Are you pleased with Maiden's direction?

The only thing that i wouldn't stomach is if Maiden returned to the silliness of songs like "from here to eternity", "Holy smoke", "Hooks in you", "Bring your daughter...", "Weekend warrior" e.t.c but thankfully that short period is dead and buried.
 
I agree that personally, I really enjoy the direction they are going in.  One thing I can't help but wonder though, is what would a song with the speed and melody of Aces High or even Futureal sound like with 3 guitarists all playing different parts.  TFF is the first album where the 3 guitars are really becoming prominent, and adding something to the music, especially on the last few epic tracks.  I'd love to hear a short rocker with that kind of riff/lead complexity.  The short rockers they've done since the reunion have been very riff oriented, even The Alchemist, and don't seem quiet as complex as even the bsides from X Factor.  All that being said though, I think they've hit their stride with this new stuff, and albums like Number of the Beast, though classic, sound barbaric in comparison.
 
I think if they write an album that has let's say 5 or 6 rockers out of 10 songs then the album's quality would be weaker than AMOLAD or TFF. There's one thing to write one or two stunning rockers  to include into the album and there's another thing to write album that is dominated by rockers. I think that they could write a truly awesome rocker or two, but to write 5 or 6 solid rockers is just to difficult to them.
 
LooseCannon said:
I kinda like how they don't see the need to retread old ground too much. Brave New World has tons of great rockers, and two of them are classics (The Wicker Man, Ghost of the Navigator).
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Ghost of the Navigator isn't exactly a short rocker with its 6.51. It rocks but so do other long songs. ;)

Ben Beast said:
but to write 5 or 6 solid rockers is just to difficult to them.
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Agreed. That's exactly what I tried to explain back in 2008 when the forummers were busy with their expectations/desires for the new album. (17 pages topic)

Looking back at this, Maiden did exactly as I had hoped for, even better, since I find this short song (The Alchemist) very, very good, and the best under 5 minute song since Rainmaker. Hell, I even like it better. So I rate it as one of the best ones from this line-up.
 
Look, there's only 2 rockers on TFF. The Final Frontier and The Alchemist
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Both are definite rockers that stick in your head for long. But El Dorado is one too! The chorus and especially the riffs... "baaaaah bah bah baba!" That never gets out of my mind! I'd say three songs on the new album are straight enough to compare with older tunes, and are very enjoyable for your "quick Maiden fix". Now Mother Of Mercy isn't that long either...

As for the longer and more proggy songs, they are simply breathtaking. There's nothing repetitive about them any longer, as someone said before. And the detail in them just makes me think, "great music". That's what music should be like, metal or otherwise! :ok:

To some extend I was hoping for an album that was more uplifting than AMOLAD and would feature some great rockers, but actually I never expected there to be another Powerslave. What we got with TFF is *exactly* what I had hoped for.
 
lcarus said:
I'd love to see them do something closer to their roots with the next album.  AMOLAD and TFF were great, but I'm ready for something different.
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This. I like Maiden's new sound, but I feel they've done all they could with it over the course of the last 4 albums. I don't want them to become a nostalgia act, but it would be nice for them to return to their roots a little bit on the next album.

The Final Frontier is a solid album though, I enjoy it.
 
TheJuggernaut said:
but it would be nice for them to return to their roots a little bit on the next album.
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I'm not saying you're wrong. But last time people got this they got NPFTD.
 
LooseCannon said:
I wouldn't say BNW was back to their roots. But a lot of people do.
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I think BNW is "back to the roots" in a sense that's the album Maiden WOULD have made with Bruce and Adrian if Steve progressed in the vein of Seventh Son.  But as it is, it is really just an extension of the ideas introduced on VXI.
 
BNW has nothing of 'back to the roots'. It's Virtual XI part 2 in several aspects, but with the return of brilliant songwriters like Bruce and H, plus Bruce's even better fantastic voice, the album made the classic Maiden elements shine more, but on a new and different level. It served to prove 2 things - Virtual XI is an overlooked album and Maiden didn't reunite, they only kept on doing what they always did - reinventing themselves.
 
  Whatever 'direction' this album is, it is the right direction.  How anyone can complain about this album is beyond me.  I take that back, these idiots, like the fool from "Metalstorm" listened once, didn't here Run to the Hills, and started complaining like the little twelve year old girl that he is.
  This album is not for today's effeminate, top 40, popularity seeking, critics.  It is an intelligent, pure metal album that we true rock fans enjoy, and will admit we enjoy.  Take the time and let the Final Frontier do the talking for itself.  Don't be fooled by the screemo and pop loving phonies like "Daniel P",of Metalstorm, who aren't smart enough to see how foolish his review of Final Frontier looks to real metal fans. 
 
LooseCannon said:
Look, there's only 2 rockers on TFF. The Final Frontier and The Alchemist. I really like both of them. The sound of AMOLAD, the darker proggy sound, is pretty much gone. No song is like that. Except for WTWWB, which is shades of VXI.
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I consider The Talisman to be a pretty fast rocker.
 
^ yeah I agree, aside from the slow intro definitely a rocker


And I couldn't be more pleased with IM's direction. I just wish they'd release albums a tid bit quicker. I just about shit my pants when I heard the BNW album and immediately fell in love with their direction (I didn't hear either Blaze albums at that time) and am more than happy with every album since.
 
lcarus said:
I'd love to see them do something closer to their roots with the next album.  AMOLAD and TFF were great, but I'm ready for something different.
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If you're ready for something different, why go back to the roots? Why not move on and evolve? Then you'll get something completely different! ;)

Jeffmetal said:
BNW has nothing of 'back to the roots'. It's Virtual XI part 2 in several aspects
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Can you say what aspects? I'd like to listen to VXI with that in mind and see if I can get it.
 
pilau said:
If you're ready for something different, why go back to the roots? Why not move on and evolve? Then you'll get something completely different! ;)

Can you say what aspects? I'd like to listen to VXI with that in mind and see if I can get it.
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For me, it's the guitar work, slow brooding intros, and the song dynamics.  A lot of the songs on BNW sound like they were ideas from VXI, which isn't a bad thing.
 
chaosapiant said:
For me, it's the guitar work, slow brooding intros, and the song dynamics.  A lot of the songs on BNW sound like they were ideas from VXI, which isn't a bad thing.
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Difference being Bruce was there to let the songs reach their full potential on BNW.
 
snake plissken said:
Difference being Bruce was there to let the songs reach their full potential on BNW.
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Agreed.  I love X Factor and Blaze, but VXI sounds written for someone with a higher register in mind.  VXI is still a great album though, it just sits in between two way superior albums.
 
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