GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!

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Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls (2015)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Collin, @LooseCannon, @matic22, @Shmoolikipod, @srfc, @The Dissident, @Travis The Dragon
League 5 - Match 19vs.
Opeth_-_Watershed.jpg

Opeth - Watershed (2008)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @The Flash
Previous Rounds:
League 12: Defeated Black Sabbath - Tyr 14-9.
League 11: Defeated The Who - Who’s Next 14-8.
League 10: Defeated Nightwish - Century Child 14(ET)-14.
League 9: Defeated Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin 14-11.
League 8: Defeated At the Gates - At War With Reality 14-9.
League 7: Defeated VUUR - In This Moment We Are Free 15-7.
League 6: Defeated Linkin Park - Meteora 15-9.
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Sodom-AgentOrange.jpg

Sodom - Agent Orange (1989)

How it got here

List entries: Rolling Stone 63
Maidenfans Nominators: @Magnus
League 5 - Match 20vs.
Ayreon_-_Human_Equation.jpg

Ayreon - The Human Equation (2004)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Night Prowler, @Shmoolikipod
Previous Rounds:
League 6: Defeated Mastodon - The Hunter 15-9.
 
Iron Maiden
Queensryche
Iron Maiden
Ayreon


A Matter Of Life And Death is what I consider Maidens most consistent album overall, and my second highest overall, Transcendance is a masterpiece which sadly will lose to this brilliant album. If it was against any of the other albums in this set of matches I would have to have made a tough decision, however against its opponent it doesn't stand a chance for me.
 
I respect Ayreon, The Human Equation is an impressive piece of work, and probably has more to offer than it’s opponent, but I just enjoy Sodom more.

AMOLAD is my favorite Maiden album and is an all time favorite. Very few will be competitive against it for me. Book of Souls, on the other hand, is very consistent and a more classic Maiden affair, but has a lot of filler. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a great album from a “legacy” band, but it doesn’t reach the heights of Maiden at their peak. It’s incredible that they’re still pumping out albums of that caliber though. Well, at least they were six years ago. Watershed has a lot more to offer for me.
 
Thanks for playing, Crimson Glory. You had your high points, but you just ran headlong into one of Iron Maiden’s best albums. A no-brainer for KalarianidInTheFlassidentyn DJ Loosie’s Wingmoshic22 Perotosrfc’s nominee. Winner: Iron Maiden

Hadn’t heard this Seventh Wonder album before, and it’s surprisingly high-quality prog metal with a really good singer. I will definitely put this on my list of things to return to outside of the GMAC. Unfortunately it pulled a really tough draw here, going up against a very carefully honed, albeit poppy, top tier Queensrÿche record. While it has a lot of potential, on first listen I can’t say that anything on the Seventh Wonder album grabbed me in quite the same way that so many tracks on Empire consistently do. Sorry @MrKnickerbocker, your nominee was worthy, but I have to go with Yollix’s choice here. Winner: Queensrÿche

Well, Opeth, we had some fun this winter. I was wooed by your seductive clean vocal tracks, but lately it seems like half the time we spend together you’re just screaming at me at the top of your lungs. I’ve been meaning to tell you that I’ve met another band. Yes, they’re a bit older, and they repeat themselves from time to time, but they can still bring it when it counts, and I don’t have to put up with all the screaming. They’ll even play the piano for me and offer up little nuggets of history that I find endearing. So, Opeth, it was fun while it lasted, but I’m not interested in an abusive relationship. Maybe we can still be friends if you get yourself some help. Sorry, @The Flash, but I’m going to go all trophy wife with Loosrfcollikidentis The Dramatic22’s nominee. Winner: Iron Maiden

Not thrilled with either album in the final match. The Sodom album is enjoyable lo-fi thrash that occasionally surprises you with a particularly cool guitar bit here and there. Most of the vocals are on the badder end of bad thrash vocals, but they sometimes have a punkier flavor, and on rare occasions even go a bit more traditional and melodic, which was nice to hear. The Ayreon album is very grand and ambitious, but also overlong and cheesy, and really not to my taste. Sorry, Shmight Pooper, but I’m going to go with @Magnus ’s choice here. Winner: Sodom
 
Iron Maiden - Wow, 13 nominations this one shouldn't be struggling for votes. I rate all the third millennium albums as being as good as their 80's heyday but this is the best of them. It's the most balanced of them, an opinion obviously shared by the band given their confidence in playing the whole thing live. If I was to nit pick, I'm not a huge FTGOG fan, I think it's the worst of Harris' centrepiece tracks, the grammar is appalling in the lyrics, even allowing for Harris' conscious habit of butchering language if the melody requires it, and the phrase "for the greater good" of God is an oxymoron, the verses have a very lo-fi groove too but the pre-chorus, chorus and instrumental sections are outstanding. Dave Murray drops a career worst solo though. That's it, they're the only faults I can find with 70 odd mins of classic Maiden.

