ed style tour (random classics and a new song) and then it's new album tour 

This, please.

[cramx3]

Iron Maiden's facebook page is currently live with Bruce Dickinson talking about the book.  Just happened to stumble on it, and so far, it's interesting to hear him speak and answering questions.

https://www.facebook.com/ironmaiden/

[MirrorMask]

Thanks! didn't know it, I managed to watch the very end. Last question: "Can you scream for me Bruce?" and he did, Number of the Beast style 

[cramx3]

Thanks! didn't know it, I managed to watch the very end. Last question: "Can you scream for me Bruce?" and he did, Number of the Beast style 

Yea, that was awesome 

[Ben_Jamin]

I was watching it for a bit. Really good. Makes me want to get the book now.

[MirrorMask]

I'm tempted to watch it all, since the video is saved anyway.

[cramx3]

I'm tempted to watch it all, since the video is saved anyway.

Yea, I may go back and watch from the beginning, I only caught the last 15 minutes.  I definitely want to get his book.

[efx]

That was so cool. I flew from Sweden to London to see this live and it was totally worth it. Got an autographed book as well and it was surreal seeing someone I have admired since the 80's this up close and personal.

[Logain Ablar]

Working my way through the video. Very interesting so far. Bruce is definitely an engaging presenter. 

[MirrorMask]

Working my way through the video. Very interesting so far. Bruce is definitely an engaging presenter. 

I watched just the beginning, probably I will watch it in bits and pieces until the end. The stream is 2h16'' but it started earlier so it's a little less than 2 hours of actual content. I've reached the moment when he shows the note he got for pissing in the headmaster's dinner, one of the things I remember knowing since my early days of Maiden knowledge 

[Logain Ablar]

Q & A session: "Would you rather fight off 100 duck-sized Eddies, or 1 Eddie-sized duck?"

 

[MirrorMask]

Q & A session: "Would you rather fight off 100 duck-sized Eddies, or 1 Eddie-sized duck?"

 

Talk about fear of the duck 

[Logain Ablar]

Q & A session: "Would you rather fight off 100 duck-sized Eddies, or 1 Eddie-sized duck?"

 

Talk about fear of the duck 

 

[Stadler]

Thanks! didn't know it, I managed to watch the very end. Last question: "Can you scream for me Bruce?" and he did, Number of the Beast style 

That's actually a pretty cool question, all things considered.   Though, when Bruce does it, it's not a question. 

[Zydar]

The Iron Maidens Name Their 8 Favorite Iron Maiden Guitar Solos

https://www.musicradar.com/news/iron-maidens-greatest-guitar-solos-by-the-iron-maidens

Some fine choices there.

[Logain Ablar]

Nice to see Sea of Madness in that list. That's one of my favourite IM solos. Classic Adrian Smith. 

[Mosh]

Sea of Madness is one of my top picks for a rare track to bring back. I think Bruce would sound really good on it today, maybe even better than in 86.

[MirrorMask]

Glad to see Powerslave's there, but no Seventh Son of a Seventh Son? the final three music are eargasmic.

[Dream Team]

Those chicks are awesome.

[Cyclopssss]

Reading the book now. Very funny and insightful. 

[MirrorMask]

Saw a Twitter link, an interviewer asks Bruce for future plans, and he jokes saying "I can't tell you, I could but I'd have to kill you... can I tell you in December?"

That would be a good time to announce summer tour dates! 

[Zydar]

Reading the book now. Very funny and insightful. 

Didn't know it had been released - I just placed an order for it.

[TAC]

My Bruce book is here!!!!!!!!!


EDIT: I'm 160 pages in, and I must say I pretty disappointed.

[TAC]

I've now gone through another 50 pages. I want my money back.

[RodrigoAltaf]

I've now gone through another 50 pages. I want my money back.

Why?

[TAC]

I'm a victim of my own expectations I guess. This is NOT an Iron Maiden book. He glosses over critical points of the band's history. At NO point, and I'm up to the Skunkworks parts, does he give any insight into anything band related. It's just stream of consciousness ramblings. Maybe he should've used an outline as opposed to simply writing about his life chronologically.

