A Matter of Life and Death: individual album judgement by yours truly

karljant said:
So I simply don't know what you mean by "Judas Priest Style".
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He could have meant "Changing your musical style to crack the USA market". :lol:

karljant said:
P.s. Not saying Maiden copied Priest or that they're worst than them. But Priest was the first metal band with dual guitar harmonies (one of Maiden's trademarks.
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Maiden's guitar harmonies come from Wishbone Ash, which predated Judas Priest by some years.

On a side note, Wishbone Ash's "Argus" is one of the best albums of all time.
 
karljant said:
Like Painkiller, Jugulator and Nostradamus... yeah right....
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Painkiller is a good/very good album (I thought it was exciting back in 1990, but it has not aged that well in my humble opinion), but the other two just show a band that did not know where they were heading too.

Nevertheless, my comment was based on things like "Point of Entry" or "Turbo", to name just two albums when Priest radically changed their sound and went more commercial to try and crack the North American market. It worked in the short term, but 30 years later they find themselves in the nostalgia market, playing in not sold out theatres to 3000 people. It is what it is, you know?

karljant said:
There were guitar harmonies way before Wishbone Ash. But the first bringing it to metal was undoubtly Priest.
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Check my original post. The only thing I said is that Maiden influences when it comes to guitar harmonies are - mostly - Wishbone Ash, which predate Priest. ;)

When it comes to metal, there is no doubt that Judas Priest are pioneers.
 
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GhostofCain said:
Nevertheless, my comment was based on things like "Point of Entry" or "Turbo", to name just two albums when Priest radically changed their sound and went more commercial to try and crack the North American market.
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Given that a given point almost every major metal band did that, I must concur: Turbo is a blatant radio rock sell out and I think the Point Of Entry formula started back in Killing Machine ( although both Killing Machine and British Steel are way better than POE).
As for the harmonies Maiden can say whatever they want: just check Rocka Rolla or The Ripper's guitar harmonies and it's obvious that's where all NWOBHM took a note or two when it comes to that matter.

P.S: Painkiller is a masterpiece. The other two are experiments (hey... I don't even like Nostradamus that much)
 
Diesel 11 said:
And neither did I.
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...except when you non-ironically declared my opinion on “Paschendale” wrong, as if that were somehow self-evident. But that’s OK, you can feel free to offer whatever grade school response you’d like to this post and I won’t bother to respond again.
 
This reviewing malarkey doesn't seem so difficult

Different World - Thoroughly unspectacular, by-the-numbers opener. It's not bad, but it seems like the poor relation of Wicker Man et al. 7.5

These Colours Don't Run - Now this is more like it; a rousing, uplifting long-form rocker with a chorus made for sing-a-long. 8.5

Brighter Than a Thousand Suns - Great subject material, and a lot of good, diverse things going on musically (the outro is a bit unnecessary, though that's a common theme with latter-day Maiden, and this album especially). 9

The Pilgrim - Brilliant intro, let down by a merely decent song. 7.5

The Longest Day - A wordier chorus would've been appreciated. it's a perfectly serviceable sub-epic, but pales in comparison to some of the other stuff here. 8

Out of the Shadows - Probably one of Maiden's best ballads, not that that says much. The solos are good. 8

The Reincarnation of Benny Breeg - Odd choice of single, but whatever floats your LCVP I suppose. The lyrics have a tremendously surreal quality, and the main riff is pretty killer. Again, the outro isn't really needed. 8.5

For the Greater Good of God - The intro and outro probably outstay their welcome a bit, but other than that it's another fine example of a post-2000 Maiden epic. The instrumental/solo section is particularly good. 9

Lord of Light - What a fuckin tune. It manages to avoid a lot of satanic imagery despite quite literally being about the Beast. Even the standard "moody" intro formula is executed here without being the least bit dreary or overlong, and bonus points for not repeating it at the song's end. Oh, and there's a particularly good snippet between solos that seems a bit Steven Wilson-esque (is it just me?). 10

The Legacy - Argh, you were doing so well . . . another nine years in the oven and you'd have EOTC, but here that riff sounds achingly under-done. The components just don't click here as they do in all the album's other tracks. 7

Overall - 8.3
 
Jer said:
...except when you non-ironically declared my opinion on “Paschendale” wrong, as if that were somehow self-evident. But that’s OK, you can feel free to offer whatever grade school response you’d like to this post and I won’t bother to respond again.
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...except that you inferred that my opinion on “Journeyman” was wrong, and in fact, you began this whole thing, and I merely followed along with a jab at your opinion on “Paschendale”. Perhaps you need to update your definition of a “grade school response”, Mr. Jeremy “Objectively Sloppy” Haines.
 
My Ratings:

Different World: 6
These Colours Don't Run: 7,5
Brighter Than A Thousand Suns: 7
The Pilgrim: 7,5
The Longest Day: 9
Out Of The Shadows: 9,5
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg: 9
For The Greater Good Of God: 10
Lord Of Light: 9
The Legacy: 10

Overall: 8,5
 
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