Crimson Glory - This is a real good album, check it out!

Iron Maiden with the win.

Seventh Wonder - Unusual at this stage of the game for a band I've never heard of to make an appearance. This sort of prog does nothing at all for me.

Queensryche - opinion given before

Queensryche with the win.

Iron Maiden - Wow another big hitter from Maiden nominations wise. I said above that AMOLAD is the best from the 2000s, but it's only slightly better than this. I'm going to focus on nit picking on the Maiden albums, as if I was to praise the stuff I like I'd be writing all day. I think the vocals and the lyrics of The Red and the Black add nothing to the song and the bass solo is sloppy, plus the woah woah coda at the end ruins what would have been a perfect crash ending to the outstanding instrumental section. The groove on the verses of Man of Sorrows is pretty awful at the "now we need to know the truth now" part onwards. That is all.

Opeth - opinion given before

Iron Maiden

Sodom - I don't own this album but am familiar with the title track which is a classic and have listened to the album online a few times, this is the sort of thrash I prefer, angry lyrics and aggression.

Ayreon - opinion given before

Sodom with the win
 
Current round:
I've listened Crimson Glory couple of rounds back and got suprised how much I liked it. But then again, even if AMOLAD isn't among my top Maiden albums, it's still has such stellar track, Crimson Glory didn't even came up close.

If I see a 6-string bass and Korg keyboards in the background, I'm going to have high expectations. Those guys did deliver but the vocal melodies are just too radio friendly for this kind of music and kind of drag the whole thing down. Still can't grasp what's so good about Queensryche but Empire is still better than the previous song.

Skipping third pair. I don't want to discover in the future that I really like Wateshed but voted against it to promote Maiden album I don't really like.

Now this was the most interesting pair. Riffage is Agent Orange is great, vocals are so-so, but still I have a feeling the main song is a bit long for a trash track. On the other hand: Ayreon! Very Zeppelin, many folk, much vocals! Ayreon gets the vote.
 
Bit late for the fight, but I'm going to chip in on the whole Barlow VS. Owens debate.
SPOILER: I honestly can't say which one is "better" singer but there are certain aspects in music where I think Barlow wins.

First of all, I'm not going to get technical because I have no idea what half of those terms mean. Timbre, range, lungs to head... Yeah, I can't really talk about things I'm not familiar with (although I laughed @Diesel 11's Trabant reference. Where from did you pull out that one?!?!) But I can say something about stage presence and overall being a persona in music world. The funny thing is that I saw them both on the same day so I'll use that as an example. And I'll throw Halford in because he was also there and just for the fun of it.

Considering live performance, I only saw Owens once and all I can say is this: that guy is professional. Considering the fact he was "singing" for Yngwie Malmsteen, who is the instrumentalist (and a huge ego!) he handled the stage very well. This was some stupid afternoon spot and half of the setlist were instrumentals, yet, you could see Owens was still "into it". I mean, most of the time he was pointing attention to Yngwie which reminded me on those guys that juggle with the signs of some local business by the side of the road. TBH, I felt sorry for the guy at one point. I mean, he delivered those vocal lines, he was engaged in his act, still, he was now singing for a guy who had the worse festival spot and less stage times than two bands he previously sang for (Iced Earth and Judas Priest were later that day). I saw that Owens has a lot to offer but there he was - taking checks, delivering somebody else line with his best music days far behind him. Later that year somebody summarized his stage presence during his Iced Earth time in once sentence: "Guy dresses as a best man at a wedding (white flannel shirt with the black vest) and punches the air around like a bro trying to impress a teenage girl." A shame really because, to me, that day seemed like Owens was born to do this but was somehow dealt the wrong cards.

Now, Iced Earth came on stage and even from the stage presence you could see Schaffer's idol was Steve Harris. Barlow, on the other hand, was almost invisible. I know he just started touring after several years, his vocal delivery was great but his stage presence was... well, he was there, I'm sure of that because I was in the first row. But most of the time he was standing back, maybe he came forward a couple of times and if I was standing somewhere in the back I don't think I would notice him even once. He had this attitude of a talented shy guy who would probably turn his head the other way if you addressed him. Now, next time I saw them (I think the @Perun was on same tour) it was smaller club and a co-headlining spot and I can still see the scene in my head: Front row, his foot on the speaker screaming "Life's a bitch, life's a whore!" - now that was an impact. You could see he felt more natural and the audience, of course, responded.

