Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
Exactly!
IRON MAIDEN ALBUM RANKING: TOP THREE REVEALED
- Thread starter Mosh
- Start date
Abas
Jester with no tears
Even if someone would disagree with this and give Rock in Rio the benefit of being the true reunion statement instead, that accolade is still given to a live album based on the Brave New World tour. The Brave New World tracks were made into instant classics and was made to sound as paramount as any of their other classics at their most glorious.
Sometimes, the meta can tell just as much of a story than the album itself. It's funny that I read this and think that it is almost exactly what I think about Powerslave.
Anyone who would put The X Factor and Virtual XI dead last because of "fuck Blaze" or "didn't listen to them because of Blaze", I wouldn't even let them piss on me were I on fire
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
Well, order of operations matters. If it’s saying “fuck Blaze” and then listening to the albums with prejudice, then yeah. But if you listen to both albums with an open mind and then your honest reaction is “fuck Blaze”, then that’s different!
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
I agree here. Without the bits about the epics and about Wicker Man (wow).
So true about BNW and VXI, Steve's epics in the 90's, the production, the details and the vocal harmonies. The magic of the album is the catchiness.
This. Spot on about Mercenary (No More Lies too), the parts of Dream Of Mirrors and everything about Out Of The Silent Planet.
I think the first half of Nomad is underrated, while Thin Line is one of the most interesting songs in the discography because of the 2nd half, but I understand you on that. A special closing song imo.
Middling album, wow. It's not because of the history. The songs, performances and ideas are better/stronger than the similar VXI (as much as I also like it). The gap in the ranking is normal, given the other albums too.
Hear, hear!
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DJMayes
Ancient Mariner
I personally agree with this, and ranked BNW higher than VXI in this game (11th > 14th). It is just when that gap gets larger (as it does in many peoples estimations) that it feels a bit incongruous to me.
Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
I'm gonna have to listen to VXI and BNW back to back and see if I see what some of you cats see, in terms of this whole 'similar songwriting' thing.
From memory, heres what I hear on both albums...
Short songs. Long songs. Fast bits, slow bits. Driving sections, somber sections. Gallops.
The things that I've listed above can be heard on every single Iron Maiden album so yes, I hear similarities in song writing but it's not unique to these 2 albums.
Here are the big differences I hear...
BNW soars, its bombastic, there's space and energy and warmth in the whole thing. VXI sounds flat and sparce and cheap. Theres a lack of life in the performances. It feels plastic or something. The difference between these 2 albums is like the difference between the feel of pleather and leather. And that's not just the production, its the performances, the song quality and most of all the lyrics. Lyrically, VXI makes me cringe more than probably the rest of Maidens career combined. I felt like this when I bought the album on the day it was released and little has changed, despite recent listens.
I've no Anti Blaze reason to critise VXI, it's not bias or anything else. I just see a massive gulf in quality between these 2 albums.
I'd glad take an explanation of this song writing similarity, one that explains a departure from previous albums.
From memory, heres what I hear on both albums...
Short songs. Long songs. Fast bits, slow bits. Driving sections, somber sections. Gallops.
The things that I've listed above can be heard on every single Iron Maiden album so yes, I hear similarities in song writing but it's not unique to these 2 albums.
Here are the big differences I hear...
BNW soars, its bombastic, there's space and energy and warmth in the whole thing. VXI sounds flat and sparce and cheap. Theres a lack of life in the performances. It feels plastic or something. The difference between these 2 albums is like the difference between the feel of pleather and leather. And that's not just the production, its the performances, the song quality and most of all the lyrics. Lyrically, VXI makes me cringe more than probably the rest of Maidens career combined. I felt like this when I bought the album on the day it was released and little has changed, despite recent listens.
I've no Anti Blaze reason to critise VXI, it's not bias or anything else. I just see a massive gulf in quality between these 2 albums.
I'd glad take an explanation of this song writing similarity, one that explains a departure from previous albums.
There’s some interesting stuff in this post that got me thinking.
That this is the most important Maiden album is something I can get behind. Considering we are over 20 years removed and the same lineup is still playing together and recording semi regularly. Not to mention the new music uses the same producer and they even record in the same studio now. Brave New World gave the band a working formula that still works to this day. The other aspect is that their recent activities have solidified their place as the best of the classic Metal bands. If you think of other "comeback" albums (Angel of Retribution, 13, Psycho Circus), a lot of them were one-offs where the band either went a different direction afterward, the lineup dissolved or just didn't have any motivation to continue making new music. The last 20+ years might not have happened without Brave New World being such a positive experience.
