First of all, thanks everyone for your patience. This has turned out to be one of the busiest semesters I've had and generally the past few months have been the busiest I've been in my life. Not to make excuses, but this has had to take a back seat lately. The good news is that things should be winding down within the next couple weeks so expect a couple more delays and then maybe back to weekly updates. No promises though. Anyway, on with the show:
Dance of Death (2003)
Maiden kicked off 2003 by announcing some tour dates and entering the studio for work on their next album. Pleased with his work on Brave New World, the band reenlisted Kevin Shirley, although this time the album would be recorded at home in England. They booked a studio in London, their first time recording in the city since The Number of the Beast. In usual Maiden fashion, the group opted not to take the safe route of retreading the accessible straightforward material on Dance of Death but to instead further pursue that album’s more experimental and progressive side. As a result, Dance of Death is one of the band’s more adventurous albums and features many firsts for the band.
Among these firsts was Nicko McBrain’s first writing credit on a Maiden album, after being in the band for 20 years. Nicko came up with the lyrics, vocal melodies, and a bass line which he presented to the entire band. When Nicko presented the song, he used the classic Steve Harris method of playing the riffs on acoustic bass while humming the tune. The band remarked that he sounded strangely like Steve and Steve even jokingly suggested that Nicko play bass on the recording. Nicko also received help from Adrian who helped with the bridge and chorus. Additionally, Bruce is credited on the song but his exact involvement has never been explained. The song, which is about the moral dilemma over cloning humans, drew some small controversy among fans for being too preachy. Other than that though, New Frontier is a typical Maiden rocker and not bad for a first song. It was never played live though and today only seems to be remembered because Nicko wrote it.
Another major first on the album was the band’s first all acoustic song. Journeyman, the album’s closer, is one of two songs by the Smith/Harris/Dickinson partnership. It was originally written with acoustic guitars but, as was the case with all their songs, it was rearranged for electric guitars and recorded that way. Ultimately the band was unsatisfied with the result and the suggestion was made to record the original acoustic version. The new recording came out much better and is what made it onto the album. They had songs that featured prominent acoustic guitars before, namely Prodigal Son and Como Estais Amigos, but both songs featured some heavy sections with electric guitars. Journeyman was 100% acoustic. The electric version was released later on the No More Lies EP. Journeyman was a nice surprise after 10 pretty heavy songs and is probably the closest Maiden have come to writing a ballad. Ballads can be risky business in Metal bands, but this particular ballad came with surprisingly little controversy. Most fans seemed to embrace the experimentation and the song remains as one of the album’s most memorable moments.
The other Smith/Harris/Dickinson track marked yet another first: Nicko McBrain’s first use of double bass pedal. For those unfamiliar with Nicko’s drum technique, he was always strongly opposed to using the double bass and gained a reputation for having ridiculously fast single pedal technique. His first major obstacle actually came the moment he joined the band when Steve presented him with Where Eagles Dare. It was uncertain whether Nicko would be able to handle the song’s tempo using a single pedal bass drum but, after hours of careful practice, he was not only able to do it, but he was able to start the show with it on the Piece of Mind tour. Nicko was presented with another tricky bass drum part 20 years later with Face In the Sand, but this time he ended up having to record it with a double bass pedal. Nicko voiced discomfort with playing the song and, consequently, it was never played live. It is a strong effort though with lyrics from Bruce that reflect on the media coverage of various events, specifically the Iraq War which had started while the band were working on the album.
If it is not already apparent, Adrian Smith had a much greater hand in this album compared to Brave New World, where he intentionally took a backseat. Where he only contributed two songs to the previous album, Adrian has a writing credit on 5 of the 11 songs on Dance of Death, including the lead single: Wildest Dreams. Much like The Wicker Man, which was also penned by Adrian (with the help of Bruce and Steve) and was also a lead single, the song is a musical callback to the hits of the 80s such as Flight of Icarus and Can I Play With Madness. It’s upbeat, energetic, and features a live-ready singalong chorus. Wildest Dreams is very similar in style to The Wicker Man, although it was written by Smith and Harris rather than Smith/Harris/Dickinson.
The last Smith contribution, Paschendale, is a stark contrast to the accessible Wildest Dreams with its epic length, sudden stops, and extended instrumental section. Prior to Paschendale, Adrian was mostly known for the more commercial side of Maiden, but in the spirit of the album’s experimentation, he decided to attempt an epic. The song began with the haunting intro and developed from there. Adrian then found a book on the battle of Passchendaele and presented it to Steve for lyrical inspiration. The result was one of the band’s proggiest and most dramatic songs ever. It is a song that is still held in high regard among fans and the band members themselves. In his new book, Bruce claims it’s the only thing on Dance of Death that is at the same level of quality as Brave New World.
