Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown

Thanks for replying, vala.

It's just find it hard to imagine that someone who makes a topic for his own reviews (many others chose this topic) instead, though I admit there was no ranking necessary) does/can not explain why he finds something uninteresting. I disagree that it should not be necessary to explain something, in these surroundings, in such a topic.

At least as awkward I find the choice of consistently omitting songs in album reviews. I realize that you review the songs separately and naturally you don't have to repeat these very same reviews.
However: albums consist out of songs and some songs can make an album better or worse. Leaving such tools completely out of a review leaves you with even less substance, and less methods to criticize.

@mckindog: I get what you mean. I'm no audiophile either, but I thought that the albums I mentioned feature guitars which come even less ramming out of the speakers, or about the same.
 
Music appreciation is not a science, it's certainly not objective and can't always be described concretely. Expecting reason to factor in every review I think is unreasonable. There are some things that can be well articulated and there are some things that cannot. Either way, I can't see how having a thread for the countdown has anything to do with it though.

Leaving out the songs was a necessary evil. Saying that Song X is a highlight or Song Y pulls the album down makes the song countdown irrelevant to a certain degree. Personally, although citing songs as examples to make a point is often helpful, I don't think it's a necessity. Also, I dislike album reviews that focus on reviewing songs too much because those often distract from actually reviewing the album as a whole so I don't want to make a habit of it.
 
valacirca said:
Music appreciation is not a science, it's certainly not objective and can't always be described concretely.
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Music appreciation is indeed not objective, and this review I find too objective. I miss a personal point of view, hardly anything is explained, from your point of view. It's hard to derive your taste from these writings.

valacirca said:
Expecting reason to factor in every review I think is unreasonable.
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I didn't talk about all the reviews. I only talked about this one.

valacirca said:
There are some things that can be well articulated and there are some things that cannot. Either way, I can't see how having a thread for the countdown has anything to do with it though.
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I thought it was a combination. A countdown, plus text.

valacirca said:
Leaving out the songs was a necessary evil. Saying that Song X is a highlight or Song Y pulls the album down makes the song countdown irrelevant to a certain degree.
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I doubt it. It's a good way to compare the song and album rankings, and can put everything in an extra perspective.

valacirca said:
Personally, although citing songs as examples to make a point is often helpful, I don't think it's a necessity. Also, I dislike album reviews that focus on reviewing songs too much because those often distract from actually reviewing the album as a whole so I don't want to make a habit of it.
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Look I don't say you're doing things too much. In my eyes, you're doing too little.
Sometimes less is more, but, when that fails, less is less.
 
Forostar said:
Music appreciation is indeed not objective, and this review I find too objective. I miss a personal point of view, hardly anything is explained, from your point of view. It's hard to derive your taste from these writings.
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How is the review too objective and what kind of point of view is personal enough to satisfy what you're looking for? I've expressed a lot regarding my taste since the beginning of the thread.

Forostar said:
I didn't talk about all the reviews. I only talked about this one.
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The mere fact that you felt the need to point out the necessity for an explanation - even just for this one review - shows that you expect that there should be an explanation for everything. If not, you wouldn't have felt the need to point out the lack of an articulation.

Forostar said:
I thought it was a combination. A countdown, plus text.
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It is. It always has been from the start.

Forostar said:
I doubt it. It's a good way to compare the song and album rankings, and can put everything in an extra perspective.
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You can compare the album and song rankings even without me integrating the songs in the album reviews.

Forostar said:
Look I don't say you're doing things too much. In my eyes, you're doing too little.
Sometimes less is more, but, when that fails, less is less.
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Difference in opinion then. I didn't say I was doing too much either. I think there's enough to talk about in this thread as it is. Reviews don't have to be a detailed essay.
 
I wasn't looking for an explanation for everything. Rather an explanation for anything. I miss any explanation. But I am repeating myself.

We sure do have a difference of opinion. However, these are your creations and my reaction is only the view of one of the readers.
 
Forostar said:
I wasn't looking for an explanation for everything. Rather an explanation for anything. I miss any explanation.
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If you haven't found any insight into my taste or any of the sort of explanation or you're looking for in roughly 10,000 words covering 40 songs and 4 albums, then it's either your expectations and my brief write-ups are totally conflicting or you just haven't been reading enough.
 
chaosapiant said:
The biggest problem with ranking Maiden albums, imo, is that ONLY Maiden albums can compare with each other.  No other band, to me, comes close to even Maiden's worst album, whatever I feel that is.  Usually I'd say it's VXI or Fear of the Dark, and I LOVE those albums.
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I know it reeks of fanboyism to say so, but I agree with this sentiment as well. 
 
