British Lion 2013 Tour

I was expecting more and smaller venues, going by what Steve had said before. It might take a bit of effort to go to one of these gigs, but yeah it would be cool.
 
I might go. Could be cool to see Steve in such an intimate environment.

I saw him once in a similar environment. Maiden concert, The X Factour days, I doubt that we were more than 200 (two hundred) people inside the venue.. It was awesome though, in fact more than that, it was priceless; the band gave everything on stage like if they were playing in front of thousands!
 
Ridiculous small amount of people. At that tour there were a couple of thousand people in the venue where I saw them.
 
Yeap. But in a way I understand them (the people).. Harris took the downhill after Bruce left (or even after 7th Son) and never recovered again. Blaze is a good Metal singer, but way too little for Maiden then. Not to speak about Nigel -who are you- Green. The choice of singer and the whole artistic approach of that time, both ridiculous in the eyes of lots of people, reminds me of British Lion. So fucking much. Needless to say I hate British Lion, as I find boring almost everything Harris did from 93 onwards.. And here is another similarity with British Lion: Harris' name is credited everywhere and yet his real contribution is much less; most of the times it seems like a patronage than a real contribution.
Fortunately unlike British Lion, in Maiden there are Adrian, Bruce and Janick that (still) save the day..
 
Needless to say I hate British Lion, as I find boring almost everything Harris did from 93 onwards..
If you would like to be a bit more concrete: What do you exactly mean with everything he did from 93 onwards? Steve's choice of producers and his co-producing for sure. But is there more?

Songwriting alone?
Co-songwriting with others members?
Bass playing?
Anything else?
 
Well, at least, I'd say that from all Maiden albums it's the one British Lion has the least in common with (song-wise; but I think no5 means production and weak singer).
 
If you would like to be a bit more concrete: What do you exactly mean with everything he did from 93 onwards? Steve's choice of producers and his co-producing for sure. But is there more?

Songwriting alone?
Co-songwriting with others members?
Bass playing?
Anything else?

Sometimes when the music he does is brilliant ie For The Greatest Good or Nomad (I guess he did contribute musically in Nomad a bit apart copying Beckett) the lyrics are very mediocre or banal as those songs above.. Sometimes the lyrics are brilliant, like Paschendale, or Wild Wind & Blood Brothers but then the music either isn't his; like Paschendale, or it is -but mediocre like the later two..

I chose to speak for the Reuinion, because for 1995-98, the only songs that I really like are The Aftermath & Man on the Edge.. And yes, in the X Factor he did something different but it was weak.. Same like his inspiration to return to the roots back in 1990 it was brilliant idea and in the fucking right direction, as grunge has shown, but again the music was weak.

As far as co-writting with the others, I feel that mostly his contributions (when they are not mere credits and nothing more like in Bruce's songs) are mostly in the negative direction, like adding boring slow intros /outros in 3/4 bass line ie Benjamin Breeg or Dance of Death.. The bizarre intro though in El Dorado (which I guess it was his idea) I like a lot. Also his lyrics in the Legacy, he definitely did a good contribution there.

Production wise it seems Adrian has some great ideas as it's shown in Brighter Than a 1000 Suns, but not all the time this creativeness is shown, as apparently Steve is stuck to the signature sound, or we would have a more riffy Maiden at least during the '00s (take for instance Primal Rock Rebellion)

His bass playing?? I have no complains there.. Especially in AMOLAD, I like it a lot.

Generally I have the impression that he pisses the creative forces of the band off, that is Adrian -mostly- and Bruce.. He acts more and more like the boss, but he forgets that the success of the last 12 years is not so much because of him, as it was maybe in early 80s, it's even sometimes despite him. He should let the others take the lead, more freedom in writing, more freedom in production & new ideas come in and for fuck's sake to stop appearing in every single song as a contributor. I don't want to see Adrian leave again and I don't want to see Maiden back to mediocre writing, but in a way it seems unavoidable.. So at least I hope that Harris does not attempt to make another Maiden album without Adrian and eventually without Bruce. I prefer to see the band dismiss than witness a second X Factor or Blaze again..

I think Forostar that even if you don't agree totally with me, at least you've seen /fear some of the things I describe.
 
I agree with everything you say about Steve's recent contributions and the way he's been smothering the band's creativity but at this point I don't think that there's a risk of anyone leaving the band.
 
I don't think there is a risk but at the same time I wouldn't but surprised if Adrian left again. I think Steve is better as an arranger than a songwriter on his own. The Steve/Adrian and Steve/Adrian/Bruce songs are all among the best on the recent albums.
 
I agree with everything you say about Steve's recent contributions and the way he's been smothering the band's creativity but at this point I don't think that there's a risk of anyone leaving the band.

If one submits such conditions without leaving, then he'll probably suffer a kind of (self) castration and eventually loose interest. Either way, the creative force will stop to exist.

And I agree with Mosh. If Steves does not dismiss the band in due time, or changes his attitude, then it will be not a surprise to see Adrian leaving again.
 
There's not much left in Maiden, probably three years at most. I expect the final album in 2015 and a farewell tour after that. Adrian won't leave the band because :

1 ) It will be the last Maiden album.
2 ) Even though it's restricted, he's the main creative force of the band at the moment. I'm sure he'd like to finish this period on a high note.
3 ) He'll be 58 by the time the band ends which means there's still very much time for him to tour with other stuff. Adrian would take this into consideration before leaving the band and leaving, say, next year, wouldn't really make much difference for him.
 
I think Forostar that even if you don't agree totally with me, at least you've seen /fear some of the things I describe.

Cheers for going more in depth. I indeed disagree on lots of things (especially the way you look at the nineties albums) but I too fear Adrian doesn't like Steve dominating the album process. Not per se on the creative side (although I wonder how a non Stevized song would sound in the 21st century!). Rather the production. The mix, the sound of the album.

Also I think Steve wrote his last really great song by himself on The X-Factor (Blood on the World's Hands). Not that the later ones were bad, but just not anymore of that same level.
1 ) It will be the last Maiden album.
I am still not 100% sure of that. I'd like to believe it because it would be a smaller disappointment when the end comes. On the other hand, the band has so much left in them. And lots of new people keep coming to the gigs.
 
I don't think the band would want to force it too much. The Final Frontier could very well be the last album (I was dead sure it wasn't going to be, but I wouldn't be mad if it was because it was a fantastic album). I think your point of the band having so much left in them and that new people are discovering them is the reason why we're getting a new album. But more after that ? Don't think so.
 
Why don't you worship Smith and bash Harris in the due threads, so that Harris' fans could be allowed their own quite space ?
 
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