Paschendale is not the only epic or dramatic piece on the album though. Also included is the epic title track, written by Steve and Janick. At 9 minutes, it’s the longest song on the album and was conceived around an acoustic idea by Gers. Janick came up with the bulk of the song and, in a similar story to Paschendale, presented Steve with inspiration for the lyrics from the classic film The Seventh Seal. However, unlike Paschendale, the source material only provided the initial spark of inspiration. The song itself is entirely from Steve’s imagination, possible a story from his dreams. Together, both Paschendale and Dance of Death mark a return to the storytelling epic that was more common in the 80s with songs such as Rime of the Ancient Mariner and To Tame a Land. Musically, the song seems to be a progression of what Janick was doing on Dream of Mirrors, but this time the acoustic guitar plays an even more prominent role. Not only is Dance of Death one of Maiden’s most dramatic songs, it’s also one of their most melodic and is another highlight of the album. If there was still any doubt about Janick’s place in the band, Dance of Death shatters it.
While he didn’t contribute quite as much as on Brave New World, Dance of Death continues to show Janick’s prominence as a songwriter. Not only did he contribute the title track and album centerpiece, but he also contributed a couple classic sounding Maiden rockers. Both songs are collaborations with Bruce and Steve and they each represent the more accessible side of the album. One of these two songs, Gates of Tomorrow, is widely considered to be among the weaker points of the album. It’s a generic fast paced rock song in the vein of Wildest Dreams or The Mercenary, but not quite as memorable. The lyrics, penned by Bruce, can take on multiple meanings, although it is most likely about the uncertain future that awaited with the advent of the Internet. Maiden were pretty on top of the technology at the time, being one of the first bands to have an official website and also embracing music downloads early on (more on that later). For a more successful collaboration by the trio, there’s Montsegur. This is another short rocker that came primarily from Janick with some rearrangements by Steve and a lyric by Bruce. It’s a song filled with catchy riffs and melodies, including a recycled guitar harmony from Bruce Dickinson’s solo track, Born In ‘58.
Dave Murray also contributed two tracks which had become normal for him at the time, although he contributed three songs to Brave New World. The first song, Rainmaker, was a collaboration with Bruce and Steve although the song was primarily written by Dave. Dave came up with the main riffs, melodies and chord progressions with Steve adding some melodies before Bruce wrote the lyrics. Bruce heard the opening melody that Dave came up with and stated that it reminded him of raindrops, hence the concept of Rainmaker. The second Dave song was Age of Innocence, which was just a collaboration with Steve. Once again, Dave came up with most of the music while Steve helped piece things together and also added the lyrics. Age of Innocence is one of the more controversial songs on the album for a number of reasons. The first is the lyrics, which, similar to New Frontier, were criticized for being overly preachy and even showing Steve’s age. Steve wrote the song about his feelings in England at the time, that he felt like the judicial system was failing and his kids weren’t safe growing up there. The song was also criticized for its bridge which featured Bruce almost rapping. That being said, the song is also praised for its highly melodic guitar parts and chorus. Overall, Age of Innocence is a good example of Dance of Death’s more experimental side: it works in some areas and not so much in other areas.
As usual, Steve remained very prolific on this album contributing to all but one track (New Frontier). Like Brave New World, his solo contributions weren’t quite as numerous since there were so many other writers in the band that he wanted to make room for. Only one song is credited entirely to Steve and that is No More Lies. No More Lies is the typical reunion era Maiden track: long soft intro followed by a heavy buildup with a huge climactic (if not repetitive) chorus. The lyrics are also classic Steve, dealing with a person who knows he is close to death. Steve has said that the person in the song could be Jesus and that there are references to the Last Supper, but it is meant to be relatable for anyone.
The album was recorded in the same style and fashion as Brave New World, although this time they captured some video footage of the recording so fans were able to get better insight into the modern Maiden recording method. The documentary, which was included on the DVD release for the tour (Death On the Road), was the first time fans got a significant look at the band in the studio. Maiden were known to be very secretive about those things, so the Dance of Death documentary was a real treat. It only really covers the recording of Montsegur and Paschendale, but it’s better than nothing. As seen in the documentary, the band worked very quickly. An entire day would be spent on one song and they would go from rough rhythm tracks all the way to a rough mix of the final song by the end of the day. The band was recorded live, with Dave and Janick sharing a recording booth, Adrian in his own booth, Bruce in his own booth, and Nicko and Steve in the center room. Kevin Shirley used a minimalist approach to instrument set up, contrary to most producers and audio engineers. Rather than spend days on end crafting the drum sound or messing with microphones, he opted for a more “plug in and play” approach which very much pleased the band.
