Heard the album... [Thread contains spoilers]

Albie said:
Out of curiosity and a question open to anyone who wants to answer, would you have been happy with Nigel Green at the production desk?

@Anomica: I can see what you mean about the 1 1/2 hour commute - it's your time and time to listen to what you want. But I could never do that longer commute.
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I can't see the problems with production that some people talk about? They've managed to sound almost live, but still good sound. I love the "dirty" sound of the guitars in some of the songs and the overall athmosphere of the album is great. What's the problem here? I can't see it.

Commuting is no fun at all, but it's better than unemployment, let me tell you ;)
 
My one word review: OUTSTANDING.

My multi word opinion: 

I've been into Maiden heavily since '82.  So I'm a long time, deep rooted, opinionated fan.

This album is...  well, wonderful. 

It is, of course, very different to my favorite classic stuff from the '80's...

However, it's everything I'd hoped for.  Sure, it's got the things I've not looked forward to, like slow intros a-plenty.  But, for some reason they work better on this album than on any other.

This is the album that X-Factor should have been.

It's Dark.  It's Heavy.  It's a fully realized opus.

Until now, I've never thought much of Jan as a songwriter, but his tracks are just brilliant. 

The Legacy and The Pilgrim are magical. 

The opening track has been compared to other recent Maiden openers, but Differnt Worlds is far superior, subtle and enjoyable.  It's no where near as 'throw away' as the others.

Production?  Well, I don't think that much of it really.  Why can't they sound as clear and well produced as they did on 7th Son?  Why can't anyone other than Martin Birch record Nicko's drums and Bruce's vocals correctly?

There are, as we've heard on the last 2 studio albums, some bad editing glitches.  The first track suffers from a bad one about 1 minute or so in.  Sloppy editing.  But, the bass guitar sounds great.  The guitars are good too.  Adrian's solo's are just brilliant.  Thank god for him.


So, apart for some sloppy moments, and some vocals that could have been done more carefully... the songs themselves are overall the best things since 7th son.  Better than Somewhere in Time by a long shot.

I like that it's hard to get into.  I got bored with the last two fairly fast, although I did like them.  I feel this album will have more longevity. 

I LOVE THIS ALBUM!

Makes me proud to be a Maiden fan!!!!  :mellow:
 
Welcome aboard, Iron_Chef.  Make more posts like that one, and I think you'll like it here...just don't use the enter key so much ;)

After listening to the album some more, I think that I'm beginning to place it in my mind.  While it is very consistent, I don't feel that it has the unknown factor that make Piece of Mind and Seventh Son so enjoyable.  All the songs are good, and as an album it's brilliant, but the planets weren't right on this one...it just lacks that little something to bump it into the top 3.  I would place it (currently) thus:

1. Seventh Son
2. Somewhere in Time
3. Piece of Mind
4. Brave New World
5. A Matter of Life and Death
6. Powerslave

etc.
 
prowlergrig said:
planets weren't right = they rushed it. imho.
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Well, if the Old Ones can wait a few millenia trapped in another dimension beyond the scope of the human mind, at least Maiden could do the same, eh?
 
Am I the only one thinking that the album is bloody good if you try not hearing bruce's power signing like 1min35 in the longest day ? 2min20 in brighter than a thousand suns... I like his intro vocals like in lod of light, brighter, longest day, but when heavy riffs starts, his vocals are not appropriate (3min lord of light, that's good vocals,4min58 brighter than a thousand suns also, it fits with the guitar, otherwise, he's just somewhere else)

good riffs, good hamonies, nicko is great too, but bruce was definitly better on notb or powerslave, brave new world was excellent dance of death was ok, but this one would be as good as the old albums if bruce decided to sing as he was once doing when maiden where more popular
 
nope, i think bruce delivers a great performance, although he does sound a bit strained in some places.
 
bruce's best maiden performance is on powerslave,rime of the ancient mariner, hallowed, children of the dammed, fear of the dark, most old songs are excellent too, but dance of death was a big drop exept songs like monsegur where he really did something amazing, but this album doesnt make it just because of that
 
seb007 said:
Am I the only one thinking that the album is bloody good if you try not hearing bruce's power signing like 1min35 in the longest day ? 2min20 in brighter than a thousand suns... I like his intro vocals like in lod of light, brighter, longest day, but when heavy riffs starts, his vocals are not appropriate (3min lord of light, that's good vocals,4min58 brighter than a thousand suns also, it fits with the guitar, otherwise, he's just somewhere else)

good riffs, good hamonies, nicko is great too, but bruce was definitly better on notb or powerslave, brave new world was excellent dance of death was ok, but this one would be as good as the old albums if bruce decided to sing as he was once doing when maiden where more popular
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To be fair, Bruce is singing better than in most previous Maiden albums and Maiden have rarely been more popular than nowadays in most parts of the world.  :)
 
Albie said:
Bruce's voice is (obviously) aging and has sounded better - I'll concur here.
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Well, Bruce's voice has got more depth, tone and quality in the later years than in the 80s. I would say that he does not scream as higher as before (probably that's a good thing, seeing the many aspects of his singing that he has improved instead), but is a much better singer nowadays. He also sounds strained in some albums in the 80s and back then he wasn't able to sing live as well as he does now.
 
