HISTORY OF IRON MAIDEN: BACK TO THE TOP I (1999 - 2007)

 1999–2007: Back to the top

In November 1999, the sextet, under the supervision of Shirley, began recording a new album at Guillaume Tell Studios in Paris. One of the inspirations for the album's lead single, "The Wicker Man", was the 1973 British film of the same title, and the title of the new album Brave New World, was directly taken from the novel "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.
The album was distinguished by its classic sound, progressive melodic structures and dynamics reminiscent of the band's classic albums from their prime time of the '80s.
The aforementioned single reached the Top 10 of the British charts, and the album was peaked at number 7 in Great Britain and 39 in the United States, also reaching the top of bestsellers in many countries, bringing Iron Maiden many gold and platinum certifications, also in Poland.

The route promoting the "Brave New World Tour" led through almost a hundred concerts taking place in large halls, stadiums and amphitheaters, as well as prestigious festivals where the British were the main attraction (Dynamo Festival, Roskilde Festival, With Full Force Festival). The group was also headlined of several dozen festival concerts, held under the banner of the original "Metal 2000 Festival", covering Europe and both Americas.
On June 20 and 21, 2000, the band gave two sold-out concerts in Poland (Torwar and Spodek), and for the first time the band also performed in Estonia and Ukraine, presenting a spectacular show and attracting from a dozen to several dozen thousand people to subsequent stops of the route. Iron Maiden's return to the big stages became a fact, and the group's popularity began to grow significantly from then on. 

The culmination of the concert journeys was a tour of South American stadiums and a performance as the stars of the Brazilian Rock In Rio Festival 2001 on January 19, 2001 in front of at least 250,000 people. The band's concert in Santiago de Chile attracted record attendance ofover 50,000 people. In total, the route was seen by approximately 3.2 million viewers. In February 2001, the band received two Grammy nominations, and in the same year they were also honored with the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards, awarded for outstanding achievements in the international arena.
The album The Number of the Beast was also immortalized in the "Classic Albums" documentary series, produced by Eagle Vision to honor the creators of the most important music albums.  

In March 2002, a live album and DVD entitled Rock in Rio were released, containing a recording of the aforementioned concert from Rio de Janeiro. The DVD reached the top of bestseller lists around the world, bringing the group a number of gold and platinum records and awards from music critics, it was also the first rock DVD awarded a gold disc in Poland.
The year 2002 was spent by the musicians collecting new ideas, and their concert activity came down to organizing a series of three concerts at Brixton Academy, the proceeds of which were donated to the Clive Aid foundation, collecting funds necessary to organize help for the group's former drummer, Clive Burr, suffering from multiple sclerosis.

The proceeds from the sale of the single "Run to the Hills", containing the title track in versions from 1982 and 2001, were also allocated for the same purpose. In autumn, a compilation of the band's greatest hits, Edward the Great, was released, as well as a strictly limited, special collector's box, Eddie's Archive, with three compilation and live albums (Beast Over Hammersmith, BBC Archives and Best of the 'B' Sides), a parchment with the group's family tree, a ring and a decorated chalice.

The CDs were available only as part of the box, the band did not decide to release them separately, which was to emphasize the uniqueness and exclusivity of the project.