Simon Dawson is the new drummer

I assume this is supposed to be a purely theoretical discussion?
After the last interview, it seems to me that Steve wants to try to play until he's 110 years old with the help of the strictest fitness and health program and encourage the others to do the same.
 
Bruce isn't replaceable at this point. That was admitted by Steve himself in the aftermath of Bruce's cancer scare. Steve basically said, that if Bruce wasn't able to sing again, that would be it from Maiden.

And Steve IS Maiden.

The guitarists are replaceable. However, losing Adrian would result in diminished quality of performances and recordings as he is the only one that tries going against Steve in doing things super fast and super live/lose.

Also, if Maiden record another album with Nicko, they will need to alter the recording approach. Knocking the album out live on the floor is out of the question.
 
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Kalata said:
No one denies this, but he is probably best known for BL.

Curious question - would Maiden with a session and a versatile (this was important to Steve, I guess) drummer/musician rotate or change songs during one leg of a tour? Like with Bruce's solo tour, an additional 4-5 songs. Doubt it because of habits and especially if it's a last tour.
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No, maiden have worked for decades like this. Only a few cases in 50 years.
 
matic22 said:
Bruce isn't replaceable at this point. That was admitted by Steve himself in the aftermath of Bruce's cancer scare. Steve basically said, that if Bruce wasn't able to sing again, that would be it from Maiden.
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I didn't know that, very interesting.

matic22 said:
However, losing Adrian would result in diminished quality of performances and recordings as he is the only one that tries going against Steve in doing things super fast and super live/lose.
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matic22 said:
Also, if Maiden record another album with Nicko, they will need to alter the recording approach. Knocking the album out live on the floor is out of the question.1
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Great, great points! The second makes me wanting to have Simon do the recording even more now, at last something different!
 
Smither said:
It's actually the opposite. If Simon records, they probably will record it "live" like they've been doing. However, if they want Nicko to record, they'll probably need to adjust the way they record to make up for Nicko's shortcomings.
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Right. I misread. Anything that would change their approach will do for me. For the sake of doing something different which will probably kick major ass as hopefully Harris will be out of his depth and rely more on Kevin.
 
Life happened in the last two-ish months but I kept up with the lads. I didn't even try to even scroll these 25 pages so I'm probably repeating something already said by many others.

I think nobody has seriously been caught off guard by Nicko's retirement. Dawson's choice is perfectly in line with Steve's policy of keeping everything inside the Maiden's circle. As soon as Nicko announced the news, I read the craziest, fantafootball-ish picks from many fans (Mike Mangini!). I'm glad they didn't pick a big name tho. Big names tend to have their specific style (some more some less), and Maiden are simply too far down the road for a new style of drumming. It just wouldn't have been worth it. It's simply too late for such a change.
On the other hand, Steve already knows Simon Dawson, he knows his style, so a big part of the work is already done.

I still think they should've picked Lazarus, but I can totally understand the choice.
 
____no5 said:
What makes you think so? From your previous argument which makes a huge sense I’d say that Simon appears as the natural choice not Joe.
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Simply because Joe Lazarus was Nicko's backup, has studied Nicko's parts in deep, in sum he already was an IM-family member. Let's be real, at this point how many tours do the guys have left, other than RFYL? The kid is a solid drummer, just give him the role he worked hard for.

PS: Steve Lazarus was openly critical of Steve's choice and brought reasonable arguments on the table, including that Joe has been Nicko's backup for the past 3 tours (I think his anger was mostly due to Joe being his son, tho).
 
matic22 said:
Also, if Maiden record another album with Nicko, they will need to alter the recording approach. Knocking the album out live on the floor is out of the question.
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It's curious if Steve would do it. He has to right. And that could lead to a better production.

About replacements - Steve IS Maiden, so. You can't replace him, live or in the studio, there's only one Steve Harris. Bruce too, and not just because Steve said so. He can write full albums, Adrian, nope. Both yes, but they need Steve's approach for variety. Dave is the soul of the band, Adrian is too important, while Janick fits Maiden best from all of the old classic bands with his sense for melodies. Replacing live and for the studio is different, but I don't see either one, even now, after all Nicko insisted the band to continue. A replacement from British Lion was the most logical for Steve, Joe was the second choice. That's it. We also have to consider the stage of their career. The other members from it? It's day and night...
Murder of Rue Morgue said:
...and Maiden are simply too far down the road for a new style of drumming. It just wouldn't have been worth it. It's simply too late for such a change.
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Considering his back catalogue (which is diverse), Simon is a very different drummer from all involved and speculated. Like Scott Travis change in Priest. That's why Steve made this choice, while Joe was probably sure before last year with his admiration for Nicko's playing but he wanted to do something else being a young drummer. And because he played with him.
Change in the studio you mean.
Simon's own approach to the Maiden songs is curious. Given Steve's latest interview, he has ''plans'' for the future - let's see if they're only live.
 
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Murder of Rue Morgue said:
Simply because Joe Lazarus was Nicko's backup, has studied Nicko's parts in deep, in sum he already was an IM-family member. ... The kid is a solid drummer, just give him the role he worked hard for.
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I don't know. You could make the same argument for Simon Dawson. I'm sure he has also prepared himself to play Iron Maiden songs.

Murder of Rue Morgue said:
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PS: Steve Lazarus was openly critical of Steve's choice and brought reasonable arguments on the table, including that Joe has been Nicko's backup for the past 3 tours (I think his anger was mostly due to Joe being his son, tho).
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Sorry, but when someone or their family angrily makes these arguments publicly on Facebook, you know it was a good call to choose the other option. No one needs the extra drama on tour that the new drummer or someone close to him might be publicly airing it on social media if he doesn't agree with something.
 
Melony said:
I don't know. You could make the same argument for Simon Dawson. I'm sure he has also prepared himself to play Iron Maiden songs.
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Well this is Dawson's biggest gig in his entire life, obviously he's preparing himself.

Melony said:
Sorry, but when someone or their family angrily makes these arguments publicly on Facebook, you know it was a good call to choose the other option. No one needs the extra drama on tour that the new drummer or someone close to him might be publicly airing it on social media if he doesn't agree with something.
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Agree. He has some points but the general vibe is "Steve should've chosen my son 'cause he's my son".
 
Vaenyr said:
I'm curious to see if Simon will bust out the double bass pedal for some of Nicko's more difficult and faster bass drum gallops, or if he'll emulate Nicko's style.
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That, I wonder too, although it's wild to imagine Maiden with a double bass drum kit. I think I'd like it, but I guess he'd choose to play it like Nicko, which might not be his preferred style. He's a versatile drummer like him after all, from watching the clips. Maybe Steve, Bruce and Adrian will discuss it too?
 
Murder of Rue Morgue said:
PS: Steve Lazarus was openly critical of Steve's choice and brought reasonable arguments on the table, including that Joe has been Nicko's backup for the past 3 tours (I think his anger was mostly due to Joe being his son, tho).
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One minor correction: Joe was the backup for the previous three tours prior to Future Past. This is key because Joe was not the backup on Future Past and, looking at BL's touring schedule mostly matching Maiden's, Simon was very likely the backup drummer for the latest tour. So all the data on Joe being the backup is, at this point, out dated and the band has clearly chosen a different direction. By band I mean "Steve."
 
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