Have you ever fundamentally changed your opinion on any Maiden album over a span of years?

[InfiniteDreamer544]

To my ears, this shines quite a critical spotlight on tracks like Death or Glory or Speed of Light or Days of Future Past (the latter pair which I like, the former I don't), which I think Bruce and H are specifically composing to balance out the recent albums.

Precisely, I feel that those recent short rockers are very forced. Even if they are considered “fast”, they in fact are not. The faster tempos still feel very slow to me. Even in songs like The Parchment, the faster part in the end is just not quite fast enough in my opinion. Even 5 more bpms would make a huge difference. Same goes for DoG, SoL, DoFP, Stratego etc.

I get it though, they are aging gracefully and those types of songs might not come as naturally as they used to. I’m just nitpicking my favorite band because I can. I will say though that When the River Runs Deep is a great modern “short” fast rocker from the boys.

 

[Kalata]

Too true, but I can definitely feel the pacing drop off naturally. Especially recently. I don't think tracks like Senjutsu or most of Parchment or a great deal of Empire of the Clouds would have been written in the first decade of the reunion era. It is a matter of taste, but I don't think they sound 'majestic', I think they too often sound plodding.

Can't argue with that, I agree that Maiden need more energetic material now, but we also have to consider the structure and ideas of the songs.
TBOS is a faster album than SJ (which is the most mid-tempo from all). But it's not like the first 3 Reunion albums, which are full of energy are without mid-tempo parts. Or TFF album. Plodding comes from the length, but I don't have such an issue when there are different and interesting stuff. Ofc, I like fast stuff too, but not everything needs to be fast.

To my ears, this shines quite a critical spotlight on tracks like Death or Glory or Speed of Light or Days of Future Past (the latter pair which I like, the former I don't), which I think Bruce and H are specifically composing to balance out the recent albums.

They for sure compose them to balance out the recent albums, but these songs are fast enough, at least to me. Plus they always record a little slower and play them a little faster live. Could they have been faster in the studio? Yeah, for sure. Age always plays a role and they just have/had natural pace in the studio.

Precisely, I feel that those recent short rockers are very forced. Even if they are considered “fast”, they in fact are not. The faster tempos still feel very slow to me. Even in songs like The Parchment, the faster part in the end is just not quite fast enough in my opinion. Even 5 more bpms would make a huge difference. Same goes for DoG, SoL, DoFP, Stratego etc.
I get it though, they are aging gracefully and those types of songs might not come as naturally as they used to. I’m just nitpicking my favorite band because I can. I will say though that When the River Runs Deep is a great modern “short” fast rocker from the boys.

They're not as fast as a fast short rocker from 2003 or earlier (good call with River, although the chorus is slow), but very slow? I think very forced would be if they try to record them as fast as possible like the good old days. Maiden changed their approach in 1995, other classic bands like Priest or Saxon are different, but the former's style wasn't always fast rockers since the beginning.

 

[Helmuth Von Moltke]

Precisely, I feel that those recent short rockers are very forced. Even if they are considered “fast”, they in fact are not. The faster tempos still feel very slow to me. Even in songs like The Parchment, the faster part in the end is just not quite fast enough in my opinion. Even 5 more bpms would make a huge difference. Same goes for DoG, SoL, DoFP, Stratego etc.

I get it though, they are aging gracefully and those types of songs might not come as naturally as they used to. I’m just nitpicking my favorite band because I can. I will say though that When the River Runs Deep is a great modern “short” fast rocker from the boys.

I agree with every word of this, I've noticed this too.

I also have a sweet spot for River Runs Deep! Just a great track to flow from Red and Black to Book Of Souls (that 3 track run is my favourite 30 minutes of the whole album, as high quality as I'd hope from latter day Maiden).

For me, Smith/Harris and Gers/Harris is sometimes better than Smith/Dickinson when it comes to the last two albums. I wonder why Gers/Dickinson has basically vanished?? (Alchemist is the only recent Gers/Dickinson/Harris I can find...)

 

[Kalata]

For me, Smith/Harris and Gers/Harris is sometimes better than Smith/Dickinson when it comes to the last two albums. I wonder why Gers/Dickinson has basically vanished?? (Alchemist is the only recent Gers/Dickinson/Harris I can find...)

I wonder too, Bruce and Janick are an interesting combo and can come up with faster and shorter rockers, but I guess Bruce writes easily/faster/best with Adrian, while Janick and Steve have great chemistry. Bruce and Adrian and Janick and Steve are essential combos. Bruce and Steve also come up with interesting and different stuff. You can't go wrong with the combos for songwriting. The songwriting teams changed in 2006 and then again in 2015.

Songs written by Bruce and Janick (plus some with Steve): Be Quick Or Be Dead, Wasting Love, Fear Is The Key, Ghost Of The Navigator, Out Of The Silent Planet, Montsegur, Gates Of Tomorrow and The Alchemist. Very strong material.

 

[srfc]

Think Bruce just shows up to the studio and goes "who needs words?", and Steve has already been working with Janick at that stage.

 

[GhostofCain]

I agree and would add that over time, I've come to believe the first 3 reunion albums are better than the more recent 3

BNW, DOD and AMOLAD all have more spark and energy. Probably because the band was only aged 42 --> mid 50s in that time as one factor

No shame in ageing and tastes changing of course, but I feel from TFF onwards (as the band approached their 60s) there's more plodding in the tempos and songwriting. Short/faster songs now sound forced (eg. Death or Glory, very mediocre to my ears).

I still love TFF (2nd half mainly), most of BOS and SJ. But the runtimes are bloated and I find BOS in particular drop in my rankings in the decade (almost!) since it came out.

I agree with you on most counts, the exception being Death or Glory. Great song if you ask me.

The plodding nature of some of Maiden's recent longueurs make the last couple of albums much less attractive than what came before them post-reunion. A Matter of Life and Death is still, to me, the pinnacle of modern Maiden.

 

[Helmuth Von Moltke]

I wonder too, Bruce and Janick are an interesting combo and can come up with faster and shorter rockers, but I guess Bruce writes easily/faster/best with Adrian, while Janick and Steve have great chemistry. Bruce and Adrian and Janick and Steve are essential combos. Bruce and Steve also come up with interesting and different stuff. You can't go wrong with the combos for songwriting. The songwriting teams changed in 2006 and then again in 2015.

Songs written by Bruce and Janick (plus some with Steve): Be Quick Or Be Dead, Wasting Love, Fear Is The Key, Ghost Of The Navigator, Out Of The Silent Planet, Montsegur, Gates Of Tomorrow and The Alchemist. Very strong material.

Yes, and I slightly get the impression Bruce and Janick don't quite have the same chemistry these days they had in the 90s.

I'm sure they are still perfectly good mates, but they clearly haven't grown together as songwriters.