Recent content by Helmuth Von Moltke

Minority opinion: I quite like DoD production. The remasters do a good job with this and the Blaze albums, making them better than they were. Another perspective: Steve is widely criticised for the Barnyard production jobs in the 90s. I wonder if recording at home was vital to him not burning...

Here’s my ‘give blaze a fighting chance on The X-Factour’ fantasy setlist 1995/6: Man on the Edge Lord of the Flies Wrathchild Heaven Can Wait Fortunes of War Judgement Day Sign of the Cross 2 Minutes to Midnight Blood on the World's Hands The Clairvoyant Afraid to Shoot Strangers Fear of the...

I always thought this was the Blaze they hired, very early in October 1995: Had he been able to reproduce this live and keep it going for 100 mins a night, across an 11 month tour, things would have panned out differently for the live shows. But it went down hill gradually between this...

The recent Steve interview is interesting- first time I’ve read him saying Tattooed Millionaire slightly influences his writing with Bruce’s voice in mind. Makes sense and I still think between TM and NPFTD there’s one much higher quality album sitting there with the best material from both...

Agreed wholeheartedly- and as a young fan in 1993 / 94 I actually liked Janick more than Adrian for that reason, when I compared my Raising Hell / Donigton 1992 VHS to my LAD VHS. Adrian’s stage presence made him look a bit miserable to my 11 year old eyes … I know better now but there you go.

Maiden is a team, like a sports team, and Janick’s role is very important indeed - especially with his injections of energy and youthfulness into what is essentially a group of elderly but sprightly musicians.

Yes it’s funny one, for a great song the solo section is a let down - rare for Maiden. We can let Dave off for one unmemorable solo. At least it makes the melody that comes right after sound even more glorious.

One possible sequence is new Bruce early 27, and enough separation in time for Maiden #18 either end of 27 or very start of 28.

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...