Episode 62- Iron Maiden: Run for your lives tour Review

In this episode, Sebastian and Michael discuss Iron Maiden's recent 'Run For Your Lives' tour, reflecting on their personal experiences and the setlist choices. They delve into the band's legacy, the significance of their albums, and the expectations fans have for live performances. The conversation highlights the balance between deep cuts and popular songs, as well as the intricacies of Iron Maiden's music and stage presence. In this conversation, Sebastian and Michael delve into the intricacies of Iron Maiden's music, particularly focusing on the Power Slave album and its live performances. They discuss the impact of Bruce Dickinson's return to the band, the dynamics of transitioning drummers, and the future of Iron Maiden in terms of new music. The conversation is rich with insights into the band's history, fan favorites, and the challenges they face as they continue to perform at an advanced age.

Takeaways

Michael ran 30K in the rain, showcasing his dedication to fitness.
Iron Maiden's tour celebrates their 50th anniversary with a focus on legacy.
The setlist for the tour is largely consistent, featuring classic hits.
Fans often debate the quality of Iron Maiden's albums, particularly 'Fear of the Dark'.
Iron Maiden's songwriting has evolved, with longer, more intricate songs in recent years.
The band tends to play safe with their setlists, favoring popular songs over deep cuts.
Michael expresses disappointment over the lack of deep cuts in the setlist.
The conversation touches on the quality of Iron Maiden's early albums and their punk roots.
Sebastian and Michael appreciate the intricacies of Iron Maiden's live performances.
The discussion concludes with excitement over iconic songs like 'Run to the Hills' and 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'. Power Slave is considered one of Iron Maiden's best albums.
Live performances highlight fan favorites like Hallowed Be Thy Name.
Bruce Dickinson's return revitalized Iron Maiden's music.
The band has a vast catalog, leading to varied fan expectations.
Transitioning drummers can impact a band's dynamics significantly.
Iron Maiden's current tour is seen as a safe choice.
Bruce Dickinson is known for his prolific songwriting.
The future of Iron Maiden may involve fewer new albums.
Fans appreciate the band's ability to still perform at a high level.
The conversation hints at future episodes and topics to explore.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Personal Updates
02:34 Setlist Expectations and Analysis
05:28 Discussion on Iron Maiden's Albums
07:27 Setlist Consistency and Fan Expectations
09:34 Deep Cuts vs. Popular Songs
12:22 Song Selections and Crowd Reactions
15:12 Highlighting Iconic Songs
17:43 Closing Thoughts on the Setlist
21:08 Live Performance Highlights and Fan Favorites
23:38 The Impact of Bruce Dickinson's Return
27:50 Transitioning Drummers and Band Dynamics
30:21 The Future of Iron Maiden and New Music
34:17 Closing Thoughts and Future Episodes

Mandatory Music is proudly hosted and produced by Michael Heide and Sebastian Kwapich

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Thanks for listening and keep on rocking

Transcript

Sebastian (00:11.31)

Welcome back to mandatory music. I am here this week with my good buddy, Michael. My name is Sebastian. How are you, Michael? How was your week? How was your legs?

Michael (00:20.237)

my legs are tired. Week was good. for everybody out there, I did some running on Saturday. ran 30 K, which is the second longest I've ever ran and 30 K in the pouring rain with no, no, no rain gear. was just straight up everything that soaks water as good as possible. And to be honest, I chafed in places that I didn't think were possible.

Sebastian (00:25.272)

Mike did some running this week.

Sebastian (00:32.434)

30K, that's a long.

Sebastian (00:42.83)

To give you a perspective, a professional center midfielder in soccer or football for everyone outside of North America that's listening, the average distance that a center midfielder runs in football is about 13 kilometers. So Mike over doubled that on his run. You play two games back to back basically, and then some. So congratulations, that's good.

Michael (01:00.657)

Sweet. I played a couple of soccer games. I played two games today. There you go. Yeah. And then some, and then I proceeded to lay down for a while and then get up and drink with my friends for hours on end and it's good.

Sebastian (01:13.422)

Well, let me tell you, I played a full 90 minutes on Sunday. I'm very sore today. And then I was at a funeral today. And it's okay. It's Islamic funeral. And I had to sit on my knees for the whole funeral. And my legs were very sore, but it's just...

Michael (01:16.559)

Ooh, how did that go?

Michael (01:22.848)

I'm sorry.

Michael (01:28.384)

no. no. How was it standing up when it was done?

Sebastian (01:35.726)

It took me a while to get up. I had to like climb up out of the position that I was in. yeah, so but yeah, so what are we what are we talking about today? We're talking about Iron Maiden.

Michael (01:42.617)

Yikes. Yikes.

Michael (01:49.051)

We are, they just started their Run For Your Lives tour, the 50th anniversary celebration, Extravaganza. And there was, I know both you and I speculated what they're gonna play. And I know a lot of diehards, know, right?

Sebastian (01:56.695)

Yes.

Sebastian (02:01.26)

Yes.

Sebastian (02:04.97)

It's a polarizing conversation to have. That's why we decided to do it basically on the set list that they designed for the tour. So this is what is known as a legacy tour. So for those are not familiar with Iron Maiden, they write an album and they've been doing this probably for like the last 20 years at least, I think. So they have an album that comes out and they do a tour for the album, is made a lot of, they usually probably play at least four or five songs off the new album.

