Iron Maiden make it seven

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 27

Iron Maiden make it seven

When a snooty critic came down from a dizzy height and listened to a heavy metal group called Iron Maiden he found the music “fast, furious and diverse enough to be genuinely exciting.” For good measure he said, “Obviously, the group is a cut above the rest.” He could not have been more correct. Four years on, Iron Maiden are the premier heavy metal exponents. Their records sell by the millions every year, and the golds and platinums come in from round the world in everincreasing numbers. They have had almost 100.

Right now they are basking in the glory of their first album since 1986 — it is their seventh and is fittingly called “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.”

The lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, he with the voice like an air-raid siren, said: “If our ‘Number of the Beast’ brought heavy metal properly into the 1980 s, which I actually believe it did, then with ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’ I think we have shown the way for H.M. in the 19905. It sounds such a boastful fihing to say, butjthat is Mtiow it hits mewhen I listen to it I hear new

stuff on there I haven’t heard before, every time I play it. I haven’t liked an Iron Maiden as much as this since ‘Number of the Beast.’ I am completely hooked on it.” The first single from the new album, “Can I Play with Madness,” crashed straight into the British charts at No. 4. Iron Maiden’s current seven-month world tour, already christened the “Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour,” kicking off in Calgary, Canada and running continuously, until 1989, will go through 24 different countries plsying to more than two hellion people along the way.

What is it about playing live that makes the Iron Maiden founder-member, Steve Harris, and the group want to do it for seven months solid without a break? He said: “Playing live is ultimately what it is all about for a band like us. The albums are the most important things we do with our music. But once it is written and recorded the real test comes with taking it out live to the Maiden fans to see what they have got to say about it. “The strength of the band, the way we have evolved musically, has all come through spending so much time on the road together. We have always been a live band first and foremost, so touring is like the bedrock of everything we stand for. Without it, our music wouldn’t be what it is.” But even the sevenmonth tour pales into insignificance by the side of their “Powerslave” promotion spree: that lasted 11 1 / 2 months and took in 300 dates round the world in 1984 and 1985. They became the first heavy metal band to play behind the Iron Curtain. They toured Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, playing in front of an average of 14,000 people a night in

Poland, and as many as 40,000 at a Budapest concert.

"“The reaction was just incredible,” said Dickinson. “Halls got sold out -and we had as many as 5000 people outside just clamouring to get in. The whole thing was really very special, and it was a great experience. “They had armed security men at the concerts but even they were dancing in the aisles. We were glad it was so relaxed and nobody kicked somebody else’s head in. The audiences were like people who hadn’t had sex for 10 years being sent to a brothel for a holiday!”

There have been a couple of changes in the five-man line-up over the years, but the group have settled down to Steve Harris (bass), Adrian Smith (guitar), Nicko Mcßrain (drums), Dave Murray (guitar), and Bruce Dickinson (vocals). An insight into their characters comes with the revelation that Dickinson makes that the most bewitching character he knows is his wife; if he doesn’t do as she says he fears she will turn him into a frog. Harris is awid of spiders; Mcßrain says 13 is his lucky num-

ber; Murray believes in ghosts; and Smith won’t walk under ladders.

Harris and Murray formed the group around 1976 in London’s East End. Little did they know what success lay round the corner. The fans crowded into pubs, the venues had to get bigger — and the demand for autographs grew. None are refused. In a quick calculation Dickinson worked out that he alone signs upwards of 30,000 a year! Dickinson is something of a rare person among heavy metal men. He had a public school education, signed on for five years with Britain’s Territorial Army, and took a degree in history at the University of London. He enjoys the sport of fencing, and is now a fully qualified instructor.

Even people who say that they can’t stand heavy metal sounds normally, might just find themselves enjoying an Iron Maiden concert

The stage sets are impressive in themselves, and no wonder: it has been known to take six huge articulated trucks to carry nearly $3 million worth of equipment from venue to venue. ® Copyright, Duo.