Let's try and get 1,000,000 replies to this post

Diesel 11 said:
In that case, you should join in @Jer ’s solo Adrian pollings!
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Look at that sales pitch! Yes, you too can help to shape the collective MaidenFans rankings of Adrian's solo discography! There's no credit check and no obligation!

Look at how pumped Blaze Bayley is for ranking Adrian's solo work, and they were never even in the band together!

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If Brave New World announced to the world that Bruce and Adrian had returned, and that this form of the band was different than what it was during the '80s, but more mature and more trying to provide the best quality possible, then Dance of Death proved that this line-up wasn't afraid to experiment.

I mean, what was there to lose? BNW was a massive success on all fronts, the band was back and better than ever, why not try out some stuff?

Dance of Death, probably over all other Maiden albums, feels like a "journey". A very interesting journey. The opener, "Wildest Dreams", is a fun little romp celebrating the fact that the line-up was ironed-out and ready to do some serious stuff. "Rainmaker", while short, says a lot during its presence. "No More Lies" is basically "what if Bruce and Adrian were on Virtual XI?", but its a very emotional song nonetheless. "Montsegur" is balls-out heaviness that touches on some themes of killing in the name of religion just because someone disagrees with you. "Dance of Death" is a story-telling epic of prancing, souls, and fire. "Gates of Tomorrow" is very much a band piece where everyone's firing on all cylinders and features one of the album's best choruses. "New Frontier" is a chance to give Nicko some space in the album's credits. "Paschendale", the absolute highlight, is a monster anti-war song that throws you right into the heart of the battlefield and allows you no escape from the horrors there. "Face In The Sand" begins with kind of a summation of the previous songs - you can notice the "Dance of Death" and "No More Lies" melodies come back - but then goes on to do its own thing; when it gets heavy you can almost envision some natural or unnatural disaster taking place before Bruce comes in and mourns the world and its glorying of these things. "Age of Innocence" is a very open and blunt song, but its chorus is another highlight. And finally, "Journeyman", Maiden's only all-acoustic song, is a perfect way to wrap-up the album and once again, remind the world that this band was still standing strong despite the past years and ready for anything.

The only issue with this album is its very meh production, but it isn't enough to make it less good as a whole. That's how strong this material is. An excellent album, a great follow-up to Brave New World, and another natural progression on from the last.

Excellent stuff. Excellent band.
 
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