Michael (02:23.273)

yeah. Yep.

Michael (02:34.267)

Mm-hmm.

Sebastian (02:34.734)

of every album they do. And then once they're done with that tour, they go on another tour, which we like to refer to as a legacy tour. And usually they play a bunch of stuff from their older albums and nothing that's current. So this particular tour, it's a, sorry, it's a run for your life tour, right? I believe, yes. It's from the first nine albums, if I'm not mistaken. Everything, yes. So Fear of the Dark and Everything Before Then. So.

Michael (02:52.517)

Yes, yes sir.

It is the first nine, yes.

Michael (03:01.297)

Which I kind of find funny because Fear of the Dark is not a very good album. And neither was the one before that, but I just figured they set the first nine so they could play Fear of the Dark. Because I'm assuming, it seems like they enjoy playing it. It seems like it's something fun, right?

Sebastian (03:12.568)

Fear of the Dark, which they always play Fear of the Dark.

Sebastian (03:20.014)

So I have my opinions of that album. A lot of people will agree that it's not a great album. So I would say that the majority of the songs on there are average at best, but the couple songs that they have on there are bangers. Be Quick or Be Dead, Fear of the Dark, or Fridge Shoot Strangers, those are all like amazing songs, amazing songs.

Michael (03:25.944)

No.

Michael (03:34.523)

There's a couple bangers, right? Be Quick or Be Dead? Afraid to Shoot Strangers? Yeah. Yeah, they're classic. Classic songs, but Afraid to Shoot Strangers doesn't get brought out very often. And I think Be Quick is probably gone forever. Which...

Sebastian (03:51.357)

No.

Sebastian (03:55.03)

Yeah, it's if they're gonna play any song in that vein is probably gonna be Wicker Man because it's essentially the same song. It's it fits the same profile. Honestly, and Wicker Man is such a better arena song because that whole tale of it where they get the whole arena doing the whoa, whoa, whoa part. Whoa, whoa.

Michael (04:02.009)

It's the same idea. does. Yeah. Absolutely.

Michael (04:10.543)

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Be quick. Just, it's just, it's in, you're out. It is so good. It's so fast. yeah, and maybe they're, maybe they're finally getting a little too old to play those songs, but, whatever. So they excluded, boy. What's that album called? Thank you. Cause I was just gonna say the one with tail gunner on it.

Sebastian (04:16.183)

Dude, it's good riff though. so cat, yeah.

Sebastian (04:30.54)

No prayer for the dying.

Sebastian (04:34.964)

It might be the worst album that they've ever done.

Michael (04:38.033)

I would definitely not disagree with that. I don't even think I've made it through the whole thing. I think, uh, you know, obviously you got tail gunner and you got bring your daughter to the slaughter, which I think the Bruce Dickinson version, cause that was his song he brought over from his solo stuff. It's better with him, just him and his band, as opposed to maiden sped it up too much. it just.

Sebastian (04:47.468)

I mean, yeah.

Sebastian (04:54.476)

Yeah.

Sebastian (04:59.842)

Holy smoke is okay too, but yeah, bring your daughter to the slaughter would probably be the one that I think that they should play, but all the other ones are like, You know what's interesting about this record? And so from what I'm understanding is that they tried to make a more commercial record with No Prayer for the Dying. The longest song on the album is Mother Russia at five minutes and 30 seconds. So looking...

Michael (05:17.226)

boy.

Michael (05:25.701)

Yikes.

Sebastian (05:28.532)

At the song length, their average song length is just over four minutes, which is very different to the way Iron Maiden normally operates with their musical writing. Because if you look at Senjitsu, the last three songs are all like 10 minutes long. So they decided to make shorter songs and try to be punchy with them. But it's not what Iron Maiden is known for. They're known for these long, epic story-driven tunes.

Michael (05:37.733)

Mm-hmm.

Michael (05:44.879)

Yeah. Yeah. No.

And they left that sort of punk vein when Bruce joined the band, right? Like after the first two records, the songs got, the songs changed, more operatic, more epic. And the first two records, which I honestly, to all you maiden fans out there, I don't like the first two records at all. I think, you know, rest in peace, Paul DeAnno, but I, his voice is not for me. I much more of a Bruce guy.

Sebastian (05:57.558)

Yes, more.

Yeah, more stuff to them basically.

Sebastian (06:09.358)

There's some good songs on there.

Sebastian (06:17.198)

Is it the vocal thing? So like when you listen to Bruce sing the Bruce specifically sing songs off of the first two albums live there, they're they translate so much better live, right? Like Wrath Child is a great song. Birders in the Room Org is a great song. Killers is actually a great song. Phantom of the Opera is a great song.

Michael (06:26.267)

They're much better. Yes.

Michael (06:34.586)

Phantom's great, but not with Paul singing it's if it with Bruce or even when ghost did it, ghost did a fabulous job covering Phantom.

Sebastian (06:37.719)

Yeah.

Sebastian (06:41.9)

I think there's an issue with the recording too, like, cause when they recorded it, they didn't have any money really, right? So it's, it's, it's very, it's very garage-y in terms of the sound quality of it. There's no precision to the mixture or the mastering of it. It's just, let's just record and put all the mics on at once and record in a room basically type of vibe.

Michael (06:45.861)

Yeah, right.