On the other hand, I am thinking about the goodwill toward Maiden at the time of the reunion and the appetite for Metal in general, the band could do no wrong. So I'm doing the thought experiment of the band leading off with Dance of Death or The Final Frontier. I see your point for sure, they are not nearly as strong reunion statements. But I wonder how they would have been received.
Coming off Virtual XI, I think the production values on either album would have been lauded.* Anything would have been preferable to Steve's barn. Anyway, I don't think it would be controversial even now to say that every Kevin Shirley production blows the production of both Blaze albums out of the water. Some of the creative choices on Dance of Death would have been questioned, but I also think there would have been a sentiment that Maiden had become so dull and tired by the late 90s that it was necessary to try some new things to rejuvenate the band (it's actually kind of amazing that they just continued on the same stylistic path that they were already on with Virtual and were successful in doing so). Similar thing with The Final Frontier, the proggier tracks would have been seen as bold choices and I actually think El Dorado as a lead off single would have really excited the fan base. The return of the classic Maiden gallop, the three guitar tradeoff solo, the little harmonies in the second verse, if we're being honest it screams classic Maiden more than The Wicker Man does.
This is mostly devil's advocate. I mostly agree that Brave New World was the perfect album for the time, but I still wonder how much room for error the band had.
*There is also a bit of a butterfly effect thing here where it is impossible to imagine the circumstances around making an album like Dance of Death or The Final Frontier during this period. For one thing, Bruce and Adrian probably had more sway to veto production decisions and I really doubt the brickwalled mastering of Dance of Death or the use of demos on The Final Frontier would have been allowed. On the other hand, if Steve was as militant about it as we know he is, the hypothetical reunion album would have probably been the last album. So with all of those caveats, I am just assuming the albums are written, recorded, and released as we know them.
I generally agree with those who hear similarities between Virtual XI and Brave New World. A lot of it is in the chorus writing. The repetitive "repeat the song title" style of chorus writing was a staple throughout the 00s, but I think it reached a bit of a peak on these two albums. Blood Brothers, Dream of Mirrors, even the songs that Bruce worked on like Brave New World and The Wicker Man have it. One thing that Virtual does not get recognized for as much as it should is just how huge the choruses are. The Clansman and The Educated Fool are big on singalong choruses and there are even vocal harmonies and overdubs, unusual for Steve Harris productions. Like you said, some things can be identified on any Maiden album but I think they lean into certain aspects on these two albums a little more heavily than on other albums. Take Senjutsu for example, some of the songs don't even really have identifiable choruses (The Parchment) or repeat them sparingly (Hell on Earth). Other songs have choruses that are wordy and don't work so much as singalongs (The Time Machine).
But I do strongly agree with you that there is a night and day difference in quality between the two albums (BNW and Virtual) that can't be ignored. Production, performance, guitar sound. The biggest factor is of course Bruce's vocals, but not far behind is Nicko's drumming. His drum sound is massive and his kick patterns are insane. He's also just driving the bus way more than he was on Virtual. The guitarists and Steve Harris always sound good, but they have a better foundation to work off of.
Lyrically I think the two albums are pretty close. There are obvious pairs like Blood Brothers and The Educated Fool, but the scifi/dystopic Futureal and When Two Worlds Collide wouldn't be out of place on Brave New World. The album benefits big time from Bruce's lyrical contributions. Songs like Ghost of the Navigator and the title track just add a level of depth and visual imagery that Steve Harris sometimes falls short in.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I completely see your points here.
I wager that Dance of Death or The Final Frontier would have been seen as "a swing too far" if that makes any sense? Hardcore longtime listeners who stuck through the Blaze years would have welcomed anything with Bruce and Adrian back behind the curtain, but I imagine the majority of more casual Maiden fans who dropped off during the 90s (which was a lot) just wanted to hear the band be fun again with Bruce singing. DOD is too all over the place and TFF is too longwinded and proggy. Brave New World achieves the exact sound, image and joy that they needed to rekindle to reclaim their throne and ascend to even greater heights.
