Vocalists that were auditioned for Bruce Dickinson's replacement in 1993

[chaosapiant]

Wasting Love is a great song, and even heavier than some of Maiden's other "hit single" style songs. Wasted Years is, to me, Maiden at their most commercial, along with Can I Play With Adness and Flight of Icarus. Wasting Love has some fantastic drumming, some thick and distorted guitar work, and doesn't sound far removed from any of their other radio-friendly songs. It's a good tune.

 

[karljant]

Wasting Love has some fantastic drumming,

...

 

[karljant]

Wasting Love is a great song

Yes it is... when compared with Fear Is The Key

 

[Magnus]

You mean red and black?

Nah, that would be a cardinal. Or a red-winged blackbird. Certainly not a magpie though.

 

[Black Wizard]

This subject always gets around Kiske, Doogie White, Steve Grimmett and other vocalists rumoured to have auditioned or sent a tape.

How about Russ North, ex Cloven Hoof? It looks like Russ made the final two, along with Blaze Bayley.

Check Russ's wikipedia page:

"North also reached the final two in the auditions to replace Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden in 1993, joining Blaze Bayley at bassist Steve Harris's house. Bayley, who was already a friend of the band and a member of Iron Maiden's own football team, won through, while North went to live in Spain."

Never heard about Russ being so close to replace Bruce before...

Lee Payne from Cloven Hoof has added a little bit more to the story regarding Russ North's audition for Iron Maiden:

https://www.facebook.com/cloven.hoof.9/posts/10157578208008721

Russ North may have been a lunch break away from joining Iron Maiden.

This Facebook post came in the wake of an interview with Metal Temple: http://www.metal-temple.com/site/ca...ttC0JOUfyGCWC20uYBww2bnX6sNfwAYIQrLEdAolGFosQ

Lee mentions that people told him that the 'Brave New World' riff was ripped off from a Cloven Hoof song, but he disagrees. I reckon he should call Bazza just in case.

 

[Austrogoth]

Thanks, very interesting.

 

[Austrogoth]

Russ North may have been a lunch break away from joining Iron Maiden.

A briefcase? a lunch? This is maybe the origin of Man on the Edge.

 

[srfc]

LOL

I listened to that riff, I can't think of anything from Maiden that sounds like it, but it certainly is a complete rip off of the outro of Warriors by Thin Lizzy.

vs

 

[Black Abyss Babe]

A briefcase? a lunch? This is maybe the origin of Man of the Edge.

I always thought it was about Bruce being one sarnie short of a picnic when he left

 

[Murder of Rue Morgue]

I can't think of anything from Maiden that sounds like it

 

[Murder of Rue Morgue]

By the way, Man of Sorrows was also recorded in 1992 but ended up in Accident of Birth 5 years later.

The reason why Tears of the Dragon and Man of Sorrows are so similar in their structures, resembling the same sessions, are evident as they were arranged at the same time. Janick recorded the guitars in Man of Sorrows 1992 version... and somewhere I read that Gers came to play and rehearse Tears... but I don't remember where. Maybe in some old Rock Hard or Rip interview.

This is interesting. I didn't know it.
So somewhere in Bruce's archive there may be a "Man of Sorrow demo" which features Janick's guitars? It would be very interesting to hear it.

 

[Jer]

A briefcase? a lunch? This is maybe the origin of Man on the Edge.

Michael Douglas would have words with you.

 

[Austrogoth]

Michael Douglas would have words with you.

I remember going to the theater to watch it back in the days. Anyway, lt's a good movie but a great Maiden song.

 

[Murder of Rue Morgue]

LOL

I listened to that riff, I can't think of anything from Maiden that sounds like it, but it certainly is a complete rip off of the outro of Warriors by Thin Lizzy.

vs

But we must remember also:

And:

It's the easiest riff ever.

 

[srfc]

So somewhere in Bruce's archive there may be a "Man of Sorrow demo" which features Janick's guitars? It would be very interesting to hear it.

There is. It's released on something, I can't remember what but you should be able to find it on youtube. The solo is a bit shit compared to the one we're used to though.

 

[Murder of Rue Morgue]

There is. It's released on something, I can't remember what but you should be able to find it on youtube. The solo is a bit shit compared to the one we're used to though.

Found it

It’s from the Best of Bruce Dickinson compilation

Not bad, overall. Yeah the solo’s nothing special, but it was a demo after all

 

[Kalata]

In this recent interview (click here), Nicko confirmed that Maiden indeed wanted the replacement vocalist for Bruce to be British.

Despite that, they listened thousand of vocalists from all over the world.

 

[Magnus]

Did Tony Dolan ever bother to audition, I wonder. And if yes, shame he didn't get the job.
And they'd have three guitars and two bass guitars.
Oh wait...

 

[Kalata]

Kiske never auditioned for Maiden:

''I even heard it on TV. On German TV, it was a heavy metal show on a channel, and there was a good-looking lady who said, ‘Well, everybody knows that Michael Kiske is the new singer of IRON MAIDEN.’ But I didn’t know about it. The rumor probably came about because Bruce was no longer in the band. I was no longer in HELLOWEEN (at the time), so I was sort of available. Maybe that’s where the idea came from.''

''I don’t think I would have done it - even though I am a MAIDEN fan; always been. But to join a band like MAIDEN, I would not recommend it,” he added. “Because, c’mon on - it doesn’t work; it just doesn’t work. So I don’t think I would have done it anyway. It was a good choice that Bruce came back later. When Bruce joined MAIDEN, it was the early years. They made two records (with Paul Di’Anno) which were successful, but he was the next step. Bruce was the reason why I cared about IRON MAIDEN. It was his voice.

HELLOWEEN's MICHAEL KISKE: 'I Don't Think I Would Have' Joined IRON MAIDEN

Pnoto credit: Martin Häusler During a recent interview with "The Neil Jones Rock Show" on TotalRock, HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske was asked if he ever got a call to audition for IRON MAIDEN singer job after Bruce Dickinson left the band in 1993. Kiske responded: "I even heard it on TV. On...

metaladdicts.com

 

[Kalata]

The first is that, that challenge meant having to compose with the band (improvising about something already written) in a couple of songs that they already had structurally composed, to see what each one could contribute in terms of melodies, thematic in the lyrics and even arrangements for the song itself.
Interestingly, who had the best contributions was Blaze. Both in lyrics, arrangements and melodies since, it seems that it gave them some vision... let's call it a certain X Factor (something they could not describe) and that differentiated it from the rest of the candidates.
Here I understand that the band gave priority to the talent of composing with good chemistry that the voice itself, among those who presented themselves then, was vocally surpassed by some.

^ Curious info.

Edit: to have a vocalist in the band who can write good stuff is mandatory for any band (I'd say) and a big bonus.

He talks about Maiden from just after the 6 minute mark.

Doogie White: ''Maiden are the greatest heavy metal on the planet bar none.''