Maiden Albums: Head to Head

Vote for your favourite song from each pair

  • Total voters
    34
  • Poll closed .
SixesAlltheway said:
Hm, i'm not sure a "disinterested" band is the opposite of a "stable" band. I think that there are a lot of fantastic albums in Rock n Roll made by bands that you wouldn't exactly call stable- sometimes that tension between big ego band members is what makes great albums and puts an extra fire behind the songs :devil2:
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You make a good point there. I guess even a band like Megadeth with a revolving door line-up still released great albums.
 
That's probably because Megadeth is pretty stable - it's Dave Mustaine's band, after all, and his "vision" is what everyone else goes by. He is the be all and end all of the band. That's stability.
 
Collin said:
I knew Sanctuary was one of the lesser songs in Maidens catalogue, but losing to QFF??!?!? Why??
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It's well and truly overplayed live. It's in Maiden's top ten most played songs, ahead of Wrathchild, even! QFF is a great little fun one.
 
Edington said:
You make a good point there. I guess even a band like Megadeth with a revolving door line-up still released great albums.
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Yeah I guess. Or think about a band like Deep Purple...putting out classic hard rock albums while half the band couldn't stand eacother. Or a band as unstable as Guns putting out Appetite etc....
 
Forostar said:
@Black Wizard no, I am not. That was not my point. No one is immune, but I had a different route (order), different exposure than most, if not eveybody else here. Not a superior route, but surely a very fine one. I feel lucky that it must have played a role in having a more than average love for non-Bruce and early nineties era Maiden.
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Can you then accept that you are disproportionately biased towards 90s Maiden because it reminds you of how you felt when you started listening to them and the first few times you saw them and, as a result, you are unable to objectively consider this period of the band's history when comparing it to other eras?
 
Another blowout 10-1 for Piece of Mind.
We move on to what appears to be another lopsided matchup: Virtual XI versus Somewhere in Time
 
Caught Somewhere in Time vs Futureal
Wasted Years vs The Angel and the Gambler
Sea of Madness vs Lightning Strikes Twice
Heaven Can Wait vs The Clansman
Reach Out vs Virus
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner vs When Two Worlds Collide
Stranger in a Strange Land vs The Educated Fool
Deja Vu vs Don't Look To The Eyes of a Stranger
That Girl vs Judgement Day
Juanita vs Justice of the Peace
Alexander the Great vs Como Estais Amigos

6-5 to 'Somewhere in Time', but 'Virtual XI' got 3 from b-sides.
 
Somewhere In Time Wins. Flawless Victory.

Although I did vote for Virus, only because I've never heard Reach Out. Or these...

That Girl vs Judgement Day
Juanita vs Justice of the Peace

:oops:
 
Caught Somewhere in Time vs Futureal
Wasted Years vs The Angel and the Gambler
Sea of Madness vs Lightning Strikes Twice
Heaven Can Wait vs The Clansman
Reach Out vs Virus
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner vs When Two Worlds Collide
Stranger in a Strange Land vs The Educated Fool
Deja Vu vs Don't Look To The Eyes of a Stranger
That Girl vs Judgement Day
Juanita vs Justice of the Peace
Alexander the Great vs Como Estais Amigos


Edington said:
I've never heard Reach Out. Or these...

That Girl vs Judgement Day
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Golden b-sides. Look for them on YT asap. Reach Out is really disappointing on the contrary
 
This is not nearly as lopsided as I would’ve anticipated.

The B sides here are definitely among the strongest, although Virus is one of my least favorite Maiden songs and I don’t really see the appeal over the tightly written (not to mention catchy) Reach Out. Between the other B Side matchups, I went with one from SIT (That Girl) and one from X Factor (Justice of the Peace).

Two Worlds Collide vs Heaven Can Wait is a great matchup. The former is the unsung hero of Virtual XI, second only to The Clansman. HCW, meanwhile, is probably my least favorite SIT song and is very overexposed in the live sets. Would like to see an upset here.

I’ve noticed that the matches between album closets tend to be the most interesting. It makes sense: Maiden tend to close their albums with a bang. In this case, we have two of their most flawed and weakest closers. Como Estais Amigos has some great melodic work and a certain amount of intimacy in the opening verses. However it is marred by dull performances (like most of the album) and a heavy orchestral arrangement that is so over the top that it kills the effectiveness of the song.

On the other hand, Alexander the Great is a great instrumental that has been shoehorned into an “epic” format. It’s like one of many Dream Theater songs where the instrumental stuff is really well composed and arranged but everything else was like an afterthought. Bruce’s tired performance doesn’t help either. All that being said, I went with Alex because the instrumental work really is that good. Some of their finest melodies, guitar solos, and rhythmic patterns ever. A great example of a story being more effectively told through music.
 
6 - 5 in favor of SiT, though both are spectacular and right next to each other on my list. VXI is better as a whole but SiT has a few stronger songs.
 
Palpy said:
Golden b-sides. Look for them on YT asap.
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Just listened to Justice of the Peace and Judgement Day. Great high energy songs, Blaze sounds incredible and Janick and Dave play some killer solos. Why were these not on the album again?!

Reach Out I had heard before, but obviously it didn't leave much of an impression. Great stuff from Adrian, but I still stand by Virus.

That Girl and Juanita are pretty cool, the Somewhere In Time guitar tone really suits the former. I think the Blaze songs win those rounds, however.
 
That Girl, while a cover, is one of the best Maiden songs period. I love it so much.

Virus and Justice of the Peace are also great songs.
 
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