Michael (06:50.969)

Yeah. Yep. It's not great. No.

Michael (06:58.993)

Let's just, right. Let's just, yeah, record it in a room and just be done with it. But you know, those songs served a purpose. got, you know, they got the man himself into the band and poor Paul had to suffer with getting kicked out or fired or however. Yeah, I think he wasn't, yeah, he was a bit of a, a bit into the stuff. A purveyor of the,

Sebastian (07:03.918)

Yeah.

Sebastian (07:16.694)

Yeah, I think it was a drugs and alcohol thing. I'm wasn't, yeah, enjoyer of things.

substances so to speak. Okay, so Iron Maiden basically designs a setlist and it does not change for the rest of the tour for the most part. I cannot ever remember looking at a setlist and going like, this is a different.

Michael (07:28.581)

Thank you. Thank you. See, we can finish each other's sentences.

Michael (07:38.735)

No. Does not.

Michael (07:43.683)

I think when we saw them in 2019, they omitted, they changed one song and wow, what was it? We got Children of the Damned instead of something else. I can't remember what it was changed from, but it was something and then they, I think it Children of the Damned. Yeah, doesn't change.

Sebastian (07:56.462)

Okay, but for the most part, I'd say like 13 of their 14 songs are all written in stone and the order's exactly the same.

Michael (08:03.065)

Yeah, I'd be willing to bet if they do this tour in North America, I think a couple songs might change.

Sebastian (08:09.128)

Yeah, so, okay, so looking at the setlist right now, and if anyone wants to look at the setlist, just go to setlist.fm and just search Iron Maiden and look at their latest dates. I think they've done three or four concerts now since going on this tour. If you want to follow along with that, you can do that. But I know that when we talked previously, you were very excited about the possibility of deep cut material.

Michael (08:09.808)

You know?

Michael (08:28.153)

Absolutely.

Sebastian (08:40.384)

I don't see a single deep cut song on the setlist. They're all popular songs that they have done before. Some of them they haven't done in quite some time. Like Killers for example, they haven't done that since 1999 according to setlist.fm. So that's 26 years basically, right? Yeah.

Michael (08:48.655)

Yeah.

Michael (08:56.293)

Yeah, sure. That's a long time ago now, but in Iron Maiden time, that's not very long.

Sebastian (09:04.642)

So how did you feel and how do you feel now in regards to it? Because you have, yeah.

Michael (09:08.025)

Okay. At first, yeah. Okay. First glance, I was like, really? At first it was not a cop out, but it's like, okay, I knew they'd play it safe somewhat. There are songs they have to play. Iron Maiden, Fear the Dark, How It'd Be Thy Name, not even, not even Run to Hills. But anyways, there was, there's always songs on the set that are always there. And I was like, fine, there's going to be six, seven, eight of the, they, the have to be's.

Sebastian (09:14.584)

Ha ha.

Michael (09:34.661)

So I was hoping, you know, they played 17, which is more than I thought.

Sebastian (09:40.024)

Yeah, they did three for the encore.

Michael (09:42.349)

I, so at first I was a little like, yeah, okay, great. But then I think I was talking to you about it over who were texting about it. And then I looked at it again and I'm like, okay, let's just, calm down. Like just it's okay that they didn't play like flash to the blade or gangland or, you know, to tame a land or whatever. Right. Who cares? cause they're not going to dust. No, they're not really that great. No, they're not.

Sebastian (09:53.838)

You

Sebastian (10:03.36)

Yeah, but let's be honest, man, they're not good songs. like, are you telling me you're going to play Gangland over like Hallowbeed thy name or Power Slave or Number of the Beasts? You know, like

Michael (10:14.982)

no, but I would play it over Rothschild and Killers.

Sebastian (10:19.48)

Those are the two, yeah, well.

Michael (10:20.645)

Those are the two, like, okay, so if we're going to talk to Setliss, so the first song they played was Murders in the Room Org, which is cool. Like that song is.

Sebastian (10:28.32)

Well, and before that they played the Ides of March, which is off the same album, but that was a track, was a backing track for them getting on stage. So that's the instrumental song, so they played that. Then Murders in the Rue Morgue, Wrath Child Killers, those are all, all four of songs are off the same album. They're all off the second album.

Michael (10:36.433)

interesting.

Michael (10:44.369)

OK. I'm not sure I've ever heard odds of march.

Sebastian (10:49.334)

It's like a instrumental intro song. like a minute and a half intro song that introduces the album basically. yeah.

Michael (10:53.819)

Okay.

Michael (10:57.903)

Okay, yeah, I got it on right now, okay. Interesting. So, do they play Ides of March or is it just like a tape, as they say?

Sebastian (11:06.314)

According to the website, it says it's from the tape. So they play Doctor, Doctor to get them on and then the lights go down and I had Zoom March comes on, lights come up and they start with murders in the room work. So it's a backing tape.

Michael (11:11.203)

Okay. Okay. Then I had to march.

Michael (11:17.339)

So have they been doing Ides of March for a long time? Because we've seen them a thousand times in last 20 years. I don't know. Whatever. Are we that...

Sebastian (11:22.827)

I've never s- I don't know actually.

Sebastian (11:30.284)

Well, let's go to...

