Maiden albums you can’t get into?

Lampwick 43 said:
:eek:

I'm not mad, I'm not even disappointed, I'm just... puzzled. BNW isn't my favorite album, or even in my top 5, but I didn't think it was possible that any fan of Iron Maiden could despise it!
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Anything is possible. Quantum, you know.
... And the album's best part is actually Beckett anyway...
 
If I was going to pick a 'weakest' I'd go for TFF, but yes, I also see BNW as having a great start followed by some solid but not entirely inspiring and stand out stuff. Except maybe for that really nice instrumental that was wholly stolen.
 
Black Bart said:
Among the new albums, it might be the one in which the distinction between the great songs and the less good songs (some might say the fillers) is the most painfully noticeable (first four songs + the rest). But that's just my vision of it. ;)
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Agreed.

I'd be more charitable on the number of great songs ( OOTSP and the Thin Line are great as well for me) but the other 4 are probably the weakest of this era. The 6 great songs are up there with the absolute best of this, or any, Maiden era though.
 
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srfc said:
( OOTSP and the Thin Line are great as well for me)
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In my opinion, "Out of a Silent Planet" would have been great if it hadn't been so complicated and overarranged (e.g I number at least 3 intros!) and "The Thin Line..." is just the side of Maiden I don't really like (very light melodies and a drum pattern -the same as the verses of "Childhood's End"- that I find boring when it goes on for too long).
 
Niall Kielt said:
The Book of Souls is one for me.
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Y’know, I enjoy the album (second best reunion album overall for me), and yet I can’t really argue with any of your criticisms. I could see all of those things being legitimately grating to someone, even if they mostly don’t bug me.
 
Jer said:
Y’know, I enjoy the album (second best reunion album overall for me), and yet I can’t really argue with any of your criticisms. I could see all of those things being legitimately grating to someone, even if they mostly don’t bug me.
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Thing is, I dont flat out dislike any of the songs and the Eternity is great and that the instrumental sections of TRATB and TBOS are wondrous but anytime I think of putting it on I just sign and think "too much effort."
I wouldn't consider it the weakest reunion album though, Dance of Death takes that crown. Or TFF. My the reunion hasn't aged well...
 
I got into Maiden in the mid 1980s & loooooved 'em instantly. Had all their albums thru 7th Son... and then I went off to college & suddenly, IM's style of music just wasn't around. In the States, at least, the Grunge/etc. genres totally devoured Old School metal & it kinda vanished from the scene. Plus, I heard the reviews for FOTD & NP were shitty, so it was easy to avoid -- and then, IM hired a new singer & faded even more, so they were sorta relegated to the "stuff I loved from childhood" section in my head for half-a-decade. (It was a different time, boys & girls: Superheroes were only for dorks & nerds, too.)

But when Bruce returned in the 90s, I jumped back on the train & haven't left. Still enjoy the hellouta 'em... but never felt the urge to go back & buy the old albums, since their best songs were included in concert videos/albums, which I had. I figured, after IM breaks up for good, I could buy FOTD, etc. & still have new stuff to enjoy for a while... it was my retirement plan!

But last month, Walmart had FOTD in a discount bin, so I grabbed it as an impulse buy... and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Each song was so different & wacky... I don't know how the album "worked" when it was released, but in the context of listening to IM for 30 years, it was a fun hodgepodge of new sounds. I liked it.

Have a harder time getting into the Paul D albums. If Bruce is a vintage Ferrari, Paul is a 1975 Dodge Dart with bird shit on the windshield & a bottle of Jack in the glove compartment.

Blaze is... a 1994 Toyota Carolla, minus a few hubcaps?
 
Black Bart said:
Among the new albums, it might be the one in which the distinction between the great songs and the less good songs (some might say the fillers) is the most painfully noticeable (first four songs + the rest). But that's just my vision of it. ;)
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Bingo! Wicker Man and GOTN do it for me. But after that. its just nothing. Fallen Angel has its redeeming qualities, but i just think the filler is far to obvious and apparent.
 
I know this is controversial but the album I have always found hardest to get into is Powerslave. These are my views summed up.
  • To me, every song on the album has the same sound/vibe.
  • There is not enough light and shade on the album. There is one interesting clean section on the whole album (Powersvalve) but the rest just sounds like a wall of guitars and a band at 100mph. The only part of the album that surprises me is when Back in the Village changes key. That is a great moment.
  • All of the songs that were played live are better live.
  • Instrumentally it is fantastic. However I think Maiden have done simpler and more impressive songs. e.g. Revelations is better than anything on Powerslave.
It is a great album but it is the last one that I would choose to listen to from the 80's.
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
Interesting. To me BNW is one of those all killer-no filler albums. The Fallen Angel is the only filler-ish song there in my opinion but it's still great. The first 4 songs and Out of the Silent Planet are among Maiden's best.
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Definitely. For me, even if I cherish the golden years all the 80's studio-albums (plus LAD), that's basically my absolutely favorite studio-album run by anyone ever. The 7 consecutive strong efforts after another (plus LAD is added bonus as examplary live-album even if did have some minor tweaking in the studio afterwards) was the Maiden I fell in love with. All the 80's albums are pure diamonds and masterpieces, BNW is really strong album, no filler just killer after another. It was impressive return to form and reunion. I think it lived up to the hype of Bruce & H coming back besides as I had just seen the reformed Maiden-live in the fall '99 I knew that it wasn't all we would hear from them. Luckily the album that came after, BNW, was something really remarkable package of new songs. The Fallen Angel is cool song, I've always loved it. I remember when BNW was released, one of the friends didn't like the album at all, I think I did instantly but surely I had to spin it more and get used to it. It took time and effort, but that's something that usually is needed for any great albums.
 
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KidInTheDark666 said:
I think that Dance of Death is the weakest reunion album by far. It has several fillers in my opinion.
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That's the same album for me. Couple years ago, I decided to rank each album and each song..it was surprising to find out how it came out.
And from the reunion-albums DOD is clearly the weakest..there's really good moments but the little fillers brought the numbers down so much.
I don't think there's total stinker or bad album in the catalogue, honestly and Im being serious, but DOD, TXF and VXI have all good stuff and songs, but the bad ones (even some fillerish feeling) bring the total numbers down too much.
Might have to do another run of the catalogue and rank the songs again just for fun and then participate to comment each album here on the threads.
But I don't have any problems with any songs or albums, each work and I can listen them..I can get into them.
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
Interesting. To me BNW is one of those all killer-no filler albums. The Fallen Angel is the only filler-ish song there in my opinion but it's still great. The first 4 songs and Out of the Silent Planet are among Maiden's best.
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For the most part I agree with your post. It’s one of the three Maiden albums I’d call flat-out perfect, and the opening trio is one of the best in their discography. I think the weakest song might be Nomad though, but that song rocks, stolen instrumental or not, which is proof to me of how great BNW is. So much for considering it the worst of all of Maiden’s albums, young diesel.
 
The only record I tend not to listen to is Virtual XI, the drumming and production is just too annoying, together with some bad arrangements it just doesn't work for me. Blaze does a good work though and some of the songs work really well live, and I really want to like the record more than I do, but I tend to avoid listening to it. It have good potential but in the end it just feels like a demo with bad drums, such a let down after the X-factor.
 
Easy, any Dianno album,i prefer bruce version,and i have one album i dont like at all,Dance of Death,for me one of the worst album Iron Maiden made.
 
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