What's your favourite post-reunion album and why?

Favourite post reunion album

  • Brave New World

  • Dance Of Death

  • A Matter Of Life And Death

  • The Final Frontier

Results are only viewable after voting.
Arbiex

Arbiex

Invader
It seems to me like yesterday that i heard the news about Bruce and Adrian rejoining the band. Now, more than 16 years later, we have four albums and in less than two months we are going for their fifth one. Which of these four albums is the stronger in your opinion and why?

Personaly i'm going for AMOLAD. Not a single filler in that album, spectacular tunes, great overal feeling and sound. In my opinion every song in this album is at least an 8/10 (well.... except maybe different world ^^).
It's already on the pantheon of their greatest albums alongside with NOTB, POM, Powerslave, SIT and SSoaSS!
 
Probably the least popular choice here, but Dance of Death. Has two all time epics on it, an absolute top tier rocker (Rainmaker), and I love the Celtic/Medieval themes and moods on the album. I find Face in the Sand to be splendid, and the rest of the so called filler isn't at all to me. The chorus of New Frontier will be stuck in my head for days, same for Age of Innocence.
 
BNW is still strongest for me, though it's a very close call between all four. There are solid arguments for voting any choice on this list.
 
Brave New World

It's the most melodic, has the most harmonies, and the production doesn't sound dry. Like someone else said in another thread earlier today, it suited AMOLAD but felt really out of place on TFF. Imagine Starblind with a SIT production!

The other albums have higher highs, but also lower lows, where as Brave New World is grooving along consistently good the whole way through.

As for the repetitive choruses, I find myself often apologizing for them when showing the album to a friend, but find that I don't personally mind at all. At least compared to The Longest Day, or The Final Frontier (song).

In order:

Brave New World
A Matter of Life and Death
The Final Frontier
Dance of Death
 
A Matter of Life and Death. Also their second best behind POM IMO.
 
I went for The Final Frontier. The most consistent next to AMOLAD and the most diverse in terms of texture. Get a few really new ideas coming in as well as some moments that are typical maiden so it has a good balance, in my opinion.

The thing that really sells it for me is the back end of the album. The last five songs are so immersive and unique in their own right that its like travelling to five different worlds. The mysteriously exotic Isle of Avalon, the cosmic waltz of Starblind, the harrowing sea voyage of The Talisman, the contemplative travels of TMWWBK and the story of couple prior to an inevitable apocalypse in WTWWB.

I can definitely understand why TFF would not rate as highly as the other three, as I feel its the least aggressive (musically) of the post reunions albums (an perhaps of all their albums), so its a lot harder to get it, so to speak. Its not an album you rock out or head bang to (with a few exceptions in the first half of the album) its more about immersion, and I guess I really enjoy seeing a different side of maiden.
 
AMOLAD.

All time best and most consistent Iron Maiden album. Probably the only album where I don't have a clear favorite song, but rather prefer it as a complete work. Great production and performances from all members.
 
Tough call but it's DOD over amolad by a hair . Just love every song on the album. Bnw is third, and ff is fourth. Hoping BOS is my new favorite soon....
 
The final frontier, for pretty much the same reasons @sjsaur mentioned. To me it's like a best of post-renuion-styles album almost without unnecessary repetiotions and with enough fresh ideas to not sound boring. I also feel it has the most different emotions in the different songs, maybe together with dance of death. But DoD feels more of an experimental album for new ideas (let's make an acoustic song, let's use double-pedal, let Nico write an anti-scince song etc) which where a lot more hits and misses, TFF don' have the same amount of low points (none, in mey ears...;))
 
Looking at the this list of songs in my Maiden top 50 ...

18. Brave New World
25. Dance of Death
26. Ghost of the Navigator
29. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns
30. Paschendale
33. Isle of Avalon
40. Starblind
42. Lord of Light

... one could think I prefer albums with songs on it that rank the highest. So, in that case, a win for Brave New World isn't that illogical.

However, I also focus on the songs I like less. And then we'll get this winner:

A Matter of Life and Death
With the powerful Brighter than a Thousand Suns, the with awesome Arabic motives laden The Pilgrim (with top class Gers solo!) and Lord of Light with its diversity and haunting atmosphere, AMOLAD has magical moments. There are more songs with cool parts such as the opening/main riff and instrumental part in These Colours or the beginning and solo in The Legacy. The stuff that I find less, has not that much impact as the cons on the other albums. In other words: this is the most stable album of the four.


1. I have some problems with the second half in Brave New World:
I love Dream of Mirrors.
I find Bruce's singing on The Nomad some of the most beautiful I've ever heard, but the uncredited blatant copying of a lengthy Beckett passage stains it.
Repetition in Out of the Silent Planet (at the end)
This in The Thin Line:
It feels too lengthy because in the second half some parts are dragging and monotone.

I particularly do not like the slow parts. And there are too many Dave solos, there could be more variation if all the guys had a chance to show their stuff. But the main problem for me is that a big part of the song feels like it's in the same vein. I miss some changes in atmosphere, and I miss surprises, which are necessary to make a long song epic. Instead it's rather a predictable sounding effort. The awesome chorus drags it up to a high 6, but the rest of the song fails to reach the same level. The Unbeliever is a song with a comparable chorus, with a way better instrumental part, with more interesting couplets (maybe more awkward or difficult couplets, but certainly less simple), with a less predictable build-up and with a superior atmosphere.
Unoriginality in The Fallen Angel.

