Recent content by CA Bryers

The Parchment Paschendale Fortunes of War Senjutsu Man of Sorrows I know it's supposed to be semi-emotional, but opting to make it a plodding mid-tempo rocker baffles me to this day. Would've been much improved as an acoustic track. But yeah, as is the song does nothing for me, so I'd rank it...

There are "overdubs" on it, but like The Evil That Men Do, it's taking the "AFRAID!" followup to "Afraid to Shoot Strangeeeers" and copy/pasting it after every repetition of the song title. You can tell it's one take, since every time he does the "AFRAID!" it sounds weirdly like "DOH-FRAID!" In...

Yep, what people are willing to pay and what they choose to spend it on when it comes to merch. I got out of the buying band shirts a long time ago, but I spend a buttload on a lot of Maiden's licensed stuff. My collection of Eddie statues, figures, wall art, books, etc. is absurd.

And that very bad Fortunes of War wasn't from Gothenburg anyway. It was four bonus tracks from Glasgow added to the end of The Eternal Flame boot. But it is a shame no full boot of Gothenburg exists. It was one of Blaze's better performances on the X Factour.

My tinfoil hat take on it is that if Maiden had previously decided to hang it up--a possible motive as to why Bruce is restarting his solo career--he's trying to change Steve's mind by doing a new album and keeping the Maiden thing going longer. Keep in mind, AoB and TCW received some of the...

My wife got us tickets for the Minnesota show with another couple. Pit was sold out (by mostly resellers, likely), but we got lower bowl. She didn't want to tell me how much they were, but I imagine they were $300+ each. I knew it would be more than the $120-ish (pre-fees) we paid for TFP...

While I too hope for a new album, one thing that lends credence to this theory is Bruce resurrecting his solo career and driving it pretty damn hard. I'm sure he has regrets about not promoting Tyranny and one could interpret the Mandrake touring cycles as fixing that, but locking down a band...

Since he got Absolva and Mark Appleton managing him, he's probably doing the best he has (financially speaking) in his whole solo career. Even in the era of the much-lauded original BLAZE trilogy of albums, there were stories of the band drawing low double-digits for attendance. I don't foresee...

My Top 2 is Only the Good Die Young and Judas Be My Guide. Both would've gone down huge on their original tours, I think, and would've been welcome surprises to follow up the surprise of Alexander. I think The Edge of Darkness would've been a nice replacement for Hallowed in the lawsuit years...

Better turnout than my show in 2011--maybe 20-25 people there. Fantastic show otherwise, though.

Pretty sure you'll be booking a flight to Europe. Blaze and his management have been pretty conservative with touring for the last many years, sticking relatively close to home for the most part. The last time he came to NA was in 2011, I believe, and that was when he was only flying himself and...

Not to mention the marketing campaign and merch, etc. has very little to do with the band members themselves. Some direction as far as what the cover might look like, sure. Interviews, yeah, but they're doing that anyway for all the touring they've been doing. Otherwise, it's social media...

When he clarified "what does that mean?" as to him still being part of the band, he said more or less Fan Club stuff and that he's still part of the Maiden family. I think the possibility of a couple of songs is realistic and a best case scenario for him. With Bruce wanting to record a new album...

New interview with Nicko, mostly restaurant talk, but at around 8:45 he talks about the possibility of being asked to do a couple songs on a new album (while also reiterating that there are currently no plans for an 18th album, though that could change). Also mentions his role "in the band"...

I'm honestly amazed Minnesota is getting a gig--at a new amphitheater about 45 minutes outside of the usual Minneapolis/St. Paul area they've been doing the last several tours. I haven't looked at the numbers, but I think the only show they sold out was the BOS Tour, with smallish-but-noticeable...