Hypothetically speaking, I doubt any other reunion album could have filled this role. Certainly not AMOLAD (which is just as dark as The X Factor, even if its light years better) or Senjutsu (which is a much more mature album than BNW, for good and bad). A case could be made for The Book of Souls, but Empire of The Clouds would have been an even harder pill to swallow for some fans right out of the gate.
TL;DR - No other reunion album, as it exists, could have done what Brave New World did. It is the most important album in Maiden's history.
Azas
At the Eternity's End
Imo, BNW would have been great if...
01. Futureal
02. The Wicker Man
03. Ghost of the Navigator
04. Brave New World
05. Blood Brothers
06. The Angel and the Gambler (~ 5 min version)
07. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger ( reworked, with focus on glorious instrumental section)
08. The Nomad
09. Out of the Silent Planet
10. The Clansman
Huh, It would be very strong contender.
01. Futureal
02. The Wicker Man
03. Ghost of the Navigator
04. Brave New World
05. Blood Brothers
06. The Angel and the Gambler (~ 5 min version)
07. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger ( reworked, with focus on glorious instrumental section)
08. The Nomad
09. Out of the Silent Planet
10. The Clansman
Huh, It would be very strong contender.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Or, hear me out, we leave it exactly as is, especially without cheesy synth horns and "don't look to's".
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
He has a point though, BNW is far from perfect. My ideal track listing:
01. Futureal
02. The Wicker Man
03. Ghost of the Navigator
04. Paranoid
05. Master of Puppets
06. The Angel and the Gambler (~ 5 min version)
07. The Angel and the Gambler ( reworked, with focus on glorious chorus section)
08. Stargazer
09. A Light in the Black
10. Lateralus
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
You forgot the orchestral re-imagining and quasi-sequel of Wrathchild, called Wrathchildren.
Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
@Mosh I salute you, thanks for the response.
I hear what you are saying re chorus' and lyrical themes and I agree but for me it's not enough to see the albums as a pair or twinned as some others do. But I will listen to the 2 back to back, see what I hear.
When people were talking about the songwriting similarities I was more assuming it was along the lines of song structure, chord progressions, melodies, scales, phrasing, all that kinda caper.
Totally with ye re The Educated Fool. Massive chorus and probably the Blaze era song I'd like to hear most with the new line up (beyond what's already been done).
@MrKnickerbocker I totally agree with you about the joy of BNW and the reunion, it was perfect but when @Mosh wonders how much room for error the band had at that time, I reckon they had plenty. The buzz was there, we fans were excited, the magazines were excited and I think any of the albums you mentioned would have put Maiden back on top because every album has one or 2 outstanding song and songs that showed new sides to Maiden, enough to show a creatively relevant band. Combine that with the fervour of fans and media and the 5 Star reviews would have flowed in, Rio still would have happened. Speculation and opinion, of course.
All that said, BNW was the perfect album from the perfect band at the perfect time. I will never forget walking the mile to the shop to buy The Wicker Man cd single on a beautiful, warm sunny day and practically running the mile home to play it. My brothers band were rehearsing in my parents garage, they all came out and we played it on a big fuck off ghetto blaster. We all loved it. All was well with the world that day, the future was bright, Iron Maiden were back, baby!
I hear what you are saying re chorus' and lyrical themes and I agree but for me it's not enough to see the albums as a pair or twinned as some others do. But I will listen to the 2 back to back, see what I hear.
When people were talking about the songwriting similarities I was more assuming it was along the lines of song structure, chord progressions, melodies, scales, phrasing, all that kinda caper.
Totally with ye re The Educated Fool. Massive chorus and probably the Blaze era song I'd like to hear most with the new line up (beyond what's already been done).
@MrKnickerbocker I totally agree with you about the joy of BNW and the reunion, it was perfect but when @Mosh wonders how much room for error the band had at that time, I reckon they had plenty. The buzz was there, we fans were excited, the magazines were excited and I think any of the albums you mentioned would have put Maiden back on top because every album has one or 2 outstanding song and songs that showed new sides to Maiden, enough to show a creatively relevant band. Combine that with the fervour of fans and media and the 5 Star reviews would have flowed in, Rio still would have happened. Speculation and opinion, of course.
