If Bruce never left...

MikeJwF

Invader
I was just wondering what people think may have happened if Bruce didn't leave in 93.

A. Maiden continue to sell millions of records and play large venues like they did then and from 2000 on.

B. The 90's catch up with them and they downsize their productions anyway much like the Blaze era.

C. The band ends up falling completely apart due to tension and differences just a fews years later.

D. Other...


Edit: Adding a wild card - Adrian Smith
 
I think the 90s would have caught up and they would have ended up playing small venues like they did with Blaze. The question is, would they have been able to create the giant stir that happened with the reunion in 1999, which in combination with the popularity rise of metal put them back on the throne as one of the biggest metal acts on the planet.

Adrian was certainly an additional (huge) songwriting bonus for the band when he returned, but it was Bruce who was the key figure when it came to the promotion of the whole thing.
 
What if the Germans never invaded the Soviet Union? What if Einstein never finished his work on general relativity? What if Sir Alex Ferguson had been sacked in 1990? What if I had chicken for dinner yesterday instead of omelet?`

So many questions.

Oh, and I really think C is the more likely one.
 
I think they needed the reunion to accomplish what they have in the past 14 years. I'm not sure how Adrian would have ended up back in the fold without the Bruce split though.
 
Indeed, that's more interesting: Adrian leaves in 89/90; Bruce leaving in 1993 doesn't happen --does anyone image Adrian would have returned? Brucie would probably have pissed off again.
 
Just like when David Lee Roth left Van Halen there was too many ego's to much tension, some band members wanted to their music to sound heavier some wanted to stay the same, some wanted to slow it down. In the end Van Halen& Iron Maiden are still together touring and in good terms within their own band &that's what matters.
 
If Bruce wouldn't have left, C is the mosst likely answer.
If Adrian wouldn't have left is the real question.
 
Just be glad he did. We wouldn't have X Factor. That would be the biggest issue imo.

Hard to predict about these things. Maybe we'd have another sub par album Ala Fear of The Dark or it is possible we could have had a X Factor-esque album also with Bruce since Steve's songwriting was heading in that direction.

Also possible we could have had their best since Seventh Son, who knows? But with the tensions in the band something had to give.
 
I think we would have gotten an X Factor type album and because of how amazing it would have been, Maiden would have stayed super popular throughout the 90's. I'm actually glad things worked out how they did though because we got some great Bruce solo albums out of it as Wasted pointed out. And I couldn't image no Tears Of The Dragon!
 
I think if Bruce had stayed, the entire band would probably just collapse under it's own weight really and they would cease to be a band based on the inner turmoil between him and the band. On the other hand if Blaze had stayed with the band less and less people would have bought their albums based on the fact they don't like hearing Blaze's voice and less people would have gone to their shows I think, and they would have become impoverished as an act, much like a lot of 80s glam/hard rock acts today. Nothing against Blaze (I enjoy his work), but thanks to him filling for Bruce, it gave Bruce some time to think it over and feel re-energized for his return to Maiden.
 
My impression is that they would have petered out in the mid-90s from simply running out of steam. Adrian, Bruce and Steve just seemed like they had other things they needed to do before they were ready to come back together to make Brave New World but when they did they came back with all guns blazing. It just seems like whenever something happened that seemed unfortunate at the time, if it hadn't happened then something really good wouldn't have happened either. The most obvious example I can think of is that if Adrian hadn't left we would never have got Janick.
 
We wouldn't have had The X-Factor because Bruce would be too stubborn to allow such a drastic change in Maiden's sound and we wouldn't be able to listen to a fantastic album.
 
We wouldn't have had The X-Factor because Bruce would be too stubborn to allow such a drastic change in Maiden's sound and we wouldn't be able to listen to a fantastic album.

Honestly?
Bruce probably wanted an even more drastic sound change than what happened. See what he worked on following his departure.
At the time Balls To Picasso was pretty left field for the ex-Maiden vocalist and his follow up was Skunkworks, which divided his remaining fan base. I'd call it a much more drastic in change in sound than The X Factor.
And a much, much better album in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, I love The X Factor. Skunkworks is just special.
 
Skunkworks is a unique piece of art, and I'm glad we have both. I doubt that whatever came with Maiden after FotD would be anywhere as good as either Skunkworks or X-Factor. Maiden couldn't have made X-Factor with Bruce and Steve Harris would never allow anything close to Skunkworks to come out with Eddie on the cover.
 
Back
Top