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Our bromance love kittens over at Metal Insider — in response to the fake Necrophagist ukulele cover — dug up a video of some dude covering Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” on a harp. Here’s to hoping this dude’s the one greeting me at the pearly gates or wherever I end up.
-VN
Did anyone see that viral video that was going around this summer of the people dancing down the aisle at that wedding to the sounds of super-autotuned Chris Brown, or whatever the fuck the kids think is so cool these days?
Well Iron Maiden playing your wedding is so much cooler than that. And Iron Maiden playing your wedding in 1984 is possibly the coolest.
And, oh yeah, the wedding was Poland. So I guess the Polacks get the last laugh.
-AR
Thanks to Patton for the tip!
RUFKM? (AKA “Are you fucking kidding me?”) takes a look at stellar metal albums and their douchie one-star Amazon reviews.
Next up: Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast.
Nate Acephalic opined: “This is for the people who have little left in the brain and have perhaps burned one too many nerve cells. Great music to be retarded to.”
Andy critiqued: “pretty sad when the backstreet boys are a heavier band than you… his voice sounds like bea arthur trying to sing.”
Jeremy cracked: “Dudes and other genders Maiden sux bad…all i have to say…’har har look at me im all gay and stuff i listen to maiden.’”
I don’t think you could call this mariachi… I’m not sure what to call it. It’s Iron Maiden, it’s mariachi-ish sounding, and it’s in Spanish. Unfortunately it isn’t very well done… but it’s good for a chuckle. Can any fluent Spanish speakers tell us if the words are an accurate translation?
-VN
[Thanks: Trux]
He looks a tad bit bored at first… but around the :30 mark his face lights up and he gets really into it, and by the end he’s having a smashing good time. It’s funny to see a drum legend playing a dumbed-down version of music that already has a really simple drum beat, and it’s hilarious when he fucks up at the end. I’d love to see him tear up some shit on the Expert level.
-VN
[Thanks: Brandon Marvin]
So what was your entre into the world where denim, leather n’ demonology reign supreme? Where you adore the goat and sway to the symphony of deee-struction? Every man (or woman) has a tale to tell. Here’s mine. You’re gonna hear a lot of names you might be unfamiliar with, especially if you’re a member of Attack Attack! (Or just plain anyone under 23!) You’re gonna be thinking, “Damn, this fucker is old!” Yeah, well just remember that I’ve seen seen stuff that would make you shit Perrier with jealousy. I’m definitely old enough to have seen Minor Threat, Cliff Burton-era Metallica… the list goes on… before most of you were a tadpole in yer pappy’s population paste.
Let’s start at Discharge. I could go back and trace the whole history of early 80’s hardcore for you, but neither of us have the time or attention span. Let’s just say, the minute I heard these Stroke-on-Trent monsters of the nuclear reactor riff on the monstrous Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing album, I nearly pissed my pants. It was the gateway to something far heavier than I had ever heard on a scratchy 7” from the new record store that had opened in Boston called Newbury Comics.
I guess it’s just that kinda week.
Anyways, this one is definitely my favorite thus far.
-AR
[via Metal Inquisition]
This week in Soundscan, supergroup Chickenfoot shifted a ridiculous number of records. I’m baffled too. Elsewhere, Iron Maiden had a solid debut and bands like Nickelback, Hollywood Undead, Shinedown, Slipknot, and Metallica continued on with business as usual.
Iron Maiden’s Flight 666: The Film — the documentary about the reigning kings of metal’s globe-spanning, Bruce Dickinson-piloted, massive world tour — comes out today on DVD, and guess what? We’ve got 5 copies to give away. I actually missed this when it was out in theaters but everyone I know who’s seen it tells me it’s great, and I mean, come on: Iron Maiden, live footage, airplanes, Bruce-Bruce, Eddie… what the fuck else do you need in life?
