Best Album Ever Survivor: Somewhere In Time wins

Vote for your least favourite album

  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
Forostar said:
@Springsteen: dunno, I find most of his older work that I heard uberdramatic, almost gospel like material. The closed eyes during performances, it's all too hallelujah (and too American?) for me. I am saying this while I played a Springsteen cover last year with the band from my work (The River). :innocent:

I prefer Streets of Philadelphia or Dancing in the Dark. And as a teenager I also liked Born in the USA.
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Exact opposite for me. I like his '70s material is much more than any of his other material. I do like the tracks you listed and BITUSA, but personally I don't think anything from BITUSA through Tom Joad can touch this:


I hear the whole overdramatic thing a lot and I never really got it as I find Night of the Stormrider much more dramatic than any of his material is, but it's almost always a non-American who says it (in my experience), so I imagine culture has something to do with it. Perhaps the "hallelujah" feel to his songs stems from his overuse of "we" and "us."
 
mckindog said:
When step back and thing about it, nearly all my favourite music could be described as overdramatic, I mean have you ever really listened to Maiden?
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Good point. I think when you've liked something for so long, you don't realize how it comes off to other people. For instance, it is out of my realm of comprehension when someone says they don't like metal (especially Maiden, Sabbath, and Dio since, to my ears, they're extremely accessible) even though it actually makes perfect sense.
 
Kill Devil Hill said:
Exact opposite for me. I like his '70s material is much more than any of his other material. I do like the tracks you listed and BITUSA, but personally I don't think anything from BITUSA through Tom Joad can touch this:


I hear the whole overdramatic thing a lot and I never really got it as I find Night of the Stormrider much more dramatic than any of his material is, but it's almost always a non-American who says it (in my experience), so I imagine culture has something to do with it. Perhaps the "hallelujah" feel to his songs stems from his overuse of "we" and "us."
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Spot on there. In fact most metal ( I don't wanna come down on power metal again but..) especially power metal is perhaps some of the most "over"-dramatic music there is.

I also enjoy Springsteen's 70s albums. In general, the 70s were the peak for a lot of bands and singer songwriters...
 
mckindog said:
When step back and think about it, nearly all my favourite music could be described as overdramatic, I mean have you ever really listened to Maiden?
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Springsteen is a LOT more preachy than Maiden. Both embrace the blue collar work ethic, which has universal appeal, but Springsteen is more overt in that regard, and MUCH more political. Foro is right that the Boss is uniquely American, just as Maiden is uniquely British.

EDIT: The New Yorker did an interesting article on Springsteen, in which (IIRC) he pretty much concedes that he tries to generate an evangelical/revival atmosphere at his shows. Here's a link to the article -- warning, it's quite long. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/30/120730fa_fact_remnick
 
"Dance of Death" is ridiculous. It's Maiden's "Stonehenge."

I was referring more to Foro's comment about the "hallelujah" vibe, which is a totally valid observation.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
I think mckindog means overdramatic also musically. In that aspect Maiden is extremely overdramatic. Dance of Death? :D
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That's right, I was mostly talking musically. Springsteen is far more political than Maiden, and I agree very American.
Unlike most Canadians, I've never let the latter point affect my enjoyment of the music. ;-)
 
Oh, I definitely agree about the evangelical atmosphere at concerts (and most certainly on "The Rising"), but I don't hear it on Born To Run or any of his '70s albums.

And yes, I think mckindog meant musically. Though Maiden can be preachier than Bruce in the sense that Bruce doesn't really have songs that are explicit commentaries or criticisms. He's more passive-aggressive about it (ie even though they're both preachy, Born in the USA does not sound nearly as preachy as For the Greater Good of God).

I don't know if I worded that clearly since I don't want it to sound like I think he's less aggressively political than Maiden (that would be an outright lie), but it's the delivery I'm talking about.
 
Also Maiden has a guy on stilts dressed as a monster running around, Dickinson dresses in a fucking uniform for The Trooper, I'm sure we all love it, but my god a lot of what they do is over the top and ridiculous come to think of it :D
 
Springsteen is less direct than Steve/Maiden in his lyrics. You can listen to a politically charged song and not realize it. With Maiden, it's usually pretty obvious. For The Greater Good of God is a great example.

