IRON MAIDEN Singer Compares New Album To The Early Classics

IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson recently spoke to Rolling Stone magazine about the group's upcoming album, "Dance Of Death", due on September 9 through Columbia Records.

"It's a bit more sophisticated than [classic MAIDEN albums like 'Killers', 'Piece of Mind' and 'Number of the Beast'], I suppose," Dickinson said, "but in terms of the energy, it's definitely an equivalent. It's probably an amalgam of the first three albums I did with the band, with about twenty-five years of experience on top, and a willingness to go out on a few things that, for MAIDEN at least, are a bit experimental. There's a track, 'Journeyman', which I suppose you could describe as being a bit melancholy, with some acoustic guitars and such. That side might come out more on the records."

The set, which was completed in the spring at Sarm Studios in London with "Brave New World" producer Kevin Shirley at the helm, found the band adopting a less indulgent approach to the recording process. "It's comfortable, but it's also a hell of a lot more focused," Dickinson said. "We did 'Number of the Beast' in five weeks. We were staying up drinking 'til five in the morning. People got to the studio at 2 p.m. and took a few hours to get over the hangover. Then we did three or four hours of useful and productive work and then we celebrated our productive work until four in the morning. This cycle went on and we said, 'This is rock and roll!' Now we get in the studio about midday and work until about five or six and get about five hours of productive work and then we go home."