News for the following dates (in reverse chronological order) are available:
June 10th, 2000 - "Brave New World" takes over the International Music Charts !
* Soon after the new Maiden album was released, "Brave New World" entered
the International Music Charts at great positions. Note that in most Countries'
Charts, Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi are the ONLY rock bands featured. Also,
in Germany, the local band - "Guano Apes" - are on the 10th place, while
Maiden are on the 3rd place ! Modern rock bands, like "Korn" or "Marilyn
Manson" don't even appear in ANY of the charts (not to mention other heavy-metal
bands ...). Iron Maiden battles it out with artists (?) like Britney Spears,
Eminem, The Olsen Brothers, Toni Braxton, Cypress Hill, etc. -and we must
admit, they WIPE THEM OUT !!! ... :)
Here are the positions that "Brave New World" has reached (10 days
after its release):
Austria - 10th place
Finland - 2nd place (Yeah !!!)
Italy - 5th place
U.K. - 7th place
Switzerland - 9th place
Norway - 4th place
France - 3rd place
Germany - 3rd place
Sweden - 1st place (Right !!!)
The first single from this album, "The Wicker Man", also reached the following positions:
Italy - 8th place
Spain - 7th place
Greece - 1st place (We love you,
Greece !!!)
After the mediocre sales of the GREAT album "Virtual XI" (which, by the way, is one of the best Maiden albums !), it's a joy for us to see Maiden back on the top of the Charts !
Good work, Bruce !!! :)
May 30th, 2000 - New Maiden Album, "Brave New World" out now !
* The new Iron Maiden album, "Brave New World" was released in the U.K. on May 30th (and on May 31st, in the U.S.), containing 10 songs. It had a great cover design, featuring a "cloud-like" Eddie abouve a futuristique London. Many fans say that "it's the best Maiden album ever !". We haven't heard much of it (except some 45 sec. Samples), so we can't rate it yet. More infos in the "Albums" section.
More infos to come, so be sure to check this section for future updates !
May 8th, 2000 - New Maiden Single, "The Wicker Man" out now !
* According to the official Iron Maiden Web Site (www.ironmaiden.com) the New IRON MAIDEN Single, "The Wicker Man" should be released in the U.K. on May 8th 2000. (Here, in Romania, we received no infos. Anybody know something about it ?!) This single is part of the next Maiden album, "Brave New World" that should be released at the end of May-beginning of June 2000. Also, "The Wicker Man" has a cool video (we haven't seen it yet!), featuring the Band. Other song titles from the new album: "The Mercenary", "Brave New World", "The Thin Line Between Love And Hate" (yes, there REALLY is a song with this name ! :) ...). Also, be aware of the Internet-rumours, saying the title of the new album is "Reign Of Gaia" (?). These are just a buch of crappy lies ! Iron Maiden HAS NEVER released and WILL NEVER release an album or a song with this title ...
We'll be waiting for the new album !
January 2000 - Maiden appears in the official Fender magazine: "Fender Frontline" - Issue No.27 (January-June 2000)!
* IRON MAIDEN made it to the cover of a <serious> magazine: the official Fender Guitars magazine - "Fender Frontline" - Issue No.27 (January-June 2000)! (Actually Dave Murray did! You can admire him next to the big Muddy Waters picture on the cover!). At page 19, tou can read a small article about the reunion of Iron Maiden, together with a concert-photo, featuring the 3 Maiden guitar-guys: Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers. Here's the article:
"Since their self-titled release in 1980, Iron Maiden have kept the metal torch burning by releasing album after album and launching tour after tour. They have sold over 50 million albums and are virtually a household name. Their latest release, "Ed Hunter" is a greatest hits and video game packagesure sure both to excite long-time Maiden fans and to snare new ones. The band has been touring through '99 and into 2000 with a new/old lineup. Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith are back in the fray and the band now features a devastating three-Strat onslaught."
That's not much about them, but the way they're talking about the guys is really impressive...
April 14th, 1999 Tour News!
* IRON MAIDEN have announced a brief arena tour of Europe in September/October '99 as a prelude to a massive World Tour later next year. The 12 date tour will be based around "Ed Hunter", the PC Game and double album which comes as a three CD deluxe set. This will follow a similarly brief arena tour in the USA/Canada which will debut the new band line-up of the newly returned vocalist Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith along with founder Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Janick Gers and Nicko McBrain and their greatly anticipated 3 guitar onslaught !
