Rock metal icons Tony Iommi, Nicko McBrain, Jon Lord and Ian Gillan – members from bands Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Iron Maiden – are joining forces for a charity single that will help them raise funds to rehabilitate an Armenian music school.  The track is reported to carry the title “Out of My Mind”.

The rock icons wanted to help Armenian youngsters receive formal musical training through the said school which was originally built through the efforts of Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi.  However, the current establishment, which was severely affected by the recent earthquake that struck the nation, was no longer serving its purpose and a rebuilding or rehabilitation was deemed necessary.

Aside from Iommi and Gillan, David Gilmour from The Rolling Stones, Chris Squire and Bruce Dickinson also took part in the foundation of the music school which they managed to do by releasing the charity single “Smoke on the Water” which was aimed at funding Armenian communities in their rehabilitative efforts amidst the devastating effects of the earthquake.

When Bruce Dickinson, lead vocalist of heavy metal punk band Iron Maiden, is not rocking in the recording studio or banging heads with his band mates in front of thousands of their fans, he is busy taking flight, and we meant that literally.

A seasoned pilot, Dickinson now plays a vital role not only in the aviation industry per se, but in the corporate aspect of the said industry as well, as the singer has just been promoted as marketing director of one of the leading charter airlines in London, Astraeus.  The airline is based in London’s Gatwick Airport.

The Guardian spoke to the airline’s chief commercial officer Shaun Monnery and praised Dickinson’s grace under pressure, whether as a pilot, the head of the company’s marketing department or in commanding the legion of Iron Maiden fans in a concert.  “In a demanding industry he is a man who can cope with pressure…Whether as a 757 captain or in front of 50,000 Iron Maiden fans, or senior airline and aviation managers,” Monnery said.

Everyone thought that iconic rockers Iron Maiden will finally give themselves a well-deserved rest, even band leader Steve Harris gave Maiden an ultimatum of 15 releases then it’s over.

Then “The Final Frontier”, Maiden’s 15th album, was released and it garnered positive reviews from critics and fans alike.  So much so that now, the rock vets will hit the road again to further the reach of the said album, since their most recent tour, “Somewhere Back in Time” two years ago only featured one track from the said album, “El Dorado”.

“We’ll carry on as long as we’re having fun”, says vocalist Bruce Dickinson in an interview with English tabloid, The Sun.  He even adds that whenever they all treat every tour as if it were their last, by the time the tour ends, they all mumble “is this is?” in despair.  Seems like the boys could just not get enough of the thrill and joy touring brings, and how it motivates them to finally collect all of their greatest hits and place it in one great repertoire for a “greatest hits” road show.

“We should be looking at a big resumé tour – an unashamed tour with all the greatest hits”, Dickinson adds as he refers to the band’s plan to embark on such a huge tour feat after wrapping up “The Final Frontier” album tour.

When asked on what makes Iron Maiden tick even after more three decades of creating rock-hard music, Dickinson simply puts it that they have always given their fans “what they want” – directness, simplicity, honesty and no beating around the bushes – simply put, they are not sell-outs.  “You won’t find any rock star extravagance backstage” the singer adds.

Iron Maiden makes a huge comeback at the charts with their 15th release to date, “The Final Frontier” toppling over Eminem’s comeback release “Recovery” at the peak of this week’s album charts.

It has been almost 20 years since the British rock heavyweights have nailed the top spot in the album charts with their 1992 release “Fear of the Dark”.  Maiden’s  “The Final Frontier” proves that these guys still has the wits to turn an album into a chart-topper and a critically acclaimed record especially with its 11-minute closing cut “When the Wild Wind Blows”, which is a tribute to “When the Wind Blows”, the popular graphic novel created by Raymond Briggs.

Meanwhile, the rest of the album charts this week saw a handful of unexpected new entries and a remarkable long-standing entry – 100 weeks old long – from Kings of Leon’s fourth release “Only by the Night”.  This week’s highest new entry belongs to all-female quintet The Saturdays with their mini-LP “Headlines” at number three.

The Hoosiers snagged the no.10 spot in the list with their sophomore set “The Illusion of Safety”, a ranking which is nine spots lower than what their debut set, “The Trick to Life” has achieved in 2007.

Other new titles in the charts include those from Andy Burrows a.k.a I Am Arrows at no.38, the folk tandem of Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell at no.29 and the album from Irish artist David Gray at no.18.

