Iron Maiden albums that your opinion has shifted on

Yax

Yax

Ancient Mariner
As the thread title states: Is there any particular album you've changed your opinion on (the initial 10/10 praise after a new album release, followed by a more grounded assessment is a given, but any other than that)?

The album that comes to mind for me is The Final Frontier. When it came out, the general stance on the forum was "this is the best album ever", while I thought it was a massive step down from AMOLAD - which it is, as AMOLAD is probably Maiden's best for me, nowadays slightly ahead of BNW. While I still think it's a steep step down, I think it's a really good album that could have been amazing with just a few changes, which is a far more favorable opinion of the album than I had the first 6 or so years when I thought it to be a swing and a miss for the most part. The songs I'd like to change are still the same as when it came out, but the overall favorability has decisively shifted.

So, what would I change? I'd like Satellite 15 to have been properly recorded and separated from TFF. I'd like to turn MoM awful chorus into - I don't know what - something different, and turn TMWWBK into a short rocker. That song has potential but is plodding in a way that you'd usually attribute to some longer Harris songs.
 
Probably FOTD. I was always a huge fan of the title track, Wasting Love, and Judas Be My Guide, but I wasn't always as big a fan of the hard rock type songs throughout the record. Still don't like Be Quick or Be Dead though.
 
As @Poto , the X Factor was the only one with a massive change. I was a teenager when it came out, and despite being in a bit of a denial, looking back it was a disappointment at the time. I've grown to like it more since then, and of Maiden's 4 weaker albums, it's clearly the one with the most merit and artistic integrity.
 
Since seeing The Future Past tour, I have a new found respect for Senjutsu. Still my least favourite reunion album, but it's not as bland as I originally thought. Particularly Death of the Celts, which I thought found new life in a live setting.
 
Yax said:
So, what would I change? I'd like Satellite 15 to have been properly recorded and separated from TFF. I'd like to turn MoM awful chorus into - I don't know what - something different, and turn TMWWBK into a short rocker. That song has potential but is plodding in a way that you'd usually attribute to some longer Harris songs.
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I agree with these changes, although TMWWBK is still a nice song with a beautiful intro and outro, and I want the title track to have a ~1 minute long intro with a weird spacey guitar melody/harmony because the song has no such feature.
 
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The Book Of Souls

At first I really liked it and was definitely top 10 material. Now it's unfortunately somewhere at the bottom of my ranking.

Not fond on Killers lately either while I was hooked on that album when I first heard it.
 
Powerslave. I loved it when I first bought it but now I find it a bit ‘meh’. As I grew up on post-2000, Maiden, I really appreciate the light and shade in their music. To me, it is a great metal album that doesn’t really do anything for me anymore. I find it a bit too much of an aural onslaught without much variation.

Senjutsu. I didn’t like the album when it came out but I really enjoy it now. Time Machine is still annoying.

Killers. It used to be in my top 5 but it has slid down the rankings. I can’t put a finger on it.

And we end with No Prayer. I think I disliked the album at first due to the majority of the internet hating it. It has grown on me over the years.
 
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I didn’t like No prayer much when I first got it. I became a fan pretty much overnight 20 years ago, buying their albums in batches over the course of a few months. The last batch was the first three and No prayer for some reason, I had a prediction these four albums would be the ones I liked the least. The only album I liked less than No prayer then was VXI. But today I think it is almost a classic in the same way as the other first Dickinson era.

I also didn’t like Dance of death much when it came out, mainly due to the production. However the songs are great. Now I don’t mind the production so much, as I’m trying to be less critical to the music I’m listening to. Life is so much better when you’re not complaining about stuff I can’t fix myself.

The final frontier however don’t grow on me. Even listened to the whole album last week for the first time in years. Other than the title track (minus the useless intro minutes), El dorado and a few bits and pieces here and there, I still want to finish listening the album long before it is done. Don’t have this problem with The book of souls and Senjutsu.
 
