Ben Wener from The Orange County Register spoke to IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

OCR: Maiden's widely regarded 1985 live album Live After Death and its companion video, finally released on DVD in February, was captured across four nights at Long Beach Arena in 1984. Do you have specific memories of those shows that stand out the most?

BD: "Well, it was just a gorgeous summer. It was a time when metal and rock music were really at a peak, culturally speaking. After "Live After Death," to be honest with you, I think the sort of hair bands, and one or two of the more embarrassing episodes in metal history that happened around then, tended to take over a bit in the public perception. Which was a shame, 'cause of course we were still doing the same thing. And we're still here doing the same. So we must be doing something right."

OCR: How would you characterize metal now?

BD: "It's kinda come full circle. Except, of course, that now more than ever the audience own the music, because of the Internet and downloads and things like that. Audiences have such a choice now. But because of that, it's really heartening when you see your ticket sales going through the roof. And with no radio advertising, no TV – we don't even have a record out. Well, we do now …

OCR: But it's a greatest-hits record (Somewhere Back in Time: The Best Of 1980-1989).

BD: "Yeah, and it's designed – completely designed – to capitalize on people that are new to the band, who need some kind of reference to know what to dip into first. In effect, what we're looking at is a global phenomenon that is caused by word-of-mouth, and it's pretty unprecedented."

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