Iron Maiden today revealed their brand-new track, The Writing On The Wall, with an eagerly anticipated global YouTube video premiere. The song was written by Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith & lead singer Bruce Dickinson, produced by Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Maiden bassist and founder-member Steve Harris.
Bruce Dickinson initially had a concept for the video which came to fruition in collaboration with two Award-winning former Pixar executives and long-standing Maiden fans Mark Andrews & Andrew Gordon. The pair have over 50 years of animation industry experience between them at the very top-level including work on The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Brave, Monsters Inc & Finding Nemo. With partners lining up to get involved with the project they chose BlinkInk, a London based animation studio celebrated for their work with a variety of global brands from Adidas to Coca-Cola and a number of high-profile music videos.
In BlinkInk director Nicos Livesey, another long-time Maiden fan & kindred spirit, they found a man who shared the collective vision for the track – resulting in the final film which features the very first glimpse of a stunning new incarnation of Eddie in spectacular 3D form.
Bruce comments “I had a pretty clear idea of the concept to accompany the song and when I met Mark and Andrew, on Zoom, it quickly became clear we were all very much on the same wavelength, and this was reinforced with the addition of Nicos and his young BlinkInk team. Our weekly team Zoom meetings were then usually both highly creative and a lot of fun!
I’m very proud of the way the video turned out, it’s more like a mini-film really. I knew it was going to work out as soon as Mark brought my treatment to life with his incredible storyboards – I thought we could make something very special together. I think we did and hope our fans will agree. In fact it’s pretty much created by Maiden fans.”
Director, Nicos Livesey takes up the story: “We quickly found the expertise we wanted, and people were literally throwing themselves at me to work on a Maiden video – we had more than 60 people in 13 countries from Brazil to France, & Romania to the U.S.A. to add something to the clip and I’d say their love, passion and understanding of the band shines through every frame. They were a dream team for the producers and myself to manage.”
37 Responses
So is it just coincidence that Maiden released this new music the same day Judas Priest announced the release of their massive box set? Or was it a deliberate attempt by one of the bands trying to usurp the other?
Interesting theory…
If you want lightness then Maiden’s not your band. It’s 2021 not 1984, bands evolve. With that said, Samurai Warrior Eddie!!! Bring it!
Creatures78,
Not sure your comment was directed only at me, but I will answer.
Iron Maiden never were my band, my band is Judas Priest. They have occasionally tackled heavy topics, but it us not their raison d’etre.
Also, the year has nothing do with the subject matter, as Robert wrote, it has been done many times before. I even cited Black Sabbath’s War Pigs as an example, and when was that written? 1970.
While I admitted that I checked out before the video ended, my point was, the world is in a very dark, chaotic and authoritarian place, who needs to be reminded of that? A diversion would be nice, but to each their own.
I agree
Dana – If Iron Maiden isn’t your cup of tea, oh well. To each their own. I’m just happy the bands I grew up with are still making new music and are touring at a high level. However, I thought “Writing On The Wall” and its accompanying (might I add amazing) animation video with all its little nods to their past (I counted at least 16) was cool and innovative.
There is no question is was innovative, I just need some happiness, that’s all. 🙂
I like old Maiden, not a fan of this song (or the cartoon video) at all. As Dana has said, most people listen to music to escape from all the bullsh-t in the world, not to be reminded of it. And bands need to remember the other half of their fans that have different views, do you really want to alienate half of your fan base?
Get a clue Doug! What do you think Maiden’s entire catalog is about…daises, unicorns & rainbows-Lol.
No sh-t sherlock, I just prefer Maiden’s older stuff, especially musically. Never been a huge Maiden fan to begin with, or a fan of every song or album, especially this one. But hey, if you like it, that’s good for you, but I’ve had enough controversy for a while.
I’ve listened to this about 8 times in the last 2 days. I still don’t like the “All leaders are a**holes” because they’ve done that over and over but, I like the song with it’s slightly different sound.
On this song Bruce’s vocals seem a bit in the background but that happened on Book of Souls on a song or 2 also. Hope that doesn’t happen with all the songs on the new one. The solos are awesome and I live how heavy the drums are when they come in.
P.S. The video kicks ass.