Favourite Album

[macunaima]

This is a really hard question!!

My vote came down to Piece of Mind, Powerslave, 7th son, or BNW. These are all excellent albums and I can see any one of them topping someone's list.

I eliminated BNW because while it is an excellent album, I feel some of the vocal melodies are a little "clunky." "Ghost of Navigator" and "Nomad" are perfect examples of what I mean. These are instrumentally unbelievable songs, but the vocal melodies seem awkward. The verses on "The Thin Line..." are also a little boring to my ears.

7th son was the next to go. This was a hard decision since "Infinite Dreams" has recently become one of my favorite Maiden songs but I never really enjoyed songs like "Moonchild" or (especially) "The Prophecy". "Can I Play..." is a great, fun song, but since the competition is so stiff here, I think it strays too close to pop-metal not to hurt the album overall.

Powerslave was next to go and I'm still not sure I made the right decision. It certainly has the fewest low-points of any Maiden album -- "Back in the Village" is the only song I don't think si excellent -- and it also has what would have to be two of the top 5 Maiden songs of all times with "Powerslave" and "...Ancient Mariner." But in the end, I went with Piece of mind because I think though it's never as good as Powerslave, and it has two weak songs instead of just one, still the bulk of album is more consistently good than Powerslave. "Aces high" and "2 minutes" are great songs, but "Where Eagles Dare" and "Die with your boots on" are clearly superior. On a song for song comparison, I think Piece of Mind take the day:


Powerslave (my rating avg: 4.42)
1. Aces high 4.4/5
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight 4.5/5
3. Losfer Words 4.0/5
4. Flash of the Blade 4.2/5
5. The Duellists 4.5/5
6. Back in the Village 3.8/5
7. Powerslave 4.95/5
8. Rime of the Ancient Mariner 5.0/5

Piece of Mind (my rating avg: 4.43)
1. Where Eagles Dare 4.8/5
2. Revelations 4.9/5
3. Flight of Icarus 4.0/5
4. Die with your Boots on 4.7/5
5. The Trooper 4.6/5
6. Still Life 4.91/5
7. Quest for Fire 3.5/5
8. Sun and Steel 3.5/5
9. To Tame a Land 4.96/5

 

[Big G]

The reason for this, i didn't think it was going to work with bruce. I had bought the Run to the hills single, although i thought it was great, i still wasn't convinced. Then i heard, LONGBOATS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED AND THE EVIDENCE OF WAR HAD BEGUN.......... Man ! the album had such a great feel, sound and vibe, controlled sound without being too perfect. what more can i say!

 

[macunaima]

[!--QuoteBegin-IronDuke+Jun 1 2005, 09:20 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(IronDuke @ Jun 1 2005, 09:20 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I love all the music equally (I doubt I could tell you what songs belong to what album, aside from those which are title tracks)
Brave New World, though, is my favourite because of the album art. That cover is absolutely amazing

[snapback]106706[/snapback]​

[/quote]

Are we voting for the music or the graphic art??!! [!--emo&--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/blink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'blink.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

 

[Anonymous]

He couldn't choose any, because he likes them all equally, so he used the album art for criteria because here, he could choose. He likes BNW as much as all other albums, but he likes it a little bit more because he likes the album art better. Get it?

 

[macunaima]

[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Dec 14 2005, 06:39 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Dec 14 2005, 06:39 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]He couldn't choose any, because he likes them all equally, so he used the album art for criteria because here, he could choose. He likes BNW as much as all other albums, but he likes it a little bit more because he likes the album art better. Get it?

[snapback]125086[/snapback]​

[/quote]

Yes, I get it, thank you. What I was implying (in case it wasn't obvious to you) is that an album is about the music, not about the artwork so it doesn't make sense to appeal to that criterion even as a tie-breaker.

Consider the following argument: King Diamond and Helloween are both great bands/artists. I like them both just as much in equal respects. But KD has really cool make-up so I prefer him.

Does that even make sense? I may think KD *looks* cooler than Helloween, (and I may think I look cooler when I paint upside down crosses on my face than when I put hairspray in my hair) but that isn't a judgment about their relative merits as musicians and composers.