Hell, tons of people think of Born In The USA as this big patriotic anthem when in reality, it's quite the opposite.
 
Mosh said:
Springsteen is less direct than Steve/Maiden in his lyrics. You can listen to a politically charged song and not realize it. With Maiden, it's usually pretty obvious. For The Greater Good of God is a great example.

Hell, tons of people think of Born In The USA as this big patriotic anthem when in reality, it's quite the opposite.
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Exactly what I was trying to say, but worded better. That's why I don't view him as too preachy. His approach is different.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Spot on there. In fact most metal ( I don't wanna come down on power metal again but..) especially power metal is perhaps some of the most "over"-dramatic music there is.
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But metal has different and I'd even say more ingredients fitting to my taste that compensate for all that.

Even power metal. The lyrics might be absurd but the dynamics and melodies bring the music (at least the listening pleasure) in an entirely different zone. It depends on the band. There are lots of copycats but I can defend the genre itself and the best bands in it.

The "we" and "us" might be a good point KDH. But there's also the gospel/church like element that Maiden hardly has*.

Cornfed Hick said:
Springsteen is a LOT more preachy than Maiden. Both embrace the blue collar work ethic, which has universal appeal, but Springsteen is more overt in that regard, and MUCH more political. Foro is right that the Boss is uniquely American, just as Maiden is uniquely British.

EDIT: The New Yorker did an interesting article on Springsteen, in which (IIRC) he pretty much concedes that he tries to generate an evangelical/revival atmosphere at his shows.
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That's what it must be. *Maiden comes closest to this in Coming Home.

I do not mind the political aspect itself. It's the way it's brought for me. Midnight Oil (Australia) and Bad Religion (USA) are musically very different bands but they can hit the nail without being hallelujah about it.
 
Rules are here:
http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/best-album-ever-survivor.25528/

Eliminated last round: Toys in the Attic, Still Life, Jailbreak, Godbluff, Destroyer, Born to Run, A Day At the Races, Agents of Fortune, Vulgar Display of Power, Dirt, Signals, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Led Zeppelin II and Abbey Road
Promoted to the playoffs: In Rock, Paranoid, Images and Words

SUDDEN DEATH TIEBREAKER
Pick only your least favourite between Countdown to Extinction and Night of the Stormrider.
The winner advances to the playoffs

1985/86 enters the game
Nominations open for 1997/99
IN
Bruce Dickinson Accident of Birth
Bruce Dickinson Chemical Wedding
Saxon Unleash The Beast
Foofighters Colour and the Shape
Psycho Motel Welcome to the World
Hammerfall Glory to the Brave
Blind Guardian Nightfall in Middle Earth
Queens of the Stone Age
Iced Earth Something Wicked This Way Comes
Metallica Reload
Metallica Garage Inc.
Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication
Dream Theatre Scenes From a Memory
Opeth Still Life
Foofighters Nothing Left To Lose
NOMINATED
Death — The Sound of Perseverance (The Flash, Vap, Night Prowler)
Testament — The Gathering (The Flash, Night Prowler)
Porcupine Tree — Stupid Dream (The Flash)
 
A late vote (by 425, I think) just about saved all the sevens.
Instead, I took a chainsaw to things and will break the Stormrider/Countdown deadlock with a runoff vote.

Very disappointed the best album from 1970 and earlier (Abbey Road) is gone.
And I'm not that impressed with the overall calibre of the new albums.
With the odd exception, just about every holdover is better than just about every 85/86 addition (not to mention a number of those just cut.)
 
Perhaps Springsteen's greatest moment. And Jimmy Fallon shows that yes, he actually is talented.

wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle

EDIT:
And while we're at it, Fallon also does an excellent Jim Morrison impression. This is jaw-droppingly brilliant. He fucking nails it:

In case those of you outside the U.S. don't get the reference, "Reading Rainbow" is an American children's TV series from the 1980s that encouraged reading.
 
Voted against everything except: Mob Rules, Moving Pictures, Night at the Opera, Physical Graffiti, Sabotage, WYWH, and Puppets. Voted against Megadeth in tiebreaker.

Nomination: OK Computer by Radiohead. Radiohead sucks now, but this album is fantastic. "Paranoid Android" is one of the five best tracks of that entire decade.
 
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