Number 6
Ancient Mariner
Alright, I'll check it out some time! Thanks.Yes! It's hilarious, the characters are memorable, and it gives off a lovely archaic vibe that helps it hold up today. Possibly the greatest show of all time.
Maiden Albums: Head to Head
- Thread starter mckindog
- Start date
Confeos
Game time started.
Nothing to do with Di'Anno, I just don't find the debut that great - I'd rank Killers a lot higher. I think DOD and the debut have a few things in common, both are fairly average albums with some absolutely amazing songs and some mediocre ones; and both have less-than-stellar sound and mix (the debut in particular). In the end the match-ups in this case just favoured DOD in my opinion
Edit: And Rainmaker looking to beat Remember Tomorrow might be the best thing about this thread so far!
Last edited:
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
You felt the need to qualify Friends as "the 90s television show"? As if we haven't all watched it.Journeyman sounds like a bad episode of the 90s's television show Friends....and the lyrics are so horribly camp
Confeos
Game time started.
That's the beauty of it all innit? So much good music that we can't help but rank some of it higher/lower than the rest. And I'm definitely a fan of The Apparition
Stardust
Rainmaker
Rainmaker is amazing and the best modern short rocker they've done by far. It's in my personal top five Maiden songs, so I guess I'm just biased...
As for the debut...I do really like it. It's got this rough sound, mostly due to the production, which I just love. Phantom in particular has never sounded better live than the studio original. And there's some really unique pieces in which they would never really do a song in the same style again. Strange World is such a...strange song. It's one of my favourites on the debut for that very reason. And there's only one song I really dislike on the album - which is Charlotte the Harlot. I really don't like that song. I don't really have much else to say about the other songs, they're all solid numbers in my opinion.
Then there's Dance of Death. I don't consider it a bad album, but it's definitely one of the albums I like the least by Maiden. I think it's because the album just doesn't feel very fresh or new to me. Anything on there (with one exception), I can find a better alternative in a different Maiden song on a different album.
Let's quickly go through the album, shall we? Wildest Dreams is just ugh. It's this really cheerful opening rocker and I really hate pretty much everything about it. The lyrics don't interest me one bit, I ignore them completely actually, and that chorus is just...well, not even gonna dignify it with a complaint.
Rainmaker...well, I just said what I thought about that one so moving on...
No More Lies. No More Lies. No More Lies. No More--okay, that's getting old. The first time the chorus kicks in, it's actually kinda good...then it never shuts up. You feel inclined to sing along to it at the start but it goes on for way longer than it needs to. Of course, it doesn't help matters that the chorus reappears again in the song. And the rest of the song just kinda meanders a lot. I can't for the life of me remember any of the vocal melodies or any of the melodies for that matter. All I remember is that chorus...and is that really a good thing?
Montsegur has this really great heavy riff. But then it never really lives up to that riff. The rest of the song just plods along and I guess it's not bad, but it's just so forgettable. You do remember the cheery vocal section everyone complains about...because it is horrible.
Dance of Death should be a masterpiece. By all accounts, it should. The lyrics, while not the greatest, are sung by Bruce with absolute aplomb. It's an amazing performance which really does make the song. The gradual buildup of the first three minutes are great and you're immersed by the story because it's very dynamic. This is great stuff. Then the rest of the song kicks in and it's not as good. The main riff here is fine, it just never really goes anywhere at this point. We get a three guitar attack which is fine but it's just typical Maiden stuff. It ends with a return to the opening stuff, because of course it does. All in all, it's a great song but I don't think it's a masterpiece even though it's built in every way to be that.
Gates of Tomorrow is bad, moving on.
New Frontier's only notable feature is that Nicko gets a songwriting credit on it. The song itself is bland and generic, the lyrics only help a little bit to make it stand out, and that's not in a good way.
...and then we're hit with Paschendale. Now, once upon a time, I hated this song a lot. And I think a lot of you Maidenfans veterans are well aware of this. At the time, I was just jealous of how popular it was, compared to other songs I liked better but no one else seemed to like, such as Back in the Village. But some years has passed since then and my gosh, I was foolish to ever consider hating this song. This is the best song on the album, bar none. It's not my favourite on the album, that'll be Rainmaker, but it's the best put-together song by a considerable margin. Every bit of this song is fantastic. The mid section with the solos and the "Blood is falling like the rain!" bit is my favourite Iron Maiden moment, period. It's such a freaking masterpiece on every level and it's the one reason I ever listen to this album...except Rainmaker, I guess.
How do you follow that up, though? By not doing it at all, of course. Of course, they'll spend all of AMOLAD (and especially The Longest Day) trying to recapture the glorious magic of Paschendale, but they never quite get there, except for the one exception which is Brighter.
But on this album, they follow up Paschendale with Face in the Sand. The only reason I even remember this song is because of the Nicko double-bass thing, otherwise I think it's pretty gosh darn forgettable and bland. There's that word again.
Age of Innocence isn't bad, but it's...you know what, you can pretty much fill in the blanks here with the obvious. The lyrics are the only part worth considering and they're really nothing special, all things considered. Just kinda the main attraction in an otherwise worthless song.
Journeyman, then...is certainly unique. It's a fully acoustic song and it's certainly not bad. The verses and pre-chorus are actually pretty great. The chorus isn't, though. I don't think they hit the mark they wanted to hit with that chorus. But the pacing of the song is what kills the song for me. It's just so slow and meandering and you're sitting there waiting for the chorus to hit again which is focused a lot on as the main attraction of the song besides the whole being acoustic thing. It's an interesting experiment for sure, but one that failed. I respect the effort, but it's not for me.