Michael (11:32.913)

So yeah, so, so Murders in the Room Org is a cool song, especially with Bruce singing it. It's an original Paul D'Anno song that again, I'll beat the horse. I don't like his voice. know? No, I don't. just, his voice is more punk rock. And that's what sort of Maiden was. That's that kind of, yes. Oh yeah.

Sebastian (11:34.212)

No.

Sebastian (11:45.902)

Pardue. Pardue. Paldiano. Yeah.

Sebastian (11:52.76)

But that's what they were kind of, like you look at the two album covers, right? And it's very punk rock-y. They didn't become a metal band until the third album, I don't think, so.

Michael (12:01.697)

No, like there was pockets like Mergers is a song that was like, okay, you can kind of see this, maybe this is where they're gonna go eventually. Cause it's a little more sort of fantastical and a little more intricate and it's a little more sort of later Iron Maiden, if you will.

Sebastian (12:11.522)

Yeah.

Sebastian (12:22.786)

think five of their songs was off the first two albums that they played. So not including the tapes, so Murders in the Rumoric, Wrath Child, Killers, that's all off the second album. then Trooper's not off that album. Iron Maiden, I'm missing, yeah, and what am I, and Phantom of the Opera.

Michael (12:41.265)

Yeah, Iron Man's not the first one, yeah.

Michael (12:46.213)

Yeah, fandom's not the first one.

Sebastian (12:48.14)

Yeah, so they played two, two off that album.

Then they played Number of the Beasts from Under the Hills, those three off the third album. So they played eight songs off the first three albums. So that's like half their set just off the first three albums. So.

Michael (13:02.161)

Yeah. And they, they only put on, I think the troopers from, uh, peace of mind, or is it how I believe that name one of the two? can't remember how professional we are. Um, yeah, you know, peace of mind isn't like, I don't think it's a widely loved album. Like it's good.

Sebastian (13:19.85)

Okay, so I'm actually surprised that they played Wasted Years or anything off the Summer in Time album because they just did an entire tour based off that album.

Michael (13:28.529)

up somewhere in time. I thought wasted years is, I know we're skipping to the end of the set, so they close with wasted years and bit of a, I understand the lyrical content of, you know, being on the road for your whole life and blah, blah, blah. But you just ended with it. The last tour. Can we end with something else?

Sebastian (13:33.966)

That's okay, yeah.

Sebastian (13:47.67)

I think they really like playing that song. I think it speaks to them, honestly.

Michael (13:50.658)

I think I really do. think it does.

Sebastian (13:55.896)

But yeah.

Michael (13:55.905)

yeah. So first, first couple, had murders and rumor, Groucho and killers and found the opera all from the first two records. Awesome. And then number of the beast, like talk about bringing the crowd up to, you know,

Sebastian (14:10.968)

Dude, I have nothing wrong with the setlist, man. I like it. It's so good.

Michael (14:14.509)

And then the clairvoyant I thought was an interesting choice.

Sebastian (14:18.262)

Yes, that's probably the biggest deep cut off the setlist. I think the clairvoyant, I would say that's off of some seven, seven, the seven sun, I think, right.

Michael (14:26.435)

Yeah, I think so.

Michael (14:32.579)

It is.

It is, and even because, is it?

Sebastian (14:36.942)

Yes, actually, I don't know, they played that and they played 7th Son, which is that's a song you generally don't hear live a lot. 7th Son of the 7th Son.

Michael (14:41.615)

Yeah.

Michael (14:45.561)

No, got it whenever we saw them when they played it last. But, the clairvoyant, yeah. Yeah, this song, I don't know, clairvoyant, it's okay. It's fine. I would have rather seen, they played it a billion times with Evil Dementio, I would have rather seen that in that spot. That's a way better song. Yeah, I think that's the one, the big miss.

Sebastian (15:00.718)

It's fine.

Sebastian (15:06.38)

That's a way better song. That's such a good song.

Michael (15:12.589)

On the setlist is a song like that. then we get power slave, which how can you not play power slave? Cause it's, it's heavy. And then you get this power save album, three songs in a row of almost half an hour of power slave. Yeah.

Sebastian (15:25.954)

They do that a lot. Have you noticed that? Iron Maiden will play, I mean, when we saw them the first time, the Brave New World Tour, I think they played the first three or four songs off the album to start the set. And then you're like, are they just gonna play the whole album? Like what else are they gonna do? just, but they do a lot of like sequencing from the same album right in a row, right? They open up with three songs off the second album, right? In the middle, yeah, they do Power Slice, Two Minutes to Midnight.

Michael (15:36.485)

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. We get, we, right. Exactly.

Michael (15:46.736)

Yeah.

Sebastian (15:55.318)

And then the song that really popped your attention. Yes.

Michael (15:57.947)

Man, Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. It's been a while, it's been a hot minute since they played that. And again, we've seen that song live in two, I think it was 2008. And what a treat. That song is just awesome. Like it is literally, yeah, of apparently this is what happens when an albatross shits on your head.

Sebastian (16:08.952)

Good old almost 14 minute song there.

Sebastian (16:16.416)

I am not kidding when I'm dead serious when I say that if you look at the lyrics for that song, it's more than most bands have for an entire album. I'm not sure how Bruce does it, man.

Michael (16:25.137)

It, it, it's a novel man. it's even just to create the melody for that. Cause the song isn't like super fast. It's just a chugging beat. And then he's like singing like triple time over top of the song. And she's like, man, like, yeah, it's, and he does it at the cadence is so good and it's just spot on. So I had hats off to Bruce for being able to squeeze all those words in.

