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Happy birthday to Adrian Smith! He's an outstanding guitarist who has treated us with absolutely fantastic playing and songwriting thorough his Maiden, solo and Bruce Dickinson band years. His contribution and influence in Maiden sound is something that one can never be overlooked. Some of my favourite "H" moments include his phenomenal guitar solos, spanning from 80's classics such as Revelations and Stranger in a Strange Land to more recent efforts like Tears of a Clown. His playing has also brought a lot of depth to some of the 90's Maiden gems they've played over the years, like Afraid to Shoot Strangers (2012-13) or Sign of the Cross and The Clansman. Brilliant musician! What are your favourite "Adrian efforts?" #adriansmith #ironmaiden #SteveHarris #brucedickinson #thelegacyofthebeast #beapartofthelegacy #nickomcbrain #davemurray #thenumberofthebeast #janickgers #somewhereintime #seventhsonofaseventhson #bravenewworld https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYxJRRgzKa/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=c5t3xnduuqr3

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There's always room for Eddie, isn't there? Even if these aren't traditional drawn ones, but everyone else is already posting those (and keep 'em coming, folks! 🤟) so I'm just bringing something different to the table, haha. I hope we'll get some more tour dates for 2019 soon enough... Videos and other features I planned and promised earlier have been... Shall we say, on hold for some time now, but they're coming, they're coming... I hope you'll find my occasional gallups and whatever stuff in my IG story interesting though! It's always neat to see what fellow fans think about things. #ironmaiden #eddie #thelegacyofthebeast #SteveHarris #brucedickinson #janickgers #nickomcbrain #adriansmith #davemurray #powerslave #runtothehills #thenumberofthebeast #pieceofmind #amatteroflifeanddeath #bravenewworld https://www.instagram.com/p/BpZ1LDbgzdl/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13fepfnurxxpu

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Happy birthday to Bruce Dickinson! The amount of awesomess this man has brought to the world is incomparable. And he's showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon... He is in ridiculously outstanding shape! I hope he'll release that new solo album soon too. All the best to him, the best frontman ever! #ironmaiden #thelegacyofthebeast #beapartofthelegacy #brucedickinson #steveharris #janickgers #nickomcbrain #adriansmith #danceofdeath #davemurray #bravenewworld #gigphotography #concertphotography #ironmaidenlive #thelegacyofthebeasttour2018

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Some "hints" considering the remaining four "Eddie's Essentials" features; I guess you figure those out easily, haha. As've mentioned earlier, I'm planning to do a video review/feature with the next one and the following as well, I suppose. It'll be a bit more in-depth about the general vibes around the record(s) and all kinds of thoughts about it. The text versions will be the traditional song-by-song analysis of the records. I hope you'll enjoy that stuff, I'm trying to take a fresh approach, especially with the next one which is the most controversial of all the six albums featured. In fact, it might be that some of don't like it at all and I'm definitely not trying to force my opinion (whatever it is) to you, but I hope my perspective is interesting enough... 🤘 #ironmaiden #thelegacyofthebeast #heavymetal #nwobhm #steveharris #brucedickinson #janickgers #davemurray #adriansmith #nickomcbrain #thewickerman #seventhsonofaseventhson #bravenewworld #ironmaidenfan #powerslave #pieceofmind #thenumberofthebeast https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl99HNxhag0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1n38oxruoysf1

