Maiden Albums: Head to Head

Vote for your favourite song from each pair

  • Total voters
    34
  • Poll closed .
Satellite vs Moonchild
The Final Frontier vs Infinite Dreams
El Dorado vs Can I Play With Madness
Mother of Mercy vs The Evil that Men Do
Coming Home vs Massacre
The Alchemist vs Seventh Son
Isle of Avalon vs The Prophecy
Starblind vs The Clairvoyant
The Talisman vs Black Bart Blues
The Man Who Would Be King vs Sheriff of Huddersfield
When the Wild Wind Blows vs Only the Good Die Young

TFF: 8, SSOASS: 3

I realised I really don't like Moonchild very much. Mildly put. It's boring, melodyless and the sound's a mess. Also, Crowley? Seriously? Satellite's at least novel, so it won, but I don't particularly like either of those.

SSOASS is similar to TRATB - had it not had that stellar instrumental part in the second half, it never would have won. Oh my, those keyboard vocals in the middle, always starting slightly later than they should... :facepalm: Once you hear it, you can't unhear it.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I realised I really don't like Moonchild very much. Mildly put. It's boring, melodyless and the sound's a mess.
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Yes, yes, Starblind has amazing lyrics. What about the music? ...well, I don't really like any of it. It's filled with bland, unmemorable melodies that I never remember. It's only when I actually listen to it that I can remember any of the melodies...because duh, I'm listening to it.

Even still, good lyrics does not a good song make. It's how well the lyrics supplement the music which really counts. And when the lyrics are so good and the music so weak...it causes for a very disjointed listening experience, where you read the lyrics while listening, thinking "Wow, this is really something else" while waiting for the music to live up to that standard. It never happens, at least in my opinion.

Compare this to the early Maiden tracks, those with the "terrible" lyrics as it were. See, I like some of those much more because they've got fun, catchy rock melodies which stick in my head. Due to the lyrics also being slightly primitive for Maiden standards, it makes you remember those lyrics as well. This is why I know Another Life's lyrics by heart, since well...we've all complained about the lyrics and repetitiveness sometime in our life, I'm sure of that much.

See, I respect Starblind a lot for trying to be this grand, special song which Maiden probably intended it to be. However, I always get the feeling that they wrote the lyrics first and then had to jumble together a song based around those lyrics. It's very noticable that they're jumping out of their skins to interest you in the lyrics and immerse you in its...world. This does not happen for me. All it does for me is just scream "READ THE LYRICS CHERISH THE LYRICS" into my ear for almost eight minutes while forgetting to actually provide any worthwhile musicality in the meanwhile.

Simply put, I think Starblind is a mess. One which could have easily been one of those "OHMYGOSH BEST MAIDEN SONG EVER" examples, but I just think it falls flat. Still...the lyrics are freaking brilliant and I will never concede to anything different in that department.
 
Stardust said:
Yes, yes, Starblind has amazing lyrics. What about the music? ...well, I don't really like any of it. It's filled with bland, unmemorable melodies that I never remember. It's only when I actually listen to it that I can remember any of the melodies...because duh, I'm listening to it.

Even still, good lyrics does not a good song make. It's how well the lyrics supplement the music which really counts. And when the lyrics are so good and the music so weak...it causes for a very disjointed listening experience, where you read the lyrics while listening, thinking "Wow, this is really something else" while waiting for the music to live up to that standard. It never happens, at least in my opinion.

Compare this to the early Maiden tracks, those with the "terrible" lyrics as it were. See, I like some of those much more because they've got fun, catchy rock melodies which stick in my head. Due to the lyrics also being slightly primitive for Maiden standards, it makes you remember those lyrics as well. This is why I know Another Life's lyrics by heart, since well...we've all complained about the lyrics and repetitiveness sometime in our life, I'm sure of that much.

See, I respect Starblind a lot for trying to be this grand, special song which Maiden probably intended it to be. However, I always get the feeling that they wrote the lyrics first and then had to jumble together a song based around those lyrics. It's very noticable that they're jumping out of their skins to interest you in the lyrics and immerse you in its...world. This does not happen for me. All it does for me is just scream "READ THE LYRICS CHERISH THE LYRICS" into my ear for almost eight minutes while forgetting to actually provide any worthwhile musicality in the meanwhile.

