Did Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Just Take a Swipe at Paul Di’Anno?

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Bruce Dickinson — the only Iron Maiden vocalist who ever really mattered — slammed punk rock pretty hard. Said the singer:

The closest the “art establishment” ever came to embracing metal was punk. The reason they embraced punk was because it was rubbish and the reason they embraced rubbish was because they could control it. They could say: “Oh yeah, we’re punk so we can sneer at everybody. We can’t play our fucking instruments, but that means we can make out that this whole thing is some enormous performance art.” Half the kids that were in punk bands were laughing at the art establishment, going: “What a fucking bunch of tosspots. Thanks very much, give us the money and we’ll fuck off and stick it up our nose and shag birds.” But what they’d really love to be doing is being in a heavy metal band surrounded by porn stars.

Some people are understandably cranky about this because they feel like punk deserves more respect than Dickinson allots it here (especially given that undeniable connection between punk and metal), and while I (generally) agree with that position, it’s actually not the aspect of this statement that I think is worth concentrating on. The aspect of this statement that I think is worth concentrating on is this: there’s a serious possibility that is Dickinson sending out a verbal kick in the balls to his predecessor, Paul Di’Anno.

To wit: Di’Anno has repeatedly contrasted himself with Dickinson by pointing out that he’s basically a punk singer while asserting that Dickinson sings “opera.” That’s obviously an exaggeration made for insulting (dare I say “comedic”?) effect, but Di’Anno’s point stands — his vocal style is closer to that of punk, and Dickinson’s voice totally soars.

So, yeah, it’s entirely possible that Dickinson really does not think highly of punk, and that’s all there is to this quote. But the guy is so smart and so witty (it’s a big part of what makes him an awesome frontman!) that it’s not hard to imagine he meant his words as a “Go fuck your dead mother” to Di’Anno.

Thoughts?

[via Metal Insider]