All that said, BNW was the perfect album from the perfect band at the perfect time. I will never forget walking the mile to the shop to buy The Wicker Man cd single on a beautiful, warm sunny day and practically running the mile home to play it. My brothers band were rehearsing in my parents garage, they all came out and we played it on a big fuck off ghetto blaster. We all loved it. All was well with the world that day, the future was bright, Iron Maiden were back, baby!
1:
2:
3:
4: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
5: BRAVE NEW WORLD
6: PIECE OF MIND
7: SENJUTSU (TIE)
7: THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST (TIE)
8: THE BOOK OF SOULS
9: DANCE OF DEATH
10: THE FINAL FRONTIER
11: IRON MAIDEN
12: THE X FACTOR
13: KILLERS
14: FEAR OF THE DARK
15: VIRTUAL XI
16: NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING
Highest Score: 17 (@Poto @Lego)
Lowest score: 3 (@Shavasku)
Rounding out our reunion era albums and immediately following Brave New World is A Matter of Life and Death. This is a less surprising result than what we're seeing over on the survivor, and it feels more appropriate. To me, Brave New World is a proof of concept for the reunion era lineup while AMOLAD shows their full capabilities. Compositionally it is one of the most well crafted Maiden albums. It is lyrically cohesive and has a vibe that is consistent throughout. It's contains some of the heaviest material in the band's discography, but also some of the most gentle and melodic as well. A really incredible use of range. As far as performances, I think you can make the case for this being pretty much any of the members' best work. Maybe not Dave and maybe not Steve (both sound great, but have become much less flashy than in the 80s). Meanwhile, Bruce sounds fantastic and you can tell he had a good time with the material. Nicko carries a lot of the songs delivering some of his most thunderous drumming as well as navigating the band through some of the tricky technical passages. Love all of Adrian and Janick's solos and it feels like they both stepped it up as players and writers compared to the previous two albums (especially H). Additionally, for a band that does not typically do unified themes very well, AMOLAD represents one of the more conceptually focused albums.
AMOLAD and BNW were definitely pretty close in the rankings, and I think both landing in the top 5 is a testament to the reunion era's popularity. The three albums that they failed to best are pretty much universally accepted as the three best Maiden albums, so it's an impressive showing for the reunion era as a whole. In general, the somewhat even distribution of reunion era albums through the top ten suggests that, for most Maidenfans, the reunion era and the golden era of the 80s are pretty much on equal quality grounds - something that is really unheard of for a legacy Metal band. Sure, there are later stage albums like Painkiller or 1916 that show an older band still has the goods, but I can't really think of another instance where an entire later era is competitive with a band's best known works, at least in the Metal world.
Finally, I would say that AMOLAD's placement has shown some of the most impressive amounts of staying power among the fans. What I mean is that there is a pretty strong correlation between what Maiden plays live and what ranks highly among fans. This is somewhat chicken and egg - are the songs popular because they get played live or do Maiden know what the fans want? Regardless, as I mentioned in the previous round Brave New World has been the most resilient reunion album in terms of live representation. Seventh Son is a pretty big go to for the band, with several songs having been staples at one point or another since the release of the album (The Evil That Men Do in particular is almost as ubiquitous as Hallowed at this point). Powerslave will forever be tied to the iconic live album and Aces High/Two Minutes to Midnight remain live favorites, with the former being the live opener. Somewhere in Time is an odd case as it has retained a cult status almost because so much of it doesn't get played live, but now that they have done a Somewhere in Time themed tour it seems like the popularity of the album has actually increased, at least in the short term. Senjutsu's impressive showing could also be attributed to the fact that it is getting a lot of live attention as well. Between LOTB 3, Future Past 2023 and 24, this is going to be the longest that a new Maiden album has enjoyed a promotional cycle.
So where does that leave AMOLAD? Well, on the one hand, it is the only album to have the status of being played in its entirety. On the other hand, it took over a decade for a single live release to feature anything from the album (not counting b-sides). It is the only Maiden album to not have had a live release tied to the tour since the reunion era. Since the initial AMOLAD tour, only four songs have been performed live. These Colours Don't Run and Ben Breeg in 2010, For the Greater Good of God in 2018/2019, and a single performance of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns in 2010. In other words, the album has been somewhat forgotten live. At least when compared to Brave New World. Meanwhile, The Book of Souls and The Final Frontier have not seen any songs played live since release and have seen a gradual decline in the rankings. My point is that despite not really getting a lot of live representation compared to other high ranking albums, the fans still continue to rate it highly.
