rate all 17 Maiden albums best to worst

Dick Brucinson

Dick Brucinson

The TRUE Dick Brucinson
not sure, but I think since the release of Senjutsu a public ranking that includes the new album hasn't been done.
six months later the album isn't really new anymore so it's a good time to place it among the others I guess.

for me it's this:

1 Somewhere In Time
2 Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
3 Book Of Souls
4 Senjutsu
5 Killers
6 No Prayer For The Dying
7 Debut
8 Brave New World
9 Powerslave
10 The Number Of The Beast
11 The Final Frontier
12 Fear Of The Dark
13 Piece Of Mind
14 A Matter Of Life And Death
15 Dance Of Dead
16 The XFactor
17 Virtual XI
 
Ok, has been a while since a thread like this. This is my current standing, although they all tend to move around (although BNW and AMOLAD switch between spot 1 and 2). No Prayer for the Dying is constantly cemented in the last place.
1. Brave New World
2. A Matter of Life and Death
3. Powerslave
4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
5. The Number of the Beast.
6. Senjutsu.
7. Somewhere in Time
8. Piece of Mind.
9. Iron Maiden.
10. The X Factor.
11. The Final Frontier
12. Killers
13. The Book of Souls
14. Dance of Death
15. Fear of the Dark
16. Virtual XI
17. No Prayer of the Dying.
 
Today it would look like this. Top 5 have not changed in the last 15 years; bottom 4 are unlikely to change either.

1 The Number of the Beast
2 Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
3 Piece of Mind
4 Powerslave
5 A Matter of Life and Death
6 Iron Maiden
7 Brave New World
8 Somewhere in Time
9 The Book of Souls
10 Senjutsu
11 Dance of Death
12 The Final Frontier
13 Killers
14 Fear Of The Dark
15 The X Factor
16 No Prayer for the Dying
17 Virtual XI
 
As of today. Let's say the positions of the albums are somewhat interchangeable in their group.

1. The Number of the Beast
2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
3. Piece of Mind
4. Killers

5. Iron Maiden
6. Powerslave

7. Somewhere in Time
8. Fear of the Dark
9. No Prayer For The Dying
10. Dance of Death

11. The Final Frontier
12. Brave New World
13. Senjutsu

14. Virtual XI
15. The Book of Souls
16. The X Factor
17. A Matter of Life and Death
 
Last edited:
Yax said:
Taste, as we all know, vary quite a lot. I'm really interested in knowing what compels you to put AMOLAD in the bottom, in contrast to me putting it in spot 2 or 1.
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Basically, I don't like it (much) when Maiden labours the same themes (i.e war... yet again), with many repetitions and long, uncalled for intros. Doing it once or twice on an album is okay, but the last two albums of my ranking (which I still like, mind you) are abusing this method, in my opinion. Besides, "Different World" is among the handful of songs I really don't like and the opener is an important spot. Hopefully, I quite like "The Legacy", which tends to redeem it all.
Keep in mind that I've ranked albums (as +/- 60-minutes blocks), not sums of songs taken individually. I guess that the whole package also enters the equation (what's to like in the visual of AMOLAD unless you're a fan of war video games?).This changes the listening experience, compared to surfing the whole catalogue according to the mood of the day. ;)
 
1. Dance of Death
2. Somewhere in Time
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. Piece of Mind
5. X Factor
6. A Matter of Life and Death
7. The Final Frontier
8. Number of the Beast
9. Killers
10. Brave New World
11. Powerslave
12. Iron Maiden
13. Book of Souls
14. Senjutsu
15. Virtual XI
16. No Prayer for the Dying
17. Fear of the Dark

The rankings have changed over time. Senjutsu may rise but I was fairly disappointed with the album.
 
Thanks for explaining - I obviously disagree (well, there are long intros and repetitions, not suggesting otherwise, but I find them additive), but it's interesting reading your thoughts.

"Keep in mind that I've ranked albums (as +/- 60-minutes blocks), not sums of songs taken individually. This changes the listening experience, compared to surfing the whole catalogue according to the mood of the day."

And if you would rank them as a sum of songs, would that still land AMOLAD in the bottom (ballpark estimate)? I myself rank after a mixture of overall experience, parts and sum of parts.
 
Last edited:
Yax said:
Thanks for explaining - I obviously disagree (well, there are long intros and repetitions, noq suggesting otherwise, but I find them additive), but it's interesting reading your thoughts.

"Keep in mind that I've ranked albums (as +/- 60-minutes blocks), not sums of songs taken individually. This changes the listening experience, compared to surfing the whole catalogue according to the mood of the day."