Whew, that was way longer than I expected it to be. Well, I'll leave it at that, this post's already super-lengthy as is!
As for the debut...I do really like it. It's got this rough sound, mostly due to the production, which I just love. Phantom in particular has never sounded better live than the studio original. And there's some really unique pieces in which they would never really do a song in the same style again. Strange World is such a...strange song. It's one of my favourites on the debut for that very reason. And there's only one song I really dislike on the album - which is Charlotte the Harlot. I really don't like that song. I don't really have much else to say about the other songs, they're all solid numbers in my opinion.
Then there's Dance of Death. I don't consider it a bad album, but it's definitely one of the albums I like the least by Maiden. I think it's because the album just doesn't feel very fresh or new to me. Anything on there (with one exception), I can find a better alternative in a different Maiden song on a different album.
Let's quickly go through the album, shall we? Wildest Dreams is just ugh. It's this really cheerful opening rocker and I really hate pretty much everything about it. The lyrics don't interest me one bit, I ignore them completely actually, and that chorus is just...well, not even gonna dignify it with a complaint.
Rainmaker...well, I just said what I thought about that one so moving on...
No More Lies. No More Lies. No More Lies. No More--okay, that's getting old. The first time the chorus kicks in, it's actually kinda good...then it never shuts up. You feel inclined to sing along to it at the start but it goes on for way longer than it needs to. Of course, it doesn't help matters that the chorus reappears again in the song. And the rest of the song just kinda meanders a lot. I can't for the life of me remember any of the vocal melodies or any of the melodies for that matter. All I remember is that chorus...and is that really a good thing?
Montsegur has this really great heavy riff. But then it never really lives up to that riff. The rest of the song just plods along and I guess it's not bad, but it's just so forgettable. You do remember the cheery vocal section everyone complains about...because it is horrible.
Dance of Death should be a masterpiece. By all accounts, it should. The lyrics, while not the greatest, are sung by Bruce with absolute aplomb. It's an amazing performance which really does make the song. The gradual buildup of the first three minutes are great and you're immersed by the story because it's very dynamic. This is great stuff. Then the rest of the song kicks in and it's not as good. The main riff here is fine, it just never really goes anywhere at this point. We get a three guitar attack which is fine but it's just typical Maiden stuff. It ends with a return to the opening stuff, because of course it does. All in all, it's a great song but I don't think it's a masterpiece even though it's built in every way to be that.
Gates of Tomorrow is bad, moving on.
New Frontier's only notable feature is that Nicko gets a songwriting credit on it. The song itself is bland and generic, the lyrics only help a little bit to make it stand out, and that's not in a good way.
...and then we're hit with Paschendale. Now, once upon a time, I hated this song a lot. And I think a lot of you Maidenfans veterans are well aware of this. At the time, I was just jealous of how popular it was, compared to other songs I liked better but no one else seemed to like, such as Back in the Village. But some years has passed since then and my gosh, I was foolish to ever consider hating this song. This is the best song on the album, bar none. It's not my favourite on the album, that'll be Rainmaker, but it's the best put-together song by a considerable margin. Every bit of this song is fantastic. The mid section with the solos and the "Blood is falling like the rain!" bit is my favourite Iron Maiden moment, period. It's such a freaking masterpiece on every level and it's the one reason I ever listen to this album...except Rainmaker, I guess.
How do you follow that up, though? By not doing it at all, of course. Of course, they'll spend all of AMOLAD (and especially The Longest Day) trying to recapture the glorious magic of Paschendale, but they never quite get there, except for the one exception which is Brighter.
But on this album, they follow up Paschendale with Face in the Sand. The only reason I even remember this song is because of the Nicko double-bass thing, otherwise I think it's pretty gosh darn forgettable and bland. There's that word again.
Age of Innocence isn't bad, but it's...you know what, you can pretty much fill in the blanks here with the obvious. The lyrics are the only part worth considering and they're really nothing special, all things considered. Just kinda the main attraction in an otherwise worthless song.
Journeyman, then...is certainly unique. It's a fully acoustic song and it's certainly not bad. The verses and pre-chorus are actually pretty great. The chorus isn't, though. I don't think they hit the mark they wanted to hit with that chorus. But the pacing of the song is what kills the song for me. It's just so slow and meandering and you're sitting there waiting for the chorus to hit again which is focused a lot on as the main attraction of the song besides the whole being acoustic thing. It's an interesting experiment for sure, but one that failed. I respect the effort, but it's not for me.
Whew, that was way longer than I expected it to be. Well, I'll leave it at that, this post's already super-lengthy as is!
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Time for a new head-to-head I think. Quickly, before a flurry of new votes comes and turns this into a win for the debut.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
I didn't realize that. Let's celebrate the victory of 'Dance of Death'! 
Magnus
Pica Serdica
"Sad jams", another member often says.I didn't realize that. Let's celebrate the victory of 'Dance of Death'!
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Phwoar.While remembering the beautiful artwork:
Magnus
Pica Serdica
My point exactly.
fekso
Ancient Mariner
While remembering the beautiful artwork:
Is it true the creator wanted his credit removed from this?
Number 6
Ancient Mariner
Yes. If you check the CD booklet, he isn't credited. We only ever knew who the creator was because his name appeared on the From Fear To Eternity compilation.