Randalf
Ancient Mariner
I deliberately saved this album for later when I started doing those.. um, scorings or reviews of the Maiden discography (I still suck at giving scores, especially 1-10) and the 40th anniversary sounds like a good timing to finally tackle this one.
So here we go!
Self-titled debut album of the band is widely considered as a pure classic, full of raw energy, hunge with couple of more proggressive, and "sophisticated" pieces thrown in here and there. General consensus for fans, casual listeners and the band members alike seems to be that it's a great album with poor production, and to a large extent, that sums it up rather appropriately.
Guitars sound a bit too brittle, especially given the brisk vibe the guitar work on the album otherwise provides and overall, the album sounds a bit too musty to fully support the power of the music, that nevertheless has such a strong edge that the production alone can never diminish it.
The song selection is a good, varied mix of straightforward, even aggressive "off the streets" rockers like the album opener, Prowler, that in all of it's grittiness might be one of the most anthemic songs ever written about someone rushing "through the bushes - with it open wide!" Just imagine if it was played between 2016-19 and the chances with inflatables that have made their comeback to the stage productions... Packed with strong riffs, clever hooks and a big chorus, Prowler is definitely a great opener for their first studio album. The second song, Remember Tomorrow is much more subtle and cryptic piece of songwriting and along with the other slower track on the album, a brilliant Strange World, one the best vocal performances by Paul Di'Anno. Songs like Running Free and the album closer Iron Maiden are often considered and are definitely renowned as more of a standout live numbers than actual studio recordings, but there is undoubtedly some unique sharpness in these original recordings - which are definitely worth a a listen or two every now and then and they offer and interesting, even charming contrast to the most recent live recordings of the mentioned songs.
Another notable classic is the legendary Phantom of the Opera, which closes the side A of the vinyl in a very appropriate manner, showing what this band is about. While containing some relatively rare elements, such as layered vocal lines, in a Maiden song (and given his way, Dennis Stratton would have elaborated that part much more), the 7-minute "epic" is packed with to-become-signature elements of Steve Harris' songwriting, planting the seeds for songs like Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. While this original studio recording is a brilliant showcase of the pure talent of both, the musicianship of the then current line-up and Steve Harris' astonishing potential when it comes to writing (and borrowing) songs, it's also a song that has been adapted very well by the more recent line-ups, with more beefy guitar work by Adrian Smith and the wonderful sense of theatrics and drama that Bruce Dickinson provided. While I personally find The Number of the Beast as Clive Burrs' best recording stint in the band, his work on the debut is also notable, being a huge part of the sharp and aggressive vibe of it. The instrumental track Transylvania, which is also cleverly placed to open the second half of the album after the enormous Phantom of the Opera, is still considered as their strongest instrumental by many and even the sometimes bashed Charlotte the Harlot has some great hooks, even if it's not quite the highlight and probably benefits from being a part of this record; I wonder if it's status would be different if it was ditched in favor of Sanctuary and thrown in for, say, Killers or as a single b-side.
While the debut album of one the most legendary bands ever is a good one, it also leaves a lot of room to grow, planting some seeds and hints of the glorious future that loomed ahead. While not a flawless record, it's definitely tightly packed and well balanced album full of quality songs played by a hungry band full of "burning ambition" - even if the often mentioned production doesn't quite live up to the material and performance. In all of it's rawness from the sound and song material to the cover art, there's some still some charm in it, that new and old listeners alike can enjoy.
As for the songs, I've never found scoring them that comfortable or easy, but maybe something along these lines:
Prowler - 7-8?
Remember Tomorrow -8.5
Running Free - 8?
Phantom of the Opera 9
Transylvania 8?
Strange World 8
Charlotte the Harlot 7? 6? 8? ehhhhh
Iron Maiden 8
Resulting a solid 7/10 or close to 8/10?
Powerful album with a strong selection of songs, but not entirely fulfilling or magnificent. Leaves some hunger and while it never actually stumbles, it doesn't quite blow you away either.
Previous scores (not sure how appropriate they ended up being, but yeah)
So here we go!
