IRON MAIDEN ALBUM RANKING: TOP THREE REVEALED

Mosh

Mosh

PM me your Opeth album rankings!
Staff member
Hello! To coincide with the end of the Iron Maiden survivor, I am going to be hosting an Iron Maiden countdown. The game will act as a sort of hybrid of a discography discussion and a survivor, as there won't be an actual poll but the results will be decided by the Maidenfans members.

Here's how it works:

1: Each user will submit their rankings of the 17 Iron Maiden studio albums to me via PM. The #1 album will receive 17 points, and #2 will receive 16, all the way down to #17 which will receive 1 point.

2: I will tally up the results and create a forum-wide ranking.

3: I will reveal the results one album at a time, starting at #17. This will be a more discussion based affair, since there will be no voting at this point.

So if you would like to participate, PM me your Iron Maiden ranking from #1 (best) to #17 (worst). Any lists that ignore this format or don't include every Iron Maiden studio album will be ignored! Any comments to this post with rankings will also be ignored, they must be sent via PM! You have until the end of the Iron Maiden survivor. This could be a couple weeks or a couple years from now, but I encourage you to send your lists sooner than later. I will do a "last call" when it's about to wrap up.


Just to be clear, the Iron Maiden albums are as follows:

Iron Maiden
Killers
The Number of the Beast
Piece of Mind
Powerslave
Somewhere in Time
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
No Prayer for the Dying
Fear of the Dark
The X Factor
Virtual XI
Brave New World
Dance of Death
A Matter of Life and Death
The Final Frontier
The Book of Souls
Senjutsu
 
Hello everybody! The numbers have been crunched and it is time to reveal the results of the Maiden album ranking! I will try to run this in conjunction with the albums survivor, i.e. each ranking will be revealed after the conclusion of a round in that game. With that being said, there are some ties so we will probably run ahead of the survivor unless there are ties over there as well. It will be fun to compare and contrast as I expect results will differ quite significantly between the two.

Before we get to the results, a special thanks to all who participated:
@Jer
@JudasMyGuide
@DJ James
@DJMayes
@Kalata
@Mosh
@LooseCannon
@Diesel 11
@The Dissident
@Stardust
@Poto
@MrKnickerbocker
@Trevoire
@Lego
@KidInTheDark666
@Vaenyr
@Night Prowler
@Spambot
@The Mid-Distance Runner
@MindRuler
@KiDDo
@Cosmiceddie
@Confeos
@____no5
@Shavasku

Also, if you're in the prediction business, here are some mystery statistics that will be revealed as we go:

1 - Two ties in the game, can you guess which albums and where they were placed?

2 - As you might guess, if an album was ranked #1 by one members, chances are several other members ranked it #1 as well, same with albums ranked last. Similarly, usually albums that were ranked #1 by someone were rarely ranked #17 on other lists and vice versa.

There was ONE album that was at least one member's #1 AND at least one member's #17. Which one was it?

3 - On a related note, almost every album was ranked #1 or #17 at some point.

There were THREE albums that never received a #1 ranking or a #17 ranking. Which ones were they?

I intend on doing this game again with a different band after this one has concluded. If you can guess any of the above correctly, you will get a say in which band we do next (subject to my own discretion)! Post your guesses in the comments, don't look at others' answers - if multiple people guess correctly I'll figure it out on my end. No more guessing after this round, so get them in now!

OK. Without further adieu, here is our first reveal:

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17: NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING

Highest score: 9 points (@Vaenyr)
Lowest score: 1 point (@LooseCannon @Confeos @Shavasku )

Right off the bat we have a different result from NP's album survivor, where Virtual XI came in last. It's interesting because I think there are probably more Virtual XI defenders on the board and empirically No Prayer may be the least popular Maiden album. It has probably had the lowest amount of representation on Maiden's setlists and contains no songs that are frequently ranked highly by fans. IMO what ends up happening is that No Prayer and Fear of the Dark are comparatively weak albums, so those who aren't fans of the early 90s in general (most fans) split their votes between No Prayer and Fear - it seems most people still have a strong preference for one over the other more often than not. On the other hand, the Blaze era has a large number of both supporters and detractors, yet it is almost universally agreed that X Factor is the much stronger record.

As a result, in poll based contests there's more coalescing around Virtual XI as a weaker album. In this setting, where we're scoring points and not ranking based on votes, it makes sense that very few members want to allot their points toward No Prayer. As you can see by the highest score, nobody scored No Prayer in the double digits and several only scored it one point. Most rankings had it in the lower end, while other low-ranking albums had a much wider spread.

Personally even though I have a soft spot for No Prayer (I think it is much stronger than Fear of the Dark and Virtual XI), I still don't consider it a particularly great album. Its consistently enjoyable to me, but I don't really have any songs that I frequently go back to. Other albums have lower lows, but also higher highs as well. So the placement makes sense to me even though I wouldn't have gone that way personally.
 
