Bruce Dickinson

Travis The Dragon said:
That's too bad that they don't really seem to get along that well. Oh well. That happens with a lot of bands who have been around as long as they have.
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I don't think that is what he's saying. The band have repeatedly stated in interviews that they all come in with their own song ideas, and it's usually Steve who arranges them. They all (especially the three Amigos) don't think they have the discipline to actually sit down and jam together and get a proper result. When you watch them onstage, you always get the feeling each one needs their private space to be respected, but they certainly interact with each other. I was actually surprised to see H and Jan playing jokes on each other last weekend.
Still, let's face it: They're a group of middle aged men, and you don't go into group hugs unless you're emotionally unstable at that point.
 
Yup, i also see nothing wrong with that statement of Bruce. Their relationship was far worse in '80s because they all took decisions in band too personally - especially Bruce in 1986. They keep it on the right level now, and that's why there won't be any line-up changes or anything shocking regarding the band.

They all (especially the three Amigos) don't think they have the discipline to actually sit down and jam together and get a proper result.
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I wouldn't necessary go that far; although they're a compositional type of band, not jamming one, they surely play with individual ideas at studio.
Eg. I don't think that everyone gets their demos to Steve, and he miraculously constructs songs, every time. IMHO they are bound to jam sometimes over their ideas and see what pops out.
 
Zare said:
I wouldn't necessary go that far; although they're a compositional type of band, not jamming one, they surely play with individual ideas at studio.
Eg. I don't think that everyone gets their demos to Steve, and he miraculously constructs songs, every time. IMHO they are bound to jam sometimes over their ideas and see what pops out.
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Actually, this is based on a statement H and Dave made at an interview last year (German Rock Hard magazine, so don't bother asking for a link). The interviewer asked them about why they had never written a song together, and they said they tried, but they just ended up doing some bluesy jamming and didn't come up with something proper for a Maiden album. They said that is because they are too relaxed and laid-back, and just enjoy playing too much to bother for a proper result. So it's up to Steve to arrange whatever ideas they give him.
 
Interesting. In any case, I'd like to hear those recorded jams.
 
Zare said:
Nowadays everything gets recorded. Bytes are extremely cheap in comparison with reels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcWINbZu ... 3F841BED79

I never fucking heard this before!  :rocker: :rocker: :yey:
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Wow, that really cool! Thanks!  :ok:

Apparently for over a year on YouTube (BTW: uploaded on my 35th birthday)!  
Can't believe it was never released or promoted in another way, great recordings. Wish I knew the background of this.
I assume that the band wasn't too happy with the performances (see below*)
Perhaps these songs had been intended for b-side tracks, or else for radio or something.


1997.10.24, Hilversum, Holland

Bruce Dickinson - Vocals
Adrian Smith - Guitar (right channel)
Roy Z - Guitar (left channel)
Eddie Casillas - Bass
David Ingraham - Drums

Setlist:
-Taking the Queen
-Tears of the Dragon
-Road to Hell *
-Arc of Space

*Check Adrian's acoustic solo. Now how often have we heard H doing an acoustic solo, live?
Also interesting to hear them talk afterwards. I assume Adrian wasn't happy with it. He said "that one sounds a bit ridiculous, right?"
 
I guess H is god because of his high standards.
Solo sounded great to me.
 
I expected more from that solo. It doesn't kick ass, and isn't much of a song highlight, like in proper "electric" version. Don't know why he didn't play the proper solo - the solo intro lick sounds fantastic on acoustic, the mid part should be easily reproducible, while the final sweeping should be of no problem to Adrian; he employed same technique, from a very similar sequence - Journeyman live. On the other hand, his mini-solo at intro of Tacking The Queen is really good, a great addition to already phenomenal track. Arc Of Space went down like a storm, beautiful stuff. Tears Of The Dragon - well not much new there anyways, great as usual. Road To Hell also kicked major ass, the verse riffs and chorus don't lack any original aggression, it retained great feel throughout the song (except solo, IMHO).

Now about this stuff, I did some googling and it's a known bootleg. A rare one, but known. Supposedly, it's a FM broadcast from a place called "NOB radiostudio", so it went live on the radio. The stamped date belongs in AOB tour final European leg, and while I can't seem to find any tour date list, I bet this radio session was around some proper Netherlands concert dates. So it's just a on-tour radio performance.

Edit : doesn't seem so rare. It's available from multiple sources at our little Maiden hub, downloading it now, lossless of course. It's just over 100 MB and I'll upload it to some file hosting site and drop you a link.
 
The rare aspect for me is that it's an acoustic performance with this line-up, from the 1997-1999 era.

I could even go further: in the "1997-until this day" era.
I never heard Bruce doing an acoustic set with Maiden, nor with his solo band around this time. I am sure he did acoustic performances in the 1994-1996 era.