  To me, only the best Floyd and the very best Rush, are close to being on par with my least favorite Maiden [VX1, X factor, FOD]. I think if on an Island alone for a while, I'm still taking the Maiden, even my least favorites.  They are just on another level!!
 
Forostar said:
@mckindog: I get what you mean. I'm no audiophile either, but I thought that the albums I mentioned feature guitars which come even less ramming out of the speakers, or about the same.
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I'm not sure I agree on Beast and the debut — I like the rhythm sound on the former; the latter's are rough, not muted to my ears.
But I think you are bang on with the other two. In fact, you may have hit upon a reason why I love 7th Son a little less than most Maidenfans.
It never occurred to me before. Thanks.
 
valacirca said:
If you haven't found any insight into my taste or any of the sort of explanation or you're looking for in roughly 10,000 words covering 40 songs and 4 albums, then it's either your expectations and my brief write-ups are totally conflicting or you just haven't been reading enough.
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Let me see if I can paraphrase:  You like The X Factor just fine, it's well done, but it's not as compelling to you as other stuff Maiden has done, and there are eleven other Maiden albums you like better.  Assuming I have it right, that seems fair enough.  There are at least ten albums I like better, too, though I agree that The X Factor is by far the best Maiden album of the 1990s. 
 
Sherlock Holmes couldn't have done it better. Seriously, anyone can deduce this from that review.
The difference is that he use way more words, without providing any background for his choice.
 
Forostar said:
Sherlock Holmes couldn't have done it better. Seriously, anyone can deduce this from that review.
The difference is that he use way more words, without providing any background for his choice.
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Aw, cut him some slack.  I like what Vala is doing in this thread, even if one could argue that he used too many words on the last one.  Plus, people love music because it provokes an emotional response, and if a person doesn't get that emotional response for reasons that he can't pinpoint, that's a fair and appropriate comment for a music review. 

Keep up the good work, Vala.  Maybe put all your entries into one document and link to it when you're done. 
 
Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown - Songs #110 & 109

110. Iron Maiden (Iron Maiden) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJDcVj3FTZ4
"Oh well, wherever, wherever you are"

I know it's a live staple. I know it's a classic if only for being the title track of their eponymous debut album. It's the song that the band is named after, for crying out loud! Or maybe it's a song named after the band... Oh well, whatever... In any case, it's a classic simply for what it is and certainly not for how it sounds because how it sounds doesn't quite measure up to the significance of the song in the band's history. It's just a sloppily written verse slapped together with a lazily written chorus glued together by a fairly interesting melody.

We get it guys, it's about the torture device and the persona in the track apparently titillated by torturing people with it... or at least that's how I took it. The music of the song has admittedly fun, catchy and has grown on me, which is why I've been bumping up this track a bit in my rankings, but the buck stops here. I can't quite justify bumping up this track any higher.
109. Childhood's End (Fear of the Dark) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8-eeQBiRac
"You see the full moon float, you watch the red sun rise"

Musically, it's really good with a solid instrumental section and a memorable dark melody that works great for the topic that they paired it with. I like what they were trying to do with this song just for the idea of opening people's eyes to the grim reality of pain and suffering in this world, but I just can't help feeling like the lyrics could have been less literal and in-your-face than how it ended up.

Some people have said the same thing about “Age of Innocence” in that it can lyrically be too cliché and simplistic for its own good. To a lesser extent, that's the same problem with “Childhood's End” in that so much of it is already laid out plainly for one to see. Instead of introducing some subtlety and leaving considerable room for the idea to breathe and take form, it ends up feeling cheesy in parts due to the ingenuous songwriting.
 
You might get some flak for your placement of Iron Maiden, but I have to say I probably agree with you here.  Both of these could be ten or so places higher, but you justified both pretty well.
 
Disagree with Childhoods End. One of Maidens most underrated songs. The melodies are very melodic but dark which fits with the theme. Bruce's growly vocals fit. I like it a lot.
 
Jonszat said:
The melodies are very melodic
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You have been reported to the Department of Redundancy Department.  :P

Bold choice on "Iron Maiden" -- I'd probably rank it higher, but you're right:  but for the eponymous nature of the song it would probably be forgotten.  Still, it works very well in a live show. 
 
I'll disagree with the thoughts above and say that the self-titled song should have been ranked lower.  Way lower.  Despite the catchy rhythm, the song gets tedious fast.

Oh, and I'll follow Perun's example and say  :hbd: Val!
 
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