Iron Maiden Song By Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Zoot Marimba, Nov 8, 2017.

  1. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    Empire: You guys have all said it, it’s a great song. Sorry for the short review, the song is fantastic and worthy of much more. Maybe I am just exhausted. As I mentioned when I joined, I had never done anything like this before. It was lots of fun, but also quite demanding.

    Overall, BoS was quite satisfying. I loved the first disc, beginning to end (ehhh wait, once River Runs Deep on disc 1? ok then, loved all except one). . A few duds mixed in on disc 2, but then again, everyone seemed to agree on that, but not necessarily on which songs were the trash and which were the treasure. Seeing as that’s the case, I submit once again that I’d rather they record and release more and let us sort through. On this release, songs like Death or Glory and Tears of a Clown were seen as classics by some and worthless by others, so let me enjoy DoG and you hit skip.

    I do wonder on this one if they just knew, based on the length of Empire, that that track would take up too much room on a single disc release and elbow out other good songs or cause unwanted edits, to fit it all on one disc. If so, maybe they recorded a few weaker tracks just fill out the second disc. I don’t begrudge them. They clearly wanted to make Empire a full-on spectacle length-wise. I am glad they followed their muse on that, rather than shortening it to try to squeeze it all onto one disc.

    Anyway, as many have said, if this were to be there last new music, it would not be a bad way to end their recording career. I am hoping it’s not, but then I assume pretty much everyone on here feels that way.
     
  2. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Album Covers:

    Sorry for the long post, but visuals are a big part of Maiden's legacy. I love how their album covers usually convey the music within. So here we go...

    1. Powerslave - There's just something about Eddie as a Pharaoh/Sphinx which is so cool and hilarious at the same time. It shows how Maiden embraces their campy side. I love the color scheme.
    2. 7th Son - Love the smooth colors and the icebergs in the background. Eddie looks demonic here, holding the messianic embryo hostage. I also like the font on the title.
    3. Iron Maiden - Where it all began. Eddie's image reflects punk's influence on early Maiden (yeah, Arry, you were influenced by punk rock, dude). Love the detail work in the background, especially the lighting.
    4. Somewhere in Time - Eddie in Blade Runner mode! Nice touch to make a futuristic cover when they started using synth.
    5. Brave New World - Love Eddie glowering over the city like a god. Nice color scheme and the bottom part of the cover does a nice job of portraying a futuristic world.
    6. The Final Frontier - Alien Eddie! Really nice detail on both the foreground and background.
    7. A Matter of Life and Death - Really good detail, with a color scheme that matches a battle scene. The theme of these soldiers being doomed to death is powerful.
    8. Piece of Mind - Simple, but an awesome use of shadows. Eddie looks (obviously) especially insane here.
    9. Killers - This is where we first get to see the Eddie we know and love (but what's up with the poofy hair?). I really like the colors and detail.
    10. Fear of the Dark - As someone mentioned upthread, the large black band name at the left hurts the cover. Otherwise, I love how the colors evoke a scary night. And the exaggerated version of Eddie coming out of a tree effectively evokes a nightmare.
    11. The Number of the Beast - Eddie looks great with that evil look and outstretched hand. The rest of this composition is weak. The background is lazily done, and the red demon is cartoonish.
    12. The Book of Souls - A lot of detail in this, and I like the Mayan (or Aztec?) theme. Eddie looks especially ugly here, but I guess it fits the album.
    13. The X Factor - Well, this is ugly but I guess that's the point. Very detailed and effectively horrific.
    14. No Prayer for the Dying - Interesting color choices, but this looks fan-made. I mentioned way upthread that the guy Eddie's grabbing looks like a Scooby Doo villain.
    15. Virtual XI - This is just a messy composition. You've got a gothic vision of Hades in the background, a (pretty cool-looking) Eddie up front, and some lame vision of a guy trapped in a virtual reality helmet. Bleh.
    16. Dance of Death - What was the band thinking? I mean...what were they thinking?
     
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  3. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    A random final thought on the song by song process:

    As is clearly the point, reviewing the songs one by one forces you to really focus on the song and not lose sight of a particular song’s finer points within the context of an entire album or even an entire discography. That exercise seems to have worked well here for many, and it definitely worked well on my side. Many of the songs that I had not given a fair shake to have risen in my estimation. This was especially true for the reunion era because I came into it after the first two albums were released (BNW and DOD) and I tried to digest those two very lengthy albums, plus all the solo Bruce stuff, and then the AMOLAD release (which came out about a year after I reengaged) all within a short period of time. Very different than my 80s maiden experience where I would wait on pins and needles for 2 years for a new release, then spend the next 2 years living and breathing the 8 to 10 new songs.