And if you would rank them as a sum of songs, would that still land AMOLAD in the bottom (ballpark estimate)? I myself rank after a mixture of overall experience, parts and sum of parts.
Click to expand...
Well, I admit that, for this kind of ranking, the more recent albums are disadvantaged because Maiden have, at some point or other, "done it before". Depending on when you discovered the band -so what falls into the category of "historical albums" and that of "'new' albums", one may not have the same way to carry out this highly subjective ranking as the next fan. (as far as I'm concerned, the first "new" album is The X Factor ).

To return to AMOLAD, and to make it quick, I would rate the songs as follows:

++: The Legacy
+: The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, The Longest Day, The Pilgrim
Meh: pretty much all the rest except for...
-: Different World, For The Greater Good of God

Trim down 30% of each song and I would like the album much more... but then it wouldn't be the same album. ;)
 
01. Somewhere In Time
02. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
03. Powerslave
04. Senjutsu
05. The X Factor
06. Piece Of Mind
07. A Matter Of Life And Death
08. The Final Frontier
09. Brave New World
10. No Prayer For The Dying
11. The Number Of The Beast
12. Iron Maiden
13. Virtual XI
14. The Book Of Souls
15. Killers
16. Dance Of Death
17. Fear Of The Dark
 
1-4. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, Somewhere In Time, Killers, Iron Maiden
5-7. Powerslave, Piece Of Mind, The Number Of The Beast
8. Senjutsu
9-16. Stuff.
17. That abomination a.k.a. Virtual XI
 
I haven't listened to much Maiden at all lately, but let's say it's:

1. Somewhere in Time
2. The Book of Souls
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. A Matter of Life and Death
5. Powerslave
6. Piece of Mind
7. Brave New World
8. The Final Frontier
9. The Number of the Beast
10. The X Factor
11. Dance of Death
12. Senjutsu
13. Iron Maiden
14. Fear of the Dark
15. Virtual XI
16. No Prayer for the Dying
17. Killers
 
1. Somewhere in time
2. The X factor
3. Killers
4. Powerslave
5. Seventh son of a seventh son
6. The number of the beast
7. A matter of life and death
8. Iron maiden
9. Brave new world
10. Senjutsu
11. Piece of mind
12. The book of souls
13. Fear of the dark
14. No prayer for the dying
15. Dance of death
16. The final frontier
17. Virtual XI
 
There's not only one valid list and these things tend to change a bit around based on the feeling.
So today I feel it would go like this, if you ask me tomorrow I might change yet more:

1. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
2. Somewhere In Time
3. The Number Of The Beast
4. Brave New World
5. Powerslave
6. Piece Of Mind
7. Senjutsu
8. A Matter Of Life And Death
9. Iron Maiden
10. The Final Frontier
11. The Book Of Souls
12. Fear Of The Dark
13. Killers
14. No Prayer For The Dying
15. Dance Of Death
16. The X Factor
17. Virtual XI
 
1. Somewhere in Time - My favorite since it was released, but
2. Senjutsu - May take over the top spot. But it has to stand the test of time.
3. Piece of Mind
4. The Final Frontier - I only got into this recently, so there may be bias here.
5. The Number of the Beast
6. Powerslave
7. Killers
8. Iron Maiden
9. Dance of Death
10. Brave New World
11. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
12. The Book of Souls
13. A Matter of Life and Death
14. The X Factor
15. Virtual XI
16. Fear of the Dark
17. No Prayer for the Dying
 
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
A Matter Of Life And Death
Somewhere In Time
The Book Of Souls
Powerslave
Piece Of Mind
Brave New World
Dance Of Death
The Final Frontier
The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden
Killers
Senjutsu
Fear Of The Dark
No Prayer For The Dying
The X-Factor
Virtual XI
 
  1. Brave New World
  2. Senjutsu
  3. A Matter of Life and Death
  4. Powerslave
  5. The Book of Souls
  6. The Final Frontier
  7. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
  8. Iron Maiden
  9. Dance of Death
  10. Peace of Mind
  11. Somewhere in Time
  12. The Number of the Beast
  13. The X Factor
  14. Fear of the Dark
  15. Virtual XI
  16. Killers
  17. No Prayer for the Dying
 
Somewhere in Time
Piece of Mind
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Brave New World
Senjutsu
Powerslave
The Book of Souls
The Number of the Beast
Killers
The Final Frontier
A Matter of Life and Death
Iron Maiden
Fear of the Dark
Dance of Death
The X Factor
No Prayer for the Dying
Virtual XI
 
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