Here’s what you have to do to win: tell us a funny or otherwise interesting personal story related to Iron Maiden. Could be the first time you saw the band live, could be the time you waited in line for 5 hours to meet them at a signing, could be the time “Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter” was blasting in your car as you lost your virginity in the backseat of your Chevy Nova. You may either post a comment here or send an email to news [at] metalsucks.net with “IRON MAIDEN 666″ as the subject line. We’ll pick our five favorite entries and notify the winners next Monday, June 15th.
Our bros at MetalInjection.net, MetalInsider.net and SMNnews.com are all giving away copies too, so be sure to visit them for more chances to win. U.S. residents only please, and be sure to use a valid email address.
Can we all agree that Iron Maiden 2000 comeback album Brave New World was a fucking phenomenal return to form? The return of Bruce-Bruce and the triple guitar attack of Dave Murray, Janick Gers and the recently rejoined Adrian Smith meant an end to the god-awful Blaze Bayley era and spawned an album full of a decade’s worth of pent-up vintage Maiden gems. The presence of Dickinson and Smith in the writing process made that much of a difference for Steve Harris, as the band cranked out now-classics such as “Ghost of the Navigator,” “Out of the Silent Planet,” the album’s title-track, and this, “The Wicker Man,” the album’s opening cut and first single. Maiden hasn’t matched this level of excellence in their two efforts since Brave New World, but at least we’ve got this one record that restored dignity to the once great band and no doubt allowed Maiden to return to their superstar, stadium World tour status of today.
-VN
[Sorry about the choppy video/audio midway through -- best I could find]
From the “I swear to God I’m not bitter” files: former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno apparently went off during a Q&A in Argentina last month, comparing Steve Harris to Adolf Hitler for his (allegedly) tyrannical grip over the band, which Di’Anno also called “boring.”
First of all, there’s a lot of things you can call Maiden, but “boring” is not one of them. You’ll only find Maiden boring if you hate having fun. Or happen to have your panties in a twist because you’re not in the band anymore. And being in the band is the only worthwhile thing you ever did with your life. And it was decades ago. And you’re nowhere near death. And people won’t stop asking you about it.
Iron Maiden are at the point in their career where they can get away with just about anything (see: wearing their own shirts on stage). And while some “best ___ ever” claims are unquantifiable, some hold weight without a shadow of a doubt. Exhibit A: the new Iron Maiden video game is quite possibly the best thing ever. Not only is it timely by way of referencing the band’s recent Bruce Dickinson-piloted jet jaunt around the world, it’s fun as hell and easy to play. And like all classic, simple games, it gets fucking hard in a hurry…. which only makes you want to play again.
That sound you hear is the collective productivity of the entire metal-loving Internet population going right down the drain.
-VN
[Iron Maiden Flight 666 The Game, via MS Maniac "bear wizard"]
What I like about White Wizzard, Earache Records’ latest signees, is that there’s no bullshit involved in their music. These are dudes who lived and died by their Maiden, Priest and Dio records back in the day and without a doubt still jam these records all the time. Perhaps best of all, there is not an ounce of irony here; though the dudes certainly have a sense of humor and, methinks, would categorize their music as “fun,” don’t expect them to try to out-shred anyone like a certain band or to pull any ironic “we have 15 singers” crap like another certain band. White Wizzard just like their “classic, traditional metal” (their own self-categorization), therefore that is what the play. Quite well, I might add.
Take their video for “High Speed GTO,” posted below. It’s got wizards and witches, sorcerers, general bad-assery and a storyline you’d expect from a classic Dio video, not a metal video in 2009. But the video doesn’t have these things because they think “ha ha, the ’80s were funny, let’s make fun of them!” like most of the poser rehash bands of today. No, these dudes actually think (and rightly so!) “wouldn’t it be fucking awesome if we had a video with wizards and witches and sorcerers??! that’d be fucking bad-ass!!!” It’s a fine line, kiddies.
