BRUCE DICKINSON QUOTE + (JIM'S "NEW MAIDEN" PLAYLIST)

npr: Is the broader or more culturally acceptable status of heavy metal something you find interesting given the sheer backlash so many bands in the genre experienced in the '70s and especially so in the '80s?

Bruce: It's never concerned me whether or not we are, even in the past, perceived as being incredibly rebellious or anti-authoritarian or whatever. The band has almost entirely been about music and storytelling and about expressing that explosive kind of energy that goes along with youth. Not trying to keep the energy, but trying to take it somewhere — as opposed to having it splurge out there in a way that says "I'm generally pissed off at everything and at authority in particular."

There are so many bands that did that I never heard of again. The key was to harness the energy, and so I try and keep that energy pumped in there within the system as long as possible, whilst acquiring more and more musical chops and skills and experience so I can make it more effective. Now, obviously we're not as naïve as we were when we were a lot younger, and that lack of naivety leads to different subject matter. You can't write songs exactly like you would've written songs twenty years ago, because things change and you've moved on a bit. You've done those kinds of songs back then, and so now there are other bands that are having that same moment in their own way at that same point in their career. Let them carry the torch. It's a bit stupid. It's like me going into competition with my kids. Why would I go into competition with my kids? Apart from the fact that I really like them, what's the big deal? I'm doing my own thing. I've already been on that journey, and now it's up to them to go on their own journey through various stages of their life.

* you can read the entire interview here.

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Jim's [currrent] "New Maiden" (2000-Present) Recommended Playlist: 

Brave New World - (Brave New World/2000)

Ghost of the Navigator - (Brave New World/2000)

The Wickerman - (Brave New World/2000)

No More Lies - (Dance of Death/2003)

These Colours Don't Run - (A Matter of Life and Death/2006)

Brighter Than A Thousand Suns  - (A Matter of Life and Death/2006)

The Longest Day - (A Matter of Life and Death/2006)

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg - (A Matter of Life and Death/2006)

For The Greater Good - (A Matter of Life and Death/2006)

The Final Frontier - (The Final Frontier/2010)

The Talisman - (The Final Frontier/2010)

If Eternity Should Fail - (Book of Souls/2015) * skip the "I am Necropolis" ending

The Great Unknown - (Book of Souls/2015)

The Red and The Black - (Book of Souls/2015)
The Book of Souls - (Book of Souls/2015)

Tears of a Clown - (Book of Souls/2015) * silly title, but its about Robin Williams

Speed of Light - (Book of Souls/2015)
Where The Wild Wind Blows - (The Final Frontier/2010)

* previous "Jim's Brief Guide to Iron Maiden" post