Yeah, LOL, Maiden would be nothing without the bass!
I have BTW also noticed that these days when I see a band on stage, the emphasis seems to be pretty heavily on the rhythm section quite often, and guitars are - especially in metal bands - often scooped-sounding, buried 'whassssshhhhh' in there that you only hear a constant steady roar of somewhere there.
My preference is absolutely in LOUD guitars, I want to hear the guitar loud, not so important about the rest :-) but that is an exaggeration, I love good bass too, but the bass I like is usually more like guitar sounding, think Maiden indeed, or Motörhead...
Dee
"When life's a biatch, be a horny dog"
Amps: Marshall JVM 410H w/ Plexi Cap mod, Choke Mod & Negative Feedback Removal mod, 4x12", Behringer GMX110, Amplitube 3/StealthPedal
Half a dozen custom built/bastardized guitars all with EMG's, mostly 85's, Ibanez Artwood acoustic & Yamaha SGR bass, Epiphone Prophecy SG, Vox Wah, Pitchblack tuner plus assorted pedals, rack gear etc. for home studio use.