OFF: BOC/IM from bob mayo

[Paul Mather]

On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Goran Janicijevic wrote:

=> DASLUD at AOL.COM wrote in <25ea3ea2.252b9cdc at aol.com>:
=> >any other level than that. certainly not lyrically.
=> >on that score, i've always thought that boc had a lot in common with cheap
=> >trick, beleive it or not, in their knack for operating successfully in a
=> >genre while simultaneously poking fun at it (boc: metal / cheap trick: pop
=> >rock). anyone who takes boc's 'leather/red and black/ww2 conspiracy etc etc.'
=> >stuff 100% seriously should listen to maiden (who've always been dead serious
=> >about their stuff) instead. one has to look for the 'wink' (perhaps in boc's
=>
=> Right you are (Mayo). That's why Maiden are naively pretentious! They
=> took themselves too seriously: Something very lethal in the world of
=> r'n'r. That's why they can't make an album like Imaginos. Not to
=> mention Spectres or FOUO.

I never got the impression that Maiden took themselves seriously.  (I
mean, "The Phantom of the Opera" was used in a Lucozade commercial!:)
I guess it was the way they'd poke fun at the songs when introducing
them on the live albums ("this one's about opening a pair of curtains"
["Revelations"]; "this is what not to do when a bird shits on you"
["Rime of the Ancient Mariner"]; etc.), but I guess I must be
mistaken, since those wiser than me have pronounced to the contrary.

It's my impression that Iron Maiden took it about as seriously as
Venom and Slayer (i.e., it's a convenient tool within a genre), and
that it is the fans who over-interpret.  I guess the same is true of
BOC to an extent, with die-hards quibbling over whether this or that
song belongs to "The Imaginos Cycle" and where its "correct" place
lies in the running order.

I sort of lost interest in Iron Maiden because I felt they were
running out of ideas after _Powerslave_.  But, like someone else
commented on here, Iron Maiden is one of the few "heavy metal" bands I
will still listen to today.  They do what they do very well.

Jeez, this is going to turn into MAIDEN-L before long. ;-)

Cheers,

Paul.

NP: Rory Gallagher, _Irish Tour_

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I don't live today; maybe tomorrow..."
        --- James Marshall Hendrix