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I know I’ll sound unfriendly now, but I see this whole Steve “we’re going to tour and tour” thing as a kind of last-minute cash grab. Of course, the immense love for playing live plays the biggest part, but he knows their time is almost running out, so he wants to go all in. That’s how I see it, because of Steve’s stance on making another album: “It’s too stressful” for him — let’s just have fun onstage and collect money (until we ride into the sunset). This point of mine is half chaff, but part of me genuinely thinks this.

Unless Steve has lied in interviews about the status of the new album.

There’s also the constant cloud of mortality in the equation, so as a fan I must understand Steve’s desire to have fun. You can’t easily fight such concepts — or at all. But as a fan I’m also selfish, so I mutter about a “cash grab” even if it’s purely the love of playing live.

For Steve, playing live equals “Maiden is sound and active to the masses,” but for me as a fan, playing live does not fully equal “Maiden is alive and kicking ass,” unless I attend many concerts of the tour — which I’m not doing. As a sign that Maiden LIVES, I need new music, something that would symbolize or constitute their full vitality preserved in a given moment of time.
 
Azas said:
I know I’ll sound unfriendly now, but I see this whole Steve “we’re going to tour and tour” thing as a kind of last-minute cash grab. Of course, the immense love for playing live plays the biggest part, but he knows their time is almost running out, so he wants to go all in. That’s how I see it, because of Steve’s stance on making another album: “It’s too stressful” for him — let’s just have fun onstage and collect money (until we ride into the sunset). This point of mine is half chaff, but part of me genuinely thinks this.

Unless Steve has lied in interviews about the status of the new album.

There’s also the constant cloud of mortality in the equation, so as a fan I must understand Steve’s desire to have fun. You can’t easily fight such concepts — or at all. But as a fan I’m also selfish, so I mutter about a “cash grab” even if it’s purely the love of playing live.

For Steve, playing live equals “Maiden is sound and active to the masses,” but for me as a fan, playing live does not fully equal “Maiden is alive and kicking ass,” unless I attend many concerts of the tour — which I’m not doing. As a sign that Maiden LIVES, I need new music, something that would symbolize or constitute their full vitality preserved in a given moment of time.
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"last-minute cash grab" sounds really unfriendly :) most artists slow down after their 60s, actors choose simpler roles, their lines are given through earpieces, writers either retire or write new formulaic books relying on the success of their old novels... musicians' new recordings also decrease. If we look at Maiden's generation, we can see that many other groups have already stopped producing. Of course, there are exceptions like Priest.

What happens if a new album comes out? Just like with the new Star Wars films, fans rush in to bash them and demand the classics. They would critize the sound, the production, the cover art, the long intros/outros, bruce's struggling vocals etc... And at the new album tour the "play classics" stubbornness will start again. Senjutsu was a very good album, they played 7 tracks from it over 2 tours, but most fans wanted the classics rather than the new songs. The band has grown a lot in recent years, and their mainstream audience has increased. That's why I understand them. If a new album were to come out, knowing that it would truly be the product of a special effort makes me happy. Otherwise, writing 10 new songs for Maiden members wouldn't be that difficult. The real issue is creating an album that would satisfy them as artists.
 
Starblind said:
"last-minute cash grab" sounds really unfriendly :) most artists slow down after their 60s, actors choose simpler roles, their lines are given through earpieces, writers either retire or write new formulaic books relying on the success of their old novels... musicians' new recordings also decrease. If we look at Maiden's generation, we can see that many other groups have already stopped producing. Of course, there are exceptions like Priest.

What happens if a new album comes out? Just like with the new Star Wars films, fans rush in to bash them and demand the classics. They would critize the sound, the production, the cover art, the long intros/outros, bruce's struggling vocals etc... And at the new album tour the "play classics" stubbornness will start again. Senjutsu was a very good album, they played 7 tracks from it over 2 tours, but most fans wanted the classics rather than the new songs. The band has grown a lot in recent years, and their mainstream audience has increased. That's why I understand them. If a new album were to come out, knowing that it would truly be the product of a special effort makes me happy. Otherwise, writing 10 new songs for Maiden members wouldn't be that difficult. The real issue is creating an album that would satisfy them as artists.
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I can’t oppose what you wrote — it’s all very true. Yeah, give us the classics, not the new songs. Give us the feeling that we’re young and that everything is, and will be, FINE. But a man is just a man, and he will mutter no matter what. Because that’s how it is…
 
I think that after Bruce and Rod's recent comments, and also Adrian's comments a while back, we have to consider the theory that they are a family where everyone will retire when the next one leaves the band to be disproved, whether we like it or not.
They will retire when Steve no longer wants to tour.
 
