Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith rejoining Iron Maiden in 1999 kickstarted one of the greatest comebacks in heavy metal history. Re-endowed with two classic members (not to mention two top-notch songwriters), the metal legends quickly bounced from their leanest times back to festival headliner status. But the road to redemption was rocky.
Maiden bassist, founder and lead composer Steve Harris has already confessed that getting frontman Bruce back after he shed rank in 1993 was a hard sell. In 2004 biography Run To The Hills, he admitted that it was a reluctant case of “better the devil you know”. Plus, as it turns out, drummer Nicko McBrain had his own reservations about the 80s-era reunion – except they were directed at returning guitarist Adrian.
As far as we know, Nicko’s never had personal problems with Adrian. Not only had their respective stints in Maiden overlapped by more than half a decade at that point, but they both come across as loveable London scamps. What was daunting to the drummer was the idea of Maiden’s two-guitar attack, then dished out by Dave Murray and Janick Gers, expanding to include a trio of axes.
“I’ve got to be honest with you – when I was first told, I was sitting in a sake bar in Roppongi, Japan, with Rod [Smallwood, Maiden’s longtime manager] and Janick,” he reflected during a 2018 interview with Classic Rock. “And Rod turned round and told me that Adrian was coming back with Bruce, what did I think about it? And I went: ‘Fuck me.’ I said: ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’”
As Nicko continued, he revealed that he was so confused by the idea of Maiden expanding to a six-piece that he threatened to quit outright. “And I said, ‘We’re traditionally a two-guitar band. Three guitars? I don’t get that. I’ll step down.’”
Fortunately Rod, having by this time managed the drummer for 15 years, instantly called his bluff. “And Rod said, ‘No, you won’t. You’re not going anywhere, mate.’”
Nicko concluded the reflection by retelling the wisecrack he gave to Rod, joking about how he now needed to pay a whole other person. “Then I looked at Rod – and this is the God’s honest truth – and I said, ‘By the way, are you going to cut your commission down?’ And he said, ‘What the fuck do you mean, cut me bloody commission down?’
“And I said, ‘Well, there’s six of us in the band to be paid now.’ He just looked at me: ‘Fucking typical drummer!’”
Of course, the Bruce and Adrian reunion paid dividends almost instantly. The setlist for the tandem’s first tour back, 1999’s Ed Hunter run, was jammed with classics not pulled out in more than a decade. Then, 2000’s Brave New World was hailed as their best, most ambitious undertaking since Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son 12 years prior.
The 2002 Rock In Rio live album reaffirmed that Maiden were back at the best, and their reunion lineup continued to impress together until late last year, when Nicko retired from the stage age 72, almost two years after suffering a mini-stroke. The drummer even stated in that 2018 interview that Bruce and Adrian’s comeback saved the band.
“Really, if that hadn’t happened, I don’t know whether you and I would be having this conversation,” he said. “We are very blessed that Bruce came back. We pushed all of our angst aside. We wiped the slate clean and we got on with it.”