2. Dance of Death
I do not dislike New Frontier, Gates of Tomorrow and Age of Innocence that much as most others out here. The number of relatively weaker songs isn't that big on this album. But the songs I dislike the most really pull it down:
Crappy chorus in Wildest Dreams
No More Lies: While I like the intro, for me this certainly is the most predictable and unimaginative song Maiden ever did. The Angel and the Gambler has a more surprising build-up.
Face in the Sand: Too monotonous and repetitive.

3. The Final Frontier
I played it recenly and I didn't have many YES! moments. Great are still for me the intro and the bridge before the solo in Mother of Mercy, The Alchemist (very good!), Isle of Avalon and Starblind but then it's getting less again. +
The Final Frontier isn't a snoozefest of course, but there are not many really exciting or beautiful moments going on. They can be counted on one hand. Most other Maiden albums had more strong melodies, or were less predictable, and less recycling.

I clearly hear how 'Arry literally took the ATSS rhythm pattern (drum and bass), playing ATSS-ish guitars over it. Not just a little bit, it goes on and on and even comes back. Maybe it's because I hold ATSS (a very original and strong song in every aspect) very dear, but I do not appreciate this. It makes the song less special.

While AMOLAD might have more repetitive/dragging choruses, it is an album for which Maiden did not have to recycle/re-use iconic parts from its past.

Apart from the Rush influences in Isle of Avalon, and the album's intro, The Final Frontier did not delve much new territory. Is that bad?
No, but it makes the album duller, when it lacks something and when it repeats something. The roads that were taken had some interesting twists and turns, but there were also thin parts with holes in it, and others that crossed older and better roads.
 
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BNW - Magnificent musicianship, great production and apart from The Mercenary (which is still great), only classic songs with stellar performances and colaborations from Bruce and Janick.

DOD - A dark album with a lot variety (as on FOTD) and it is as great as BNW. I can see why the production value Steve gave to this album has this cassette/vinyl atmosphere. It reminds me a bit of The Number Of The Beast vibe. I was listening to it a few weeks ago and it is still an amazing album!

TFF - A fresh production, which I also like a lot, some songs aren't as great as they used to be to my ears such as El Dorado, The Alchemist and The Talisman; the arrangements are much better than on AMOLAD, but, Janick's solo on El Dorado and WTWWB are really uninspired and it could've been better structured. Mother Of Mercy is an underrated classic Maiden tune. To me, it is kinda what Maiden would've done if Adrian had stayed after 7th Son album and kept the musical grandiose the band was surrounded by.

AMOLAD - The album is long, full of 'epics', but it is a monochromatic record with a bad production, wrongly arranged songs such as TLD, FTGGOG, LOL and The Legacy, all of which has great moments, but, as a whole, these are some of Maiden's worst songs. On the other hand, there's Brighter Than A Thousand Suns which is Maiden heaviest song since Total Eclipse perhaps and it kills! Both album's singles are great, These Colours Don't Run is an amazing track after a few years of listening, The Pilgrim is a really solid track with great lyrics and solo from Janick, OOTS is a beautiful ballad in unique Maiden style, a hidden gem. As a whole it is tiresome and it sits at the very bottom of Maiden's discography.
 
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BNW - My favorite Maiden album
AMOLAD - Disappointing at first, then grew on me. Nice production, great songs
DOD - Some filler, but Rainmaker and Dance of Death makes it listening worthy alone
TFF - It never really stuck with me. Bruce's worst ever singing effort, the epics leaving no lasting impression and the shorter ones, while good, aren't that much to write home about.
 
BRAVE NEW WORLD!

Chazz Chetly said:
The other albums have higher highs, but also lower lows, where as Brave New World is grooving along consistently good the whole way through.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I feel. BNW is the most consistent reunion album and maybe one of their most consistent ever. The only song I don't truly like is The Nomad, and that's only because Bruce's vocals in the chorus annoy the crap out of me. Otherwise, the songs are all pretty strong and they have a very emotional feel to them. BNW has so much heart behind it.

The album also feels different from anything they've ever done. There are songs and textures that just don't exist on other Maiden albums. It's incredibly powerful and emotional and dark, while not being moody. Despite being a straightforward rocker, Ghost of the Navigator has a darkness to it not often heard on Maiden songs. The last two songs have some of the most interesting/different Maiden melodic moments in their entire career.
 
For me, nothing will ever beat the sheer excitement of hearing Brave New World for the first time. A thousand times better than the previous album, and I'll always remember the thrill of hearing Maiden were back - was just like being a 12 year old and discovering them all over again.
 
I really like all the reunion-era albums, in fact I would probably say this period is as good if not better than the golden age. In the poll I voted for AMOLAD as my favourite of the four, but this changes on a pretty frequent basis. TFF holds a special place in my heart as well because it was the first Maiden album that I was really hyped for prior to release.
I probably consider DOD to be the worst, even though Paschendale, Rainmaker the title track are absolutely outstanding.
 
The Final Frontier because every song is good. On every other album theres at least one or two songs I don't like. Plus the song quality on this album beats all the rest.

Listening to tracks 6-10 is like one of the greatest things thats ever happened to me.
 
Brave New World is still my favourite album ever. Probably because it contains only one dead loss, namely Fallen Angel.

A Matter Of Life And Death, too, has only one failure (The Legacy). That's why it is my second favourite Maiden album.

Both Dance Of Death and The Final Frontier feature two 'crappy' tracks each (Wildest Dreams, The Journeyman or Isle Of Avalon, Starblind).

I ceased from listening to those songs for a long time.
 
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