I remember like it was yesterday, the day I walked into a record store and saw two albums staring back at me from a display shelf.  One was Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Oz.  The other was Iron Maiden's Killers.  I was aware at the time that Ozzy was the singer for Black Sabbath and that he had gone solo but being a HUGE Kiss fan at the time, I didn't give a fuck. I distinctly remember saying to a buddy, "Look at that... Iron Maiden... pfffffttt.  Another band with a neat album cover but they probably SUCK!!! Never judge a book by it's cover"... and that was that.  I shut the door on Iron Maiden before I even heard them!  I wasn't about to spend ELEVEN DOLLARS on an album just because the picture was cool!!  But I did that with Kiss for years!!!!  If I woulda bought into Iron Maiden's package, I woulda discovered some of the best damn music available at the time.  The BWOHM (British Wave of Heavy Metal) was just starting to kick in with bands like Judas Priest, Saxon, Whitesnake and Def Leppard releasing what would become a full fledged movement in the heavy metal genre. Most of it didn't even amount to a BOWEL movement, but the good stuff would make it the most consumed music on the planet. Still to this day when "people" recall "the music of the 80's", they only think of A Flock of Seagulls and that fuckin hairdo buddy was sporting and write off the whole decade as a totally insignificant slice of time to the music world.  

Well I say FUCK THAT.   Some of the best bands ever spawned were from the 80's.  Anyone remember a little band called Metallica?  How about U2?  Sure Van Halen was huge in the late 70's but face it, they really came about in the 80's and were THEE top act around '83 and '84.  How about Motley Crue?  Guns n Roses?  The list goes on and on.  The band I was most addicted to in 1983 was Iron Maiden, largely because of their "Piece of Mind" album.  I STILL love that album.  Even the obscure tunes like "Still Life" and "To Tame A Land" were fuckin masterpieces.  The 3 albums before that were fucking amazing as well.  Who DOESN'T remember the intro to "Number of the Beast"?  "Whoa to you oh earth and sea..."  I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday but I remember that album from front to back as well.  But then along came Metallica and made everything sound like SHIT to me.  Maiden had 2 albums after "Piece of Mind" that were any good.  Great really... but then that was it.  After that, it all sounded the same to me. They'd found they're formula and they were stickin with it... and so ended my love affair with Eddie, the only gay relationship I'd ever been in...  Even though the affair was over, I was still Jonesin to see Maiden in a big fuckin way.  And finally... I got to see Eddie for the first time... all twelve feet of the big ugly bastard.  I just wish I could have taken my son to see them.  Yes, even my 15 year old son LIKES Maiden and that in itself speaks volumes.

Thanks to "the Legend" (a buddy of mine), I ticked another "gotta see" band off my list.  The seats weren't the best, but they were free so I aint bitchin.  I actually moved half way around the ACC, (whoever the fuck owns it, I don't give a shit, it's still the Air Canada Centre to me!!) to position myself a little better for the stage shots but I was still way too far back to get any decent detail to the shots.  So like I said before, I was heavily into OLD Maiden so when they actually came out and played their whole new album from front to back and then threw in about 5 oldies for good measure, I was somewhat disappointed but still happy to see the boys in action.  Bruce Dickinson can sing better than damn near anyone I've ever heard so if he was having a bad night, you'd STILL have to say he was in top form if you've never seen him perform live before.  Steve Harris and Dave Murray, the original two members from the first album were top notch.  Steve has always been a GREAT bass player and Dave Murray can hold his own with pretty well any guitarist in the world.  I expected Adrian Smith to be the quiet, off to the side, type of guy but he was right out there posing and cock rocking it up.. Adrian is truly a great guitarist as well.  

Probably the best one two punch any band has ever been able to put together.  Janick Gers... I dunno what to say about this guy.. he's good, can't say anything bad about him.  He's got the moves and the poses and can outplay most kids these days... I still don't know why they ever needed a THIRD guitarist but if it works for them, why not?  Maybe the guy needed a job and that's Maiden's way of helping out a down and out street musician?  Nicko McBrain was in top form, he don't need to do a solo to let you know he's a kick ass drummer.  Every song is a workout and a half so tune into the drums for a couple minutes and you'll be convinced he's a talented dude.  Now on top of all this, take into account these guys are all around the FIFTY fuckin year old mark and you'll see why the talent level is even THAT much more important.  To be runnin and jumpin around like they do and not even miss a note takes serious talent.  Even though I didn't know hardly any of the tunes they played, I still thought Iron Maiden lived up to the expectations of having a solid show and drew a varied crowd of 11 - 12,000.  Not bad for a bunch of guys who are totally dismissed musically by radio stations and music critics alike.  Well my sentiments are the same as the band's when it comes to these assholes.  FUCK THEM.