Self-titled debut album of the band is widely considered as a pure classic, full of raw energy, hunge with couple of more proggressive, and "sophisticated" pieces thrown in here and there. General consensus for fans, casual listeners and the band members alike seems to be that it's a great album with poor production, and to a large extent, that sums it up rather appropriately.
Guitars sound a bit too brittle, especially given the brisk vibe the guitar work on the album otherwise provides and overall, the album sounds a bit too musty to fully support the power of the music, that nevertheless has such a strong edge that the production alone can never diminish it.
The song selection is a good, varied mix of straightforward, even aggressive "off the streets" rockers like the album opener, Prowler, that in all of it's grittiness might be one of the most anthemic songs ever written about someone rushing "through the bushes - with it open wide!" Just imagine if it was played between 2016-19 and the chances with inflatables that have made their comeback to the stage productions... Packed with strong riffs, clever hooks and a big chorus, Prowler is definitely a great opener for their first studio album. The second song, Remember Tomorrow is much more subtle and cryptic piece of songwriting and along with the other slower track on the album, a brilliant Strange World, one the best vocal performances by Paul Di'Anno. Songs like Running Free and the album closer Iron Maiden are often considered and are definitely renowned as more of a standout live numbers than actual studio recordings, but there is undoubtedly some unique sharpness in these original recordings - which are definitely worth a a listen or two every now and then and they offer and interesting, even charming contrast to the most recent live recordings of the mentioned songs.
Another notable classic is the legendary Phantom of the Opera, which closes the side A of the vinyl in a very appropriate manner, showing what this band is about. While containing some relatively rare elements, such as layered vocal lines, in a Maiden song (and given his way, Dennis Stratton would have elaborated that part much more), the 7-minute "epic" is packed with to-become-signature elements of Steve Harris' songwriting, planting the seeds for songs like Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. While this original studio recording is a brilliant showcase of the pure talent of both, the musicianship of the then current line-up and Steve Harris' astonishing potential when it comes to writing (and borrowing) songs, it's also a song that has been adapted very well by the more recent line-ups, with more beefy guitar work by Adrian Smith and the wonderful sense of theatrics and drama that Bruce Dickinson provided. While I personally find The Number of the Beast as Clive Burrs' best recording stint in the band, his work on the debut is also notable, being a huge part of the sharp and aggressive vibe of it. The instrumental track Transylvania, which is also cleverly placed to open the second half of the album after the enormous Phantom of the Opera, is still considered as their strongest instrumental by many and even the sometimes bashed Charlotte the Harlot has some great hooks, even if it's not quite the highlight and probably benefits from being a part of this record; I wonder if it's status would be different if it was ditched in favor of Sanctuary and thrown in for, say, Killers or as a single b-side.
While the debut album of one the most legendary bands ever is a good one, it also leaves a lot of room to grow, planting some seeds and hints of the glorious future that loomed ahead. While not a flawless record, it's definitely tightly packed and well balanced album full of quality songs played by a hungry band full of "burning ambition" - even if the often mentioned production doesn't quite live up to the material and performance. In all of it's rawness from the sound and song material to the cover art, there's some still some charm in it, that new and old listeners alike can enjoy.
As for the songs, I've never found scoring them that comfortable or easy, but maybe something along these lines:
Prowler - 7-8?
Remember Tomorrow -8.5
Running Free - 8?
Phantom of the Opera 9
Transylvania 8?
Strange World 8
Charlotte the Harlot 7? 6? 8? ehhhhh
Iron Maiden 8
Resulting a solid 7/10 or close to 8/10?
Powerful album with a strong selection of songs, but not entirely fulfilling or magnificent. Leaves some hunger and while it never actually stumbles, it doesn't quite blow you away either.
Previous scores (not sure how appropriate they ended up being, but yeah)
Randalf said:Killers: around 7.5
The Number of the Beast: around 8
Piece of Mind: around 9 or even above?
Powerslave: Another 9? I just hate 1-10 and how hard it is to properly score these.
Somewhere in Time: 9 (A BLASPHEMY?)
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: 10