Just for the sake of it, I'm mentioning Halford, who came later. Let's get one thing clear. Halford is an icon. He's the Sir Ian McKellen of metal. That guy wave his hand once and the audience is in trance. BUT! Although he sang great, I couldn't help but notice he wasn't into it as he could've been. It's not the age thing. My friend told me he saw Sabbath on their farewell tour and got flabbergasted how much energy Ozzy had. I mean, on their last tour Bruce was much older than Halford was when I saw him - a birthday candle next to a 4th of July firework, that's how would they look if they stood next to each other. Now, don't get me wrong, Halford sings great but frontman-wise, he just rides on the wave of Judas Priest fame. Even that night comparing K.K with Halford who was right next to him, you could see a guy who enjoys rocking himself out to the fullest next to guy who tries to do his job right. And this is where it all boils down to me: in lack of better term I'll use this one - authenticity.

I'll try to paint a picture for you by naming a singer who has the worst stage presence I've seen - Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian. Basically, that guy walks on a stage and has an aura of a "dad in a restaurant". It takes him 5 minutes to tell a joke (announce a song) but everybody could guess the punchline (name of the song) even from the first sentence. Still, everybody is standing there looking at Hansi rambling, waiting him to finish. Now image Blind Guardian going on tour with some session vocalist because Hansi has personal matters to attend to. This session guy is a wonder, a miracle. He's breaking Guiness records with his voice, has the stage presence, hits every note right, doesn't have a bad night - not a single soul can find any complain about his singing/fronting the stage. And now try to image Hansi gets back on stage with "Into the Storm" in the background. Audience response from those two gigs would be unmeasurably different. And this is where I think Owens loses.

I'm going back again to Judas Priest. I couldn't get all the hype when Richie Faulkner joined Priest. OK, great guitar player, but why the fuck should I care? Did he wrote the riff to "Delivering the Goods"? No, K.K. did and Richie wasn't even born then. I mean, OK, he did bring that some spark back and recorded one mediocre and one great album with them. But in a decade or two in the future, looking at Priest discography Ritchie just won't have the same place as K.K. will. Same as Owens won't have the same place as Halford has in Judas Priest or Barlow has in Iced Earth. Maybe doesn't mean a lot to some people, but it's a big deal for me.

I think it's psychological thing for me. I'm seeing a band maybe once or a couple of times, but I'm listening to their records a hundred times. Of course I'm going to be more connected to how the songs originaly sounded, who played on them and who created them. I have no doubt some of the songs on Owens albums went better with the audience when Owens sings than when Barlow sings them, and vice versa. In the end, Owens has a voice, has a stage presence, has the attitude but what will be his legacy, what will he be remembered for? Two albums for a couple of bands and even those two albums are in top 3 of each band. On the other hand, somebody mentions Barlow in the future and people will automatically think Something Wicked trilogy or Alive in Athens or something else that is considered their best. Does that make him better singer? Maybe yes, maybe no. But he will definitely more remembered because he created them and few of those who maybe find a way to prove that "Owens did them better" will eventually fade away. I don't think any of us know any of these guys well enough to judge their character well enough to say who couldn't work with who and whose fault it is that things broke down. Still, I must admit that, to me, Owens has this aura of "hired gun" around him and I think most of the bands he worked with never considered him a "core" member. Of course Priest will rather welcome back Halford and Iced Earth will welcome back Barlow. After all, it's a business and in most case fans connected more with something in the past, especially if that past is what made them famous.

If that wasn't the case - we wouldn't have so many album anniversary tours lately.
 
Anyway, back to the topic in question:

Man I truly love AMOLAD and it's one of Maiden's finest albums. But Transcendence is one of the most criminally underrated metal records out there. Red Sharks, In Dark Places, Masks Of The Red Death, Eternal World, Where Dragons Rule... Apart from the too much commercial Lonely and lady Of Winter everything here is top notch when it comes to Heavy/Power/Prog metal (and even these two songs are really good). Amazing vocals by the great late Midnight, excellent composing, great performances. I think every classic metal lover should give a listen to this album. So I might even like AMOLAD a tad bit more (because of Maiden bias). But since it's a virtual tie and I know AMOLAD will win anyway, my sympathy vote goes to Crimson Glory.

