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Read this: What Does This Button Do? by Bruce Dickinson

Bruce Dickinson's new memoir is a great read, especially if you let him do all the hard work
Bruce Dickinson's new memoir is a great read, especially if you let him do all the hard work Bruce Dickinson's new memoir is a great read, especially if you let him do all the hard work

WHEN publishers HarperCollins sent me Bruce 'Iron Maiden' Dickinson's new autobiography What Does This Button Do? a couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed the first couple of chapters so much I actually splashed out on the audiobook version from Audible.

It's been great listening to Bruce himself regale me with tales of surviving boarding school, discovering his singing prowess via dodgy school bands and dysfunctional metal combo Samson and, of course, conquering the world as frontman of the greatest theatrically inclined heavy metal band ever – along with many other personal stories and general musings.

It's a big book regardless of format and so long as you don't go in expecting a forensic trawl through the minutiae of everything the Irons have ever done – Mick Wall's authorised band biography Run To The Hills is still your go-to user manual for that kind of thing – and are intrigued to learn more about Bruce's passion for fencing, flying and making unpredictable solo LPs, you'll find plenty to enjoy here, especially the singer's amusingly accurate impression of legendary Huddersfield-born Iron Maiden manager, Rod 'Smallwallet' Smallwood.

"I'm not in the music business, I'm in the Iron F*****g Maiden business!"

The Maiden frontman is currently on a book tour in the US, but hopefully he'll also fit in some appearances closer to home in the very near future.

In the meantime, there's only one thing for it – all together now: READ FOR ME, BRUCE!

:: What's This Button Do? is availble now, published by HarperCollins.