IRON MAIDEN's NICKO MCBRAIN Announces Retirement From Touring: Tonight Will Be 'My Final Gig' With The Band - BLABBERMOUTH.NET

Sadly, I never saw him play drums at a concert and never will...

https://blabbermouth.net/news/iron-maidens-nicko-mcbrain-announces-retirement-from-touring-tonight-will-be-will-be-my-final-gig-with-the-band

Iron Maiden - Aces High--Belgrade, Serbia, 5-24-2022

I didn't know this tune,  meaning I could not hum the melody,  until I watched this video and realized I had definitely listened to the tune before - it had just been too long.  As a general rule,  I respect Iron Maiden for what they do. They are a band that I just have never put on a priority list for my ears.  

https://youtu.be/RQG4uJdVKyU?si=WPgs3wQ9BRQyYRm7 

Ridiculous Non-Issue

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https://youtu.be/ xZ6g3GSdnx0

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My Spider-Jedi Sense is Tingling

This list was published on Jun 29, 2021, 10:39 AM and I have some thoughts:

• Cradle of Filth, Cruelty and the Beast (1998) should not be on this list… it’s awful.
• I agree with including Slayer's Seasons In The Abyss
• I might have replaced Seasons with Megadeth's Rust in Peace if I wanted to ensure a Big Four band is on this list
• I can see the case for Iron Maiden's Powerslave, though I haven’t listened to it in decades
• I haven’t gone out of my way to re-listen to White Zombie's Astro-Creep 2000 in decades
• I haven’t gone out of my way to re-listen to Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance in decades
  

My Spider-Jedi sense is tingling - I can see a Youtube playlist with these 20 albums in my future. 20 Metal Albums Without A Bad Song On Them | The Pit (wearethepit.com)

1. DevilDriver, The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand (2005)
2. Slayer, Seasons In The Abyss (1990)
3. Mantar, Death by Burning (2014)
4. Electric Wizard, Witchcult Today (2007)
5. He Is Legend,White Bat (2019)
6. Dark Angel, Darkness Descends (1986)
7. Take Over and Destroy, Endless Night (2013)
8. Cradle of Filth, Cruelty and the Beast (1998)
9. Autopsy, The Headless Ritual (2013)
10. Gama Bomb, Citizen Brain (2008)
11. White Zombie, Astro Creep: 2000 (1995)
12. The Crown, Crowned In Terror (2002)
13. Acid Witch, Stoned (2011)
14. Strapping Young Lad, City (1997)
15. Uada, Devoid of Light (2016)
16. Iron Maiden, Powerslave (1984)
17. Black Fast, Terms of Surrender (2015)
18. Sleep, The Sciences (2018)
19. Soilwork, Natural Born Chaos (2002)
20. Judas Priest, Screaming for Vengeance (1982)

You're BD - Of Course You Have THE MOVES

Bruce Dickinson Cuts Loose On The Dance Floor At Son's Wedding

Mighty Maiden Misses

Per Iron Maiden 2022 North American Tour Dates, once again, a great tour is going around Iowa and, of the two dates closest to me - in SD & in Chicago - they play on a Monday and a Wednesday, which is not going to work. I have never seen Iron Maiden in concert and I would like to see both Iron Maiden & Judas Priest before they cease touring.

Iron Maiden 2022 North American Tour

• Sept. 11 - El Paso, Texas @ Don Haskins Center
• Sept. 13 - Austin, Texas @ Moody Center
• Sept. 15 - Tulsa, Okla. @ BOK Center
• Sept. 17 - Denver, Colo. @ Ball Arena
• Sept. 19 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ USANA Amphitheatre
• Sept. 21 - Anaheim, Calif. @ Honda Center
• Sept. 25 - Chula Vista, Calif. @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
• Sept. 27 - Concord, Calif. @ Concord Pavilion
• Sept. 29 - Seattle, Wash. @ Climate Pledge Arena
• Sept. 30 - Spokane, Wash. @ Spokane Arena
• Oct. 03 - Sioux Falls, S.D. @ Denny Sanford Premier Center <-- a Monday
  
• Oct. 05 - Chicago, Ill. @ United Center <-- a Wednesday
• Oct. 07 - Columbus, Ohio @ Nationwide Arena
• Oct. 09 - Detroit, Mich. @ Little Caesars Arena
• Oct. 11 - Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank Centre
• Oct. 12 - Hamilton, Ontario @ First Ontario Centre
• Oct. 15 - Ottawa, Ontario @ Canadian Tire Centre
• Oct. 17 - Worcester, Mass. @ DCU Center
• Oct. 19 - Belmont Park, N.Y. @ UBS Arena
• Oct. 21 - Newark, N.J. @ Prudential Center
• Oct. 23 - Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena
• Oct. 25 - Greensboro, N.C. @ Greensboro Coliseum
• Oct. 27 - Tampa, Fla. @ Amalie Arena

Am I Supposed to be Bored by an IM Tune? I Was

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Gems

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0:00 Judas Priest - The Sentinel 

5:05 Iron Maiden - Where Eagles Dare 

11:19 Metallica - Blackened
17:59 Accept - Starlight
21:52 Anthem - Venom Strike
26:40 W.A.S.P. - King of Sodom and Gomorrah
30:31 Razor - Cross Me Fool
33:47 Dokken - Into The Fire
38:17 Cacophony - Savage
44:08 Black 'N' Blue - Chains Around Heaven
48:09 Running Wild - Freewind Rider
53:30 Metal Church - Ton Of Bricks
56:31 Savatage - Power of the Night
1:01:46 Fates Warning - Without a Trace
1:06:36 Carnivore - Male Supremacy
1:14:04 Elektradrive - Secret of the Holy Grave
1:19:36 Crimson Glory - Eternal World
1:23:29 Norden Light - Legends

If I Played Guitar...

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Makes Me Giggle

Honestly, it makes me giggle when I read marketing materials for someone I've never heard of that are written in the tone of "You are not a real metal fan if you've never heard of this person / band." Case in point, the text of an email I received today at 5:59 AM. I've never heard of "Leather Leone" in my life. Not ever before today. I must not be a heavy metal fan if I've never heard of "Leather Leone." Words arranged in the following order also made me giggle:
" . . . only female vocalist to be compared to Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Bruce Dickenson of Iron Maiden and Geoff Tate." So, you're going to name-check Rob Halford, and say that he is in Judas Priest, and you're going to name-check Bruce Dickenson, and say that he is in Iron Maiden, and you're going to name-check Geoff Tate but NOT mention that he is the former lead singer of Queensryche? I would argue that it's more likely to know who Halford and Dickenson are and to know what band they are a member of than it is likely to know Geoff Tate was in Queensryche, but Queensryche isn't name-checked? Wow. And that's not even mentioning that Leather Leone is "the only female vocalist to be compared" to Halford, Dickenson, and Tate. The ONLY female vocalist that has been compared to those three? Really?

Anyways, read on.

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SAUSALITO, CA (AUGUST 23, 2019) — LEATHER LEONE is hailed by many as one of the most powerful and most influential female vocalists in history of Heavy Metal music. LEATHER is excited to announce she has signed with Michael Brandvold Marketing for management, stating "Moving forward with Michael Brandvold is a natural progression for me. He has been offering support and advice for years. I am extremely excited to move forward with his knowledge and love of METAL!!!" Michael Brandvold added, "Everything I do is about helping artists find their fans and help them connect with those fans,” Michael says. “LEATHER wants nothing more than to create and play music for her fans and I admire her dedication."

LEATHER's immediate plans... working on a new album. "Vinnie Tex and I are continuing our writing wizardry toward another Leather record."

Oft-championed alongside Wendy O. Williams, Betsy Bitch, and Doro Pesch as a leading torchbearer for high-power heavy metal frontwomen, LEATHER LEONE is perhaps best known for her outstanding work alongside legendary guitar shredder David T. Chastain—having performed on no less than four of CHASTAIN’s full-length albums prior to releasing her solo debut, Shock Waves, in 1989. However, after another stellar outing with CHASTAIN the following year with For Those Who Dare, a lengthy hiatus occurred, and it would be 20 years before LEATHER's inimitable vocal force would resurface.

