It's Maiden Time!

It’s Maiden Time!

There are those who say that there are certain things a man should not do past 30. Well, one of those things is worry about lists that others make. Do those things if you like them and the world can #*(% off if they don’t like it. For instance, getting excited an old band you like has a new record out and going to go buy it on the day it comes out is considered a bit undignified to many …

Well … I did that recently.

Much like when records like Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, and Brave New World came out I fond myself going to a record store on the date of release of the newest offering from Iron Maiden. How many more records will these guys really release that I will have the opportunity to do this? So, I walked to the mall near where I was working this summer and … discovered Bellevue Square does not have a record store any more. Tower Records in Bellevue is long gone and so is the other one down the street. I could not for the life of me find a record store in downtown Bellevue at lunch so I had to wait until the evening to swing by a store in Lynnwood to purchase said record. (They are CDs now, but I still call them records, always will …)

Who would have thought that I would become nostalgic about old downtown Bellevue and Bellevue Square?

What kind of a mall doesn’t have a single record store any more?

I mean, this is Maiden. A friend of mine set her cell phone to play The Trooper so she would know it was me calling. I saw them once where Guns n’ Roses were opening for them. I wrote a review as a stringer in 2000 for their website. Last year on Ozzfest they were clearly the highlight of the day for many, many people …

… and I couldn’t find a record store in Bellevue to buy it. Good Lord, what has this world come to?