This whole new album or not, just tour and make money subject ,will always divide the fan base on here . It has been said many times before and will be said again but they have nothing to prove and no need to make another album if they don`t want to , their back catalogue speaks for itself.

At their ages and with their success over 50 years they have earned the right to do what they please and people can either get onboard and support them and enjoy the ride with them or not, it`s each individuals call.

Someone mentioned Priest earlier as an example of a band still making new and decent music which is true but live they are not a patch on Maiden, they were so static so i know who i would rather pay to see, Bruce is still one of the worlds great frontmen.
 
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Fozzie said:
Someone mentioned Priest earlier as an example of a band still making new and decent music which is true but live they are not a patch on Maiden, they were so static so i know who i would rather pay to see, Bruce is still one of the worlds great frontmen.
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Not only is the live comparison apt, but even in studio, Maiden and Priest have released the same number of albums since 2000 (6), and I think general consensus is that Maiden’s millennium material is by and large consistently strong, while Priest have had highs and lows.

The time between The Book of Souls and Senjutsu is the same as the time between Firepower and Invincible Shield. Both bands are making new music, but at a much slower pace than they used to. And just on the last album alone there are plenty of fans who will herald “Hell on Earth” and/or “The Parchment” as being one/two of the best song(s) the band has ever released, and “The Writing on the Wall” could easily slot into this current nostalgia tour and become a live staple. Not to mention all the other songs the band has released in the past 25 years.

I think you could make a case for Firepower tracks, maybe Invincible Shield, but beyond that I don’t think Priest’s post-2000 output leaves as many clamoring for it live, and the ‘70s and ‘80s material (plus Painkiller) will forever eclipse the work they’ve done since.
 
Priest are buying in a lot of younger external talent late in their careers to make those last 2 albums sound that good. And I fully include Andy Sneap into that equation. Great albums YES. Organic albums NO WAY.

It’s not about KK or Glenn by the way, it’s just the polar opposite approach to Maiden.
 
what do you prefer? i really wonder this. an album may cost a year without touring...
A ) New tour, including an era with your favorite songs and some deep cuts.
B ) New album, which you'd love to hear max 5 songs in the tour. And the others songs would be mostly classics, not deep cuts.
 
Ascendingthethrone said:
View attachment 44762
Rod from the magazine.
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Fast forward 10 years to 2035. Following Rod's comments in 2025 about Maiden touring and touring and touring, the band is celebrating their 60th anniversary with a setlist covering the material from the first albums, up until Fear of the Dark so the title track of the latter can be played live.

This is a clip of @Ascendingthethrone and yours truly, watching a recording of the band playing Aces High live for one last time, again as an encore.

06c402b8169dd14a734e626732c61be7.gif
 
GhostofCain said:
Fast forward 10 years to 2035. Following Rod's comments in 2025 about Maiden touring and touring and touring, the band is celebrating their 60th anniversary with a setlist covering the material from the first albums, up until Fear of the Dark so the title track of the latter can be played live.

This is a clip of @Ascendingthethrone and yours truly, watching a recording of the band playing Aces High live for one last time, again as an encore.

06c402b8169dd14a734e626732c61be7.gif
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Starblind said:
what do you prefer? i really wonder this. an album may cost a year without touring...
A ) New tour, including an era with your favorite songs and some deep cuts.
B ) New album, which you'd love to hear max 5 songs in the tour. And the others songs would be mostly classics, not deep cuts.
Click to expand...
Again i think next tour will be the oposite of a greatest hits and would be in a smaller venues like FPT. Covering all eras
 
Starblind said:
what do you prefer? i really wonder this. an album may cost a year without touring...
A ) New tour, including an era with your favorite songs and some deep cuts.
B ) New album, which you'd love to hear max 5 songs in the tour. And the others songs would be mostly classics, not deep cuts.
Click to expand...
New album, without a doubt 100% of the time. I'd like to get as many new songs and albums as possible before the eventually retire.

I wouldn't be so sre about your choices though. TFP was a semi-new album, semi-history tour and was filled with deep cuts. It got rid of most classics, probably because RFYL was already being planned. RFYL focuses entirely on classics (plus a couple of Killers tracks that hadn't been played in a while). I believe, regardless of if we get a new album or not, the next tour will cut back on classics a bit in favor of deep cuts. It wouldn't make sense to follow up RFYL with another classics tour.

(Note, LOTB is a bit of an in-between thing, where we have obvious classics, popular Blaze and reunion-era songs as well as a few revived deep cuts)
 
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