2011 found LEONE once more joining forces with early-'80s Rude Girl bandmate Sandy Sledge for the Sledge Leather project, resulting in the 2012 full-length Imagine Me Alive. Subsequent albums with CHASTAIN followed in Surrender to No One (2013) and We Bleed Metal ‎(2015); and touring under her own name throughout South America and Europe over the past two years, LEATHER and her current lineup of Vinnie Tex and Daemon Ross (guitars), Thiago Velasquez (bass), and Braulio Drummond (drums) have harnessed their newfound fire into a brand new album that was released in 2018. The scorching 11-song outing—titled simply II—was mixed and mastered by the Wiesławski Brothers (VADER, BEHEMOTH, etc.).

Leather II was release worldwide through High Roller Records in Europe, Rubicon Music in Japan, Divebomb Records in North America, Urubuz Records in Brasil, Pacheco Records in Argentina and GOH Records in Peru.

In 1984, she was connected to metal guitar virtuoso David T. Chastain, who was known at the time for his band CJSS, featuring bassist Mike Skimmerhorn. She joined his new band, CHASTAIN, as the Lead Vocalist. The first lineup, which was featured on the album Mystery Of Illusion (1985), had Skimmerhorn on Bass and Fred Coury as Drummer, who would go on to Cinderella shortly after this. She recorded 5 albums with Chastain, Mystery Of Illusion (1985), Ruler Of The Wasteland(1986), The 7th Of Never (1987), Voice Of The Cult (1988), and For Those Who Dare (1990) with other members of Chastain who went on to bands including: Ken Mary with House of Lords, Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper and Accept; John Luke Herbert and David Harbour with King Diamond; Pat O'Brien with Cannibal Corpse.

After Chastain's: For Those Who Dare tour finished in 1991, the world waited for more. Then Leather disappeared. For years fans searched and wondered what had happened to the “Voice of the Cult”, the only female vocalist ever to be compared to Rob Halford from Judas Priest, Bruce Dickenson from Iron Maiden and Geoff Tate.

Sounding awesomely better than ever. - Tony Dolan, Venom Inc

One of the all time great metal vocalists... male or female! - David T Chastain

https://www.facebook.com/leatherleone/
https://twitter.com/leatherleone
https://www.instagram.com/leather_leone_band/

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Editor's Note: Tags for this content:

Bruce Dickenson - New
Geoff Tate - New
Iron Maiden - Existed
Judas Priest - Existed
Leather Leone - New
Queensryche - Existed
Rob Halford - Existed

Metal Legion

Get Ready For “The Metal Legions” Tour Featuring IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, TESTAMENT & More 

Seeing Iron Maiden & Judas Priest would satisfy the requirement of seeing those two iconic heavy metal bands prior to my death. Testament would be awesome while Obituary? Not on the top of my list. I've never heard of "The Raven Age" but if they are being selected to be on this tour, more power to them!

Brilliant!

The equivalent of The Onion for heavy music fans is MetalSucks.net which I have linked to elsewhere on this blog. The latest funny thing that they posted is this article: Clickbait Magazine Says These are the 25 Best Metal Albums of All Time. In case you don't want to leave this page to view their Top 25, here they are:

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25. Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
24. Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
23. Napalm Death - From Enslavement to Obliteration
22. Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol
21. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
20. Tool - 10,000 Days
19. Slayer - God Hates Us All
18. Slipknot - All Hope is Gone
17. Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzmosis
16. In Flames - Soundtrack to Your Escape
15. Korn - Korn III: Remember Who You Are
14. Morbid Angel - Heretic
13. Suicide Silence - Suicide Silence
12. Megadeth - The System Has Failed
11. Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
10. Pantera - Reinventing the Steel
9. Lamb of God - Wrath
8. Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution
7. Damn Yankees - Don’t Tread
6. Mötley Crüe - New Tattoo
5. Anthrax - Stomp 442
4. Guns N’ Roses - “The Spaghetti Incident?”
3. Adema - Topple the Giants
2. Metallica - …And Justice for All
1. Jethro Tull - Crest of a Knave

