I’ve been a fan since Number of the beast came out. Love the DiAnno stuff as well. I get they they are too ‘hard’ for a lot of people. Different strokes and all that. But they are great for the exact reasons you mentioned. The last tour they did had them in better fighting trim that they were in in the 80s. For guys of that age to play that good for that long and never put out a truly ‘bad’ album is amazing. Blaze era wasn’t their finest work but it was good solid rock. When Dickinson returned and they released Brace new World it was like he never left.
Everything I ever read about them is they are ‘regular guys’ off stage without the primadonna BS that often follows their level of success.
I didn’t care much for blaze either, he couldn’t hold a candle to Dickinson.
I can’t think of any real bad songs, metallica, motley crew, none compares to iron maiden heh.