As for the top 40 singles, the top five includes “Beautiful Monster” by Ne-Yo at no.5, “We Speak No Americano” by Yolanda B Cool at no.4, last week’s chart-topper “Club Can’t Handle Me” by Flo Rida and David Guetta down two spots to no.3, “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem and Rihanna at no.2 two weeks in a row and topping this week’s list is “Green Light” by Roll Deep.

The top 40 also saw the entry of three new tracks to the list: “Let You Go” by Chase and Status at no.11, “Amazing” by Inna at no.14 and “Say You Don’t Want It” by One Night Only at no. 23 which has a video featuring Emma Watson of “Harry Potter” fame who was rumored to be dating the band’s lead vocalist George Craig after the they met in a Burberry ad campaign.

Iron Maiden, the heavy rock band, got to have an experience that was out of this world, when they visited Texas’ NASA  Space Center.

The rockers launched the band’s Final Frontier Tour in Dallas on June 10.  While in Texas they accepted an official invitation for touring the Houston facility.

Michael J. Massimino, an astronaut, gave the band a guided tour.  They saw a space shuttle up close and took turns using the flight simulator at the institute.

Singer Bruce Dickinson said he was thrilled with their visit to the Space Center and thanked NASA officials for their hospitality.

Dickinson said, it seems we have lots of fans at NASA. It was a pleasure meeting some of them, in particular someone who’s a bonafide astronaut that’s made space walks.  Michael showed us the shuttle and space station and an up close view of the Saturn V rocket.  There were even fans who work inside their mission control room who put up band pictures on the big screens that usually show the rocket taking off.

All of got to be on the simulator and fly the space shuttle and land.  It was really thrilling.  We are very fortunate and hope our fans at NASA and Michael enjoyed our show in Houston as much as we did visiting them.

Massimino said the visit from the band was an honor and gave the whole NASA team a huge morale boost.

Iron Maiden is making their song “El Dorado” free as an MP3 download ahead of “The Final Frontier,” the band’s 15th studio album.  The Europe release date is August 16th.  Artwork is also available for the song.

Singer Bruce Dickinson said, “El Dorado” previews our upcoming studio album.  It will be included in our “Final Frontier World Tour” set.  We thought about how great it would be to thank our fans as well as get them ready for “The Final Frontier” by giving this song away before the tour and release of the album.

Recording the album was the band’s nod to their past.  They reunited with Kevin Shirley, producer, and recorded the set in Compass Point Studios, the studio where they also recorded “Somewhere In Time,” “Powerslave,” and “Piece of Mind.”  Dickinson said, the studio had that exact same vibe.  It was just like 1983, exactly.  Nothing had changed.  There was the same carpet, the same broken shutter sitting in the corner.  It was very spooky.  We did feel very relaxed in that well-trodden and familiar environment.  It shows with our playing I think and the album’s atmosphere.

Metal outfit Iron Maiden will be spending their summer sunning in North America supporting their upcoming release entitled “The Final Frontier.” The band will launch the effort on June 9 in Dallas, Texas and run through July 20 closing up shop in Bristow, Virginia. For full Iron Maiden tour dates, checkout the listing below.

Tickets for the upcoming concert dates go onsale on March 20 for US residents and the Canadians get a stab at them a week earlier on March 13. Prog-rock group has been recruited to provide musical support on the upcoming tour.

Iron Maiden is putting the finishing touches on their latest album “The Final Frontier.” The release marks their 15th album and first since 2006s “A Matter of Life and Death.” It is due for release in late-summer. Last year, Iron Maiden released a documentary “Iron Maiden: Flight 666” that mapped the band’s 2008 tour. The film took home the “24 Beats per Second” award in the category of Best Documentary at last year’s SXSW Film Festival.

2010 Iron Maiden Concert Tour
June 2010
9 – Dallas, TX – Superpages.com Center
11 – The Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
12 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
14 – Englewood, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
16 – Albuquerque, NM – The Pavilion
17 – Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Wireless Pavilion
19 – Devore, CA – San Manuel Amphitheater
20 – Concord, CA – Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord
22 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
24 – Vancouver, British Columbia – General Motors Place
26 – Edmonton, Alberta – Rexall Place
29 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Credit Union Centre
30 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – MTS Centre

July 2010
3 – Toronto, Ontario – The Molson Amphitheatre
7 – Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre
11 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
12 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden Arena
14 – Burgettstown, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
15 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
17 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
18 – Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
20 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live

Iron Maiden recently finished recording a new studio album. According to the producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Rush, Dream Theater), there is still some work left that needs to be done, but that the band’s part is complete. It’s in the can, he added. So to speak. The album title and release date have still not been announced. However it most likely will occur before August 1. The band is scheduled to play at the UK’s Sonisphere Festival on that date. Hopefully a tour in the US will follow.

