Are you pleased with Maiden's direction?

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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Don't get me wrong, I never sad it in a bad way - I was just wondering what did he mean, saying that.
 
It was being sarcastic sorry (and probably used bad grammar). I mean that badly written songs (e.g. songs with too much repetitive motives, or other recycled elements from the past) stay badly written songs, even if Bruce is the vocalist.

So I disagree with you guys that Bruce per se made the difference on BNW. BNW is a better album, and yes, Bruce has to do with it (and the presence of Adrian, though he didn't write much back then), but the songwriting also matters.
 
Forostar said:
It was being sarcastic sorry. I mean that badly written songs stay badly written songs, even if Bruce is the vocalist.

So I disagree with you guys that Bruce per se made the difference on BNW. BNW is a better album, and yes, Bruce has to do with it (and the presence of Adrian, though he didn't write much back then), but the songwriting also matters.
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I agree that bad songwriting isn't saved by whose playign the song, but I disagree that VXI is a bad album.  I think it's great, just much more expanded upon on the follow up.
 
Forostar said:
I find only one album worse, and that is Dance of Death.
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Holy crap, my wife would be apalled!  That's her favorite album.  But no worries, to each their own.  I think DOD is my least favorite of the reunion albums, but still a really strong album for me.
 
Sometimes I'm doubting if I find VXI worse or not, but that album is shorter, so relatively seen, I think it's a better listen.

It has Rainmaker, the title track and Paschendale. Apart from those, Dance of Death is full of weaker songs. Apart from maybe 2 songs, there's:
- unoriginality (recycling almost literal parts from previous albums)
- bad choruses
- monotone music / repetitiveness
- dumb lyrics

More than on any other album.
 
Forostar said:
Sometimes I'm doubting if I find VXI worse or not, but that album is shorter, so relatively seen, I think it's a better listen.

Dance of Death is full of weaker songs. It has Rainmaker, the title track and Paschendale. But all the others? Apart from maybe 2 songs, there's:
- unoriginality (recycling almost literal parts from previous albums)
- bad choruses
- monotone / repetitiveness
- dumb lyrics

More than on any other album.
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I can't really disagree except to say that I still love the album despite that.  It's a bit uneven, i'll give it that.  Face in the Sand is a very awesome, underrated tune IMO.
 
That I find a tune with way too much repetition. It goes on and on. I also don't really like the chorus.
Still, I love the intro. So for me, this song has two faces.
 
Forostar said:
Sometimes I'm doubting if I find VXI worse or not, but that album is shorter, so relatively seen, I think it's a better listen.

It has Rainmaker, the title track and Paschendale. Apart from those, Dance of Death is full of weaker songs. Apart from maybe 2 songs, there's:
- unoriginality (recycling almost literal parts from previous albums)
- bad choruses
- monotone music / repetitiveness
- dumb lyrics

More than on any other album.
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I feel the exact same way.  I just can't listen to it.  I try, but aside form those three songs I really dislike everything about that album.
 
chaosapiant said:
Holy crap, my wife would be apalled!  That's her favorite album.  But no worries, to each their own.  I think DOD is my least favorite of the reunion albums, but still a really strong album for me.
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Yeah I think it's got some cracking tracks but it's just not as consistent as the other reunion albums. I think Journeyman is an inspired way to end the album though. Great live too.
 
Forostar said:
It was being sarcastic sorry (and probably used bad grammar). I mean that badly written songs (e.g. songs with too much repetitive motives, or other recycled elements from the past) stay badly written songs, even if Bruce is the vocalist.

So I disagree with you guys that Bruce per se made the difference on BNW. BNW is a better album, and yes, Bruce has to do with it (and the presence of Adrian, though he didn't write much back then), but the songwriting also matters.
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That's kinda contradictory from you as AMOLAD is worse than VXI and neither Bruce could save that uninspired record with some of the most crap chorus ever written by the band, plus they're overkiller with those endless repetitions. VXI has a lot to do with BNW specially because DOM, The Mercenary, BB and The Nomad (apart from the Beckett rip off/tribute) are leftovers from those sessions. VXI repetition is less dense and forcefed and it only happens to the point of bothering on TAATG (which is still a lot better than FTGGOG) and TEF (which is a brilliant song, anyway).
 
Jeffmetal said:
That's kinda contractory for you as AMOLAD is worse than VXI and neither Bruce could save that uninspired record with some of the most crap chorus ever written by the band, plus they're overkiller with those endless repetitions. VXI has a lot to do with BNW specially because DOM, The Mercenary, BB and The Nomad (apart from the Beckett rip off/tribute) are leftovers from those sessions. VXI repetition is less dense and forcefed and it only happens to the point of bothering on TAATG (which is still a lot better than FTGGOG) and TEF (which is a brilliant song, anyway).
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Well, I know you dislike AMOLAD and I too have become more critical about it. Indeed there are some songs with annoying long choruses. But I happen to like the Janick songs a lot, plus Lord of Light, BTATS and These Colours (but that chorus is repetitive indeed). I also love Breeg and have also learnt to appreciate Out of the Shadows. That's quite a lot of songs. So it's hard to dislike it more than VXI.

