Countdown to Senjutsu. 17 albums in 17 days.

Powerslave.

  • The production is a step up from POM. It's tighter and has more attack
  • Adrian's solos are top tier
  • Aces High is the the best opener to any album bar Moonchild
  • 23:58 might be the best Maiden rocker
  • The Duelists is probably the weakest song with an overlong instrumental section
  • FOTB and BITV should get played live
  • I agree that Powerslave is the best Bruce song in the catalogue
  • ROTAM is the ultimate Harris epic but is better on both live versions (LAD and Flight 666)
  • It has easily the best cover art and is probably Derek Riggs' masterpiece
  • There isn't a bad song on it. It's pretty much perfection
I could play this album on a loop without getting tired of it.
 
Somewhere In Time
Maiden Towers' elevator music. Maiden's easy listening album.
The music that's so smooth it runs over your soul without any rough edges to key into.
I'm not a fan of this one.

Maybe that's being a bit harsh as it's a pretty, pleasant enough listen. I was leaning guitar in 1986 and this is the perfect record to jam along to with marks to hit and space to improvise.
But sitting here listening to it now, aside from the superior Smith tracks, it's filler central. Harmless enough, but ultimately vacuous.

Nice artwork, which references previous glories and better times.
 
Day #6!

Somewhere In Time might be my favourite of the albums so far (alongside Number of the Beast). It's a wonderfully consistent album with no particular weak link.

Wasted Years is an excellent song with one of the bands best solos. The other real standout for me is The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Caught Somewhere In Time is a fun high octane opener, and it always makes me smile that Deja Vu reminds me a little of it. Sea of Madness and Alexander The Great are both cool songs with interesting instrumental sections. Stranger In A Strange Land is a song I need to reevaluate; for a long time I've thought it's the weakest song and I don't really know why. In truth that title probably goes to Heaven Can Wait... but if that's the worst song, then it's a really good problem for the album to have.
 
Swinging in a day late now...

Powerslave
The moniker of "fillerslave" is well-earned here, but only because the four tracks that bookend this record are some of the strongest in the entire history of the band. We'll see how I feel after this full quick run of the discography, but I'm inclined to say that Aces High and 2MTM is the strongest opener of any Maiden record. I'm similarly inclined to say that the title track and ROTAM is the strongest close of any Maiden record. The difference between the filler on Powerslave and the previous filler songs is that there isn't a single weak or bad song here. Even the worst song (Losfer Words) is still fun and energetic.

Energy is the key component of this record (as well as some of the band's most skillful playing). Every song just oozes pure energy and it's a joy to listen to from start to finish. Even when the songs are lesser, they are enjoyable. Back In The Village is my pick for most underrated tune as I absolutely love those verses. It's an overall triumph of an album and easily the best one yet.
 
Day 6 finished! Somwhere In Time

To me its not as good as Powerslave, Piece and Beast. The Bruce input is lacking and he dont sound as stoked as before. But as a whole I still find the album really, really great. Its fun to see Adrian bring out so much instead. And Wasted Years and Stranger are two of my favorite songs on the album. Also really love Caught Somwhere in Time. Fantastic opener. Sea of Madness, The Runner and Deja Vu bring down the album a bit though imo. They dont feel as strong. Sounds like Steve was struggling a bit with the writing.
And yeah, Alexander. The music is amazing but the lyrics are hard to get behind. Still an awesome album, and awesome cover. And its all so exciting. And knowing whats to come I cant really complain to much

Ill give it a 3,7/5. I find it better then Iron Maiden and Killers. But not as good as the earlier Bruce albums
 
srfc said:
Definitely worth it if you only have the 98 remasters
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I have a mix of Vinyls (OG and 2015 remasters), '98 CD's, 2018 CD's and reunion OG CD's. But I've always heard that the 80's CD's are the shit. I'll seek out a few.
 
Day 6 finished!

@Spaldy said this about Powerslave:
I could play this album on a loop without getting tired of it.

I will shamelessly steal that quote verbatim, but instead apply it to Somewhere in Time.

