I spy with my eager eye, something beginning with... We go (Ed) hunting for Easter eggs in the new Maiden video!
IRON MAIDEN today revealed their brand-new track, 'The Writing On The Wall', The song was written by Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith & lead singer Bruce Dickinson, produced by Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Maiden bassist and founder-member Steve Harris.
Bruce Dickinson initially had a concept for the video which came to fruition in collaboration with two Award-winning former Pixar executives and long-standing Maiden fans Mark Andrews & Andrew Gordon. The pair have over 50 years of animation industry experience between them at the very top-level including work on The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Brave, Monsters Inc & Finding Nemo. With partners lining up to get involved with the project they chose BlinkInk, a London based animation studio celebrated for their work with a variety of global brands from Adidas to Coca-Cola and a number of high-profile music videos.
In BlinkInk director Nicos Livesey, another long-time Maiden fan & kindred spirit, they found a man who shared the collective vision for the track – resulting in the final film which features the very first glimpse of a stunning new incarnation of Eddie in spectacular 3D form.
From sci-fi to bible stories, from rock influences to Maiden themselves - we check out some of the top Easter Eggs from the video! If you find any more we'd love to hear about them!
The establishing sky shot could be a reference to Where Eagles Dare or The Flight of Icarus - the jury is out on that one.
The guy walking through the desert wears a torn Powerslave World Slavery Tour T shirt.
The robed figure that appears wears a ring with Eddie's head from the Piece of Mind album.
At 0.48 as the Four Bikemen of the Apocalypse appear on bikes similar to the original Maiden England live artwork. The reaper is also a nod to the From Fear to Eternity and Dance of Death, Grim Reaper album covers and will appear again later - You can also see the Cart and Horses pub, where Iron Maiden formed and an Aces High shop front.
0.52 What's left of Ed Force One and the Book of Souls World Tour plane can be seen.
0.57 On the bridge to the left is the X from the Virtual X album. On the right, Tower Bridge begins to come into view - which was seen on the cover of the Brave New World Album. Icarus can be seen hanging from the bridge in a reference to The Flight of Icarus.
1:01 You can see a treasure trove of Maiden Easter Eggs: The Trooper Flag, Seventh Son of A Seventh Son poster on the floor to the left and a Can I Play With Madness? poster in the broken shop window; and the opposite is the fridge saying 'Life' as seen in the CIPWM video. The clock also reads Two Minutes to Midnight and Margaret Thatcher's body from the Sanctuary artwork can be seen on the floor outside the shop.
1:03 There's an incarnation of Iron Maiden Eddie tucked on the right in the sand and the toxic waste sign is A Matter of Life and Death Eddie, sans helmet.
1:21 The waste can in the bottom right has the beginnings of the words 'Eddie Lives' from the Somewhere in Time album art. There's also The Eddie's Archive Collector's Tin to the right. Up the Irons is written on the pipe on the right.
1:37 Another feast of Eggs. You can see No Prayer For the Dying on the gravestone. Below that in the sand is the spaceman's helmet from The Final Frontier. Over to the right there The Sign of the Cross and on one of the crosses are some dog tags and a flying helmet: references to A Matter of Life and Death and Aces High. It's not a Maiden egg, but you can see the Statue of Liberty in shot too - which references the climax of Planet of the Apes!
1:49 There are some Trooper beer cans on the floor and Sooty is facedown in the sand. Off the cliff edge, you can spy a shattered zeppelin airship, a reference to the song Empire of the Clouds.
2:38 In the temple arena the figure wired up looks like a subtle reference to The X Factor album cover where Eddie is undergoing some kind of transformation.
3:34 The figure emerges from the transformation chamber as a muscular figure with long hair - this could be a reference to the Biblical character Samson, and also the name of the band Bruce was in before he joined Maiden.
4:20 Eddie's new appearance as a samurai warrior is similar to the Sun and Steel Eddie as seen on that variety of Trooper beer.
4:36 Samson turns into the Beast a reference to The Number of the Beast, and also the Beast figure seen of the Legacy of the beast t shirts.
4:45 The Biker Eddie transforms into Killers Eddie, wielding an axe.
5:02 the scythe as seen on the From Fear To Eternity and Dance of Death albums appears.
5:02 Another Biker Eddie turns into Cyborg Eddie from Somewhere Back In Time and fire lasers.
5:07 Shortly before he explodes the Clown DJ, looks as though he is crying because of the bubbles in his helmet. This is possibly a reference to Tears of a Clown from the Book of Souls album.
5:10 Pharaoh Eddie from the Powerslave era makes an appearance spitting locusts like a Biblical plague. All the locusts have the face of Eddie.
5:16 Book of Souls Mayan Eddie shows up as a biker.
5:45 As the car pulls away you can see 666 in Roman numerals graffitied on the side.
6:05 The mushroom clouds from the Two Minutes to Midnight artwork are seen in the distance.
Phew! We think that's enough Easter Eggs for now - it would be rude to eat them all at once! If you spy any more - let us know!