These days, Iron Maiden is going with three guitarists. In 1975 Dave Murray became a member of the band. He’s appeared on each album for Iron Maiden album since their self-titled debut in 1980. He almost always plays on his Fender Stratocaster. For “Killers,” the second release of the band’s in 1981, Adrian Smith joined. Dinky, his signature Jackson model, is his main axe. However during the early years he played a Gibson Les Paul. He also sometimes will switch up and play on SGs, Explorers and other guitars. In 1990 Janick Gers joined Iron Maiden, following his work on “Tattooed Millionaire,” the solo album of Bruce Dickinson. He has a Strat cat as well.

On vocals is Bruce Dickinson. He is an airplane pilot, author and fencer is addition to being Iron Maiden’s frontman and one of the all time elite Metal singers. Nicko McBain is the band’s drummer. He plays on Premier drums along with Paiste cymbals. He looks so casual while playing about a hundred miles per hour. The band’s leader, Steve Harris, is the bassist performing on a Fender Precision Bass and writes most of the group’s material. Harris was the one who founded Iron Maiden. Inside the studio he knows his way around.

Iron Maiden epitomizes what a Heavy Metal band is. From their name, to their looks, to their mascot Eddie, to their albums’ artwork they are metal, particularly their high-speed, guitar drive music, that sounds like a horse running at full gallop.

Iron Maiden is one of the best and most successful Metal bands ever. They’ve sold more than 100 million albums.

“The Tower” from the solo effort of Dickinson’s “The Chemical Wedding” is suggested listening. The bass line in the opening is so sick! Adrian Smith as well as Roy Z (Tribe Of Gypsies, Halford) supply all the guitars.

“Iron Maiden: Flight 666,” the feature length documentary from Iron Maiden will be making its debut in theaters on April 21.

The documentary details the first leg from Iron Maiden’s “Somewhere Back in Time World Tour” that launched in India on February 1, 2008 and wrapped up in Toronto on March 16.

According to a recent press release on the trek the band circled the world, playing 23 sell out shows in South, Central and North America as well as Australia and Asia over a span of 45 days.

The band was able to meet their tour schedule with the help from a Boeing 757 customized airliner. It carried the band and crew along with 12 tons of stage and music equipment on board.

Bruce Dickinson, lead singer, often piloted the 757 which the band named “Ed Force One.”

The film provides a view behind the scenes of Iron Maiden while on the plane, in the cockpit, as well as on and off the stage as they cope with different cultures, time zones, foreign countries and all the pressures and demands that an extensive performance schedule brings.

A movie theater list of where the documentary will be shown will be available soon. Additional information, trailers, teasers and news from the current tour of the band’s can be found on Iron Maiden’s website.

Iron Maiden, British metal veterans, will be boarding their Boeing 757 this summer to perform another around of dates in North America.

Since February, the band has been selling shows out all over the world. They will take a break before late May when they pick things up again. They will kick things off in Texas and then visit several West coast cities before they head to Canada in June for five shows. They will return to the eastern part of the US for arena dates, including a stop on June 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Currently the band’s itinerary wraps us a European tour of seven weeks. Overseas dates are listed on Iron Maiden’s website.

This year the band so far has visited Canada, the US, Puerto Rico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Japan, Australia and India. One of the main reasons why they have been able to maintain such an extensive touring schedule is because they travel the world in their own jet. Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden’s frontman, pilots the plane.

The inspiration for “Somewhere Back in Time- World Tour ’08” came from the re-release recently of the band’s video “Live After Death.” In 1985, over four nights, the video was filmed at Long Beach Arena in Southern California. The outing is focused on classic material of Iron Maiden’s from the 1980s. The stage set even got its inspiration from the “Powerslave Tour” of 1985 that featured a production that was Egyptian style, including Eddie, the colossal mummy. This summer’s outing will revive Eddie as well as other show elements that haven’t been seen for many years.

Dickinson in a recent press release said, we will be bringing all Eddie’s toys that didn’t fit on the plane for the first leg onto the summer tour. On this tour we’re having a really great time. I can’t believe all the excitement it’s creating all over the world as well the huge number of people turning out for our shows. For the band and fans alike it’s a very exciting time.

Iron Maiden is backing “A Matter of Life and Death” from 2006, their 14th studio album. It reached the No. 9 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart.