New single: Stratego
- Thread starter MaidenMan_666
- Start date
Gk1
Here I sit in a serenade of glory!
Not really mate. They discuss what is it that the producer is there to do.
frus
Barbed Wire Hen
I noticed that "metal" bands in general tend to be this exact on studio albums, while the older classic/hard rock bands don't.
I guess it was a matter of pride and virtuoso musicianship, back when you actually had to be a top player to pull it off. Nowdays you can just copy/paste everything, so this looser style has more merit, maybe
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
dickinson1978
Ancient Mariner
2 of 2 songs that i like. Im really looking for a BNW or AMOLAD level. Im happy
Gk1
Here I sit in a serenade of glory!
More like....the leader of the band is half deaf!
Not wanting to offend anyone, but these obligatory complaints about the production/mix that multiplies on the internet (common to many bands, not just Maiden) are more of an addiction than anything. It's almost an automatic reflex at this point.
The Stratego song sounds great on my headphones (which are far from the most sophisticated) with all the instruments perfectly identifiable. The overall result is quite nice.
The Stratego song sounds great on my headphones (which are far from the most sophisticated) with all the instruments perfectly identifiable. The overall result is quite nice.
runsilentrundeep
Educated Fool
it might be because i have listened about 20 times but the vocals seem to sit a bit better now on spotify
if i was to be picky and for the sake of the discussion i would have the verse mimic guitar and those glassy keyboard notes lower in the mix or at the least the keyboard playing an octave down
but anyway for me this song is awesome, the pre chorus is absolutely balls out. I love it. I got into Maiden at BNW stage in my teens and never ever thought i’d be getting new music 20 years on
I haven’t read any reviews to avoid full album spoilers but I assume Janick wrote the music and Steve the lyrics? Janick never lets me down on reunion tracks and I like that his songs are the heavier tracks
also I recently told a friend that the Maiden gallop is actually not in that many songs and is actually a bit of a misconception about their songs, and then they drop this…
if i was to be picky and for the sake of the discussion i would have the verse mimic guitar and those glassy keyboard notes lower in the mix or at the least the keyboard playing an octave down
but anyway for me this song is awesome, the pre chorus is absolutely balls out. I love it. I got into Maiden at BNW stage in my teens and never ever thought i’d be getting new music 20 years on
I haven’t read any reviews to avoid full album spoilers but I assume Janick wrote the music and Steve the lyrics? Janick never lets me down on reunion tracks and I like that his songs are the heavier tracks
also I recently told a friend that the Maiden gallop is actually not in that many songs and is actually a bit of a misconception about their songs, and then they drop this…
The_17th_Son
Nomad
Seriously though I think we/you all lost the point of modern Maiden, with due respect.
Many of us expect bombastic sound that are produced to be played via average devices, sound enormous, and you'll have the perception that, hey that's cool. It grabs your attention. In the meantime, every little bit is artifical and 99% of the bands on their respective studio albums do not sound like that live. Their albums are produced products, produced to the max to grab attention.
Of course, both Maiden and Kevin Shirley are aware of this and that's the root of the debate. Should they create something like that and be a part of the mainstream, or do their thing. Now of course there is a scale in-between and this is where things can be improved or can go south really fast.
Steve especially wants Maiden sound live. Period. No full production, wants to keep the raw performance, with mistakes, with noises, with the human factor. They have been doing this for decades now, with more or less success. What happened in Senjutsu is they moved the slider into the better direction in-between a full live one-take recording and fully produced artifical product. They will never do the latter anymore.
To me, both songs off Senjutsu so far sound very good. I don't have much problem with Stratego via Spotify, I am blasting this via my not that expensive audio at the moment too and it sounds very good, much better than BOS, AMOLAD, TFF, DOD or even BNW.
Does it sound better than let's say SiT? Nope, in the sense, that album was fully produced at the time, with effects etc. that they could not even replicate live. Same with SSOASS. Huge sound, perfect, but live do not sound like that.
I would be happy with a modern SiT or SSOASS sounding album, but they decided not to go in that direction anymore. They are not deaf or something.
If you find it bad, it's intentionally bad. What's improved is that they let some feedback outside crawl into the latest production and added some reverb which resulted in a much better sounding guitar sound and the best Nicko drum sound in decades to my ears.
