A Matter of Life and Death Dissection

nuno_c

nuno_c

A hollow universe in space
AMOLAD seems to be the most loved reunion Maiden album. I feel there's even a certain cult around it.

Personally, i can understand why.

But what exactly do you think it is that makes AMOLAD such a fan favourite?

Even the band itself loved it to the point of playing it all live.

Let's dissect the album... What is it exactly that works on the album?
 
First of all: All the songs are good. Some are excellent. That's a good start. Then it's the way the album's been put together - it flows very well. Third, it seems to be unified thematically (not to the extent that it could be called a concept album), but despite the dark atmosphere mentioned by @Meliegree - there's some light shining through here and there. With the pain, there is beauty.
 
If any Maiden album deserved DVD from tour - it's this one. And lyrics of songs - they are all amazing
 
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There is a nice simplicity to Brave New World, it's great to have on in the background while doing other things. It's catchy, the songs are good, it doesn't require a lot from you. For that reason it's my favourite album, and the one I play most.

Compare that to AMoLaD. There is a certain complexity to that album. It requires you to actively engage it. There's really nothing catchy on it, compared to some of there other albums. It's an album I listen to with headphones while not doing much else. It took me forever to hear the cool riffs in These Colours Don't Run.

I think the reason people enjoy it so much, is because you kind of have to earn it. It's a bit of work. Listening to the thing in one sitting is exhausting, and not in the way The Final Frontier is exhausting. The Final Frontier can be a chore because it doesn't flow very well. A Matter of Life and Death flows perfectly. It's exhausting because it's dense, and thematically heavy. And that makes the pay off great.

It's also pretty consistent. I think it has eight good to great songs, and only two weak tracks. Sadly it does have the weakest solos of the post reunion albums.

A very strong album. It's in my top five.
 
It's a great album. There is very little filler on it and it is consistent.
Also TROBB is one of my favourite ever Maiden songs and the solo on Different World is amazing.
 
It's Maiden's most focused effort, second in that respect to perhaps only X Factor. Where AMOLAD wins between the two for me though is not only better songs and production, but enough variety to keep things interesting while still staying with focused. It's a complete Maiden experience.
 
I think there are a few factors at play that make this a very special album. Every track on here feels connected thematically and musically and the whole album flows well. One might argue that this means there is less diversity, but I think we get a nice variety of songs. So it is very fitting that the band chose this album to play in full. This of course helps to add to its reputation. Sonically it is my favourite production from all the reunion albums. The guitar tones, drums and mix all sound great to my ears. The fact that is wasn't mastered is another thing that makes this album stand out. I think it worked nicely. The album is full of great riffs, solos, performances, atmosphere, etc and it all takes the thing to the next level. I wouldn't say it has any bona fide modern "classics" like The Wicker Man or Dance of Death but this is another reason why it works so well to listen to the whole thing. It is a serious album to be taken seriously. Beyond all this, there is just something special about this album. I can't quite describe it. For me personally it was the first new Maiden album to come out after I got into them and I saw them on this tour for the first time. What a treat to see the whole album played live. So I'm sure those 2 things factor in subconsciously for me. I would certainly rank it in my top 5 or 6 Maiden albums.
 
Aside from all the great points mentioned so far, I also want to mention the cover artwork. For me it's definitely the best of the reunion covers.
I'm an artist myself and I teach painting at art college, so I pay a lot of attention to the artwork. It's almost as much excitement for me as the songs. Tim Bradstreet and his colourist did a great job with that. It was individual and definitely Eddie. BNW cover, while ok and nice that Riggs created it...he totally lifted imagery from the poster for the horror movie "Fright Night" (look that up) its kinda funny actually. DOD we all know was pretty much an abortion and mismatch of poor communication and management/band decisions etc. It could have been so good. I'm not a fan of the colourful, gloopy styled illustration on TFF. I do like BOS, sharp, distinct, punchy and first time they did almost a portrait shot.
In the recent metal hammer you can see a good enlargement of BOS cover, and while I like the image, I don't like the obvious digital construction you can see all over it. It varies between digital sharpening and smoothing. Guess I prefer the hand made approach. ANYWAYYYYY. Sorry for going off topic there :)
 
That's my point. It's nice that after reunion they didn't try to make Number of the Beast II.

That is the only thing that I don't like in AMOLAD - no memorable melodies, riffs yeah but that's something different for me. Oh, and TCDR - I find this song a little overrated.
 
For me, a huge strong point of this album is a super amazing vocal performance from Bruce through the entire album. Where as, TFF had some parts where he didn't sing super powerful such as the verses of El Dorado, Mother Of Mercy, The Man Who Would Be King as well as the 2nd and 3rd vocal parts of When The Wild Wind Blows. But on AMOLAD, he's just a beast on almost every part of every song.
 
It's my favourite album with the current line-up. The perfect balance of light and shade. Feels like you're going on a journey. I like an album that challenges the listener a bit; the most rewarding records are always the ones that take you a while to understand fully. Brave New World is more direct and hooky, but AMOLAD has more substance to it. Like someone said, it's totally coherent as a full album. DOD and TFF are a tad patchy but AMOLAD is quality all the way through. And the last three tracks in particular are total monsters - a three punch knockout of gargantuan purport. The only thing I'm not mad about (other than the production) is the vocal phrasing on the clean sections of FTGGOG. But the rest of the song is so good that I learned to live with that pretty quickly.

I also agree that it's got the best cover art in a very long time.
 
Just woke up. Funnily enough what I always thought about AMOLAD is that it actually doesn't flow easily. Anyway, I'lljust find another thread to post.
 
Meliegree said:
That is the only thing that I don't like in AMOLAD - no memorable melodies, riffs yeah but that's something different for me. Oh, and TCDR - I find this song a little overrated.
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It's always interesting to see how differently people react to music - in my opinion there are memorable melodies all over this album. It's primarily the reason why I prefer AMOLAD over The Final Frontier. TFF is the album I feel is shockingly bereft of harmonies and melodies outside of a few tracks.

AMOLAD still stands as my absolute favorite album from this era of the band. The Book of Souls is going to have to be pretty incredible to top it for me.
 
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