I first got into Maiden through the posters on my cousin's walls. Eddie is still to me the most prominant of rock icons. Musicians are flesh and bone, with Eddie all that was actually exposed (sans flesh). It took me until I was probably 13 to figure out that the dual guitar and howling falsetto were the truest Iron of metal (not to mention the fact you could actually be spurred to learn something from the lyrics).
I still love the Oz, but it seems (especially with this incident) the Prince of Darkness is getting a little too judiciary in his old age.
Metal is Metal. So, Dickenson's a prick. All those guys who wrote Ozzy's songs for him in the eighties undoubtedly think that Ozzy's in the same boat.