    AMOLAD inparticular, really clicked for me this time, especially a few of the tunes towards the end that had been neglected due to the album’s length (that one is a tiring, demanding, depressing release, but boy is it good). TFF also benefitted from this approach, especially some of the earlier songs, such El,Dorado, Mother of Mercy and Coming Home. DoD also benefitted, especially the title track in particular.

    All that said, i got a very important lesson about a week ago. I maintain playlists of the music I like. Most playlists are by band, some are by genre and others are by era of my life (songs from the three year period I was in law school for example). I was listening to a play list covering 2015 and 2016, a period in which I left my law firm to form my own business, got divorced, moved from NYC to Los Angeles California, and met and began living with my new girlfriend. That playlists is a great genre mix up of songs from that timeframe, including Chris Stapleton, Rival Sons, Will Hoge, The Wild Feathers and Blackberry Smoke.

    So my point is (finally), there are songs from BoS in the mix. Three specifically: If Eternity Should Fail, The Red and the Black and The Great Unknown. So, as the playlist shuffled throu, when I least expected it, while my palate (and ears) were being cleansed of all the Maiden i had been listening to for this thread, when I least expected it, on comes The Great Unknown. Not mixed in with other Maiden, not even in with strictly metal. Rather, following on the heals of some great country and Americana style songs, the guitars kick in with that slow build, and it sounded so good, so totally different. Listening to the song that time, it blew my mind, it was classic, it was epic. So the lesson I took away was that sometimes you need to hear these songs in a different context to really get the true power of the song.
     
  4. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    The Great Unknown:
    We start off with a bass intro by Steve and then the guitars kick in to create a hypnotic rhythm, and Bruce delivers some solid vocals, although the melody doesn’t always work in his favor. I like it where it speeds up and we get some killer soloing from Adrian and Dave, the two filing it out and it’s close but I go with Adrian on here. Not a favorite but pretty good for the most part.

    The Red And The Black:
    And now we hit a snag because I don’t like the song. The bass intro is sloppy and uneccesary, The song itself is drawn out WAY longer than it needs to be, I hate the wohs, they give me wohs.

    When The River Runs Deep:
    Great guitar licks at the beginning. I would tell Bruce to dial it back a bit in the intro, but the music is driving and driving well, and the vocals are generally strong on here, and the time changes work pretty damn well on here. Dave gets the first solo and it’s good, Janick then takes off and is fairly rough in spots but he’s on the right track. Adrian easily wins here, really tearing into his guitar. We’re back on track cause I genuinely dig this tune, it’s pretty damn good.
     
  5. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space

    Location:
    Germany
    I want to thank Musicman1998 and Cheevyjames for their endless engagement in particular and all others of the steady contributors to this giant thread - hey, it's almost 300 pages!!!!:edthumbs:
    It's been a joy, of course, and it did to me what I wanted it to, namely to get a better and (foremost) deserved understanding of the reunion-era albums. Of course, there were many surprises, and maybe the biggest surprise to me was the acknowledgment of "Death On The Road" as a must-have release. I now have more than a few really great and fantastic additions to supreme-level Iron Maiden stuff, and I appreciate the boys even more than before. On the other hand, I also came to dislike their 90ties-output and the Blaze days more than I did, encouraged by your true words which enforced my shamefully hidden feelings and thoughts... my theory is they more or less got through with the extremely lame X-Factor and the slap-in-your-face-like Virtual XI by the fact that expectations were already lowered considerably by the lesser quality of NPFTD and FOTD, and that classic Metal was labeled serious uncool anyway in those days (like "it's heavy metal, it's ****. I want Korn and Limp Bizkit.").

    But let's get back on track: thank you, thank you, thank you and... THANK YOU!!!
    I will fill the holes of my contributions and come up to rate ALL songs on ALL albums, I think I'm stuck on TNOTB or POM, and then, when I git through that, give you my rankings of their albums from best to worst.
    Believe me, I'm curious what it will look like!!
     
  6. Will be listening to the last 3 tracks off Book Of Souls before commenting again.
    I can't see my negative vibes changing on the whole thing but I want to give them another chance.

