Favorite Maiden Album (2010 Edition, voting closed)

[Patrick Watts]

The Number of the Beast, in my eyes is one of the best albums. I recall Reading somewhere that Steve Harris believed that Invaders wasn't a good single. While I would disagree, I would say that it wasn't a great opening track, whereas The Prisoner would've sounded much better at the start of an album. Just because of the songs and playability of the album, it definitely gets my vote. The Final Frontier, I thought was a very good album indeed. I couldn't believe my ears when somewhen told me it was a commercial flop. There are plenty of great songs on that album - mine being El Dorado, Mother of Mercy, The Alchemist, The Talisman and When the Wild Wind Blows. If the rumours are true and album #16 is on its way, I think I might die of excitement

Due to only being a relatively new Maiden fan, due to the fact I am 17, I am yet to hear all of Maiden's studio albums. Fortunately, one of my Mum's previous partners stored a wide load of Maiden music on there. Accompanied with the Iron Maiden and TNOB albums, I also have Powerslave, SSOASS, FOTD, AMOLAD and TFF on my computer

 

[Ariana]

Find Somewhere in Time and listen to it. Now.

 

[Pand]

I'm clearly in the minority here, but my favourite Maiden studio album is "Dance of Death". Wildest Dreams is admittedly my least favourite opening track, but if I start playing it from Track 2, I think it's a shining example of metal brilliance without a weak track. Yes, I even like "No More Lies". And "Gates of Tomorrow". And "Age of Innocence". And (dare I say it?) "New Frontier".

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Brave New World.

I almost voted for Seventh Son, which I consider to be flawless, but overall I like the songs on Brave New World better.

 

[Castelle]

There are so many great albums but if I can only pick one. I picked the Number of the Beast. This was the very first album that introduced me to Maiden and really is the turning point for the band. Its simply a classic and hasn't dated at all (like some metal albums I could name) such a joy to listen to and with Clive's sad passing its great to appreciate what a great drummer he really was. Class ! Maiden forever !!

 

[Detective Beauregard]

I voted for Brave New World, but it's really a three-way tie between that, Piece of Mind, and AMOLAD.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Another vote for Brave New World!

 

[Dentura]

The Number of the Beast for me. I love the songwriting, performances, and the sheer energy being displayed. Clive Burr is a beast on this record. The fact that the copy I have is from the 80s also gives it brownie points for being that more awesome.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

After nearly 10 years of my fandom, it's still Somewhere in Time. No album has ever surpassed it yet. Both BNW, Powerslave and TXF come really close, but… no, just no.

I love the songwriting (maybe, but only maybe I could live without Heaven Can Wait and even that's a great song), I love the synths (which make the sound "softer", so the melody shines through even more brightly than usually), I love the bass, I love Bruce's performance here and I love the 80's "cyberpunk" atmosphere (which really fits the cover).

 

[Eric Wright]

The X-Factor and Somewhere in Time are roughly tied for my favorite, although maybe I prefer TXF by a slight margin.

 

[2Mins]

AMOLAD, SSOASS and Killers are, for me, the three all-killer no-filler Maiden albums. 9 out 10s across the board. Other albums have slightly higher peaks but have deeper troughs. SSOASS is the one that flows best and holds together best as an album, rather than a collection of songs (obvious really, being a concept album and all). Also, I got into Maiden in late '87, collected everything I could, then was waiting for the record shop to open on the day SSOASS was released. So, it will always be 'my' Maiden album.

POM, TFF, NOTB come close, the '90s stuff is bottom of the pile for me, with the rest in between.

 

[Mr Dicklesworth]

It's really hard to say. I have a lot of trouble comparing modern albums like AMOLAD to something like Killers considering they're so completely different. If I had to pick than I'd probably say NOTB with Powerslave coming insanely close behind it. I've just always loved both those albums the entire time I've been a Maiden fan

 

[Stardust]

For me, it could be any of the first eight albums by Iron Maiden. All are amazing!

The debut: Awesome songs but has a poor production. Phantom Of The Opera makes everything so much harder.
Killers: Slightly worse than the debut (means less consistant) but has better production and doesn't include stinkers like Charlotte The Harlot. Okay, maybe Twilight Zone.
The Number Of The Beast: Hallowed, title track and to a lesser extent Run To The Hills on one album. What could be better?
Piece Of Mind: This is probably the closest Iron Maiden has ever gotten to stagnation. But it does include my favorite song of all time: The Trooper!
Powerslave: Four timeless classics and four amazing ones? AWESOME!
Somewhere In Time: It's Powerslave with synths! YAY! Minus the timeless classics' one.
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son: Every song is perfect. Bruce' performance however could be better.
No Prayer For The Dying: Badly, very badly underrated.