Simply put, I think Starblind is a mess. One which could have easily been one of those "OHMYGOSH BEST MAIDEN SONG EVER" examples, but I just think it falls flat. Still...the lyrics are freaking brilliant and I will never concede to anything different in that department.
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This. So much this.
 
Moonchild has more melody one may think at first sight. Don't be distracted by the speed, heaviness or originality. The cool thing is that this song sounds fast and atmospheric (evil/mysterious/dark), a rare combination. A lot of this comes from Bruce's expression and the guitars. They are sometimes slow and brooding. Makes for a good contrast with the speedy drums and bass. Listen how Steve makes his diving and climbing runs in this psychedelic madness. As if someone is running through a dangerous labyrinth, dodging all kinds if attacks and pitfalls. Movement gets another dimension in this song. Far from being my favourite on the album (bottom half) and even if the song is not the most melodic (the chorus is VERY melodic, come on), there is much else to appreciate.
 
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I meant something else with the different perspective on songs and I hoped you understood that @mckindog. It was a big compliment to the game. Throwing it back in this manner without saying anything else does not feel as if you care.
 
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The pairings fell just wrong for a few songs. I'm fond of TFF, but Infinite Dreams is one of my favourite Maiden songs. I'm not keen on CIPWM, but marginally less keen on El Dorado. Went for Mother of Mercy, though. That and Talisman are my go-to tracks from TFF these days.
 
Forostar said:
Did you record that Mckindog?
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I haven’t been recording the individual matchups, just the final scores, but I believe Wiz is right. I!m almost positive it was a shutout and there were about 50 voters.

As for the Satellite 15 question, I agree with Ariana; I have read a lot of commentary on the song(s) where posters have separated it into two halves. I think actually forcing them to do that encourages a different perspective, and I thought your point was about the new way this game matches songs forces a different perspective.

That said, I wasn’t making any kind of point with it, just trying to make the game work.
We could also debate Steve’s decision to track it as one song rather than two, when he did the opposite for Ides of March/Wrathchild.
 
I am quite surprised with match three.
I though El Dorado was liked but not loved by most, while Madness is generally sneered at.
 
Satellite vs Moonchild
The Final Frontier vs Infinite Dreams
El Dorado vs Can I Play With Madness
Mother of Mercy vs The Evil that Men Do
Coming Home vs Massacre
The Alchemist vs Seventh Son
Isle of Avalon vs The Prophecy
Starblind vs The Clairvoyant
The Talisman vs Black Bart Blues
The Man Who Would Be King vs Sheriff of Huddersfield
When the Wild Wind Blows vs Only the Good Die Young

8-3 Seventh Son. Biggest win yet.
Just right, too. TFF got a couple of votes vs b-sides to save its pride. Don't really dislike any of TFF but as an album, I don't listen to it often. I appreciate the proggy efforts on Avalon and Starblind but they don't come together as well as they should, there's some great parts to both but they are not quite there. I appreciate the sentiment, though and I will admit that Starblind blew my mind when I first heard it. Absolutely no opinion in the lyrics discussion, I literally have no idea what hes saying, words are the last thing to intrude on my listening experience.

Notable Votes;
-Satellite 15 vs Moonchild - I'm glad this has given people a reason to listen to this intro/'piece' in a different way but, come on. Im glad they did it, its very different for them but its not a song. Its not even a proper intro like Ides of March. Its noise, its atmosphere. You must really, really hate Moonchild to vote for this.

-I'm a fan of Mother of Mercy but it stood no chance against one of Maidens best ever Short Rockers.

-Not a big fan of Coming Home but it could never lose out to a cover. Thin Lizzys version > Coming Home

-Only The Good Die Young - Tight, very tight.
 
Wow, some matches were close, but overall a drubbing, with every single album track from Seventh Son winning its match-up.
Three wins over B Sides for TFF makes it an 8-3 decision overall. I suspect it would have closer five years ago.

(A personal aside, I voted every TFF track save Mother of Mercy)

On to the next battle: Virtual XI versus Number of the Beast :edmetal:
 
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