    Quick thanks to all that have made this thread a enjoyable ride.
     
    Zoot Marimba likes this.
  7. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    [​IMG] Album Art:

    01 - Somewhere in Time. So much detail. I spent hours looking at this in high school. The back cover is particularity mesmerizing.
    02 - Powerslave. Love the Egyptian theme
    03 - Piece of Mind. It’s the first one I remember seeing so this has sentimental value
    04 - Number of the Beast. Iconic. It has to be near the top.
    05 - Brave New World. Love colors and the creativity of putting Eddie in the clouds.
    06 - Book of Souls. Finally, another traditional looking cover.
    07 - Iron Maiden. The start of it all. That’s worth something.
    08 - Seventh Son of A Seventh Son. I like the back a lot but the front never did anything for me.
    09 - Killers. Like the classic look and format
    10 - Fear of the Dark. Like the theme but not the changes to Eddie
    11 - A Matter of Life and Death. Not Bad but not impressed
    12 - At this point, the rest have very little meaning for me. I will say the worst is No Prayer for the Dying The cover was even more disappointing than the music.

    My 3 favorite non albums are:
    The Trooper
    Aces High
    Powerslave mummy with the lightning
     
  8. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space

    Location:
    Germany
    album art:

    01: Powerslave
    02: Somewhere In Time
    03: Live After Death
    04: Piece Of Mind
    05: Iron Maiden
    06: The Number Of The Beast
    07: Killers
    08: Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

    the rest isn't interesting enough for me to get ranked.

    Other top Eddies:
    Stranger In A Strange Land
    2 Minutes To Midnight
    Wold Slavery Tour
    Eddie on vinyl spin from "SIT"
    The Trooper
    Purgatory
    Aces High
    The Evil That Men Do
    Somewhere On Tour
     
  9. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Maiden covers rated:

    1. Live After Death
    2. Killers
    3. Somewhere In Time (great detail)
    4. Powerslave (esp. with the textured sleeve)
    5. Iron Maiden
    6. A Matter of Life and Death
    7. Piece of Mind
    8. The Book of Souls (stunning on vinyl)
    9. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
    10. Maiden England '88 (I really like the double pic disc vinyl artwork)
    11. The Number of the Beast
    12. Fear of the Dark
    13. Brave New World
    14. No Prayer For The Dying
    15. A Real / Live Dead One
    16. Live At Donington
    17. Virtual XI
    18. Dance of Death
    19. The X Factor

    I know I've missed some live albums but I don't remember what they look like and don't own them. The ones below Brave New World I think are all abysmal. I hate the last two sleeves in the list!

    Fave single sleeves:

    1. The Trooper
    2. Aces High
    3. Run To The Hills (original)
    4. Purgatory
    5. Stranger In A Strange Land
    6. Run To The Hills (Live 1985)
    7. Flight of Icarus
    8. Can I Play With Madness?
    9. Holy Smoke
    10. Sanctuary
     
  10. Almost Simon

    Almost Simon Forum Resident

    Finally catching up:

    When The River Runs Deep

    Don't like the start but then it gets into that 'Be Quick or Be Dead' groove which actually works. And a proper ending too. Well, sort of, it does lack that final "Pow!" ending but its close enough. 4/5

    The Book of Souls

    I like the intro a lot. The Nicko drums too, like this style a lot, perhaps when done faster. I've been listening to Tull's Heavy Horses recently, the 4cd box/book and Barlow's drums have this on Acre's Wild, my favourite track. So always welcome to hear that style, anyway, back to Maiden. It has the Kashmir style about it. The 10 minutes breezes past quite quickly. Like the fast middle section. Solo's very good. Realising its a long time since i listened to this album in full. Verdict - 5/5 for me. Top tune.

    Death or Glory

    This is fun, great track, great live. Nice bass work, low and sounds good. The chorus is the weakest part. 5/5 for the rest of the song.

    Shadows of the Valley

    Wasted Years part 2. That intro riff is ridiculous, why take from one of your own songs? Its better after the intro section but this song is lacking, an average album track. 2.5/5.

    Tears of a Clown

    Didn't like this one much upon first listen to the album and nothing has changed, 2 weaker songs in a row. The lyrics I understand and appreciate but the music is a definite second to the lyrics here and therefore this song is lacking. 3/5 at best.

