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

So the first one is difficult for me. Two albums that are 50% grandeur and 50% filler each. I'm gonna go for Rising because it's Dio man, but I'm not happy about either album being in the semifinals.

Second match up is worthy of the semifinals. Two amazing, virtually flawless albums that are on one level. It's a tough choice, but in a good way this time. I can't say which of the two albums is better, so all I can do is either flip a coin or go with my Maiden bias. So I'll go with Seventh Son,but if it lost I'd be content to see it lost against a worthy opponent.
 
''Rime Of The Ancient Mariner'' vs ''Stargazer'' is battle of giants, but I like the other classics in Powerslave more than the other two big classics in Rising. Rainbow's album is shorter, but I think Maiden's album is better as a whole piece too - it has other great songs beyond the first two and the last two songs. I think this is the first time in which I vote against Rising, but Powerslave is one of Maiden's very best albums!

All songs in Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son are great, while Ride The Lightning has a few weak songs imo.
 
So we reach the semi's. There were some insanely good and popular albums that were previously eliminated but when it comes to an album I think to be the most representative of the whole Heavy Metal genre I undoubtedly go with Priest's Painkiller. And I truly think it would've been the fair winner. Not that there aren't other records I can somehow understand people consider to be as great or even slightly greater than Painkiller up there. But if I had to pick a single insanely great record that best defines the whole genre there's no doubt what would be my pick. Then there are other albums that were eliminated far sooner than I expected... Black Sabbath's Paranoid, Maiden's NOTB, POM and SIT, Metallica's Master Of Puppets, Slayer's Reign In Blood, Megadeth's Rust In Peace or Motorhead's Overkill. I haven't even nominated some of these records yet come on... I think they lasted way too little time in this game for their quality. But in the end this is a Maiden forum after all and the final clash was unavoidable.
As for my vote: regardless of a Maiden vs Maiden final being quite dull, when I look at these 4 albums there are only two that IMO fill the GMAOAT requisites: Seventh Son and Powerslave. So yeah. Maiden.
 
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I voted for Powerslave and RTL. Seventh Son is a great fantastic, close to flawless album - I just never found it to be one of the best albums ever made, and definitely not toe to toe with RTL.
 
Perun said:
Powerslave is probably going to end up winning the whole game, and it isn't even the best album of this particular lineup. More like the fourth best.
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5th best if you count Live After Death.

Edit : you probably meant GMAC by lineup and not Harris-Murray-Smith-Dickinson-McBrain
 
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Zare said:
5th best if you count Live After Death.

Edit : you probably meant GMAC by lineup and not Harris-Murray-Smith-Dickinson-McBrain
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Nah, I'm fairly certain he was referring to the band lineup.

That brings up an interesting point though. That means, by process of elimination, one of either The Number of the Beast, or Somewhere in Time (or possibly both!? :eek:) has to be ranked above Powerslave. I'm curious as to which one, and why.
 
I meant the band lineup and the studio albums.


Lampwick 43 said:
That brings up an interesting point though. That means, by process of elimination, one of either The Number of the Beast, or Somewhere in Time (or possibly both!? :eek:) has to be ranked above Powerslave. I'm curious as to which one, and why.
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Now go back and think about why this is wrong.
 
RainbowRainbowRising.jpg

Rainbow - Rising (1976)

How it got here
List entries: Rolling Stone 48, Loudwire 20, Metalstorm 6, DigitalDreamDoor 17
Maidenfans Nominators: @Cornfed Hick, @Midnight, @MrKnickerbocker, @Niall Kielt, @Poto, @Shmoolikipod, @srfc, @The Dissident, @Yax
Previous Rounds:
League 1: Defeated Alter Bridge - Blackbird 31-3.
Round of 32: Defeated Judas Priest - Sin After Sin 22-11.
Round of 16: Defeated Judas Priest - Stained Class 20-11.
Quarter-Finals: Defeated Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny 24-8.
Semi-Finals: Lost to Iron Maiden - Powerslave 23-9.
Third Place Matchvs.
Ridetl.png

Metallica - Ride the Lightning (1984)

How it got here
List entries: Rolling Stone 11, Loudwire 8, Metal Rules 3, DigitalDreamDoor 6, Metal Kingdom 7
Maidenfans Nominators: @Ariana, @Cornfed Hick, @Dr Eddie’s Wingman, @Jer, @LooseCannon, @Midnight, @Perun, @Poto, @The Flash, @Whooten, @Yax
Previous Rounds:
League 1: Defeated Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls 29-9.
Round of 32: Defeated Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time 19(ET)-19.
Round of 16: Defeated Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death 17-16.
Quarter-Finals: Defeated Judas Priest - Painkiller 18-16.
Semi-Finals: Lost to Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son 23-9.
 
And now a short break before we conclude, as we have our only "losers" match of the tournament, to determine third place, as is traditional. Or perhaps as I just decided, because I like it that way.

Who knows! Who cares! We're almost done the GMAC and I will admit to a certain delight in getting us almost to the finish line!
 
I vote for Rising. Starstruck, Run with the Wolf and Do You Close Your Eyes are stronger than Escape. Trapped Under Ice and Fight Fire with Fire. The rest of the tracks on both albums are of a similar quality.
 
Both albums have three absolute classics, but the remaining songs in Ride The Lightning are better than the remaining ones in Rising.
 
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