As for NPFTD, I think that it being the lowest Maiden album is acceptable because unlike any other Maiden albums, there are no real standouts. It's a pretty consistent album and I like it for that reason, but there are a couple songs that definitely bring it down and none that fully bring it up. "Tailgunner" is the closest it gets to a great track. Every other album has something that's considered an actual classic.

Okay now that that's out of the way where the fuck is Kille
 
I’ve always felt like NPFTD wound up a little underrated because it was such a big step down from SSOASS, yet also tried to recycle some of that album’s parts (“Fates Warning” borrows a lot from “The Clairvoyant” and “Mother Russia” borrows a lot from “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son”, for example). And yes, it doesn’t have any excellent tracks on it, and Bruce’s vocals are often raspy in a way that feels fake and doesn’t sound good.

But despite all that, I do think there’s a trio of great songs on there (“Tailgunner”, “Fates Warning”, and “Run Silent Run Deep”), and most of the rest of the tracks are solidly good, with only “The Assassin” and “Hooks In You” falling short of that mark. I also think that Janick’s guitar performance on this album is the most focused and enjoyable of his entire tenure with the band, when considering the album as a whole. So in my estimation NPFTD is a middle of the road Maiden album — no more and no less.
 
(I won't be participating in the guessing game, since I'm usually terrible at it, but
Mosh said:
There was ONE album that was at least one member's #1 AND at least one member's #17. Which one was it?
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my guess would be The X Factor).


While in the album survivor I'm voting against TNOTB first (along with the Di'Anno albums), it's mostly because of its hype and overpresence and oversaturation and overplaying and possibly some other "overs" as well, along with me tying to troll the "PlayClassics" crowd that's aggressively hating on TXF; in the ranking, I had it actually higher than NPFTD. Indeed, I'm checking the list right now and I had NPFTD as the worst non-Di'Anno album and that sounds about right. It's really a mediocre and pedestrian album, if anything.

Tailgunner has absolutely uninteresting verses and terrible chorus that doesn't fit at all and brings to mind the chorus to Invaders; Holy Smoke starts out fine, but absolutely loses me with Bruce sounding utterly atrocious on the non-melody of the chorus (and while I hate televangelists, I don't feel like it's an appropriate topic for Maiden - sounds a bit too mundane and ripped from the headlines); the same topicality feels just as misplaced with PENO, which is otherwise a good song with a terrible title; Run Silent Run Deep I've learned to not hate as much over time, but the verses are an example of Bruce's histrionics done wrong - I get almost irrationally angry when I hear the "on the way down to Davy Jooooooneesssssss" line - and the chorus doesn't really save it, it's such a dreary track that feels incredibly overlong for a 4 and a half minute song; Daughter-Slaughter is a cool track in that "old-school" style, though the title is terrible and it doesn't really fit Maiden nor this album in particular; Hooks in You is an attempt at writing a catchy crowd pleaser, but the song is just as lacklustre as everything here, it has a chorus that would want to be catchy, but is not only deficient on its own, it's also self-conscious about it and has this "chorus envy". A chorus incel, if you please.
And the lesser is said about The Arsearsein, the better, it is not only much worse than any other Assassin song, especially Marillion's Assassing, but also worse than even the worst Assassin's Creed games. In fact, I'd rather watch the ass-to-ass scene in Requiem for a Dream than listening to this - yet another example of a chorus totally out of whack trying to make this dying dog of a song somehow interesting.

Mother Russia feels like they thought to themselves "hey, we should do a 'closing epic'" and they ... kinda did so? It's annoying as all hell, next to their proper epic tracks, it sounds really inane, and just like the rest of the album, it's boring to an almost ridiculous degree. And considering the current geo-political situation, I'm not all that inclined to go playing this particular track as well.

The only good songs are the title track - which I love very much - and Fates Warning. These two are not only salvageable, but also pretty damn great. However, they should have been released as a single. Or maybe as a part of FOTD, scratching one or two of the lesser tracks in the process.

In general, it's a murky, muddy album. Most of it sounds like Maiden trying to not do anything that would smell even a little bit of SSOASS, because 'Muricans no longer listen to music like that and the result is the aural represenation of mediocrity. Most of all, it is Maiden leaning into their weaknesses. I had this feeling ever since I first put it on and Tailgunner started to play, I don't know how many years later I feel the same.
 
Mosh said:
1 - Two ties in the game, can you guess which albums and where they were placed?
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BNW and SIT. Places, idk - in Top 5 or Top 3.
Mosh said:
There was ONE album that was at least one member's #1 AND at least one member's #17. Which one was it?
Click to expand...
VXI for sure.
Mosh said:
There were THREE albums that never received a #1 ranking or a #17 ranking. Which ones were they?
Click to expand...
IM, TFF and Senjutsu.
 