Biggest changes - number is approximate placement in my list of favourites (these started at various times, so there are duplicities, the last number is mostly where they ended now)


FOTD - 4 -> 10

POM - 3 -> 12

Powerslave - 7 -> 2

SIT - 1 -> 11

SSOASS - 9 -> 4 -> 9

TXF - 10 (or so, I actually fell asleep during my first listen) -> 2 -> 4

VXI - 6 -> 13

TFF - 8 -> 2 -> 10 -> 3

TBOS - 3 -> 7


Most consistent for me is AMOLAD beith either first or second and the first three albums + NPFTD being at the end.
 
Apart from what I mentioned above regarding VXI, No Prayer For The Dying is a vast example for me. I didn't really like the album when it came out, but over the years it has become my favourite Maiden album of all. I just love it because of its rough edges while being very homogenous at the same time. It doesn't sound pieced together, but like one unit just like their albums sounded in their early days. I can easily listen all throughout the entire album from the very beginning to its very end. A shame it all just isn't documented too well (official live album/video). When I saw Maiden live during the No Prayer-tour in 1990, retrospectively I have to say that this particular tour was the departure from the old live era and its own unique vibe. Somehow it came down like a flashlight on a last happy moment for Maiden in years. After NPFTD, the problem years occured and lasted for almost a decade (marked e.g. by Bruces departure, the difficult Blaze era, the loss of Martin Birch as a producer, moronic marketing decisions like PC games and a lot more of cringeworth). NPFTD is a milestone that has everything to it. It is a rough, heavy, mean to borderline of the absurd, angry, sad and deeply emotional masterpiece full of melancholy and bitterness. Fuckin' love it.
 
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I haven't had drastic changes, it's been more gradual. Fear Of The Dark and Dance Of Death had a lot of songs I liked on them, but over the years crept their way into my top 5. Though both have stinkers on them with The Apparition and Paschendale.

On the other hand Killers and especially Powerslave fell a lot in my rankings, compared to a decade ago.

Dick Brucinson said:
A shame it all just isn't documented too well (official live album/video).
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You've probably listened to the Sledgehammer bootleg, right? Excellent quality and sounds better than a couple official live albums.
 
Vaenyr said:
I haven't had drastic changes, it's been more gradual. Fear Of The Dark and Dance Of Death had a lot of songs I liked on them, but over the years crept their way into my top 5. Though both have stinkers on them with The Apparition and Paschendale.

On the other hand Killers and especially Powerslave fell a lot in my rankings, compared to a decade ago.


You've probably listened to the Sledgehammer bootleg, right? Excellent quality and sounds better than a couple official live albums.
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If the Sledgehammer bootleg is the one recorded at Wembley: yes. :-)
 
I would say the final frontier for me is the album I’ve changed my mind on the most over the years. On release I hated the cover artwork (still think it’s bad but can live with it more these days). I also felt this was where the band started doing longer songs just for the sake of it as there’s a few songs I felt could have been shortened and would have sounded better.

These days I find I listen to it a lot more and actually really enjoy most of the songs and wouldn’t change much at all. The only change I would still make is to get rid of Satellite 15 altogether. Complete rubbish as a song and way too long as an intro.

NPFTD has also grown in me a lot more over the years compared to when I heard it. It was the current album when I got into Maiden but I started with Seventh Son and Piece of mind and bought NOTB and powerslave before picking up NPFTD so compared to them it was lacking at the time.
 
srfc said:
As @Poto , the X Factor was the only one with a massive change. I was a teenager when it came out, and despite being in a bit of a denial, looking back it was a disappointment at the time. I've grown to like it more since then, and of Maiden's 4 weaker albums, it's clearly the one with the most merit and artistic integrity.
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True, although I still like Fear of the Dark more.
 
Not exactly changed opinion but for some albums I was in denial that they were bad (or not so good) albums and with time I put them on the bottom of my rankings.

NPftD
The X Factor
Dance of Dead
The Book of Souls.
 
My biggest shift has gone from non-favorable views to favorable views. The first album and A Matter of Life and Death.

I thought that the first album sounded like shit, and it wasn't until the 2015 remasters that I could hear the album for what it was and give it its deserved dues.

I thought that A Matter of Life and Death was the light version of The X Factor until I realized that there were some unique things for its own going on.
 
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