Maybe when we ask "which is IM's best album" we don't mean to be asking which is most worth listening too (or which we prefer to listen to). If that's the case, then I apologize for my intrusion. It turns out Maiden is not my favorite band after all since I don't prefer *looking* at them over other artists. I think Britney Spears or maybe Kylie Minogue are my favorites.

 

[macunaima]

I recently had a little (too much) extra time on my hands, so out of curiosity, I went through all the forum threads for the songs and took note of the average ratings for each of them. I then grouped the songs by album and calculated the average song-rating per album. The result is pasted below. (the ratings are not *my* ratings, but those of the readers of the forums)

There are some suprising results. The Blaze albums came out ahead of SIT, BNW and 7th Son. On the other hand, No Prayer and FOTD came out at the very bottom of the pile which I think lends some credibility to this method.

Anyway, I thought these results might be interesting to look at. I wonder also what people think of this as a method of determining the "best album."



Powerslave (average song rating: 4.60 )
1. Aces high 4.93/5
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight 4.00/5
3. Losfer Words 4.5/5
4. Flash of the Blade 4.0/5
5. The Duellists 4.92/5
6. Back in the Village 4.5/5
7. Powerslave 4.96/5
8. Rime of the Ancient Mariner 4.97/5

Piece of Mind (average song rating: 4.41)
1. Where Eagles Dare 4.92/5
2. Revelations 4.95/5
3. Flight of Icarus 4.0/5
4. Die with your Boots on 4.0/5
5. The Trooper 4.93/5
6. Still Life 4.92/5
7. Quest for Fire 3.5/5
8. Sun and Steel 3.5/5
9. To Tame a Land 4.96/5

Number of the Beast (average song rating: 4.39)
1. Invaders 3.5/5
2. Children of the Damned 4.94/5
3. The Prisoner 4.77/5
4. 22 Acacia Avenue 4.92/5
5. The Number of the Beast 4.5/5
6. Run to the Hills 4.0/5
7. Gangland 3.5/5
8. Hallowed by Thy Name 4.98/5

Killers (average song rating: 4.33)
1. The Ides of March 4.86/5
2. Wrathchild 4.0/5
3. Murders in the Rue Morgue 4.92/5
4. Another Life 3.5/5
5. Ghengis Khan 4.93/5
6. Innocent Exile 3.5/5
7. Killers 4.94/5
8. Twilight Zone 4.5/5
9. Prodigal Son 4.5/5
10. Purgatory 4.0/5
11. Drifter 4.0/5

The X-Factor (average song rating: 4.25)
1. The Sign of the Cross 4.96/5
2. Lord of the Flies 3.5/5
3. Man on the Edge 4.5/5
4. Fortunes of War 4.0/5
5. Look for the Truth 3.5/5
6. The Aftermath 4.9/5
7. judgment of Heaven 4.0/5
8. Blood on the World’s Hands 4.0/5
9. The Edge of Darkness 4.95/5
10. 2 A.M. 4.92/5
11. The Unbeliever 3.5/5

Virtual XI (average song rating: 4.23)
1. Futureal 4.0/5
2. The Angel and the Gambler 3.5/5
3. Lightning Strikes Twice 4.5/5
4. The Clansman 4.93/5
5. When Two worlds collide 3.5/5
6. The Educated Fool 4.91/5
7. Don’t look to the eyes of a stranger 4.5/5
8. Como Estais Amigo 4.0/5

Iron Maiden (average song rating: 4.21)
1. Prowler 4.0/5
2. Sanctuary 3.5/5
3. Remember Tomorrow 4.5/5
4. Running Free 4.0/5
5. Phantom of the Opera 4.97/5
6. Transylvania 4.90/5
7. Strange World 4.5/5
8. Charlotte the Harlot 4.5/5
9. Iron Maiden 3.0/5

Somewhere in Time (average song rating: 4.13 )
1. Caught Somewhere in Time 4.0/5
2. Wasted Years 4.0/5
3. Sea of Madness 4.5/5
4. Heaven Can Wait 3.5/5
5. The Loneliness... 4.5/5
6. Stranger in a Strange Land 4.0/5
7. Deja-vu 4.0/5
8. Alexander the Great 4.5/5

