Bruce Dickinson is among the more outspoken people in the metal and rock and roll community. He’s been the lead singer of Iron Maiden, traveled the world, and just released a solo album this year, The Mandrake Project. There was once a time, though, when he was in a band called Samson that played with Iron Maiden on a tour. He sat down with Record Collector magazine and talked about those early days in addition to what he thinks of Paul Di’Anno’s singing.
“The first time I saw Maiden was at what was then the Music Machine in Camden. Samson were headlining because our management had bankrolled the gig and said, ‘We want the top slot,’ although we didn’t really deserve it. That became obvious when Maiden came on because the whole place was rammed.
I’d heard rumors about how good they were, and I thought I’d better see them. When they came out, I thought, ‘I’ve never seen Deep Purple, but this is what it must have felt like to see Deep Purple in their prime, rocking up a storm.'”
He went on to talk about Paul Di’Anno’s voice and vocal talents.
“He was okay, but he didn’t have a lot of flex to his voice. I thought his voice had come as far as it was going to get.”
That’s definitely not going to make diehard Di’Anno Iron Maiden fans happy, but it’s kind of the reality of the situation. Iron Maiden reached heights that were not previously possible, because of Bruce Dickinson joining the band in 1982. The other members of the band, though, Bruce had glowing things to say about them.
“I saw what the rest of the band were capable of straight away, and I remember thinking, ‘Good God, I’d love to front that band.’ And as soon as they finished playing, everybody in the venue left and we were headlining to about three people.”
What do you think of Dickinson’s comments? Do you think they’re true?
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Source: Record Collector Magazine
