Author Topic: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls  (Read 558036 times)

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Offline 425

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7490 on: October 27, 2021, 03:04:32 PM »
The other thing about that way of putting it is that it sort of implies that everyone who doesn't share the poster's taste is an idiot. "This singer could only have become successful as a result of an elaborate prank" is actually not more plausible than "Some people like things that I don't like."

I just don't get what's wrong with "I don't like his voice." It costs nothing to show people a modicum of respect—except, I guess, that it doesn't get you as many upvotes on reddit.
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Offline pg1067

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7491 on: October 27, 2021, 04:23:33 PM »
I just think it's hilarious.  "He sounds like a card board box, meets an almond, meets a vanilla ice cream cone, meets a block of tofu" might be one of the funniest things I've ever read!
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Offline RodrigoAltaf

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7492 on: October 27, 2021, 08:27:11 PM »
I don't disagree with that reddit post. His voice is completely unappealing and makes them sound so amateurish. The mixing doesn't do him any favors either. His voice isn't blended well and seems to sit on top of the music which only highlights just how painfully bland and out of place his voice is. I often wonder how they settled on him when there were probably tons of singers available who were a little more in line with Bruce's style. It's possible they wanted to go 180 from Bruce and that's why they chose Blaze, but what a horrendous choice in hindsight.

Management. Same reason why Gary Cherone ended up in Van Halen.

Offline wolfking

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7493 on: October 27, 2021, 08:32:40 PM »
I just think it's hilarious.  "He sounds like a card board box, meets an almond, meets a vanilla ice cream cone, meets a block of tofu" might be one of the funniest things I've ever read!

Hey, what's wrong with almonds?
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Offline 425

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7494 on: October 27, 2021, 08:33:03 PM »
Vanilla ice cream is also good.
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Then it's only a matter of time

Offline Cool Chris

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7495 on: October 27, 2021, 09:27:07 PM »
I just think it's hilarious.  "He sounds like a card board box, meets an almond, meets a vanilla ice cream cone, meets a block of tofu" might be one of the funniest things I've ever read!

That is like one of those SAT questions:

Blaze Bayley is to rock vocalists as _________ is to nuts.

A) Cashew
B) Peanut
C) Almond
D) Pistachio
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Offline porcacultor

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7496 on: October 27, 2021, 10:16:58 PM »
Apart from the personal taste thing, I think it's funny how bewildered people are at Blaze being hired. I know hindsight is 20/20, but it makes a lot of sense to me that Steve would push for someone so absolutely un-Bruce-ish. That way, any success on their end would instantly mean "we're pulling through with zero need for our former vocalist who's trashing us in the press".

It may seem petty, but it's not like they kicked Bruce out, right? I don't fault the band for trying to do things differently – just imagining them hiring one of the many singers they may have considered (Doogie White, James LaBrie apparently, Andre Matos, Ralf Scheepers or whatever) with a range similar to Bruce's makes me cringe. Whoever were hired would hit high the notes, but would they stop there? Wouldn't they perhaps start copying the mannerisms and overall aesthetics – thus inevitably leading the press to comment on how they got a copycat, while Bruce was still the real deal? How would the studio albums be like?

I'm just spitballing and playing devil's advocate (a practice I will now refer to as "satanic drooling"), but I do really value the fact that the band went for something unique, even if it was a clumsy affair (with not enough rehearsal for the X-Factour and some misguided setlist choices, which I absolutely do agree that are issues with the band at the time). I'd say the albums are pretty solid for what they are and that, when they were "on" live, they were great.

Watching one of the last concerts with Blaze at the helm (perhaps the last one), at Curitiba in 1998, I was astounded at how the band felt into what they were doing, even though all members on stage (barring Blaze) knew there'd be a singer change soon. There was some camaraderie even amidst some turmoil, and you can tell everyone was trying to make the best out of what they had.

tl;dr I'm glad this phase in the band exists and, even if you hate it, I'm not sure it's that incomprehensible that Blaze got the job.

Offline Cool Chris

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7497 on: October 27, 2021, 10:25:22 PM »
Did some reading about Maiden on Wikipedia, I do not have a firm grasp of their early history, and this made me chuckle.

Di'Anno: "There can't be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an' Steve was always fighting..."
Stratton: "Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980, and has stated that he left due to conflicts with Steve Harris..."
Burr: "Bruce Dickinson's 2017 autobiography suggests Burr was ousted due to personality conflicts with Steve Harris..."
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Offline jammindude

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7498 on: October 27, 2021, 11:23:51 PM »
Did some reading about Maiden on Wikipedia, I do not have a firm grasp of their early history, and this made me chuckle.

