Dance Of Death aged very well

DoD was for me always fantastic. I love all songs and journeyman was for me amazing closer. Only down side was cover
 
I bought the DVD-A at the time, about a year later I think, but it's a pain to play using up tv space an' all.
 
Brave New World and Dance of Death are my most favorite post reunion maiden albums.

Rainmaker for me, is the 2nd best single since Wickerman. The opening lick is just amazing and really fun to play. The rhythm chords under the chorus is beautiful too. One of Dave's best post reunion solo here.

Paschendale is still the best song out of all the post reunion albums imo. The intro tapping and the slow burn progression reaching an epic instrumental section with some blistering solos. Love it.

The guitar arrangements of Dance of Death with a perfect blend of clean and distorted guitar sound is just beautiful to listen to. This is maiden at their story telling best and they top it off with a great instrumental section. DoD is my 2nd favorite epic after Paschendale.

Montsegur's almost Lamb of Godesque opening riff is one the heaviest riffs they have done in the last 20 years and i love it.

No More Lies is the most Iron Maiden song in the album showcasing maiden's brilliance and flaws in the same song. Beautiful intro and main riff and instrumental section counter balanced by an unforgettable chorus...because it is repeated 8 times :p

Journeyman one of my favorite songs and a perfect album closer. I often go back to the Death on the road dvd just to listen to this song.
 
Perun said:
The whole package just doesn't feel consistent or right. The album cover has a good painting with a great thematic idea messed up by half-finished CGI, and that somehow stands emblematic for the whole album. You kind of get a feel for what it's trying to be, and the brilliance does surface more often than not, but if only you could get rid of all the half-arsery that stands in its way...
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You know, there's something to this. And I find it interesting that these themes would generally fall away for the next album, which indicates that the band realized it, or at least noted it subconsciously. I wonder if they had realized how quickly they fragmented, and if that feeds into the various side projects and such. Hmm.
 
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Perun said:
The confusion carries over to the lyrical themes of the album. It contains the lines "Still burning heretics under our sky/Religion still burning inside" and "Create a beast, made a man without a soul/Is it worth the risk, a war of God and Man?", is bookended by calls for complete self-determination (Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker, Journeyman) but has a long, reactionary ramble for state authority (Age of Innocence) and has a weird song about how only you can determine your fate and God doesn't do anything (Gates of Tomorrow) followed by one which says we shouldn't try to play god (New Frontier)...
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Well you sum it up pretty good - lyrics to New Frontier/Age of Innocence are the massive weak spot of this album. If those weren't there, there would be nothing off with the other songs. Montsegur is a bit of Run To The Hills, from two perspectives song.

I have affection for this album only because of Smith's solos that started being abundant at that point. The album is one big meh affair and the proof that it sounds bad is in every live rendition of those songs - they're simply better. Even with the counting mistake, Paschendale the 2010 live version shot from the audience sounds more exciting than the album version. The album is too dry and too in the saddle. It's no Virtual XI, but one can hear a difference in drumming between title song on En Vivo and on the album.

Wildest Dreams is possibly the worst Maiden song ever, it hasn't got anything going for it apart from the solo section and the final bridge. While there's nothing too bad in the song, there's nothing substantial in it either. There is no contest that it's the worst opener ever.

Montsegur could do without the major key leprechaun theme. No more lies is sort of OK until solos stop. I mean the absolutely generic chords and horrible chorus repetition might've worked once as a build up element, cause the song builds up from the intro to the middle instrumental, but then they just casually return it back. There are songs on AMOLAD with far more interesting verse/chorus structures yet I can confess that editing is the only con of that record, it could do with not mirroring song parts for the end and outro. In NML it's just plain no, I lose interest for the song after the solos because what they're repeating is not very good. Also Bruce as Jesus? C'mon. He fills the Satan's role better as shown on 2006 magnum release.

Back at the time of the release I was not waiting for it and wasn't current with the news. When I heard it I was pretty disappointing at what I'm hearing. I still don't feel like album is good in comparison, it's below average for Maiden
 
Dance of Death does not have the best song writing of the reunion albums barring some highlights. What it DOES have though, is just balls to the walls heaviness and speed throughout most of the album. We’ve got FIVE songs that are all shorter, speedier numbers, and a couple that are just as fast when they get going. Age of Innocence reminds me of mid 90s Megadeth, both lyrically and musically, but it fucking slams. No More Lies and Montsegur are both heavy on the riffing and quite fast at parts. The end of Wildest Dreams when Nicko speeds up his right foot is just a fantastic driving beat. I generally listen to this album cranked up and on a long drive and it fucking kills. It’s the least “contemplative” album of all the reunion albums. And it’s got fucking Paschendale on it.

As a side note, I think Gates of Tomorrow is a fantastic song and better than both Wildest Dreams and Rainmaker. In fact, while Rainmaker is a good song, I never understood the love. It’s one of my least favorite songs on the album.
 
I would agree that it's aged well. I didn't love it when it was released, and I still don't love it, by I enjoy it far more now than I did then, although I still rate it near the bottom of the reunion era releases (just ahead of TFF for me). The good stuff on here is just so awesome, but the lows are pretty low.
 
Big disappointment for me personally after Brave New World. Brave New World sounded fresh and energetic - and it felt like Maiden ran into a wall creatively, focus and sound wise already on Dance of Death. They were supposed to surpass or at least rival what they had done with Brave New World, but the rejuvenated Maiden were nowhere to be found on album #2 with Bruce and Adrian back. Sophomore slump?

Rainmaker is my favorite song from this album. Glimpses of brilliance in Montsegur, Paschendale and Face in the Sand.

Sorry for being so rough :help2:
 
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srfc said:
Everything on DOD is miles better than the Mercenary, Dream of Mirrors, The Fallen Angel and The Nomad.
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3 out of these songs do not contain A SINGLE FREAKING DRUM FILL for God's sake!!!! Damn I hate BNW!
 
Honestly, it's not always needed. Nicko is usually rather generous with them anyway, so a few songs without tom fills? I'm okay with that. In the case of The Mercenary, I definitely think the song's better off without them.
 
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