Sebastian (16:41.708)

Yeah, that's a lot of lyrics that fit into like, there's a rhyme by the edge of my runner. He just got, yeah.

Michael (16:54.265)

And even to remember the words after all of these years. Even if he had a teleprompter, that's a lot of staring at the teleprompter and he does not stare at anything. Cause that dude's

Sebastian (17:02.038)

I mean, I guess it makes sense why they don't do others, like they just stick to the setlist because there's so much intricacy involved in each of their songs with Pyro and what they're gonna do on stage and what, you know, where everything.

Michael (17:10.832)

Yeah.

Like there might be a slot that could be rotating eventually, but like we talked, like we said a little bit ago, they don't, it's not a big, they don't know. They're not often, yeah, okay. We're to swap out two, three, four and six for some other stuff. It just doesn't work that way. so yeah, so I'm assuming after the rhyme and the major Mariner ends, you know, 12 days after it starts, you know, there's this probably this little like some quiet, you know, let them, let the crowd kind of get restless and they just bust into.

Sebastian (17:27.853)

Yeah.

Michael (17:43.269)

Run to the Hills. Come on, man. Run to the Hills. So good. well, we can't say much about run of the Hills cause it's awesome. And then, and then probably my top two, three iron maiden songs of all time. Seven sun of a seventh sun. That song's so good. It's really good. Even that four minute like interlude is just, my God, it's just awesome. And it's, no, it's not.

Sebastian (17:45.57)

Good song.

It's a good song.

Sebastian (17:53.676)

Run to the heels.

Sebastian (18:03.521)

It's really good.

Sebastian (18:09.314)

That's the closer, I believe, on the album, I think, right?

I was not.

Michael (18:14.641)

No, it's like the, if you had the record, believe it's, uh, yeah, they did crazy, right? But they played the four songs that should be played off of power slave. Cause honestly, the dualist flashed the blade and, uh, loss for words. And I met they'd be annoyed. There might be another one. They're not that good. Like I put power slave on the other day and I was like, I'm like, okay, aside, aside from the four big ones, like myself, I don't want to say it, but the rest kind of suck. It's just like,

Sebastian (18:17.445)

they played four songs of Harusleaf.

Hmm, interesting.

Sebastian (18:30.689)

Yeah

Sebastian (18:35.98)

That's a, that's yeah. It's a fascinating album because it's arguably the best album they've ever done, Power Slave. You can argue it's in the top five, second, first, third. Some people might say Number of the Beasts is the best album they've ever done. But like, the four banger songs on the album are so good. They're so good. And then you get into like fluff really. Yeah.

Michael (18:45.765)

Yeah.

Michael (18:56.784)

Yes.

Michael (19:00.667)

a little Fillory stuff, in my humble opinion, a little Fillory. And then we get the Trooper, which he's always waving the flag during the Trooper. So the Troopers is just a great rallying cry for the fans. now we're kind of in real familiar waters of what the ends of their shows have been like the last few tours, right? So we Hallowby, their name, which is awesome. It is awesome.

Sebastian (19:13.186)

Yep.

Sebastian (19:27.628)

That is one of the best showcases for Bruce's real, like to hear Bruce sing in his range. Yeah, so if there's one song you listen to Iron Maiden do live, listen to Hella Be Thy Name. There's tons of YouTube videos on it. There's tons of reaction videos on it. It's so good. And it gives you a sense of like what Bruce is capable of when he's allowed to just do his thing on that song. It's arguably the best song they've ever done. So.

Michael (19:31.141)

His range. Yeah. Yes.

Michael (19:40.945)

Mm-hmm.

Michael (19:54.415)

Yeah, absolutely. and then once we get passed out by the name, okay. I know why they have to play iron maiden. Cause it's like blacks. It's like black Sabbath, not playing black Sabbath.

Sebastian (20:03.566)

It's an Iron Maiden tour.

Michael (20:08.849)

song sucks. Like it's not good. Like, let's just be honest. It's, it's whatever. I'm like, okay, hurry up. Can we get to the encore please? Like this, I don't know. Like I, cause the big Eddie comes out and he has a sword fight all the time with Yannick and it's fun.

Sebastian (20:12.142)

It's fine.

Sebastian (20:19.512)

It's.

Sebastian (20:23.63)

It's kind of like a hit the lights Metallica thing, right? That song isn't that great, but it's the first song they ever wrote. And so they have fun playing it. And I mean, it's fine. Is hit the lights in my top 50 Metallica songs? No, it's not even close. Stop it. Stop it.

Michael (20:29.061)

Yeah.

Michael (20:41.221)

What? come on, come on, man. Why you gotta be like that? That's song so good. We won't get into this argument about that song. But I don't know, like that song kinda, it sucks. Anyways, so, then, okay, encore time, so the encore is they get a five minute break or whatever, and then it busts into Churchill's speech, which is the beginning.

Sebastian (20:47.811)

Yeah.

Sebastian (20:59.063)

I don't mind it.

Michael (21:08.817)

of their live version of ACES High. it's just like, Oh my God. Well, like talk about a perfect song to come in after you're on court. Cause you get the long speech at Churchill and all the warplanes, the whole meal deal. And then they just bust into ACES High, which man, I don't know if there's any better album opener ever.