    The Man of Sorrows

    Definitely a Dave tune with that intro. It has some very interesting parts, could've been a better song with some editing, the ending is nice, I almost hoped for a The Prophecy style acoustic ending but that didn't happen. There's a greater song in here waiting to get out. 3.5/5 is fair enough, could've been better.

    Empire of the Clouds

    Bloody superb. No false steps, nothing I would suggest that needs editing. Its wonderful. A definite entry in Maiden's all-time top 10 songs. 5/5.

    The Book of Souls album - its a very good record, its long and I don't mind that. It doesn't quite hit the heights of their best work, I wouldn't put this in their alltime top 5 but it makes the top 10. Take out 2 or 3 of the lesser tunes and put the rest on a CDR in the car and you have a great album. Empire of the Clouds is a gem, the title track too, The Red and the Black. And the shorter tracks - Speed of Light and Death or Glory. Its a comfortable 4/5 from me.

    What a wonderful thread, have enjoyed it immensely. Thanks to Musicman1998 and everyone else. So nice to be part of such a positive thread. Long may it continue. :cool: :edthumbs: :wave:
     
  11. Tears Of A Clown
    Does absolutely nothing for me. Plods along like so many recent songs.
    2/5
    The Man Of Sorrows
    Plods even worse than above. Promisingly picks up, but goes nowhere fast.
    2/5
    Empire Of The Clouds
    Something of a different intro...that typically goes on and on, when there is no need too.
    The breakdown at around 7 mins that leads into the musical passage is just so typically 'new Maiden'.
    The songs sums Maiden up now....glimpses of good idea's that just get played out to death.
    Not for me I'm afraid.
    3/5

    Overall Thoughts....Book Of Souls.
    The fact that it took this thread to make me revisit The Final Frontier and The Book Of Souls says everything I feel about Iron Maiden in 2018.
    I have not enjoyed a Maiden album on first listen since Brave New World.
    I just don't like their later material. I want too...but I don't.
    2.5/5
     
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  12. Album Rankings Updated...

    1 Powerslave 5/5
    2 Iron Maiden 5/5
    3 Piece Of Mind 5/5
    4 Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son 5/5
    5 The Number Of The Beast 4/5
    6 Somewhere In Time 4/5
    7 Killers 4/5
    8 Brave New World 4/5
    9 No Prayer For The Dying 3/5
    10 A Matter Of Life And Death 3/5
    11 Dance Of Death 3/5
    12 Book Of Souls 2.5/5
    13 Fear Of The Dark 2.5/5
    14 Virtual XI 2.5/5
    15 The Final Frontier 2/5
    16 The X-Factor 1/5

    Live Albums
    1 Live After Death 3/5
    2 Rock In Rio 3/5
    3 Flight 666 3/5
    4 Live At Donnington 2.5/5
    5 A Real Dead One 2/5
    6 A Real Live One 2/5
     
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  13. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space

    Location:
    Germany
    A textured sleeve? First time I hear about it! Is it an allover-texture, or does it go with the graphics, like embossed pyramids or something?
    Could you PLEASE post a picture where you can actually see that texture?
     
  14. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The UK first pressing has an all over textured sleeve, it's hard to describe! Like a pattern all over. Not embossed logos or pyramids. It's not essential, but it is a nice touch and it feels like a quality sleeve. It's very light so is difficult to get a photo of, especially as l've never had a clue how to upload photos here!

    Iron Maiden - Powerslave

    Going by Discogs, early US sleeves were textured too:

    Iron Maiden - Powerslave

    They aren't especially rare or valuable, but only the earliest pressings had these sleeves.
     
  15. bloodisthin

    bloodisthin And after all, we're only ordinary men

    Location:
    Australia
    Spotted on the London Tube for the recent Maiden show. (Not my photo.)


    [​IMG]
     
  16. moofassa_ca

    moofassa_ca Senior Member

    My Canadian copy is textured as well.
     
