19 years ago today

I found Maiden in VXI era and wasn't aware of their (still alleged) not-so-good situation. Not every piece of info was readily available back then, I had some VHS tapes and I easily concluded they were still the biggest metal band in the world in mid-1990s mainly because Donington. I just assumed they'll continue to be #1 after the "reunion".

I remember when and where I was when I read this, back in the day. Some of my friends didn't believe it was true.

And if you told me that just a few years ago Maiden played 1000 people concerts I wouldn't believe it.
 
LooseCannon said:
This was before I got into Maiden - but as much as I like Blaze, he did his job. He let Steve and Bruce mellow out and realize they are best together, they made some great music, and Blaze went off to make more great music, as did Maiden.
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I was really bummed when Blaze got fired, mainly because I became a big fan of his even though I knew at the time he'd never really found his place in the band. Still, I liked both albums he did, and figured he'd drop off into obscurity when it was all said and done. Another reason was we'd gotten four spectacular solo albums from Bruce, and there likely wouldn't be any more after that.

Fortunately, we kind of got the best of both worlds: Maiden went on to become bigger than ever and released several more good-to-great albums. Bruce eked out one more solo album with Roy Z (with another supposedly on the way). And Blaze churned out a bunch of albums, several of which turned out better than his Maiden albums, and even reunion-era Maiden albums, IMO. Though he's nowhere near the level he once was at, he has a small but extremely devoted fanbase.
 
GhostofCain said:
It was announced that Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith had re-joined Iron Maiden. Few would have imagined back then that the band would be as big as they are in 2018.
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Yes. Just look at how small the venues were for The Ed Huntour and compare that to the Guns N Roses reunion. Thankfully Iron Maiden grew over time :)
 
G'n'R is a mainstream band. Mainstream rock band, even.
 
I remember back in February of 1999 reading about it in the old America Online message board and after seeing the thread "three guitarists?" I learned that Bruce and Adrian had both rejoined and they were keeping Janick. At first I couldn't quite believe it then I saw the picture of Bruce and Adrian having beer with the rest of the band. It stated that Bruce and Adrian went to have a meeting with Iron Maiden then "one hangover later, Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith are back in Iron Maiden!" I was very excited but I couldn't make it to the show in Boston in the summer of 1999 because I could only afford Ozzfest '99. I was 19 years old going on 20 at the time I found out about Adrian and Bruce rejoining Maiden. I finally saw Maiden on August 6, 2000 and it was amazing!
 
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19 years ago eh, now that does make me feel old! And there was me thinking I was a rather young 41 year old lol.

I remember the reunion well. Got into iron maiden when no prayer for the dying was the current release. Fear of the dark was the 1st new release I picked up from them. Was gutted when Bruce left as I was only 15 and and had never seen maiden live at this point. My first maiden gig was on the X factor tour with Blaze. I really enjoyed the blaze years and would happily have had them continue on however when I got the fan club letter saying Bruce and Adrian was back in I can’t tell you how excited I was.

I immediately booked in the FC trip which meant I got to see the reunion line up in their warm up tour in Paris and Rotterdam (with megadeth as support which was a great bonus).

gutted that this mini tour dupportingved hunter never made it to the U.K. as I would have loved to see this tour again. With no new album out they pulled a great set list.
 
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Metal Warrior 330 said:
Back when I heard the news I was just a college student and I had just finished high school seven months before that, now I'm a teacher in a high school.
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GhostofCain said:
I remember reading the news when I was a University student (checking the official website in a computer lab!). 19 years later I am a senior lecturer and have to smile whenever I see Maiden fans among my students. :)
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How many teachers are there around here? :D (counting myself, 3 so far ;) )
 
I was 14, and also hadn't heard of Iron Maiden - the first time I heard about Iron Maiden was in 2000. I still remember it, it was a MuchMusic interview with Sum 41 and George Stephanopolous (who was my favourite VJ), and he asked them who their perfect date was. The bassist immediately said "Steve Harris", and the rest of the band agreed that they should basically just date Iron Maiden.
 
Zare said:
G'n'R is a mainstream band. Mainstream rock band, even.
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You missed my point. I was stating that the Iron Maiden reunion was not an instant success. I could have compared with the Spice Girls reunion and the argument would still be valid, The EdHuntour was not excactly an overwelming return. Instead they grew slowly. Besides, songs like Wasted Years are way more commercial than anything GNR ever released. With the Iron Maiden chart success, how would Iron Maiden not be mainstream nowadays. How do you define mainstream anyway?

srfc said:
Exactly, look at the venues GNR were playing in their heyday compared to Maiden.
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What's your point? :)
 
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fekso said:
You missed my point. I was stating that the Iron Maiden reunion was not an instant success. I could have compared with the Spice Girls reunion and the argument would still be valid, The EdHuntour was not excactly an overwelming return. Instead they grew slowly. Besides, songs like Wasted Years are way more commercial than anything GNR ever released. With the Iron Maiden chart success, how would Iron Maiden not be mainstream nowadays. How do you define mainstream anyway?
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I define mainstream by exposure. You will hear Guns'n'Roses on your average radio station during daytime, you will see them on your average channel, people that have any rock affinities will be there when G'n'R hits the town, etc.

You are correct with Maiden's popularity curve. They didn't happen overnight in the 1982. They didn't lose their attendance overnight in 1995. Maiden gradually started to gain numbers and by the end of Ed Hunter tour the numbers went up steeply. The steep uphill didn't happen when Smith and Dickinson returned. The steep uphill happened when they demonstrated in concert that 1999 Iron Maiden is a better live band than ever before.
 
Funny thing in a couple of years, some teenager will become a first active member of the community younger than the community itself :)
 
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