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 2/6: Piece of Mind (5/5) The Number of the Beast deserves all the praise it can get for many reasons, but Piece of Mind is one step up from it, and that's saying quite a lot. It has a great, recognizable sound and unbelievable rhytmic section, accompanied by some of the most iconic guitar patterns. Bruce Dickinson's soaring vocals carry to unbelievable heights, even literally. Most of the songs were played live with a lot faster tempo, especially back in the 80's, and arguably even too fast. Piece of Mind – at least the original mix – has one of the best dynamics on any Maiden records so it doesn't feel too slow at any point. Even with a little drop in quality during Quest for Fire, the album maintains it's recognizable sound and atmosphere from the thundering start to it's epic end. It never strays anywhere it shouldn't go and the musicianship of the then very young band really impresses you. The Number of the Beast and Powerslave are both amazing albums, but Piece of Mind ,released between the two mentioned classics, might be just a tad bit more coherent. The first output of the "classic lineup", which many consider as their definite one, couldn't have been much, if any, better. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) #ironmaiden #pieceofmind #nwobhm #brucedickinson #steveharris #nickomcbrain #cliveburr #adriansmith #davemurray #janickgers #thenumberofthebeast #whereeaglesdare #revelations #runtothehills

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 2/6: Piece of Mind (4/5) Even with Quest for Fire's more or less lackluster quality, two shorter and straightforward numbers definitely balance the album very well between a tad bit more meandering Still Life and epic, mystic and beautifully constructed To Tame a Land, which was supposed to be called simply "Dune", as the novel it is based on, but the author Frank Herbert didn't like the idea quite as much as Mr. Harris did... Oh well, To Tame a Land turned out to be a fantastic album closer with beautiful melodies and a couple of ingenious and even surprising parts you often find from 80's Harris-songs. I like most of the newer stuff he's written, but his pattern has also become a less surprising than back then, but then again, it's only natural to form some sort of formula and comfort zone for your songwriting after being decades in the music industry. To Tame a Land is on the long list of songs many fans would love to hear performed by the current lineup and it's absence from the setlists ever since World Piece tour is sad, but I guess it'll be never dusted off again, due to it's challenging nature. #ironmaiden #pieceofmind #nwobhm #brucedickinson #steveharris #nickomcbrain #cliveburr #adriansmith #davemurray #janickgers #thenumberofthebeast #whereeaglesdare #revelations #therooper #dune #heavymetal

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 2/6: Piece of Mind (3/5) Die With Yout Boots On is another live favourite from the album and the first official result of the co-operation between three dominant songwriters Adrian Smith, Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson. It is one of those songs that really come alive in the concert setting and it wouldn't hurt to give it another go in some of the future sets. The Trooper, an all-time classic, opens the side B of the record, if you're listening to the vinyl version, obviously. The pacing of the album is brilliant indeed: Where Eagles Dare and Revelations really take you into with a more "sophisticated" approach it and then you got three more straightforward, unrelenting songs to keep things fresh. It tells a lot about the overall quality of the record that the first five songs have been played several times live on subsequent tours following the Piece of Mind tour. I wish this was the case with Still Life (Murray/Harris) too. Opening with the famous Idi Amin imitation by Nicko McBrain, Still Life is definitely one of the saddest setlist omissions ever since the original Piece of Mind tour; it returned for a couple of shows for Seventh Tour and there's a brilliant live version of it in Maiden England concert video, but after that... nothing. It's one of those songs that arguably should have been featured on Eddie Rips Up the World or Maiden England tour setlist. Quest for Fire and Sun and Steel are the only songs on the record that have never been played live. On another album, Sun and Steel might have made it to the set, for it's a great little rocker with catchy chorus, it's just often outshadowed by the outstanding quality of the other songs on the record – except Quest for Fire, which is clearly the weakest link here. It's not abysmal song, but the lyrics are pretty poor and it just doesn't live up to what the rest of the album is. In other words, it's pretty much the "Gangland" of this album. #ironmaiden #pieceofmind #nwobhm #brucedickinson #steveharris #nickomcbrain #cliveburr #adriansmith #davemurray #janickgers #thenumberofthebeast #whereeaglesdare #revelations #therooper #dune #heavymetal