Di'Anno: "There can't be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an' Steve was always fighting..."
Stratton: "Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980, and has stated that he left due to conflicts with Steve Harris..."
Burr: "Bruce Dickinson's 2017 autobiography suggests Burr was ousted due to personality conflicts with Steve Harris..."

And yet….I do think that while all these claims are probable, Steve met his match in Bruce. The difference being that Steve had to finally realize that Bruce was irreplaceable, and that he was going to be forced by necessity to tolerate an ego the same size as his.

Case in point: when Bruce mouthed off about the Osbourne’s during Ozzfest (prompting an extremely infantile response from $haron) it was Steve who extended the olive branch to to the Osbourne’s to apologize for his lead singer’s behavior.

(I personally think Bruce was having a bit of a good natured ribbing at the Osbourne’s expense and $haron is just a vindictive witch…but whatever)
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Offline Mladen

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7499 on: October 28, 2021, 01:15:09 AM »
I've never actually seen or heard what was exactly said by Bruce on those Ozzfest concerts, but whatever it was, it is kind of an odd move. You are invited by a band to open the tour and you opt for badmouthing the singer of the band. That's not particularly classy, and yet, that's what Bruce does every now and then. He stirrs things up with fellow musicians.

Offline IDontNotDoThings

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7500 on: October 28, 2021, 01:24:26 AM »
I've never actually seen or heard what was exactly said by Bruce on those Ozzfest concerts, but whatever it was, it is kind of an odd move. You are invited by a band to open the tour and you opt for badmouthing the singer of the band. That's not particularly classy, and yet, that's what Bruce does every now and then. He stirrs things up with fellow musicians.

http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=15121

I looked it up. It seems like Bruce had a pretty decent reason to be upset.
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Offline Mladen

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7501 on: October 28, 2021, 03:56:07 AM »
Yes, but that was Sharon's payback for Bruce's comments. However, there are no videos nor sound clips of Bruce's comments from shows prior to that one. It's not that I'm justifying Sharon. I would just like to know what was it that Bruce kept saying that made Steve Harris go and apologize to Ozzy before the whole Eggfest thing was orchestrated.

Offline Stadler

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7502 on: October 28, 2021, 06:38:01 AM »
The other thing about that way of putting it is that it sort of implies that everyone who doesn't share the poster's taste is an idiot. "This singer could only have become successful as a result of an elaborate prank" is actually not more plausible than "Some people like things that I don't like."

I just don't get what's wrong with "I don't like his voice." It costs nothing to show people a modicum of respect—except, I guess, that it doesn't get you as many upvotes on reddit.


While I think some of the phrasing is funny - I agree with PG on that one line - I'm with you.  There's no "intelligence" or "superiority" to whether one likes something or not.  I'm a pretty goddamn smart guy, but I'm aware enough that what I "like' is visceral.  I either do or I don't, and there's not a lot of analysis to that (except after, when I try to figure out what I tend to like - oh, it's melody!).

Offline Stadler

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7503 on: October 28, 2021, 06:44:33 AM »
Did some reading about Maiden on Wikipedia, I do not have a firm grasp of their early history, and this made me chuckle.

Di'Anno: "There can't be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an' Steve was always fighting..."
Stratton: "Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980, and has stated that he left due to conflicts with Steve Harris..."
Burr: "Bruce Dickinson's 2017 autobiography suggests Burr was ousted due to personality conflicts with Steve Harris..."

And yet….I do think that while all these claims are probable, Steve met his match in Bruce. The difference being that Steve had to finally realize that Bruce was irreplaceable, and that he was going to be forced by necessity to tolerate an ego the same size as his.

Case in point: when Bruce mouthed off about the Osbourne’s during Ozzfest (prompting an extremely infantile response from $haron) it was Steve who extended the olive branch to to the Osbourne’s to apologize for his lead singer’s behavior.

(I personally think Bruce was having a bit of a good natured ribbing at the Osbourne’s expense and $haron is just a vindictive witch…but whatever)

I wasn't there, I don't know for a fact, but there HAD to be a reckoning of sorts between Bruce and Steve, because Bruce - apparently - has a lot of say in the presentation of Iron Maiden.  I won't assume they are equal partners, but if you believe the press, much of the setlist, the theatrics and styling of the Legacy tour was all Bruce.   I know as I get older I still fight, but I pick my battles better.  Maybe the whole Blaze (Steve) and solo diversion (Bruce) experiences were humbling enough for each for them to find their own territories to fight for. 