Second one is easy: Queensryche.

As I said before I really think Watershed is really boring (although it displays once again how skilled Opeth are). The Book Of Souls is far from being Maiden's finest hour but still features some great tunes and finds the band daring into new routes so yeah: Iron Maiden.

The Human Equation is really interesting and one of my favorite Ayeron albums. But Agent Orange is one of the most furious and classic thrash albums ever released. Easily my favorite record by the band this thing simply razes everything that stands in its way either by ripping it to shreds with rapid fire riffing (Baptism Of Fire, Tired And Red, Exhibition Bout) or massive stomping anthems (Remember The Fallen, magic dragon). Plus there's the title track that simply needs no introduction, leaving me no choice but voting for Sodom.
 
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although I laughed @Diesel 11's Trabant reference. Where from did you pull out that one?!?!
Well my mom owned two of them when she was younger. I think the general consensus among ‘Ossis’ seems to be that they love their Trabi while fully admitting it’s a piece of garbage. :p

And you bring up a lot of great points in your post. Barlow is certainly not one of the best stage performers IMO. In classic days like at Alive in Athens, he comes across as a charming frontman because he’s powerful and persuasive and just a little bit awkward. “This song was written by a guy named Dante, check it out, this one’s called DANTE’S INFERNO!!!!” (Paraphrasing). He doesn’t command with his word games in the way someone like Bruce Dickinson can. He commands because he’s got that voice, the passion, and the humanity. At least that’s the way I see it.

And when he returned to Iced Earth it felt like all he had left was that voice, and even then he wasn’t able to nail some of Ripper’s songs. I don’t think it’s because he couldn’t do it, my guess is that he wasn’t given the chance to put his own spin on them. He was just the singer now for these songs; he wasn’t the performer. And as they played together more he got a lot better at it, but was never quite the same guy he was back in the ‘90s.

I think Halford is a lot the same. You go to see him and Barlow because of that voice. They’re completely different from Bruce Dickinson. He’s got that voice, and he could just ride on the coattails of that into the sunset... but he doesn’t. He makes sure he connects with the audience every single night. He throws in costume changes, jumps around with vigor, runs from one side to the other to make sure he’s connecting with everyone... there’s a reason Maiden is such a bigger name these days than Priest, and the showmanship has a large part to do with it IMO.

And finally, a positive about Ripper: while Matt nailed most of the song, he never got the same emotion Ripper delivered in the chorus of “The Clouding”. The ultimate version for me would have Ripper doing the lighter first half of the song, and Barlow doing the heavier second half.

Also the shrieks in “Greenface” are the shit.
 
If I was to nit pick, I'm not a huge FTGOG fan, I think it's the worst of Harris' centrepiece tracks, the grammar is appalling in the lyrics, even allowing for Harris' conscious habit of butchering language if the melody requires it, and the phrase "for the greater good" of God is an oxymoron, the verses have a very lo-fi groove too but the pre-chorus, chorus and instrumental sections are outstanding. Dave Murray drops a career worst solo though.
I gotta ask (and no I’m not gonna get mad like yesterday :p ) — what makes the title an oxymoron? And where does Steve make grammar mistakes within it? Cuz personally I love the lyrics and they help make it one of my Top 10 favorites from Maiden.
 
AMOLAD is my favorite Maiden album and is an all time favorite. Very few will be competitive against it for me. Book of Souls, on the other hand, is very consistent and a more classic Maiden affair, but has a lot of filler. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a great album from a “legacy” band, but it doesn’t reach the heights of Maiden at their peak. It’s incredible that they’re still pumping out albums of that caliber though. Well, at least they were six years ago. Watershed has a lot more to offer for me.
It’s funny because I kinda think the opposite about them. AMOLAD is great, but “The Longest Day” and “Out of the Shadows” take me out of the album feel until “Breeg” comes in.

TBOS meanwhile... you could probably label “Shadows”, “River”, “Sorrows”, and even “Unknown” as filler tracks, but the album succeeds because the band convinces you that these songs are more than just fillers. They play them with such a confidence that no matter which song you’re listening to, you’re fully enveloped in the stage they’ve set for you. There’s no longing for the next big highlight because what you’re listening to right now is the highlight. And I love the way they put the tracklist together, it ebbs and flows beautifully. It’s a true album experience from the band and I love it for that.
 
^ TGU can't be a filler because it was performed live. I find Man of Sorrows a recurring Murray gem, one that happens every 10 years or so. I don't care about TRATB or Shadows and that's about 20 minutes of material that is pure boredom, considering the lenght of the album, it is really outstanding.

