On this day 22 years ago

I was on my way out to college on the other side of the city, and just popped into a newsagent in the city centre and saw it on the front cover of Kerrang completely unexpectedly!
 
At that time I belonged to the fan club but I don't remember if I saw the announcement in the web or they sent official statement via fan club mail. I still have the official reunion signed picture that the fan club sent. but anyway it was a great moment to have Bruce and Adrian back. I traveled to UK in April or March of that year and I bought the Classic Rock magazine with Bruce and Steve on the cover.(I uploaded that article here at clippings section) I remember that I couldn't go to Ed Hunter tour because the gigs were sold out very quick. I had to wait for the Brave New World Tour. It was an awesome experience.
 
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Yes I also remember my old room and the computer and that morning when I read the news. I called my buddy and he did not believe me.
 
I actually remember that! Thanks to my father, who was (and is) a Maiden fan, but nonetheless. It really doesn't feel that long ago, though.
 
I remember being disappointed that it meant no true follow-up to The Chemical Wedding. And I continued to think it was a questionable choice until A Matter Of Life And Death finally justified the decision.

Though honestly, could you imagine how awesome it would have been to keep getting new Bruce / Adrian / Roy Z. albums every couple of years for all this time instead of one Maiden album every 3-6 years...?
 
Jer said:
Though honestly, could you imagine how awesome it would have been to keep getting new Bruce / Adrian / Roy Z. albums every couple of years for all this time instead of one Maiden album every 3-6 years...?
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I won´t say it out loud but....
I rate AOB/TCW/TOS higher than ANY reunion album
 
Jer said:
I remember being disappointed that it meant no true follow-up to The Chemical Wedding. And I continued to think it was a questionable choice until A Matter Of Life And Death finally justified the decision.

Though honestly, could you imagine how awesome it would have been to keep getting new Bruce / Adrian / Roy Z. albums every couple of years for all this time instead of one Maiden album every 3-6 years...?
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Bruce’s solo career effectively coming to an end was a sad consequence of what has been otherwise an amazing reunion, with fantastic tours and great new music.
 
Bruce's solo career coming to an end is nothing to do with Maiden, as evidenced by Steve and Adrian's side projects and even Bruce's own hints about a forthcoming album. Flying planes is what killed the solo project, also probably the half arsed Tyranny of Souls album.
 
srfc said:
Bruce's solo career coming to an end is nothing to do with Maiden, as evidenced by Steve and Adrian's side projects and even Bruce's own hints about a forthcoming album. Flying planes is what killed the solo project, also probably the half arsed Tyranny of Souls album.
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You say that as if Steve and Adrian had been releasing solo albums every couple of years! :lol:

The end of Bruce's solo career probably has more to do with him not having the motivation to release solo albums than with (his obsession with) flying, but I still think that what @Jer suggested (releasing a new album with Roy Z and Adrian every couple of years) would never have been possible whilst being a member of a rejuvenated and very active Iron Maiden.
 
srfc said:
also probably the half arsed Tyranny of Souls album.
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In 2004, Bruce said he doesn't want to make solo records while doing Maiden because he's drained creatively when it comes to music. That he will make the next solo record in his time off. Considering that opposite happened and he had to record vocals swiftly while on tour with Maiden, it may have killed some of the enthusiasm for further projects...I might add something I personally think it's true but I have no exact proof for it, around that period everyone in Maiden realized they're in for life and curve of popularity began to noticeably rise again after 2005.

In 1990 Harris has a very rigid opinion on how stuff should be. Although they still compromise (as shown on the TFF: Debrief), Harris nowadays is willing to put Bruce's solo stuff and Smith's demos on the album, as they are. There is a huge development there. They play a lot of prog today (the influences are in every song as opposed to a few select tracks), with a lot of blues in it, with folky interludes, everything Dickinson wanted to do but couldn't then, he can do now. So it's not hard to see why he doesn't do solo stuff anymore.
 
GhostofCain said:
The end of Bruce's solo career probably has more to do with him not having the motivation to release solo albums than with (his obsession with) flying
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Nowadays flying does seem to be more of a hobby, but back then when it was a key period for whether he would be active with the solo career he was working a day job for Astraeus!

I agree with Zare, it just seems a bit like he doesn't have an itch to scratch. I imagine Steve taking the title track from the solo album probably showed him that Maiden can be an avenue for anything he wants to do, also embracing something like Empire.
 
Most likely a combination of what's been said so far. Steve Harris growing older and less bossy, allowing Bruce more artistic freedom than in the past. Yet I'm also sure, that if Bruce really had a burning desire/vision for a solo album he would have found the time to work on it and put something out.
 
I was very happy about the return of Bruce and Adrian. And to make things even better, Janick stayed and the band released their best album IMO. I also wanted more solo albums from Bruce, but it was almost certain that his return to the band means that his solo career will end (he released one more great solo album though). He was again busy with Maiden and with the prog stuff he has more artistic freedom (that could be a reason, dunno). He has more time for solo albums nowadays, but maybe he want to tour them and with the Maiden schedule is not possible (his latest solo album was without a tour). But in the end I think Bruce will always find a time for a solo album if he really wants.
 
Bruce returning to Iron Maiden effectively ended his collaboration with Adrian outside of Iron Maiden, which ended the special line-up of AOB and TCW. It’s understandable that any writing Bruce and Adrian did together would be to support their main band after they rejoined.

When it’s just Bruce and Roy Z. doing the writing, the quality isn’t the same. Balls To Picasso and Tyranny Of Souls prove this out, IMO. Even in cases where Roy Z. did all the actual songwriting, Adrian’s presence complemented and balanced out Roy’s sound in a way that was clearly missing on TOS. Don’t get me wrong, there was still some great stuff on TOS, but it wasn’t as consistent.
 
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