Recent content by Helmuth Von Moltke

I have mixed emotions about Empire, since Bruce was ill or soon to be when he composed it. So it’s a triumph regardless. As a song however it feels incomplete and is clearly based around the lyrics and story, not the musicianship. Which is the inverse of Maiden more generally, especially the...

All on the 'maiden scale', ie. marked out of ten based on Maiden's own standards. As you can see,I can't get into Empire at all. The Red And The Black (9/10) The Book Of Souls (9/10) Shadows Of The Valley (8/10) If Eternity Should Fail (8/10) The Man Of Sorrows (7/10) When The River Runs Deep...

Reunion Maiden should have done something for the Blaze band earlier, even a support slot a few years back in my opinion … better late than never though! Maiden don’t owe blaze a living but his mental health after the split … boy oh boy it’s a hard legacy to carry. Like Frodo and the ring...

Hype was massive - but in the UK only among Maiden fans and those in adjacent bits of the metal community. There was still a zeitgeist of nu metal and an established habit of mocking Maiden. Lots of dismissiveness abounded in the UK, that metal still sounded and looked like Maiden in the new...

Given the advent of this, I am sure maiden want to take control of things put out in their name and likeness:

Discuss

Yes, the merch went through a nose dive in quality a few years back. The bright yellow SIT jumper was a nadir. It has recovered a bit by now, plus there are so many other outlets putting out Maiden shirts under official licence to select from (EMP etc). But the official Maiden webstore has...

A webstore as good as Kiss with era-specific collections would be a major step up in Maiden’s merch operations. Which, as we mustn’t forget, as recently as a decade ago was still Steve Lazarus and Sue running a small warehouse themselves for the IMFC …. By comparison this is a gold standard...

I wasn’t bullied at school in the 90s for being a Maiden fan - but I was widely mocked. Even my good friends (who listened to Oasis and REM) were baffled and incredulous regarding my music tastes. All very subjective and individual as experiences. Some people no doubt become metal fans because...

Essential but not as singularly exposed in the band lineup compared to a 3 piece

Unfashionable opinion: as a big Rush fan myself, they are a band of 3 and the drums are relativity speaking a more important and dominant part of their sound. Plus, Neil was the original and frankly irreplaceable drummer lost amidst tragedy. None of that feels the case for Maiden. I loved...

We all know how old he is, I literally walked passed Joe two weeks ago in London Stadium as we were walking to the Metallica Snakepit. He has more flecks of grey in his hair than I do, I don't think anyone guesses he is a 'reckless teen' !!! Doh. Still dodging the point Kurt Barlow: bitching...

It isn't the only example - just like Bruce isn't only messing up Aces Low this tour. That's the point of examples; noone expects them to be fully representative of the whole matter at hand but illustrative instead.

One plausible scenario is there is no new album, and instead there is a stream of legacy output using the Pophouse deal. Probably at a guess including 'fan experiences' as well as merch. The band could play a perfunctory few mega-shows a year in major cities for as long as they like to keep the...

I have to say, I read your opinion as rather 'wild' as well! My beef with the current tour is not the drummer, but the whole tour concept: having seen Early Days, SBIT, ME etc this tour doesn't quite feel like the home run it should. Just for me, I should add, delighted if its a dream setlist...