Azas
At the Eternity's End
I would ban-throw away-burn-destroy this 'live recording' thing. Best produced Maiden albums are from 1983 to 1988. Personally, i would choose something in the vein of Powerslave or 7th Son but with a modern twist. NEXT: guitars DOES MATTER! I want fat, crunchy, riffy guitar play. Bruce's AOB and CW are damn fine examples. No Pro Tools, only analogue recording. To Steve: self editing for you is a must! Lyrics, in most cases, should tell stories (Trooper, Beast, Hallowed, Powerslave, Mariner etc.) Keep dreaming... OK, now I'll go and cry a little bit. 
Update: Steve, stay away from mixing desk!
Update: Steve, stay away from mixing desk!
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Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
I would suggest The Three Amigos to take the time and explore a little more the possibilities of having three guitars and, as well as a lot of people here, impose track-by-track. And I think I would be as demanding with Steve and his vocal melodies, for once, as Martin Birch was with Bruce and his delivery on the intro to "The Number of the Beast".
Yes, I like to live dangerously.
Yes, I like to live dangerously.
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matic22
Ancient Mariner
Exactly. I think the last album when guitar harmonies were exploited as they should be and involved an IM member, was Accident of Birth. Roy and H's harmony work on that is incredible.
Eddieson
Nomad
Listening to Primal Rock Rebellion, I'd say you can hear Adrian trying out and exploiting ideas outside of classic powerchord riffs, melodies in thirds etc the traditional way. Id love to see more of that Adrian in Maiden. Yes Mosh, people would say that doesn't sound like Maiden, but in this thread you are allowed to dream ey?
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Eddieson
Nomad
On a bigger commercial scale, Maiden are arugbly comercially bigger then ever. On a smaller scale on this forum, we are all here because we frikkin love this band. Overall I personally prefer the reunion album over the 80s or 90s. I think because of this obsession, we care. Pick apart every detail etc etc. That may come across sometimes as shitting on things, but its not. Its just a fun "what if" scenario
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
Except that we know what happens when we let the band (Steve) do what they want: a bunch of bloated, self-indulgent so-called “epics” that have some good ideas but are way too long. Do we really need another 8-minute song with a “slow” intro that builds to a repetitive chorus? No. A tasteful editor is a GOOD thing.
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
That’s what the engineer is for.
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
I thought you were going to advise that they “explore the studio space...I mean it...explore the space.”
-Courtesy of famous record producer Bruce Dickinson.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Yes, if done right. Most of the recent Maiden epics succeeded.
Randalf
Ancient Mariner
I can definitely see your point and a bit more trimming with the next album wouldn't hurt. Then again, I think that TBOS was pretty good anyway, there isn't that much stuff that shouldn't be there and there aren't too many repetitive choruses either. Anyway, it's not the first time people want Maiden to make 4-5 minute songs and finally, when the album comes out, they praise the longer songs like FTGGOG, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, When the Wild Wind Blows, The Book of Souls and The Empire of the Clouds and find songs like Different World, The Pilgrim, The Alchemist, Speed of Light and Death or Glory being among the weaker stuff on the record.
More seriously though, it wouldn't hurt to have a bit more "mid-lenght" stuff and shorter ones. Tears of a Clown, for example, is one of the best "shorter" songs they've come up with recently, so I'm open for more stuff like that. Speed of Light and Death or Glory aren't bad either, but in general, they've been pretty succesful with a bit more meandering songs. That doesn't mean it has to be bloated; If Eternity Should Fail, Mother of Mercy (just a structural example), When the River Runs Deep and The Man of Sorrows are pretty good examples of songs that aren't exactly bloated or stretched too much but not short rockers either.
That all being said, I DO agree with your general point about tasteful editing and perspective being a good thing and possibly (even likely) something that would flesh out some of their ideas in a very definitive way.
I'd absolutely love an album structure like this, excuse me for quoting myself from Studio Album #17 thread:
Studio album 17
1. The Opener (2+)5min (Smith/Harris/Dickinson)
I could see it having more or less separate intro of some sort, similar to previous two album openers, but perhaps not to quite the same extent.
2. "Ghost of the Navigator/These Colours Don't Run/El Dorado" 6min (Gers/Harris/Dickinson)
While not quite as rocking follow-up to the opener as Rainmaker and Speed of Light were, I guess it will be something relatively catchy and easy to remember nonetheless. Maybe another war song?
3. "Tears of a Clown" 5min (Smith/Harris)
A mid-tempo rocker of some sort. Memorable solos, catchy chorus.
4. "Shadows of the Valley" 7-8min (Gers/Harris)
Another presumably very good collaboration between Steve and Janick.
5. "Death or Glory/The Alchemist/Sun and Steel" 4-5min (Smith/Dickinson)
Something good, rocking and while not necessarily anything you'd die to see live it should work perfectly right after something epic as what you'd expect the GersHarris song to be. Of course, it could turn out to be a "modern classic" too!
6. "The Man Who Would be King/The Man of Sorrows" 7min (Murray/Harris)
You should see this one coming. Definitely something rather different and possibly an absolute gem. Something that will possibly need a handful of listens to get into.
7. "The Red and the Black/For the Greater Good of God" 9-10min (Harris)
There must be one, you know.
8. An odd one 7min (Dickinson)
Something rather different. Could be another Bruce-only-creation. Presumably very interesting and fresh, even if the concept or arrangement is not taken as far as you might expect if this was a Bruce's solo album. Then again, EOTC did happen, so you never know!
9. "The Thin Line Between Love and Hate/When the Wild Wind Blows/Empire of the Clouds" 8min (?)
Traditional album closer with something very distinctive in it. Not quite something like Ancient Mariner or The Book of Souls etc. (TBOS wasn't a closer, but you know, epic and all that) but something with a little bit of similar elements and melancholic atmosphere of the mentioned three album closers.
Around 63 minutes. Realistically there would be ten songs and some of them would end up being longer, but I think this would be pretty much a perfect mixture of song types they've came up with recently.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
matic22
Ancient Mariner
That's an exactly wrong thing to say. They are quite different. And each one's style suits particular solos.
An perfect example is BTATS. Adrian's solo perfectly paints the sonic background of an raising mushroom cloud, meanwhile Jan's solo perfectly represents the destruction of the shockwave. I actually wish they would put more thought in who plays which solo, because that can really lift the song like they did with BTATS.
For example, I would like Janick to take the first solo on SOL instead of Dave. The song is very Purple-ish and his style would suit that.
It’s not impossible, it just requires more critical listening. El Dorado is a good example of the three guitarists’ contrasting style with three solos in a row. Adrian is much more melodic and the note choices are more modal than the pentatonic stylings of the other guitarists. Much more rhythmic and syncopated too. Dave’s solo is much more legato and “smooth” sounding. It’s still melodic but bluesier and less precise. Janick’s solo is totally manic. Lots of bends and fast runs of notes that don’t always fit the chords underneath. Their tones are also distinct. Learning to differentiate their playing styles is simply a matter of identifying the common traits of each guitarist and learning to hear those traits in their solos.