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

karljant said:
More so when he can reproduce everything the same way he does here live (unlike almost the totality of overproduced bands).
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I’m not sure how impressive that is when he mostly relies on backing tracks live.
 
Mosh said:
I’m not sure how impressive that is when he mostly relies on backing tracks live.
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Well... fact is almost every sample triggered band in the world sounds worst live while Devin normally sounds even better than the studio recordings. Check Retinal Circus, No Sleep Till Bedtime, Live At Plovdiv and especially Live At The Royal Albert Hall. There was a stretch of time between roughly 2001 and 2006 his voice was a bit strained from overuse (2 shows a night with SYL and his solo band). Other than that Devin live sounds killer: either with a rack firing 10000000 samples, alone with an acoustic guitar or singing a capella while making fart noises with his hands. Deuces.
 
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Shmoolikipod said:
t's the most mental stuff from him, other than SYL's Alien
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Ah forgot to mention this one... have you listened to Deconstruction? I can easily bare the onslaught of any SYL album but half of the songs on that fucker are so dense, so chaotic that I rarely pick that album. Although being the spawn of an already stable person, Deconstruction is an ironical, comical approach but way too dense, chaotic and saturating at times even to my ears. By far the hardest listening Dev album IMO.
 
Maiden. Obviously.

Don't love either band in the 2nd match. I guess I'll go with Killswitch.

Primordial was a lot better than I was expecting them to be.

Devin Townsend is a lot more interesting than the rather generic sounding Running Wild.
 
Wow, had not expected so much negativity (i.e. underappreciation) about Head On. I think it has enough good (and interesting!) stuff on it, at least to win a round or two. Not against Maiden of course, although this result, against the worst of the worst Maiden had to offer is hard to take serious.
 
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The competition element of this game might not be that interesting anymore. Every Maiden album wins the first couple of rounds, then loses or wins from big name albums by other bands. That's it.

That said, I'll stay interested in listening to lesser (non-Maiden) music, appearing here.
 
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Forostar said:
Wow, had not expected so much negativity (i.e. underappreciation) about Head On. I think it has enough good (and interesting!) stuff on it, at least to win a round or two. Not against Maiden of course, although this result, against the worst of the worst Maiden had to offer is hard to take serious.
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It might be an unpopular opinion but I prefer it to Shock Tactics.
But the best Samson song is on Shock Tactics: Communion! <3
 
I will take Shock Tactics over Head On any day. You could probably take the best material from both albums to come up with something on Maiden’s level.
 
Forostar said:
The competition element of this game might not be that interesting anymore. Every Maiden album wins the first couple of rounds, then loses or wins from big name albums by other bands. That's it.

That said, I'll stay interested in listening to lesser (non-Maiden) music, appearing here.
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Considering this is Maiden fan site, it’s inevitable. Even if we all have 100 albums we like better than Dance of Dance, it will be rare when those lists intersect 15 times, or enough to win a round.

This part of the game is more about exposure. The competition aspect - where two albums face off that most of us know - won’t really kick in much until the end game.

How far lesser Maiden albums go will really be based a lot on the draw, but I suspect they go a long way.
 
Ah come on, fair enough Head On got a tough draw, but it's a bit much to suggest it's been hard done by being beaten by Maiden, Paschendale alone is light years ahead of it. It's not a classic album, it's a footnote in history that is only remembered now because Bruce went on to bigger and better things.

If we're talking about NWOBHM, by the looks of things, unless it's on one of the magazine lists, then Lightning to the Nations isn't even in the game!
 
I think that without Paschendale and Dance of Death, both Samson and King Diamond would have had a fair chance at winning. It just so happens that DoD has some absolute mammoths even regarding Maiden's discography to carry it. NPftD would lose those match-ups imo, because it doesn't have such pinnacles, but maybe I'm underestimating the bias.
 
Shmoolikipod said:
I think that without Paschendale and Dance of Death, both Samson and King Diamond would have had a fair chance at winning. It just so happens that DoD has some absolute mammoths even regarding Maiden's discography to carry it. NPftD would lose those match-ups imo, because it doesn't have such pinnacles, but maybe I'm underestimating the bias.
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I see the focus on the pinnacles. But what about the lows... the least good songs? E.g. No More Lies, Wildest Dreams, Face in the Sand...
really among the worst this beloved band has ever done. Hard to erase these numbers, they are part of the album.
 