Sebastian (21:09.709)

Yes.

Sebastian (21:25.814)

Yeah, they did this, I don't know what podcast I watched or who I watched, but they did like a ranking of the opening tracks for all the Iron Maiden albums and Aces High was number one as an opener. Yeah. But they don't generally have good openers outside of like, there's only three songs I can think of that are like banger open openers and that would be Be Quick, Wicker Man and Aces.

Michael (21:34.677)

Hmm. Yeah, that'd be hard. That'd be a hard list to do.

Michael (21:45.745)

Well, I'll be quick. Okay. What about, there's Moonchild. Moonchild's good. Okay, it's fine. Call it Somewhere in Time.

Sebastian (21:53.464)

fine.

Sebastian (21:57.098)

Yeah, I know you like that song. But like, okay, so the first song they open up with is Prowler on their first album. Then is the Ides of Marsh, I guess Rathchilds, technically, if you want to go there. Invaders, terrible song. Where Eagles Dare, can't even tell you what that song sounds like. Ace is High, which is amazing. Yeah, I'll give you...

Michael (21:58.315)

I'll be back.

Michael (22:07.257)

And the rat child. Yeah. Sure.

Michael (22:18.481)

That sounds okay.

Sebastian (22:25.944)

caught somewhere in time is that is probably their second best one maybe I guess. Moonchild, yeah. No prayer for the dying, we just won't talk about that one. Tail gunner, be quick or be dead. okay.

Michael (22:30.47)

Maybe.

Michael (22:36.207)

No, we don't need to talk about that.

Michael (22:41.111)

well, we're forget, well, okay. We were forgetting the greatest song they've ever written off their 1995 10th release, the X factor. The of the cross sign of the cross. That's the best opener. have that song. no.

Sebastian (22:49.908)

It's a good song. That, okay, that's the best opener they have for sure. But it shouldn't be an opener. That's not the opener, but that should be like.

Michael (23:00.495)

Like song five or four or the last one.

Sebastian (23:02.69)

They should put like Man on the Edge as the opener or something, but yeah, Sight of the Cross should be like the last song on the album. It's like an 11 minute song. It doesn't make sense that they opened with that, but I guess maybe they were trying something new, but...

Michael (23:05.541)

Yeah, I know it makes.

Not at all. I think they're just trying to be edgy. I think, you know what you are last album was right. I don't know. Well, by 1995, honestly, nobody cared about that kind of music anymore. So they, they're like, whatever, let's just, this is our best song. Let's just put it first. Whatever. It's 11 minutes and however many seconds just do it. And, I prefer it with blaze singing. I'm, I'm on the, I'm on play. I'm on team blaze.

Sebastian (23:16.184)

putting man on the edge as the opener maybe, I don't know.

Sebastian (23:24.504)

Yeah.

Sebastian (23:32.053)

It's yeah.

Michael (23:38.107)

Cause we've seen it with Bruce a few times, small handful of times. And I don't know. I just, that song is so dark and birdy. And for me, just blazes voice is perfection for that song. okay. So back to me.

Sebastian (23:38.591)

I don't know.

Sebastian (23:50.27)

I don't know, I like Bruce singing it live, honestly. But that's just me.

Michael (23:53.495)

I know, I know. Well, okay, Bruce does the chorus better, but I Blaze does the verses better.

Sebastian (24:02.35)

Like Bruce or for those that don't know, Bruce Dickinson replaced Paul DeAnno for the third album. And then there he was their lead singer from, guess, 83 all the way to the end of 95, 96, 97, I don't know. And he left the band to do his own personal projects, I guess. And they recruited Blaze Bailey for two albums. And then they got rid of him and brought Bruce back, conditions that Adrian Smith came back. So they're like, yeah, sure. Let's just have three guitarists instead of two.

which allows you to do a whole bunch of crazy stuff live. But I just never thought that Blaze really fit in properly with Iron Maiden. I think he gave it his best try, but the demands of what Steve Harris wanted out of him were too much for what he could offer. And by no means is he bad singer. Like he's an incredible singer, Blaze, Bailey. Like some of his solo work is amazing, but it's just never.

Michael (24:41.669)

No.

Michael (24:57.134)

yeah.

Sebastian (25:00.268)

mixed. It's like Gary Sharone for Van Halen. Like he's a great singer, but it just never quite worked the way they hoped it would.

Michael (25:02.833)

Fan of hell? Yeah, I know, it just didn't work.

Michael (25:08.305)

No, and in Gary's defense, the music kinda sucked too. It was just, it was bad. That album was just such a shame.

Sebastian (25:13.164)

Yeah.

But the Blaze Bailey albums, the proof is in the sales. It's like some of the lowest selling albums they've ever put out.

Michael (25:21.841)

But again, it was grunge time. No one cared about Iron Maiden. The nineties were rough, man. Like even Fear of the Dark, they were lost. And it was, gave a shit what Iron Maiden did, right? I think that's one of the reasons maybe why Bruce left was that he was burned out for one, but it's like, we got nothing. Like there's just nothing here. So he wanted to do his own thing, which nobody cared about that either. Like Bruce did his, sorry, Cifric South America.

Sebastian (25:25.292)

Yeah, metal kind of died in the late 90s.

Sebastian (25:35.672)

Yeah.

