Bruce's voice during the years

GhostofCain said:
The shows were pretty short (roughly 90 minutes at Bospop festival) as they were playing shorter songs. I would have been much happier if Children of the Damned, 22 Acacia Avenue and Flight of Icarus had been added to the set. All three were classic tracks from the era being covered.
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And who was supposed to sing those songs during shows which also featured Where Eagles Dare, Run to the Hills, Hallowed Be Thy Name, The Trooper, Die with your Boots On?
 
During the 2012-2014 Maiden England tour during the song Seventh Son, I noticed that Bruce sort of shortens/abbreviates the "whoa whoas" during pre chorus whoa whoa'ing. Was there any ever explanation for that change? I prefer the version where it's one long breath on the album, and he did that on the original tour, and his voice seems in better shape now than it did then.

Does anyone have any insight or know what I'm talking about?
 
I doubt there's been any explanation from Bruce himself, but sounds very much like a technique to conserve more of his voice for a lengthy set, or to substitute a strong, shorter note for a crappy, wavering and weak longer note if there was a risk of that.
 
Luisma said:
Oh well, if you're referring to tone then I would definitely think you'll have to put almost every 80's album in a category.

As we all know, when Bruce entered the band he was just 23 and haven't fully develop his voice as a singer. In every Maiden album of the 80's his tone changes a little because he is getting older and more professional about the use of his voice. It happens to all of us in our life.

In the 90's his voice probably peaked and it is when he decided to experiment with it, thus giving us his raspier sound.

Since the 2000 an onward I don't think his tone has changed that much, however, it is evident that he can no longer reach the higher notes of old, but without a doubt his mature voice is still great
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Bruce developed his voice as a singer while in Samson. Have you heard the 2 albums he sung on with Samson? Just listen to the song "Communion" and tell me he had not yet developed his voice as a singer. He also knew how to sing like he did in Maiden with a song like "Riding With The Angels".
 
dickinson1978 said:
Im sure we all think like this,there are like 3 phases

1. Number of the beast,piece of mind,powerslave,somewhere in time
2. Seventh son,No prayer for the dying, Fear of the dark
3. Brave new world,Dance of death,a matter of life and death,final frontier,Book of souls

I dont know but nowadays i like more 2-3 than 1. Back in 90s i remember thinking while listening donington 92 ......he is singing like really soft the clasics.

Im not sure if im explaining it well.... sorry
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Why did you leave out (why is everyone leaving out) Bruce's first 2 albums with Samson? Those are incredible performances. The song "Communion" is probably the BEST Bruce EVER sung in his entire career and the song Riding With The Angels was definitely a precursor to his Iron Maiden singing. "Head On" (1980) and "Shock Tactics" (1980) need to be in the discussion. He didn't start with The Number of the Beast.
 
Ruflux said:
Bruce's vocal peak was almost certainly 2005. He was absolutely on fire throughout that whole tour, and it's a total crying shame they didn't trot out Flight of Icarus on that tour.

e: And yeah yeah, I know, the "first four albums only" was just an excuse to do a proper Early Days tour with most of the set from the debut and Killers, filled out with the NOTB staples and mostly the same PoM tracks they played in 2003 plus one extra as a fun surprise. I know. Still sucks.
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I completely agree with you. Imo, he still sounded like his old self up until and including his last solo album from 2005. As of "A Matter of Life And Death" his voice for the first time ever sounded strained and it never got better imo. So in the studio, the last time he sounded great on an Iron Maiden album (with all the power still intact) was on Dance of Death (2003) and on his solo album Tyranny of Souls (2005).
 
Yax said:
1997-2006 is by far my favorite Bruce period. Great coverband too.
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I'd say it ended in 2005. He sounded very strained on A Matter of Life and Death (2006). He had a lot more power on Tyranny of Souls (2005) and Dance of Death (2003).
 
Danimal77 said:
Bruce developed his voice as a singer while in Samson. Have you heard the 2 albums he sung on with Samson? Just listen to the song "Communion" and tell me he had not yet developed his voice as a singer. He also knew how to sing like he did in Maiden with a song like "Riding With The Angels".
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Agreed here. Communion is a great example of this.
 
Bruce is currently excellent, he had cancer and his voice suffered very little, Ian Gillan at 50 and something no longer sing practically anything, Bruce at 62 is the envy of many singers, I can assure you. my favorite side of bruce is from 1997- present
 
Luisma isn’t saying that Bruce hadn’t developed his voice in the early days. He’s saying that it evolved over time, which it did. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. The Bruce I hear now is the Bruce I first heard on Accident of Birth. Everything leading up to that point was growth and experimentation and experience. But he was always Bruce.
 
Danimal77 said:
Bruce developed his voice as a singer while in Samson. Have you heard the 2 albums he sung on with Samson? Just listen to the song "Communion" and tell me he had not yet developed his voice as a singer. He also knew how to sing like he did in Maiden with a song like "Riding With The Angels".
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He had not yet developed his voice as a singer on Communion. He is very obviously struggling to keep his voice under control and he can't yet deal with employing his whole register in one song. He is raspy in the quiet parts and strained in the loud ones. During his whole tenure with Samson, his voice had a very weird pitch. There are some relics of that on NOTB, especially in 22 Acacia Avenue, but overall it seems like during those sessions, Maiden/Steve polished him into a great singer.
Even with early 80's Maiden, Bruce wasn't entirely golden. Cross-Eyed Mary is a song I have great difficulty listening to because of his vocals in the chorus and Back in the Village is a pretty bad performance in my opinion. These are negative outbreaks that stand rather solitary in a very impressive overall performance, but they do exist.
 
I don't like him pre-1983 that much. He is unable to sing soft, the Communion is a showcase of using way too much belt and vibrato.
 
Perun said:
Even with early 80's Maiden, Bruce wasn't entirely golden. Cross-Eyed Mary is a song I have great difficulty listening to because of his vocals in the chorus
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That was a fuck up on Maiden's part something which they regret. Bruce wasn't there when they recorded the backing track, Steve rang to see if he was ok with singing it in the same key as Tull and Bruce said yeah, and then when he showed up to record the vocal they found the key didn't suit him at all and it was too late.
 
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