IRON MAIDEN ALBUMS SURVIVOR: TIEBREAKER

vote for your LEAST favorite album

  • Total voters
    35
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
Mosh

Mosh

PM me your Opeth album rankings!
Staff member
We have another tie! Old meets new with Maiden's classic album being pitted against their latest. Will be interesting to see how this one plays out! Try to keep it civil in the meantime folks.
 
This is a tough one because The Book of Souls is still very fresh to me and NOTB is an album I've known almost my entire life. That's not a nostalgia thing, that's just me being much more familiar with one album than another.

So I asked myself this question: "If Maiden released NOTB today, same level of quality and same style of music, would I get the same amount of enjoyment of that as I did TBOS?". I have to say no, because while I'd really enjoy an album like that, it wouldn't represent my current tastes the way TBOS does.
 
Last edited:
Well this was extremely easy. TBOS is without a doubt a top 5 overall album, where as #8 is probably too generous a spot for NOTB.
 
Beast to go out. Hard call. If I was to put my Top 5 from each album side by side, Beast might win but Book is twice as long and has a greater abundance of ideas and styles and I prefer the meatier production.
 
TBOS: 3 songs in my top ten. No bad songs.
NOTB: 1 song in my top ten. 2 bad songs

TBOS >>>>>> NOTB

You guys are all stuck in 1982.
 
Collin said:
TBOS: 3 songs in my top ten. No bad songs.
NOTB: 1 song in my top ten. 2 bad songs

TBOS >>>>>> NOTB

You guys are all stuck in 1982.
Click to expand...

TBOS: no songs in my top ten. (no songs in my top 20, probably)
NOTB: my #1 song + a top 10/top 15 song

NOTB has the better production and the better flow as an album, too.

NOTB > TBOS easily for me.
 
TBOS is Maiden's best work since Brave New World, now that I've had time to digest it. Beast has Hallowed, which I think 95% of Maiden fans would put in their top 10, and a good selection of other songs, but is a lot less consistent.

Ultimately, as a complete package, TBOS wins this, but Hallowed is better than anything on TBOS.
 
The Flash said:
NOTB has the better production and the better flow as an album, too.
Click to expand...

I literally can't stand NOTB production. Try to listen to some separated tracks (you have in on YT) to see what I'm talking about. Bland, non-organic and too polished.
 
You know what? I actually think NOTB's production is better than TBOS. TBOS's production sounds a bit muddy to me. But otherwise, TBOS pretty much creams NOTB in everything else. NOTB does not even have a single track in my top 20 while TBOS has Empire, Eternity and Book.
 
Is this the 1 year itch?
One has been celebrated as a classic record for 34 years, the other has been out a year. The latter is winning. Go figure
 
Well...as I said earlier, this is all subjective. There is no actual bias involved. It just might seem that way to some. I doubt the people liking TBOS more is doing it because it's newer than NOTB.
 
Zare said:
I literally can't stand NOTB production. Try to listen to some separated tracks (you have in on YT) to see what I'm talking about. Bland, non-organic and too polished.
Click to expand...

I've heard those tracks many times. I stick by my opinion. NOTB has an authentic production quality to it, TBOS sounds like any modern metal record production vise.
 
There is a strange phenomenon with hardcore band enthusiasts, where we usually stay away from the commonly accepted norm (Beast is often referred to as Maiden's best album by casual fans). I imagine, for example, Slayer fans on a Slayer forum would likely say Seasons In The Abyss is the best Slayer album, despite Reign In Blood being the most popular.

Not that it's a bad thing, just an observation, and it works both ways, like the big love for X-Factor here which isn't reciprocated by the common fan. Or Infinite Dreams being considered decent by common fans, but as a masterpiece here.
 
Personally I don't dislike NOTB production but I prefer the the bottom end of TBOS. However, I gave it a listen last night for the first time in a while and I tend to agree with @Stardust its muddy at times. I was listening on CD and decided to throw the vinyl on and ye know, I don't find it that much better. Bare in mind that I don't have any specialised/expensive/quality audio equipment.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top