Iron Maiden studio album 17 rumours and speculations

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No fillers on Dance of Death. Not 1. Zero. Just one kick arsenal song after the next. And I’d love another song similar to age of innocence! DOD has always seemed to me to be a result of the band celebrating the success of the reunion s first album and letting it rip! They seemed extremely locked in and peaking again at that time . My opinion anyway...
 
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I would say Maiden is not one of those cases.

The last time they went all out on an album then decided to strip down their sound and make shorter songs on the next album worked well didn't it? :innocent:
There's a difference between making 12 straightforward Rock songs and trimming down on the lengths of the songs. There have been a bit too many songs in excess of seven minutes on the last few albums. These could be curtailed a bit and still be great, or better, songs. I have felt that the so-called epics are a bit devalued now. In the eighties there used to be one song above seven minutes and it was the centrepiece of the album. Now an Iron Maiden song needs to be 18 minutes long to stand out.
 
An album full of short songs would be great if the songs were on the level of The Wicker Man, Rainmaker and Different World. But there's a risk that they'd be more like The Fallen Angel, Gates of Tomorrow and When The River Runs Deep.
 
i don't care about the length of the song as long as it has a purpose other than repeating the chorus jus for sake of it.
I think that's something we can all agree on.

There's a difference between making 12 straightforward Rock songs and trimming down on the lengths of the songs. There have been a bit too many songs in excess of seven minutes on the last few albums. These could be curtailed a bit and still be great, or better, songs. I have felt that the so-called epics are a bit devalued now. In the eighties there used to be one song above seven minutes and it was the centrepiece of the album. Now an Iron Maiden song needs to be 18 minutes long to stand out.
You do bring up a good point. But still, I would rather see them build off of the successes of The Book of Souls and go out with a bang. If this is their last album (which it likely is) then I don't want to see them play it safe.

An album full of short songs would be great if the songs were on the level of The Wicker Man, Rainmaker and Different World. But there's a risk that they'd be more like The Fallen Angel, Gates of Tomorrow and When The River Runs Deep.
Exactly. I'd say the shorter songs in this particular era of Maiden haven't exactly been their greatest strength.
 
You do bring up a good point. But still, I would rather see them build off of the successes of The Book of Souls and go out with a bang. If this is their last album (which it likely is) then I don't want to see them play it safe.
'The Book of Souls' was successful because the songs were good, not because they were long. It's possible to overreach, to be ambitious and fail. It's also possible to be ambitious and not produce bloated, overblown material.

For example, 'Hallowed be thy Name' is the perfect length and would suck if it was as long as some of the songs on the last two albums. 'The Red and the Black', however, would be a much better and more digestible song if it were only 6 or 7 minutes long.

I'd like Iron Maiden to make good songs for the sake of making good songs, not long songs for the sake of making long songs.

Ultimately they'll make whatever they are inspired to make, be that short songs or long songs.
 
'The Book of Souls' was successful because the songs were good, not because they were long. It's possible to overreach, to be ambitious and fail. It's also possible to be ambitious and not produce bloated, overblown material.

For example, 'Hallowed be thy Name' is the perfect length and would suck if it was as long as some of the songs on the last two albums. 'The Red and the Black', however, would be a much better and more digestible song if it were only 6 or 7 minutes long.

I'd like Iron Maiden to make good songs for the sake of making good songs, not long songs for the sake of making long songs.

Ultimately they'll make whatever they are inspired to make, be that short songs or long songs.
I agree with everything you said but TRATB.

I just don't want them to make an album that turns about to be an equivalent to NPFTD.
 
Yeah when we think about the really great short songs since BNW what have we had? Wickerman and Rainmaker? Maybe Speed of Light at a push. The rest have been ok but not truly great.

I don't mind what they write honestly so long as it's good. I would love something along the lines of SSOASS though.
 
An album full of short songs would be great if the songs were on the level of The Wicker Man, Rainmaker and Different World. But there's a risk that they'd be more like The Fallen Angel, Gates of Tomorrow and When The River Runs Deep.

I really like 5 of those 6 and Gates of Tomorrow is far from the worst.
 
I just don't want them to make an album that turns about to be an equivalent to NPFTD.
That was a long time ago and the circumstances surrounding the band are very different. I doubt that, however long the songs are, they will produce anything like the heap of shit that 'No Prayer For The Dying' is.
Colour me cynical, but I think that nowadays the success of an album is much more due to the efficiency of the promotion than to its sheer quality.
I was going to mention something about Rod, but felt it was a bit cliched. Lets give the musicians credit where credit's due for a change.
Yeah when we think about the really great short songs since BNW what have we had? Wickerman and Rainmaker? Maybe Speed of Light at a push. The rest have been ok but not truly great.
I tend to enjoy the short songs. 'The Wicker Man' and 'Wildest Dreams' are both great in my opinion, but since I started listening to Iron Maiden in 2005 the only lead promotional song for an album I've been excited about is 'Speed of Light'.
 
I like long Maiden songs. I like the feeling of epicness that they bring. But I will admit there are a few songs that I think are long just for the sake of being long, and maybe they should trim those down. For example, Caught Somewhere in Time could have left off the unnecessary intro part - absolutely unneeded. And do they really need the slow interim during Rime of the Ancient Mariner? It just stops the song dead and really, we could go right into the next part without anyone noticing or caring. Finally, the instrumental outro of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, entirely pointless, it just meanders. Really if they had cut it down to 5 minutes things would have been fine. Pretty good with the stuff in the reunion though, very few songs there that I think length affects.
 
I like long Maiden songs. I like the feeling of epicness that they bring. But I will admit there are a few songs that I think are long just for the sake of being long, and maybe they should trim those down. For example, Caught Somewhere in Time could have left off the unnecessary intro part - absolutely unneeded. And do they really need the slow interim during Rime of the Ancient Mariner? It just stops the song dead and really, we could go right into the next part without anyone noticing or caring. Finally, the instrumental outro of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, entirely pointless, it just meanders. Really if they had cut it down to 5 minutes things would have been fine. Pretty good with the stuff in the reunion though, very few songs there that I think length affects.
My thoughts exactly.
 
I like long Maiden songs. I like the feeling of epicness that they bring. But I will admit there are a few songs that I think are long just for the sake of being long, and maybe they should trim those down. For example, Caught Somewhere in Time could have left off the unnecessary intro part - absolutely unneeded. And do they really need the slow interim during Rime of the Ancient Mariner? It just stops the song dead and really, we could go right into the next part without anyone noticing or caring. Finally, the instrumental outro of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, entirely pointless, it just meanders. Really if they had cut it down to 5 minutes things would have been fine. Pretty good with the stuff in the reunion though, very few songs there that I think length affects.

Agreed. I could easily take a 30 minute Maiden song, provided everything in it was relevant and flowed smoothly. As long as the new album flows well, I'll be happy regardless of length or number of songs
 
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