From what I remember reading, Steve Harris basically encouraged him to leave because he [Stratton] was not into enough metal for the direction they went in. Stratton was more into bands like the Eagles, etc., plus older school stuff like Deep Purple and that's the type of stuff he would try to bring to the table.
Yes, and he played in Praying Mantis from 1990-06, and formed The Iron Men with Dianno for three albums
No he did play in Lionheart, I was just naming other things he had done. And yes, I will cover solo careers and side projects
I've never owned the first two albums, so I'll be approaching these songs pretty much afresh, it's been so long since I heard a lot of them... Prowler Love the opening. The musicianship on their very first track tells you this will be a special band. Before this thread, I didn't know Nicko wasn't the original drummer. Clive Burr is impressive...why did he leave the band? The lyrics aren't exactly Harris' best work. Paul Di'Anno...I can see from other posts, I'll be in the minority here (get your tomatoes ready!). Not a fan. I agree that a raw growl fits this song better than Bruce's operatic style, but Di'Anno just isn't great at it. A good introduction to Maiden, but not their best.
I think it was the rigorous touring that led Burr to leave. He then formed Clive Burr’s Escape which did nothing. Too bad, as he was a great drummer. Maybe not as rock solid as McBrain, but he definitely had great chops.
I prefer him to Nicko, with all do respect to Nicko. And yeah, especially when he got struck down with MS Poor guy
I've heard different stories about why Clive left: drugs, musical differences, touring, there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer, and with his death there probably never will be because Never Speak Ill of the Dead
I caught this show in Dallas and it was amazing! They can still bring it after all of these years. The only thing that would have made the show better is if they'd left Janick Gers at home. His prancing around and guitar spinning was really distracting - the classic lineup is enough.
On Prowler, he sounds just like Nicko to me. It'll be interesting to compare them once we get to Piece of Mind. As for MS, it's one cruel disease. Sad that he went too soon.
How I got into Iron Maiden: Sophomore year in high school and one of my school buds was going to lend me his copy of Ozzy Osbourne's Speak of the Devil. Instead, he brings me a copy of Number of the Beast. Growing up in Catholic church, I was pretty taken aback by the artwork, but I guess I was already heading down that path with Ozzy. My younger brother and I got hooked and kept his record for a good four months and listened nonstop. Then Piece of Mind soon came out, and we bought up the rest of the back catalog, singles and EPs as we could find. As a bass player my right hand is absolutely based on Steve Harris' style - to this day I still employ that galloping sound with all four fingers! Sadly, I fell off Maiden after Somewhere in Time, but have started to rediscover their more recent work and it is great. Great thread!
I made an oath to myself and others on this thread to shut my mouth about Gers. I figured I'd do everyone a favor and keep my opinions on him to myself
My first exposure to Maiden was with Dickinson, so Bruce has always been my guy. In my opinion, the band sounds like a club band with Di'Anno. That's probably the appeal for some people. There is certainly great energy behind Di'Anno's delivery. If I was exposed to Maiden in 1980 instead of 1985, perhaps my opinion would be different. As it stands, there are no tracks I've heard Dickinson sing that I liked Di'Anno's version better. I'll take the more polished '88 version over the original. However, the original works just fine and is a great way to kick off the album.
I've heard live versions of "Run to the hills" with backing vocals singing a different chorus melody.
Stratton got caught in the studio trying to soften up "Phantom of the Opera" with some (ironically) Queen-style harmony guitar. That didn't sit well with 'Arry, of course. And after that they was just looking for a reason to fire him. Listening to Eagles and Steely Dan just fit the bill. And then the band (in particular Murray) had wanted to get Smith in even before that, as the two had been playing together in Smiler. Praying Mantis were a band even before Maiden started and they also released their own Soundhouse Tapes ep in '79, Their first album was released in 1981 and is classic NWOBHM. Very refined and a bit more mellow than the rest of these bands, but it is one of my favorites from that scene. Too bad they just sort of petered out after that. This on is not too far away from early Maiden in composition, IMO.
Cheers for directing us to that blog. Not wishing to speed ahead but a very interesting read on the dark days of 1993 when I first saw them live. FEATURE FRIDAY: Into Darkness, 1992-1993 I got into them around 1988, I was 16, at school, Seventh Son and its many top 10 hit singles were big news, I had tapes of the debut and Killers and Seventh Son and played them all to death. Started to learn guitar but in the end realised being a shredder was not for me, I had always been confused on whether to be guitar or bass but listening to other bass players (not Steve,) made me quickly change instrument. I love Steve's playing, still can't quite work it out but not how I choose to play. Loved them ever since although the aforementioned split in 1993 was very disappointing and never bought the Blaze era albums until earlier this year. Great band. Now back to 1980!!
Burr left because his playing was starting to get affected by his disease. At the they thought that it was that he was partying too much and couldn't handle the strain of both this and touring, but it probably was a combination of all these things. Young men are immortal and nobody thought it could be anything phisical, I'd guess. Lovely drummer and seemed like a good bloke (more than can be said about Paul, LOL), they did actually dedicate Piece of Mind to him and wished him good luck for the future, so the feelings couldn't have been that bad at the time being. A more dignified end to his tenure than anyone else ever got from the Boss, eh? I prefer Clive as well. And so did a couple of the members of the band as well. Bruce said this when Clive passed away: "...the best drummer the band ever had. That's not taking anything away from Nicko. Technically, Nicko's probably a far more competent drummer than Clive. It's just that Clive had this incredible feel, and you can't learn that, and I regret that he wasn't given more time to try and sort himself out." And listening to Nicko playing those older tracks, you can tell that he tries to emulate his style. That is a testament to both McBrain's class and how great a fit the parts were in the first place. Up the Irons!
For most of Di'Anno's tenure, they were just a club band. Their first major tour came in late '80, opening for KISS. (I always found it so cute watching the Early Years DVD, the way they, especially Murray, would pronounce KISS--it came out like "Keess." "We learned a lot from Keess.")
Yes don't get me wrong he's a good singer but he isn't as versatile as Bruce. That said I do find both good in different ways and while Bruce is able to really do those iconic screams, something Di'anno never could do as well, I do prefer Di'anno on those early songs before NOTB.