Brave New World (average song rating: 4.12)
1. The Wicker Man 4.0/5
2. The Ghost of Navigators 4.5/5
3. Brave New World 4.0/5
4. Blood Brothers 4.91/5
5. The Mercenary 3.5/5
6. Dream of Mirrors 4.91/5
7. The Fallen Angel 3.5/5
8. The Nomad 4.89/5
9. Out of the Silent Planet 3.5/5
10. The Thin Line between Love and Hate 3.5/5

Seventh Son (average song rating: 4.10)
1. Moonchild 4.92/5
2. Infinite Dreams 4.96/5
3. Can I play with Madness 3.5/5
4. The Evil that Men do 3.5/5
5. Seventh Son 4.94/5
6. The Prophecy 4.0/5
7. The Clairvoyant 3.5/5
8. Only the good die young 3.5/5

Dance of Death (average song rating: 3.86)
1. Wildest Dreams 4.0/5
2. Rainmaker 4.5/5
3. No more Lies 4.0/5
4. Montsegur 4.0/5
5. Dance of Death 4.0/5
6. Gates of Tomorrow 2.0/5
7. New Frontier 2.5/5
8. Paschendale 4.94/5
9. Face in the Sand 4.5/5
10. Age of Innocence 4.0/5
11. Journeyman 4.0/5

No Prayer... (average song rating: 3.24)
1. Tailgunner 2.5/5
2. Holy Smoke 2.5/5
3. No Prayer for the Dying 4.0/5
4. Public Enema Number One 3.0/5
5. Fates Warning 3.0/5
6. The Assassin 4.5/5
7. Run Silent Run Deep 4.88/5
8. Hooks in You 2.0/5
9. Bring your Daughter to the Slaughter 2.0/5
10. Mother Russia 4.0/5

Fear of the Dark (average song rating: 3.21 )
1. Be Quick of be Dead 1.5/5
2. From here to eternity 1.54/5
3. Afraid to shoot strangers 4.5/5
4. Fear is the key 2.5/5
5. Childhood’s end 4.0/5
6. Wasting Love 4.0/5
7. The Fugitive 3.5/5
8. Chains of Misery 2.0/5
9. The Apparition 2.5/5
10. Judas be my guide 4.5/5
11. Weekend Warrior 3.5/5
12. Fear of the Dark 4.5/5

 

[Mario88]

Piece of Mind is my favorite. Just so many great songs. Every song from start to finish is awesome, only with the slight speed bump in Quest for Fire, which does have silly lyrics, but it's still a good listen anyways.

Somewhere In Time follows closely. Not one filler in the album. And H's guitar solos on Wasted Years, Sea of Madness, Stranger in a Strange Land, and especially Alexander the Great are ... [!--emo&:bow:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/bowdown.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'bowdown.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

 

[Anonymous]

1 Somwhere in Time
2 joint --Killers, Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind, Powerslave
3 ------------
4 ------------
5 ------------
6 Number of the Beast
7 Dance of Death (very nearly became another joint award w. BNW)
8 Brave New World
9 Seventh son of a Seventh Son
10 No Prayer for the Dying
11 Fear of the Dark
12 X Factor
13 Virtual XI

sorry about rating numbers 2-5 but I just cant pick between those 4, they all have classic songs, however SIT just stands above them all. There is not one bad song in that album and Bruce's voice is at its best. The rest of the top 5 have at least 1 filler or have a song thats been played too much to enjoy them as much anymore

 

[Anonymous]

I'd have to say "Number of the Beast" for my favourite, though it's been a very difficult choice to make. "Piece of Mind" and "Powerslave" were right up there, and "Somewhere in Time" as well. There's something about the raw power of "Invaders", both in theme and sound, that gets the album off to such fierce momentum -- which is somewhat tempered by "Children of the Damned" and then reinforced by "The Prisoner", still one of my all-time faves. I must admit being rather partial to the songs with fast tempos, though not exclusively. And the final four tracks certainly demonstrate those features -- esp. some of the parts of "Hallowed", which contains such an amazing diversity.

One quick remark about the Powerslave album: I absolutely worship the song "Aces High", but I find the live performance of it on "Live After Death" to be so explosive, that I cannot help comparing the two every time I listen to the studio version.

As fond as I am of the instrumentation on SiT and SSoSS, there seems to be a slight "polishing" of the guitar sound -- the chords don't sound as raw or "crunchy" as on the previous three studio albums. The solos are totally amazing though!