I'm a sucker for just about everything on this album. This is my favourite album art cover, perhaps ever. I love the whole futuristic thing they have going on with the art, as well as the (35 years in retrospect) retrofuturistic soundscape they created. Considering the fact that synthwave is my second favourite genre, I consider this album is overall the middle point of a Venn diagram of heavy metal and synthwave. They manage to create their art using a whole different set of brushes in vogue at that time without it having aged badly.

Caught Somewhere in Time is the most ambitious opener so far into the 17 days of Iron Maiden.
Wasted Years had that party anthemic thing going on that they had with Run to the Hills - but instead of ruthless lyrics, it manages to be a sentimental love letter.
While I don't see Sea of Madness getting much love anywhere, I also don't really see it get much hate either. Which can say something about how balanced this song is.
I have on the other hand seen Heaven Can Wait not get much love at all, especially when it's played live. Conceptually and lyrically, this is a very strong song. While they often excel in songs about life and death, they really nailed the lyrics and the storytelling with this song about being in limbo between life and death.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is just glorious melodies and harmonies galore.
Stranger in a Strange Land is a very straight-forward song with one of the best solos in their entire catalogue.
Deja-Vu is a nice speedy song and I love how the bass just goes up and down along the song.
Anyone can say what they want about the textbook lyrics to Alexander the Great. But the instrumental parts certainly gets all the love it deserves from me.

This album is not only my favourite Iron Maiden album of this era. This is genuinly a life changing album for me.

1. Somewhere in Time
2. Piece of Mind
3. The Number of the Beast
4. Powerslave
5. Iron Maiden
6. Killers
 
Somewhere In Time.

  • No way is this a filler album
  • Yes, Bruce isn't giving 100%. He wanted his acoustic folk album after all. He's still amazing on it though. Even Bruce operating at 90% is still better than any other metal singer
  • Wasted Years is a top tier anthem
  • Nicko's drumming on SOM is unreal
  • I love how innovative the guitar tones are, especially the use of guitar synths (unique among Maiden albums)
  • HCW isn't nearly as bad as it's made out to be
  • TLOTLDR and Deja-Vu are admittedly a bit silly
  • Adrian's solo on SIASL is beautifully melodic
  • ATG, while a poor clone of ROTAM, is still one of Maiden's best epics. I don't even mind that the lyrics are basically the bullet points of the history. The mid section has some wonderful time signatures
  • I love the cover art. Riggs at his geekiest. I love spotting all the sci-fi Easter eggs.
What struck me the most is how clear this album sounds. I think Birch was developing new sonic techniques that he would go on to perfect on the next album. Still, despite its flaws SiT is still rightfully a classic and if it weren't sandwiched between to outright masterpieces it'd probably be held in higher regard.
 
Somewhere In Time
My enjoyment of this album goes up and down every time I listen to it. The pros: Adrian Smith, instrumental sections, production. The cons: Bruce’s performance, Steve’s lyrics and vocal melodies, the two songs in the middle. Overall, this is an enjoyable record but something feels very off, and oddly, it’s Bruce. I don’t even blame him for all of it as I think some of the Harris melodies here are pretty unsingable and probably a key too high for Bruce after ravaging his voice for over a year.

Anyway, I’ve come to love the first three tracks despise CSIT’s repetition and Sea of Madness’s odd transitions. Wasted Years is a perfect song and I’ll give top marks to those other two as well. Stranger is also a perfect song. Deja Vu and Alex are equal to me for very different reasons, though both have bad lyrics. What drags this album down is the silliness in the middle with major key annoying melodies and ludicrous song topics. It’s a good album with some perfection and some very poor decisions.
 