* The double album is the Soundtrack to the Game and features the TOP 20 Maiden Tracks of all time, as voted by their fans on the Maiden web site (www.ironmaiden.com), and this selection, including many of their classics, will provide the basis of the set played by the band. This is a unique opportunity for fans old and new to see this new line-up play many Maiden classics spanning their whole career. The staging and production of the show, which is expected to be massive and well up to Maiden's mammoth past efforts, will also be based around the fantastic PC Game graphics of "Ed Hunter" and the tour will be named in his honour !
* Special Guests on the European dates (exc. Greece) will be US giants Megadeth who will have a new album out around that time. Maiden's Steve Harris confirms;" We plan to make a new studio album this year but wanted to play 20 or so gigs before the recording started. It's a great way to take the excitement from the road into the studio. As our fans will know we've been going to release "Ed Hunter" for about 18 months now. Well,it's finally ready and well worth the wait. So "Ed Hunter" gives us a great opportunity to warm up for the new album by playing a load of the fans' favourite tracks on the tour, and putting on a hell of a show which follows the terrific visuals of the game. "We're all very excited about getting up on stage together, especially with three guitarists!! Nicko thinks it's gonna be chaos! It will also be good to see Megadeth again. They've played with us before but it's been quite a while. And it makes for an even better night out for the fans." Tickets for all shows go on sale on April 26 except Paris (already on sale ) and Spain (check local press for details) .
April 10th, 1999 Blaze News/ Maiden News/ Bruce News/ "Ed Hunter" Release date!
* Former IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley broke his silence recently and offered up the following press release:
"I have had five great years with Iron Maiden. I've done two world tours, had albums and singles in the charts all over the world. I've got Gold Records from countries I had never even been to, before I joined the band. I've played hundreds of great gigs, and the support I've had from fans around the world has been really fantastic. It's been a great few years for me. Regrets? I have a few, but then again, too few to mention."
Bayley joined Iron Maiden in 1994, just prior to the recording of "The X Factor". Before Maiden, Bayley had a rather underrated tenure with the Staffordshire-based Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane released three albums, including their acclaimed Def American debut in 1989, "Live Fast, Die Fast". The singer was chosen from over 1,000 applicants from around the world. However, fans greeted his gritty style with mixed reaction, many remarking that his street-wise nature went against the grain of Maiden's finely-textured style of progressive METAL.
"One of the best things for me about being in Maiden," he continued, "has been the song writing. Working with some of Heavy Metal's most talented musicians - Steve Harris, Dave Murray and Janick Gers has been fantastic. I've learnt a lot about writing, recording and about my own voice. What's happened will probably turn out to be the best for all of us. I'm still very much in touch with the Maiden guys, and wish them every success with what they do."
"Some people have already asked me about getting Wolfsbane back together. I won't be trying to reform Wolfsbane. Those were great days, and I'm proud of all the stuff we did, but everybody has moved on and are involved in different projects of their own. I have decided to embark on a solo career. Over the past few weeks I've been busy writing songs and making plans for the rest of the year. I'm still with Sanctuary Management, and I'm aiming to get into the studio during the summer and release my first solo album in October."
"I'm excited about my new project and I think it will be great to work with new musicians, so I'm now starting to audition people for my band. The sound I'm going for is a crushing blend of power, intensity and energy with great tunes, and it will be as heavy as fuck."
"The line-up I'm putting together is 2 guitars, bass and drums. I'm looking for excellent musicians who live, breath, eat drink and shit heavy metal. People who are focused, dedicated, creative and talented. If you think you've got what it takes, and would like to audition, you can send a tape, recent photo and biography/ CV to: BLAZE, P.O. Box 7687, Sutton, Coldfield B73 6TT. (England)"
* As for the reformed IRON MAIDEN, uniting Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith with Harris, Murray, McBrain and Gers, the band have been writing material in Miami, Florida. They will be performing shows in North America this summer, followed by dates in Europe. A new studio album and World Tour is set for 2000. The set list and huge staging and production will be based on the Soundtrack and visuals of "Ed Hunter". Rumour has it that Megadeth will open for IRON MAIDEN in Europe but not North America...
