Most overrated Maiden album?

[Brazilian Benjamin Breeg]

My general answer is 'all from the so-called Golden Era,' mainly because people tend to be overly nostalgic about that period and consider it flawless, which isn't really the case. Those albums are not super consistent, and the presence of the band's all-time best classics combined with nostalgic attachment let most fans biased. AMOLAD is more consistent and BNW is better produced than any of them, if you ask me.

 

[Siddharth]

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.

Well, to be fair, yes, we are pushing ourselves to call a Maiden album "overrated" because none of them are! Of course it is being discussed here in a comparative sense.

When we talk about overrated, I don't think we are discussing purely in terms of statistics only. Our personal bias definitely comes into play, I mean how else could one call out a work getting high regards as unjust?

In those terms, to people calling The Number Of The Beast as "overrated", I actually do get their point and let me tell you, TNOTB is actually my 3rd favourite Maiden album! And yes, it is a way more influential NWOBHM album than say, No Prayer For The Dying or Dance Of Death (though they also have their separate fanbase).

 

[Siddharth]

My general answer is 'all from the so-called Golden Era,' mainly because people tend to be overly nostalgic about that period and consider it flawless, which isn't really the case. Those albums are not super consistent, and the presence of the band's all-time best classics combined with nostalgic attachment let most fans biased. AMOLAD is more consistent and BNW is better produced than any of them, if you ask me.

I respectfully disagree, even though I find Brave New World and AMOLAD ironically, as the only albums which can go toe-to-toe against the "golden era" albums.

 

[The Dissident]

While I understand any comment stating NOTB, SIT, or Powerslave. For me it is Piece of Mind, honestly not a huge fan of the production, and I haven't been compelled to listen to it in a very long time.

 

[MindRuler]

The Number Of The Beast by far.
Yes it’s a classic but with alot of lesser tracks.

 

[Kalata]

My general answer is 'all from the so-called Golden Era,' mainly because people tend to be overly nostalgic about that period and consider it flawless, which isn't really the case. Those albums are not super consistent, and the presence of the band's all-time best classics combined with nostalgic attachment let most fans biased. AMOLAD is more consistent and BNW is better produced than any of them, if you ask me.

With some exceptions, I agree about the more consistent part during the Reunion era. At least 3 of the Reunion albums can be compared to the 80's albums imo.

I don't think the main problem of DOD is it being bloated.

I think DOD has a very good balance between shorter and longer songs.

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.

Yeah, but Maiden rarely put title tracks as the first songs on albums. I assume because most of the time they are long (and special) songs.

Well, to be fair, yes, we are pushing ourselves to call a Maiden album "overrated" because none of them are! Of course it is being discussed here in a comparative sense. When we talk about overrated, I don't think we are discussing purely in terms of statistics only. Our personal bias definitely comes into play, I mean how else could one call out a work getting high regards as unjust?
In those terms, to people calling The Number Of The Beast as "overrated", I actually do get their point and let me tell you, TNOTB is actually my 3rd favourite Maiden album!

Yep. I think TNOTB isn't rated that highly here due to 2 certain songs that makes it not consistent enough, which isn't an issue for POM for example. Overplayed songs, but for a reason.

 

[Kalata]

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

^Not a surprise, some of Maiden's very best albums as a whole piece imo, along with the debut, POM and SJ.

 

[Eddie's Uncle]

Number of the Beast, definitely.
In all "Best Metal albums of all time" it Is ALWAYS in the top 5, while in my opinion it is not even in Maiden's top 5.
By the time it was released, it was better than most contemporary albums of other NWOBHM bands, so yes, it can be seen as a hit album, and yes, it features several great hits. But it is also largely inconsostent, with a larger number of fillers, and it also featutes three (!!) of the worst 80s Maiden songs. That does not make it a bad album. But for an album that constantly gets praised as one of the best album of all time, it's a bit too much junk here.

 

[Helmuth Von Moltke]

Number of the Beast, definitely.
In all "Best Metal albums of all time" it Is ALWAYS in the top 5, while in my opinion it is not even in Maiden's top 5.
By the time it was released, it was better than most contemporary albums of other NWOBHM bands, so yes, it can be seen as a hit album, and yes, it features several great hits. But it is also largely inconsostent, with a larger number of fillers, and it also featutes three (!!) of the worst 80s Maiden songs. That does not make it a bad album. But for an album that constantly gets praised as one of the best album of all time, it's a bit too much junk here.