As for Ozzy/Sharon/Bruce, I'm not on the "I hate Sharon" train - even if I have my quibbles with her handling of Ozzy's catalogue - and Bruce isn't shy.  I find that being a fan of his for 40 years, his humor is not ALWAYS self-evident.  He's said some things - all the way back to the Beast On The Road video in '82, up to the Legacy tour I saw in Hartford - that could EASILY be interpreted with as much "Fuck you!" in them than "I'm just playin'!".  I know he mocks MTV regularly - where the Obsourne's show was aired - and I know he mocked the idea of the reality show.   He has in the past mocked monitors/teleprompters (ask Rob Halford about that) so I presume that was on the table (Ozzy is well known to rely on a teleprompter for the entire set, even with Sabbath, stuff he's sung for 50 years).   He's my guy, but I'm not ready to just assume he was right and Sharon was a c***. 
« Last Edit: October 28, 2021, 06:52:05 AM by Stadler »

Offline Grappler

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7504 on: October 28, 2021, 07:59:30 AM »
Bruce had been saying the same thing since 1999 when they reunited - that Maiden was not going to be a nostalgia band, that they were going to continue to write new music and play it live.  He said it on the Ed Hunter tour, the Give Me Ed tour, and the Early Days tours, which were all built on nostalgia and playing rare/classic songs live. 

His intent was to clarify that despite the setlist that fans were hearing those nights, Maiden was never going to become that type of band and fans could anticipate new material.

He just chose to say that stuff when they were opening for Sabbath, who were at the time, a nostalgia band and had not written new material with Ozzy for years and years.  I've never felt that he was specifically insulting Sabbath, he just didn't think about the optics.

Online MirrorMask

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7505 on: October 28, 2021, 08:39:37 AM »
Apart from the personal taste thing, I think it's funny how bewildered people are at Blaze being hired. I know hindsight is 20/20, but it makes a lot of sense to me that Steve would push for someone so absolutely un-Bruce-ish. That way, any success on their end would instantly mean "we're pulling through with zero need for our former vocalist who's trashing us in the press".

It may seem petty, but it's not like they kicked Bruce out, right? I don't fault the band for trying to do things differently – just imagining them hiring one of the many singers they may have considered (Doogie White, James LaBrie apparently, Andre Matos, Ralf Scheepers or whatever) with a range similar to Bruce's makes me cringe. Whoever were hired would hit high the notes, but would they stop there? Wouldn't they perhaps start copying the mannerisms and overall aesthetics – thus inevitably leading the press to comment on how they got a copycat, while Bruce was still the real deal? How would the studio albums be like?

I'm just spitballing and playing devil's advocate (a practice I will now refer to as "satanic drooling"), but I do really value the fact that the band went for something unique, even if it was a clumsy affair (with not enough rehearsal for the X-Factour and some misguided setlist choices, which I absolutely do agree that are issues with the band at the time). I'd say the albums are pretty solid for what they are and that, when they were "on" live, they were great.

Watching one of the last concerts with Blaze at the helm (perhaps the last one), at Curitiba in 1998, I was astounded at how the band felt into what they were doing, even though all members on stage (barring Blaze) knew there'd be a singer change soon. There was some camaraderie even amidst some turmoil, and you can tell everyone was trying to make the best out of what they had.

tl;dr I'm glad this phase in the band exists and, even if you hate it, I'm not sure it's that incomprehensible that Blaze got the job.

Basically this.

As you said, insight is 20/20, but it's not so hard to fathom why they would want someone different from Bruce. Also, he had to be british.

I don't think that James LaBrie was really "considered" - I think / assume Rod Smallwood did talk to him, this actually happened and James confirmed it, and if James would have shown interest, he would have lobbied for him with Steve, "come on, let's get this guy, who cares if he's canadian". And Steve Harris would have still said no and would have wanted a british singer.
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Offline Stadler

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7506 on: October 28, 2021, 10:23:45 AM »
Bruce had been saying the same thing since 1999 when they reunited - that Maiden was not going to be a nostalgia band, that they were going to continue to write new music and play it live.  He said it on the Ed Hunter tour, the Give Me Ed tour, and the Early Days tours, which were all built on nostalgia and playing rare/classic songs live. 

His intent was to clarify that despite the setlist that fans were hearing those nights, Maiden was never going to become that type of band and fans could anticipate new material.