Using Kevin Shirley’s quick style of recording, the sessions were finished in a month. The album was mixed and ready to go by May, although it wouldn’t be released until September. It’s not entirely clear why the release was delayed. Whether there was an unintentional delay or the band decided to hold off so that they could do a “classics” setlist for the festivals and North America. Regardless, the shows were booked even before the band started recording, and, in Summer 2003, Maiden hit the road again for their first full scale tour in 2 years.
Give Me Ed Til I’m Dead Tour (2003)
As previously mentioned, the summer 2003 tour was actually announced before the band had even entered the studio. In late 2002, Maiden began announcing some European summer dates and before long a full scale tour was planned, including a run in North America. The European shows were also going to be largely in the festival circuit. Later on it was revealed that the tour would be a “greatest hits” setlist and was going to be about having fun. This marked the beginning of a pattern that still exists to this day: album tours are to be alternated with “greatest hits” tours. They started as being simple and brief but continued to grow as the were unsurprisingly extremely popular. The tour also served as a way to build hype for the new album. The band performed Wildest Dreams as part of the setlist and at every concert Bruce encouraged fans to record the song and post it on the internet on the condition that they buy the album when it comes out. Maiden’s attitude toward this was a stark contrast to the general industry opinion at the time, as Metallica were currently in the middle of a high profile lawsuit against Napster and most artists were on Metallica’s side. Maiden realized that it was a losing battle for the music industry and that the best course of action was to use it to their own advantage, which is exactly what they did for Dance of Death.
The rest of the setlist was a career retrospective that featured a healthy amount of material from each era. This time, every album was represented with the exception of Killers and The X Factor. The usual suspects were included, but there were also some songs that hadn’t been played in years. The big comeback was Revelations, which hadn’t been played since the World Slavery tour in 1985. Also included were 22 Acacia Avenue and Die With Your Boots On, two songs that were staples in the 80s but hadn’t been played since the early 90s. The Wicker Man and Brave New World were each played from the previous album and The Clansman was on the menu for the third tour in a row. The encore was one of the band’s more exciting, kicking off with Bring Your Daughter To the Slaughter, which hadn’t been played since Bruce left the band. This was followed by Two Minutes to Midnight which wasn’t typically used as an encore tune. The closer was Run to the Hills, which was welcomed back especially in North America where it was not included on the Brave New World tour setlist. The setlist order was also very interesting. For the first time ever, The Number of the Beast opened the show. Hallowed Be Thy Name was also included very early on, even though both songs were traditionally saved for the end. This made the setlist more exciting and unpredictable.
The stage set was also a celebration of the band’s history, featuring a collage of various Eddie’s that even extended to the background (which shrunk the space normally used for drapes). The Ed Hunter walk on Eddie was finally retired and replaced with a regal Eddie in the style of Edward the Great, the compilation which was released a year earlier. The big Eddie (as well as the Eddie on the poster) was designed after the Visions of the Beast DVD and there was some brain action that brought back memories of the World Piece Tour 20 years earlier. It wasn’t an extremely elaborate stage set, especially compared to what followed, but it fit the theme of the tour perfectly.
As mentioned earlier, the tour started in Europe with the band hitting most of the major festivals including the very first Download festival at Castle Donington. It was the band’s third time headlining Donington after headlining Monsters of Rock there in 1988 and 1992. They also performed again at Rockslide and Graspop, both festivals that they hit on the Brave New World tour. Finally, they performed at Rock Am Ring, which was broadcast on TV and represents the best bootleg of the tour.
Rock Am Ring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHZcwBD6j6UAfter finishing in Europe, the band headed across the Atlantic for a month of touring North America. They once again performed at amphitheaters of similar size to what they played on the Brave New World tour, although their popularity was beginning to grow already. Also similar to the Brave New World tour was that North America got a very impressive touring package. This time it was Motorhead and Dio, two legendary groups. On the other hand, North America also got a shorter set. 22 Acacia Avenue was left off the set entirely and several of the shows had three songs dropped due to venue curfews (Heaven Can Wait, Brave New World, and Bring Your Daughter To the Slaughter). Regardless, it was a successful tour that was especially appealing to the nostalgic fans who were mostly interested in hearing the classics.
Also, as a side note, the Give Me Ed Til I’m Dead tour happened to be my first time seeing Iron Maiden. I was a month away from turning 7 and this show made me a Maiden fan for life. I still remember quite a bit of it very vividly, although I’m also lucky that the show was immortalized in one of the better bootlegs from the tour. Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh8aqVDABHgThe tour wrapped up at the end of August and, a week later, Dance of Death was released.
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