Dance Of Death - the album

Brigantium said:
the title track also features part of what sounds to me like a 16/17th Century dance tune
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It's melodically similar to a jig (or gigue), but played in duple meter where jigs are usually a fast triple. However, the music which has survived since then is mostly art music, and it's quite likely the folk music of the time would have had similar figures.
 
10! for song Dance of the Death

Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
About a thing that I saw
One night wandering in the everglades
I'd one drink but no more

I was rambling, enjoying the bright moonlight
Gazing up at the stars
Not aware of a presence so near to me
Watching my every move...
 
Brigantium said:
I can quite imagine this, Hieronymous Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights triptych, or similar art of the era, as being a major inspiration for the Dance of Death artwork.
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The cover is unquestionably inspired by the Stanley Kubrick film "Eyes Wide Shut."

I tried to find a still from the film to illustrate the similarities, but I couldn't find any images that were appropriate to post to the forum.
Needless to say, it is a good film and you should see it if you haven't.
 
Definitely. Also all the ghost-like girls in the Dance of Death booklet surrounding each band member. Do a Google image search for Eyes Wide Shut.

eyes1.png


leadeyes.jpg
 
"Remake of the cover art of Dance of death by Iron Maiden, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the album's release. Made by Romulo Dias from RDD Artwork" (posted on Eddie The Head Fan Club official FB page).

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My least favourite reunion era album: it´s a mixed bag with some high highs and low lows and anything inbetween from "just ok" to "quite good". The artwork is an abomination.

1."Wildest Dreams"
One of their worst opening songs with a pretty weak chorus. The solo´s save the song abit but as a whole this is very mediocre.
2."Rainmaker"
Solid short rocker with a terrific prechorus and instrumental section. One of the highlights of the album.
3."No More Lies"
This sounds abit like a Blaze era song. Cool track but the repeating chorus is a turnoff.
4."Montségur"
Great track!
5."Dance of Death"
The masterpiece track of the album!
6."Gates of Tomorrow"
7."New Frontier"
2 Very mediocre songs in a row. This is where the album loses its momentum. New Frontier is the least of the two.
8."Paschendale"
Considered a classic by many but to me it´s just an average song. Not bad but far from great.
9."Face in the Sand"
Slightly better than Dale but the chorus drags it down abit.
10."Age of Innocence"
This should´ve been a b´side.
11."Journeyman"
Atmospheric album closer but it doesn’t leave me with a wow. Doesn’t work as an album closing song for me either.

Not much reason to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this trainwreck or it should be a spin of the Mighty Three: Rainmaker/Montségur/Dance Of Death

I´m ready to be slaughtered by the DOD fans... :D
 
This one is the first and only album that I couldn't listen immediately upon its release. I was doing my military service in the frontier, close to the borders with our neighbours in the east. The closest city to the camp was one with ~50,000 habitants and the CD was delayed for a few days.

I have completely no memory from the shop where I bought it, what did I feel with the cover and all that. It's like the album fell from the sky and landed in my hands.
I had the opportunity to endless listenings while I was doing some work or service or the others were sleeping. I was forcing myself to find this album a masterpiece and that gave me a big headache and feel of disgust in the end. Something like in Clockwork Orange when Alex the Large was forced to listen Beethoven! :D The reviews in the press were rather good, but Maidens reviews has ceased to be reliable nearly 2 decades ago at that point.

I'm copying pasting from MindRuler and modifying as /when necessary

1."Wildest Dreams"
Meh
2."Rainmaker"
Better but meh as well.
3."No More Lies"
Not bad but the chorus is ridiculous.
4."Montségur"
Great track! Yeap. When I finished my service and went to France, one of the first things I did was to visit Montsegur castle. My research for Montsegur is how I discovered IMC and subsequently this forum.
5."Dance of Death"
The masterpiece track of the album! Still my best track from there.
6."Gates of Tomorrow"
7."New Frontier"
The two worse album tracks in a row. This is where the album loses completely its momentum and loses me. New Frontier is the least of the two. One word: Beurk.
8."Paschendale"
A true classic. Arguably and objectively the best reunion song.
9."Face in the Sand"
Meh. Too many keyboards.
10."Age of Innocence"
Not too bad I liked that one.
11."Journeyman"
Atmospheric album closer. It works as an album closing song for me.
 
MindRuler said:
My least favourite reunion era album: it´s a mixed bag with some high highs and low lows and anything inbetween from "just ok" to "quite good". The artwork is an abomination.

1."Wildest Dreams"
One of their worst opening songs with a pretty weak chorus. The solo´s save the song abit but as a whole this is very mediocre.
2."Rainmaker"
Solid short rocker with a terrific prechorus and instrumental section. One of the highlights of the album.
3."No More Lies"
This sounds abit like a Blaze era song. Cool track but the repeating chorus is a turnoff.
4."Montségur"
Great track!
5."Dance of Death"
The masterpiece track of the album!
6."Gates of Tomorrow"
7."New Frontier"
2 Very mediocre songs in a row. This is where the album loses its momentum. New Frontier is the least of the two.
8."Paschendale"
Considered a classic by many but to me it´s just an average song. Not bad but far from great.
9."Face in the Sand"
Slightly better than Dale but the chorus drags it down abit.
10."Age of Innocence"
This should´ve been a b´side.
11."Journeyman"
Atmospheric album closer but it doesn’t leave me with a wow. Doesn’t work as an album closing song for me either.