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 2/6: Piece of Mind (2/5) Speaking of Bruce, the second track, Revelations makes his first official writing credit in Iron Maiden; it is more or less confirmed that he was a part of the writing process for The Number of the Beast album, at least for the songs Children of the Damned, The Prisoner and even Run to the Hills, but due to his former contract regarding the band Samson, they couldn't officially credit him for that stuff. Revelatios is musically on the simple side, but lyrically quite the opposite. Dickinson is definitely in his comfort zone, both vocal- and writingwise; his performance is strong and the lyrics are mysterious and elaborate, pondering religion and it's effect on humankind. As he stated in 2003, "Aleister Crowley, ancient Egypt – black magic and shit – Revelations!" It is also one of those many songs that sound even better with the current line-up and "mature" Bruce – his recent performances of this song as well are phenomenal. Flight of Icarus is another song where Dickinson's role was huge; co-written with the guitarist Adrian Smith, they held their ground with the tempo even though Mr. Steve Harris insisted that they should play it faster. In concerts, they did, before burying it for over thirty years after a couple of Somewhere on Tour gigs. Nevertheless, Icarus is considered as their breaking in single for United States market. And after all this time, it got resurrected on stage too for the recent tour. And it sounds magnificent. #ironmaiden #pieceofmind #nwobhm #brucedickinson #steveharris #nickomcbrain #cliveburr #adriansmith #davemurray #janickgers #thenumberofthebeast #whereeaglesdare #revelations #therooper #totamealand #dune #heavymetal #heavyrock #proggressiverock #eddie #80smetal #80srock #revelations #stilllife #powerslave #somewhereintime #theclansman #maidenengland #seventhsonofaseventhson #bravenewworld #danceofdeath #thebookofsouls #childrenofthedamned #runtothehills

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 2/6: Piece of Mind (1/5) After the departure of Clive Burr, a new drummer, Nicko McBrain stepped in. What happened with Clive was rather sad story, it's not like the other guys in the band didn't mess up with things during The Number of the Beast days, as Bruce Dickinson stated in the book, but what was done was done and while Clive definitely deserves all the praise you can give him, Nicko fitted the band exceptionally well. The classic line-up was born. And mind you, one does not simply make a better entrance as a drummer than the iconic drum intro of the amazing opening track, Where Eagles Dare, which was also gloriously dusted off after 13 years for the current The Legacy of the Beast tour; I wish we got a proper concert release from that show. The set is pretty Piece of Mind heavy with four songs from the album, so it's more or less related to this feature too... Anyway, Where Eagles Dare is a great opener song with a strong rhythmic section thorough and soaring vocals by Bruce Dickinson. #ironmaiden #pieceofmind #nwobhm #brucedickinson #steveharris #nickomcbrain #cliveburr #adriansmith #davemurray #janickgers #thenumberofthebeast #whereeaglesdare #revelations #therooper #totamealand #dune #heavymetal #heavyrock

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There's a time to live and a time to die When it's time to meet the maker... Okay then, I have to admit that this @ironmaidenlotb screenshot is quite cool one! I've always loved the "scribe/mystic" Eddie design and it's one of my favourites in the game too. #ironmaiden #eddie #eddiethehead #nwobhm #thelegacyofthebeast #mobilerpg #maidenengland #mobilegaming #mobilegames

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 1/6: BRAVE NEW WORLD Brave New Wolrd is one of those albums that manages to be much more than just a sum of it’s parts. It’s easy to see why it has such a special meaning for both fans and the band; it’s much more than just a satisfying ”comeback” record. It is a very distinctive, musically strong piece of music that is enjoyable thoroughly though it’s lenght. Not every song on it is a definite masterpiece and a modern classic, but to be fair, The Mercenary and The Fallen Angel are not any worse than stuff like Gangland or Quest for Fire, much better actually. If the material of Brave New World wasn’t released as a first ”reunion album”, some people might have a different view on it, especially when it comes to more dragging stuff, but it’s a very strong album nonetheless – there’s no denying that. While not quite top-three album for me, it’s definitely a very essential one in Maiden discography and after all these years it still manages to sound FRESH and full of creative energy – even though a couple of songs on aren’t really the best examples of it. But as stated, everything, even the somewhat weaker songs, fall in to place perfectly here and that’s a sign of a strong album and beauty of the album format in general. 4/5 A record full of power and rawness that showed the world back in the day that Iron Maiden and metal music were alive and well. And they both still are. #ironmaiden #nwobhm #brucedickinson #heavymetal #steveharris #janickgers #danceofdeath #davemurray #virtualxi #adriansmith #nickomcbrain #maidenengland #thelegacyofthebeast

