'Judgement Day'

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
I'm with Mosh all the way on this.

Yes, Maiden has followed this pattern for a long time as of late, but something about the way the tracks are arranged on TXF just doesn't work for me. The melancholy production and droning vocals don't help. At least with Bruce at the helm, we'll get an octave jump when the intro ends. Blaze's limited range (and the band's unwillingness to cater to his range) make TXF a very boring listen. Honestly, the energy and production on VXI is vastly superior, but the songs aren't as good (save for a couple).

It's a well known fact that I am not a fan of the Blaze albums. He never fit with Maiden, IMO, regardless of how classic some of those recordings may be. Steve's depressing musicality during that time is probably more so to blame than Blaze, but either way, TXF does not have the same dynamics as the reunion albums, regardless of the song structure.
 
I am less busy with Bruce when I listen to a non-Bruce album. I think that Blaze suits The X-Factor very well. His range fitted the material on this album. Let's not mix this up with his live performances with the band. But I guess we especially disagree on the quality of the songs.

These are TXF and DOD songs in my order of favour. You'll find most of DOD in the bottom half, with three of them rock bottom:

The Unbeliever
Blood on the World's Hands
Dance of Death
Paschendale
Judgement of Heaven
Sign of the Cross
Fortunes of War
Lord of the Flies
Man on the Edge
Gates of Tomorrow
Rainmaker
The Aftermath
Age Of Innocence
2 A.M.
Montségur
Journeyman
New Frontier
The Edge of Darkness
Look for the Truth
Face in the Sand
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
 
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Ah gotcha! Missed that part of the post somehow. I dunno, if we're talking about just dynamics, I think DoD might have a higher dynamic range than TXF. It's hard to ay for sure though, especially when both albums have really low production value. TXF feels contained while DoD is too muddy and loud. When comparing live versions of two of their most dynamic songs, Sign of the Cross and Paschendale, they're both bombastic and highly dynamic.
 
Mosh said:
Ah gotcha! Missed that part of the post somehow. I dunno, if we're talking about just dynamics, I think DoD might have a higher dynamic range than TXF. It's hard to ay for sure though, especially when both albums have really low production value. TXF feels contained while DoD is too muddy and loud. When comparing live versions of two of their most dynamic songs, Sign of the Cross and Paschendale, they're both bombastic and highly dynamic.
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I prefer TXF's production anytime. DoD is the only Maiden album I have a hard time listening to because of the production. It's just so loud and distorted.

Comparing those songs, both are excellent but Sign of the Cross, for me, is just another league. Could be the best live song they've ever done.
 
So fast, so frantic. Not as good as Justice of the Peace or a few songs from the album itself, yet it holds its own and is certainly one of the cheeriest tunes from the period. 8/10.
 
This song is absolutely relentless and would give an excellent closer to the record (a la Only The Good Die Young). I think it should have replaced The Unbeliever on the final cut (9.25/10)
 
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This song has a great riff, verses, chorus and brutal solos (I like how Jan and Dave alternate ''wild'' solos - Priest style). Full on speed!

The solo of Dave is one of his best.
 
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karljant said:
This song is absolutely relentless and would give an excellent closer to the record (a la Only The Good Die Young). I think it should have replaced The Unbeliever on the final cut (9.25/10)
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I suspect even Maiden themselves found it a little bit too similar to Be Quick Or Be Dead to put in on the album. Apart from that, you know I find it one of the acceptable songs from the Blaze era, and the least annoying performance from him.
 
HOW did this not make the cut?

After Sign, MOTE and LOTF the rest of the album, despite some good moments is pretty much all soft intro in E then brooding slow heavy.

This song absolutely would have broken up the monotony. It should have replaced Look for the Truth.
 
naranja said:
HOW did this not make the cut?

After Sign, MOTE and LOTF the rest of the album, despite some good moments is pretty much all soft intro in E then brooding slow heavy.
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Exactly. IMO there are just two things that are somewhat disappointing on this record:
  • The first one is the least important IMO and that's Blaze's somewhat tamed performance. At the time he wasn't the singer he turned out to be 10 years later. Even so it's a decent delivery that by no way compromises the final result.
  • The other one is way more outrageous to me and it's precisely leaving Judgement Day outside the record. Beast of a tune!
So, in the past I'd ditch The Unbeliever and feature this one. Nowadays, I think there's a better solution. Roughly about two minutes from it could be cut and, among all other songs, there's 3 or 4 more tunes that feature sections with repetitions that also could be halved, liberating 2 more minutes, thus making space for Judgement Day.
IMO The X Factor is already one hell of an album (#6 in my Maiden rank with only five 80's albums surpassing it). With Judgement Day in it, it could rank even higher.
naranja said:
This song absolutely would have broken up the monotony. It should have replaced Look for the Truth.
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Now there's where we disagree... LFTT is one hell of a tune in my book and I'd never scratch it from the album.
 
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Forostar said:
I am less busy with Bruce when I listen to a non-Bruce album. I think that Blaze suits The X-Factor very well. His range fitted the material on this album. Let's not mix this up with his live performances with the band. But I guess we especially disagree on the quality of the songs.

These are TXF and DOD songs in my order of favour. You'll find most of DOD in the bottom half, with three of them rock bottom:

The Unbeliever
Blood on the World's Hands
Dance of Death
Paschendale
Judgement of Heaven
Sign of the Cross
Fortunes of War
Lord of the Flies
Man on the Edge
Gates of Tomorrow
Rainmaker
The Aftermath
Age Of Innocence
2 A.M.
Montségur
Journeyman
New Frontier
The Edge of Darkness
Look for the Truth
Face in the Sand
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
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Curious rank... here's mine:

Tier S (Masterpieces):
  1. Sign of the Cross
  2. Montségur
Tier A (top notch)
  1. Face in the Sand
  2. Man on the Edge
  3. Fortunes of War
Tier B (great)
  1. Look for the Truth
  2. The Edge of Darkness
  3. Judgement of Heaven
  4. No More Lies
  5. Dance of Death
  6. Paschendale
  7. Lord of the Flies
  8. Rainmaker
Tier C (good)
  1. Blood on the World's Hands
  2. The Aftermath
Tier D (enjoyable)
  1. 2 A.M.
  2. The Unbeliever
  3. Wildest Dreams
  4. Gates of Tomorrow
  5. Journeyman
Tier E (listenable)
  1. New Frontier
Tier F (utter filler)
  1. Age Of Innocence
 
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