A good aspect of VXI is its warm sound which I like. And the best tracks I find very, very strong, and I rate them at least as high as the best from AMOLAD. But in total, I don't think this album is better.

I know that some songs from BNW were left overs from the VXI sessions, but they simply are not on VXI.
And I realize that the midsection from The Nomad was plain stolen (I really don't like that), and the chorus in Outside the Silent Planet also seems to be never ending. Nonetheless the first six songs of the album totally rule, and outshine both its predecessor and the follow-up album.

Maybe the repetition of VXI is less annoying in your ears, but I disrespect some of its recycling in WTWC (chorus progression and rhythm = couplets That Girl) and some guitar melodies in the midsection in The Educated Fool = from Judgement of Heaven (again recycled in No Lies) and the fast drumming in DLTTEOAS belongs in The Muppet Show rather than on a Maiden album.

It just depends on what we find important on every album.
 
It depends on what exactly is meant by 'direction' in the title question. Every album since the reunion has had its flavor and indicated a slightly different direction for the future. Inasmuch, TFF comes with a totally new direction than would have been expected from AMOLAD. But if by direction it is vaguely meant that Maiden have gone for the longer epics and become more proggy then I can say I like the direction very much. As Adrian has said, Maiden excels at the epics (like Hallowed or Fear of the Dark) and its those Maiden will be remembered for. But if I'm honest, at this stage Maiden could have gone in any direction and I probably would have liked it too.
 
But every Maiden album has a new direction. That's nothing new, what is new is what you'll certainly find within every record, which has an universe of itself. I still didn't listen to The Final Frontier, but with El Dorado and the title track I felt right away that it has nothing to do with AMOLAD or anything else, it's just standing on its own as always was with every single Iron Maiden album.
 
Forostar said:
Well, I know you dislike AMOLAD and I too have become more critical about it. Indeed there are some songs with annoying long choruses. But I happen to like the Janick songs a lot, plus Lord of Light, BTATS and These Colours (but that chorus is repetitive indeed).
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Far away from the land of our birth,
We fly a flag in some foreign earth,
We sail away like our Fathers before,
These colours don't run from cold bloody war!

I don't see the repetition? And that chorus is awesome anyway, so it makes it even less of a problem.
 
Yes.
I could go on and on about different styles and flavours of records but in the end, tht wasn't the question.
The question was about the direction, and the answear is yes, bloody yes, even for me. The more intelegent and interesting takes on the sons and melodies are really refreshing =) Not to say that the classics are bad, just to say that another couple of songs with one melody, one set of chords and a nice chorus would not satisfy as much as the stuff they do right now=)
 
No.  The two most recent albums were horrendous, featuring the same predictable and uninspired crap over and over.  Steve Harris seems to think that pointlessly padding out songs to ten minutes automatically makes them good and complex; complexity is found in avoiding the routine and the predictable and continually introducing new concepts.  Maiden doesn't do this, no matter what the sheepish fanboys say.  Nearly every song since The X Factor has had the same exact pattern: soft intro, verse, verse, chorus, instrumental, verse, chorus, soft outro.  This is all they do, and they- and many of their fans- actually think they're being progressive and adventurous.  Anyone who thinks that dreck like When the Wild Wind Blows ranks up there with Hallowed Be Thy Name or Phantom of the Opera is only kidding themselves.  

Many fans are posting reviews on Amazon saying that this album requires multiple listens to "get it," but that's nonsense.  The truth is, with bands like Iron Maiden, the music either catches you instantly, or it never will.  Forcing yourself to like music by repeating it over and over is a form of self-delusion.  I gave AMOLAD, TXF, VXI, and DOD many, many listens, but the simple truth is they are just lousy albums.  For some reason, Steve Harris is too stubborn or too dumb to realize that when an album has crappy production that the music itself will sound crappy; unthinkable, right?  It's a good thing he didn't have so much creative control over the 80s albums, or Maiden never would have made it.  This guy is destroying the band with his egotistical creative stranglehold.

When reviewing an album, think of it this way: if the band went on tour playing only songs from the recent album, would you go see it?  A lot of you guys will answer yes of course, but discerning fans would not.  What happened when Maiden stupidly decided to play the entire AMOLAD album on tour?  The fans were outraged, and there was so much backlash that they decided to change it up.  No one wants to sit through 70 minutes of boring, lifeless prog rock that mostly sounds the same.  I'm sure Maiden will play several songs from TFF on tour, and I'm sure half the audience will fall asleep after waiting 3 minutes at the start of each song for Bruce to stop mumbling and start singing.  This band needs to either shit or get off the pot.  Either make music that has some fire and creativity to it, or quit already.  The last thing Iron Maiden should become is like Ozzy or Megadeth; washed-up rockers doing the same crap over and over.

Oh, and don't even bother replying to this.  I already know what you're going to say: "LOL u prolly liek justin bieber and lady gaga hahahaha go listen 2 them fag lol iron maiden is troo metal and makes brilliant msterpieces hahaha."  Spare me that typical metalhead bullshit, it's so predictable.

Note: Before flaming the troll, read on.
 
Actually, I was going to say welcome to the forum, and I was wondering how big the bridge you live under is.
 
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