2:
3:
4: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
5: BRAVE NEW WORLD
6: PIECE OF MIND
7: SENJUTSU (TIE)
7: THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST (TIE)
8: THE BOOK OF SOULS
9: DANCE OF DEATH
10: THE FINAL FRONTIER
11: IRON MAIDEN
12: THE X FACTOR
13: KILLERS
14: FEAR OF THE DARK
15: VIRTUAL XI
16: NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING
Highest Score: 17 (@Poto @Lego)
Lowest score: 3 (@Shavasku)
Rounding out our reunion era albums and immediately following Brave New World is A Matter of Life and Death. This is a less surprising result than what we're seeing over on the survivor, and it feels more appropriate. To me, Brave New World is a proof of concept for the reunion era lineup while AMOLAD shows their full capabilities. Compositionally it is one of the most well crafted Maiden albums. It is lyrically cohesive and has a vibe that is consistent throughout. It's contains some of the heaviest material in the band's discography, but also some of the most gentle and melodic as well. A really incredible use of range. As far as performances, I think you can make the case for this being pretty much any of the members' best work. Maybe not Dave and maybe not Steve (both sound great, but have become much less flashy than in the 80s). Meanwhile, Bruce sounds fantastic and you can tell he had a good time with the material. Nicko carries a lot of the songs delivering some of his most thunderous drumming as well as navigating the band through some of the tricky technical passages. Love all of Adrian and Janick's solos and it feels like they both stepped it up as players and writers compared to the previous two albums (especially H). Additionally, for a band that does not typically do unified themes very well, AMOLAD represents one of the more conceptually focused albums.
AMOLAD and BNW were definitely pretty close in the rankings, and I think both landing in the top 5 is a testament to the reunion era's popularity. The three albums that they failed to best are pretty much universally accepted as the three best Maiden albums, so it's an impressive showing for the reunion era as a whole. In general, the somewhat even distribution of reunion era albums through the top ten suggests that, for most Maidenfans, the reunion era and the golden era of the 80s are pretty much on equal quality grounds - something that is really unheard of for a legacy Metal band. Sure, there are later stage albums like Painkiller or 1916 that show an older band still has the goods, but I can't really think of another instance where an entire later era is competitive with a band's best known works, at least in the Metal world.
Finally, I would say that AMOLAD's placement has shown some of the most impressive amounts of staying power among the fans. What I mean is that there is a pretty strong correlation between what Maiden plays live and what ranks highly among fans. This is somewhat chicken and egg - are the songs popular because they get played live or do Maiden know what the fans want? Regardless, as I mentioned in the previous round Brave New World has been the most resilient reunion album in terms of live representation. Seventh Son is a pretty big go to for the band, with several songs having been staples at one point or another since the release of the album (The Evil That Men Do in particular is almost as ubiquitous as Hallowed at this point). Powerslave will forever be tied to the iconic live album and Aces High/Two Minutes to Midnight remain live favorites, with the former being the live opener. Somewhere in Time is an odd case as it has retained a cult status almost because so much of it doesn't get played live, but now that they have done a Somewhere in Time themed tour it seems like the popularity of the album has actually increased, at least in the short term. Senjutsu's impressive showing could also be attributed to the fact that it is getting a lot of live attention as well. Between LOTB 3, Future Past 2023 and 24, this is going to be the longest that a new Maiden album has enjoyed a promotional cycle.
So where does that leave AMOLAD? Well, on the one hand, it is the only album to have the status of being played in its entirety. On the other hand, it took over a decade for a single live release to feature anything from the album (not counting b-sides). It is the only Maiden album to not have had a live release tied to the tour since the reunion era. Since the initial AMOLAD tour, only four songs have been performed live. These Colours Don't Run and Ben Breeg in 2010, For the Greater Good of God in 2018/2019, and a single performance of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns in 2010. In other words, the album has been somewhat forgotten live. At least when compared to Brave New World. Meanwhile, The Book of Souls and The Final Frontier have not seen any songs played live since release and have seen a gradual decline in the rankings. My point is that despite not really getting a lot of live representation compared to other high ranking albums, the fans still continue to rate it highly.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
I fully agree about the testament of the Reunion era and the album's live history.