* Iron Maiden release their eagerly awaited double album and PC game,
"Ed Hunter" through EMI Records in May as deluxe three-CD package with
a 20 page colour booklet containing instructions and images from the game.
There is no release date set for the U.S. The two-CD double album, which
is playable on any standard CD Player, is the soundtrack to "Ed Hunter",
featuring the top Top 20 Maiden tracks of all time as voted by their fans
on their Internet site (www.ironmaiden.com).
The "Ed Hunter" game is a classic <shoot 'em up> and the objective of
the game is SURVIVAL! Armed initially with a pistol you face increasingly
powerful foes from the natural and supernatural worlds. Use trick shots,
pick up hidden bonuses and, as your score increases, you will be rewarded
with stunning animations, locations and all manner of hideous creatures.
Steve Harris comments: "In the game you are Ed Hunter, and you
chase Eddie through seven increasingly difficult levels of game play. Each
level reflects a theme from our artwork so it becomes a sort of visual
history of the band."
In this death race with Eddie you start in the dimly lit streets of
London's East End ("Iron Maiden" and "Killers"). You must then release
Eddie from the Asylum ("Piece Of Mind") and then pursue him through Hell
("The Number Of The Beast"), a graveyard ("Live After Death"), Egypt and
the Pyramids ("Powerslave"), the Future ("Somewhere In Time"),and finally
to a post-apocalyptic landscape ("Virtual XI"). In the final moments of
the game you must help Eddie save the planet by defeating the Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse! "Ed Hunter" already has his own Web-Site: www.edhunter.com.
The full Top 20 Soundtrack to "Ed Hunter" is as follows: ' Iron Maiden'
(live), 'The Trooper', 'Number Of The Beast', 'Wrathchild', 'Futureal',
'Fear Of The Dark', 'Be Quick Or Be Dead', 'Two Minutes To Midnight', 'Man
On The Edge', 'Aces High', 'The Evil That Men Do', 'Wasted Years', Powerslave',
'Hallowed Be Thy Name', 'Run To The Hills', 'The Clansman', 'Phantom Of
The Opera', 'Killers', 'Stranger In a Strange Land' and 'Tailgunner'.
* In April, Bruce Dickinson is confirmed to perform three dates on "The
Chemical Wedding" tour. Sources say that this, the FINAL chapter of the
tour, will be made up of shows in Rio De Janeiro (April 20), Sao Paulo
(April 21) and Curitiba (April 22).
Dickinson, speaking from Miami (where he and Maiden are currently writing
new material) says that his next solo outing will be a live album recorded
on this tour, due out in July/August. Furthermore, he has plans to make
another studio album before the end of the year.
* According to Chrysalis TV's "Heavy Metal Top Ten", IRON MAIDEN are
the most successful British Metal band of all time. Based in the U.K.,
the program was put together over the last few months with interviews of
the Top Ten British Heavy Metal Acts. The Top Ten was worked out on the
basis of points awarded for British chart positions of chart singles and
albums up to the present day. Maiden were Number One with
almost
twice as many points as Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath combined
in the number two spot!
The ninety-minute show, appropriately hosted by Lemmy from Motorhead,
covered all the acts and finished with an extended piece on Maiden featuring
interviews with bassist Steve Harris, guitarist Dave Murray, vocalist Bruce
Dickinson, vocalist Paul Di'Anno and manager Rod Smallwood. To document
their career, the program showed footage from the early days in the Ruskin
Arms up to the 1998 "Virtual XI" World Tour.
The road to the top was far from easy as Steve explained on the program.
"The
band never took any money out to begin with. We had to just put everything
back in just to afford a tour."
Even with the huge success of "The Number Of The Beast", the band kept
up the level - and the expense - of touring.
"I wouldn't let any of us spend anything or we couldn't afford
the tour", Rod added. "When "The Number Of The Beast" was
No. 1 in Britain for its second week, we were down in the Marquee, and
Steve came up to me and said, 'Can I have a word as this is getting a bit
embarrassing ? We can't afford to buy a round!' The band were on 60 pounds
a week."
To this date, Maiden have sold over 52 million albums worldwide.
On the Top Ten, Maiden were followed by Ozzy/Black Sabbath, Deep Purple,
Def Leppard, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Motorhead, Saxon, Judas Priest and UFO.
February 13th, 1999 Bruce & Adrian Speak to "Rolling Stone"!
* "Rolling Stone" news yesterday ran a story about the reformed Iron Maiden. Here's what they, Bruce & Dave had to say:
<Two decades, fifteen albums and three singers since they first blew the bonnet off Britain, Iron Maiden are back in their nearly maiden form. On Wednesday (Feb. 10), the seminal heavy metal mob capped months of rumors by announcing that long-time vocalist Bruce Dickinson and decade-long guitarist Adrian Smith have signed their names in blood once again.
"There have been a lot of people pussyfooting around the idea of bringing metal back, and a lot of it has centered around exploitative people and graveyard labels bringing sad, tired, old metal bands back to life," Dickinson says. "And it has really pissed me off." Dickinson, who replaced original vocalist Paul Di'Anno for the 1982 album "The Number of the Beast" adds, "this is simply our opportunity to make Iron Maiden into the biggest and best heavy metal band there has ever been. I wouldn't have come back into Maiden if I didn't believe our reunion would set the world alight."
The skeletal Maiden -- bassist Steve Harris, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Dave Murray and Janick Gers -- first lit the fuse late last year, after a lukewarm tour and mediocre sales of the 1998 album "Virtual XI" forced a career crisis of sorts. Third vocalist Blaze Bayley served the band well for five years, but Maiden's shock value was fast becoming disproportionate to Marilyn Manson's. So, flying in the face of the Maiden lyric, "don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years," the group rediscovered the fulfilling ones.
"It was a case of asking, 'Where do we want to take this now?' We needed to move on", says Murray, who has served as an Iron Maiden foot soldier since 1979. "We approached Bruce and Adrian a few months ago to feel it out and see if they would be interested because their solo things are going quite nicely. It was immediate from them -- the response was one hundred percent 'Yes !'"
Dickinson's only reservation was that Maiden not enter what he calls "the slurry and sludge of old farts who are poking their heads out of their coffins for five minutes". After one conference, however, the entire band had wholeheartedly agreed to a resolution for absolute world domination, including a 1999 summer tour, a new album and a Millennial road riot that would reassert their heavy metal dominance.
Meanwhile, snubbed-singer Bayley responded in abnormal rock & roll fashion - he ducked out of Maiden graciously, wishing his colleagues all the luck in the world. "The split from Blaze was totally amicable", Murray says. "He is already talking about his solo career and getting a band together. We still have a strong friendship."
Likewise, the bonds between old school Maiden and their dormant fans are growing stronger by the day. Since the reunion announcement, the group's official Web Site (www.ironmaiden.com) has received more than one million hits. Dickinson feels confident that those teeming masses will gladly thrust their fists into the air and howl when Maiden launches a modest reintroduction tour in the U.S. and Europe this summer.
"It's not going to be a monstrously long tour because we want to feed people's imagination just enough," says Dickinson, who declined to mention potential touring partners. Murray, however, says "there have been hints that Judas Priest or Twisted Sister might do it, but nothing is confirmed yet."
Alongside classics like "Run to the Hills" and "The Flight of Icarus," Maiden will experiment with new material on the road, then head straight into the studio following the summer tour. Murray says they are considering several big-name producers at this time, and hope to release the born-again album in March or April of next year. Though the sound of Millennial Maiden -- featuring three guitarists for the first time ever -- is only beginning to take shape now, Dickinson assures his fans that "Iron Maiden is not going to make a fucking pop record ... a rap record ... or an electronica-oriented album either. You will not see Iron Maiden-does-Rammstein or Iron Maiden-does-Korn. You will see Iron Maiden-does-the-world !"
It is humble expectations like that that are fueling this reunion, inspiring Maiden to embark on an eight or nine-month tour in 2000 with various unspecified "surprises that will make Iron Maiden fans very happy." Dickinson insists that Maiden is not out to "get some cash and then go off an retire," but rather scare the holy Mariah out of MTV, mothers and commercial radio.
"What Maiden should be doing is slugging it out with Korn and Marilyn Manson. Maiden is going to be up there toe-to-toe with the brightest and the best and the youngest and the fastest," he says. "And they are going to have to work pretty hard to try to top us. You want to close the show after Maiden? Here's the guillotine and the rope.">