Where do you see Iron Maiden going after TBOS ?

johnglen

Educated Fool
It is obvious to me that if Dickinson stays healthy (fingers crossed ) there will be another IM album which will , probably, be their final . Where can the band go after TBOS ?

For me TBOS is the ultimate IM album . That doesn't mean the best , it means that it has all the elements that have defined Maiden's music taken to the extreme . So how do you think they should follow that with their final album ?

One suggestion would be "shorter" songs, but honestly that is a myth . TBOS is full of short songs , and very good ones at that . Take away some intros/outros and IESF, SOL ,TGU , WTRRD , DOG , TOAC , TMOS are all regular Maiden songs . Even SOTV isn't really a long Maiden song . Not only that but they are the best collection of "normal length" songs that they have written since SSOASS . So you cut two long songs , let's say EOTC and TRATB , trim a few intros/outros and there you have a "normal" metal album . Also I don't believe that they can't write even different sounding normal-length songs, TRATB alone has 3-4 "ethereal" melodies that could be the base for songs similar to the short ones in SSOASS .

Make an even longer album ? Wouldn't that be too much, they are almost already there with TBOS . I could see how they could follow the , somewhat, experimental (and criminally underrated ) TFF , and that's with a more traditionally-sounding IM album and that's what they did with TBOS . On the other hand I can't see how they could make another album and have it being a better closure to their career than TBOS . All I can think of is an album with a more polished production, though TBOS sounds fine to my ears , but nothing else .
So how do you believe the final IM album could/should sound like ?
 
I don't think I can even start to pin down what their next album will be like, I'm only just getting my head around this one. Who knows what will happen to them in the next couple of years, what will inspire them, or if they'll be constrained by some factor (like Nicko's currently mild arthritis, or Bruce's voice). Even if Bruce's voice gets back to where it was when TBOS was recorded, they might find it makes more sense to tune down for everything new in future, for example. Could add completely different character to their music.

As for album length, I get a feeling that the reason we got a double album this time was down to the fact there was such a gap between albums and they were bursting with creativity. If, as some have predicted, they go back into the studio in 2017 or 2018, we might get a shorter album. A run of shorter songs I find more unlikely, I think they prefer to express themselves in full rather than try to boil everything down into a short song. (I'll make the exception for Death or Glory!). I know what you mean about the 'meat', if you like, of TBOS songs, but I can't think of them in terms of being topped and tailed. Those intros and outros serve a purpose.

I don't think they themselves currently know when they will make their last album. All we've got to go on is Nicko saying he can't imagine carrying on drumming he way he currently does in ten years' time. There could be two more albums, there could be one....there could be none.

But I agree that what they've done in TBOS demonstrates a band of significant creative maturity, drawing on all of their experience so far. If this was the last album, it would be a completely dignified way to bow out.
 
I've heard that a few times through the years...

Maiden surely have helped the speculations of their retirement by letting Dance of Death end with an acoustic campfire song, AMOLAD with a song called "The Legacy" and then naming the album after it "The Final Frontier".

They're pulling your leg. And mine. And our strings. Or at least they try :D
 
Maiden surely have helped the speculations of their retirement by letting Dance of Death end with an acoustic campfire song, AMOLAD with a song called "The Legacy" and then naming the album after it "The Final Frontier".

They're pulling your leg. And mine. And our strings. Or at least they try :D

... came to die in France...

;)
 
Even if Bruce's voice gets back to where it was when TBOS was recorded, they might find it makes more sense to tune down for everything new in future, for example. Could add completely different character to their music.
That would be fucking awesome. Although, judging from what Bruce was saying in interviews about the rest of the band being shocked and frightened (I'm exaggerating a bit here) when IESF was to be recorded using the drop D tuning, it seems like a pretty big step to take for some in the band.
 
I think Maiden will end up retiring without planning to.. I sure hope they don't go out on a "Farewell Tour", and then, like, make a comeback the next year. I'd rather it just suddenly end. Maybe they won't retire, but just stop touring one day.. And after that we'll get lots of cool live albums, documentaries and stuff like that.
 
I definitely don't think TBOS will be the final album. Bruce said he's up for another. I'm sure everyone else will be too.

So after 2016 what are they going to do? I'm not entitrely sure it will be TBOS tour again. They're doing the whole world this time around. I think it's too early for an album too so could we get another history tour?

Here's my guess
2016 TBOS Tour
2017 90s history
2018 new album + tour
2019 album tour
2020 final tour
2021 final tour
 
Maiden surely have helped the speculations of their retirement by letting Dance of Death end with an acoustic campfire song, AMOLAD with a song called "The Legacy" and then naming the album after it "The Final Frontier".

They're pulling your leg. And mine. And our strings. Or at least they try :D
Maybe the choice of the last songs on recent albums is just a matter of "just in case"...
 
I can we them releasing another album in 2018/19.
I don't know where they're going to go with the next history tour though.
For a lot of people the 90's is not a favourite decade so they will have to include older classics and newer songs on that tour.
The set list will probably end up having just 6 or 7 songs from the 90's.
 
I have doubts about a 90s history tour. They've said they're done with history tours (okay, they might change their minds), and as has already been said, would there be the same market for a 90s history tour as the 80s history tours?
 
TBOS is long in time, but not long in number of songs...it only has 11 songs. When it comes down to it, Fear of the Dark is one song longer. Take away the 18 minute Empire of the Clouds and it's a single disc album.
That being said, I'd like to see a TRUE double album with up to 16-18 songs. It could be a mixture of long epics with others around the four minute mark. That's what I'd LIKE to see. What I THINK we'll get is a single disc of more of the prog-style metal they've been turning towards since Dance of Death (the seeds were planted on BNW...but they budded on DOD).
 
Didn't Maiden already say that The Book Of Souls World Tour is going to be their longest tour of their entire career and consume over 2 years..? In that case they won't be free again until early-mid 2018. What I would like to see is them make a classic style album next while on the road! Perhaps a 45-50 minute album with 4 rockers, 3 longer deeper tracks, and 1 longer epic! Especially if they are planning to skip a day or 2 or sometimes more between shows and give them time to sit down and create an album that will have a certain urgency feel to it from making it on the road. Then in 2019 sit down and take a year off and make a very good last album, then tour. I know this likely won't happen, but I think it would be cool. A lot of people are thinking Maiden has nearly run out of gas to keep going on, but TBOS sounds to me like their most inspired music EVER!! I bet they're going to make at least 1 more album no matter what, but if not then The Book Of Souls is one hell of a way to go out!! A much better way to end a great career, than any other album they have ever done! But I thought every last song on the past 4 albums could have made a great end if something did happen. I want to see their very last song being one where all 6 members collaborate for one last song!
 
I think TBOS will be the final studio album and the forthcoming tour will be the penultimate, before finishing off with a huge farewell tour. Perhaps performing one song off each studio album.
Hopefully many more documentary/history/concert DVDs to be released though as well as live archives.
Sincerely hope I'm wrong though !
 
Didn't Maiden already say that The Book Of Souls World Tour is going to be their longest tour of their entire career and consume over 2 years..?
Where are you getting that? What I'm seeing is that they tour from February to August of next year. And not once coming anywhere near me, really. :/
 
I'd be very surprised if the tour doesn't extend into 2017.
 
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