He just chose to say that stuff when they were opening for Sabbath, who were at the time, a nostalgia band and had not written new material with Ozzy for years and years.  I've never felt that he was specifically insulting Sabbath, he just didn't think about the optics.

You might be on to something; that was 2005, and Sabbath, after fits and starts, later put out 13 in 2013 (a very solid record, BTW). 

Offline TAC

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7507 on: October 28, 2021, 10:31:44 AM »
Did some reading about Maiden on Wikipedia, I do not have a firm grasp of their early history, and this made me chuckle.

Di'Anno: "There can't be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an' Steve was always fighting..."
Stratton: "Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980, and has stated that he left due to conflicts with Steve Harris..."
Burr: "Bruce Dickinson's 2017 autobiography suggests Burr was ousted due to personality conflicts with Steve Harris..."

And yet….I do think that while all these claims are probable, Steve met his match in Bruce. The difference being that Steve had to finally realize that Bruce was irreplaceable, and that he was going to be forced by necessity to tolerate an ego the same size as his.

Case in point: when Bruce mouthed off about the Osbourne’s during Ozzfest (prompting an extremely infantile response from $haron) it was Steve who extended the olive branch to to the Osbourne’s to apologize for his lead singer’s behavior.

(I personally think Bruce was having a bit of a good natured ribbing at the Osbourne’s expense and $haron is just a vindictive witch…but whatever)

I wasn't there, I don't know for a fact, but there HAD to be a reckoning of sorts between Bruce and Steve, because Bruce - apparently - has a lot of say in the presentation of Iron Maiden.  I won't assume they are equal partners, but if you believe the press, much of the setlist, the theatrics and styling of the Legacy tour was all Bruce.   I know as I get older I still fight, but I pick my battles better.  Maybe the whole Blaze (Steve) and solo diversion (Bruce) experiences were humbling enough for each for them to find their own territories to fight for. 



Well, I think that's pretty much it in a nutshell.


Balls To Picasso was really eye opening. I was never a big Bruce guy, but I remember being floored by it. I was think that geez, Bruce is really fucking talented.

Bruce emerged from his solo jaunt a much stronger voice and artist than he was when he left the band.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline cramx3

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7508 on: October 28, 2021, 11:57:35 AM »
Change Balls to Picasso to Accident of Birth and totally agree.  His solo work before that, to me, was not too impressive. 

Offline TAC

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7509 on: October 28, 2021, 12:05:03 PM »
I found Balls To Picasso so unique and different. Accident Of Birth, while AWESOME, was something familiar.

On BTP, it really became obvious to me just how talented of an artist that he was. It was so different to what he was doing with Maiden. I think he worked great with the Tribe Of Gypsies vibe. Of course the band was present along with Adrian on AoB, but as so good as it was, it never really struck me as anything new. Just something that was really strong.

When I got BTP, and had TXF to compare it too, it became really obvious that Bruce, even before the split, helped maintain an incredible amount of artistic balance in Maiden, helping to offset Steve.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Grappler

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7510 on: October 28, 2021, 12:07:18 PM »
Bruce had been saying the same thing since 1999 when they reunited - that Maiden was not going to be a nostalgia band, that they were going to continue to write new music and play it live.  He said it on the Ed Hunter tour, the Give Me Ed tour, and the Early Days tours, which were all built on nostalgia and playing rare/classic songs live. 

His intent was to clarify that despite the setlist that fans were hearing those nights, Maiden was never going to become that type of band and fans could anticipate new material.

He just chose to say that stuff when they were opening for Sabbath, who were at the time, a nostalgia band and had not written new material with Ozzy for years and years.  I've never felt that he was specifically insulting Sabbath, he just didn't think about the optics.

You might be on to something; that was 2005, and Sabbath, after fits and starts, later put out 13 in 2013 (a very solid record, BTW).

The last full length Sabbath album released was Forbidden, in 1995.  Reunion came out in 1999 - a live album with two new tracks. 

Maiden had put out two full length albums (BNW, DOD), two live albums (RIR, DOTR) and The Early Days DVD by 2005.  In addition to TXF and VXI with Blaze in between 1995 and 1999.


It's how I've always seen Bruce's stage banter and the egg-throwing situation.  I was surprised that Sharon took it as a slight against Sabbath, when Bruce had been saying it for years already.  His targets were likely bands like The Eagles, Kiss, and others who reunited and played greatest hits shows for big bucks without backing it up by continuing to be creative.  Sabbath certainly gets lumped in that group, but they weren't the only ones.


