The MAIDEN Years: 2018/19/20/21/22/ad infinitum (Rock in Rio and Nights of the Dead)

This thread is amazing.



Exactly this. I may have seen (or maybe read) the same interview and I smiled bitterly. That year they played a concert in a nice place 500m away from my place. I didn't bother. I gave up on Maiden on 23 March 1998*. I didn't bother to buy the album as well. Listened to the borrowed CD for a couple of days and then I gave it back.

I had liked the single shorten version of TA&TG quite a lot, but when I listened to the studio version I took it as an insult Harris was giving to us fans. So I gave up on them with a frustration.
When Maiden came again with Bruce one year later, I still didn't go. I was waiting for a killer album first in order to bite.
I saw them in 95 in a smallish venue, first time I ever saw Maiden, but it wasn’t very good. I saw Dream Theater at the same place around the same time, Waking up the world tour, and THAT was a great concert.
 
Did you go on the FC coach trip? We also saw the gig in Rotterdam the next day but it wasn't as good. The crowd were rather subdued compared to Paris.

There's 17 year old me in the middle back row.

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No, a few of us did 5 days in Paris as a kind of a holiday with the gig in the middle of it. I remember meeting some people from the FC when we were waiting outside the gig but that could have been the 2000 gig, as I went to both of them
 
Very, very envious that you saw IM in Paris in '99. Still baffled as to why there was not even a London gig on the Ed Hunter tour. Despite Bruce's comments at the time about the UK not being a good place for metal, any show would likely have sold out.

They had to stay out of the UK as they had done a deal on selling the rights to the back catalogue and they would have owed a lot of tax in the UK if they visited it that year
 
I saw them in 95 in a smallish venue, first time I ever saw Maiden, but it wasn’t very good. I saw Dream Theater at the same place around the same time, Waking up the world tour, and THAT was a great concert.

It was 1996 for me. Background: Previous day was sold out, so they added an extra day the last minute.

The venue was ~5000 people capacity but that time we were only ~300 (three hundred) in the audience!
Lots of space, as you can imagine, you would almost touch them, without being squeezed -at all!

Maiden were very professional though they played full set and they played well; the sound was terrific, Blaze was great, everything perfect.
I always felt very proud of them and very lucky that I had the chance to live such a unique experience for my first Maiden concert ever!

Needless to say it never happened again. After that, I saw them in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 1016 and it was always either sold out or nearly.
 
Live in Hamburg

Not much to say on this so I’m lumping it in with 2000 (it also ties together).

Ed Huntour has got to be the most low key and under documented reunion tour in rock history. It was a very short tour and there are no official recordings from it (save for a few live b-sides). It seemed like the band just wanted to do something to get the word out that they were back together but this was more about the upcoming album and accompanying tour. Even in a lot of the press from 1999, the band is pretty clear that they’re intent on pushing forward. It set a precedent for what makes this lineup still valid over 20 years later.

This was the band’s first real nostalgia tour. A Real Live One was close, but it was still largely an extension of the Fear of the Dark tour. With Ed Huntour, there’s no album the band is promoting, no era they’re focusing on specifically, it’s just a great career spanning setlist. Until Legacy of the Beast, this was also their best nostalgia tour setlist. Powerslave, Aces High, Stranger in a Strange Land (before it was cut) were all rarities that the band hadn’t played since the original tour for those albums. Killers and Phantom of the Opera hadn’t been regulars in the set for years. And, importantly, there’s a very healthy dose of Blaze era tracks showing that the band weren’t about to ignore this phase of their history (something that is still true to this day and which I have a lot of respect for).

At this point we’re spoiled. This lineup has been together for 20 years, most of this material has been played live again and documented in live releases, and the novelty of the 3 guitarists is just the definitive version of Maiden. Still, it’s fun to look back at some of these shows. They sound great, the setlist is a dream, and it’s great to see the band once again in top form. I’m glad that this was only the beginning.

Brave New World
The length of time between the release of BNW and Senjutsu is greater than the length of time between the release of the debut Iron Maiden album and BNW. Feel old yet?

I struggle to think of a more triumphant Metal album. From the very first track, with the pummeling drums and the onslaught of the three guitar attack, we have an album that sounds bigger, bolder, and more energetic than anything Maiden had done since the 80s. They sound revitalized, just as young and hungry as on the debut (if not more).

And despite all that, it doesn’t sound like they’re treading old ground. They’re still progressing. It feels very much like a follow up to Virtual XI. Very similar guitar arrangement, similar types of melodies, similar tone. But it also corrects a lot of Virtual’s mistakes. The first and biggest is the production. Bringing in Kevin Shirley and recording the album essentially live made a huge difference. The energy that was missing on Virtual XI is now in full force. When the song builds up, you can feel it in the dynamics. When they launch into the chorus of Blood Brothers, it feels huge. The guitar tones finally sound great. You can hear that Murray and Gers are using similar amp settings and effects as on Virtual, but it sounds like they were recorded in a giant room rather than a small barn space. There’s a lot more width to the guitar sound. Same with the drums. Steve Harris’ bass has never sounded better. Songs that are known to be leftovers from Virtual XI have clearly been revised to be less awkward, but still play heavily into the melodic nature of Virtual XI.

And that’s the best part of Brave New World. At no point on the album does it feel like an attempt at recreating their 80s hits. This album has more in common with the comparatively less popular 90s albums than it does with the stuff in the 80s. Maiden easily could’ve attempted to erase that part of their history and try to make Powerslave again, but instead they kept the new elements of their sound that worked and adjusted the things that needed adjusting to continue pushing forward.

Maiden has had a lot of great album openers, but that first four run of songs on Brave New World might be the best 25 minutes in the band’s discography. I love how each song shows a different side of the band, with each guitarist getting a crack at writing a song and rounded off by a classic Harris track. Blood Brothers is one of Harris’ greatest songs. Such a thoughtful lyric, such amazing instrumental work (fantastic guitar playing throughout), and an awesome live ready chorus. It’s no wonder that this is a sort of live staple.

The first three songs are an onslaught. Until If Eternity Should Fail, I long considered The Wicker Man to be the gold standard for a Maiden album opener. A formula they tried to recreate several times but never matched the first attempt. Brave New World is my least favorite of the three, but it has grown on me a lot over the years and it has started to become more of a favorite. Really captivating lyric that excellently captures the spirit of the novel. Ghost of the Navigator is an unsung classic on the album. Seeing it live in 2010 was one of the highlights of that particular concert. I love the song’s build and the chorus really pays off. Songs like this are why Janick needed to stay in the band. He brings in a new and essential dimension to their sound.

Speaking of Janick, it’s awesome to finally hear him on a great Maiden album. Not exactly a novelty in 2021, but after being in the band for a decade and living in Smith’s shadow, this is the album that really validates his place in the band. I actually feel his presence more than Adrian’s in a lot of ways. I think it took Adrian some time to rediscover his place in the band, but Gers had been in the band longer than Adrian had in the first stint and he’s still building on his playing chemistry with Dave as well as developing as a writer. Dream of Mirrors, Ghost of the Navigator, and The Mercenary are really strong tracks that help carry this album. His solos are also excellent.

After the first four songs I definitely find that the album gets a bit more uneven. I also don’t think anything on the back half of the album, with the exception of possibly Dream of Mirrors and The Fallen Angel, comes close to the quality of the first four songs. Dream of Mirrors is the first of several awesome Gers acoustic epics, although some of the part transitions are a little clunky. The Nomad is probably my least favorite song on the album, especially knowing now that the only interesting part was copy/pasted from another band’s song. Out of the Silent Planet has the bones of a modern Run to the Hills, but it is missing the energy and has some pretty annoying vocal harmonies. This is the only song where it feels like the band is trying to write an 80s type of classic and I’m glad they abandoned that idea on future albums. Overall though, it doesn’t feel like anything here is filler. Even in its worst moments, the album is engaging and enjoyable to listen to. It also sounds like everybody is giving their all on every single track.

21 years removed, Brave New World can pretty much be considered a classic album in the realm of Powerslave and The Number of the Beast. It seems to hold that status among many fans and, of the reunion era material, the songs on the album seem to have the most staying power and audience response when played live. Every time Maiden releases a new album, it’s inevitably compared to Brave New World as the standard for modern Maiden (you already see this in the early reviews for Senjutsu). With that being said, Brave New World holds a similar status for me as The Number of the Beast in the sense that while it’s an awesome album, this lineup only continued to get better. I’m not sure if Dance of Death and The Book of Souls are better albums than Brave New World (DoD certainly is not), but I love hearing the musical development and progression of this lineup. BNW is the foundation, but they have gone way past that and become a much more interesting band as a result.