  17. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space

    Location:
    Germany
    I never owned it on vinyl, but now there's one more reason!:D
     
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  18. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    I waited until the end to rank the albums. I am ranking slightly differently because i include the B-sides in my evaluation of the release. I find that the b-sides in the 80s really were game changers. Seeking them out and adding that one or two last “bonus” songs was half the fun of each release:

    1. Piece of a Mind: I haven’t seen anyone else that puts this at number 1, but I love all the songs (oh wait, Quest for Fire is on here, I have literally pretended that song didn’t exist for 35 years so since I skip it, it doesn’t bring down the side). When you add the fantastic art work (love lobotomy Eddie in the padded room!) and the b-sides I’ve Got the Fire and Cross Eyed Mary, it’s their finest release in my book. Others are so damn close, but PoM for me is the penultimate Maiden experience. For me, Trooper never gets old, overplayed though it may be. Icarus blew my mind, Die with Your Boots On rocks hard, Revelations and Where Eagles Dare were unstoppable and To Tame a Land was fantastic, even if the lyrics were forced. Still Life might be there greatest overlooked classic and Sun and Steel may be filler but what a riff! ...oh, and isn’t there a song called Quest for Fire, I think I heard that one once 35 years ago.

    2. Somewhere in Time: Adrian’s songs take a fantastic release over the top. On this one there are no bad songs in my opinion. Caught Somewhere in Time is the short fast opener that rocks nonstop for almost 8 minutes. Heaven Can Wait catches flak but i think it’s great. A great cover and three excellent b-sides seal the deal.

    3. Powerslave: might not have been third place until this thread. I had written off Flash of the Blade and utterly ignored The Duelist, this thread changed that. ...and with that change, side one, already on fire from the get go with Aces High and Two Minutes, was as awesome as side two. ...and fookin’ ‘ell, side two, nonstop genius. Unlike many, I love Back in the Village, and Powerslave (the song) and flippin’ Rime of Ancient Mariner, just wow!!!! Add in yet another brilliant album cover and two great b-sides in Rainbow’s Gold (sorry, this actually equals many of the songs on Powerslave in my opinion) and King of Twilight, and what a package!!! To be clear, this may be third place (in my mind - today) but it’s only infantesmally behind the first two.

    4. Number of the Beast: I struggled with this one. One very weak song (Gangland- obviously) and one very average song (invaders), so how could it come in ahead of Seventh Son? Because overplayed though they may be, really think back on those first 5000 times you heard Run to the Hills, those rolling drums, the chorus, the riff; and the title track, the airy guitar in the intro, the screeeeeeam, the chorus, ‘arry’s bass solo, I mean seriously, the whole damn tune, both those songs were iconic songs, game changers in the world of metal, and the real introduction to the world of Bruce. They never got old to me. And Hallowed be thy Name, that song can’t ever be overplayed. That song could be on repeat 24 hours a day and I’d never get tired of it. I love every second of it. Children of the Damned is their greatest overlooked classic, second only to Still Life. The Prisoner and 22 Acicia Avenue may not hit the levels of the aforementioned four songs, but they are also top tier. There has never been a time to this day that the beginning The Prisoner doesn’t have me air drumming and air guitarist simultaneously. This was my third maiden album, I was 16. I liked the first two a lot! ...but the third changed my life forever!

    5. Brave New World: 10 great songs to welcome them back!

    6. Killers: My first introduction 38 years ago to Maiden. It left quite an imprint on a 16 year old boy. Admittedly, this one is higher in my rankings due to nostalgia. Several of the songs are kind of samey, even after almost 40 years, I might not know a few of the songs by the name, but they all cook along, and Ides of March/Wrathchild, Killers, Murders in the Rue Morgue and Drifter are all classics. As my first intro to Eddie, the album cover was a mindbender and still remains my favorite album cover of theirs (although not if you count the singles artwork too, in which case, The Trooper wins for me!)

    7. Seventh Son: I struggled with this album for years, errrhh decades actually, before I really came to love it as I loved the run from Killers to Somewhere in Time. The album cover was great, and in retrospect, the songs were too. That said, Can I Play with Madness was not a strong first single, G’n’R had just released Appetite, a breath of fresh air in the rock scene, and my mind was elsewhere. So, while there are classic tracks such as Moonchild, the title track and Infinate Dreams, and no weak tracks, it didn’t have the impact on me at the time of its release to make this quite as essential a release to me. The b-sides to this release were the first time I felt Maiden let me down on that front as well. I love Thin Lizzy but Maiden did not do Massacre justice, the remakes of Charlotte and Prowler were tepid (and really, why Prowler?) and Black Bart Blues didn’t even warrant a second spin. Maybe a stellar album, but cracks were showing.