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Just in case you aren't sure that it's meant to be interpreted as satire, there's this clue:

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The Grunge Gold Rush Followed the Hair Metal Gold Rush Part I

I had to smirk when I read this article about how once Nirvana exploded with tons of sales, the record labels went scouring for similar bands. At the time, many people seemed to treat that action like it had never been done before, but it had. I lived through the record companies doing it the previous time - I call it "the Los Angeles hair metal explosion" that followed the success of Quiet Riot's "Cum On Feel the Noize" in 1983ish. Soon after that, Dokken, Ratt, Poison, LA Guns, BulletBoys, and other CA bands emerged. Not to be outdone, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, and Britny Fox emerged from the East coast.

Nowadays, there is an authentic disdain for many of those bands. What irks me is when people grumble about how those bands were not talented. I never agree with those statements. Granted, Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me" is not Chopin, but neither is AC/DC's "Back in Black" or Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love." The point is that those aforementioned bands that grew to popularity in the 80s metal movement were musicians. White Lion's Vito Bratta constructed awesome guitar riffs; Ratt's Warren DeMartini did as well.

Usually what happens is that fans who make generalized statements about an entire genre of music didn't grow up listening to it. That's why I think I have more patience with those bands than with the 90s Alternative / Grunge movement. In 1991, I was a senior in college and by spring 1992, Nirvana was a 'thing' that was followed by Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. I can wholeheartedly deny ever spending as many hours with Soundgarden's "Louder than Love" as I spent with Ratt's "Out of the Cellar" and that's really okay. Alternative / Grunge bands were just too trippy for me - too out there. I wanted Pearl Jam to make tunes like "Even Flow" and "Alive" instead of "Jeremy" (which I still consider to be an awful tune) because that was what I was used to hearing from bands. Smashing Pumpkins didn't do anything for me until they released the tune with the "Today is the greatest day" lyrics; I'd deny I ever purchased "Siamese Dream" but it came with the CDs I purchased in Indy from the fireman - can't say his name.

Continued in Part II

Revolving Doors!

When you look at these 5 pages, you might be put off by how many times the band's lineup has changed. I don't really think that's appropriate. There are bands that are not as popular or as well-known as these 5 bands who change their lineup at least as frequently as these 5. The difference is that sites like blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com, and other metal music websites are around to write about the changes and, sometimes unfortunately, provide fans with a place to voice their pleasure (or displeasure) with the change.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Sabbath_band_members
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cradle_of_Filth_members
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Megadeth_band_members
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Quiet_Riot_members
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.A.S.P.#Members 

I could have easily listed Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Testament, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest instead of the above 5. What started me down this path was thinking about Cradle of Filth because I just found out I downloaded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptoriana_%E2%80%93_The_Seductiveness_of_Decay from Youtube.com, including this (ahem) gem:

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More DMS

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On This Date, MANY Years ago, THIS happened....

36 Years Ago: Bruce Dickinson Performs First Show With Iron Maiden

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Up Mashing

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Metalling the Day

00:00:01 Crusader - Saxon
00:06:34 Accept - Balls to the Wall
00:12:01 Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
00:16:57 Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell
00:23:52 Diamond Head - Am I Evil
00:31:32 Judas Priest - Electric Eye
00:35:11 Grim Reaper - See you in Hell
00:39:27 Manowar - Warriors of the World
00:43:15 Helloween - Power
00:46:43 Iron Maiden - Powerslave
00:54:00 Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King

Seis Horas de GRANDES EXITOS

"6 Hours of Big Hits" from two big bands - Iron Maiden & Metallica.

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The Number of the Beast

For the first time ever, I published 666 posts in a single year. I took the screen capture below after I published the previous post:

Whenever I see that number, I think of Iron Maiden!