Offline TAC

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7511 on: October 28, 2021, 12:33:00 PM »
Didn't Bruce also rail against the sound system for the shows.?
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Grappler

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7512 on: October 28, 2021, 12:40:32 PM »
Didn't Bruce also rail against the sound system for the shows.?

According to Sharon's statement, he did.  I read something else where he also supposedly made cracks about reality TV stars (The Osbournes).

Even then, the main complaint in her statement is the nostalgia thing.  She also complained that he waved the English flag in America (during The Trooper  :metal ) and she was bothered by that, given that the US had just entered wars in the middle east. 

It's just Sharon not being up on what Iron Maiden's live show is about.  None of this was news to fans, and I don't think any fans felt slighted by Bruce. 

Offline cramx3

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7513 on: October 28, 2021, 12:48:57 PM »
I bet she felt more slighted than anyone else because the fans generally were wanting IM to play a longer set on that tour as they had done in Europe and on the few dates Ozzy couldn't perform.

Offline TAC

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7514 on: October 28, 2021, 01:01:01 PM »
Bruce seemed to have a hair across his ass on that tour. Not a Sharon fan, but generally not a Bruce fan in these kinds of things either.

I seem to remember her saying that they paid Maiden $400,000 per show.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline cramx3

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7515 on: October 28, 2021, 01:10:20 PM »
Bruce seemed to have a hair across his ass on that tour. Not a Sharon fan, but generally not a Bruce fan in these kinds of things either.

I seem to remember her saying that they paid Maiden $400,000 per show.

Yeah, from what I understand, I think Bruce took it a bit too far.  Biting the hand that feeds in a way.  Pretty unprofessional IMO.  Of course her response was worse, but Bruce could have held back some words and things wouldn't of gotten out of hand.  Ozzfest 2005 was my first time seeing IM (and Black Sabbath).

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7516 on: October 28, 2021, 01:21:23 PM »
I found Balls To Picasso so unique and different. Accident Of Birth, while AWESOME, was something familiar.

On BTP, it really became obvious to me just how talented of an artist that he was. It was so different to what he was doing with Maiden. I think he worked great with the Tribe Of Gypsies vibe. Of course the band was present along with Adrian on AoB, but as so good as it was, it never really struck me as anything new. Just something that was really strong.

When I got BTP, and had TXF to compare it too, it became really obvious that Bruce, even before the split, helped maintain an incredible amount of artistic balance in Maiden, helping to offset Steve.

I tihnk you have that right.   There really was some unique stuff on that record, and if you know the story, he worked for it. Hard.  There are like three versions of that record (including the released one) because they kept going back and redoing it (one was produced by Keith Olsen, who did some Sammy Hagar, and the US version of Whitesnake's Slide It In.)

Offline jammindude

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7517 on: October 28, 2021, 01:55:39 PM »
My only point in bringing that up is that it’s obvious that Steve had parted ways with anyone else in the band that had an issue with Steve. But he found he couldn’t dismiss Bruce so easily. As was mentioned, both had to humble themselves a bit and meet in the middle.
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Offline porcacultor

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7518 on: October 28, 2021, 01:59:33 PM »
On the Bruce vs. Ozzfest thing, he does have a bit of a history... When Iron Maiden came to Brazil in January 2004 for the Dance of Death tour, Bruce riled the crowd up with a mid-set speech about how "when we promise we're coming to São Paulo, we come to fucking São Paulo!", which was a pretty direct jab at Metallica having canceled their November 2003 dates in Brazil – apparently due to exhaustion, though there's some funny business about them scheduling other dates at the time as well.

This got the whole crowd to chant "Ei, Metallica, vai tomar no cu!" ("Hey, Metallica, up your ass", "fuck you" pretty much), so I spent a few years thinking there was some kind of feud between the bands... and now I don't think there ever really was. Steve was attending Metallica shows a few years later and Bruce even had James on his radio show for an interview in 2011.

I do think he overdid it at Ozzfest, though. He must've learned a lesson, though, because I don't think he's tried provoking other artists that much since 2005 (other than the odd joke about the Spice Girls, if I remember correctly).

Offline Lupton

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7519 on: October 28, 2021, 02:32:29 PM »
I just figured it was Bruce's thing having to trash talk something. That 1st Maiden show I saw, Bruce said something to effect of: "We just got back from California where the men are a bunch of pansies! With their ponytails. It's great to be in Texas where the men are men. " I honestly don't know if he's serious about this sort of stuff, or if it's just something he says to get a rise out of everybody.  I thought it was hilarious and so did most of the crowd. So Bruce talking shit about _____  just seems par for the course.

