I bring this up because I feel it extends to the quality spread found on the two albums as well. Obviously Powerslave has a funny reputation where four songs (not coincidentally the four that appear on LAD) hold legendary status among the fans, and the rest of the songs tend to get overlooked. The “Fillerslave” term is unfair, but it does feel like something like Two Minutes to Midnight is on a different stratosphere than something like The Duelists. On The Book Of Souls, a similar dynamic exists, but here there actually does seem to be quite a lot of filler.
I strongly believe that this album ranks as high as it does partially because of a couple tracks that genuinely are worthy of a Maiden top 25. The title track and If Eternity Should Fail are each mammoth tracks. Empire of the Clouds has shown to be a bit divisive as time goes by, but the novelty of the song does bring an element to the album that sets it apart. After that, however, I think the album really loses steam. I really have a hard time putting something like When the River Runs Deep up against most of the similar shorter tracks in the discography. The Red and the Black, while I enjoy it more than most, is not anywhere near the caliber of When the Wild Wind Blows or Sign of the Cross, to name just post 80s Harris epics.
Being the first Maiden double album, a bit of filler is to be expected. Weirdly though the album structure is pretty much the same as the last few albums. It’s just that certain songs were long enough to put it over the 80 minute mark. It’s not a Fear of the Dark situation where the band intentionally wrote way more music than necessary. This feels like a natural progression in terms of length and song structure (each album had been incrementally longer than the last for awhile). I think the album misses the heavier Harris influence (more Smith/Harris or Smith/Harris/Dickinson) and while it’s cool to see Bruce and Adrian going for the classic 80s style high energy songs with infectious hooks, they’re a little rusty especially when you compare them to what they contributed to Senjutsu or what they came up with for Accident or Birth.
It’s certainly not a bad album, and placement is almost right, but I would argue it’s a couple spots too high and that The Final Frontier is a vastly superior album. Aside from a couple top tier mentioned earlier, a lot lot of this album is pretty middle of the road for reunion era standards. I actually think you can already see the fanbase cooling on it and I wouldn’t be surprised if it places even lower next time we do one of these games.
Very good ranking for TBOS, especially considering the rest of the albums. For me, TBOS is one of the band's stronger/best albums as a whole piece (I think being a
double album helped for that) and it's better than TFF. A modern new height for the band. Like the next album.
It's difficult for me to find fillers, the album is full of interesting ideas within the songs. Every song brings something to the album. I agree about the natural progression and the structure of the album. The comparison with Powerslave is a bit unfair because of the number, length and type of songs.
I would have liked another song or two more from the Smith/Dickinson/Harris combo, but I'm so glad Bruce and Adrian started to write together again. Their songs here are great and carry the classic Maiden vibe that was more or less a ''role'' for Janick on the previous 2 albums. More Steve solo songs (or with Janick) would have made the album even better.
Another feature I like a lot is the fact that this album have longer instrumental sections and more solos in the long songs (something I missed in the previous 2 albums).
The solos on the album are some of the band's best imo. This should be noted. They are always strong, but this was a massive statement from them.
I find the old-school vibe of the production very fitting for the album and I like it. The album has a nice ''tribal sound'' (especially the drums), although a bit muddy.
As for the songs:
Every Maiden epic (and especially since the Reunion) is awesome on its own, but TBOS has 3 masterpieces - the title track (it can rival any 80's epic), Empire (Bruce really outdid himself, it's not just the novelty) and The Red And The Black (which is a textbook example of a Maiden instrumental section).
If Eternity Should Fail is one of the band's best album openers with its classic Maiden feel and the modern and heavier sound of Bruce's solo albums. I'm still curious why they didn't include solos on it.
The two short songs, Speed Of Light and Death Or Glory are great and as I said bring the needed classic Maiden vibe from the 80's on any album. Dual solos and triple-lead harmonies, what's not to like!
The other short song, Tears Of A Clown is a bit of atypical song for the band with its groove and that makes it a unique piece in the album.
The ''different shorter rocker'' that has 3 solos and brilliant ideas, When The River Runs Deep is a very underrated song. It contains some of the best solos on the album. The energy, the riffs, the drumming, all great. The only gripe is that the chorus is slow for such a fast song, although it's a good one, as we can expect from the band.
Great Unknown is a typical Reunion era song with an awesome vibe, heavy and relentless riffs, soaring vocals, great melodies and solos and an unexpected ending. I mean, it has everything.
Shadows Of The Valley is like the above song and it's underrated imo. The song somehow has a mix of a modern and classic sound. The melodic riffs and (vocal) parts are so good. The chorus is stronger than some of the other mid-tempo choruses of the band. Maybe some fans don't like it because of the repetition of the chorus. I think 5-7 minutes is a standard song on a Maiden album.
The Man Of Sorrows is the ballad of the album, this type of song is always unpredictable for Maiden, but the bonus here is that this one has beautiful melodies and a unique
bluesy outro.
lol