Rock In Rio
This is Maiden’s best live album and it’s not even close. Everything here is perfect. The energy, the setlist, the band’s performance. If you need a quick explanation for why Maiden is the greatest Metal band, this is it. 20 years into the band’s career, they’re playing better than ever and the career spanning setlist proves that each era has something to offer. When we get to Two Minutes to Midnight, I’m not thinking “jeez I’m glad we’re finally back to the classics.” I’m more in awe that this song fits right in with the new stuff. Not only that, but hearing it played with the beefier rhythm section and the three guitar onslaught is actually an improvement over the original. I also like that Janick still plays the intro, seems more like his kind of riff weirdly. Good that Adrian kept the solo.

The setlist is perfect. You’ve got the 6 best Brave New World tracks, all of which sound even better than they do on the album, the two best songs from the Blaze era, both of which sound better than they do on the album (especially with Bruce’s vocals), and probably the best selection of “classics” that you could ask for. They don’t really go into deep cuts, but that’s OK. 8 of the songs here are basically new to most of the audiences, and all of these songs are new for this lineup. Songs that we’re sick of now, such as Wrathchild and Run to the Hills, sound really fresh and exciting on this album. It ends up being a nice balance. I think they lost their way on this some on subsequent album tours, although The Book of Souls was a huge step in the right direction and is the closest one that resembles the BNW tour in terms of balance. But hey, when you’re up to 17 albums you’re not going to get to everything.

This live album really proves how live ready Brave New World was. The songs translate perfectly to the stage. You can almost understand why Steve Harris goes for such a live sound in the studio. They ended up playing a whopping 8 songs from Brave New World live on the tour (I really wish they would’ve thrown in Fallen Angel and Out of the Silent Planet as bonus tracks or just played them at this gig, but alas). That’s a testament to how much the band believed in this album and also just how perfect these songs were for the live stage. All 6 BNW tracks are highlights of this collection. The other two highlights for me are Sign of the Cross and The Clansman, both of which are, for me, the definitive versions of those songs. They just fit Bruce’s voice better, especially The Clansman. The three guitar thing helps too, and having a full rhythm section (sorely missing on the original studio version). Also, these two songs are just incredible live in general. I was thrilled when they came back to the set on the LOTB tour. Based on audience reception, I’d bet this isn’t the last we hear of those songs.

I appreciate what Maiden did during the Blaze era, I really do. Without that time in the band’s history, I strongly believe we wouldn’t be talking about album 17 right now. But it’s hard not to listen to this collection and not be struck by how much of a step up this was for them. The reunion was an open question in 1999. Would Bruce leave the band again? Would their new album be weak? Was this just a nostalgia act? Rock In Rio was the first major sign that modern Maiden had legs. And what a ride it has been since.

Also, #FreeBritney
 
Agree with all of this. Especially on your assessment of RIR. It's by far the best live album. The only annoying thing was that I saw them three times on the BNW tour and they never did the second encore with Run to the Hills.
 
I've always had a huge soft spot for the ´99 live tracks found in Brave New World singles. They're gold. Actually, one of my favourite moments in any Maiden live recordings is the chorus of Wasted Years after the instrumental break. The way Bruce comes in after the solo is just amazing and in a way, emphasizes so much through those lyrics. I just love how he delivers the first lines alone and backing vocals come in a bit later.

I don't know... I was like five years old back in 1999, so it's not like I have any first-hand emotional connection to this period, but I've always found this recording quite magical. The band plays it tight and there's just some symbolic beauty in the lyrics alone.

That's why Wasted Years would be an ideal closer to the last ever Maiden gig... :)


So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up, make your stand
and realize you're living in the golden years
 
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A couple of things:
1. A Real Live One was the album with songs from 86 and newer. A Real Dead One was the one with songs from before 85’. It’s a minor nitpick but I’m on the internet and wanna feel smart.
2. I am SO fucking glad to hear someone else mention the similarities between BNW and VXI. I’ve said this phrase before and I stand by it: VXI is the embryonic stage of what would become BNW. And I love that. I love that they looked back but still pushed forward. I love that even their less popular years they own that shit and still play and acknowledge it.
 
Maiden reuniting wasn't just big for Maiden - it was big for metal. The triumphant Brave New World Tour was 81 shows across multiple continents, with the massive Rock in Rio as the cherry. What a clarion call for metal to be back after the grunge/nu metal of the 90s dominating heavier music.
 
