I could see it going that way, especially if Maiden releases another album that's at a similar level of quality to the last few albums. But also like Powerslave, it will endure and continue to rate highly in polls/survivors.
Iron Maiden studio album 17 rumours and speculations
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Whooten
Ancient Mariner
Powerslave and AMOLAD was the biggest stretch is my list, but there are a lot of similarities, 2 albums each from Di'anno/Bayley, songs from BNW on every tour (just like #of the Beast), not to mention Eddie Rips Up the World Tour came after Dance of Death and the Egyptian themed Somewhere Back in Time Tour came after AMOLAD.
I also (and this is just personal experience) thought Somewhere in Time was a bit of a let-down, as was The Final Frontier, while Book of Souls (like 7th Son) was a return to form.
But to agree with Mosh, Powerslave and BoS also have well-liked epic title tracks too!
I just hope Adrian doesn't see this, write one crap song and leave the band just before they head to the studio.
I also (and this is just personal experience) thought Somewhere in Time was a bit of a let-down, as was The Final Frontier, while Book of Souls (like 7th Son) was a return to form.
But to agree with Mosh, Powerslave and BoS also have well-liked epic title tracks too!
I just hope Adrian doesn't see this, write one crap song and leave the band just before they head to the studio.
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Although I like Somewhere in Time and The Final Frontier, I think that the albums that came before (Powerslave and A Matter of Life and Death) and after them (Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and The Book of Souls) are significantly better.
Let's hope we do not end up with something like The Assassin from Steve either! 
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
Well, the reunion era from my perspective has bounced back and forth between stronger albums (BNW, AMOLAD, TBOS) and weaker albums (DOD, TFF), so unfortunately #17 is cued up to be a weaker one, if past is prologue. Hopefully they'll prove me wrong.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
The Character Assassin, a thinly veiled attack against McKay
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
You'd better watch out, better watch out....
Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
Just re-record Virus. Keep the video the same, though.
Randalf
Ancient Mariner
This topic has been talked before, at least to some extent, but as it's always very intriguing... what kind of a visual "world", visual landscapes, thematics, assosiated colours and all that you'd expect/wish the album #17, it's Eddie, booklet, merchandise and following stage sets etc. to have?
TBOS was dark, it had that ancient civilization, ruins and book thing (obviously). With TFF, we had Alien Eddie and all that space stuff, with rather colorful booklet, and AMOLAD was obviously on the darker side too, with a bit more bare visuals on the booklet, but it worked very well there; those studio pictures of the band are cool! Dance of Death sort of wasted it's intriguing visuals with that cover art, but there was rather prominent visual style on the booklet and the stage set anyway.
I might see them going nearer to BNW and TFF with the next one, with lighter colours and bigger variety of "environments." Then again, when it comes to translating visual themes to stage shows, structures tend to turn out better than more natural environments and more or less "all over the place" visual themes, where it's always a bit more trickier to avoid looking boxy or just generally a bit messy; 7th Tour stage turned out very well though, and Maiden England had an interesting concept too, the execution just didn't quite live up to the ideas' potential. But I guess you get the point, Powerslave/SBIT, DOD, TFF, TBOS and LOTB stage sets turned out very impressive, where as VXI, Ed-Huntour, BNW, GMETID, Early Days stages were a bit more... all over the place. AMOLAD and The X-Factour (which had immensily smaller scale though) stage sets translated their representive albums' visual themes to a show rather well though.
Anyway, as much as some people would love to see sort of a medieval/ancient/whatever visual theme, it would be rather tricky to make it work on stage, since they've pretty much done all kinds of structures now, from castels to space stations and a church. Well, @Diesel 11 toyed with the idea of a ship-themed stage in "Create your own Maiden setlist" thread, and it would definitely be something they haven't done yet, but I'm not sure... something sea-related would be interesting though. Maybe something with the same kind of a basic idea as Thomas Zwisen had with his "Preserved in Time" Nylon Maiden album (well, thereis snow in that one, but anyway) or Maiden United with "Across the Seventh Sea":
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TBOS was dark, it had that ancient civilization, ruins and book thing (obviously). With TFF, we had Alien Eddie and all that space stuff, with rather colorful booklet, and AMOLAD was obviously on the darker side too, with a bit more bare visuals on the booklet, but it worked very well there; those studio pictures of the band are cool! Dance of Death sort of wasted it's intriguing visuals with that cover art, but there was rather prominent visual style on the booklet and the stage set anyway.
I might see them going nearer to BNW and TFF with the next one, with lighter colours and bigger variety of "environments." Then again, when it comes to translating visual themes to stage shows, structures tend to turn out better than more natural environments and more or less "all over the place" visual themes, where it's always a bit more trickier to avoid looking boxy or just generally a bit messy; 7th Tour stage turned out very well though, and Maiden England had an interesting concept too, the execution just didn't quite live up to the ideas' potential. But I guess you get the point, Powerslave/SBIT, DOD, TFF, TBOS and LOTB stage sets turned out very impressive, where as VXI, Ed-Huntour, BNW, GMETID, Early Days stages were a bit more... all over the place. AMOLAD and The X-Factour (which had immensily smaller scale though) stage sets translated their representive albums' visual themes to a show rather well though.
Anyway, as much as some people would love to see sort of a medieval/ancient/whatever visual theme, it would be rather tricky to make it work on stage, since they've pretty much done all kinds of structures now, from castels to space stations and a church. Well, @Diesel 11 toyed with the idea of a ship-themed stage in "Create your own Maiden setlist" thread, and it would definitely be something they haven't done yet, but I'm not sure... something sea-related would be interesting though. Maybe something with the same kind of a basic idea as Thomas Zwisen had with his "Preserved in Time" Nylon Maiden album (well, thereis snow in that one, but anyway) or Maiden United with "Across the Seventh Sea":
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
A album about Atlantis maybe will be great - with Eddie on top of the island surrounded by the sea. Or battle with Leviathan...
Randalf
Ancient Mariner
Or battle with Leviathan...
...that would mean we'd get to see an inflatable Leviathan on stage then.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
...that would mean we'd get to see an inflatable Leviathan on stage then.
What can I say, everything is inflatable....
Seriously, I like that theme for a album - the story of Atlantis is mystic and it fits perfect for a album, especially a Maiden one. And with that theme we can expect a sea epic from Steve or Bruce like ROTAM, GOTN and The Talisman 
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
People's suggestions for album theme here would be fitting for some strong contender of Cheesevivor.
Ariana
Black-and-white leopard
I was just thinking this.
I don't see them doing a cartoony theme thing. More like something that hints at profound but is more like a mix of stuff loosely under one banner - again.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Don't forget about Eddie as a Hill.
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