My biggest issue is the production, or more precisely, the mastering. Listening to DoD in earphones makes my ears bleed almost in the way Vlado Muller's (or other loudness war hack's) work can. No other Maiden album is this terrible, sound-wise.
Also, there are three absolutely atrocious songs - Gates of Tomorrow is the most run-of-the-mill, uninventive and useless Maiden song this side of... well, probably something off NPFTD, with its only memorable part being a rehash of Lord of the Flies.
New Frontier, much as I'd love to enjoy the Nicko song, is rather inane - I may appreciate the message (the implications of creating a sentient being, really going back to the original
Frankenstein novel instead of any horror-themed latter adaptational revisionism), but it is absolutely awfully put, with clunky lyrics and pretty much non-existent rest of the song.
Wildest Dreams is the biggest travesty, though. With Maiden, I primarily appreciate their penchant for melody, this shite here is not just absolutely melodyless, without a single original musical idea, but also really underwhelming as an opener and putting a certain kind of stink over the entire rest of the album.
Besides that, I think the Nokia ringtone Paschenchippendale riff is not too hot and that the song is way too murky and only a preview of what would be perfected on the next album (although I still like the track a lot) and although I am able to read and interpret the Age of Innocence lyrics in a more welcoming manner than other people on the forum seems to be, I admit they are somewhat clunky as well.
With that done away, it's nearly all praise - Rainmaker is not just my favourite reunion short fast rocker, but possibly my favourite short fast Maiden rocker overall (it really pushes all the right buttons for me, let alone feeling weirdly nostalgic, 22 years later), Montségur, its apotheosis of Cathars notwithstanding, is a really good song and one of the best songs that, mind-bogglingly, have never been played alive by the band, Face in the Sand is another kinda preview of the next two album, at least atmosphere-wise and I wish they went into this well more often.
Journeyman is overlong, but it
is the last track (so you can technically turn it off early) and I like its acoustic aesthetic; it sounds a bit like a gimmick, but it is a nice gimmick, methinks.
The major key chorus if the aforementioned Innocence is just so ... weird, it brings pleasant memories of
Fear of the Dark (the album), that was full of various 90s weirdness. And No More Lies, well,
I used to have it in my top ten, some eleven years ago, I certainly don't anymore, but the wistful riff at 0:24, the solos and the weird feel of
significance that the blatheringly repetitive song has, all those make me appreciate it very much.
And Dance of Death, of course. That one
is in my top ten, very likely either number one or two (switching with The Legacy) and the epitome of Maiden for me.
All in all, it may be the worst reunion album for me, but that still makes it really high in my ranking, of both Maiden albums and albums in general. So there.
