Iron Maiden albums that your opinion has shifted on

My views have usually been pretty stable on Maiden albums, but I do recall enjoying Dance Of Death more when it first came out, and then consistently souring on it over time. The muddy production, the horrible vocal harmonies in places, the songwriting stumbles on songs like "Paschendale" and "Journeyman" which could have been something really special if they'd been handled better, etc. It's still a pretty good album overall, but it doesn't rate well against most of Maiden's catalogue.
 
Always like that one too - not a 9/10 in my book, but a solid and fun track. I got into Maiden in late 2003/early 2004, and my brother got Edward the Great for Christmas and DoD for his birthday in Febuary (or the other way around). We played them relentlessly. Thus, DoD is special to me, though still a low tier Maiden record to me.
 
Jer said:
Well, Virtual XI is your favorite album too, so...yeah.
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I'm finally (sorta) warming up to Final Frontier. It didn't hook me for years after its release, and to be honest, it still hasn't hooked me as a whole album. The second half is pretty strong, minus The MEH Who Would be King, which is...you can probably guess. Of the first half, the title track is quite good, and I've warmed up to El Dorado a ton. The rest I could take or leave. Coming Home probably would fit better on a Bruce solo record, but with either solo or Maiden, it's a decent, middle-of-the-road song.

I still don't love the album cover--I really wish they'd have used something like the title track's single cover instead. Would've stood out much better amongst the rest of their discography, and alien Eddie on that one doesn't look all derpy like on the cover we got.

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When I first listened to X Factor, I was so desperate to want to like it, so I did, I found things to like about it. It wasn't great, but it was OK.
Now I have taken it off my mp3 player, the album is trash. Not worth listening to.
Virtual XI was never as good as X Factor, which isn't saying much. These two albums are really horrible.

When I first got into Iron Maiden and heavy metal, I liked NPFTD. It was my favourite, but now I rank Powerslave as my favourite. I still have a huge love for NPFTD though, it is really wonderful, great melodies and lots of fun to listen to. I don't like much of the solos though, especially the Gers solos, just a random and superfast flurry of notes, I don't see the point to that.

With Fear of the Dark, I was instantly smitten with the song Fear of the Dark and secondly Afraid to Shoot Strangers. What struck me most about this album though was Bruce's voice. It sounded quite thin and strained. It was quite shocking for me.
Now, I don't mind his voice tone on this album, but I hate most of the songs. The apparation, Fear is the Key, Chains of misery, the fugitive are all rubbish. The Fear of the Dark song is still terrific. I get a bit bored with Afraid to Shoot strangers though. This is the third worst Maiden album, and the worst with Bruce on it.

TFF when it came out, I thought it was a huge step up from AMOLAD, and it still is. But it has a few weaknesses to it. That intro, Satallite15 should never have been put on an IM record. I love what Jorn did in his version though, much shorter and much more interesting. I also think Shirley stuffed up The Final Frontier as the layering of Bruce's vocals makes him sound super strained. Maybe they were going for that, because the song called for anguish, but I don't think it is a good idea to make a singer's voice sound strained. Also the Man that would be king is just awkward. It makes it hard to like.

Senjitsu, it bothers me that the production on this album is so shit. Bruce's vocals on Darkest hour especially sound super muffled, but otherwise this is a really terrific album, lots of variety, great solos etc. Although I find parchment a little repetitive.
 
MindlessPieces said:
Gers solos, just a random and superfast flurry of notes, I don't see the point to that.
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Man, I really love that description of his soloing style!!
:lol::nuts::lol:

MindlessPieces said:
When I first got into Iron Maiden and heavy metal, I liked NPFTD.
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My fave Maiden album, definitely.

MindlessPieces said:
With Fear of the Dark, I was instantly smitten with the song Fear of the Dark and secondly Afraid to Shoot Strangers. What struck me most about this album though was Bruce's voice. It sounded quite thin and strained. It was quite shocking for me.
Now, I don't mind his voice tone on this album, but I hate most of the songs. The apparation, Fear is the Key, Chains of misery, the fugitive are all rubbish. The Fear of the Dark song is still terrific. I get a bit bored with Afraid To Shoot strangers though. This is the third worst Maiden album, and the worst with Bruce on it.
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Agreed in almost every aspect of your points here except for Fear Is The Key. It has grown a lot to me and I like it quite a lot nowadays. What I disliked much more about that era was the odd way of bringing the album down to their setlist those days. Be Quick Or Be Dead, From Here To Eternity, Afraid To Shoot Strangers, Wasting Love and FOTD was quite a weird pick of tracks.
 
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I loved The Book Of Souls when released but it rarely gets a spin now. The title track is superb but the rest of it is all average by Maiden standards.

All other albums I’d say my opinion hasn’t really changed.
 
A lot of people here know my opinion on AMOLAD and, I have to say that, last night, I was thinking about its anniversary and as it started to sound a lot better in the past 6 years or so, I felt it was the right moment to listen to it the more clear headed as possible and I now can say that, apart from 'The Longest Day' (this one, really, is the weakest, despite the lyrics and Bruce's performance), the album is really great and the ones I already loved got more love (Brighter Than A Thousand Suns is one of Maiden's greatest epics: haunting, menacing and gargantuan performances from everyone, though, I miss a solo by Davey) and the ones I only liked got the love they deserve, specially The Pilgrim (this one has two choruses, we could say and they are fantastic); Bruce and Nicko are men of the match, on this one. A really great album.

So, to those of you who give up on bands/albums/songs after first bad impressions (I always come back, later, for best results and you see how it works), don't do this, 'cos, perhaps, the best moment to discover that band/album/song, is forthcoming.

Now, I think it's time to do this with Senjutsu, for its anniversary, today. UP THE IRONS!!! \m/
 
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