Empire Of The Clouds

How good is Empire of the Clouds on a scale of 1-10?

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    31
I remember getting Antichrist Superstar when it came out and being surprised when the digital display sais 99 tracks. After the actual album tracks each subsequent 'track' was just 2 seconds silence right up to 99. Way to push the boundaries of creativity there manson :yawn:
 
Niall Kielt said:
I remember getting Antichrist Superstar when it came out and being surprised when the digital display sais 99 tracks. After the actual album tracks each subsequent 'track' was just 2 seconds silence right up to 99. Way to push the boundaries of creativity there manson :yawn:
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Nine Inch Nails did a similar thing around the same time with their Broken EP. 2 bonus tracks at the end with 90 tracks of silence in between. Always crashed my computer when I tried to rip it. :D
 
So did our domestic rock band called Let 3 - they made an album called 'Necuveno' (mid to late '90s), which in direct word-to-word translation would equal 'outrageous', but far better translation is 'unheard of'. The thing isn't even a recording of silence, it's just an empty medium.

All of them drew inspiration from John Cage's work called 4'33" (1952). Its 4m:33s of just silence, more precisely a recording of an 'atmosphere' in the recording room where nobody is playing and everyone is silent.
 
"Blue Room" by The Orb (39:57) is the longest single to hit the UK charts. It was released following a decision that songs longer than 40 minutes counted as albums. The maximum length for singles was subsequently reduced to 15 minutes.
 
Still one of my least liked from TBOS - I admire the idea, the musical thought and the audacity of it, but the execution is just rather mundane. The idea is there though, and as the 18+ minutes is just repetition of the main motif, you could cut 2/3's of it and still have everything you need in the track. At 5 minutes I'd rate the track much higher.
 
Bringing up the old debate about the Titanic fitting inside... In 1930, the ship had been lying in pieces at the bottom of the ocean for nearly two decades.
Surely, her volume would have been reduced significantly after all this time.
Bruce also says "fits", not "would have fitted", which leads me to think that the builders somehow placed the remains inside the aircraft to see if it was true.
Pushing it further: maybe the Titanic was still inside the R101 during her last flight, explaining how the coxswain knew she was too heavy.
Plausible, isn't it?
 
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I thought it represented an unrealistic boast, as well as hinting at the impending disaster. "The Titanic? Big? Hah! Our new national symbol is so bloody big that the Titanic would fit inside." So much political prestige was riding on this thing that they threw caution to the wind, and it literally all came crashing down.
 
One thing I really love about this song comes right at the end.

In the few seconds of silence once the music has finished and the track ends there is a quiet sound, almost like all the amplifiers being powered down.

If this is to be Maiden's last album then I know that this minuscule little "sign-off" will really resonate with me as a final goodbye.
 
I just listened for that, and you do hear a small click. Maiden have now left the building. I'm not at all sure that's been left in for effect, but if it is their last album, it could certainly take on new meaning. Along with that song as a whole, actually.
 
I've had to listen to this song quite a bit and it grew on me. The first few times I listened it was more of a chore to get through but as I listened more and more it came on quickly. The storytelling is what does it for me. The visualization that goes along with the music, how it rises and falls it has become a pleasure to listen to.
 
Somebody's (Mihailo Djuric) song upload on YT has ~ 600k views and 70 dislikes against 4800.
I'd say that people like reunion era Maiden, as long as they don't fall into their comfort zone.
 
The song was a disappointment then, I still don't think it's the masterpiece to end all masterpieces, it's definitely overlong (the first 6 minutes are very musically repetitive, IMHO) and it makes me sad Janick didn't get a solo in here... but it still is very beautiful. That melody after the first SOS, the final buildup, the lyrics, the fact they used a piano... A strong 8 from me.
 
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JudasMyGuide said:
The song was a disappointment then, I still don't think it's the masterpiece to end all masterpieces, it's definitely overlong (the first 6 minutes are very musically repetitive, IMHO) and it makes me sad Janick didn't get a solo in here... but it still is very beautiful. That melody after the first SOS, the final buildup, the lyrics, the fact they used a piano... A strong 8 from me.
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Yes I agree. Out of Maiden niche and in the general context of 18 min prog rockers this song is pretty solid, but no way spectacular (or masterpiece, an utterly overused word...).
It's not inventive in any way but tells its story with excitement and, although some parts tend to lag a bit, whole song seems shorter than 18 min.
 
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