MusicRadar.com has issued a new interview with Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray, who discusses the band’s new double album, The Book Of Souls. An excerpt follows:

Q: Your solos have an especially instinctive feel on this album. Do you find your first take is often your strongest?

A: “Yes, definitely. That always tends to be the case, because it’s fresh and spontaneous. On this album, I didn’t really go in with any preconceived ideas; I didn’t work anything out in the hotel or anything. I was just kind of ‘go for it’ on most of the album. So I’d play some stuff and Kevin would say, ‘Yes, that sounds good.’ And sometimes it would be the first take, then other times, I’d do two or three different things and then go out and have a cup of coffee and Kevin would put all the bits together. Then I’d come back and listen to it and he’d ask, ‘What do you think of that?’

“Then you have to go back and learn it for the tour. But that’s what the studio is for. The thing about editing and cutting pieces together is it can be done seamlessly now. Working with Kevin is great because his enthusiasm rubs off. You’re sitting in the control room next to him and he’s really excited and he’s really into it. He tends to bring out the best in everyone in the whole band, individually as well.

“The rule of thumb is generally that the first take is the best. You could go on and play something that may be technically better, but it loses the feel. There’s no hard and fast rules to the way we do things. If it sounds good and if we like it, we keep it. If not, it just goes on the cutting room floor to magnetic heaven! But sometimes, it’s been a case of doing two or three passes and you decide which one is better.”

Read the full interview at MusicRadar.com.

Iron Maiden will headline France’s first Download Festival, on Friday, June 10th at Longchamps Racecourse, Paris. They will then fly across to England in Ed Force One, landing at East Midlands Airport next to Donington Park, to close the UK Download Festival on Sunday, June 12th. This will be Maiden’s only UK appearance. Tickets for both festivals go on sale on Friday (October 23rd).

Following Maiden’s new album, The Book Of Souls, hitting the charts at #1 in Germany, the band confirmed four exclusive shows in that country as follows:

- Rockavaria Festival at the Olympic Park, Munich from May 27th - 29th
- Rock Im Revier Festival at Gelsenkirchen from May 26th - 28th
- Wacken on August 4th

One final concert for 2016 in Germany, in Berlin, is being finalized and will be announced soon. Iron Maiden’s complete live itinerary can be found at this location.