    8. AMOLAD: This one took years. Now I love it. I can’t really listen it as a stand-alone release, too depressing and monochromatic sounding, but the songs mix well with other latter day Maiden on a playlist, and The Legacy and Lord of Light are two latter day lost classics in my mind.

    9. Book of Souls: hopefully not their last gasp, because If Eternity, Great Unknown, TRATB, the title song and Empire all hit me as classics and the rest, bar a couple of weaker tracks, were all pretty great. Now if the production had been 80s style, this might be way higher in the mix for me.

    10. Iron Maiden: Maybe had I bought this before Killers, I’d have seen it as more of a classic and higher in my list. A spellbinding debut, but less in the way of stone cold classics to my way of thinking. Still, in my mind this album, even at number 10 on my list, is still top notch quality.

    11. The Final Frontier: This one has risen in my estimation as a result of this thread. I had been big on a few songs, but El Dorado, Coming Home, Mother of Mercy and The Talisman all leapt forward as previously ignored fantastic songs. I think Isle of Avalon is a stone cold classic, and with these other songs, I think this album is great. A little spotty in the tail end, but otherwise great.

    12. Dance of Death: Too many duff tracks and a lousy, lousy album cover, but this one floats high on my list because of several very strong songs. Paschendale is a modern day Maiden classic, Rainmaker, the title track, Montsegur and No More Lies hit hard and Journeyman was a great acoustic change up.

    13. No Prayer For the Dying: Definately a step backwards and the songs, though uniformly good, aren’t great. The Assassin is the weakest link. Mother Russia, as the “epic” (though rather short), is the highlight. The rest is good Maiden, but what would be filler on the better Maiden releases, though somewhat unmemorable. Interestingly, for me the highlights also include Holy Smoke, Hooks in You and Bring Your Daughter, all three of which are quite cheesy, but fun. Lowlights are Bruce’s vocals, the loss of Adrian and the album art work. NOFTD’s higher-than-one-might-expect placement on this list is helped by 3 of the 4 b-sides (Kill Me Ce Soir, All In Your Mind and I’m a Mover), all pretty stellar in my opinion. The fourth, Communication Breakdown fails (though it’s listenable).

    14. Fear of the Dark: still not downright awful, but with really only Fear of the Dark, which is bettered by the live versions, and Afraid to Shoot Strangers as the truly top notch songs, and maybe Judas Be My Guide as an overlooked gem, the rest is largely dreck. Even the b-sides, other than I Can’t See My Feelings, were crap. Pretty cool album cover though.

    15 and 16. Does it matter? Ok then, a dead tie for last. I tried, I really tried. I listened to each release multiple times as part of this thread. I truly had no preconceived notions, I had never heard anything from the blaz era. In fact, I went into the experience really wanting to like these albums. I mean, who wouldn’t want to discover two brand new iron maiden albums that they had never heard and find out that they were great? I know that the masses largely consider these albums garbage, but there was so much positive feedback from this group that I really hoped I was going to find some last treasure. Realistically, besides Sign of the Cross and The Clansman, there is really almost nothing here to see (or hear). And even those two very strong songs are significantly bettered by their Rock in Rio counterparts with Bruce on vocals. Blaze may be a wonderful singer, as many of you have indicated, (typically by reference to his post Maiden work). But I am not listening to his post Maiden work, I am listening to these two albums. It may also be that Blaze was in no way to blame, and it was Steve Harris that boxed him in with crappy lyrics and weaker than usual songs, and Harris who produced the album in a way that created the very monotone delivery that everyone seems to abhor. Again, you can blame Blaze, Steve Harris, you can blame anyone, but in the end, they’re just lousy albums. The fact is, this band really needs Adrian and Bruce, as the reunion era albums have shown. That said, I really do like one B-side from this: My Generation. I was quite surprised how well I thought blaze was able to pull that off, and it does suggest that if the production job had been sharper and more tailored to his vocal approach, they might’ve turned in a couple of better albums.
     