This is NOT a flat production. It's a dynamic and interesting production, but it's not perfect intentionally.
I understand if people do not like it, fair enough, it's a major deviation from modern metal trends of bombastic productions but Maiden will never do that. Actualy they have never done that.
Many of us expect bombastic sound that are produced to be played via average devices, sound enormous, and you'll have the perception that, hey that's cool. It grabs your attention. In the meantime, every little bit is artifical and 99% of the bands on their respective studio albums do not sound like that live. Their albums are produced products, produced to the max to grab attention.
Of course, both Maiden and Kevin Shirley are aware of this and that's the root of the debate. Should they create something like that and be a part of the mainstream, or do their thing. Now of course there is a scale in-between and this is where things can be improved or can go south really fast.
Steve especially wants Maiden sound live. Period. No full production, wants to keep the raw performance, with mistakes, with noises, with the human factor. They have been doing this for decades now, with more or less success. What happened in Senjutsu is they moved the slider into the better direction in-between a full live one-take recording and fully produced artifical product. They will never do the latter anymore.
To me, both songs off Senjutsu so far sound very good. I don't have much problem with Stratego via Spotify, I am blasting this via my not that expensive audio at the moment too and it sounds very good, much better than BOS, AMOLAD, TFF, DOD or even BNW.
Does it sound better than let's say SiT? Nope, in the sense, that album was fully produced at the time, with effects etc. that they could not even replicate live. Same with SSOASS. Huge sound, perfect, but live do not sound like that.
I would be happy with a modern SiT or SSOASS sounding album, but they decided not to go in that direction anymore. They are not deaf or something.
If you find it bad, it's intentionally bad. What's improved is that they let some feedback outside crawl into the latest production and added some reverb which resulted in a much better sounding guitar sound and the best Nicko drum sound in decades to my ears.
This is NOT a flat production. It's a dynamic and interesting production, but it's not perfect intentionally.
I understand if people do not like it, fair enough, it's a major deviation from modern metal trends of bombastic productions but Maiden will never do that. Actualy they have never done that.
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
I've listened to Stratego in my car, on my living room sound system, on headphones (earbuds technically) and on my studio monitors. All were from the Spotify source except when I did a Spotify vs YouTube comparison yesterday.
In all cases the song sounded great. The drums are well balanced with the instruments. The guitars are thick and thankfully Steve's bass isn't overwhelming. Bruce's vocals sound a little low on the first verse but that's because he's singing in a lower key. He soars for the rest of the song.
The synth parts being loud on the last chorus is an artistic choice and not an indication that the whole album will be synth heavy.
This obsessive and pathetic argument that's being constantly wheeled around this forum and the rest of the Internet that Stratego sounds "objectively bad" is doing my fucking nut in. Those who keep bawling away on this topic don't seem to want to accept other people's opinions, especially the majority who like the mix.
If you're so fucking obsessed with how shit Stratego sounds and won't stop being a cunt about it then why don't you start your own fucking thread and leave the rest of us in peace?
Call it "I Hate Modern Maiden And Want Them To Just Play Classics! Who's With Me?"
In all cases the song sounded great. The drums are well balanced with the instruments. The guitars are thick and thankfully Steve's bass isn't overwhelming. Bruce's vocals sound a little low on the first verse but that's because he's singing in a lower key. He soars for the rest of the song.
The synth parts being loud on the last chorus is an artistic choice and not an indication that the whole album will be synth heavy.
This obsessive and pathetic argument that's being constantly wheeled around this forum and the rest of the Internet that Stratego sounds "objectively bad" is doing my fucking nut in. Those who keep bawling away on this topic don't seem to want to accept other people's opinions, especially the majority who like the mix.
If you're so fucking obsessed with how shit Stratego sounds and won't stop being a cunt about it then why don't you start your own fucking thread and leave the rest of us in peace?
Call it "I Hate Modern Maiden And Want Them To Just Play Classics! Who's With Me?"
1) Play Classics! surprisingly is not with The Fellow in Bold.
2) I agree that objective reality is not possible with subjective art, and that's a silly thing to argue.
3) Maaaaaybe take it back a notch. Some people are allowed to dislike the sound. I feel bad for them.
But if you didn't even listen and you're complaining, that's a little much.
