That said, as always, I'm anticipating the new album. The cryptic viral campaign was enough to pique my interest. Looking forward to whatever Revelations may occur on the 15th.
So do i. As i said earlier; if a new IM album has 3-4 songs i like, then i am happy. And i will support the band who has given me much joy, by buying the album.
Same. I just wish the production (and subsequent vinyl mastering) was better. Tried to listen to Book of Souls yesterday (for the first time in a long time), but the production is a dense beast to overcome.
I must be the only one that really loves The Final Frontier, while half of Book of Souls leaves me cold.
Nah i think plenty of people feel that way. Would be a pretty boring eorld if we all liked the same stuff.
For what it's worth I've always liked the X Factor, though I have to be in the right frame of mind for it. Is it a perfect album? No. The production could be better, for one. Greater emphasis on guitars and more dynamics all round. The vocals are great (unless you were expecting Bruce). The track listing is the records biggest downfall (and sequencing, to some extent). Judgement Day and Justice of the Peace are essential for light and shade on that album. But what do you? Remove two tracks or make it a double LP? The cover art, for me, is excellent. The prosthetic Eddie and moody lighting captures the era. If anything, I wanted them to double down on this approach for the next album (which is one of the two albums I don't own on vinyl ... the other being The Final Frontier, which has possibly the worst cover art ever created).
I know this is near blasphemous, but with a bit of autotune (not the kind you notice, just to help Blaze a bit in the places he is slightly flat) it would have been a fine album.
Maiden should've chosen a more appropriate key. That, or detuned. Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension are excellent albums ... shame that Maiden were so inflexible during his tenure in the band. Virtual XI was a disaster, complete with Casio keyboard organ hits and plastic sounding guitars (yet a couple of very fine songs).
Unfortunately Auto-Tune wasn't released until 1997. They could've used it for VXI, but it still wouldn't have mattered.
Nope, same here. Loved Final Frontier, especially the one-two punch of Starblind and Isle of Avalon. Would have loved to have heard either of those two on the supporting tour. As for BoS, the opening two tracks and Empire of the Clouds are as good as anything else I’ve enjoyed from the reunion era. Everything in between though? Other than the sing along bits from The Black and The Red, I couldn’t hum or whistle you any of it.
Vocal fixes (pitch correction) have been used in studios since the birth of studios. Not autotune, per se, but basically what was being referred to above.
Agree. If Eternity, Speed of Light and Empire of the Clouds are all great. I'd throw in the title track as a good one too, though I do agree with you that I don't think I could hum it right now without getting some sort of head start. I hope the new album pulls back on the epics and has more concise songs. Steve seems so incapable of writing a song like The Trooper anymore, where it's just a quick punch in the face. That was what made him a great songwriter in the 80s - how he could do the short bursts of power and also the excellent epics. Still, I always get excited for a new Maiden album. Does everyone assume that "Belshazzar's Feast" is the name of the first single?
Yessir. To my ears, Paschendale is clearly Maiden’s finest song since Powerslave. They have GOT to start working that song into their live shows!
I I must admit it never occurred to me that might be the first single. I just assumed that this was all pointing to an album called ‘Writing on the Wall’. You could be right.
I agree. The way I hear it, had they split up in 1989 and not got back together until 1999, Brave New World would still make perfect sense in terms of their discography. And I agree with what you said about The Alchemist. The first time I heard it I was feeling those same things you have mentioned, and in my head I was hearing things like some call-and-response vocals on the "know this" section, and a an additional high harmony Bruce when he sings "strange alchemy"... Things that would lift up that section and make it stand out, give the song some tension and release, some dynamics. It's one of the frustrating things with modern Maiden, this feeling that they throw stuff together most of the time in a "that'll do" fashion as though that will make it sound fresh and live, when more often than not it sounds undercooked. Caveman sound only makes things worse. They're often *this* close to hitting it out of the park on the albums but it's as though they can't be bothered anymore. I must say I don't entirely blame them, though. If I were in my 50s-60s with a more than healthy bank account, and knowing that everything I put out sells and every time I go on tour the stadiums are packed, I quite possibly wouldn't be that motivated to go the extra mile either.
I've always enjoyed The X Factor as well. It's nowhere near their peak, but it's still good stuff and I appreciated the change at the time. As an album, it's a coherent offering. Moody, dark and cold, I can get into it. But it should never have been that long. At the end of the day, I'm always going to prefer having more Maiden than less - I mean, they can give us a longass album and we can choose what tracks to listen to. That's fine by me. The problem is we old-school fans do tend to look at albums as units, and weaker tracks will always drag the rating down with them. I can have myself a 40-50 minute dose of my favourites from Book Of Souls and call it a return to form, yet as a whole it can't hope to be up there with their best, in my view. Me, I just happen to think that "epic" is not defined by length. Going back to The X Factor, I'm happy all those songs are there and I'm happy to have them because I enjoy them, but I have the feeling that, as an album, it would've been much better received and would probably be looked at with more fondness now if it had been a 50-minute (give or take) blast of the best tracks.
Writing On The Wall does tie-in with the Belshazzar thing, but beyond that, it just might have a deeper meaning. These guys have been releasing new music about every 5 years lately. Considering their age, is it reasonable to expect another album in 2026 or thereabouts, with Bruce pushing 70, Nicko at 75, etc.? Who knows. Maybe there will be yet another one after this one, it is possible. But these days they've been tweeting each Maiden album cover in succession, with every one of them having the WOTW acronym. The writing on the wall. It could mean nothing, or it could be a way of saying - hey, this well might be it.
Bruce is 62. Nicko is 69. This is not the last Maiden album (but you're right to pick up on the subtext - however, see also: 'marketing').
Could be. They’ve earned their place in history and hearts of their fans. If it is the last, fine. If not, fine.
With Maiden being unable to tour, we’ll probably see her more often. Same as bands like AC/DC. Maybe even a GNR one!
That's where I'm at too. I've been following them since Powerslave and have had more enjoyment out of their albums and tours than I could ever express. The last 20 years have been gravy.