After the jump, check out a recent EPK video featuring interviews and live footage of the band, including ex-Overloaded guitarist Erik Kluiber who recently joined White Wizzard as their second guitarist. Erik’s a talented axeman that longtime MetalSucks Maniacs will remember as commenter “ERiK.” Expect a “mini-album” (whatever that is) called High Speed GTO from White Wizzard on July 13th in the entire world. hello, Earache, it’s called “the Internet!” in Europe, and a full-length later in the year.
…here’s a clip of the band playing… actually, you know what? I’m not gonna tell you what fucking song this is. You should know, or you should probably be visiting some other website until your pubes come in.
In any case, this footage looks gorgeous:
Iron Maiden: Flight 666 will get a full-on theatrical release (fuck yeah!) on April 21.
-AR
(via Metal Injection)
Iron Maiden bassist/mastermind Steve Harris has brought his daughter to the slaughter; the young and fairly foxy Lauren Harris, who has been opening for dad on much of their “Somewhere Back in Time World Tour,” appears in a nude shoot in the UK’s FHM Magazine. The photos ain’t bad but they also ain’t full-frontal, so for the Maiden superfreaks who just want to get as close to their heroes as possible I recommend skipping straight to the nipple-slip pic we published last year. If only her music were quite this alluring.
-VN
High school Vince Neilstein would’ve loved Edguy if only he’d known about Edguy. Your Motley Crue-monikered editor took a break from metal during his high school years let down by the demise of the hair bands and the invasion of the nu-metal dunder-heads, completely oblivious to all the great music our European friends were creating on the other side of the pond. But when I discovered Iron Maiden my senior year it was all over, and so began my long, but deep descent into the world of metal (egged on by one Axl Rosenberg, to be sure). Tickle your funny bones with this one: summer after Senior year I went all by my lonesome to see Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden — ’cause no one else I knew gave two shits about metal — with a rolled joint ready to rock in my wallet. Needless to say, it was life-changing.
Last week’s post of In This Moment covering Iron Maiden sparked such an uproar that it inspired longtime MetalSucks Maniac Hegy to send in a link of another female artist covering a (sort of classic) metal track, Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerilla Radio” as performed by everyone’s favorite Canadian yodeler Alanis Morissette. Thing is, said cover isn’t nearly as objectionable as it might seem. For one, Alanis has actually got a good voice, and I liked a lot of her earlier material in a completely non-ironic (haha, get it?) way. But more importantly, Alanis doesn’t go for the straight cover. Her version of the RATM classic is musically quite different from the original — it’s more of an “interpretation” than a cover, if you will — and unless you’re a devoted student of RATM lyrics you probably wouldn’t recognize the song until the chorus kicks in at around the 1-minute mark. Alanis, you continue to prove why Canadians are that much smarter than their American brethren.
-VN
Finally… we have a capable, intelligent, forward-thinking new U.S. president. No, it’s not Dave Mustaine. Here’s what else happened this week:
Axl, myself and our girlfriends (we have girlfriends… whowouldathunkit???) are going to see The Dark Knight on the IMAX tonight. Hopefully weed will be involved. Later, suckaz!!
Less than a year ago I took it upon myself to tell the members of In This Moment that they really, seriously, no fucking around, needed to stop covering classic metal tracks. At the time, they’d already created lackluster versions of Slayer’s “Postmortem” and Pantera’s “I’m Broken,” and I’d like to think I wasn’t alone when I said “Enough is enough.”
Unfortunately, In This Moment really doesn’t give a fuck what I think, and I didn’t have the will power not to watch this:
By now word is out that Iron Maiden have made a documentary, entitled Iron Maiden: Flight 666, which chronicles the first leg of last year’s totally bitchin’ Somewhere Back in Time tour. A press release tells us that the film will be released (allegedly theatrically!) in April.
But, hey, so long as the dude who made Bruce Dickinson’s other movie isn’t involved, I’m onboard (rimshot!). Here’s the trailer:
-AR
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