But in the end, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son wins!

 

[RTC]

Powerslave is the greatest album of all-time. Every song fits perfectly into the album and it's an absolute joy to listen to every single time. SIT and SSOASS are outstanding albums too, but when 4 out of 8 songs on Powerslave are A+'s and the lowest song on the album is a solid B, you have a transcending album.

It can be argued that Powerslave is what helped turn the band from a Quiet Riot tier band into one of the greatest metal bands of all-time.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Powerslave is the greatest album of all-time. Every song fits perfectly into the album and it's an absolute joy to listen to every single time. SIT and SSOASS are outstanding albums too, but when 4 out of 8 songs on Powerslave are A+'s and the lowest song on the album is a solid B, you have a transcending album.

It can be argued that Powerslave is what helped turn the band from a Quiet Riot tier band into one of the greatest metal bands of all-time.

I honestly don't get the love for Powerslave as an entire album. Sure, the 4 tracks that are great are some of the best, most iconic Maiden songs of all time. But the other 4 are filler by comparison. Losfer Words through Duellists are all average at best and Back in the Village is sub-par/poor. I honestly feel this way about the first three Bruce albums. They have the best Maiden songs and some of the worst. SIT is a much more complete album (although I find Heaven Can Wait to be mediocre at best and Runner makes me gag).

Using your rating system and my opinions, SSOASS has 6 A+ songs, 1 B+ song, and one C. In my opinion it is the most complete Maiden album, followed closely by Brave New World.

 

[RTC]

I honestly don't get the love for Powerslave as an entire album. Sure, the 4 tracks that are great are some of the best, most iconic Maiden songs of all time. But the other 4 are filler by comparison. Losfer Words through Duellists are all average at best and Back in the Village is sub-par/poor. I honestly feel this way about the first three Bruce albums. They have the best Maiden songs and some of the worst. SIT is a much more complete album (although I find Heaven Can Wait to be mediocre at best and Runner makes me gag).

Using your rating system and my opinions, SSOASS has 6 A+ songs, 1 B+ song, and one C. In my opinion it is the most complete Maiden album, followed closely by Brave New World.

When I analyse albums, there's some focus on what a song's purpose on the album is, as well as its placement. As an example, Sign Of The Cross is an excellent song, but the placement of the track at the start of the album is asinine. Losfer Words on the other hands (this was the B track in question) slots in very nicely as a transition from one part of the album to the next and helps with the atmosphere Powerslave creates.

Flash Of The Blade and The Duellists are underrated classics in my view. The former is fast, has a nice, catchy riff throughout and is generally a lot of fun to listen to. It's no masterpiece, but it's not meant to be either. The latter makes some of the best use of the Powerslave sound in the entire album (that's another thing, the production ramped up a fair amount from Piece Of Mind, something it held through the experimental albums also).

I didn't like Back In The Village at first either, but I've sort of opened up to appreciate it more. I'll agree it's not a song for everyone by any stretch.

Overall, yes, the other 4 tracks are better, but I feel a lot of people put too much emphasis on them and expect the other 4 to be just as good and are disappointed as a result. If The Duellists and Flash Of The Blade were put on albums not so stacked (No Prayer For The Dying), they'd be held in much higher regard I feel.

Here's my rankings on SSOASS (some may be a little outdated):

Spoiler

Moonchild: A
Infinite Dreams: A+
Can I Play With Madness: C+
The Evil That Men Do: A+
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son: A- (though probably leaning more into A territory now)
The Prophecy: C
The Clairvoyant: B
Only The Good Die Young: B-
Overall: A

Moonchild, Infinite, Evil and Seventh Son are great songs. CIPWM is the album's black sheep (I personally enjoy it), OTGDY is a little unsatisfactory in comparison to the title track in terms of an epic, Prophecy is kind of there, and I don't feel Clairvoyant does enough to cement itself as the classic everyone makes it out to be (not that it's in any way bad).

SSOASS is great, and it's a tossup between that and SIT for second place. I just feel Powerslave outdoes them both.

Side-note: Brave New World is the best of Maiden's work since Bruce's return.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

When I analyse albums, there's some focus on what a song's purpose on the album is, as well as its placement. As an example, Sign Of The Cross is an excellent song, but the placement of the track at the start of the album is asinine. Losfer Words on the other hands (this was the B track in question) slots in very nicely as a transition from one part of the album to the next and helps with the atmosphere Powerslave creates.

Flash Of The Blade and The Duellists are underrated classics in my view. The former is fast, has a nice, catchy riff throughout and is generally a lot of fun to listen to. It's no masterpiece, but it's not meant to be either. The latter makes some of the best use of the Powerslave sound in the entire album (that's another thing, the production ramped up a fair amount from Piece Of Mind, something it held through the experimental albums also).