AMOLAD is better though. One of the best metal albums of the 21st century, to be exact.
 
I gotta ask (and no I’m not gonna get mad like yesterday :p ) — what makes the title an oxymoron? And where does Steve make grammar mistakes within it? Cuz personally I love the lyrics and they help make it one of my Top 10 favorites from Maiden.

"for the greater good" is a collective term, whereas God is an individual. He obviously meant "for the good of god" but needed a few more syllables to fit the melody, so it's just a bit of poetic licence, like I said we all easily understand the intended meaning, so it's not a huge deal, just nit picking.

The below are also not huge deals for me, but they are examples of things that cause me to consider it poorer than other Harris centrepiece songs, and the weakest song on this album.

"a mind that's vain, corruption", "corrupted" would have made more sense here.

"some that would believe a holy war winner", he obviously is only using the word "winner" to get the rhyme, and again we understand the intended meaning i.e. someone who would follow a fanatic, but I think if someone has actually won the holy war then the whole discussion is moot.

" the spirits seems to whistle on the wind", that seems like a poetic image but it actually makes no sense, he's describing a metaphysical concept of the spirit as if it was causing actual real world sounds.

"but still the body count" - [Linguo from the simpsons] Sentence fragment [/Linguo from the Simpsons]

EDIT: I might add I have no issue at all with the overall meaning and argument of the lyrics, and I think the line "religion has a lot to answer for", might not be the most original thought ever but it carries a lot of impact in this song.
 
The Great Escape is better than any album in this round and better than most of the material we’ve seen already in this game.

Listen to the title track. Listen to King of Whitewater.

Of course they draw up against stupid fucking Queensryche.
 
Well my mom owned two of them when she was younger. I think the general consensus among ‘Ossis’ seems to be that they love their Trabi while fully admitting it’s a piece of garbage.

I was told by my parents that even as a five year old child in West Berlin I was condescending towards Trabis. -_-
 
"for the greater good" is a collective term, whereas God is an individual. He obviously meant "for the good of god" but needed a few more syllables to fit the melody, so it's just a bit of poetic licence, like I said we all easily understand the intended meaning, so it's not a huge deal, just nit picking.
The song is looking at religion as a vehicle for evil people to control the weak and use them for their own purposes in war. "For the greater good" is a collective term, and that's why it's used in the song. It's no longer about God, the individual, it's about God, the symbol. The collective's "greater good" is being pawns for the God the evil use to control the others with.

The below are also not huge deals for me, but they are examples of things that cause me to consider it poorer than other Harris centrepiece songs, and the weakest song on this album.

"a mind that's vain, corruption", "corrupted" would have made more sense here.
Unless Steve was using nouns to bring up the symbolic evil he's trying to get across. "A mind that's vain - corruption - bad or good intent." I agree it's awkward and could've been phrased better, though.

"some that would believe a holy war winner", he obviously is only using the word "winner" to get the rhyme, and again we understand the intended meaning i.e. someone who would follow a fanatic, but I think if someone has actually won the holy war then the whole discussion is moot.
Yeah I can see that.

" the spirits seems to whistle on the wind", that seems like a poetic image but it actually makes no sense, he's describing a metaphysical concept of the spirit as if it was causing actual real world sounds.
Well yeah, but that's kind of the whole point of poetry - invoking images that may be realistic, or fantastical. Steve's doing the latter here, and as much as he isn't the best poet, it's a really great line IMO. "Whistle on the wind" means to attempt a change which cannot actually happen. I think that's a great, great use of the phrase. The spirits have already died. We are still here. The spirits can try as hard as they might to change our fucked-up world, but they never can because they have already departed. Only we can alter our future.

"but still the body count" - [Linguo from the simpsons] Sentence fragment [/Linguo from the Simpsons]
True - but again, I think it all hangs on the context of the song as a whole. Steve is far from perfect, but he throws together so many images into this song that they really get the message and idea across powerfully, at least IMO. That's what makes it one of my favorite Maiden songs lyrically. Perfection is hard to attain, but powerfully getting the meaning across to the listener is worth so much in music. Especially since it never comes out and says "religion bad" - just that it can be used for evil.

EDIT: I might add I have no issue at all with the overall meaning and argument of the lyrics, and I think the line "religion has a lot to answer for", might not be the most original thought ever but it carries a lot of impact in this song.
I agree! Sometimes simplicity is worth more than convolution.
 
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