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One thing I remember clearly was when their website had the yellow smiley face Eddie for the “Metal 2000” tour. I strongly disliked that Eddie and the words “Metal 2000” and was so damn afraid that would be the look and name of the new album.
 
One thing I remember clearly was when their website had the yellow smiley face Eddie for the “Metal 2000” tour. I strongly disliked that Eddie and the words “Metal 2000” and was so damn afraid that would be the look and name of the new album.

It's easy to retrsopectively forgive them for jumping on board the late 90's/early 2000 aesthetics train, but yeah, visually, those years are a huge mishmash of absolutely glorious and career-bottom imagery, haha. The yellow smiley Eddie has stood the test of time well enough, but the Ed-Huntour to Dance of Death & Give Me Ed was definitely a strange period of time aesthetically. Brave New World and even Virtual XI, which I think is a well-painted album cover on it's own right, are solid album covers, but a lot of the stuff around the releases at that time isn't exactly eye-candy. :D
 
I've always had a huge soft spot for the ´99 live tracks found in Brave New World singles. They're gold.

Absolutely. Made even more special by song choices for the singles. Powerslave, Aces Hgh both first time with Bruce since Live After Death? Futureal and Man on the Edge first time with Bruce. Killers first time since the Maiden England version and that one wasn't even out on record properly. Wasted Years was included from the A Real Live Tour on the Hallowed be Thy Name Live single but the 99 version is vastly superior.

Guess we can say that we got spoiled for singles that year!!
 
I am still hoping that we will get '99 live album. That tour was really special.

BNW tour was great also, only stage set was not so good.
A live album would be *great*, preferably with Doug Hall's mix (as on the b-sides) and no tinkering by Steve or Tony Newton. ;-)

Yes, the BNW collapsed scaffolding stage set was rather poor.
 
Yes, the BNW collapsed scaffolding stage set was rather poor.

Yeah, it's aesthetically quite interesting and kind of looks cool, but it's very random and vague nonetheless. After returning to a more visually coherent and theatrical stage sets in 1995, most of them were fairly random and the attempted visua landscapes weren't very defined until Dance of Death set them to on the tracks.

Maiden Revelations site once noted that the "scaffolding aesthetics" from BNW tour would've been an interesting addition to the stage set if Somewhere on Tour stage was ever given the History Tour treatment, though. :)
 
This is Maiden’s best live album and it’s not even close.
This is the only bit I don't agree with. Disappointing sleeve cover, title and stage set. The run from "Blood Brothers" to "The Clansman", though great on paper, is a bit hard to digest. Besides, it contains a "for seniors" version of "Fear of the Dark" when the latter was much better, in my opinion, on A Real Live One.
 
It was purely coincidence, that copied this link from youtube (from my first Maiden show) and at the same time it started to play from Spotify as it now has the "Best Of The B-Sides" compilation which features this live track).

I think it was really amazing that Bruce and H came back to the band, I almost felt that my fears would have gone to be as never to witness my precious band live with Bruce. So, as it proved to be (in the future back then) I would be seeing them live plenty of times and now my life has been so great with Maiden and memories.
And so it was the best news ever when they came back and I bought tickets for me and my good friend. The show what was expected and more, it was total ecstasy and charm. The night in Helsinki, september 15th 1999 was just one of those nights that, will go on with you till the rest of your lives.
While I listened to them through the darker, rougher times of the 90's and I had still followed..many of my friends had totally forgotten Maiden but I found new respect to these 2 albums that they did with Blaze. I never quit following or listening but somehow it took time and years to fully comprehend all the material, to understand and respect that particular period of time in their history.
I have never seen Bruce's tours, he did couple shows in Finland for example, but even though I really liked his doings I never got to witness those concerts. Hope that someday he will still be doing some shows or tour with his solo-band.

Hey, can I participate later on this thread, are all the current dates and tours the only ones talked? Is it ok to comment some older ones if need?
 
Did you go on the FC coach trip? We also saw the gig in Rotterdam the next day but it wasn't as good. The crowd were rather subdued compared to Paris.
Most non-Paris audiences (at least in Europe but also in North America) are subdued compared to Paris audiences.

I was in Rotterdam and had the best time. I thought some of the songs from this gig (Killers, or also Powerslave?) were immortalized as b-sides.

\m/
 
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