Book Of Souls: Rate each song out of 10, give an overall rating!

CriggyPeyers

Prowler
I'll go first:

If Eternity Should Fail - 8/10

Speed of light - 7/10

The Great Unknown - 8.8/10

The Red and the Black - 9/10

When the River Runs Deep - 10/10

The Book of Souls - 10/10

Death or Glory - 10/10

Shadows of the Valley - 9.3/10

Tears of a Clown - 8.7/10

The Man Of Sorrows - 7.8/10

Empire of the Clouds - 10/10

ALBUM OVERALL - 9.3/10 - CLASSIC
 
01 - If Eternity Should Fail - 8/10
02 - Speed Of Light - 8/10
03 - The Great Unknown - 7/10
04 - The Red And The Black - 8/10
05 - When The River Runs Deep - 8/10
06 - The Book Of Souls - 7/10
07 - Death Or Glory - 8/10
08 - Shadows Of The Valley - 9/10
09 - Tears Of A Clown - 9/10
10 - The Man Of Sorrows - 7/10
11 - Empire Of The Clouds - 10/10

Averages out to just past 8 which is interesting given I rank this as my favourite Maiden album...
 
01 - If Eternity Should Fail - 10/10
02 - Speed Of Light - 9/10
03 - The Great Unknown - 10/10
04 - The Red And The Black - 10/10
05 - When The River Runs Deep - 8/10
06 - The Book Of Souls - 10/10
07 - Death Or Glory - 6/10
08 - Shadows Of The Valley - 10/10
09 - Tears Of A Clown - 9/10
10 - The Man Of Sorrows - 9/10
11 - Empire Of The Clouds - 10/10
 
Early ratings at the moment, could change.

If Eternity Should Fail: 9/10
Speed Of Light: 9/10
The Great Unknown: 6/10
The Red And The Black: 7/10
When The River Runs Deep: 7/10
The Book Of Souls: 9/10
Death Or Glory: 6/10
Shadows Of The Valley: 8/10
Tears Of A Clown: 7/10
The Man Of Sorrows: 6/10
Empire Of The Clouds: 8/10

Bearing in mind that very few Maiden songs hit the 10/10 mark as I judge them more harshly.
 
IESF - 9/10
SOL - 7/10
TGU - 8/10
TRatB - 8/10
WTRRD - 7/10
TBOS - 10/10
DOG - 9/10
SOTV - 7/10
TOAC - 7/10
MOS - 8/10
EotC - 9/10

Everything i want from a maiden album plus extra points for consistency over 90+ minutes
 
If Eternity Should Fail - 8/10

Speed of light - 6/10

The Great Unknown - 7/10

The Red and the Black - 8/10

When the River Runs Deep - 6/10

The Book of Souls - 8/10

Death or Glory - 6/10

Shadows of the Valley - 6/10

Tears of a Clown - 7/10

The Man Of Sorrows - 7.5/10

Empire of the Clouds - 5/10
 
IESF 10
SOL 7.5
TGU 10
TRATB 9
WTRRD 7
TBOS 8
DOG 9
SOTV 8
TOAC 10
TMOS 8
EOTC 10
Some of these could change as it is early days yet.
Overall 10
 
01 - If Eternity Should Fail - 10/10
02 - Speed Of Light - 7/10
03 - The Great Unknown - 10/10
04 - The Red And The Black - 9/10
05 - When The River Runs Deep - 10/10
06 - The Book Of Souls - 10/10
07 - Death Or Glory - 8/10
08 - Shadows Of The Valley - 8/10
09 - Tears Of A Clown - 10/10
10 - The Man Of Sorrows - 9/10
11 - Empire Of The Clouds - 10/10

Overall 9.5/10
 
Honestly, for me every song on this abum except for 2 songs get a 9/10.

Death or glory gets a 10/10 because of Bruce making me laugh at the line "climb like a monkey". It's such a great sequel of sorts to "Aces High", and intense, and then he mentions the monkey and I laugh!

Empire Of The Clouds is a rare gem amd a true masterpiece! 10/10. Amazing song arrangement and terrific story telling!
 
01 - If Eternity Should Fail - 9/10
02 - Speed Of Light - 7/10
03 - The Great Unknown - 7/10
04 - The Red And The Black - 9/10
05 - When The River Runs Deep - 8/10
06 - The Book Of Souls - 10/10
07 - Death Or Glory - 8/10
08 - Shadows Of The Valley - 9/10
09 - Tears Of A Clown - 9/10
10 - The Man Of Sorrows - 9/10
11 - Empire Of The Clouds - 10/10
 
Classic Maiden album? Favorite Maiden album? He he. Rookie mistake.

Perhaps it is a rookie thing to do but I for one would much rather be a rookie able to appreciate twice as many songs as the jaded veteran still stuck in the 80s.

As far as this being my favourite Maiden album is concerned, it has my favourite Maiden song (Empire of the Clouds), a couple of songs I consider standout tracks, and a massively solid bedrock of enjoyable songs where even the few weaker tracks are nowhere near as bad as the filler some of the other albums have. I doubt you'll agree with the spoilered stuff below but hopefully it clarifies my viewpoint on the matter.