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 1/6: BRAVE NEW WORLD The Fallen Angel is not the finest contribution by Smith/Harris duo, but a strong one nonetheless that manages to work very well as more of a straightforward piece after Dream of Mirrors and the chorus is rather catchy. The Nomad (Murray/Harris) was presumably also written for the third album with Blaze and it has many classic Maiden elements… it really takes you to ”eastern sands” and the orchestral pieces are very beautiful – even though nicked from Beckett’s Life Shadow, as some of you might already know. Beautiful, but also dragging piece of music – signtature element of many songs written during the Blaze years, as strong as many of them indeed turned out. Out of the Silent Planet is almost a guilty pleasure of mine; it’s not keeping up together quite as well as classic material or songs like The Wicker Man, but I absolutely love the intro, chorus and it’s just a brilliant, catchy piece in between two mammoth sized songs: the mentioned The Nomad and The Thin Line Between Love and Hate (Murray/Harris) – a song that closes the album in a very appropriate, emotional way. It’s also one of those songs that were rumoured to be from the older writing sessions and it’s definitely one of the strongest of those; the guitar harmonies are beautiful, the lyrics and the vocal delivery are rather different than in most Maiden songs and overall it’s a very distinctive song, often overshadowed by the opening bunch of songs that have been played live more or less over the years. #ironmaiden #steveharris #brucedickinson #bravenewworld #nickomcbrain #janickgers #danceofdeath #davemurray #adriansmith #nwobhm #heavymetal

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 1/6: BRAVE NEW WORLD Another defining factor is - I’m sorry Brave New World fanboys and -girls – it’s imperfection that comes from the two levels of creating it: the bunch of new stuff and the leftovers of earlier sessions with Blaze still in the band. It’s a strong album that has possibly the best sound of the ”modern” Maiden records, but it’s also just a taster of how great things might turn out in the future. Now, when I said it’s imperfect, I don’t mean it’s a weak album in any way – quite the opposite. The songwriting and execution of ideas is very strong thorough. The opening bunch, consisting of The Wicke Man, Ghost of the Navigator, Brave New World and Blood Brothers can stand comparison to older classic albums any day. Arguably, you can blame the title track and Blood Brothers for repetition, but it actually works there pretty well; the title track is a fine of example of something being not quite among the very, absolute best works they’ve ever recorded but still sounding majestic and full of self-confidence. Bruce Dickinson has a writing credit for the first three songs and the fourth, Blood Brothers, which has become a modern live classic, is a song that was originally written when Blaze was in the band and planned for third Maiden album with him. The Mercenary (Gers/Harris) is another leftover from the earlier sessions and while not among the strongest songs on the album, it paces the album very well and was pretty effective live number too back in the day. Granted, it’s a repetitive and not the most ingenius piece of songwriting they’ve come up with, but I like the rawness in it and the solos are pretty good. Dream of Mirrors was also planned for another album with Blaze and also suffers from a certain level of repetition. Bruce’s delivery does give it a lot of life and while it flows rather well, it’s still almost a ten-minute song with not that much happening in it. The atmosphere alone really takes you for a journey though and the melodies are very good. #ironmaiden #steveharris #brucedickinson #bravenewworld #nickomcbrain #janickgers #danceofdeath #davemurray #adriansmith #nwobhm #heavymetal

