Former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno has scrapped his retirement plans and is in the process of recording a new album with his new band called ARCHITECTS OF CHAOZ (also featuring members of Paul's longtime German touring backing group THE PHANTOMZ).
Due to a number of health issues, including a knee problem, Di'Anno announced in July 2012 that he would stop touring in 2013. His farewell tour had since been extended to 2014.
Asked in a brand new interview with "The Metal Voice"about his "farewell" tour, Di'Anno interjected (hear audio below): "It's not a farewell tour. I was gonna retire because of a bad knee. And it was really pissing me off. What it is, I've got a knee replacement, 'cause it's all damaged; I've had a couple of motorcycle accidents. I thought about quitting — not because I wanted to, but I thought, 'This could get worse. I'm doing more damage to it.' But then I thought, it doesn't make a difference; it's about the voice. So it's not the farewell tour. And I spoke to the wife and she said, 'Oh, my God. If you stay home for two months, I'll probably murder you.' So I decided in the end, 'Fuck it.' Doing all these things is great, but I actually wanna be part of a band."
Paul Di'Anno's April 9 performance at Lizard Club in Krakow, Poland as part of the Doładowanie festival was professionally filmed for an upcoming DVD, titled "The Beast Arises", to be released on October 6 in Europe through Metal Mind Productions and October 7 in North America via MVD. "The Beast Arises" will also be made available on CD, digital and vinyl.
The setlist for Di'Anno's concert in Krakow included some of the best IRON MAIDEN tracks from the period when Di'Anno was the band’s lead singer, as well as KILLERS and Di'Anno solo tracks. The DVD will also contain bonus features such as an interview with Di'Anno, a photo gallery and more.
Di'Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.
Asked why he thinks his two LPs with MAIDEN became timeless and iconic in the rock history, Di'Anno told Spotlight Report: "I think because when we started, the whole punk thing was so bloody huge, which I loved and still love punk to this day, and the heavier music just became so distant; they called it dinosaur rock back in the day."
He continued: "When we got signed and the whole New Wave Of British Heavy Metal started, that's what really kicked off what we have today. If it wasn't for MAIDEN and bands like SAXON, MOTÖRHEAD, etc., you would never have had bands like METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX. If you didn't have those bands, you would never have had SEPULTURA, MORBID ANGEL and then PANTERA, etc. So at the time, they were just bloody good albums, but in the history of things, they really kicked off what started for anything today that has heavy guitar. And yeah, they are timeless. Those albums still sell millions. You don't see the crap that was around then still selling shit, like SHAKIN' STEVENS or SPANDAU BALLET, do ya?"
Fan-filmed video footage of former IRON MAIDEN singers Blaze Bayley and Paul Di'Anno — who are currently on the road together — performing MAIDEN's theme song, "Iron Maiden", on November 14 at Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland can be seen below.
Bayley and Di'Anno previously toured together in Russia and Australia/New Zealand last year. Asked how the trek came about, Blaze told Metal-Rules.com, "I had put it off for years as once before it had been suggested, but it didn’t feel right at the time. Also, when I had my full-time band, it was exclusive. No one in the band could do anything else, and that included me. There was a lot of things that I wanted to try, but I couldn’t do it as I was committed to staying with my full-time band. This offer came up, and I had done a couple of festivals on the same bill as Paul, and it was offered as a co-headliner, not as a support, switching the headliner every night. Paul was also OK with that and it also wasn't just all my MAIDEN stuff — it was a lot of my stuff from my own albums — so I could choose my setlist, to a certain degree, and also include my popular MAIDEN material also. It felt good to do it and say yes! It was also in Russia, a very difficult place to get into. The fans are great but it's very difficult to get in touch with them. Sometimes even to let them know that you are playing! I thought that it would be an opportunity for me, but on my last trip, there was poor promotion; I hardly played to anybody. I thought this time it would be different as all the shows were full, reaction was great and I played to a lot of new people. These people knew about me from IRON MAIDEN but had never seen me live. I came away from the tour after playing to my target audience and new people who had never previously seen me live; it was really good, Paul and I both enjoyed it."
Bayley added, "[Di'Anno is] a very funny guy with a dry sense of humor and we gave each other plenty of space, as we are both experienced with different opinions of IRON MAIDEN. It worked well."
Former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno's previously announced U.S. tour, which was originally scheduled to kick off in January, was then postponed until May/June, and then pushed back to the end of the year, has now officially been canceled due to issues with the tour's promoter.Di'Anno states: "My apologies to the American fans who have been let down and to the various promoters who got so badly burnt in this way."
Di'Anno completed his first North American tour in early 2010, 17 years after he was deported following a prison term for guns and drug offenses.
On August 27, 2011, Di'Anno played his first show since serving time in a U.K. prison after he falsely collected U.K. government benefits by claiming he suffered nerve damage to his back that prevented him from working.
Due to a number of health issues, including a knee problem which will req
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