A weird title for a biography but Iron Maiden’s celebrated front man Bruce Dickinson is anything but your average Joe. Heavy Metal Icon, Fencer, Cancer Survivor, Pilot, Author, and Screen Writer Bruce has achieved a lot. Setting out to read this memoir I didn’t even know half of it. I was just a diehard Maiden fan who was interested in finding out more about his inspiration for lyrics as well as the historical backdrop for many of the band’s songs. However, in the spirit of ‘What does this button do?” I was in for so much more.

It isn’t unusual that Dickinson had a disrupted upbringing at times with changing environments and it is certainly more stable than some but is an important backstory to understand his career as his love of aircraft and his fascination with the pursuit for what he continually refers to as the “Theatre of the mind” finds its roots in these early experiences. His interactions with Uncle Rod and conversations about old war movies like Battle of Britain, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and Ice Station: Zebra are clearly a bit of a precursor. On top of this the musical influences of Sabbath and Deep Purple, leads him down a path to join Samson which thankfully lead to Iron Maiden. It is here that he was able to create this theatre and anyone that has seen a Maiden show will understand it is a prediction about atmosphere, set design, costume and movement as much as the music itself.

While not the original front man, it is Dickinson’s operatic style with those powerful long notes that is the at the core of the band’s sound as much as the galloping bass line. The early chapters primarily focus on the development of these literacy, historical and musical influences alongside Dickinson’s early steps into developing his voice and style. It is until after he joins Maiden that the book and Dickinson himself explore his other interests and pursuits in more depth. This serves to draw maiden fans into reading topics unrelated to the band’s music or career. However, this seems like a real progression for Dickinson himself as the band’s success meant he needed to explore interest to deal with the demands of touring a hectic period in the 80s when the band hit superstardom and released 5 albums for the decade.  In addition, the opportunity to visit and connect with different fencing schools and learn to fly in the States is something that would not really have been possible in the same way if not for the band’s success.

As I mentioned it is often these points beyond the music which is the most interesting whether it is his experiences in Sarajevo, a unique experience navigating a war zone to perform a concert, stuff some bizarre movie could easily be made out off. His discussion of fencing and practicing with different people around the world as he toured and cutting it a bit close on a few occasions including a last-minute pick up thanks to Nicko. Even the technical side of becoming a pilot and the different qualifications he needs with a few harrowing experiences in the cockpit thrown in which goes far beyond a hobby. The steps into entrepreneurship with a couple of aviation ventures and the challenging task of learning to fly a Fokker Dr.I triplane replica G-CDXR (the Red Baron’s aircraft). It is this side of Dickinson that really inspires as he is someone blessed with talent but also willing to make the most out of life and take these opportunities.

The book is of course not all stories of success and wild near misses although some of these are especially hilarious, ridiculous, and astounding which gives the memories that sense of playful abandon captured in the title. Yet, it does take a turn in the later chapters as it deals with his battle with head and neck cancer, which saw Dickinson treated for two tumours. This was a solitary experience and as Dickinson’s points out there is often a degree of stigma for oral cancer contract through HPV. He details here the experiences of going through Chemotherapy and his recovery as well as the doubts about his voice. Thankfully, this has been a successful conclusion and Maiden has since gone on to continue to tour and record a cracker of an album, Dickinson’s 13^th with the legendary band and hopefully not the last.