Maiden United

Maiden United is an acoustic project started in the Netherlands back in 2006. It kicked off when Joey Bruers was asked to play a unique, non-traditional set for a Dutch Iron Maiden fan club convention. Instead of cranking up the amps and trying to mimic the original sound, he brought together a group of rock and metal musicians to re-imagine Maiden’s classic tracks into stripped-back, acoustic arrangements. Steve Harris actually attended that early show and gave the concept his personal seal of approval. Over the years, the project has rotated through a huge line-up of guest artists—including musicians from bands like Within Temptation, Threshold, and Apocalyptica, as well as former Iron Maiden members like Paul Di'Anno, Blaze Bayley, and Dennis Stratton. They’ve released several studio albums, starting with Mind the Acoustic Pieces (a full acoustic reinterpretation of 1983's Piece of Mind), giving heavy metal anthems a totally fresh, atmospheric dynamic.