Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, never one to censor himself, has reportedly taken a couple of potshots at Metallica and Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford.
According to Loudwire, the singer recently chastised Halford for apparently using a teleprompter to help him remember lyrics during live shows. “People pay good money and you can’t even remember the sodding words,” exclaims Dickinson. “The daftest one I ever saw was Breaking the Law.”
Also, back in 2011 Dickinson told Metal Hammer that Iron Maiden were a much better band than Metallica.
“I got into trouble for saying that we’re better than Metallica … and, it’s true!” Dickinson added, “They might be bigger than us and they might sell more tickets than us and they might get more gold-plated middle-class bourgeoisie turning up to their shows but they’re not Maiden. I did say it’s a bit of a wind-up. I thought, if I’m going to turn into an a–hole, I might as well, you know, go for it!”
In a new interview with the Guardian, Dickinson’s comments were brought up to Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, who offered a humble response. “I will never argue with that,” says Ulrich. “I will always support Bruce Dickinson in whatever nonsense he says. That’s part of the fun. So go Iron Maiden! It’s fine.”
additional source: loudwire.com
153 Responses
(Sigh). Why do we bother arguing about this stuff, there’s no objective way to measure who’s “better”. Sales don’t tell it, concert attendance doesn’t tell it, critics don’t tell it, it’s all subjective opinion. Metallica and Maiden are both great, and both have sucked at times. Let’s see if Bruce needs a teleprompter at 63. The last Metallica album was good. The last couple of Maiden albums were good, but I do think there’s a generous helping of “been there, done that” to them. They can both still bring it, but I’ll give Iron Maiden the edge for overall best live show(s), taking the whole thing from sound to visuals to stage set into account. Real “intellectuals” don’t throw unprovoked insults to their peers through the media.
I agree. Bruce disagrees. He’s made that clear.
Bruce has a pattern. Ozzy. RH. Axl Rose. Metallica. Does he feel inferior and thus attacks or is he really THAT arrogant?
I bet his bandmates wish he would shut up and just be normal. Not all publicity is good. I am a Maiden fan but BD is slowly losing me. I am tired of his diatribes.
Most people seem to forget. Everyone is entitled to an opinion even someone whos is constantly in the public eye. It does not make him a bad guy for speaking his opinion. I am sure everyone who comments on this site has their own opinion too. If not, we would not be having this debate!
Glenn,
Again, that’s not the point. It would be one thing if Mr. Dickinson was asked directly for his opinion on the topic by the interviewer, then let the chips fall where they may. However, he offered his thoughts without provocation and came across as though he was taking an unnecessary swipe at Rob Halford. Halford, as far as I know, has never said anything disparaging in the press about him.
A debate is one thing, but trying to embarrass and denigrate someone else, is something entirely different. As I’ve posted before, Mr. Dickinson has a history of saying controversial things. Obviously, he loves the attention despite the fact that he sometimes comes of like the first part of his name.
Dana from EddieTrunk.com 🙂
Yeah, while Dickinson is a talented singer, he’s always been a dick. To my knowledge neither Metallica nor Halford has ever said anything negative about Maiden publicly. I feel Priest is the strongest band of the three. Metallica and Maiden are pretty much a dead lock, two bands who started out like gangbusters and then the wheels came off (Load, and Somewhere in Time respectively). Despite his noted vocals, Dickinson never had the range of Paul Di’Anno. Their best stuff is their first two albums as those albums showed a greater range that made you say ‘This is Maiden?’ Cool stuff. Dickinson needs to get over himself. He’s not even the best vocalist Maiden ever had.
As Nikki Sixx said many years ago, ever Maiden song starts off like the theme from the TV western “Bonanza”.
Bruce has been hangin out with Dave Mustaine. They sound so much alike now. Including the Metallica bashing. Why bash Metallica? Or priest? Maiden is already more successful than both of them. What’s the point?
Maiden more successful? Metallica has sold 110-million albums; Maiden hasn’t sold 25-million. How is Maiden more successful? Look at the RIAA numbers–not what Maiden claims– and you’ll see Maiden doesn’t sell. They make money touring. Metallica does it both ways. A hundred bands have sold more albums than Maiden. Every band on the below list. Without touring Maiden wouldn’t make any money for they don’t do well commercially with album sales. Don’t take my word, don’t take Maiden’s, take RIAA’s word. Look at their numbers. Or any independent group’s word. Maiden hasn’t sold 15-million albums with their last 7 albums combined. This is success?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists