IRON MAIDEN REFERENDUM 2020: Results -> Hallowed Be Thy Name wins for the 5th time!

Are you satisfied with the results?

  • Total voters
    18
The Legacy
No More Lies
Paschendale
Blood Brothers
The Fallen Angel
The Nomad
The Thin Line Between Love And Hate
 
I was a spotty teenager when Brave New World came out, and trying to define my musical identity. My parents were only listening to stuff recorded in the fifties and first half of the sixties, my brother picked up from there and listened to early-day acid and hard rock. Consequently, nothing recorded after 1972 was in the house, and this was in the day when it would take an hour to download a five-minute song if you were lucky (our internet connection was shit, so more often than not my internet time was up when the song was stuck at 95%).
My friends all listened to hip hop, electronic music or garbage like Blink 182 or Limp Bizkit. There was nothing for me there. My family was as described, and even the music shows they watched on TV were footage from the Isle of Wight festival or Beach Boys reruns. I caught some music here and there, and for a while I was listening to The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd with a lot of enthusiasm. Some elements of what I wanted were there: Great guitar solos and thoughtful lyrics, but I always felt myself drawn more to the rockers than the long meandering things that went nowhere. Couldn't there be something that combined the awe-inspiring instrumentals of Pink Floyd with the heavy riffs heaviness and headbanging potential of Led Zeppelin, and with lyrics that gave me something to think about without descending into weird, drug-induced rambling?
The fateful day came when I first heard Number of the Beast in religion class when my teacher wanted to give us an example of satanist music. I had the album shortly after that and listened to it non-stop, but it was really when I first heard Brave New World that I realised this isn't just a musical crush, but my great love and my home. Brave New World had everything I was looking for: The riffs, the lyrics, the sonic dreamscapes and the edge I didn't know I was looking for. To this day, the instrumental section of The Thin Line Between Love and Hate is one of my favourite musical moments ever; Brave New World, Ghost of the Navigator and Out of the Silent Planet still captivate me and make my mind wander, and so on and so forth. I don't care: The instrumental section of The Nomad is still something I love to listen to, although the lyrics sounded a lot cooler to me when I was 15.
So my point is, I can't, and don't have the desire to, look at Brave New World (or any Maiden album, for that matter) objectively. This album played a key role in my life and has been a source of inspiration for me for two whole decades now. It is not my favourite album, nor do I think it is in any way flawless, but it will always be special to me.
 
Perun said:
So my point is, I can't, and don't have the desire to, look at Brave New World (or any Maiden album, for that matter) objectively. This album played a key role in my life and has been a source of inspiration for me for two whole decades now. It is not my favourite album, nor do I think it is in any way flawless, but it will always be special to me.
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Same as this. When I visualise a timeline of Maiden albums, Brave New World always stands out, soaring and shining in the sun. I had been listening to and loving Maiden since about 89 or 90 so I was invested by the time this came out. I still remember hearing The Wickerman for the first time, outside on a sunny day on a very loud stereo. The crisp urgency was a joy to behold. Finally here was a Maiden album that lived up to the 80s stuff.
The instrumental section of The Thin Line is also one of my favourite musical moments. I suppose the main difference between us here is that I was no longer spotty when this came out. I had shaken my acne and had blossomed into a very attractive young man.
 
I don't really care where the instrumental in The Nomad came from. Maiden did it better. For me the least favourites are The Mercenary and The Fallen Angel. And I am shocked that Breeg has 8 votes.
 
Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
For The Greater Good of God
Lord of Light
Rainmaker
No More Lies
Blood Brothers
The Fallen Angel
The Nomad
The Thin Line Between Love And Hate
 
Voted for These Colours Don't Run, For The Greater Good Of God, The Legacy, No More Lies, The Mercenary and The Fallen Angel.
 
@Perun’s post reflects my thoughts on BNW as well. Looking at the album objectively is virtually impossible for me. It is easily my favorite Iron Maiden album and I feel that it reaches a certain level of emotional depth that most of their music can’t even touch. Thin Line is like nothing else in the Maiden discography. Bruce’s performance on the entire album is legendary, I think his career best.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that, although I love every song on BNW and think it is their only 100% consistent album, Fallen Angel and Nomad are the weak spot.

Also voting for Breeg and DoD.
 
The Thin Line is probably the weakest spot for me on the album. I really do adore The Nomad, and it's hard for me to (as with @Perun and @MrKnickerbocker) separate the travesty of that song's melodic theft from the wonder I felt when I first heard the track. I like every other song in varying degrees, even the ones I consider weaker (like The Mercenary and The Fallen Angel). I've also never gotten Blood Brothers.
 
I’ve yet to listen to the album for this game, but for now I’ll say this: Brave New World will probably go down as the most important album by a classic Metal band of this century.
 
Well, I mean...the reunion of Iron Maiden singlehandedly changed the metal landscape, proving that metal can be popular in the way it was in the 80s. Brave New World wasn't a chart success, but it was decently large, and it led almost directly to the reunion of Judas Priest and Black Sabbath with their legendary singers.

For reference, and not that it matters, while most publications thought the album was good and a return to power, Blabbermouth gave it a 5/10 and said, and I quote, "Ultimately, however, IRON MAIDEN's latest CD will appeal to no one but the die-hard fans of the group, and as such, it will fail to leave a lasting mark on the face of the current metal scene."

So you know, that's a bad take.
 
LooseCannon said:
The Thin Line is probably the weakest spot for me on the album. I really do adore The Nomad, and it's hard for me to (as with @Perun and @MrKnickerbocker) separate the travesty of that song's melodic theft from the wonder I felt when I first heard the track. I like every other song in varying degrees, even the ones I consider weaker (like The Mercenary and The Fallen Angel). I've also never gotten Blood Brothers.
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The verses of Thin Line are not my favorite, but that chorus and Bruce’s belting the title at the end are just so powerful to me. Probably the first time I ever really took a metal vocalist seriously. There’s such a command of the voice and a confidence in that single line, it’s truly great.

It took the Book of Souls tour for me to really get Blood Brothers. I think it was in my lower tier (of 10/10’s lol) until seeing how powerful it could be live.
 
I still don't get it, and I've seen it live 6 times, but that's okay. It's good enough to survive the first round of cuts, but I'll be voting for it in the next round, absolutely.
 
I remember when the album was released I thought Maiden were still potentially capable of doing interesting stuff precisely, and entirely, because of Nomad's instrumental part.
Then I wondered why they never came up with anything similar again.
And then I didn't wonder anymore.
 
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