Michael (25:52.005)

They'd get a hundred thousand people to any show with Bruce or Blaze. So it really didn't matter, but.

Sebastian (25:52.79)

Yeah.

Sebastian (25:56.91)

Yeah, you see some of those Blaise Bailey shows where there's like 150 people in the audience. You're like, whoa, boy. But he still gives her like it's a full stadium, man. You got to give him props to that.

Michael (25:59.163)

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think.

Which is a shame. think if we were a little bit older, I think Maiden played the Commodore ballroom, which is a thousand seat room in Vancouver. They played it in like 95.

Sebastian (26:16.992)

And then we had to see them in an arena, basically stadium, Pacific Coliseum. Yeah.

Michael (26:20.13)

In an arena, yeah, was like cut in like, yeah, that was like cut in half when Bruce first came back. And then now it's full on arenas and stadiums for him.

Sebastian (26:27.084)

Yeah. God, that would have been amazing to see them at the Commodore.

Michael (26:30.699)

that is so cool. Yeah. I don't even know how they do it.

Sebastian (26:32.92)

But you have to think that Bruce resurrected that band, because the band was going downwards, right? And so him coming back to do the Brave New World, and Brave New World album is so much better than people realize. Like that is an incredible album. Like there's so many really good songs on that album. And they were like, okay, let's just do it right. And went full on, you know?

Michael (26:57.393)

Which I heard, I heard through the sort of like, I don't know if it's true or not, but I did hear that Steve purposely left off like the good songs that they wrote for a virtual 11 and used a lot of them for brave new world. Like I think like brave, yeah, like brave new world, I think maybe goes to the navigator. Um, there's a bunch of songs that he did that, that he wrote that he's like, no, these, these can wait. Right. Or are you saving it for the next record? Right.

Sebastian (27:10.382)

So they had extra time to

Sebastian (27:20.13)

I'm saving this for when Bruce comes back. That's probably, well, that's a good point. Maybe he's like, I don't think Blaze can sing this. And so I think maybe they already had a predetermined outcome of what was gonna happen with Blaze and they just decided to, okay, well, let's just commit to this last album and then we'll move from him after the tour or whatever. But speaking of new members, so Nickle McBrain is out of the band.

Michael (27:34.865)

Could be.

Michael (27:42.865)

Yeah, exactly.

Sebastian (27:50.06)

He left after the last war and he was replaced by Simon Dawson, which...

Michael (27:50.769)

Take a hike, old man.

Michael (27:57.253)

Yes. Which is Steve's drummer in British lion, Steve's solo band that tours when iron maiden isn't touring. He's like, dude, can you not be on the road all the time? But, hell of a drummer. He's a, he's a hell of a drummer and you know, Nicko shoes are almost unfillable really just the way he played. I watched a couple of clips of, what did I watch? I watched a clip of seven son. It was good.

Sebastian (28:04.664)

Yeah.

Sebastian (28:08.268)

He just tours.

Michael (28:24.653)

It was a little different because you can actually see the drummer as opposed. There's no wall of drums anymore. Bruce made a joke. He's like, hey, we actually have a drummer. And that's this thing, right? Yeah.

Sebastian (28:32.61)

Well, that's Nicko's style. He just wants to be buried in the drums. He doesn't want to like...

Michael (28:37.905)

I don't think he wants to be seen or anything. So there's this, this mountain of drums, but yeah, no sign Simon Dawson. He's a good drummer. I think he's the only one that could fill the shoes. Cause he already, you know, he has history with Steve and kind of seems the way like when Adrian left the band back in 89, the Anna Gers took over and he was friends with Bruce. So it's like, okay, we, Hey, you know, this guy, bring him in, you know, that guy, bring him in, which I think is cool. It's, know, keep what you're comfortable with.

Sebastian (28:40.257)

No.

Michael (29:07.441)

I should have played.

Sebastian (29:07.598)

Did you see what the set looks like by chance? Yeah, they got like a giant screen.

Michael (29:10.609)

I did, it's cool. It's very, yeah, they finally gone digital. There's no more, no more curtains and no more. And even like the little walkways that Bruce walks on is all illuminated now. And it's, I think it's pretty slick looking. It's the same as it always is. It's just updated, which I think is awesome.

Sebastian (29:29.037)

Yeah.

Michael (29:29.947)

But yeah, so I hear.

Sebastian (29:31.788)

Yeah, it's, it's, I don't know, have they announced any, any North American tour dates at all or no? It's just, they're still all in Europe right now.

Michael (29:39.483)

No.

And I believe Bruce is going on, Bruce is touring North America after this tour is done.

Sebastian (29:48.238)

to do his own stuff, right?

Michael (29:49.485)

Solo stuff. So I don't know if they're going to do much of probably next year, maybe. don't know.

Sebastian (29:56.47)

Yeah, it's all.

Michael (29:57.745)

But yeah, so anyways, they come out with Haste is High, Fear the Dark, and then they close with Wasted Years, which we mentioned a bit ago, which it must resonate with them because it's, well, the lyrics are poignant to a live act. So you can't blame them for playing it. would have, you know, of course they have 8 million songs, we could have said they could have closed with anything else. But I think that's, oh man.

Sebastian (30:21.304)

They have a pretty vast catalog, man. There's people always going to be disappointed because they didn't play their particular favorite Iron Maiden song.