  19. Almost Simon

    Almost Simon Forum Resident

    My top Maiden album order:

    1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - forever number 1 in my eyes, can't see this ever being moved. Love it.
    2. The Number of the Beast - NOTB just gets the vote for me over the debut.
    3. Iron Maiden - wonderful album, production does let it down, doesn't matter how much I try and ignore the sound - their worst album cover.
    4. Powerslave
    5. Killers -
    This gets my vote as best Maiden album cover. The classic Eddie. Never truly bettered for me.
    6. Piece of Mind
    7. A Matter of Life and Death -
    was good to listen back to this and BOS, both great but AMOLAD gets the higher place.
    8. The Book of Souls - some editing would've made this album better, not song length, just 2 or 3 of the weaker tracks being removed.
    9. Brave New World
    10. Somewhere in Time
    - I've never really liked this one as much as everyone else
    11. Dance of Death
    12. Fear of the Dark
    13. The Final Frontier
    14. No Prayer for the Dying -
    I'm still fond of it but the overall song quality and Bruce's vocals let it down.
    15. Virtual XI
    16. The X Factor
    Not much to recommend, one I could happily remove from my collection.
     
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  20. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    That was an excellent write-up! Thanks for going in-depth like that.
     
  21. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    Artwork ranking:

    1. Somewhere in Time - Iconic, incredibly detailed piece of art from Riggs. I've spent so many hours of my life scouring every inch of it for detail. In addition to the excellent music contained in there, the artwork is a big reason why it's my favorite album of all time.
    2. Powerslave - same thing as SIT, just sub in "one of my favorite albums of all time"
    3. Seventh Son - I love the color and how it's both ice and sky with this weird half-Eddie floating there holding a baby. Riggs was a master.
    4. Number of the Beast - the most iconic image for Iron Maiden. That Eddie is glorious.
    5. Piece of Mind - Riggs went all out making Eddie look insane. I love all the yellows and blues here.
    6. Killers - pretty frightening. Don't mess with that guy!
    7. Final Frontier - I love the idea of Eddie as a crazed alien
    8. Brave New World - I like the idea of Eddie still tormenting us in the future.
    9. Iron Maiden - the original version is classic and strikingly original. The cover for the remaster is dreadful, never should've been approved.
    10. Book of Souls - Eddie looks good, and fits in culturally. I like the inside artworks better, I think. It's good, but a bit too sparse.
    11. AMOLAD - Enjoyable, but it's dark and relenting like the album. Eddie is way too small. I like him commanding an army of the dead and the tank looks good, but it should've been a single artwork.

    12. No Prayer - it's fine. Does the job, but Eddie coming out of a grave was already done in a vastly superior way on Live After Death.

    13. Fear of the Dark - he's a tree. What?
    14. X Factor - Hugh Syme isn't the right fit for Maiden. It's just gross, but not in a freaky way. Just an ugly album cover.
    15. Dance of Death - I'm still amazed that it was UNFINISHED and yet Rod and Steve thought it looked good enough to release. The artist didn't even want to be credited for it! Atrocious.
    16. Virtual XI - the eternal champion. Just as good art can make a great album even better, terrible art makes it worse. Like, you'll get some disease just from picking up the album to look at it. There's no unifying theme to the painting, it's just a bunch of random s*** that the band was interested in combined with the worst Eddie ever. I hate this album so much.
     
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  22. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    Thanks! As I mentioned (way, way) earlier, this is my first time getting involved in a thread like this. It’s been a ton of fun to participate and to hear what others think. I am actually a bit sad this over. I run ultras and you train for those races for months. After the race is over, people get depressed, probably due to the vacuum the absence creates. Having experienced that first hand, this feels like that to me. I guess I should look around for another thread like this to follow.

    Anyway, you guys have been great. It was a lot of work keeping up, but very gratifying!!! Thanks to you all, even the grouchy ones that don’t like the songs I like !
     
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  23. Smokin Chains

    Smokin Chains Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashua, NH
    We had Space Eddie, Future Eddie, Egyptian Eddie…. I was racking my brain… What other kinds of Eddies can be done? The only thing I could come up with so far is Preacher Eddie could be awesome, some crazy church, Eddie at the podium, hands raised, same idea could be applied to a President Eddie.
     
  24. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

    Location:
    Finland
    I've been away and busy (haven't actually taken any proper look on the dates, unfornately), so I have to mention these little anniversaries from the recent days in couple messages:
    [​IMG]
    Happy 8th Anniversary to the "The Final Frontier"-album, which was originally released on august 13th, 2010.
    For this album there was some differences on which date is was released. As it says on the wikipedia concerning the release-dates: released on 13 August 2010 in Germany, Austria and Finland, 17 August in North America, 18 August in Japan, and 16 August worldwide.
    The Final Frontier - Wikipedia
     
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  25. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

    Location:
    Finland
    superstar19 and MusicMatt like this.

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