Maiden albums you can’t get into?

It's too raw and rough for me. The only song I sometimes miss is Holy Smoke, but the rest of them are just not my cup of tea.
 
Diesel 11 said:
I think I’m somewhere between Perun and Ariana. On the one hand, Killers is just an overall weak album to me with a lot of filler that I don’t really care for. On the other hand, it does have five (counting Ides) pretty great Di’Anno era songs...
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Oh, I enjoy some of the songs a lot - Killers, Ides, Purgatory, Genghis Khan... But in my book, it's the weakest Maiden album, so I hardly ever listen to it.
 
Quite a few of them now:

1. Fear of the Dark - I used to like this one quite a bit actually. About 3 years ago now something clicked (or maybe un-clicked) with me regarding this album and I have haven't been able to stomach it since. It feels directionless. It feels stuck in between serious "street" heavy metal and so-so 90's hard rock. That being said, I love the title track, Afraid to Shoot Strangers, and Judas Be My Guide.
2. Virtual XI - I don't know, this one just sucks to my ears. I will still put on Lightning Strikes Twice, The Clansman, and When Two Worlds Collide occasionally.
3. Dance of Death - Too long, too... freeform? I feel like Maiden lost their sound for this album. They just sound so weird here. They sound like a prog band that broke up in the 80's and reformed for one more album but everyone is past their prime. I just don't get this one. Title track and Paschendale are great though. No More Lies and the live version of Journeyman they have on Death On the Road is ok.
4. The Final Frontier - Another album that feels directionless to me. Atleast all the songs deal with death in some way. Again, this one is just too proggy and freeform for me. Super longwinded too. It lacks heaviness. Starblind, Isle of Avalon, and The Talisman rule however.
5. The Book of Souls - See all my aforementioned complaints of DoD and TFF. Opening track is good atleast.
 
Absolutely none. Every studio album by Maiden is great. It didn't take many listens to get into any of them either.
 
I got into Maiden in 1987. Listened to all but one of the existing albums and fell deeply in love with 7th Son upon release.

The one album that I just didn't get into was Killers. I was so busy following the band's new releases that I almost forgot about the album.

Some time around 2000 I revisited Killers and realized that it is absolutely brilliant. Have loved it ever since.

N.b. I am ignoring the one album from Maidens career that I actively dislike - Fear of the Dark.
 
I’ve always struggled greatly with The X Factor. When I first heard it, I just couldn’t accept Blaze and his voice. It hasn’t really grown on me much over the years. I actually find Virtual XI much more listenable. It’s still Blaze, but the songs are poppier.

I also struggle with A Matter of Life and Death. It’s like a long gray muddy-sounding blob of slow meandering music that never really comes alive for me. I still hope to someday get into it.

I love everything else by Maiden.
 
I’m still not 100% familiar with The final frontier. Haven’t listened to it for a few years now, and all I remember is the first three songs, the introes and that every song was pretty long.

I was not really listening to any Maiden between 2010 to 2014, did not even buy En Vivo and Maiden England videos when they came out. Had alot more things going on in life.
 
The Red and the Black said:
I’ve always struggled greatly with The X Factor. When I first heard it, I just couldn’t accept Blaze and his voice. It hasn’t really grown on me much over the years. I actually find Virtual XI much more listenable. It’s still Blaze, but the songs are poppier.

I also struggle with A Matter of Life and Death. It’s like a long gray muddy-sounding blob of slow meandering music that never really comes alive for me. I still hope to someday get into it.

I love everything else by Maiden.
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It's funny you single these two out, because they have a lot of similarities for me. Both are very dark albums with a lot of war and religion themes. In fact, AMOLAD sounds to me like what X Factor could have sounded like if Bruce had sang on it and they had better production. That said I adore both albums.
 
chaosapiant said:
It's funny you single these two out, because they have a lot of similarities for me. Both are very dark albums with a lot of war and religion themes. In fact, AMOLAD sounds to me like what X Factor could have sounded like if Bruce had sang on it and they had better production. That said I adore both albums.
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I agree. AMOLAD sounds like a (good) retread of The X Factor days but with Bruce and H on board. I don't think it's as good as TXF but there are a ton of killer moments on it all the same.
 
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The Final Frontier is probably the Maiden album I know least well. Just really struggled to get into it when it was released, just seemed overly long and drawn out. I really should go back and give it a listen now, but I’m just never inspired to do so.
 
The Book of Souls is one for me. Its just too long, I think I have only listened to it fully 2 or 3 times.
Other factors include;

90secs of dickin about at the start.

The whole "shooting plasma from my grave" escapade.

8ish irritating minutes in TRATB.

Too much verse action before the good bit in the title track.

The final 3 songs take up approx 30 minutes and its a bit of a snooze fest. Each song on its own aint bad but one after the other is not for me.
 
AMOLAD and SIT are both in my top 3 albums by Maiden.

Brave New World needs to burn in a fiery hell. I absolutely despise that album (ranked worst out of all maiden albums for me). X Factor has wiggled into my top 5 maiden albums, after years and years of listening to it.

Book of Souls I can;t really listen to anymore, except for IESF, Title Track, and EOTC.

TFF is a gem for me. Starblind, Isle of Avalon, Talisman, And especially the cracker The Alchemist, which i think is one of the best short rockers they have ever recorded.
 
mitch cugnet said:
AMOLAD and SIT are both in my top 3 albums by Maiden.

Brave New World needs to burn in a fiery hell. I absolutely despise that album (ranked worst out of all maiden albums for me). X Factor has wiggled into my top 5 maiden albums, after years and years of listening to it.

Book of Souls I can;t really listen to anymore, except for IESF, Title Track, and EOTC.

TFF is a gem for me. Starblind, Isle of Avalon, Talisman, And especially the cracker The Alchemist, which i think is one of the best short rockers they have ever recorded.
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I think it's interesting that someone who seems to like reunion era Maiden dislikes Brave New World. I love all their newer albums but I fail to understand how BNW could be the weakest of them.
 
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