AMOLAD's Top 5 finish is no surprise. One of the best albums as a whole piece. Very consistent and ofc with great melodies, choruses and instrumental parts. The heaviness (which was kind of expected after the previous 2 albums) makes it even more special. This is like a new creative peak for Maiden and what a statement from the band, especially after the previous album (which I like). It deserves all the praise. Both lyrically and musically.
I like the production a lot. It's close to being the best. Nicko's drum sound is great.
About the performances, some of their all time best! As always the 3 Amigos and Steve deliver, but Bruce and Nicko are amazing here. One of their best works for sure.
Something curious: Maiden started putting more longer songs on their albums after this album. This is their strength. The album ends with 3 epics, but they are all really dynamic and two of them are faster - and that is what makes them work great.
The material is superb. Not a single ''weak'' song! I think Bruce was really confident after TOS (like in 2000). Some of the songs like Brighter Than A Thousand Suns and For The Greater Good Of God are part of the band's best imo. While a song like These Colours Don't Run has the essential classic parts of a Maiden songs.
The other songs: Maiden rocker with a soaring chorus - The Pilgrim, and another short and anthemic rocker, Different World, which is a huge improvement over the previous album opener with a great chorus and a classic melodic solo by Adrian.
Speaking about the previous album, the inspiration from the great Paschendale led them to write The Longest Day, a classic modern era song for the band with an impactful intro and one of their best pre-choruses!
We also have the return of the classic gallop for Lord Of Light, a unique calm middle part and instrumental section after that; my only gripe is the slow chorus in a faster song. And the traditional melodic, melancholic and anthemic mid-tempo song since the Reunion, Out Of The Shadows. The instrumental part of it is also unique.
As always we have some new/different stuff: a very riff-y (unique) and mysterious song in the form of The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg and an acoustic/electric piece with unique vocals and with more themes for the band - The Legacy. Worthy title track. A special and very difficult song for live performances. Just listen to the intro and the vocals at the end!
I think it's easy to see why the album is so well liked. The energy that comes from it is fierce. It's like a perfected ''TXF''. A master of a work!
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Riggatoni
Trooper
Alright, I will "confess".Wait a second.
I was asking for a friend, who wanted to get into Iron Maiden. He didn't want to join the forum, and it just so happened that I joined a Iron Maiden thread (one of the reasons I joined was to get fan input).
Me personally, I started with Powerslave and then listened to some others. But I still wouldn't consider myself a veteran fan; I haven't listened to all their albums... I've avoided the ones which I knew had a bad rep or that I listened to for a little bit and didn't like.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I would’ve figured that that’s TNOTB/PS/SSOASS, with SiT being the dark horse that a massive portion of the fandom loves but gets overshadowed the more “major” releases, until now when it’s finally been thrust back in the spotlight and people have remembered how good it really is.
AMOLAD is definitely consistent in tone throughout and some may argue that its darker mood just doesn’t vibe with them. For me it’s just a bunch of small things that bother me:
• BTATS is pretty prog-oriented but Bruce sounds like he’s fighting against the music instead of working with it on the verses, and the fast section is more of a struggle for him even though he manages to pull it off.
• I’ve beaten this dead horse so often but the chorus to “The Longest Day” just doesn’t do it for me and stops the song dead in its tracks. I think if they had used the pre-chorus as the first two refrains, then done the instrumental section, and then utilized the chorus as the climax/finale of the song it would have worked a lot better. You’d have really built up to it instead of having to hear the same lengthy line repeated eight times so by the end it’s just four more lines.
• “Out of the Shadows” just isn’t very interesting to me. It’s not bad, but it’s also structured poorly IMO. The biggest thing I dislike is the way the chorus gets repeated five times throughout that song. I wish they’d either not done the third repeat or scuttle the last two and come up with something different. There’s just not enough there to warrant all of it.
• I really like “Lord of Light” and everything in that song is generally good, but something about its assembly feels like a hodgepodge to me. Like they had a few separate song ideas and stitched them all up into one big Frankenstein’s monster. A little more cohesion would have been nice.
Even these songs all have their moments, and the others are REALLY good, but when I’m looking at Maiden’s career as a whole they stand out to me in a sea of really great records.