"Black sheep" albums you like

Mostly the production is crap. There are some amazing songs on it, and the same with VXI, but the production is just awful. With better a better album sound, I don't think people would have the same opinion.

I'm not a huge fan of either album, and I don't think Blaze fit well, but they are decent for being what they are. The songs that are great eclipse anything on NPFTD and much of FOTD.
 
Production is terrible on The X Factor. You almost can't hear the rhythm guitar, for example. On the other hand, the music, I think is truly great. Would get 5/5 from me if it wasn't for the production, still a strong 4/5 for sure.
 
King Of Twilight said:
[Blaze] sounds like he's got no business being on a Maiden record and he knows it. I can empathize with the guy, but still, come on. The vocals totally lack confidence, the production is as bad if not worse than No Prayer and Fear of the Dark. The song writing is mostly phoned in.
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That's what it is! I've been trying to find a way to describe Blaze's vocals, and I usually go with "they lack passion," but you put it better! They're flat, boring, and monotonous, and so is the songwriting and mix.

I found Virtual XI better than X Factor in pretty much all aspects. Futureal, Clansman, and Eyes of a Stranger are all pretty good songs, as is Angel to a lesser extent. The only track I really like on X is Sign of the Cross (Lord of the Flies is okay), but I rarely listen to the album version because Bruce's Rio version is far stronger.
 
How do vocals lack confidence? I guess I'm wondering what the fuck that exactly means, and also, lack passion seems very...wrong as well. Would you say Blaze was more confident during his work with Wolfsbane, or perhaps his solo stuff?
 
I've never been able to get to grips with XFactor in the slightest, perhaps it is just the production perhaps not, either way I just don't enjoy it at all. 2AM is one of the lowest Maiden songs for me, even though the idea behind the song is one I can relate to easily.

I can't describe what it is about the album that puts me off so much, but I really just do not enjoy it. Sign of the Cross is the best track on the album and even that I can barely listen to, and go to the live version every time.
 
LooseCannon said:
Would you say Blaze was more confident during his work with Wolfsbane, or perhaps his solo stuff?
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Yes, absolutely.

He sounds tentative on X Factor, though Virtual XI is better, as others have said. It's not something that is instantly noticeable, or even noticeable unless you're really listening to the nuances of vocal performances, but this happens occasionally. Bruce never sounds like he's lacking for confidence. He delivers everything with pure showmanship, drama, and belief that what he is doing is amazing, even when he's singing garbage lyrics (which happens every so often in Maiden songs).
 
Generally I think Virtual was just a lifeless mess to be honest. By far the least inspired album in their catalog if you ask me. The fact that they also linked artwork and package together with the 98 World Cup in France was also just a really strange and out of place idea for a Maiden/metal album....Even though we all know Steve loves football that was just a horrible idea in my opinion. But worst of all - the songs just lack energy and drive, that's about it. X-Factor isn't much better, but at least the overall theme and atmosphere of the album is coherent and exciting. Virtual is a cartoon-ish mess :D
 
True that but the idea behind it came about around the time of Virtual too I believe or before that...Melt was it? And they had that whole Virtual Reality gaming thing going on too...Ugh. The best thing to come out around that time was Best of The Beast to be honest. That hardcover 2CD book version was fantastic. Best Greatest Hits they've done :)
 
Should've been their only "greatest hits" but that's neither here nor there.

I agree with the people who say Blaze lacks confidence. I find the singing on both Blaze albums to be pretty bad, honestly. He's definitely the weak link on those albums, though the rest of the band wasn't in great form either. Both albums have some great stuff and I really enjoy The X Factor when I'm in the right mood, but I've never seen it as the masterpiece that people make it out to be.

And I know what Blaze is capable of, I really, really like his first two solo albums. I like everything about them, even the singing. I just think he was a very bad fit for Maiden.
 
No Prayer for the Dying
The X Factor (my top 3 Maiden album)

Megadeth - Greatest Hits: Back to the Start (not sure if it's considered a black sheep album but its rating on metal-archives.com is very poor).

Judas Priest - Ram it Down
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Blaze lacking confidence seems wrong, he may not be that good live (only heard a few live songs from his era) but on X Factor he rules. He has power and darkness and you can feel strength in his words, is that not confidence? I'm not a huge fan of Virtual XI but TXF is a killer. I like Blaze more than Paul Di'Anno.

Little edit after reading a few other posts: the times he sucks live is when he sings high-pitched Bruce songs.
 
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Saapanael said:
No Prayer for the Dying
Blaze lacking confidence seems wrong, he may not be that good live (only heard a few live songs from his era) but on X Factor he rules. He has power and darkness and you can feel strength in his words, is that not confidence? I'm not a huge fan of Virtual XI but TXF is a killer. I like Blaze more than Paul Di'Anno.
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Sorry, but I don't hear that.

Regardless of the singing, I enjoy X Factor quite a bit anyway. It's really the best album to listen to if I'm in a crummy mood.
 
Kreator's Endorama is pretty good. One of rare thrash metal bands whose 90's experiments turned out well.
 
Neil Young - Tonight's The Night. Respected, but a "black sheep" relative to Harvest, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, etc. Dark, sloppy in places, but an amazing album.

Radiohead - Pablo Honey; Smashing Pumpkins - Gish. Both slagged off by critics in comparison to the bands' later work, but I still like them. In fact, I like Gish better than anything Pumpkins did later.

Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal. The critics and fans who are into his art-rock stuff thought this album was too mainstream-rock sounding and slagged it off. Maybe that's why it's the only Lou Reed album I can stand.

Ozzy Osbourne - Speak of the Devil. Think it was a "contractual obligation" album that Ozzy put out instead of a live album with Randy because he was still grief-stricken. Ozzy himself had disowned it at one point & took it out of circulation. It was my first Ozzy album, maybe the first album I ever bought with my own allowance money when it was new, and I still like a couple of the performances of the songs on it better than their Sabbath original versions. Brad's my second-favorite Ozzy guitarist.

Cheap Trick - All Shook Up. Big commercial and critical letdown after their late-70s period, but several great songs on it.
 
Queen- Hot Space
U2 - Zooropa - last good album
Rush Hold Your Fire
AC/DC Fly on The Wall
RHCP One Hot Minute
Queensryche- Q2K & Tribe
 
I have a soft spot for Zooropa. It's like a more experimental add-on to Achtung Baby.
 
Bruce Dickinson - Skunkworks
Megadeth - Cryptic Writings
Rush - Fly by Night
Guns n Roses - Chinese Democracy
Anthrax - We've Come For You All
Blind Guardian - Night at the Opera
Korn - Path of Totality

Althought some of these aren't considered black sheeps by the fans, they certainly weren't liked by the critics.
 
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