Martin Birch passed away

I also wondered. I guess he got tired of it. He retired early (age 43!!) but also died early.

Martin Birch's first three albums he was involved in were recorded in:

1968-1969 ==> Then Play On, the third studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 19 September 1969.
3-19 April 1969 ==> Beck-Ola, the second studio album by English guitarist Jeff Beck, released in June 1969
24 September 1969 ==> Concerto for Group and Orchestra by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra released on 20 December 1969.

If he was engeneer in 1968, then he started at the age of 19. He was 31 when he started with Maiden (Killers) and 43 when he retired (after finishing Fear of the Dark).
 
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From Blabbermouth.net
"In a 1983 interview with France's Best magazine, Birchstated about MAIDEN: "At first, I could objectively judge them and I think that they are very different from the hard rockers of the early seventies. Nowadays, I'm not so sure I can judge them, as we have become very close friends and I can't do that anymore. "The first time I saw them at work, I was surprised and seduced by their energy and their attitude. I have rarely seen bands with so much energy. In this way, they reminded me a bit of the early PURPLE. But their attitude towards rock is very different, and so is their conception of it. It was said that they were a second DEEP PURPLE, but I don't agree with this. Obviously, Steve Harris was a PURPLE fan, but he's mostly influenced by bands like JETHRO TULL, UFO or even GENESIS. Nothing to do with DEEP PURPLE. Of course, in both cases we have a very melodic hard rock, and not just speeded up noise like with some other bands in heavy metal, but I don't think we can compare any further." He continued: "I personally wanted to produce them because it was a way out of the PURPLE family. There are in fact many differences. Musically, a band like IRON MAIDEN is typical of the second generation of hard rock and stands out from the first one because the band is more consistant, more compact. They don't fall into easy and very boring solutions with 20-minute guitar solos, then keyboards, then drums, like I experienced with DEEP PURPLE. I think they're more robust, musically speaking. Another difference is their attitude towards the outside world. They are not into the 'star-system' and remain very accessible. Success has raised any barriers between them and the others, press, audience, which wasn't the case before. Moreover, they listen to you, and they are not convinced right away that they are right. This is why I think that this is my favourite band to work with; the producer/band relationship is much more constructive. Even within the band, although Steve Harris is the boss because he founded it and writes most of the songs, there is a great unity and nobody tries to stand out individually from the team. It's really nice, and mostly really exciting because their music is full of energy."
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It's important. He produced the best Maiden albums. They were friends (1983 interview)
 
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Mosh said:
I’m curious to learn more about Birch’s retirement as well, it seems he actually stuck around longer than he might have otherwise because he was so invested in working with Maiden. In other words, I wonder if he would’ve retired even earlier if it weren’t for Maiden.
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Last non-Maiden thing he did was in 1984, I'd say he definitely would have retired earlier.
 
I don't see it.

Not working with Maiden in 1992 can be different than not working with Maiden in e.g. 1984.
In 1984, if without Maiden, he may have done work with other bands.

I guess he simply enjoyed the luxuary position of working focused with one band and having free, the rest of the time. If that band was not there, he would not be in that same position. Either he worked with others bands (various), either with one and the same. That's more likely than doing nothing at all.
 
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www.ironmaiden.com

R.I.P Martin Birch (1948 – 2020)

A man of many nicknames… and simply one of the greatest people we have ever worked with. Steve Harris: “He was just absolutely brilliant. He wasn’t just a...
www.ironmaiden.com www.ironmaiden.com

For those who believe the band needs to comment on Martin's passing, now they have. Within 24 hours of the announcement, too.
 
I think what Maiden put up was nice ... I get everyone wants everything "RIGHT FUCKING NOW" but I think getting the quotes from Steve, Bruce, and Rod is much better than a template "We are greatly saddened by the loss of <insert name here>, <he/she -- pick one> will be missed" that could have been put up 10 seconds after the news was announced.
 
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