Not much reason to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this trainwreck or it should be a spin of the Mighty Three: Rainmaker/Montségur/Dance Of Death

I´m ready to be slaughtered by the DOD fans... :D
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For me the worst album of their discography. Rainmaiker,no more lies paschendale are a 6/10 thr only one that i have respect and still a feel something when i listen to it is dance of death. The rest of the album is boring,without ideas, a really sad sounding and the worst gate of tomorrow,age of innocence,journeyman,new frontier.pfff i can remember been here in the forum bitching i think with my old account. When i see people thinking that fear of the dark is a bad album and liking this one lol
 
I only like Montsegur and Dance of Death. I perceive Rainmaker as whiny (don't know why, just a feeling) Also, I understand that Pashendale may be good, but it does nothing to me. That's all.
 
I find Dance of Death kind of underrated, having a warm, unique vibe that I love, but the quality is definitely all over the place. The production is smashed to bits and it depends on what sound system you listen to if you’ll enjoy it or not.

1. Wildest Dreams - A fun opener. Not much deeper than that. A little underrated but also definitely nothing standout.

2. Rainmaker - I like this one but I wish they were more creative and added another verse instead of just repeating the chorus and bridge for the rest of the song.

3. No More Lies - Underrated. Yeah, the chorus repetition is nuts, but it works, and the rest of the song is so cool with the way it builds its atmosphere.

4. Montségur - Another song with a lot of potential that’s a bit squandered. I don’t know how I feel about the major key bridge, but I do know that this one suffers from the muddy production and the end is a mess. Feels like a solo Bruce song but quality-wise would have been a bonus track. I wish I liked it more, I’m constantly humming that riff, but I think there’s a lot of room for improvement.

5. Dance of Death - I’ve never disliked this song but I’ve finally come around to loving it. Everything is great (“By luck then a scurvy started…” is a bit messy but forgivable), I love the way it builds the story and then takes you on an instrumental odyssey. So fun.

6. Gates of Tomorrow - Underrated. The chorus is amazing, the rest of the song is pretty strong as well. Don’t understand why it gets so much hate. From a vocal perspective it’s a terrific melody.

7. New Frontier - Also underrated! Easily could’ve been a single. Verse is a little half-baked but it’s got another excellent chorus that’s fun to sing along to. Most people find these two songs to be where they lose momentum; for me it’s where the album really takes root.

8. Paschendale - When I first got into Maiden this seemed to be heralded as a modern classic that stands out among the post-reunion material. Spending so much time on these godforsaken boards makes me think that times have changed and it’s fallen dramatically from those heights. But man, I think people really take this one for granted. I was thinking about it recently and especially the first two stanzas, particularly “On his dying words he prays, ‘Tell the world of Paschendale,’” are so iconically Iron Maiden and yet they’ve only really done something like that in this song. I know people will say that AMOLAD used “Paschendale” as its blueprint and then expanded on it, but for my money this is better than anything on that album bar “For the Greater Good of God”. So earnest, lots of shifting sections, powerful lyrics, and a chorus that brings tears to my eyes. The only issue I have is the production; beyond that, it’s perfect.

9. Face in the Sand - Underrated as well. The intro repeats DoD a bit too much and it’s a bit of an awkward transition into the song proper, but once it really gets going it’s amazing. Such a mournful track for a post-9/11 world and the pre-chorus/chorus is goddamn fantastic.

10. Age of Innocence - I don’t hate this one but it’s definitely not great. The chorus is about the only good thing here, the rest is just far right political rambling.

11. Journeyman - Fantastic closer. Love the atmosphere and the acoustics and I really don’t hate the repetitive chorus either. Last time I ranked all the Maiden songs it was in my top 10. Beautiful.

Honestly, you take out “Age of Innocence” and tighten up “Rainmaker” and “Montségur” and this album would be a contender for my Top 5. As it is I still like it, it’s just a little inconsistent. “Dance of Death” and “Paschendale” are definitely quintessential modern Maiden.
 
Azas said:
I only like Montsegur and Dance of Death. I perceive Rainmaker as whiny (don't know why, just a feeling) Also, I understand that Pashendale may be good, but it does nothing to me. That's all.
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Same here,but i dont like Montsegur the chorus specially. I just love one song DOD
 
425 said:
The Mercenary is very repetitive
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Me, repetitive ? :oops:


I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

I'm not repetitive...

:D
 
TheMercenary said:
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One of my favourite Youtube channel!

Rainmaker and No More Lies are in my top 20 Maiden songs. Montsegur is also an excellent track. I find that Bruce's voice has more grit in this album compared to Brave New World and as they say... never judge a book by it's cover!

Talking about New Frontier which explores a really interesting topic and while I do respect Nicko's view upon it, what do YOU guys think? What is your opinion on it? I have my own interpretation. While originally it is about human cloning, I think it can also be said with respect to Artificial Intelligence as of current day-to-day happenings.
 
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