Most overrated Maiden album?

Ascendingthethrone said:
This also won’t be a popular opinion, but I have always said Powerslave.
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I used to think the same thing. I always viewed it as a super powerful opening two and a super powerful closing two, but the middle dragged. I didn't warm to Tracks 3-6 (minus Flash, always liked that one) until two years ago or so. Probably just inside my top-five in terms of rankings now.

As for most overrated? I definitely say The Number of the Beast.
 
efekåseo_suomi said:
The Number of the Beast features some of the best songs in metal, but for me, a truly great album needs a powerful opening track. Invaders is probably the most forgettable Maiden song from the '80s. I wouldn’t call The Number of the Beast overrated, but that lackluster opener deserves more discussion. Who thought that was a good idea?
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Steve had said that they didn't have something better than it at the time and didn't have much time to write and record, iirc. But what about Total Eclipse, they liked it, but Gangland should have been the opener then (although Invaders has better solos). Everything about Invaders is very good, except for the chorus. It's Maiden's weakest opener though, imo.
Black Bart said:
but SiT definitely lacks Bruce's input...
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I don't think that was a problem for this album.
 
efekåseo_suomi said:
The Number of the Beast features some of the best songs in metal, but for me, a truly great album needs a powerful opening track. Invaders is probably the most forgettable Maiden song from the '80s. I wouldn’t call The Number of the Beast overrated, but that lackluster opener deserves more discussion. Who thought that was a good idea?
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I simply don't understand why the title track wasn't chosen as the opener. In my opinion, it would be perfect as the opening track. Anyway, even with Invaders and Gangland, the album is definitely in my top 5.
 
andreljbernardo said:
I simply don't understand why the title track wasn't chosen as the opener. In my opinion, it would be perfect as the opening track. Anyway, even with Invaders and Gangland, the album is definitely in my top 5.
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I couldn't agree more. Give Me 'Ed... 'Til I'm Dead Tour in 2003 with Number of the Beast as the first song was nothing short of genius. Have you heard the Stockholm bootleg from that tour? The setlist with Number of the Beast, The Trooper, Die With Your Boots On, Revelations, Hallowed Be Thy Name, and 22 Acacia Avenue as the first six songs is insane. It should be an official live album.
 
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I love how threads like this always end up with people jumping on and bashing the songs/albums they don’t like. That’s not what the OP was asking.

I’d say the most highly rated and highly thought of albums would be Number of the beast, Somewhere in time and possibly Brave New World as it was the reunion album.

I honestly wouldn’t say there’s any album that is particularly over rated. A lot of people have said number of the beast and I suspect that’s because they have other albums they like more. NOTB wouldn’t be in my top 5 Maiden albums but I wouldn’t say it’s over rated.

If you think back to 1982 and judge the album against its peers I think it stands head and shoulders above anything that came out around that time. The only other album I can think of that comes even close is screaming for vengeance.

NOTB introduced Bruce to the maiden fans and plus the album contains some bona fide heavy metal anthems. Put the title track or run to the hills or hallowed be thy name against anything any other NWOBHM band was doing at the time and you see why the album is so highly rated.

In my opinion Maiden went on to make better albums but NOTB was really ground zero for Maiden hitting the big time and I can totally see why.
 
AncientMariner_Essex said:
I love how threads like this always end up with people jumping on and bashing the songs/albums they don’t like. That’s not what the OP was asking.

I’d say the most highly rated and highly thought of albums would be Number of the beast, Somewhere in time and possibly Brave New World as it was the reunion album.

I honestly wouldn’t say there’s any album that is particularly over rated. A lot of people have said number of the beast and I suspect that’s because they have other albums they like more. NOTB wouldn’t be in my top 5 Maiden albums but I wouldn’t say it’s over rated.

If you think back to 1982 and judge the album against its peers I think it stands head and shoulders above anything that came out around that time. The only other album I can think of that comes even close is screaming for vengeance.

NOTB introduced Bruce to the maiden fans and plus the album contains some bona fide heavy metal anthems. Put the title track or run to the hills or hallowed be thy name against anything any other NWOBHM band was doing at the time and you see why the album is so highly rated.

In my opinion Maiden went on to make better albums but NOTB was really ground zero for Maiden hitting the big time and I can totally see why.
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It's not that complicated. The 80s albums and BNW to some degree are the most universally beloved albums. Maybe AMOLAD as well.
If one of these albums doesn't align with a person's taste, while the fandom is hailing it as the best thing since sliced bread, for that person this album would be overrated, by definition. Powerslave is that album for me. It is a legendary album, but I don't think most songs on that album deserve that legendary status, based on the compositions.

And before this is misconstrued as entitlement or something, what I mean by this: I feel that there are dozens of songs that Maiden have written, which deserve the love and adoration that some of the Powerslave songs receive. The title track is a 11/10 though, not gonna lie.
 
We have polled these things pretty frequently on Maidenfans and while it's obviously a smaller sample size, it tends to line up pretty well with other Iron Maiden rankings online (such as on RateYourMusic or generic lists from big music publications). The highest scoring Maiden albums in our big Maiden album ranking game (25 participants):

Seventh Son - 339 points
Somewhere in Time - 339 points
Powerslave - 336 points
AMOLAD - 322 points
Brave New World - 316 points

All scored relatively close and then after that there is a significant drop: Piece of Mind is at 269 points and Number of the Beast/Senjutsu are tied at 267. So at least among the hardcore fanbase I think it is a little bit more complicated than "80s albums overrated" or the band's most famous albums being the most popular among the fans. With Number of the Beast specifically, it seems like the common consensus is that it's a great album that created a foundation for the band to build off of. It would actually be more unusual for someone to come in and say that Beast is a top 3 Maiden album.
 