Offline Mladen

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7520 on: October 28, 2021, 02:46:14 PM »
Yep. Bruce gonna Bruce.

Offline 425

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7521 on: October 28, 2021, 02:50:19 PM »
Did some reading about Maiden on Wikipedia, I do not have a firm grasp of their early history, and this made me chuckle.

Di'Anno: "There can't be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an' Steve was always fighting..."
Stratton: "Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980, and has stated that he left due to conflicts with Steve Harris..."
Burr: "Bruce Dickinson's 2017 autobiography suggests Burr was ousted due to personality conflicts with Steve Harris..."

I sort of wonder to what extent this is just the reason that is said to avoid talking about any other reasons. I have no doubt that Steve is a strong personality and not the easiest guy to work with, but I think it's also pretty well-known that Di'Anno had issues with substance abuse that affected the band's ability to tour. Similar things have been said about Clive, although that seems to be more in dispute. And with Stratton, one factor surely was that Steve and Dave really wanted Adrian Smith (sort of a Sherinian/Rudess scenario).

It seems like "personality conflicts with Steve" might be the nicest accurate reason to give when there are other reasons going on behind the scenes as well. (Addiction, in particular, is not something to take lightly and not something that everyone who's struggling with it wants blasted out to the whole world.)
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Offline Stadler

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7522 on: October 28, 2021, 03:09:54 PM »
Did some reading about Maiden on Wikipedia, I do not have a firm grasp of their early history, and this made me chuckle.

Di'Anno: "There can't be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an' Steve was always fighting..."
Stratton: "Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980, and has stated that he left due to conflicts with Steve Harris..."
Burr: "Bruce Dickinson's 2017 autobiography suggests Burr was ousted due to personality conflicts with Steve Harris..."

I sort of wonder to what extent this is just the reason that is said to avoid talking about any other reasons. I have no doubt that Steve is a strong personality and not the easiest guy to work with, but I think it's also pretty well-known that Di'Anno had issues with substance abuse that affected the band's ability to tour. Similar things have been said about Clive, although that seems to be more in dispute. And with Stratton, one factor surely was that Steve and Dave really wanted Adrian Smith (sort of a Sherinian/Rudess scenario).

It seems like "personality conflicts with Steve" might be the nicest accurate reason to give when there are other reasons going on behind the scenes as well. (Addiction, in particular, is not something to take lightly and not something that everyone who's struggling with it wants blasted out to the whole world.)

I know with Stratton there were real musical differences; supposedly Dennis went in one night after hours and added a bunch of harmony guitars and backing vocals to the "Phantom Of The Opera" track without telling anyone.   That's not really passive, and not really JUST Steve being inflexible.   And Di'Anno has been pretty vocal about his disagreements - particularly about songwriting.

And at the end of the day, I don't recall sitting here drooling over the latest Dennis Stratton double CD, and I'm not drooling over going to see Paul Di'Anno in an arena on his spring tour.   So Steve is doing SOMETHING right.   

Offline RodrigoAltaf

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7523 on: October 29, 2021, 08:37:56 AM »
Dianno's issue was his erratic behaviour, and his involvement in fights - reportedly, they had to cancel a gig or two because he was arrested. And Clive was using a lot of drugs when they were doing the Beast on the Road tour. I spoke with the keyboard player of Alcatrazz a few years ago - Clive reportedly worked with them a few week after he was fired from Maiden - and he said he was in very bad shape at the time.

Offline nick_z

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Re: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls
« Reply #7524 on: October 30, 2021, 03:26:05 PM »
I found Balls To Picasso so unique and different. Accident Of Birth, while AWESOME, was something familiar.

On BTP, it really became obvious to me just how talented of an artist that he was. It was so different to what he was doing with Maiden. I think he worked great with the Tribe Of Gypsies vibe. Of course the band was present along with Adrian on AoB, but as so good as it was, it never really struck me as anything new. Just something that was really strong.

When I got BTP, and had TXF to compare it too, it became really obvious that Bruce, even before the split, helped maintain an incredible amount of artistic balance in Maiden, helping to offset Steve.

Very much agree with this. I don't LOVE all of Balls to Picasso, but there was so much interesting stuff on it. And, coming from No Prayer and Fear of the Dark, I remember I couldn't believe how good Bruce sounded on it. I mean, completely rejuvenated. I get that in part the way he sounded on those two Maiden albums was on purpose (raspier voice and such) but, man, I thought his singing on his solo records was as good as ever.