Face in the Sand: a very captivating intro. The problem of this song are the last couple of minutes in which certain parts are repeated too often. The total result is too monotonous, really.

No More Lies......

:yawn:

I find this one not the worst, but certainly the most predictable and unimaginative song Maiden ever did.
The Angel and the Gambler has a more surprising build-up.

- - - - - - -

Dramatis Personae
J: Janick
D: Dave
B: Bruce
A: Adrian
N: Nicko
S: Steve

Notting Hill, London... recordings of Dance of Death, Maiden’s thirteenth studio album…

A, D, J, N and B are having a beer in the bar.

J: Where is Steve?
D: He has it again.
B: What?
D: It is that time again.
A: Huh? What do you mean, Dave?
N: What hoooo! Hahaha!
B (slightly annoyed): Come on Nicko, lay it off for a minute will ya?
A: Yeah, Nicko, stop it, I don’t like this, I want to know what’s going on.
D: Steve is busy in the studio. It will take hours before we see him.
J: Huh… we have done 10 songs.
D: Yes, but he told me has some kind of tradition. On every album he wants to do at least one song by himself.

A sighs, with a worried look on his face.
B orders another beer, and looks kind of agitated.

N: Don’t worry guys, I thought we had agreed that we wouldn’t be bothered by this kind of stuff.
J: Yeah. Maybe it’ll be good!
A: Yeah. Maybe.

The guys decide to drink a few more beers and go to bed.
Next morning, they gather at the breakfast table.

A: Still no Steve.
B: I’ve had it, let’s go to him.
D: Guys ….
N: Let them, Dave, we’ll go with them. Come on, Jan.
J: I am curious too.

With firm footsteps they go to the recording room, finding S with a ghastly face.
He curses the others with the eye.

S: Four times fifty different chord schemes, and I still have no clue what to do.
With heavy fingers, lifeless fingers, my ideas wished they’d die.

S shakes his head, turns his white and sweaty face to D.

S: Dave, I told you to keep them away from me. I don’t want to be interrupted when I am wearing my albatr… eh bass around my neck!
J: So what do you have?
S, while strumming his bass: I only have this freakin’ chord scheme.
A: Hey, that sounds familiar. It reminds me of … ouch!!

Nicko takes his elbow out of Adrian’s ribs.

D: Let me see, if you change this and that a bit, then you have a few variations.
He plays it on his own guitar. S’s face changes dramatically.

S: Wow! That’s what I needed.
B: It still sounds quite the same to me.

S whistles the melodies D just came up with.

S: I need an intro too.
D: No problem, we’ll use your scheme and my variations again. We can use exactly the same chord progression, it will be the same as the couplets. We’ll just freak around with some calm guitars, like we always do. Right Adrian?

A (happy with Paschendale and not in the mood for discussion): Alright.
N: Janick?
J: I guess I will play the last solo again. But OK, you two guys work something out.
S: Alright Dave, come on. The rest: OUT!
N: Can I stay Steve?
S: OK.

Bruce, Janick and Adrian leave, slightly worried about the result.

After an hour they hear loud noise coming from the recording room. They head back to discover that S is engaged in a fistfight with D. N tries to keep them away from each other, catching some blows –with lots of tempo and rhythm changes- in the process.

B: What the fuck is going on here?
D after taking a deep breath: Look… I have helped you with this song Steve, so it’d be fair if I would get a co-credit. If I hadn’t helped you, you still would have this single bloody chord scheme!
S: No. I want to have one song by myself. That’s my tradition.
D: That’s not fair! People will say it’s not true when I tell them I contributed.

The face of S reddens.

S: We won’t tell anyone. This song is mine! When people ask, you guys are bound to tell this story, this tale, wherever you go. To teach this word by my own example. That we must love all things that I made.

J looks puzzled.

B: Do you have lyrics of your own, Steve?
S after some hesitation: Well, that was one other thing I’d like to….
D interrupts: I don’t care. I don’t want this crap anymore. I can’t stand it anymore!
S: What can’t you stand anymore?
D: No more!
S: No more what?
D: No more lies!
 
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