Bruce Dickinson

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Personally I think it's debatable. The criticism he received nearly caused him to leave music as a whole, but if he had persevered with the sound despite it one of two things could have happened:

1) People actually start to get the whole "Skunkworks" thing and while Bruce never becomes really big, he stays strong as an underground metal artist.
2) He gets even more criticism and does indeed can the whole music thing to fly planes instead.

These don't 100% rule out a Maiden reunion, but it does open the door to a longer stint with Blaze, or him being fired and a different singer coming on board. There are so many variables that go into "revisionist history" that sometimes it's better to just accept things for what they are. Personally, I think it all worked out for the best.
 
Yeah, buddy, but being fans force us to enter the time capsule and ponder these things.

Had he found success maybe Maiden would have been done and dusted.
On the other hand, had he retired maybe 1999 would've been the end for both Bruce and Maiden.
Either way I find it interesting to ponder what a second Skunkworks related record would have sounded like. I know you don't rate the first one highly, I find it to be exceptional. Few do.

A third Blaze record would have been interesting as well, Silicon Messiah was brilliant and could have steered Maiden into a heavier direction, which Chemical Wedding indicated but it was never fulfilled. Instead with Bruce back, coming off a real heavy record, they went back to their earlier soundscape.
 
John Silver said:
I know you don't rate the first one highly, I find it to be exceptional. Few do.
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Oh, did I imply that I didn't like it much in my posts? Well set your mind at ease - I do really, really like Skunkworks. It's a fantastic, very personal affair that, while not outright perfect (a couple songs are merely 'decent'), my rating would definitely be over a 9/10. It's just that... I like The Chemical Wedding more. :P
 
Diesel 11 said:
Personally I think it's debatable. The criticism he received nearly caused him to leave music as a whole, but if he had persevered with the sound despite it one of two things could have happened:

1) People actually start to get the whole "Skunkworks" thing and while Bruce never becomes really big, he stays strong as an underground metal artist.
2) He gets even more criticism and does indeed can the whole music thing to fly planes instead.

These don't 100% rule out a Maiden reunion, but it does open the door to a longer stint with Blaze, or him being fired and a different singer coming on board. There are so many variables that go into "revisionist history" that sometimes it's better to just accept things for what they are. Personally, I think it all worked out for the VERY SUPER INCREDIBLE AMAZING best.
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Fixed!
 
Zare said:
People who bashed Blaze or Janick in the past used to get tons of flak, and for a reason...the accusations were rubbish.
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But were the accusations more or less rubbish than Blaze and Janick’s performances...?
 
John Silver said:
buddies: I was thinking - had Bruce decided to continue the Skunkworks experiment he had going. I know songs were written or being written, would his music career endured or not. @GhostofCain , @Jer thoughts?
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Bruce had commented that Skunkworks as a band was kind of coming apart creatively and wouldn’t have lasted much longer. If you listen to the Sack Trick albums those guys went off and did you can understand why that might have been the case. I’m sure the commercial failure of the album didn’t help, either.

If they’d stayed together I’m concerned that the music would have taken on some more bizarre qualities, a la Sack Trick or Mr. Bungle. Stuff like “Americans Are Behind”. Might have been interesting, but not satisfying. But in the alternate reality where the bandmates were still interested in their original direction, it could have been tremendous.

I still think Skunkworks has some of Bruce’s very best songs, and “Strange Death In Paradise” is my personal favorite.
 
Bruce will refuse to join if Maiden are inducted into RARHOF (which basically translates: r&r hall of joke) ...... well said Bruce, but whether he will keep his promise, when Maiden are inducted there. (sooner or later, probably that will happen - they don't even have a nomination ffs.) That will be interesting.

Maiden don't need this hall of joke - the recognition and love and support of the fans always will be greater. A award for songwriting and composing is way way better and important and I think Maiden has one, in 2002 (''Ivor Novello Award'').

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ir...l-of-fame-if-were-ever-inducted-i-will-refuse

 
Very stupid question, but what does Bruce whisper at the beginning of Book of Thel? I can’t find it anywhere, despite the fact that it’s clearly audible.
 
A discussion in the setlist thread about what we know a third Blaze-era Maiden album would have contained in an alternate universe got me wondering the same thing about a third Bruce / Adrian / Roy Z. album if it had happened in 2000 or 2001 without Bruce and Adrian returning to Iron Maiden.

We know that “Believil” and “A Tyranny Of Souls” had come out of the writing sessions for what would have been The Three Tremors / Trinity, so these songs would have definitely been in the mix. Let’s assume “Broken” and “Silver Wings” would be in there too. The rest of the TOS songs were demoed in 2003, so they wouldn’t be in play.

Looking at the songs Bruce and Adrian contributed for Brave New World, we can probably assume variants of at least “The Wicker Man” and “The Fallen Angel” would have shown up on this one.

And stretching a bit further, we know that Adrian already had “Savage World” and “Search For Bliss” written before he originally met Mikee Goodman in 2006/2007 (which led to the Primal Rock Rebellion project in 2012), so let’s guess that he’d had those kicking around for a while since they never would have made it onto a Maiden album. Maybe they already existed in 2001...?

So what does that give us?

Bruce Dickinson - Savage World (2001)

1. The Wicker Man
2. Broken
3. Savage World
4. Believil
5. The Fallen Angel
6. Silver Wings
7. Search For Bliss
8. A Tyranny Of Souls

...and probably another new song or two thrown in there somewhere.

Definitely a very different feel from the Tyranny Of Souls album we got in this timeline. I wonder how folks would have reacted to this one, and what Bruce would have done with the vocals on the PRR tracks...?
 
It sounds to me like Smith got inspiration from Futureal's rhythm guitar parts (especially the riff under the solos) for the Wicker Man.
 
Zare said:
It sounds to me like Smith got inspiration from Futureal's rhythm guitar parts (especially the riff under the solos) for the Wicker Man.
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Funny enough, similar riffs are also used in one of the Drake's trick parts in Raising Hell. You're probably right about H's source of inspiration, but it's kinda intriguing how that riff has popped up here and there over the years.
 
Not so sure about "The Wicker Man" being on here given that they already had a song called "Wicker Man" they'd tossed around but never completed until The Best of Bruce Dickinson compilation. I'd expect that one more, honestly.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Not so sure about "The Wicker Man" being on here given that they already had a song called "Wicker Man" they'd tossed around but never completed until The Best of Bruce Dickinson compilation. I'd expect that one more, honestly.
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I’m aware of the other “Wicker Man”, but “The Wicker Man” was written in the pertinent timeframe by Bruce and Adrian (and Steve, in our timeline), and is a better song.
 
Jer said:
I’m aware of the other “Wicker Man”, but “The Wicker Man” was written in the pertinent timeframe by Bruce and Adrian (and Steve, in our timeline), and is a better song.
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And if I remember correctly, Bruce has said that, basically, Steve's only contribution to the Maiden song was naming it "The Wicker Man" (and perhaps doing a bit of arranging), meaning that Adrian probably wrote the music and Bruce the lyrics (I'll see if I can find a source for it).
So, with a different title, it sounds pretty likely it would've featured on a third Bruce-album in an alternate timeline :)
 
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