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
Iron maiden have very recently toured the US completely…the FINAL FRONTIER tour in 2010 went everywhere and the Maiden England 2012 tour went everywhere….they have never said they hate America..they just said they don’t understand why the audience doesn’t appreciate the new music that mades make…says we are a hits only, old school setlist audience and they are right unfortunately. I mean iike my bands to evolve and keep creating but most in this country are content hearing the same old sets over and over…its diehards that crave new music and I think that is limiting
Guitarist of Maiden used autocue when copied Running Wild in The Wicker man
Well said Ocotes!!! I’m glad I’m not the only one who has pointed this out many times before. I actually asked KK Downing via Email in 2007 why nobody in Priest had ever said anything about Maiden blatantly ripping the Running Wild riff for the Wicker Man.
He did reply as well: “I think it would be politically incorrect for me to comment other than I will happily buy you a beer if we ever meet.”
Make of that what you will……
Again, sounds like all the members of Priest have class.
Dana from ET.com 🙂
what does he has to gain by this? I just read an interview where he went off about American crowds only wanting the hits vs. european crowds being more appreciative…what a bunch of bs..I bet the europeans arent paying outrageous prices for tix like we do here..so bruce you’ll have to excuse me for wanting to hear the classics vs. Wickerman….the last time I seen maiden, I bought lawn tix and the only classic they played was the “trooper”…..they didnt even play run to the hills, which last time I checked, was their only song I remember getting any radio play…
Still think Priest is way overrated, I’ll take some Maiden any day
Greg
This Priest/Maiden debate has raged on for years. Eddie has even had a metal summit on this very topic many times. Chris Jericho, who favors Maiden, is always in the minority. He, like you, is completely entitled to his opinion.
However, the fact remains that Priest came first. Not only that, but at least they have tried to change their sound many times throughout their career and are willing to take risks. Maiden always sounds the same. Not that there is anything wrong with that as AC/DC can attest to, but it can get redundant, especially, and again no disrespect to Mr. Harris, those galloping bass lines.
You may think Priest is overrated, but I am sure there are many others who feel the same way about Maiden. Also, in Jericho’s defense, he admits to loving Priest as well as Maiden and has never denigrated the band.
Cheers,
Dana from ET.com 🙂
TelePrompTer…
– Steven Tyler
– Ozzy
– Rob Halford
– David Lee Roth
Some of the greats, but they are all older, and some of these songs were written 30 years ago…don’t like it but understand…just wish they wouldn’t make it so obvious that they are reading, not just using them in case they forget…Tyler does it the least, but he has them…sat front row many times and you can see them plain as day…Look at the video of Aerosmith in Japan that came out not long ago and they are in many frames shot of Tyler…helping them is one thing, but blatant reading kills all feel of the singing
Roth and Tyler use a teleprompter too? I didn’t know that. Ozzy has always been a joke of a frontman. I saw him ONCE with Sabbath in 99. They didn’t even play 90 minutes. Ozzy screwed up Paranoid. I love Tony and Geezer. But I will never play to see Osbourne again.
Unfortunately they do…