Yesterday did not go as I had hoped. Originally I was scheduled to interview
Adrian at 3pm and Bruce at 4. Then Bruce was moved to 2:30 with Adrian still
at 3. I arrived at home at 2pm setting up and waiting for the phone to ring.
By 2:50 I was a little worried. At 3:00, the phone rang, it was the promotional
company telling me that they do not know Bruce's whereabouts and they think
he is probably running around in New York City. However, they said that they
would have Bruce call me at 4pm. Instead of Adrian calling me I had to call
him, which is fine but I wasn't able to call him until 3:05. Five valuable minutes
wasted. I am in the process of trying to reschedule the Bruce interview, but
I am not very optimistic, because they were going From New York to Toronto,
then home, and then off to write for the new album. Here are the highlights
of the Adrian interview:
The rest of Psycho Motel were surprised that Adrian was rejoining Maiden and
they're doing there own thing now. He hopes that by playing in IM again that
PM will benefit. Adrian said that he would have been mad had he not been asked
to rejoin IM. Adrian will do all the guitar leads from the IM album to SSOASS.
Janick will do the solos from NPFTD to V11 and they may add an extra solo to
some songs like "Phantom." The US tour dates should be confirmed by next week.
They have selected a producer, but are not releasing the name for a while. Roy
was discussed but not selected. That's all for now. I hope to have the transcript
up within a week.
4/26/99
A special thanks to all who submitted questions for the Bruce and Adrian interview.
It has finally been confirmed and I will not have have to travel to New York,
so that's a relief. I will try to post some highlights of the interview on Thursday
night or Friday morning. I have updated the Concert
Reviews page with a review from the April 21 show in Sao Paolo. Thanks to
Leandro for send it in. According to the review, Bruce did an extra show on
Sunday.Thanks to Vlad, who sent me a link to his site VLAD'S
ROCK & HEAVY METAL WORLD This site has many pictures of Bruce and Adrian
from the show at The Astoria, in London.
BRUCE DICKINSON, in L.A. to rehearse with his solo band (which includes fellow
IRON MAIDEN returnee ADRIAN SMITH) for a South American tour that begins next
week, was on hand at Sunset Strip metal club Black Lodge on Wednesday night
and played guest DJ toward the end of the night. He's already begun to work
with Maiden on the beginnings of new material, and will get back into it upon
his return from his solo tour at the end of the month. Happily reporting that
Maiden fan club membership has doubled since the reunion was announced, Dickinson
is looking forward Maiden's brief U.S. and European runs (just a dozen dates
each, with MEGADETH supporting in Europe and a to-be-announced act in the States)
this summer and fall respectively, which will be a taste of what's to come in
2000. There won't be a show ringing in the millennium on New Year's Eve--"With
everyone else doing them it's a good reason for us not to," he says. But there
will be an extensive world tour sometime next year, supporting a reunion record.
4/14/99
I have updated the Interviews with a Bruce and Janick interview, from Douwn
Under, as well as two new links, the Bruce Dickinson auction and the Iron Maiden
auction. Specail thanks to Aussie Dave for the interview.
It appears as though The Chemical Wedding Tour will not start up again until
20 April in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It appears as though the Santiago, Chile,
Buenos Aires, Argentina and Porto Allegre, Brazil are not going to happen. This
is according to the offical Bruce site (Thanks to ARTURO for bringing it to
my attention).
4/13/99
I have added a new interview of Bruce and Janick,
compliments of Aussie Dave, from Triple JJJ. I have also added two new links
to the Bruce
and Iron
Maiden auction at ebay. I have not seen the latest interview with Bruce
in Metal Hammer, but from what I have heard he has made some bold statements
about being better than Metallica, which is true, but yet still bold.
4/5/99
According to The Web Factor
Bruce Dickinson's Brazilian tour dates have been changed slightly - the band
will now play Rio de Janeiro on the 20th of this month, Sao Paolo on the 21st
and Curtitiba on the 22nd.
The Sao Paolo gig will be recorded for Bruce's live album which should be released
this October. Bruce has said, however, that the Iron Maiden tracks which are
in the setlist will not be featured on the album.
I also received an e-mail from Diego in Sao Paulo, who also confirmed this.
Tattooed Millionaire and Balls to Picasso will be reissued this may in the
UK!
It looks as though the interview with Bruce will take place between the 28-30
of April. Now the only question is whether I will do a phone or an in person.
They will be in New York, which is a 6-7 hour drive, OUCH! Odds are that I will
not make the drive. Now for some exciting news!I will be accepting questions,
from all of you who would like to submit them, for the interview. There is no
guarentee that I will have the chance to ask all of them or any of them, but
if it goes like it did last time Bruce will accomodate the extra time. Whatever
you have always wanted to ask but never had the chance, now is the time to take
that opportunity. So, send me your best five questions! The last day to submit
questions will be April 23.
4/2/99
IT'S OFFICIAL! - MAIDEN NO. 1 BRITISH HEAVY METAL BAND
APRIL 1ST, 1999
Yes. The fact has finally been confirmed by Chrysalis TV's Heavy Metal Top
Ten, which was broadcast in primetime in March on Channel 4, that Iron Maiden
are officially the most successful British Metal band of all time.
The program was put together over the last few months with interviews of the
Top Ten British Heavy Metal acts. The Top Ten was worked out on the basis of
points awarded for British chart positions of chart singles and albums up to
the present day.
Maiden were number one with almost twice as many points as Ozzy and Sabbath
combined in the number two spot! For the statisticians among you the final Top
Ten run down is at the end of this piece. Of the 14 Maiden Top 20 Albums, three
were No. 1, and a further seven were among the Top 3!
The ninety-minute show, appropriately hosted by Lemmy from Motorhead, covered
all the acts and finished with an extended piece on Maiden featuring interviews
with Steve, Dave, Bruce, Paul Di'Anno and manager Rod Smallwood. To document
their career, the program showed footage from the early days in the Ruskin Arms
up to the 1998 Virtual XI World Tour.
Says Metal Hammer/Classic Rock writer Malcolm Dome, "Iron Maiden are a worthy
number one in anyone's chart. Not just for the music or the musicians but for
the fans. They changed a lot of attitudes within the industry."
The road to the top was far from easy as Steve explained on the program, "the
band never took any money out to begin with. We had to just put everything back
in just to afford a tour."
Even with the huge success of 'The Number Of The Beast', the band kpet up
the level - and the expense - of touring. Rod said, "I wouldn't let any of us
spend anything or we couldn't afford the tour. When 'The Number Of The Beast'
was No. 1 in Britain for its second week, we were down in the Marquee, and Steve
came up to me and said, 'Can I have a word as this is getting a bit embarrassing.
We can't afford to buy a round!' The band were on 60 pounds a week."
The never-say-die attitude continued when Maiden were achieving massive success
in the USA. Explained Rod, "We headlined arenas all around America without any
airplay, without tie-ins with the radio stations and everyone was saying, 'What
the f**k's going on? How can this band be doing this?(without radio)'...but
Iron Maiden never compromised with nobody...no time, no place, no how!"
With the band now having sold some 50 million albums worldwide, the band's
fan base is immense. Said Steve, "Wherever we go, the fans are so hardcore,
they're so into it. We love what we do and that's gotta be the thing. We really
do enjoy it, and I think the fans know that you can't look them in the eye unless
it's that way."
On the recent news of what is considered by many to be the ultimate Maiden
lineup, legendary British rock presence Tommy Vance commented, "It's what the
fans have wanted for such a long time. It's going to be a resurgence. That band
is going to be unbeatable!"
Rod Smallwood said after the showing, "It must be a sign of changing times
that TV in Britain devotes an hour of Prime time to Metal - and definitely a
change for the better! It's an honor for the band to be No. 1 - but particularly
so considering some of the very great British bands that make up the list. The
band all grew up listening especially to Purple and Sabbath and consider them
to be very special, which makes the honor even greater."
