iron maiden
reviews
21
Tinitially in 1992 and many times since, to the Middle East in 2007, India in the same year and many other new places all around the planet that rarely get visited by major bands.he
time for heavy metal bands in general, but Iron Maiden ploughed doggedly forward, notching up yet more success with albums like 1992’s acclaimed Fear Of The Dark and even weathering the departure of Bruce Dickinson in 1993. The band made two strong albums with new singer Blaze Bayley and continued to honour their commitment to intensive touring, delivering the goods at every show. However, it was the return of Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith (who originally left the band in 1990) in 1999 when Iron Maiden became a six-piece, that established the ultimate Iron Maiden line-up of Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Steve Harris on bass, Nicko McBrain on drums and “the three amigos” – Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers - on guitar. This line-up has scaled new heights and become increasingly fearless and boldly creative since the release of the Brave New World album in 2000.
This brave new Maiden era reached an astonishing zenith during the band’s Somewhere Back In Time Tour that began in February 2008 and initially took the band 50,000 miles around the world in 45 days, flying in their own specially chartered Boeing 757, Ed Force One, piloted by Bruce Dickinson, a qualified airline captain, traversing the planet, from India to Costa Rica, Australia to Argentina, Sao Paulo to Tokyo. Ed Force One made TV news headlines around the world and the coverage of that tour was subsequently turned into an award-winning film and DVD Flight 666. Released in 2009 Flight 666 hit the No.1 slot in the music DVD charts in 25 countries, the same year the band picked up their first ever Brit Award for Best British Live Act. Maiden guitarist Dave Murray summed it up nicely when he remarked “Ed Force One certainly beats the battered old van that we, our one crew member and all our equipment used to travel round to gigs in when we first started out!”
The overwhelming success of the Somewhere Back In Time Tour continued into 2009 with sell-out shows across Europe and North America, and convinced the band that Ed Force One was the best possible way to reach more fans, more quickly and in more territories then they could ever hope to visit by traditional touring methods.
33 years on, and with over 80 million album sales, more than 2000 live performances, countless satisfied customers and 15 studio albums of unerring quality and power to their name, Iron Maiden IS THE KING OF METAL. proudly-held status as one of the most influential and revered bands ever.