I want to talk about a movie that I recently took in – Flight 666. This is a documentary of Iron Maiden’s 2008 world tour. What was remarkable about this tour was the schedule and the scope of the logistics. These dudes bought a Boeing 757, painted it up and named it “Ed Force 1.” Even sweeter than this fact was that the plane was piloted by the bands lead singer – Bruce Dickenson.
The movie is about this far out tour. They loaded up all of their gear, stage props, roadies, fucking everything and performed 23 concerts in 24 days on 5 different continents covering over 50,000 miles.
A bit of a disclaimer would be appropriate at this point and that is that I love Maiden. I think they totally rule. That said, this is a really good documentary. It has the right mix of interviews, scenery and concert footage. Non fans of the band would still enjoy this movie as it really gives a great flavor of the hectic schedule, a sense of what the concert was like in each of these foreign venues and what it meant to fans at all of these destinations to see Iron Maiden live (I particularly liked the Australian fan interviews). Here is a link to the official movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZDOMGAqJ4M
The movie is really good and I doubt that I will see another this year that I will enjoy as much. That said, I want to wax Maiden for a bit.
The most interesting thing about the movie, and really the band, is that this was not some sort of revival tour. They were not playing to throngs of 30-40 something dudes. This was a tour designed to deliver live Maiden to new fans of the band. That is the crux of what I am trying to get at – that is how many young fans of Iron Maiden there are, not just in the States, but world wide. The movie bears this out as did my personal viewing of it in the theater. I expected to be surrounded by sad aging rockers (like myself) but was surprised at how many younger fans of the band there were who came out to catch this flick.
The Iron Maiden phenomenon has always been a bit of a strange one. They have had absolutely no media support as opposed to a band like Metallica who gets slurped at every possible opportunity. I mean, I am sure that you have never heard a Maiden tune on the radio. That is very strange considering that they are one of the most successful bands of all time, and I feel are unquestionably the greatest heavy metal band of all time. So then, why no media support?
Part of it could be that their songs tend to be long by radio standards, 5 to 8 minutes, but that cannot be the whole explanation. Could it be the childish “satanic” stigma? That would be bizarre, but I bet true. This all stems from a song they did called the “Number of the Beast.” It was a song about a dude who had a dream that he was witnessing a satanic ritual. It was not “satanic” in the way that gets Christians excited, but that stigma has apparently attached none-the-less. This has all been to the great amusement of the band themselves. In fact, it has made them a lot of money.
It is too bad though if potential fans of the band and media outlets did not give Maiden a listen because of this silly notion. That is sad because Maiden’s lyrics are intelligible and intelligent as opposed to the screaming that most metal bands consider lyrics. They are also musically far to superior to other metal bands who are capable only of unrelenting power cords. Metallica comes to mind again.
Speaking of Metallica, the media darlings, lets compare some lyrics just for kicks. The much celebrated “last Caress/Green Hell” goes as follows: “I’ve got something to say, I killed your baby today and it doesn’t matter much to me, as long as it’s dead. I’ve got something to say, I raped your mother today and it doesn’t matter much to me, as long as she’s spread.” Now, I like Metallica, but is this more radio worthy than Maiden?
I realize that I am cherry picking, but compare the above to the lyrics of Maiden’s “Alexander the Great:” “King Darius the third, Defeated fled Persia, The Scythians fell by the river of Jaxartes, then Egypt fell to the Macedon king as well, and then founded the city called Alexandria, by the Tigris river, he met King Darius again, and crushed him again at the battle of Arbela, entering Babylon, and Susa treasures he found, took Persepolis the capital of Persia.” I realize that I am a big nerd, but this not only rocks, but is historically accurate. Quite the opposite of the usual knuckle dragging song writing of most metal bands.
So, in conclusion, if you like rock music, check out Flight 666. And, if you have never listened to any Maiden, do yourself a favor and download some. I strongly recommend “Ryme of the Ancient Mariner” as a starter.
Finally, if you disagree with any of the above, please send an e-mail to iamacompletefucktard@onlyinthebuttplease.com. If your first e-mail does not go through for some reason, keep typing out the address until the message is delivered.
Krammer
