Does Maiden care anymore?

Some people make it sound like this album (which they haven't heard) consists of the first ideas that came to the band's minds. They were in Paris for at least a month. That doesn't seem like a quick bang-it-out to me.
How long did it take to record their early albums?

Also, I'm not sure more time equals better album, or even more polished.
Rush worked on Vapour Trails forever and it turned out sounding like mud.
Def Leppard lost any vestige of metal credibility polishing Hysteria to a sheen.
I think there's something special about a song that is written quickly. There's a big difference between something being rushed and something just naturally coming together. Sometimes you come up with something that just works. The opposite extreme is that you spend a long time on a song and the original purpose gets lost and the result is underwhelming. Look at Chinese Democracy for example. Some decent stuff on there but it sounds like Axl was overthinking it.

These guys have been writing songs for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if they do it in their sleep at this point. Finishing the album relatively quickly isn't something to be alarmed about. Quite the opposite in fact.
 
Sure, Play Classics has trolled in the past. However, in this instance, I don't see any trolling what-so-ever. I see some very valid points. Maybe those points aren't worded perfectly, but why jump on that? He's created an opportunity for discussion on a topic that a lot of people feel strongly about.

Video game websites I visit, have topics about the song because of the video, and people say the song sounds like a demo. So do a lot of the youtube comments, and a lot of people here.

His questions are valid, he's clarified it's his opinion. Where is the trolling? Why be dismissive of someone who has trolled in the past but is making an effort now?
His opinion sounds very negative. He questions the intentions of this band while there is hardly anything backing his opinion. He does not use good arguments. A lot of it sounds ignorant. Like some of the people who agree with him. And this comes from someone who has criticized the band a lot. With good explaining. He and some others just use negative insinuations and not facts.
 
LOL yea it's good seeing everyones comments but they are a certain amount of maiden fans who don't like it otherwise these threads wouldn't be here in the first place but I'm still looking forward to the rest of the album.
 
I never heard the autotuning on TFF also not after you pointed out the exact moment. But I wonder if that high STARS is autotuned. Funny.
There is some really ugly tuning on TFF - It is there. Found some on the Talisman yesterday as well.

No, the "stars" is not auto tuned, what you hear is Bruce intonating, not tuning bringing him to the correct pitch.
Possibly at 2:31, but I don't think so. It just sounds like Bruce pushing himself to the right note.

I'll take your word for it with the tom fills, but I don't think they sounds very good in this particular song.
 
There is some really ugly tuning on TFF - It is there. Found some on the Talisman yesterday as well.

No, the "stars" is not auto tuned, what you hear is Bruce intonating, not tuning bringing him to the correct pitch.
Possibly at 2:31, but I don't think so. It just sounds like Bruce pushing himself to the right note.

I'll take your word for it with the tom fills, but I don't think they sounds very good in this particular song.
The sound is dry, but quite punchy still. About "stars", I am looking forward to hear this live, on this track it sound too samish. I know that happens often in choruses but this tone and emphasis are a bit too dominant for me. I have to get more used to it.
 
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Saying the fills sound sloppy is hardly a conspiracy theory, dude. :p If you're referring to me that is.
 
I don't get what we're trying to do here! I understand that they are trying to get alive sound. We discussed several times that the production could have been better. I understand that they don't want to have a producer to "make" their sound but actually "capture" it. From what I've heard the single is not bad at all.

Let's just try to put things down shall we?

They did not spend less time writing the material this time around. Maiden ALWAYS took a couple weeks to a month to compose their material. This is the case from way back in the 80s.

  • If Eternity should fail was already recorded in a demo for Bruce's solo album. I think we all know that Bruce really takes good care of his own material.
  • Empire of the clouds took him about a month to write.
  • H and Bruce had some sessions together. Like they used to do in the past. H said he did that on purpose to actually create some shorter songs. This is not bad at all after having heard the single.
  • Steve - from what I've read in the interviews has had his fair amount of material ready.

What is different this time around is that they DID not rehearse the songs beforehand.

In all the interviews they are saying that the songs were finished in the studio..........however I can see that quite some material was worked out just fine BEFORE THEY GOT IN TO RECORD.

There is quite a plan there. They want to get the live sound. Whether they got the right producer with that or not is a different thing.

Let me tell you what I hear so far:

Speed of light is the first single showing Maiden enjoying themselves after a very long time. Yes' it has got some obvious flaws,mainly with the production. It is beyond me how so many people praise material like the Wickeman and Different world and don't dig this song. All I hear is a song that could stand comfortably next to e.g. Road to Hell.
 
I think he was referring to the Auto tuning conspiracy theory
Oh it's not a conspiracy theory. At all. We're living in an age where you try to create flawless performances. Almost everybody does it/has it done to them and the singers themselves rarely know it unless they are skilled in production themselves. Need I remind of the beat detecting on "The Longest Day"...

It all started in the pop realm though but has spilled over into the world of Metal. I think it's better to do a retake or a punch in, and if it's not too out of tune, let it be a slight bit flat or sharp. But we're not used to that anymore. We're used to pitch perfect.
 
Oh it's not a conspiracy theory. At all. We're living in an age where you try to create flawless performances. Almost everybody does it/has it done to them and the singers themselves rarely know it unless they are skilled in production themselves. Need I remind of the beat detecting on "The Longest Day"...

That was actually Out of the shadows.
 
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You're gonna have to provide exact timings with that autotune claim.
I think I have a pretty good ear, and assume I would've noticed something like that. Still, I could be proven wrong.
 
1:40.
3:26 (really subtle)
3:37
3:48

I did a post on that a few months back.

It's really subtle with very fast attack, and it adjusts it a few cents, because Bruce is almost exactly on pitch, but there are some very subtle corrections.
 
I don't get what we're trying to do here! I understand that they are trying to get alive sound. We discussed several times that the production could have been better. I understand that they don't want to have a producer to "make" their sound but actually "capture" it. From what I've heard the single is not bad at all.

Let's just try to put things down shall we?

They did not spend less time writing the material this time around. Maiden ALWAYS took a couple weeks to a month to compose their material. This is the case from way back in the 80s.

  • If Eternity should fail was already recorded in a demo for Bruce's solo album. I think we all know that Bruce really takes good care of his own material.
  • Empire of the clouds took him about a month to write.
  • H and Bruce had some sessions together. Like they used to do in the past. H said he did that on purpose to actually create some shorter songs. This is not bad at all after having heard the single.
  • Steve - from what I've read in the interviews has had his fair amount of material ready.

What is different this time around is that they DID not rehearse the songs beforehand.

In all the interviews they are saying that the songs were finished in the studio..........however I can see that quite some material was worked out just fine BEFORE THEY GOT IN TO RECORD.

There is quite a plan there. They want to get the live sound. Whether they got the right producer with that or not is a different thing.

Let me tell you what I hear so far:

Speed of light is the first single showing Maiden enjoying themselves after a very long time. Yes' it has got some obvious flaws,mainly with the production. It is beyond me how so many people praise material like the Wickeman and Different world and don't dig this song. All I hear is a song that could stand comfortably next to e.g. Road to Hell.
This makes me feel a lot better. Cheers. Lets wait for the album now.
 
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