In an era where live performances are often polished with pre-recorded elements, Iron Maiden remains unwavering in its commitment to authenticity. Frontman Bruce Dickinson has made it clear that the legendary band will never resort to backing tracks or studio tricks to enhance their live shows.
Speaking to Classic Rock magazine, the 66-year-old vocalist insisted that if the band ever reaches a point where they can’t deliver a 100% live performance, they would rather step away than compromise their integrity.
“The idea that you can turn it into the Disneyland Maiden by using backing tracks, a few tricks… No!” Dickinson stated, according to Guitar.com. “Maiden has to be one hundred percent real — and fuc**ng fierce!”
The singer recalled a recent conversation with a fan who praised the band for continuing to perform at such a high level, to which Dickinson answered: “Yeah, and we’re doing it for real. There’s no detuning”. When the fan mentioned that many artists rely on backing tracks, Dickinson shut the idea down immediately: “I said: ‘No! No, no! If we use backing tracks, that’s the day I quit. Or the day we stop. If it’s not real, it’s not Maiden.'”
Bassist Steve Harris also added his opinion on the matter, saying that they’ll know when it’s time to stop: “I think you’d know in yourself if you can’t cut it anymore. And I like to think that we’re still out there giving it large.”
This isn’t the first time Dickinson has voiced his disdain for the industry’s increasing reliance on artificial enhancements. During an appearance on the Rich Roll podcast (transcribed by Blabbermouth), he reiterated that the band still performs songs in their original key without detuning – something many aging artists opt for to accommodate vocal limitations.
“We still play all the songs in the original key; we don’t drop, downtune, and stuff like that. We still play everything too fast, because we’re all excited. We’ve never played to click tracks or like time code and everything else now, ’cause I see a lot of bands now, and I’m going, ‘Hang on a minute. Hey, you sang that without moving your lips.’ So there’s all these backing vocals being flown in left, right, and center and everything. But we don’t do any of that. Everything is analog and real. So we are kind of old school in that respect. But I think that pays dividends ’cause the audience understands that reality is increasingly kind of rare now,” he quipped.
This philosophy is shared across the band. Guitarist Adrian Smith also criticized the use of pre-recorded elements in a 2019 interview with the New York Post, expressing concern that music is becoming too reliant on technology: “I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don’t think it’s a good thing at all. I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to”
“We’ve toured with a couple of bands that use tapes — it’s not real. You’re supposed to play live; it should be live. I don’t agree with using tapes … I think it’s a real shame,” Smith concluded.
Source: metalinjection.net