NOB isn't a place, it is the name of a company, facilitating television and radio productions.
(it existed between 1988 and 2008; naturally, before and afterwards such work was done as well, but you know; changes, fusions, separations and stuff)

Hilversum is the logical location. There's a big media concentration, where lots of major TV and radio recordings are produced and broadcasted. You also might know the town from Wisseloord Studios where the guitars and vocals of a certain Maiden album were recorded! :)

edit:
Check this out: Tribe of Gypsies detailed tour history including gigs with Bruce
http://www.tribeofgypsies.com/gigs/bruce.html

I was completely unaware that he did almost 20 acoustic gigs in 1997, with just Roy and Adrian:
U.K. in-stores & acoustic tour / April 1997
19/04 - The Rig, Nottingham
20/04 - Xposure Rock Cafe, Birmingham
21/04 - More than music, Burton-on-trent
21/04 - Rock-a-boom records, Leicester
21/04 - Wapentake bar,Sheffield
22/04 - HMV, Chester
22/04 - Phase one records, Wrexham
22/04 - Xposure Rock Cafe,Dudley
23/04 - HMV, Hanley
23/04 - HMV, Derby
23/04 - Rio, Bradford
24/04 - HMV, York
24/04 - HMV, Leeds
25/04 - HMV, Lancaster
25/04 - HMV, Preston
25/04 - Maximes, Wigan
26/04 - Badlands records, Huddersfield
26/04 - X records, Bolton

Anyone aware of bootlegs of these trio dates?

But this was the date we were looking for:
24/10 - Central Studios, Utrecht, Netherlands

It all makes sense. In the afternoon they did the radio studio session, in the evening they did a concert in Utrecht (town very near to Hilversum). The name Central Studios doesn't mean it's a studio. It's a venue. I have seen Body Count there in 1994.
 
You also might know the town from Wisseloord Studios where the guitars and vocals of a certain Maiden album were recorded!
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Of course  ;)

I shall keep an eye open for those bootlegs. It's quite easier now when we know exact dates and locations.
By the way, have you read this interview (early '98) with Bruce?

http://www.bookofhours.net/bdwbn/globklar.htm

It's fairly long and very interesting!
 
Nice indeed, thanks!

Interesting to learn the reasons why they didn't do Skunkwork songs on stage in the 1997-1999 era.
 
Gave Chemical Wedding a spin after quite some time, and I've got some changed opinions, that I'd like to share.

King in Crimson-Still a good track, but it wasn't as great as I thought it was back about a year ago. It also doesn't feel good as an opener to me.

Chemical Wedding-This song just gets better every time I hear it, this time was no exception.

The Tower-Similar to King in Crimson, this song isn't as great as I remember, but it's still an awesome song.

Killing Floor-I really like the different time changes in this song, and it was fun noticing that since last time I listened to it, I wasn't very good at telling time signatures, and this time I could pick them out. It also has some really cool stuff happening all throughout the song, and I like the instrumental section a lot.

Book Of Thel-This song is so amazing. Still doesn't beat Aquarius for me, but it comes close. It's just an epic track.

Gates of Urizen-This song used to do nothing for me, and now it's finally clicked. It's catchy, and has its moments, but still doesn't beat the first 5 songs.

Jerusalem-This song finally clicked with me. I'm glad it did, it's a really awesome song. It has that epic feeling to it, and it doesn't even hit the 7 minute mark!

Trumpets of Jericho-This song actually went down in my ratings, I used to think of it as a good song, but now it's just meh. Not even that really.

Machine Men-This song still sucks.

Alchemist-Now this one I never really cared for since it seemed to much like an extension of Chemical Wedding. But after paying attention to the structure, it's much more than that now. The references to the title track are more subtle than I thought, and it's an excellent way to end the album. And even stands pretty good on its own.

Overall, I like this album a lot more than I used to, and I think I can now rank it as my favorite Bruce album, dethroning Accident of Birth. But I'm not sure yet, since I'll be revisiting that one tomorrow!
 
I thoroughly enjoy Chemical Wedding (the album, not the Film.. I didn't even finish watching it. Not my thing at all). But I would rank it below both AoB and ToS.

I think it's more consistent throughout, AoB fluctuates a bit more but it's high points are much higher. Arc of Space is one of my favourite Bruce tracks.

Overall.. I think I'd probably put it as: ToS > AoB > TCW.  Admittedly ToS was the first I heard, but there's not a track on the album I don't like, and the title track is fantastic!! It's very close between ToS/AoB but ToS just takes it for me. I like a mix of tracks and TCW is deliberately done as pure metal with no acoustic tracks anywhere so I suspect thats probably why AoB/ToS appeal more to me.

Trackwise... Accident of Birth, Arc of Space, Man of Sorrows, Darkside of Aquarius (!!!!!), Chemical Wedding, King in Crimson, Trumpets of Jericho, Soul Intruders, Navigate the Seas of the Sun, Power of the Sun, River of no Return, Tyranny of Souls...  I could happily listen to those over and over :)
 
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