Michael (30:25.977)

You know, like did I, what I wanted, yeah. Like I said earlier, there's always songs you would rather hear, but I think we should be grateful at their age. know, I think most of them are 70. is coming close to it. Like they're, they're not young people and that's demanding music. It's demanding for the guitar players. Steve Harris is a machine. Bruce still can sing like with the best of them. So just be happy. Yeah. Just be happy that.

Sebastian (30:38.86)

Yeah, they can still hammer it out there, right?

Sebastian (30:52.8)

Yes, you can. Yeah.

Michael (30:56.177)

They're still doing it. Right. So if they obviously, if they come to North America and come anywhere close to where we are, we're going, it's just, it doesn't matter. I don't, it's not even, it's not even a question. If it's going to be a question, we're going for junior. That'll be his third time, fourth time, third, I don't know, whatever.

Sebastian (31:01.56)

we're going.

Sebastian (31:07.977)

You're going for your son.

Sebastian (31:14.7)

Yeah, seeing specifically Iron Maiden. Yeah, so I guess in a word, and I did mention this to you by a text, I think they just went safe. They just went pretty safe with the tour. They're like, we know what songs work. We know what songs we don't have to. But having said that, it's probably good with the new drummer. can't really, because he had to learn basically all of the songs, right? From like a...

Michael (31:16.39)

Yeah.

Michael (31:25.553)

Little bit. Yeah.

Sebastian (31:41.602)

good chunk of the songs. So there's a chance that he probably knew most of them already, at least the popular ones. So it's like, let's, you know, they're thinking I have to assume is like, we got a new drummer. Let's not throw him under the bus by giving him all these complicated deep cut songs that no one's ever drummed like, like we haven't done live before. Let's do some that he'll already know how to play to ease the burden of him coming in for that. So.

Michael (31:45.457)

Probably. Yes.

Michael (32:00.901)

Right? Yeah.

Michael (32:05.135)

Yeah. No, I agree.

Sebastian (32:09.336)

But yeah, he already has chemistry with the basses because they're in British line together, right? So. But he's considerably younger, right, than the rest of them,

Michael (32:14.348)

yeah. They are in the British lion.

I believe so, he's a little younger, yes.

Sebastian (32:25.774)

Simon Dawson is, I'm gonna Jack DP it.

Michael (32:32.507)

Do it, it's your best friend.

Sebastian (32:35.362)

Mike likes it.

Michael (32:36.805)

Hey, it's pretty good.

Sebastian (32:39.704)

So yeah, I don't know. I'm okay with it. So he's 66.

Michael (32:44.642)

so he's really not. He's there. He's right in there.

Sebastian (32:46.414)

So he's there. That's good. They're in the same wheelhouse of ages, right? So he's been active since the 80s, 1980s. Not only is the band Deep Switch, she also has been a key member of British Lion, Iron Maiden, Steve Bass's side project. His sense of experience, long standing collaboration with Harris, making him a fitting choice to step in for Nicko McBrain, who retired from touring after 40 years with the band. Why did he retire? Well, he suffered a stroke.

Michael (33:05.178)

fitting choice.

Michael (33:11.397)

He's old and he doesn't, but he just couldn't do it.

Sebastian (33:12.354)

and he continued, yes. Yeah. So he, he, he did it and the rest of the tour basically, and then retired permanently from touring because he just can't handle it anymore. So we wish him the best of luck in his life or whatever he chooses to do at this point. And I'd be excited to see the new drummer just to see the difference. Right. So yeah.

Michael (33:23.055)

new. No.

All the best. Yes.

Michael (33:33.135)

Absolutely, absolutely. As long as they got the core members of the band, I'm good.

Sebastian (33:40.079)

It's a comfortable thing for them now, Here's a question to you, they put out another album.

You think it's it?

Michael (33:48.561)

I think they're Right, like how much, like why? Like really, like realistically why? At this point, what we do, we do want to hear new music. think, I don't know how many of them want to tour all the time anymore. Like this could be the last hurrah. Like we might see at the end of the year, like, Dave Murray has decided to retire. Maybe Adrian wants to retire and it's going to be Steve and Bruce and be like, okay, and Yannick or whatever. Maybe he wants to retire or maybe Bruce wants to do his own thing.

Sebastian (33:49.602)

They're their 70s, right?

Sebastian (33:57.068)

Because we want to hear new views.

Michael (34:17.969)

for a little while because the clock is ticking, right? Because apparently Bruce has 18 songs demoed for his next solo record already. Man, he's he's a machine, right? He's just a machine. yeah, so that's, that is our show, episode 62 for this week.

Sebastian (34:21.677)

Yeah.

Sebastian (34:26.572)

He just keeps writing. Like he just keeps writing, keeps writing, keeps writing. So.

Sebastian (34:37.912)

going to the glorious episode 69 soon. Yes, I went there.

Michael (34:41.093)

Soon, yes, and then we will be at order 66 before that too. Yeah, hide the Jedi, lock them away. Don't let me find them because I will kill them. Anyways, whoa, that's harsh. I didn't mean to say that. I will not kill them. will, well, whatever. Okay, we will be back next week. Bye bye.

Sebastian (34:46.825)

yeah. Hide your Jedi. Hide the Jedi.

Wow, okay, here we go. Yeah, you're fine.

We'll see you on the next one.