Kamelion
Prowler
Man, what a great thread - brings back many awesome memories!
My first Maiden album was NOTB - bought for me on cassette by my grandmother! I had recently become interested in Hard Rock after a friend played me AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds" and I was raving about it to my folks. So my grandma (miss you!) went to a record store and asked the clerk for a kick-ass album to buy her grandson. He handed over NOTB and that was that. Man, I played that cassette non-stop every day. POM was next up, the first one I bought for myself. I was just blown away by the huge gatefold album cover, artwork - the sheer immensity of it. I tell you, that's what I miss most about CDs and downloading - the full-sized awesomeness of a Maiden album cover - scrutinising it inch by inch to see if Derek Riggs had put any cool easter eggs in there, poring over the textures and colours.
Got news about the band mostly from word of mouth, really, through other fans and the metal grapevine. A couple of years later, I started checking out the magazines (Kerrang, Metal Hammer, Circus) and Power Hour and Headbangers Ball on MTV. To be honest, though, I'm glad of not having those perspectives in the beginning. It made the music my own, free of any media filter.
First concert didn't come until World Slavery tour - and man, was that ever one hell of an initiation. Saw them in Tokyo and trekked out on my own to the show, screamed myself hoarse. Just brilliant. Big stage shows are all the thing these days, but back then I'd never seen anything like it. None of my buddies were able to go, so I was King Maiden for about a week, lol. Took my little sister along on the next tour - had her up on my shoulders waving a Union Jack and she was thrilled to bits when Bruce spotted her, pointed and waved.
Was really concerned about rumours about synths on SIT - all such concerns evaporated with the main riff of the title track kicking into high gear. Go back and listen the opening of that album and try to imagine you've never heard it before. Great stuff. Like others, was gutted when H and Bruce left. I'd seen Wolfsbane live and wasn't sure Blaze could handle the songs. I've grown to appreciate his vocals since, and think that there are some great songs on XF/VXI (well, apart from the Angel and the Gambler, yugh) but hearing that Bruce and H were back was like being reborn to Maiden.
But you know, reading posts from younger fans, it doesn't seem like things were really all that different back then. Yeah, the technology and means of getting news were different. But the excitement, interest and love of the band is just the same. I've looked forward to TFF as much as any other album, scoured the net for interviews the same as I would have scoured magazines, chatted with my friends about it the same, and am cranking the album on headphones right now just as I used to.
Biggest difference now from then? My kids. We took them to Sonisphere a couple of weeks back to see their first concert. A weekend of great times, great bands and great company, topped off by the best band in the world. My daughter (8 years old) kept saying "I can't believe this is really happening!" She scrutinises the albums and lyrics like I used to, trying to figure out who Eddie is, what "the story" of the song is, and saw the live show as providing "all the answers". When she saw the backdrop to Dance of Death, she decided that the silhouette of the reaper that appears on so many albums had been Eddie all along, watching himself throughout time. Love that kid, lol! Took my my eldest boy up into the front of the crowd and got him up on my shoulders for a good view for as long as I could (man, I'm not as young as I used to be, ha ha!) Meanwhile my wife kept our youngest busy (he's three) - he was like "Mummy, can I rock out now?" "Sure," she says. So he does, leaping about and throwing the horns like an old pro. My daughter has been singing along to TFF ever since it arrived last Friday - she knows the words better than I do (and can certainly sing better than I do.) All in all, it's awesome seeing them discovering the band just like I did. Sure, they'll probably find newer music as they get older. But they'll always have Maiden.
My first Maiden album was NOTB - bought for me on cassette by my grandmother! I had recently become interested in Hard Rock after a friend played me AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds" and I was raving about it to my folks. So my grandma (miss you!) went to a record store and asked the clerk for a kick-ass album to buy her grandson. He handed over NOTB and that was that. Man, I played that cassette non-stop every day. POM was next up, the first one I bought for myself. I was just blown away by the huge gatefold album cover, artwork - the sheer immensity of it. I tell you, that's what I miss most about CDs and downloading - the full-sized awesomeness of a Maiden album cover - scrutinising it inch by inch to see if Derek Riggs had put any cool easter eggs in there, poring over the textures and colours.
Got news about the band mostly from word of mouth, really, through other fans and the metal grapevine. A couple of years later, I started checking out the magazines (Kerrang, Metal Hammer, Circus) and Power Hour and Headbangers Ball on MTV. To be honest, though, I'm glad of not having those perspectives in the beginning. It made the music my own, free of any media filter.
First concert didn't come until World Slavery tour - and man, was that ever one hell of an initiation. Saw them in Tokyo and trekked out on my own to the show, screamed myself hoarse. Just brilliant. Big stage shows are all the thing these days, but back then I'd never seen anything like it. None of my buddies were able to go, so I was King Maiden for about a week, lol. Took my little sister along on the next tour - had her up on my shoulders waving a Union Jack and she was thrilled to bits when Bruce spotted her, pointed and waved.
Was really concerned about rumours about synths on SIT - all such concerns evaporated with the main riff of the title track kicking into high gear. Go back and listen the opening of that album and try to imagine you've never heard it before. Great stuff. Like others, was gutted when H and Bruce left. I'd seen Wolfsbane live and wasn't sure Blaze could handle the songs. I've grown to appreciate his vocals since, and think that there are some great songs on XF/VXI (well, apart from the Angel and the Gambler, yugh) but hearing that Bruce and H were back was like being reborn to Maiden.
But you know, reading posts from younger fans, it doesn't seem like things were really all that different back then. Yeah, the technology and means of getting news were different. But the excitement, interest and love of the band is just the same. I've looked forward to TFF as much as any other album, scoured the net for interviews the same as I would have scoured magazines, chatted with my friends about it the same, and am cranking the album on headphones right now just as I used to.
Biggest difference now from then? My kids. We took them to Sonisphere a couple of weeks back to see their first concert. A weekend of great times, great bands and great company, topped off by the best band in the world. My daughter (8 years old) kept saying "I can't believe this is really happening!" She scrutinises the albums and lyrics like I used to, trying to figure out who Eddie is, what "the story" of the song is, and saw the live show as providing "all the answers". When she saw the backdrop to Dance of Death, she decided that the silhouette of the reaper that appears on so many albums had been Eddie all along, watching himself throughout time. Love that kid, lol! Took my my eldest boy up into the front of the crowd and got him up on my shoulders for a good view for as long as I could (man, I'm not as young as I used to be, ha ha!) Meanwhile my wife kept our youngest busy (he's three) - he was like "Mummy, can I rock out now?" "Sure," she says. So he does, leaping about and throwing the horns like an old pro. My daughter has been singing along to TFF ever since it arrived last Friday - she knows the words better than I do (and can certainly sing better than I do.) All in all, it's awesome seeing them discovering the band just like I did. Sure, they'll probably find newer music as they get older. But they'll always have Maiden.
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