 

[LooseCannon]

The vote gets moved to Dumb Arsehole if they don't explain it.

 

[Anonymous]

for me, it has to be SIT. I cant get enough of the damn thing and have been listening to it alot lately.

 

[Anonymous]

I love the album Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

 

[Anonymous]

Somewhere in time

 

[macunaima]

[!--quoteo(post=130203:date=Mar 1 2006, 11:59 AM:name=Transylvania)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Transylvania @ Mar 1 2006, 11:59 AM) [snapback]130203[/snapback][/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]
Somewhere in time
[/quote]


Hmm, good reason. You might want to say a little more about your choice or your vote might get erased.

 

[Onhell]

I vote for BNW, it was the first maiden album I bought and it is still my favorite, I think I've explained why many times (look in the English Commentary to find out) so here I'll just say it is because of its classic 80's maiden sound, increadibly powerful (lyrically and musically) and it is of the few albums that when I listen to it from begining to end it leaves me satisfied, like a good book, doesn't leave me hanging, disapointed or empty.

 

[Anonymous]

I just read my original post, and I found my ranking to be seriously flawed. Probably everybody here knows that The X Factor is my favourite album, but it gets really problematic after that. So, I have decided to rank the albums in three categories, but without a sub-ranking in these categories:

Absolutely brilliant The best category. No flaws at all or at worst minor flaws (as in Can I Play With Madness).
The X Factor
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Piece Of Mind
Brave New World
Virtual XI
The Number Of The Beast

'kin great Album has a few mediocre songs or notable flaws but still is brilliant to listen to.
Powerslave
Iron Maiden
Dance Of Death
Somewhere In Time

Extremely good Album has some major flaws but is still brilliant to listen to.
Killers
No Prayer For The Dying
Fear Of The Dark

Even this may be subject to change, as for example NOTB and SIT could switch places every once in a while. Maybe some day I will also write what made me put the individual albums into the respective categories, but not now...

 

[TheTrooper666]

[!--quoteo(post=130458:date=Mar 3 2006, 10:48 AM:name=Perun)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Mar 3 2006, 10:48 AM) [snapback]130458[/snapback][/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]
Absolutely brilliant The best category. No flaws at all or at worst minor flaws (as in Can I Play With Madness).
The X Factor
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Piece Of Mind
Brave New World
Virtual XI
The Number Of The Beast
[/quote]

I love Virtual XI ... but no flaws or minor flaws? What about the repetition, the production, the missing drum fills?

 

[Anonymous]

[!--quoteo(post=130503:date=Mar 3 2006, 07:25 PM:name=TheTrooper666)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(TheTrooper666 @ Mar 3 2006, 07:25 PM) [snapback]130503[/snapback][/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]
What about the repetition,[/quote]

I may be a perverted mind, but I actually enjoy the repetition on the album. The part where Blaze sings Don't look to... don't look to... don't look to the eyes of a stranger is absolutely chilling to me, and about The Angel And The Gambler... well, I can't find any argument, I just like it [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\"\" border=\"0\" alt=\"biggrin.gif\" /]

[!--quoteo--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--] the production,[/quote]

I think the album sounds great. The guitar sound is among the best on any Maiden album. Yes, the production is a bit sterile, but I am someone who can look over that.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--] the missing drum fills?
[/quote]

More than made up for with the rest of the instruments.

Maybe it's also just personal... I love every single song on the album. A matter of taste [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\"\" border=\"0\" alt=\"smile.gif\" /]

 

[TheTrooper666]

I love every song, too ... but I think every song would even sound better with a heavier guitar sound ... sounds too soft to me... I don't mind the repetition on Don't Look To ..., but on Angel And The Gambler ... unnecessary there IMO, still I like the song as it is. But I wouldn't rank the album between NOTB and Seventh Son [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/sleep.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\"\" border=\"0\" alt=\"sleep.gif\" /]

 

[Anonymous]

For me, it's got to be Killers. Not a bad song on it, like several Maiden albums, but IMO this is better than 666 or POM or Powerslave because they still had a unique sound. They were metal, but they had the gruff, streetwise Paul Dianno vocals. When Bruce came in, they basically just became a metal band. (Not to rag on Bruce or anything because they were and still are the BEST heavy metal band.) From 'The Ides of March' on through to 'Drifter' there's never been a better Maiden album for me...