Metalforever has recently conducted the interview with Iron Maiden bassist, Steve Harris. The excerpts are follow:

MF: Why the decision to open this tour in the USA vs Europe- do you think metal is still strong in the US?

SH: "Well I don't think it was really a case of saying we're going to open in the USA rather than Europe for any special reason in particular. We've always enjoyed a very loyal following in the USA and Canada so when the idea of starting in the USA was brought up there was no reason to not consider it. After all we did open the Ed Hunter Tour back in 1999 so it's not the first time we've done it this way around.

Metal is still very strong in the USA and there's some really great stuff coming out at the moment. Bands like MASTODON and COHEED and CAMBRIA are bands which are taking the traditional metal and prog sound and moving it on to somewhere new in terms of aggression and sound. Thats just a couple I can think of off hand but I'm sure there's many more. But metal is getting stronger everywhere as the new generation are all looking for something new and different and are moving into areas of music they may not have considered before. Add this to the fact that there's probably more festivals than ever every summer featuring a whole load of great rock and metal acts that over the past five years metal has definitely made a big comeback.

MF: Can you make a quick comment about the future of metal music - where do you think the next JUDAS PRIEST, METALLICA SCORPIONS, Maiden or Ozzy is going to come from - there are a lot of metal bands - but do any have the potential to be world wide phenom's as some of the bands just mentioned? Do you have any plans to stay in the biz beyond the Maiden years whenever that might be and try and help find the next big metal band?

SH: "Well, as I mentioned before there are a few bands out there which are pushing the boundaries and in some cases breaking them. We have two of the most exciting bands around at the moment touring with us on this tour. BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE will be with us on most of the dates in the USA and they're a band thats been out on most of the major festivals this year and apparently have been picking up plenty of awards. They've been worked really hard but in my book tha'ts the best and only way to become a great band. In Europe we've got TRIVIUM coming along with us and I'm sure you're more than familiar with their stuff. Bruce went down to see them in London a while back and his son's a big fan and he was pretty impressed with them when he came into the studio the following day. I've read some really great reviews about them so I'm very interested to see them. As far as where the next metal legend will come from? It's really quite hard to say. There's so many different styles and catergories of metal now that in some ways it's got a little diluted, but as I mentioned earlier it really comes down to working really hard and being single minded and focussed on being the best live act you can possibly be. You've obviously got to write great songs as well but metal as a genre is all about reproducing that in front of people and making sure that you're band stands out from all the rest and by hard work With regards to me after Maiden? - I think there's plenty to keep me occupied for a while yet so I'll think about that a little later down the line."

Source Metalforever

Over the 3 days BW&BK has interviewed Eric Singer in various topics. Few excerpts are follow:

About James Dio in returning to Black Sabbath:

“Well, they're calling the band ‘Heaven And Hell' because they can't call it Black Sabbath. I read that Bill Ward will be playing drums and if that's true – that will be really cool. I think Heaven And Hell is a great record and I think the best Ronnie ever did was in Black Sabbath. I liked him in RAINBOW, but I prefer the Joe Lynn Turner version of Rainbow a wee bit better because the songs were... better songs, but I think in Sabbath was the best stuff he ever did. I like his first couple of solo records, but still that Sabbath stuff suits his voice. Tony Iommi writes heavy riffs like nobody else. He's the king/the godfather of heavy metal or whatever you want to call it and there's no doubt about it. A lot of people write great riffs like JUDAS PRIEST, but the kings are Sabbath and it's Tony. He wrote those riffs. You can go through all the versions of Black Sabbath with all the different singers – the A, B, C versions of the band – the bottom line is that every record has some cool riffs and that's Tony. I don't know anybody better.”

About Paul Stanley new solo album "Live to Win"

“I like it. It's really good – the bottom line is Paul is a songwriter and he tries to write songs that are going to be catchy and potentially get airplay. That's what he's all about. When people expect him to write another solo record from 1978 that's not only unfair, but ludicrous. How can you expect anybody to be the same person they were 28 years ago? I'm not the same person, the listeners aren't the same person... none of us are. You don't just cryogenically freeze your life and stay that same person forever. Fans want everyone to be Peter Pan and stay young forever. They pick the pinnacle time of a band's career and want them to stay like that forever. If they like Dressed To Kill – they want Kiss to stay Dressed To Kill – that look, that sound, that songwriting, that era – forever, but that's like treading water. If they made the same record, after a while, people would get bored and go ‘They keep doing the same thing. They never do anything new. Why don't they take any chances? This is boring.' You really can't win.”

About Kiss new record:

“I can't tell you what they will or won't want to do. I don't make any business decisions on what Kiss does.”

Would Eric like to play on a new Kiss record?

“Of course, I would absolutely love to and I wish they would do one.”

Read the whole interview BW&BK