Alright, since this has become the thread that would not die, I think it's time to come clean. I started this thread as a joke/troll thread to parody what I felt were pretty silly talking points that frequently show up on this forum about Maiden's management failures, despite the fact that they are about to roll out a 50th anniversary stadium tour and have basically only scaled up since the 90s.
When I started this thread, I felt like the opening post was so obviously ridiculous that it wouldn't last more than a page. I thought people would catch on immediately as well and play along.* Maidenfans proves me wrong again.
Normally I would just let it play out, but seeing Eddie's Uncle freaking out over me not responding to his posts made it feel necessary to come clean - especially since I have strongly criticized a certain other forum member for repeatedly doing the same.
I want to shout out
@Azas for being the first to catch on to this thread's real intention. I also used ChatGPT to help write the initial post and given Azas' interest in AI generated content.... well, the phrase "you can't bullshit a bullshitter" comes to mind.
I will say there was some interesting discussion in here though, so I won't move the thread over to madness (at least not right now). While the constant cynicism can be tiring, I think Ghost of Cain probably summed up Maiden's business dealings most succinctly. With the help of Rod Smallwood, they created an image from the beginning as well as relationships with the early Metal press that has allowed them to be a massive touring force, a cult phenomenon, and an underdog story all at the same time. I think it's also worth flagging their ability to personal differences aside in order to allow the band to exist largely in tact for most of its history, something that seems remarkably difficult in the rock business.
The only thing I have never understood is their strategy for touring the USA between 1999 and 2012. Here are some of my thoughts.
I also think this is an interesting topic. If you look at Maiden's status and metal as a whole during this time, the logic makes sense imo. They didn't oversaturate the American market and kept their touring limited while slowly scaling up on each revisit. Ozzfest was smart because it put Maiden in front of younger audiences and in a lot of ways reintroduced the band to that region. The Brave New World tour was undoubtedly a step up for them in America, but it's not like they were back to playing arenas again, they needed time to rebuild that audience.
I think it's also worth considering that at the time it wasn't clear that legacy acts could sustain the amount of touring Maiden has done. I think the most successful precedent in the early 00s was probably the Kiss reunion, which lasted about 4 years before imploding. It started with a massive stadium tour, and by the end it had scaled down to small arenas and amphitheaters. It seems to me like Maiden didn't want to burn out immediately and opted for slowly phasing things in again. With that being said, I also think at the time they were seeing the 2008 tour as their last big swing at a world tour. Where I get puzzled is the period between 2010 and 2015 and the thing I keep coming back to is that the band didn't realize they could sustain giant arena tours beyond a single cycle, which is why by the time we get to 2012 there is the feeling of a sort of slapped together Maiden England tour. They already blew their load with Somewhere Back in Time, but somehow there is still a market for more nostalgia touring and they have to figure out something comparable.
*For a look behind the (iron) curtain, I emphasized Judas Priest as a successful alternative to Maiden again to hopefully provide a clue to the non-seriousness of this topic, as Priest has not been as successful of a touring entity as Maiden in the 21st century and they have been famously objectively mismanaged throughout their history.