Mosh said:
We have polled these things pretty frequently on Maidenfans and while it's obviously a smaller sample size, it tends to line up pretty well with other Iron Maiden rankings online (such as on RateYourMusic or generic lists from big music publications). The highest scoring Maiden albums in our big Maiden album ranking game (25 participants):

Seventh Son - 339 points
Somewhere in Time - 339 points
Powerslave - 336 points
AMOLAD - 322 points
Brave New World - 316 points

All scored relatively close and then after that there is a significant drop: Piece of Mind is at 269 points and Number of the Beast/Senjutsu are tied at 267. So at least among the hardcore fanbase I think it is a little bit more complicated than "80s albums overrated" or the band's most famous albums being the most popular among the fans. With Number of the Beast specifically, it seems like the common consensus is that it's a great album that created a foundation for the band to build off of. It would actually be more unusual for someone to come in and say that Beast is a top 3 Maiden album.
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Look at that, my top five.
 
Mosh said:
Seventh Son - 339 points
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Thanks for reminding me - I know I supported NOTB as being the most overrated by the general public (and maybe it is, it definitely gets a much undeserved praise and attention for something that has, like, two good songs), but I forgot to put my own tuppence in.

Yeah, SSOASS. I love the title track (despite Bruce sounding off on the chorus and the terribly out-of-sync Yamaha choirs in the middle - the last three minutes is possibly the best thing Maiden ever recorded), The Clairvoyant is awesome and I can't help but love Dreams... and Can I Play with Madness is possibly the best marriage of radio-friendly and actually good in Maiden's catalogue, although I admit that I'm definitely not always in the mood for it.

But overall, it's the album that's dropped the most for me, resulting in a pretty big "meh" on my behalf.
Moonchild is really monotonous (the entire song has always sounded to me like it consists of literally one note, I know it doesn't, but still) and the lyrics are very... Brucey, for better or worse (definitely worse for me), TETMD was fun during the first 20 listens, but it was among the easiest Maiden songs to overplay for me, Infinite Dreams - despite being great musically still has this terrible Brucelyrics (despite being written by 'Arry! Imagine that! But it definitely sounds more in the Bruce Bruce vein), OTGDY is kinda okay, but underwhelming as a closer and it feels a lot like an outtake and The Prophecy is just terrible in general. I mean, I like Maiden also for 'Arry's love of prog rock and the slight leaning towards it or being influenced by it over time (The Legacy is still my #1 Maiden track), but this feels like they took the worst from the genre and just ran with it. It mostly sounds like Tygers of Pan Tang doing a Uriah Heep tribute... and I can hardly imagine many worse things than that, honestly.
 
Mosh said:
Seventh Son - 339 points
Somewhere in Time - 339 points
Powerslave - 336 points
AMOLAD - 322 points
Brave New World - 316 points
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Well, I mentioned the two that aren't from the 80s and the other three are obviously the golden era. I made sure to clarify that the rest of the 80s albums are the most beloved albums. The 90s album are obviously the black sheep, while DOD, TFF, TBOS and Senjutsu get the common criticisms for being too bloated.

So in that sense, I think it's fair to choose any of those albums for the most overrated.
 
Vaenyr said:
DOD ... get the common criticisms for being too bloated.
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I don't think the main problem of DOD is it being bloated. Yes, it has an overabundance of bad songs, but that's not really bloat. I hate Wildest Dreams for being the only Maiden song without an actual melody, I hate Gates of Tomorrow and New Frontier for being really pedestrian songs without any discernible idea (and the former stealing from Lord of the Flies to boot), I hate Journeyman for drowning its novelty and actual good approach and atmosphere in its unreasonable length (I mean, seven minutes for a non-progressing, monotonous half-country shuffle is certainly a bit too much), I hate the beginning of Paschendale for it sounding like a Nokia ringtone and in general I hate the album for its atrocious mastering that really sounds like it's trying to make your ears bleed, worse than Vlado Meller's job.

There's a great reunion album hidden somewhere in depths of the released product... it's just you have to work really hard to get to it. But it doesn't feel like bloat, at least not in the manner that people who hate Senjutsu, TBOS or even AMOLAD would probably say.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I don't think the main problem of DOD is it being bloated. Yes, it has an overabundance of bad songs, but that's not really bloat. I hate Wildest Dreams for being the only Maiden song without an actual melody, I hate Gates of Tomorrow and New Frontier for being really pedestrian songs without any discernible idea (and the former stealing from Lord of the Flies to boot), I hate Journeyman for drowning its novelty and actual good approach and atmosphere in its unreasonable length (I mean, seven minutes for a non-progressing, monotonous half-country shuffle is certainly a bit too much), I hate the beginning of Paschendale for it sounding like a Nokia ringtone and in general I hate the album for its atrocious mastering that really sounds like it's trying to make your ears bleed, worse than Vlado Meller's job.

There's a great reunion album hidden somewhere in depths of the released product... it's just you have to work really hard to get to it. But it doesn't feel like bloat, at least not in the manner that people who hate Senjutsu, TBOS or even AMOLAD would probably say.
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Eh, I was going for brevity, not for a detailed breakdown of each album's popular issues :P
 
Spaldy said:
You wash that opinion out of your mouth. ;)

What I like about The Prophecy is that it's unique in terms of key and notation for a Maiden song (the verse goes from Dm to Em to Am and the chorus is in Eb minor which is unusual). It's the proggiest song on the album.
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Also, it has not one, but two fade-outs. Usually I dislike fade-outs, but here they work effectively. First we have the repeating lead guitars that fade-out, then we get the beautiful acoustic outro which starts fading out after a while as well. Very well written.
 
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