Recent content by CA Bryers

I could see him doing it through the tour as a prolonged tribute to Di'Anno, since that's the song he chose to play after his passing..

I'd say all that's pretty realistic. I know it matters to him what critics and fans say about things (like Skunkworks), but the more critical thing I think was how well the albums sold, and none of them sold enough to give him a long, financially solvent career. Like Blaze, he blew through a lot...

I haven't quite started it yet--had to wrap up the Infinite Dreams book, get other random stuff done this week/weekend, and should be starting Shooman's next week. Of the several new books that have come out to coincide with the 50th, Joe's is the one I was most interested in because like you, I...

I imagine the legal controversy is the nail in the coffin of ever seeing this one played live. That, and it's not really talked about much anymore--even in the BNW promotional cycle, I don't remember Steve or Bruce mentioning wanting to play that one live. Though I'd love to see Infinite Dreams...

I wouldn't say it's half-assed. It's good, well-made and compiled, but not brilliant. I say that because it wasn't made for those like me who have all the old out-of-print books like What Are We Doing This For?, but for your average Maiden fan...with $60 to burn. Because of that, yeah, we've...

I remember seeing a sales chart somewhere that showed a small dip in sales from Accident of Birth to The Chemical Wedding. Bruce said something back then to corroborate that: generally that AoB and Chemical sold about the same, and that he put out the best album of his career and it didn't make...

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...