The latest issue of the Decibel Magazine features a 10 page special on Iron Maiden. It includes quotes from band members and also from members of Unearth, Into Eternity, Trivium, Mastodon, In Flames, Cannibal Corpse and The Haunted discussing Maiden's influence on the modern extreme metal scene.
Read on for an excerpt.
Many thanks to DecibelMaiden for the head's up
"How Iron Maiden sidestepped American music martyrdom and salvaged heavy metal through its darkest times for future headbangers
Somewhere in the middle of the audience, nearly an hour into Iron Maiden's gig at Long Island's Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, a fan begins facing a large sign toward the band that reads: "PLAY CLASSICS." It's clear, the youth—or, in this case, the middle-aged rocker attempting to relive his glory years—are getting restless. In a break between songs, frontman Bruce Dickinson, as charismatic as he is short, spots the sign and beckons it to him. Their Pavlovian responses triggered, the thousands of fans separating the placard from their idols hand it to one another until it finally reaches the stage. Dickinson takes it and shreds it ritualistically. The audience cheers and Maiden charge into the next brand-new song. Play classics? Surely not a band as consistently progressive as Iron Maiden.
Nevertheless, Iron Maiden's current tour has proven challenging to some of their stalwart fans. There are so many anthems to choose from, it's easy to forget that, in order for those songs to have become classics, they had to make the tour circuit at some point. Rock radio never really supported Maiden in the States. Neither did MTV, other than on Headbangers Ball. And the mainstream music press mostly sought to demonize the faux devil worship of their early career.
Unlike Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and especially Metallica, who all received a modicum of attention from those outlets, Iron Maiden made their name through relentless touring and word-of-mouth—their legend was borne from the bleachers. Now, for the first time on any tour, they're playing every note, from start to finish, of their latest album, A Matter of Life and Death [Sanctuary]. It has taken them years, but by the turn of the century their brazen leadership earned them kudos from Rolling Stone as the "most influential English hard rockers of their generation." And they're risking fans both new and old.
After a critically stale slot on 2005's Ozzfest bill (the most vocal detractor being the self-proclaimed "real iron maiden," Sharon Osbourne) playing their '80s classics, the band members began complaining in the press that American "package" tours made it difficult for them to win new fans. With each member of Iron Maiden now middle-aged, and a lineup consisting of Dickinson, founding bassist Steve Harris, guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers, along with drummer Nicko McBrain, they knew what they were talking about.
After Dickinson left the band to concentrate on his solo career in the mid-90s, Maiden released two albums with ex-Wolfsbane frontman Blaze Bailey. Despite standout tracks and hummable hooks, these albums failed to reach younger American fans interested in grunge and alt-rock. Now seven years after Dickinson rejoined the band, A Matter of Life and Death is Maiden's highest Billboard-charting album yet, debuting at No. 9. Resistance should be futile…
"The US is kind of a work in progress, really," says Dickinson. "We're still, let's face it, obviously a very big, obviously a very influential band. And it seems that people are rediscovering us with the new record. And fortunately, it's a complete reinvention, because the album is very different to anything we've done before. There's absolutely no attempt to pander toward the media expectations or commercial expectations. There's no attempt to have five-minute catchy songs, to have singles or anything else like that. It's Iron Maiden music, sort of taken to the nth degree."
Bassist Steve Harris, the group's de facto leader, agrees, unwavering in his pride. "If people come to the show and they don't know the album," he says, "they're gonna be in trouble. But I think it's fresh, and I think it's a challenge, and I think it's a challenge for the audience also. I think it's important to do things like that every now and again. Just mix things up and do something different."