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 1/6: BRAVE NEW WORLD Anyway, even though Virtual XI isn’t quite as horrible record as you might think, it’s definitely disappointing and it’s also a bit sad how much unnecessary chorus repeats really take from it’s runtime that isn’t that long. As stated, I like some stuff on it, but it’s from a totally different planet than works like Piece of Mind or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. So, Brave New World, as good as it indeed turned out, didn’t have that high of a standard to exceed. Consisting from a completely new material with a strong input from returning members Smith and Dickinson and a couple of leftovers from writing sessions with Blaze, Brave New World is rather adventurous mix. Mr. Dickinson didn’t only improve his singing technique during his solo years but he came back with a stronger songwriter than ever; his solo albums were all brilliant and his late 90’s works Accident of Birth and especially The Chemical Wedding are worth all the praise. Steve Harris and Jankick Gers are both excellent songwriters, but both Adrian and Bruce didn’t just give the band three-guitar-lineup and old vocalist back but also a huge amount of songwriting skills. In fact, as much as I like Steve’s efforts, it is the Dickinson-touch that usually gives the most recent Maiden records a lot of special touch. But more of that later on… What I’ve always loved and found as one of the more defining factos of the record is the sound of it: it has very interesting balance of certain rawness of a rearranged band taking it’s first steps together again and some very polished, clear finish. It sounds glorious, brave and fresh with a certain touch of familiarity. #ironmaiden #steveharris #brucedickinson #bravenewworld #nickomcbrain #janickgers #danceofdeath #davemurray #adriansmith #nwobhm #heavymetal

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EDDIE'S ESSENTIALS 1/6: BRAVE NEW WORLD May 2000 saw the release of the twelfth Iron Maiden album, the first with the current ”re-union” lineup, following the vocalist Bruce Dickinson’s and guitarist Adrian Smith’s return to the band in 1999. Appropriately titled ”Brave New World” was a huge succes and also restored the faith in Maiden for many who disliked general vibe and recordings during the ”Blaze Bayley years” (1994-1999). Brave New World’s predecessor, Virtual XI wasn’t – although many of you might strongly disagree – nearly as terrible album as many claim it to be. There are a couple of great songwriting efforts and neat ideas here and there – the album is just a full of unimaginative patterns and even though it manages to sound fresh at times, it also manages to suffocate it’s own potential with those infamous chorus repeats. Blaze’s rather monotonous delivery doesn’t really help either. Granted, he has improved a lot since those days and I really like the guy; he really gave everything of himself to the band (same can’t be said for Bruce’s input before his departure back in 1993) and he co-wrote some excellent material with the lads. His live performances didn’t turn out that well, but then again, the band didn’t really make his job any easier; it’s rather strange that Steve himself really wanted a different singer, but wasn’t ready to adjust anything from that perspective. Setlist picks could have been more suitable for Blaze’s voice and if any of you have heard Blaze’s recent takes on some Maiden material, you can tell that downtuning can do miracles at times. #ironmaiden #steveharris #brucedickinson #bravenewworld #nickomcbrain #janickgers #danceofdeath #davemurray #adriansmith #nwobhm #heavymetal

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Before the upcoming Brave New World feature, have some #thelegacyofthebeast stuff! The Trooper. While I could have done without it this time too, I have to admit that the added theatrics really did the trick and made it sound rather fresh. 🤟 Neat! #ironmaiden #ironmaidenlive #beapartofthelegacy #steveharris #nickomcbrain #brucedickinson #janickgers #davemurray #adriansmith #nwobhm #heavymetal #concertphoto #concertphotography #gigphotography #livemusic #danceofdeath #bravenewworld #amatteroflifeanddeath #thewickerman (paikassa Hartwall Arena)

[captainrandalf-blog]

The Shadow of the wicker man is rising up again... Eddie's Essentials Part 1/6: Brave New World article feature is coming soon. #bravenewworld #ironmaiden #nwobhm #brucedickinson #steveharris #janickgers #adriansmith #davemurray #nickomcbrain #metal #heavymetal #classicalbum #thelegacyofthebeast #thewickerman #danceofdeath #amatteroflifeanddeath #pieceofmind #powerslave