20 Years Ago: Iron Maiden Return With ‘The Wicker Man’

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Bruce Dickinson was clear about what he expected from his return to Iron Maiden. It wasn’t going to be a cash-in and it wasn’t going to be a nostalgia trip. He’d been away for five years, during which the metal icons’ fortunes had faded, and he found his solo adventure less exciting than he’d hoped.

The tensions caused in part by a schedule of almost constant work since the day he joined the band had built a rift between Dickinson and band leader Steve Harris. But six years on, all that was in the past. Singer Blaze Bayley was gone, most of the material on the two albums he fronted were consigned to the past and the new, six-piece Maiden lineup – also featuring returning guitarist Adrian Smith and remaining replacement Janick Gers – had completed the Ed Hunter tour to prove it was still a force to be reckoned with.

Next came the new music. “We’re not sad, old fuckers getting back together to go and make a few bucks,” Dickinson told Billboard in April 2000. “That’s sad and cheesy and not something I’m interested in.” Elsewhere, he told official biographer Mick Wall that his main concern was “whether we would in fact be making a real state-of-the-art record, not just a comeback album.”

Maiden abandoned Harris’ barn, where their previous four albums were recorded, and settled in France with producer Kevin Shirley – a relationship that continues to this day. A&R man John Kalodner suggested the pairing, noting that "using a more modern producer with a legendary band is a real good combination, because it doesn’t sound like some recycled material. … Kevin really kept the record current, but yet it’s still totally Iron Maiden.”

Watch Iron Maiden's ’The Wicker Man’ Video