IRON MAIDEN ALBUMS SURVIVOR: POWERSLAVE WINS

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So, we have arrived at the end, with my two favourite albums facing off for 1st. Hooray!

So, which one wins? If we go song by song, I'd probably give it to Powerslave because it has four absolute classics (first two and last two) plus the great but underrated The Duellists. But Seventh Son still edges it here, because: Despite the "concept story" being somewhat thin, the songs feel unified in a way they don't on Powerslave. When you add to this that Seventh Son also has several of Maiden's greatest songs (Infinite Dreams, The Evil That Men Do, and the title track) we have a winner. Thus, my vote in this survivor goes to Powerslave.
 
I prefer many of the songs on No Prayer by a long shot. Even the worst moments aren't as bad as the worst parts of Fear. No Prayer is also a more focused effort. It might've been a career misstep, but they at least achieved what they set out to do. FOTD on the other hand just sounds directionless and several songs sound like they're not even trying.
 
Niall Kielt said:
Cos it has Fear is the Key, Weekend Warrior, The Apprition and From Here To Eternity. No album could survive such mediocrity. Its the bands worst album by some stretch
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FITK and FHTE aren't the worst songs in the world, they're just kind of underwhelming.

Fear also has Wasting Love (criminally underrated), ATSS (even people who dislike the album like this one), BQOBD (fun, action packed) and of course, the title track. There's some other decent songs like Judas and Childhood's on there too. Even, dare I say it, the Fugitive is decent, chorus aside.
 
Mosh said:
I prefer many of the songs on No Prayer by a long shot. Even the worst moments aren't as bad as the worst parts of Fear. No Prayer is also a more focused effort. It might've been a career misstep, but they at least achieved what they set out to do. FOTD on the other hand just sounds directionless and several songs sound like they're not even trying.
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Holy Smoke's a lot of fun. Title track is nice. But it feels so disconnected from what Maiden usually does. At least Fear has signs of Maiden's brilliance thrown in there at times, but No Prayer just makes me feel despondent after Track 3, with uninspired song after uninspired song. And Mother Russia, when compared to Fear, or any of the other album enders, is a joke.
 
RTC said:
At least Fear has signs of Maiden's brilliance thrown in there at times
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I think that's what it comes down to for most people. The best moments on Fear are probably better than anything on No Prayer, but for me that's only 2 -maybe 3- out of 12 songs. No Prayer doesn't have anything at the ATSS level of greatness, but it also doesn't sink to the levels of Weekend Warrior or The Fugitive. I suppose for those who prefer FOTD it's often a matter of the moments of brilliance outweighing the mediocre moments. For me they don't.
 
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I voted the same way I have in all 16 rounds: 7th Son.
Looks like I will, once again, be disappointed.

...and I like drunk Perun.
 
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Powerslave is my favorite maiden album. So theres that.

No Prayer/FOTD are a lot like Presto and Roll the Bones by Rush. They were kind of needed direction changes for the bands and I appreciate that. However Presto/NP have strong moments for me which outweigh the mediocre and I appreciate the soundstage they were individually trying to achieve. The latter two for me have some of the weakest moments in each bands respective catalogs and for me, represent the points where I jumped off the train for both bands.

And also they came out at a time where I was really just listening to deep prog, Jazz Fusion and Zappa.

:)
 
Deus_Adrian said:
Powerslave is my favorite maiden album. So theres that.

No Prayer/FOTD are a lot like Presto and Roll the Bones by Rush. They were kind of needed direction changes for the bands and I appreciate that. However Presto/NP have strong moments for me which outweigh the mediocre and I appreciate the soundstage they were individually trying to achieve. The latter two for me have some of the weakest moments in each bands respective catalogs and for me, represent the points where I jumped off the train for both bands.
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Good comparison. Although I'd take Roll the Bones over FOTD without much thought. The first 4 or 5 songs are really solid. Still one of the weaker Rush albums. I can really relate to the Presto/No Prayer comparison though because Presto is an album that isn't the sort of music I want to hear from Rush, but I still can't help but thoroughly enjoy it. Not a single song I dislike. Same with No Prayer.

jazz from hell said:
Are you?:hbd:

Slightly off topic, "they at least achieved what they set out to do" is no criterion. Most artists have to change their original ideas during their working process to improve the result.
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I have to disagree there. There are countless albums that fail mainly because the band wasn't capable of achieving what they wanted to at the time. Either they don't have the resources, the creative skill, or they find themselves straying away from the initial vision. SSOASS is a good example of a half baked idea. But it's less a criteria of quality and more just giving them credit for putting in effort, which is more than what I can say for my impression of FOTD. SSOASS is still far superior to No Prayer, no matter how half baked.
 
I'd rather have Powerslave win this one, though it is surely not the best. I have Powerslave and SSOASS ranked 5th and 6th, so this is just ridiculous to me.
 
That consistency vs highlights debate about Fear/ No prayer is also relevant with Powerslave and PoM. PoM is more consistent but the highlights in Powerslave are higher. Rime is a better epic than TTAL, 2 minutes is a better first single than Icarus, Aces High is a better opener and war song than Eagles and Powerslave is magnificent. But Flash is the lesser cousin of Sun and Steel and the Duellists is awesome but PoM has a greater number of good deep cuts.
Those awesome highlights are also the reason I vote for SSOASS. Awesome album but I'd still take Powerslave to a desert island. It's the epitome of Maiden's 80s sound. Almost as proggy as SSOASS and almost as heavy as NOTB.
 
Hmm, did Powerslave ever win this? I don't think so. Then again: I can't find a good overview of previous results. @Mosh would you enlighten us with all previous Maiden album games, when it suits you (e.g. after we know the winner)? Cheers.
 
Going by the enthusiasm last time I asked about the popularity of Powerslave, I'd say this is a representative result.
 
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