Number of the Beast - Undeniably the most hits but as an album? It has a gaping chasm of quality in the middle called Gangland and Total Eclipse.

Piece Of Mind - Probably the best 5 song run in Maiden history but once The Trooper ends there is nothing much I'm listening for anymore.

Powerslave - Fantastic opening and ending with Flash of the Blade being the only great track in the middle.

Somewhere In Time - This is the strongest competition The Book Of Souls has for me as every track is consistently great. Why do I not pick it? Because whilst it doesn't have a low (and I'd say its worst tracks are better than or equal to the worst on TBOS) it doesn't have a high for me either.

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son - Kind of like Somewhere In Time except with having a couple of weaker tracks (For me, Moonchild, thanks largely to the chorus, and The Prophecy) but added cohesion as an album.

No Prayer For The Dying - I don't hate anything on this but I don't think there's anything particularly stunning either. It's an album for when I'm in the mood.

Fear of the Dark - So many bad songs I don't really listen to this as an album, though it does have a few songs I regularly listen to on their own.

Brave New World - In my mind the most overrated album Maiden have done. I get it was their reunion but this was before my time as a fan so I don't have that, and without it the album is a few great tracks with the rest ranging from decent to filler.

Dance Of Death - Opposite of the above in that I rate it much more highly than other people tend to; consistently enjoyable with a couple of standout tracks though a couple I'd rate as worse than the bottom of TBOS.

A Matter of Life and Death - Consistent, cohesive album which is good pretty much all the way through (I will never understand the love for the snoozefest that is These Colours Don't Run, but that's for another thread) but rarely great.

The Final Frontier - Some fantastic tracks unfortunately interspersed with a fair few weak ones as well.
 
IF ETERNITY SHOULD FAIL - 10/10
SPEED OF LIGHT 6/10
THE GREAT UNKNOWN 7/10
THE RED AND THE BLACK 10/10
WHEN THE RIVER RUNS DEEP 8/10
THE BOOK OF SOULS 10/10
DEATH OR GLORY 9/10
SHADOWS OF THE VALLEY 5/10
TEARS OF A CLOWN 10/10
THE MAN OF SORROWS 9/10
EMPIRE OF THE CLOUDS 10/10

Av.rating: 9,4

Man, that's a better average rating than I originally thought. It spontaneously felt like 8/10 for me, but it's actually higher than 9, which is bloody brilliant. Still a few songs I'm not overly thrilled about. The Great Unknown, as a song, is good, but I hate Bruce vocals in it. They hurt my ears. Speed Of Light is a bit better in the context of the album as the "fun" song of the bunch, but still pretty forgettable. Shadows Of The Valley is pure filler from the word go, and should just have been left off.
 
If Eternity Should Fail - 10/10

Speed of light - 8/10

The Great Unknown - 7/10

The Red and the Black - 8/10

When the River Runs Deep - 8/10

The Book of Souls - 9/10

Death or Glory - 7/10

Shadows of the Valley - 8/10

Tears of a Clown - 7/10

The Man Of Sorrows - 7/10

Empire of the Clouds - 4/10 (middle part fantastic, piano bit, oh dear).

Overall 7.5/10
 
Ranking a week ago (after a couple days of listening):
  1. The Red And The Black: 10
  2. The Book Of Souls: 9
  3. Empire Of The Clouds: 9
  4. Shadows Of The Valley: 8
  5. When The River Runs Deep: 8
  6. The Great Unknown: 8
  7. Death Or Glory: 7
  8. If Eternity Should Fail: 6
  9. Speed Of Light: 5
  10. The Man Of Sorrows: 5
  11. Tears Of A Clown: 4
Today:
  1. The Red And The Black: 10
  2. The Book Of Souls: 9
  3. Shadows Of The Valley: 8
  4. When The River Runs Deep: 8
  5. Empire Of The Clouds: 8 (dropped 1 point and 2 spots)
  6. The Great Unknown: 7 (dropped 1 point, same spot)
  7. Death Or Glory: 7
  8. If Eternity Should Fail: 6
  9. Speed Of Light: 5
  10. The Man Of Sorrows: 5
  11. Tears Of A Clown: 4
Tonight, I finally gave up on "Tears of a Clown" and created a playlist of the album without it. "The Man Of Sorrows" is close to being eliminated too.

Overall ranking: 9 (since we still have a full album's worth of excellent music even after dropping the weakest 4-6 tracks).
 
Last edited:
1. Empire of the Clouds: 9.5/10
2. If Eternity Should Fail: 8.5/10
3. The Book of Souls: 8.5/10
4. Shadows of the Valley: 8/10
5. The Red and the Black: 8/10
6. The Great Unknown: 8/10
7. The Man of Sorrows: 8/10 (Wow, a lot of 8's!)
8. Tears of a Clown: 7.5/10
9. Speed of Light: 7.5/10
10. When the River Runs Deep: 7/10
11. Death or Glory: 6.5/10

Overall impression/ranking: 8.5/10
 
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