01. For the Greater Good of God (10/10)
02. Brighter than a Thousand Suns (10/10)
03. The Longest Day (10/10)
04. Out of the Shadows (9.5/10)
05. These Colours don't run (9/10)
06. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (9/10)
07. Different Worlds (8.5/10)
08. The Pilgrim (8/10)
09. Lord of Light (7/10)
10. The Legacy (2/10)
 
Cosmiceddie said:
01. For the Greater Good of God (10/10)
02. Brighter than a Thousand Suns (10/10)
03. The Longest Day (10/10)
04. Out of the Shadows (9.5/10)
05. These Colours don't run (9/10)
06. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (9/10)
07. Different Worlds (8.5/10)
08. The Pilgrim (8/10)
09. Lord of Light (7/10)
10. The Legacy (2/10)
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You don't like 'The Legacy'? :)

'Different World' 9
'These Colours Don't Run' 9
'Brighter Than a Thousand Suns' 10
'The Pilgrim' 9
'The Longest Day' 10
'Out of the Shadows' 9
'The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg' 9
'For the Greater Good of God' 10
'Lord of Light' 10
'The Legacy' 7
 
Here we go:
1.  Different World 9.0
2.  These Colours Don't Run 8.5
3.  Brighter Than A Thousand Suns 10
4.  The Pilgrim 7.0
5.  Out Of The Shadows 7.0
6.  The Longest Day  9.5
7.  The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg 7.0
8.  For The Greater Good Of God  10
9.  Lord Of Light  7.5
10.  The Legacy 10!!!!

All in all a good album,  but I must say that 4 songs (the lowest rated) didn't impress me much.  They're not bad songs,  but I wouldn't care if the album didn't include them.  The Legacy is definetly the best one,  and imo my second favorite ever. 
 
Lazo said:
You don't like 'The Legacy'? :)
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No, I don't like that song at all. I think it just doesn't sound like Maiden at all, not even Bruce sounds like himself there. To me, it's a complete failure, a boring mix of early Genesis and Queensryche as far as the vocal melodies concern. I don't blame them for being experimental, yet they did it way better with 'The Thin Line between Love and Hate' in my view.
 
Probably For the Greater Good of God at the very least.  I think it's a fantastic song but the end does get a bit repetitive and boring at the end.  But then again, The Legacy doesn't even have a chorus...  I wouldn't say there are too many repetitive choruses on the overall album.
 
Maiden's reliance on repeated choruses seems to be due to Steve Harris, as this tendency shows up most strongly in the songs which he writes. It's been getting worse since The X Factor. We all know about the most extreme example, The Angel And The Never-Ending Chorus. But a extraneous repeated final chorus shows up all over the place. The Wicker Man is another example: how many times do they really need to sing "your time will come"?

Not that this is a recent invention. Run To The Hills has a double-chorus at the end, and the chorus in The Prisoner gets longer each time. But in the last 10 to 15 years, it seems Steve has been relying on this crutch more than ever. The songs are still great, but many do push the limits of reasonable repetitiveness.
 
Repetition, eh?


As I lay here lying on my bed, sweet voices come into my head.
Oh what it is, I wanna know, please won't you tell me it's got to go.
There's a feeling that's inside me, telling me to get away.
But I'm so tired of living, I might as well end today.

As I lay here lying on my bed, sweet voices come into my head.
Oh what it is, I wanna know, please won't you tell me it's got to go.
There's a feeling that's inside me, telling me to get away.
But I'm so tired of living, I might as well end today.

As I lay here lying on my bed, sweet voices come into my head.
Oh what it is, I wanna know, please won't you tell me it's got to go.
There's a feeling that's inside me, telling me to get away.
But I'm so tired of living, I might as well end today.

--

'Cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
'Cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on,
If you're gonna try, just stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, if you're gonna die.
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on,
If you're gonna try, just stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, if you're gonna die.
If you're gonna die, if you're gonna die.
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on,
If you're gonna try, just stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, if you're gonna die.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
Maiden's reliance on repeated choruses seems to be due to Steve Harris, as this tendency shows up most strongly in the songs which he writes. It's been getting worse since The X Factor. We all know about the most extreme example, The Angel And The Never-Ending Chorus. But a extraneous repeated final chorus shows up all over the place. The Wicker Man is another example: how many times do they really need to sing "your time will come"?

Not that this is a recent invention. Run To The Hills has a double-chorus at the end, and the chorus in The Prisoner gets longer each time. But in the last 10 to 15 years, it seems Steve has been relying on this crutch more than ever. The songs are still great, but many do push the limits of reasonable repetitiveness.
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Lets not forget Caught Somewhere in Time, Heaven Can Wait, The Evil That Men Do, and just about every song Maiden have done that is hailed as 'classic'.  If you're looking for imaginitive choruses, don't listen to Maiden.  If you want something simple yet effective to belt out in between verses at concerts, then I'll take Fear of the Dark any day! :lol:
 
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