Kevin Says He Will Never Be Martin Birch

It´s not that he isn´t Martin. I overall liked his work on BNW, and RIR sounded fantastic, but his production on DOD sounds strangely compressed. It isn´t good. I don´t know, I don´t think there´s anything wrong with the "recording live" approach, but Kevin doesn´t seem the right match for Maiden. Every time I listen to FOTD however, it strikes me how dynamic and great the production is I question why Martin felt he had to leave after such great work.

> Following the romp between Ross Halfin and Kevin Shirley on their dedicated blogs, Kevin had these words about the fans' reaction:

*Actually, it's nice to have to slow down, and I even got to peruse the Iron Maiden Bulletin Board - you guys are so funny! Ross and I are actually great friends, both with a terrible sense of humor (he'd beg to differ, I'm sure!), and as we live on other sides of the world we don't talk very often, so we have fun on these blogs! I find him very funny, and we actually spent the Xmas before last together in Thailand, on a rented 50ft sailboat - which he hated ("... just run the bloody engine - we'll get there faster!").

(...)

So, needn't take it all too seriously! For the record, he is a pretty miserable bastard most of the time - he needs a girlfriend, I think! **(And sorry, I'll never be Martin Birch - I grew up with his work and loved it - especially Deep Purple!) ***

Source: [Caveman Diary](http://www.cavemanproductions.com/cavediary.htm)

> I question why Martin felt he had to leave after such great work.

I think he had right to retire after more than 25 years of work in the production.