Somewhere In Time
  • CSIT: good mood and tempo setter for the rest of the album, synth gives off futuristic vibes that parallel the cover art
  • Wasted Years: no time to settle in as I'm hooked by Adrian's urgent and catchy riff, the song that reeled me in and why I became obsessed with the best band in the world
  • Sea of Madness: pre-chorus gives one of my favorite lyrics "my eyes they see but I can't believe", Adrian's solo and the breakdown including Steve's bassline that follow are one of the finest moments on this album
  • Heaven Can Wait: I'm sensing a pattern where Steve writes a song and fleshes out that theme more on a subsequent album (ie: SSOASS), energetic song and the solos are worth listening to by themselves
  • TLOTLDR: clean isolated guitar intro, not the most interesting lyrics IMO but would work well as an instrumental, unironically one of my treadmill songs
  • SIASL: favorite track on the album, Adrian prove's his strong songwriting (the lyrics he writes flow well for Bruce), strongest vocal performance on the album...next to Wasted, the slow solo section is a thing of beauty
  • Deja Vu: interesting to begin with a guitar solo, enjoy the unrelenting speed and Nicko's drumming, personal deep cut favorite
  • ATG: here is the treat, the dessert we await at the end of each album, 'Arry pulls a rabbit out of the hat when the time signature changes, a musical onion
Final Verdict: 9/10
 
Day #7!

I've been looking forward to today, because Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the best album Maiden have put out to this point and possibly their best ever (for me, the only competition is The Book of Souls). Every song on the album is superlative, and the only real complaint I have is that they didn't commit fully to the concept.

In terms of individual songs, Infinite Dreams and The Evil That Men Do are obvious highlights. The title track is fantastic too, though held in surprisingly high esteem by the people who complain about the choruses on every album that comes after! The real treat of the album is in the "filler", though, because the deeper cuts on this album are stronger than anywhere else. The chorus on The Clairvoyant is an absolute treat, Only The Good Die Young is one of my favourite songs they didn't play live and I'm not one of the people who writes off Can I Play With Madness because it sounds a little poppy. Moonchild and The Prophecy took a bit longer for me to warm to than the rest of the tracks, but they're both rock solid too.
 
Seventh Son
A fantastic record of eight excellent songs. Another great 'play along with guitar' album, partly why I enjoy The Prophecy so much.

I rate this around 4th on my list, but I may be seriously underestimating because listening now, apart from the dated synths, it feels flawless. I've had occasional doubts about Infinite Dreams but I'm liking it today. Also, my old lp is very crackly, signs of heavy rotation.

If Powerslave is the sun, 7th Son is the moon, the two lights in the Maiden catalogue.

So we say goodbye to the 1980's and things will never be quite the same again.
Only the good die young.
 
Spaldy said:
ATG, while a poor clone of ROTAM,
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I keep seeing this critique of ATG and I’ve never understood it. The structures are completely different:

• Rime opens instantly into a mid tempo chug, punctuated by melodious dual guitar lines between verses; then pulls a Hallowed / Trooper by dropping out the music for two lines in the faster section, incorporates a bass solo; and then settles down into a calm and brooding intermission featuring steady bass and atmospheric guitars and drums, plus a spoken word piece from the poem; and then the band builds it all back up as Bruce comes back in before erupting into a killer instrumental section filled with two solos and a dual guitar bridge; before returning to the first section to close out the song with a light ending.

• ATG opens with wind and a spoken word piece; then steady bass and guitars start seeping in before hurdling into a killer riff; the song structure then becomes simpler with two stanza verses leading to an anthemic chorus, which loops through twice, punctuated by an instrumental bridge between the two; then the song begins to build down with a bass solo before the guitars abruptly halt as though hitting a city wall; and then we enter the glorious instrumental section, with a lengthy guitar solo movement from Dave interspersed with bass and drum flourishes, before Adrian takes over uninterrupted and leads us back to a slight variation (and more plodding verse); we finish with the chorus, a return to the riff, and then a big finale.

So where exactly does the cloning come in? Is it the fact that they’re both epics? Is it because they’re both heavily simplifying rich subject matters? Is it because they both a spoken word piece? Is it because they have riffs? Because they have awesome instrumental pieces? Because Steve wrote them solo? Because Dave and Adrian solo on them? Because Bruce sings them both? Where’s the cloning?

The only thing I could say is a clone of Rime is the bass-led instrumental section of Seventh Son, complete with a spoken word piece on top of it. But it does the same concept in a cool new way so I don’t see a need to call it a “clone”. Just a similar idea executed differently. But ATG and Rime confuses the fuck outta me when people compare them. If it was a clone I’d have expected it to be longer than Rime, not shorter by five minutes. But yeah I don’t understand where you’re coming from but I’m very interested in hearing why you think this way because I don’t get it at all.
 
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