I didn't like Back In The Village at first either, but I've sort of opened up to appreciate it more. I'll agree it's not a song for everyone by any stretch.

Overall, yes, the other 4 tracks are better, but I feel a lot of people put too much emphasis on them and expect the other 4 to be just as good and are disappointed as a result. If The Duellists and Flash Of The Blade were put on albums not so stacked (No Prayer For The Dying), they'd be held in much higher regard I feel.

I completely agree with you regarding the placement of songs. If SSOASS gets anything wrong, it's track placement. The problem isn't with the structure on Powerslave, IMO, it's with the songs themselves. Losfer Words is a decent transition, but it kills the momentum of the first two songs a bit. The middle of the album is fun, but nothing other than the amazing guitar duels are particularly memorable to me.

Those three middle songs also highlight something that just tends to bother me in some of Maiden's music. I don't know how else to explain it other than: they sound so frickin' happy! Yes, it's fun, but the choruses of Flash of the Blade and The Duellists sound like they would not be out of place on a Saturday morning cartoon (and I actually prefer these two songs to BITV, which sounds so vocally half-baked that I can't enjoy it).

Re: "It's no masterpiece, but it's not meant to be either." Why not? Shouldn't every song try to be a masterpiece? Yes, every song has its place: some are openers, some are short-and-sweet rockers, some are epics, etc. But shouldn't every song "mean" to be a masterpiece, regardless of its placement? That's my issue with these songs. They're not bad, they just sound lazy compared to the other songs. Most of this comes from the lyrics and vocal melodies, as the guitars are amazing throughout all of these songs. It sounds like Bruce and Steve said, "well, we've got the first two and the last two, and those are brilliant, so these three tunes don't need to be masterpieces." That bugs me. Still, though, Powerslave is without a doubt the best guitar album in Maiden's catalogue.

 

[RTC]

I completely agree with you regarding the placement of songs. If SSOASS gets anything wrong, it's track placement. The problem isn't with the structure on Powerslave, IMO, it's with the songs themselves. Losfer Words is a decent transition, but it kills the momentum of the first two songs a bit. The middle of the album is fun, but nothing other than the amazing guitar duels are particularly memorable to me.

Those three middle songs also highlight something that just tends to bother me in some of Maiden's music. I don't know how else to explain it other than: they sound so frickin' happy! Yes, it's fun, but the choruses of Flash of the Blade and The Duellists sound like they would not be out of place on a Saturday morning cartoon (and I actually prefer these two songs to BITV, which sounds so vocally half-baked that I can't enjoy it).

Re: "It's no masterpiece, but it's not meant to be either." Why not? Shouldn't every song try to be a masterpiece? Yes, every song has its place: some are openers, some are short-and-sweet rockers, some are epics, etc. But shouldn't every song "mean" to be a masterpiece, regardless of its placement? That's my issue with these songs. They're not bad, they just sound lazy compared to the other songs. Most of this comes from the lyrics and vocal melodies, as the guitars are amazing throughout all of these songs. It sounds like Bruce and Steve said, "well, we've got the first two and the last two, and those are brilliant, so these three tunes don't need to be masterpieces." That bugs me. Still, though, Powerslave is without a doubt the best guitar album in Maiden's catalogue.

I'd disagree with that and say Losfer Words keeps the momentum going into FOTB. It doesn't heighten or hinder the thrill of Aces/Midnight, but rather keeps it intact, whilst at the same time moving the album along nicely.

You're not factoring in the darker title track and the ranging emotions Rime conveys in the final third. As far as I see it, the first third is explosive and rampant, the second is more fun and hearty and the final third is more sinister and atmospheric. FOTB and Duellists are up-beat, but it works in the context of the album's structure.

Back In The Village I personally find to be an experimentation with Bruce's voice, and from what I can tell, it didn't pay off as people often call it the weakest song on the album (the second weakest to me personally). Again, I can see why people don't like this track very much.

Thing is, pretty much every single album I've listened to has to have songs that aren't going to be masterpieces, from Zeppelin to The Stranglers to Queen to Maiden. The only way you're going to get constant A+'s across the board is if you take some of your favourite songs together and put them in a playlist in order. I agree that less effort was put into it than the other 4 and it is conspicuous (hell, they ran out of time to put lyrics in Losfer Words), but for what they are trying to do, they do it very well. Fit for purpose would be the best definition.

 

[eddie666]

I've gone for Killers but it shifts between 4 - POM, PS, 7th and Killers.
Recently going through the back catalogue and Killers was so much better than I remembered.

 

[Iain Maiden]

Powerslave. Not a single bum note or song to be heard and production throughout is sublime.