Dickinson, who defeated cancer earlier this year, accepts it's not possible for Maiden to write the way they did 20 years ago. But that's not a problem since he has no desire to compete with younger artists - including his son Austin's outfit As Lions.

He reflects: "You've done those kinds of songs back then, and now there are other bands that are having that same moment in their own way at that same point in their career. Let them carry the torch.