The final Top Ten finished up as below:
NO.
BAND
TOP 20 POINTS
1
IRON MAIDEN
441
2
OZZY & BLACK SABBATH
237
3
DEEP PURPLE
215
4
DEF LEPPARD
204
5
RAINBOW
164
6
WHITESNAKE
159
7
MOTORHEAD
119
8
SAXON
84
9
JUDAS PRIEST
72
10
UFO
38
4/1/99
For all of those who have not seen any of the Bruce videos from The Chemical
Wedding, here's your chance. And NO, this is not an April Fools joke. CMC International
has a new home page at, www.rockuniverse.com
Aside from the video clips of "The Tower" and "Killing Floor" there is no other
new information, though the design is quite interesting. Look for some updates
regarding the Bruce interview in the coming days and again as always thanks
for all of the email and posts on the message board. I hope to one day take
the time to update the design of this page, but who knows when that will ever
happen.
3/19/99
Sorry for the lack of updates, but there has not been much to report. I spoke
with CMC international about Bruce and Maiden. It appears as though Maiden's
relationship with CMC ended before the reunion and Maiden still remains label
less at the time, but I can't imagine that they would not be signed soon. Bruce
is still under contract with CMC for atleast one more record. CMC is also getting
ready to unleash a new website that will contain bits of the two videos from
The Chemical Wedding. As soon the site is up I will inform everyone. Special
thanks to Mikko, who has sent me a ton of Bruce interviews and reviews. I have
updated the interviews page with three interviews.
One from Skunkworks and two from last year. They are at the bottom of the page.
I have also updated the Misc with some reviews of
all of Bruce's solo material. I would like to also thank all of those sign the
guestbook. I do read all of your comments. I will be adding some more links
in the next couple of weeks, so keep stopping by for more Bruce news.
3/11/99
As far as my interview goes, it looks like it will happen towards the end of
April. I will not have a definite date until the beginning of April. In other
news...
The May 99 Issue if Metal Edge, has a somewhat recent interview of Bruce,
before the reunion. He said that his US Tour would be with Anthrax and maybe
VoiVod. (This is past tense; there is still no US tour) He also said that they
are going to record live on the South American Tour. Bruce also said that he
was going to record on the US tour with "The GURU," but the live album would
not be released immediatly, due to the influx of live albums that have been
coming out. Also, he said that he is worried about having Roy tour because he
does not want to burn him out. Roy did get sick on the last tour and also enjoys
the studio side of things, so the idea would be to have Roy record and have
"The GURU" do the tour. Also, I had a surprise package form CDNOW on my doorstep
and as I opened the package there was a letter saying that I had won the Iron
Maiden contest. I forgot I had entered. The grand prize was an autographed copy
of Run To The Hills, by Mick Wall. I've read from the Bruce days till the present
and I must say it is pretty interesting. I forgot to metion that is was Adrian's
B-day on 2/27/99. Sorry H!
2/27/99
Happy 42nd Birthday to Mr. Adrian Smith
2/26/99
Well, the much anticiapted press was nothing but sheer garbage. Though, Bruce
did say he would continue his solo career, which is good news for those who
just can't get enough. I still have plans to interview Bruce and/or Adrian in
April and who knows I might run the same format as before, where I will accept
questions from everyone and present them to Bruce and Adrian. If this is possible
I will inform everyone in due time. Thanks again to Mikko who sent me two old
articles/interviews with Bruce from September 1997
and from July 1996. I have added them to the interviews
page.
2/17/99
To all of the Bruce Dickinson and then some page fans: After much thought I
have decided to keep this site operational, however it will not have much on
Maiden aside from any interviews or concert reviews. I plan on continuting to
dedicate this page to Bruce's solo effort along with news on Adrian, Psycho
Motel, and the Tribe of Gypsies. I also plan on finishing the transcribing of
the interview I had with Adrian in early 1995. For up to date Maiden info I
recommend either Neighbour of The
Beast(NOTB) or The offiicial site. Now for the great news. I have a tenative
date scheduled to interview Bruce and/or Adrian in April. Please stay tuned
for further information.
2/12/99
Thanks to Mikko for the following update: There was 2 hour worldwide Maiden
special on Rock Radio Network.
They interviewed and talked about what Maiden means to artist and persons like:
Barnie (from Napalm Death)and Charlie Benante (Anthrax).
Here's play list for secod hour:
The clairvoyant (live from Donington '88)
Number of the beast
Powerslave
Die with your boots on
To tame a land
The prisoner
Iron Maiden (from Live after death)
Tommy Vance, of RRN, will interview all band members. It will be live broadcast.
There is also exclusive old radio broadcast to USA and other parts to the world.
Here are the frequencies and times (UTC/GMT): 2000-2200 11755kHz (Europe to
22:00) 2000-2200 11985kHz (North America to 22:00)
You can also send questions to the interwiev via Web and normal post. See
RRN for information.
Bruce has been speaking to BBC Radio One about the reunion and had this to
say:
"This is one of the last fantastic metal bands that is out there. I think,
actually, it can be better now than the best it ever was."
...and when asked how the reformed Iron Maiden will compare to younger bands:
"We're gonna kick the crap out of them. I'm serious, in the nicest possible
way, all in the best possible taste, lots of people never saw the Maiden from
mid to the latter end of the eighties and I don't think they understand just
what is gonna happen when we get on stage!"
Visions of The Beast has been delayed again! Due to the release of Ed Hunter
in May, Visions of The Beast will not be available until this coming November.
There is however some very good news - the band is to release some 'archive
audio' of some old live shows at the same time. Now, this is something a lot
of people have been wanting for a long time!
Although tours in the US and Europe are currently being booked, there are
currently no plans to include any UK shows this year.
2/10/99
IRON MAIDEN PRESS RELEASE
** The new lineup is Bruce Dickinson (Vocals), Steve Harris (Bass), Dave Murray
(Guitar), Adrian Smith (Guitar), Janick Gers (Guitar) and Nicko McBrain (Drums).
** This will be the first time Iron Maiden have had a three guitar onslaught
on stage.
** PC game "Ed Hunter" is set for Worldwide release in May. Full details soon.
** Tour dates in U.S.A./Europe currently being lined up for July/August/September.
** New studio album to be recorded at the end of this year. ** Full World
Tour in year 2000.
** An exclusive worldwide interview with the entire band is currently scheduled
with the Rock Radio Network for Thursday, February 25th at 9 P.M. U.K. time/
4 P.M. Eastern United States. This is available at www.rocknetwork.com and will
be affiliated with Hard Radio (www.hardradio.com), U.S.A. and will run live
simultaneously on both outlets. Hard Radio will have the broadcast on demand
for fans who miss the live conference. For further details and updates, access
the Iron Maiden web site at www.ironmaiden.com.
One secret I have been holding onto for almost 5 years is when I interview
Bruce in Oct of 1994 he said that if he was to have a reunion with Maiden it
would have to include Adrian & Janick. Well, it appears as though this is what
has happend!
The final tallies of the poll were: %90 of the 189 votes casted wanted Adrian
to come back and %10 wanted Janick to remain. Stay tuned for another poll.
2/9/99
Mikko has informed me the Hard Radio
will be broadcasting the Iron Maiden press conference on 25 February. Times
are TBA.
2/8/99
Thanks again to Mikko for the following information: Iron Maiden are supposed
to be on VH-1 Europe and announce all that is happening with Maiden. It is on
this friday.If Bruceis back we will know friday!! Well, things are definitely
happening. Iron Maiden are all set to make an announcement about something on
this coming week's Friday Rock Show on VH-1 Europe. Quite what form this is
going to take is still open to debate - obviously rumours suggest a reunion
with the '83-'89 line-up of the band but we'll have to wait a few days longer
to know for sure.
On Rock Radio
Network's web site at the moment they have this message posted: "THE METAL EVENT OF THE DECADE IS COMING... WILL YOU BE THERE? THE WHOLE
ROCK WORLD WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR MONTHS TO COME... IT WILL BE HAPPENING
EXCLUSIVELY RIGHT HERE EARLY NEXT WEEK. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE NOW AND WATCH THIS
SPACE FOR DETAILS. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T MISS IT!" Related? We shall see......
I have also updated the Interviews page with a Bruce interview from Austrailia
on 5 February, thanks to Dave G for transcribing the interview!
2/5/99
Thanks to Mikko, who sent this in information, which was reported by MTV:
"It appears that a reunion of metal veteran Bruce Dickinson and his old band
Iron Maiden is imminent -- Dickinson is in England meeting with his former band
mates this week. But whether the reconciliation will take the form of a one-off
concert, a full tour,new studio tracks, and/or a new album is anybody's guess.
Iron Maiden have pegged 1999 as their 20th anniversary. They made their major
label debut in 1980 with vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who was replaced by Dickinson
in 1982. Dickinson left the group after eleven years in 1993 to concentrate
on his own material and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, formerly the singer for
Wolfsbane. Sources close to the band say that Bayley is now out of the group
regardless of Dickinson's status. Hard Radio reports that Iron Maiden has invited
vocalists to audition.
Dickinson has told fans and media in the past that he's not adverse getting
together with his former band mates for some sort of 20th anniversary in 1999
and/or millenium celebration, but sources say he's likely balking at the idea
of spending a lot of time in close quarters with Iron Maiden mainstay Steve
Harris. Sources also say that any offers may look more attractive to Dickinson
if he splits with his current label, CMC. Dickinson reportedly pulled out of
his tour with Anthrax due to lack of label support and web reports say he won't
be staying with the company.
A spokesperson for CMC tells MTV News that as far as she knows, Dickinson is
still with the label, but acknowledges that there has been some dissention over
touring issues. Dickinson's official website, meanwhile, lists a tour of South
America for April.
Tony Ward, who manages both acts, declined to comment on the situation."
Iron Maiden have been hit by rumours strongly suggesting that they are about
to replace singer Blaze Bayley with his predecessor Bruce Dickinson. The band
and their management company Sanctuary deny this is the case, however - issuing
a terse statement which simply reads "Bollocks!". Dickinson echoes their sentiments,
albeit in a more polite fashion. "It would be very difficult for me to rejoin
Maiden, " he laughs, "seeing as Blaze is still in the band, from what I understand!
People have been asking me about these f**king rumours every five minutes, ever
since my solo records started to get cracking reviews!"
Dickinson insists that his schedule for 1999 is "set in stone. I'm going to
South America to play my own headlining shows from April 16. When we get back
(guitarist) Roy Z and I are going to write songs for a new album, which should
be released in the year 2000".
Dickinson admits to having heard the various industry rumours himself. "People
keep coming up to me and asking, 'Is it true that Blaze is out of the band?',"
he says. "I'm sure if he was out of the band, I'd have heard about it."
If Maiden were to ask Bruce back, would he accept? "I don't know!" he hoots.
"In the right circumstances it would be a bit of a laugh. But it all depends
on somebody saying something. Nobody has said anything, so as far as I'm concerned,
nothing's happening." Despite such claims, rumours persist that Dickinson has
indeed rejoined the band. More next week."
2/3/99
The VH1 special was pretty cool. It actually had a 3 minute piece on Bruce with
Maiden and solo. It showed clips from the Maiden days as well as a video bit
from The Chemcial Wedding.It had a interview with Bruce and showed a picture
of his house with his kids as well as the story Bruce singing in a Bosnian band(maybe
this year). He said they needed a singer so he did it, they played half of the
Blues Brother CD as well as "Paranoid" and other stuff. They also mentioned
his books, fencing and flying. Bruce said after a show he loves getting some
coffee and water and going up into the black. All in all I'd say it was pretty
good. It comes on again Sunday at 7pm(est).
2/2/99
Tonight at 10pm (est)and on Sunday at 7pm(est) VH1 will be doing Where are they
now? #5: British Invasion. It will be a half-hour update on British artists
and what they are now. Interviews with: Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes To Hollywood),
Annabella Lewin (Bow Wow Wow), Jools Holland (Squeeze), Andy Partridge (XTC),
Dave Wakeling (English Beat), Limahl (Kajagoogoo), Robbie Gray (Modern English),
Nick Feldman (Wang Chung), Gary and Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Bruce Dickinson
(Iron Maiden), Gary Glitter, David Bowie, Boy George and The Buggles.
2/1/99
Sorry for the long delay in updating, but I have been a little under the weather.
I have updated the Concert Reviews page with a review from 12/11/98 in Athens
Greece, courtesy of Mikko. I have also updated Some new Bruce Tour Dates in
South America. There also may be some a Japan tour, but it there is dim hope
for any North American tour. Accorind to the poll, 53% of 505 votes, think that
Bruce should rejoin Maiden, while 47% want him to remain solo. Look for more
polls soon.
1/19/99
Thanks to MRBAG, from the Anthrax messageboard, said that Bruce backed out because
of lack of funds from CMC. Also, the following was reported from one of the
most reliable sites, Neighbour of
The Beast(NOTB).
Bruce appeared on stage with Angra in Paris on January 16th. He did Run To
The Hills and Flight Of Icarus with the Brazilian metallers in front of an extatic
audience.
After the show, we talked to Bruce, and I think you guess what we asked him:
Q : Bruce, we heard some rumours about you ?
A : What rumours ?
Q : Rumours that maybe Blaze is out of Maiden, and maybe you are in.
A. Oh I see ! No, I don't know if Blaze is out of Maiden.
Q. Were you asked to join the band ?
A. Nobody from the band asked me to join again.
Q. Nobody from the band... And from the management ?
A. There were some contacts, and some people spoke about doing something special
for the year 2000...
Q. Will you join Maiden in 2000 ?
A. I don't know, nothing like that has been decided... We try to keep things
quiet for the moment.
Q. You try to keep things quiet, or secret ?
A. (after some hesitation) No, we try to keep things quiet...
Some more information :
* He came to Paris with his own plane, as usual !
* There could be some acoustic shows in Europe later this year. * It seems that
the Samson reunion is "cancelled".
* He was with Janick Gers the day before (what did they talk about ?).
* He cancelled the US tour because there was not support from CMC. He did not
want to spend his own money to do the tour so he told them to f**k off. He said
his next album will not be released by CMC in the USA.
1/13/99
Thanks to Big Jake, who sent me a message with some tentative dates for Anthrax,
Bruce and Kilgore, though they were tentative. The tour started in Vancouver
and ended in Miami, FL a total of 25 dates. The news was from an Anthrax roadie
on an Anthrax message board. Click here
for the Anthrax site. I checked the messageboard today and it says that
the tour was canceled due to Bruce. It gave no other reasons, so I hope to find
out some more information soon.
1/12/99
Accorind to Hard Radio Bruce will now
only be touring with Anthrax. There is no mention of any other acts or why Slayer
is not on the bill. Personally, I'm glad they are not on the bill.
1/8/99
With tour rehearsals starting at the end of January, sources close to Roy Z
have said that it is up in the air, as to whether or not he will play on the
US Tour at all or on a few selected dates. ****Update****Thanks to Julien
from The Offical Tribe of Gypsies
site for the following info: Last I heard, he wasn't gonna do it. Guru will
fill in for him. Don't worry, there's no trouble brewing or anything. Roy is
just too damn busy : he's gotta finish producing the new Downset album, put
together a ToG mini-album, write songs for the next Bruce album, plus some other
stuff.
Roy should still do the South American tour and that's where they should record
the live album if they decide to do one.
1/4/99
According to Hard Radio ,Bruce may be
appearing on the UFO tribute album, "Spaced Out". He would be doing a version
of UFO's "Natural Thing."
