Not going to happen for sure. If at first there were unofficial confirmations about this, now it's official.
Yeah, since Bruce used the word ''making'' about the plans. Anniv tour is more and more likely. I think they will never do 3-years tours again. I hope so. The 2026 tour will be big in terms of the dates, the tour won't be different than the 2025 one.
The fact they're waiting this long to release another album it can means two things:
- They are not worried at all about reaching the end of their carreer.
- They're at the end of their carreer and no new album will be released.
As I've said before (and Bruce's recent interviews and mentions of having a lot of ideas/work to do in the next few years, plus probably throwing a hint for a new Maiden album in 2026/2027 and his next solo album), I don't think the band will ever lose the desire for making new music, and a delay later than 2026 would be
weird for them. Touring can be a priority now - With new album recorded and released. I think Nicko changed their plans.
Have we nailed down exactly what the band are doing in early 2025 that rules out album recording?
They can find time if they want (early or later in the year), but I think they'll potentially record in early 2026, with a release in the fall because that's what they usually do in recent years.
Well, in one of this year's interviews for his solo album, Bruce said that Wrathchild is one of his favorite songs to play live, so... and it can be like CIPWM for this tour.
Every “retro” tour since the reunion has had at least one (often more) songs that the lineup hadn’t played yet. As the list gets smaller, I wonder what kind of surprises they might bring out next. To me, Still Life and Infinite Dreams stand out as clear contenders to show up on a future nostalgia tour. Otherwise they might dig into songs that haven't been played live before, which honestly I would say is more likely than at least half of the songs on this list being played live in the future.
Well, when you consider we're 15+ years past the last time some songs have been played (Rime) there are plenty of understandable repeats. But I do think the band has shown a real interest into digging into their catalog a bit each tour. I would feel comfortable betting on at least one song from that list getting played in a future tour OR a never before played song.
This. And after playing Alexander, everything is possible. Some band members also expressed a desire to play more deep cuts.
Plus an Anniv tour would allow them to choose whatever they want from all albums. Excluding the 90's albums, there are plenty of
Reunion songs that can be played live again.
Bruce doing solo shows before and after Maiden's tour plans next year, he has a packed schedule , wasting a few months to record an album isnt in the plan. He made that clear enough when he dismissed the idea of new Maiden in 2025
Wasting? Wow. And Bruce to do 3 different legs of tours next year?? He said a new Maiden album isn't planned for next year, but that doesn't mean they can't record it next year with a planned release in 2026. And in this interview he talked about this year.