He doesn't speak to his relationships to anyone in the band. Entire chunks of the band's history wiped away with merely a sentence or two.
I recently read an interview where it mentioned he doesn't include anything about his wife and kids. I mean, how can you write an autobiography and not include your family?

[Mosh]

I just got my book (and the vinyl box!) in the mail. Sorry to hear you're not liking it TAC, but I think I'm going to enjoy it for all the reasons you dislike it. For one thing, I was hoping that this book would spend minimal time on Maiden. I've heard the Maiden stories and, as long as the band is still active*, there's only so much Bruce is going to say in a book about them. Besides, I wanted to learn more about his solo career and his outside endeavors. The promotion of this book led me to believe that this would give Maiden fans insight into how much more there is to Bruce than Maiden, which is kind of his thing anyway. Every time Bruce is on a major news network (CNN/BBC/etc) it's something to the effect of "you probably know him from Iron Maiden but did you know he is ALSO a pilot and entrepreneur?"

As for the family stuff, I'm probably in the minority here but the stuff in musician autobiographies about their upbringing and family life always bores me. I get the appeal, I really do, but it does nothing for me. So I don't mind that stuff being absent.

I did get the impression from skimming the thing that there's a lot of rambling though. We'll see how that goes. Frank Zappa's book is like that too but, unlike Bruce, he used a ghost writer so Bruce's book is likely worse in that aspect. He also wrote most of it by hand in a bar, which is cool, but I'm expecting something extremely disorganized. Not necessarily a bad thing though.

*The big problem with a lot of these rock bios is there's only so much you can say about the band while the band is still active. He probably doesn't want to give out more of a scoop on Maiden than the rest of the guys are comfortable with and he probably isn't going to candidly talk about his relationship with Steve as long as they're still bandmates. The band's management probably plays a part in that as well. It would've been nice for Bruce to wait until Maiden call it quits, but I get the feeling the cancer scare motivated him to get this out ASAP. He has hinted at another book though, so maybe we'll get something with more of a Maiden focus.

[Cyclopssss]

I totally get where TAC is coming from, though. I totally expected a little more 'inside-poop' so to speak. You do get a good insight to the man, though.

[Zydar]

I guess Mick Wall's 'Run To The Hills' is still the best Maiden related book then.

[El Barto]

Setting aside the fact that I don't read, I did check out several excerpts from the book and really didn't care for his writing style at all. I really expected something a bit more formal, but as suggested it's more rambling than anything else. There are plenty of times that works great, but it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Bruce seems interested in describing himself as something more serious than the singer of a metal band, but his prose doesn't lend itself to that.

When he records the audiobook I'll certainly check out some samples, though. I think his style might work much better in that format.

[TAC]

  Bruce seems interested in describing himself as something more serious than the singer of a metal band, but his prose doesn't lend itself to that.

I was thinking the same exact thing.

As for the family stuff, I'm probably in the minority here but the stuff in musician autobiographies about their upbringing and family life always bores me. I get the appeal, I really do, but it does nothing for me. So I don't mind that stuff being absent.

Well, there's plenty of upbringing stuff. I usually skip those pages and then maybe go back to reread. But I am interested in him getting married. How did having kids affect his time and outlook, if at all, in Iron Maiden..that kind of thing.

I totally get where TAC is coming from, though. I totally expected a little more 'inside-poop' so to speak.

It's not even "inside-poop", it about his relationships with the band. the feelings about the albums/tours, etc... We've been told that he had considered leaving after the Powerslave tour. I was interested in what he was thinking at the time. He touches on not having songs on SiT, but it's a wicked gloss over.

[Stadler]

Does he mention Nikki Sixx banging his first wife?  Wait! Don't tell me!

[TAC]

Does he mention Nikki Sixx banging his first wife?  Wait! Don't tell me!

 

[DoctorAction]

Love Bruce but the book didn't rock my socks. There's so little personal insight. Very surface. He's not a great writer either, really. It's ok but that's about it.

I just started Robert Webb's book right afterwards and the difference is huge. Incredible writing.