Bruce Dickinson Names Most Challenging Iron Maiden Song to Sing

Bruce Dickinson has named the most challenging Iron Maiden song to sing live, noting that it is “equally” difficult to tackle this one now as it was in his mid-20s.

The 65-year-old spoke with SongFacts, first providing a track-by-track breakdown of his new solo album, The Mandrake Project, which comes out March 1. The 10-track record has been in the works in earnest for about a decade, with some material even stretching back much further.

The singles — “Afterglow of Ragnarok” and “Rain on the Graves” — showcase Dickinson’s seemingly ageless voice.

The aforementioned interview later shifts to his voice overall, broaching the subject of the song that is a real challenge onstage.

The Most Challenging Iron Maiden Song to Sing

Dickinson confesses, “The song I find the most challenging to sing in the Maiden repertoire would be ‘Aces High.’ That’s not just because I’m 60-something years old. Trust me, when I was 26, it was equally challenging. I always said, “If we’re going to do ‘Aces High,’ can we put it towards the front of the set please?”

While “Aces High” has served as a show opener across many tours, Iron Maiden slotted it as a second encore closer on the post-COVID legs of their Legacy of the Beast tour. Tough break, Bruce!

“But we still do all the songs in the original key,” the frontman continues, “I’m sure it would be easier if we dropped the key, but then it wouldn’t sound as good. That’s the most challenging Maiden song to sing.”

Iron Maiden, “Aces High” (Live in 2022)

READ MORE: What Is Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Actually Bad At? (Interview)

Challenging Solo Songs to Sing

Regarding his extensive solo catalog, which he’ll be touring in support of this year,

“Solo-wise, I don’t know,” he ponders, reasoning, “Because I wrote the vocal parts, I’m pretty comfortable with it all. It’s not that the songs are necessarily difficult to sing. I think if you’ve got a good, decent sound, and decent monitors, then you can pretty much pull off all the solo catalog.”

However, he cautions, “If you’ve got crappy sound, you’ve got to be a little careful when you start doing things like ‘Darkside Of Aquarius’ and ‘Book Of Thel’ so you don’t blow your voice out if you’re not getting all the required feedback from the monitors.”

Bruce Dickinson, “Book of Thel” (Live)