Bruce Dickinson

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Bruce about his live set (WB inspired Mandrake's comic):

I’m not one for punishing the audience with songs they don’t deserve. The idea of a great live show, it’s not a lecture. It’s not the teacher wagging his finger, saying, ‘You should have bought this album and damn it, you’re gonna listen to it, like it or not. To me, it’s a journey. It’s a story, a narrative. Not with characters and things, but a musical narrative. So you start feeling a certain way, and then you start to feel another way. You get to paint with colors.

And some photos from the studio:
 

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Kalata said:
The idea of a great live show, it’s not a lecture. It’s not the teacher wagging his finger, saying, ‘You should have bought this album and damn it, you’re gonna listen to it, like it or not.
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Maybe I'm missing context here, but Maiden is exactly doing that: playing half or more than a half of a new album. I think that is great and everyone should do it. But I don't view it as "forcing someone to listen to a new material" but rather a promotion. Nobody went to let's say "Brave new world" tour and expected full 80s set.
 
Ledges Bitten In Dust said:
Maybe I'm missing context here, but Maiden is exactly doing that: playing half or more than a half of a new album. I think that is great and everyone should do it. But I don't view it as "forcing someone to listen to a new material" but rather a promotion. Nobody went to let's say "Brave new world" tour and expected full 80s set.
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One of my mates said that they played too many new songs in 2017. I asked him what he was expecting when buying tickets to ‘The Book of Souls World Tour’.
 
Kalata said:
Bruce about his live set (WB inspired Mandrake's comic):

I’m not one for punishing the audience with songs they don’t deserve. The idea of a great live show, it’s not a lecture. It’s not the teacher wagging his finger, saying, ‘You should have bought this album and damn it, you’re gonna listen to it, like it or not. To me, it’s a journey. It’s a story, a narrative. Not with characters and things, but a musical narrative. So you start feeling a certain way, and then you start to feel another way. You get to paint with colors.
Click to expand...
Hmm, to me Bruce’s words here sort of contradict what he once said about A Matter of Life and Death—specifically their insistence on playing the whole album live. Didn’t he even rip apart a “Play Classics” banner back then? Maybe that was more about defending a decision made by the whole Maiden team rather than his own personal philosophy.

These latest comments from Bruce show that he’s fully aware of how important it is to read a crowd and give them something they want. You can’t completely ignore the audience’s wishes, after all.
 
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Kalata said:
Bruce about his live set (WB inspired Mandrake's comic):

I’m not one for punishing the audience with songs they don’t deserve. The idea of a great live show, it’s not a lecture. It’s not the teacher wagging his finger, saying, ‘You should have bought this album and damn it, you’re gonna listen to it, like it or not. To me, it’s a journey. It’s a story, a narrative. Not with characters and things, but a musical narrative. So you start feeling a certain way, and then you start to feel another way. You get to paint with colors.

And some photos from the studio:
Click to expand...

On the Skunkworks show I saw, before Helloween, he pointed his finger at us and said: "You're gonna buy the album or I'll kill you."
Everybody is allowed to change their minds of course!
 
Ledges Bitten In Dust said:
If we're getting a new Bruce album in 2027, does that mean that at least until 2028 we're not getting a new Maiden album? 2026 is for tour, 2027 for Bruce, so 2028 right? Only time we got both Bruce and Maiden in the same year are 1990 with TM and NPFTD and 1998 with VXI and CW, but talking about Bruce' Maiden it's really only 1990. So I don't think that 2027 with 2 Bruce fronted albums are possible.
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Seems that way unless they plan on competing with one another. While I am looking forward to Bruce’s new album especially even after Steve also liked it, really need a new maiden album. Maiden melodies are trademark to maiden and they stick like glue to your head. Notable examples from recent albums - Hell on Earth, Wild Wind blows, Red and the black, Greater good of god, Blood brothers, DOD
 
Ledges Bitten In Dust said:
Maybe I'm missing context here, but Maiden is exactly doing that: playing half or more than a half of a new album. I think that is great and everyone should do it. But I don't view it as "forcing someone to listen to a new material" but rather a promotion. Nobody went to let's say "Brave new world" tour and expected full 80s set.
Click to expand...
Azas said:
Hmm, to me Bruce’s words here sort of contradict what he once said about A Matter of Life and Death—specifically their insistence on playing the whole album live. Didn’t he even rip apart a “Play Classics” banner back then? Maybe that was more about defending a decision made by the whole Maiden team rather than his own personal philosophy. These latest comments from Bruce show that he’s fully aware of how important it is to read a crowd and give them something they want. You can’t completely ignore the audience’s wishes, after all.
Click to expand...
Spot on, in everything. Bruce's solo approach is different in all aspects from Maiden. We know he changes his opinions, it happens, and he and Steve certainly have different opinions, but it's a band. Let's see if he plays Sonata live. Btw, Maiden can ignore audience's wishes, if they want to.

Speaking of different things, are those 2 Taiko drums behind the band in the new promo? Wow. Eternity Has Failed live?

www.instagram.com

Bruce Dickinson on Instagram: "The Mandrake Project Tour 2025 kicks off in Anaheim, CA tomorrow night… and you will not want to miss this! Get your tickets at TheMandrakeProject.com/Live #TheMandrakeProjectTour #BruceDickinson #USA #Canada #Brazil

24K likes, 376 comments - brucedickinsonhq on August 21, 2025: "The Mandrake Project Tour 2025 kicks off in Anaheim, CA tomorrow night… and you will not want to miss this! Get your tickets at TheMandrakeProject.com/Live #TheMandrakeProjectTour #BruceDickinson #USA #Canada #Brazil".
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
loudwire.com

Bruce Dickinson Gets Fans Ready For Solo Tour, Looks Back on His Career + Opens Up About Being Called a 'Legend'

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson dives into 'More Balls to Picasso' and opens up about why he wanted to give the solo album a refresh.
loudwire.com loudwire.com

Another interview with something curious:

In April this year, I spent basically the month of April in demo studios in L.A. with the band. We demoed, I think we're down to about 18 songs demoed as potential tracks for the new solo album. We started with 66, so that's not bad.

They had 66 demos at first! Wow. Bruce said they were really productive with the amount of music and ideas he had to stop them. :lol: The rest are probably just rough ideas, but he has ideas for a lot of solo albums to develop. He said he is fortunate to work with such musicians.

More:
He's glad he waited until now to remix BTP because he now has a stable band, with whom he hopes to tour in 2027 too. He and Roy have wanted to remix the album since the AOB days.
''I mean, just the first track, 'Cyclops,' is 200-percent better than the original. The original was cool, but this one just rips your face off. It's evil and dark''.

SW remix is done. It sounds amazing according to him and Jack Endino loves it.

He plans to remix and maybe add some parts to AOB & TCW bonus songs - ''We never finish them because we run out of time''... um, what? That's cool, should have done BTP's ones too (with additional parts when needed).

He said he mixed TMP with Brendan Duffey, but he kind of got involved late in the project.

He often uses the word ''emotional''.

''It's been years since I've done a Maiden song on the solo thing ... so I'm excited. It's going to be one of the songs that I wrote.''


Btw - no one asks him about not working with Roy.
 
Kalata said:
...
Btw - no one asks him about not working with Roy.
Click to expand...

The publicist/management apparently had stated what questions were off limits.
But I often wish that more follow-up questions would be asked. For example, how did Bruce come to change his opinion about guest musicians so drastically? There were guest musicians on “The Mandrake Project,” and there would have been even more if their schedule had allowed it.
 
Azas said:
Hmm, to me Bruce’s words here sort of contradict what he once said about A Matter of Life and Death—specifically their insistence on playing the whole album live. Didn’t he even rip apart a “Play Classics” banner back then? Maybe that was more about defending a decision made by the whole Maiden team rather than his own personal philosophy.

These latest comments from Bruce show that he’s fully aware of how important it is to read a crowd and give them something they want. You can’t completely ignore the audience’s wishes, after all.
Click to expand...
He says what he need to say acording to the album and tour. He said the same about fear of the dark
 
Kalata said:
loudwire.com

Bruce Dickinson Gets Fans Ready For Solo Tour, Looks Back on His Career + Opens Up About Being Called a 'Legend'

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson dives into 'More Balls to Picasso' and opens up about why he wanted to give the solo album a refresh.
loudwire.com loudwire.com

Another interview with something curious:

In April this year, I spent basically the month of April in demo studios in L.A. with the band. We demoed, I think we're down to about 18 songs demoed as potential tracks for the new solo album. We started with 66, so that's not bad.

They had 66 demos at first! Wow. Bruce said they were really productive with the amount of music and ideas he had to stop them. :lol: The rest are probably just rough ideas, but he has ideas for a lot of solo albums to develop. He said he is fortunate to work with such musicians.

More:
He's glad he waited until now to remix BTP because he now has a stable band, with whom he hopes to tour in 2027 too. He and Roy have wanted to remix the album since the AOB days.
''I mean, just the first track, 'Cyclops,' is 200-percent better than the original. The original was cool, but this one just rips your face off. It's evil and dark''.

SW remix is done. It sounds amazing according to him and Jack Endino loves it.

He plans to remix and maybe add some parts to AOB & TCW bonus songs - ''We never finish them because we run out of time''... um, what? That's cool, should have done BTP's ones too (with additional parts when needed).

He said he mixed TMP with Brendan Duffey, but he kind of got involved late in the project.

He often uses the word ''emotional''.

''It's been years since I've done a Maiden song on the solo thing ... so I'm excited. It's going to be one of the songs that I wrote.''


Btw - no one asks him about not working with Roy.
Click to expand...
So many ideas, a cooperative band, 100% bossman. Why do I feel these factors point towards Bruce leaving Maiden in the next few years?
 
Kalata said:
Spot on, in everything. Bruce's solo approach is different in all aspects from Maiden. We know he changes his opinions, it happens, and he and Steve certainly have different opinions, but it's a band. Let's see if he plays Sonata live. Btw, Maiden can ignore audience's wishes, if they want to.

Speaking of different things, are those 2 Taiko drums behind the band in the new promo? Wow. Eternity Has Failed live?

www.instagram.com

Bruce Dickinson on Instagram: "The Mandrake Project Tour 2025 kicks off in Anaheim, CA tomorrow night… and you will not want to miss this! Get your tickets at TheMandrakeProject.com/Live #TheMandrakeProjectTour #BruceDickinson #USA #Canada #Brazil

24K likes, 376 comments - brucedickinsonhq on August 21, 2025: "The Mandrake Project Tour 2025 kicks off in Anaheim, CA tomorrow night… and you will not want to miss this! Get your tickets at TheMandrakeProject.com/Live #TheMandrakeProjectTour #BruceDickinson #USA #Canada #Brazil".
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
Click to expand...
yeah that drums... probably Eternity will be in the setlist. if so, there'll be sort of 2 maiden tracks each night. probably he'll rotate Revelations, Flash of the Blade (fingers crossed) and Bring your Daughter (he did mention this song in an interview before run for your lives and they didn't play it in run for your lives so the possibility is higher now, especially for the festival shows).
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Bruce isn’t leaving Maiden. Maiden may end, but Bruce will be there til the last. He’s just experiencing a creative rejuvenation, which is pretty rare for someone at his age. Good for him.
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I think Bruce was involved in the business world too much during the 2000s. He tried to build his own aviation company and was like a CEO in his non-Maiden life. I think now he knows what he’s best at and what truly makes him happy… and he’s working at full speed to make up for the time he -kind of- lost. Which is good for us! He'll never leave Maiden, come on :)
 
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