Mosh said:
Right off the bat we have a different result from NP's album survivor, where Virtual XI came in last. It's interesting because I think there are probably more Virtual XI defenders on the board and empirically No Prayer may be the least popular Maiden album. It has probably had the lowest amount of representation on Maiden's setlists and contains no songs that are frequently ranked highly by fans. IMO what ends up happening is that No Prayer and Fear of the Dark are comparatively weak albums, so those who aren't fans of the early 90s in general (most fans) split their votes between No Prayer and Fear - it seems most people still have a strong preference for one over the other more often than not. On the other hand, the Blaze era has a large number of both supporters and detractors, yet it is almost universally agreed that X Factor is the much stronger record.

Personally even though I have a soft spot for No Prayer (I think it is much stronger than Fear of the Dark and Virtual XI), I still don't consider it a particularly great album. Its consistently enjoyable to me, but I don't really have any songs that I frequently go back to. Other albums have lower lows, but also higher highs as well. So the placement makes sense to me even though I wouldn't have gone that way personally.
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I like VXI more (better production, better songs), although I think NPFTD is a consistent album and the songs are almost on the same level. I think all but 3 songs are good/very good and the album is enjoyable (some great ideas, melodies, parts and solos). FOTD is better and it's one of my favorite albums. I've said this before but for me NPFTD lacks long/er songs and some songs have not so good choruses. Overall, a good Maiden album, but not a strong/the right ''move'' by the band. I like it, but I understand why it is ranked at the bottom of the band's (overall strong) discography.
Diesel 11 said:
As for NPFTD, I think that it being the lowest Maiden album is acceptable because unlike any other Maiden albums, there are no real standouts.
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The title track? I can even add Bring Your Daughter.
Jer said:
I’ve always felt like NPFTD wound up a little underrated because it was such a big step down from SSOASS, yet also tried to recycle some of that album’s parts (“Fates Warning” borrows a lot from “The Clairvoyant” and “Mother Russia” borrows a lot from “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son”, for example). And yes, it doesn’t have any excellent tracks on it, and Bruce’s vocals are often raspy in a way that feels fake and doesn’t sound good.

But despite all that, I do think there’s a trio of great songs on there (“Tailgunner”, “Fates Warning”, and “Run Silent Run Deep”), and most of the rest of the tracks are solidly good, with only “The Assassin” and “Hooks In You” falling short of that mark. I also think that Janick’s guitar performance on this album is the most focused and enjoyable of his entire tenure with the band, when considering the album as a whole. So in my estimation NPFTD is a middle of the road Maiden album — no more and no less.
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Agreed about the underrated part, solidly good and Janick's solos. Bruce's raspy vocals never bothered me. I think they fit, especially on some songs and this era of the band (90-92).
 
Considering a slight fondness I cultivated very recently for NPFTD, I feel bad for it :p

I mean, its no Powerslave but has some really cool songs, you even have the title track and Mother Russia for the epic feel. But I get it, the real culprit here is that "home-made" production (Drums in the kitchen, Guitars in the lawn) sound which lets it down a bit.
 
Mosh said:
There was ONE album that was at least one member's #1 AND at least one member's #17. Which one was it?
Click to expand...
Diesel 11 said:
Surely Virtual XI, because @Vaenyr . :p
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MindRuler said:
VIRTUAL XI , Vaenyr´s baby
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well.jpg


:D
 
NPFTD is a very consistent album. Other albums have much higher highs, and even if they have lower lows they're on average more engaging than NPFTD.

I like it quite a bit, but there are things that it's missing for me. Mother Russia tries to be an epic but doesn't quite get there. Tailgunner's music is okay, but the subject matter doesn't fit at all and I really dislike that it tries to handle the topic in such a way. The Assassin has a perfect intro but gets worse the longer the song goes on. RSRD isn't a particularly strong track either.

The rest of the songs range from quite good when in the mood (like BYDTTS) to great or fantastic (PENO, the title track).
All in all not my least favorite album, but also not really surprised that it landed this low. At least I we managed to not get VXI on last place :D
 
Kalata said:
The title track? I can even add Bring Your Daughter.
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Both are good, but NPFTD is a lesser Hallowed retread and BYDTTS is an obvious silly throwaway that Steve thought would be a good single. It is, but it’s not at all representative of Iron Maiden.
 
NPFTD ending up here makes a level of sense. Survivors aren't really about a ranking, they're a plurality. This is a different exercise. When I ranked all the albums by average song value, NPFTD was easily the bottom. That makes sense.
 
No Prayer was # 16 on my list but I'm not surprised to see it at 17 here. I very rarely listen to it and even when I do it's mainly just to see if my opinion has changed / improved. (It hasn't)
 
While NPFTD isn´t my least favorite I can understand why it´s at the bottom here. Coming after the successfull SSOASS it was almost written in the stars it wouldn´t be as great let alone better. A back to basics approach wasn´t a great idea after all and Bruce´s raspy voice didn´t help either. Still an enyoable album.
 
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