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

I forgot to vote! That might not be a bad thing, though, since I couldn't decide in the first matchup.
I would have voted for Sad Wings of Destiny in the second one.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
It's more of the combination of the two. The overrepresentation of certain bands, the popular opinion stacked against others... some predictable "general knowledge" in what albums are worthy and which are not. That kinda stuff.
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I think this is what to expect from this kind of crowd. Maiden is, to most of us, in our top tier of bands. It's fairly reasonable to have similar type of bands occupy the sphere around, like Priest, Dio, Helloween etc - Popular albums by popular bands tend to have a large following as well. If this game was played on a more general Metal type of forum, the outcome would likely be different.
 
It's not an universal point though, because not everyone seems to hear the same things in music.

Personally, I would never ever put Heloween and Maiden in the same sentence, nor I think that JP and Dio are musically close matches for Maiden. Things do get comfortable once you hear these guys sing, because Halford and Dio are in the same godlike domain of HM vocalists that Bruce resides in, they're superb lyricists too, but music only? It's a far match.

I judge music not only by the sonic footprint but also by the feels and vibes it produces upon me. Some genres bring certain vibes with them. I mean you're not going to listen to fusion if you want aggressively powerful vibes, you'll probably head to something metal there. I don't classify those feels, I don't have name for them. I do not get same vibes off Maiden and Priest. I get largely the same vibes that I get with Maiden while listening to two Death's final albums.

The error might be in me, I might see Maiden as a heavier affair than they really are. Eye of the beholder. Ear of an elephant? But that massive, heavy, playful, naturally distorted bottom end is nowhere to be found in those bands that someone presumes I should like as a Maiden fan?

 
As for the rest. Yep, I agree - I'm also getting very different vibes from Maiden vs. Priest, for example.

But these things are very hard to quantify, to put into words. I accept that for many people these bands are stylistically similar, although I wouldn't necessarily see it that way.

I search in metal for a Romantic expression in that old meaning of the word. A narrative greater than the world. I do get that from Maiden and not from Priest and I do get that from Blind Guardian or Rhapsody and not from Helloween. And I do get that from Dio, but it rubs me the wrong way.

But it's not just that. Also, some things depend on the context.
For example - guitar riffs. I have stressed the beauty of early Sabbath or Opeth and how awesome guitar riffs they produce(d). You might say that is an important part of the metal expression.
However there are only about 3-4 riffs by Maiden I actually remember. And I don't mind, although otherwise that would be something that I would search for in metal. Something that JP maybe surpass them.


Zare said:
But that massive, heavy, playful, naturally distorted bottom end is nowhere to be found in those bands that someone presumes I should like as a Maiden fan?
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I agree, to me one of the differences is also in the rhythm section - unlike JP, Maiden have this juicy, fat bottom with Nicko being this less musically proficient version of Bruford and Harris being, well... Harris.

But also Maiden have an absurdly great melodic talent, evident even in their weaker tracks. Yep, it's a conventional melodic talent, bordering sometimes on cliché, but it is there in a much stronger presence. With other bands you take for granted you get songs like Gypsy or Steeler or YDHTBOTBW or something - these might have the groove and the energy, but they are very unmemorable. And the really memorable high points are the highlights of the album (Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, Breaking the Law etc.). With Maiden, this memorability and melodic expression (both in choruses and in the instrumental parts) are the standard.

New Frontier might be Maiden by numbers, but it's more memorable and musically uplifting than many metal bands album highlights.
 
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Holy Diver is out?

C81C1937-DE2F-4242-BAE8-AAB2CD114566.gif

Out of all the “classic” metal albums that don’t deserve to advance, you guys kick out the one that does.

Every time I look at you, I just don’t understand
Why you let great albums get overshadowed by the bland
You’d have managed better if you liked turkey instead of ham
Why’s your taste so backwards, you’ve got such uninteresting jams
If we could start again, it would just be the same situation
You all really need an ear castration

Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong

I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Your tastes in music just don’t suffice
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
I just wish that I could understand
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
Why is the outcome always a sham?

Tell me what you think about the albums at the top
Why do you think these records are the pick of the crop?
Priest, are they where it’s at? Is that where you are?
Can Black Sabbath change your life, make you see the stars?
Did Blackwater need to die like that? Was that a damn joke, or
Don’t you know that Holy Diver is heads above Keeper?

Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong

I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Your tastes in music just don’t suffice
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
I just wish that I could understand
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
Every vote you cast is a fucking sham
 
Most upsetting is that Holy Diver lost because people just DIDN’T vote. Insane. Make up your mind and vote, y’all. Now we have a Helloween album still in the game and one of the most iconic albums ever is gone

JudasMyGuide said:
And sure, Breaking the Law, Rapid Fire, Living After Midnight and the unjustly forgotten The Rage are all great. I just wish they'd make a one superior album out of pretty much every two albums they ever put out.
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I feel the exact same way. Painkiller, Firepower, and Screaming for Vengeance are all solid and consistent albums all the way through, but that’s about it. A good majority of the Priest discography is listening to albums that are 50-65% good-to-great and the rest is either pure filler or actually bad.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Holy Diver is out?

View attachment 14378

Out of all the “classic” metal albums that don’t deserve to advance, you guys kick out the one that does.

Every time I look at you, I just don’t understand
Why you let great albums get overshadowed by the bland
You’d have managed better if you liked turkey instead of ham
Why’s your taste so backwards, you’ve got such uninteresting jams
If we could start again, it would just be the same situation
You all really need an ear castration

Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong

I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Your tastes in music just don’t suffice
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
I just wish that I could understand
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
Why is the outcome always a sham?

Tell me what you think about the albums at the top
Why do you think these records are the pick of the crop?
Priest, are they where it’s at? Is that where you are?
Can Black Sabbath change your life, make you see the stars?
Did Blackwater need to die like that? Was that a damn joke, or
Don’t you know that Holy Diver is heads above Keeper?

Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong
Don’t you get me wrong

I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know
I only wanna know

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Your tastes in music just don’t suffice
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
I just wish that I could understand
Jesus Christ, MaidenFans
Every vote you cast is a fucking sham
Click to expand...

Dunno, at first I thought you mean


But no, that's just the first line

This?


Nah, the rhythm is (kinda) right, but it's not it.


Whatever, why tf am I trying to get into rantings and ravings by someone who has Dio on his brain? :ninja:
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Most upsetting is that Holy Diver lost because people just DIDN’T vote. Insane. Make up your mind and vote, y’all. Now we have a Helloween album still in the game and one of the most iconic albums ever is gone
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If I had voted (I forgot), it would probably have been for Keeper Pt. 2. I couldn't decide between the two albums, and we already have better Dio in the next league thanks to Rising.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Most upsetting is that Holy Diver lost because people just DIDN’T vote. Insane. Make up your mind and vote, y’all. Now we have a Helloween album still in the game and one of the most iconic albums ever is gone


I feel the exact same way. Painkiller, Firepower, and Screaming for Vengeance are all solid and consistent albums all the way through, but that’s about it. A good majority of the Priest discography is listening to albums that are 50-65% good-to-great and the rest is either pure filler or actually bad.
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Keeper of the Seven Keys 2 is also iconic.
 
I’m not *upset* that Helloween beat Holy Diver, no one should be, it’s just a game. I do think it’s funny, sort of in a “kids say the darndest things” way. Or like the Darwin Awards. Heck, a lot of people still voted for Trump in 2020. As Jim Morrison once sang, “people are strange.”
 
Zare said:
The error might be in me, I might see Maiden as a heavier affair than they really are. Eye of the beholder. Ear of an elephant? But that massive, heavy, playful, naturally distorted bottom end is nowhere to be found in those bands that someone presumes I should like as a Maiden fan?
Click to expand...
I think there are a lot of differences, especially from a micro perspective, and Maiden and say Priest have fundamentally different influences. Both are genre labelled as "Heavy Metal" for a reason (although let's not pay genre labelling too much attention. Nothing gets me more annoyed than endless debates on what is better categorized as what). On macro level though, I'm pretty sure I could play "I Want Out" or "Future World" to my dad and tell him it's either Queensryche or Iron Maiden and he would probably believe it (dad isn't unfamiliar with Metal either).

Allow me to rephrase. If a person likes Maiden it isn't surprising if the person also likes bands that are assigned the same or closely related genre description - Especially if they are roughly of the same era.
 
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JudasMyGuide said:
Shhh, the Americans (Cornfed, Knicks, Diz11) are really proud to have someone important for metal for once as well in Dio, don't rain on their parade... :ninja:
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This is genuinely just a me thing, but when I think of Dio I actually associate him more with Britain and Europe than I do with America? Like he doesn’t seem American to me despite *being* American. Maybe that’s because he played with two British bands (Rainbow, Black Sabbath) or because his imagery is completely different from the America that I know of.
 
I was (mostly) just kidding, but nah, I get American vibes from him. Don't ask me to specify how or why, but there's something like that to him.

But then again, I always said that The Stones feel quintessentially American to me (though they're not). And they're one of my fave bands ever, so it's not like it's a bad thing.

However it is funny how his popularity nears hysteria once you get left of the Atlantic, at least on this very forum :p
 
Diesel 11 said:
This is genuinely just a me thing, but when I think of Dio I actually associate him more with Britain and Europe than I do with America? Like he doesn’t seem American to me despite *being* American. Maybe that’s because he played with two British bands (Rainbow, Black Sabbath) or because his imagery is completely different from the America that I know of.
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You're not alone - I assumed he was British until I looked him up on Wikipedia.
 
I think we have to call Dio losing to Helloween as an upset. The iconic singer's solo work is now done.
I also think Judas Priest over Black Sabbath's self-titled is an upset of sorts, though not of the same magnitude.

Regardless.

Round of 16 Matchup Set:
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. II vs. Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
 
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