Totally agree. I always had a hard time placing NOTB on this supposed pedestal. I also felt the UK rock press in particular just needed a single 'Appetite for Detsruction' / 'Back in Black' / 'Black Album' moment from Maiden to venerate, further building this album's legend year later.

In reality, Maiden's musical contribution comes from their body of work, not one moment in time.

I have seen it written that Maiden has produced at least 10 standout fantastic albums. Frankly, I don't care which albums fans populate their top 10 list of excellent Maiden albums, but the volume of quality work over many decades is undeniable.

 

[Starblind]

Speaking in terms of overrated finding culture, it's clear: fear of the dark. third number one album of maiden in UK charts. one of the best selling albums of the band. Yet it's obviously weaker then the golden year albums (first 7). Even the big classic fear of the dark was like a weak epic considered with the previous epics (yet can't deny how it grew with the live performances). and probably people who doesn't have a clue about maiden, first try that album just because of the song fear of the dark, and it's just unfortunate cause it has the least identity and "album wholeness" considered with all maiden albums. just bunch of good but stylistically very different songs altogether.

 

[AncientMariner_Essex]

Is it popular these days for so called “hardcore maiden fans” to rubbish NOTB?

I’ve seen this quite a bit over the last few years were long term Maiden fans have been slating the album and saying it’s massively over rated with tons of weak tracks.

In my opinion NOTB doesn’t even get into my top 5 Maiden albums however, I can totally see why it is so revered by the Metal press and metal fans in general.

If you think back to when it was released in 1982 it was an instant classic. It was head and shoulders above what any other metal band was doing at the time. The only album that comes anywhere near close to this for me is Judas Priests screaming for Vengeance and even that album is a big step down from NOTB.

The artwork was amazing, Bruce was introduced and in my opinion blew Paul D’ianno out of the water. His range and overall tone of his voice was superb and allowed Maiden to write songs in a different way as they had a singer now that could pretty much sing anything he wanted.

The album itself is chock full of classics for me with gangland being the only weak track for me and even then it’s decent. It was also Maidens first number 1 UK album.

If you put into context what this album achieved and what was its competition in 1982 then it does become an instant classic. It’s the album the propelled them onto the international stage in a big way.

For me, Maiden went on to write better albums but some of the songs on this one are just classics that a lot of casuals will love like run to the hills, hallowed be thy name and the title track.

Not sure why it keeps getting so much hate. Think some fans like to hate on it to look cool. “Hey I’m hardcore maiden and I don’t care if this album is popular I know Maidens music better than the average fan and I like other albums more”

Lots of bands have revered classics but in my opinion wrote better albums but I can understand why the classics are revered. Slayer is a good example. Everyone raves about reign in blood and yes it’s a great album and I can totally see in 1986 why it was revolutionary for thrash and metal in general but I think seasons in the abyss blows it out of the water but that doesn’t make reign in blood a bad album.

 

[Vaenyr]

TNOTB is not a bad album. Yet it still is in my bottom 5 Maiden albums, simply because I prefer everything else that followed. It's that simple.

No need to gate keep and to judge other "hardcore maiden fans" for having criticisms of an album. Turns out tastes are subjective and one man's trash is another's treasure.

 

[AncientMariner_Essex]

TNOTB is not a bad album. Yet it still is in my bottom 5 Maiden albums, simply because I prefer everything else that followed. It's that simple.

No need to gate keep and to judge other "hardcore maiden fans" for having criticisms of an album. Turns out tastes are subjective and one man's trash is another's treasure.

I don’t even know what hate keep means, don’t spend enough time on online forums to understand the online vernacular.

I’m fully aware that peoples opinions are different and subjective.

My post was simply asking why is NOTB trashed so much as I’ve seen and heard loads of people trashing it of late. As I said it’s not even in my top 5 Maiden albums but I can see why it’s revered so highly and why to the metal masses it’s a total classic.

If someone doesn’t feel it deserves its classic status that’s one opinion but the last few in this thread seem to be trashing the album to be honest and saying not only is it over rated but that it’s a poor album with loads of filler and yet it’s chock full of classic songs that have been live staples for years so I was just wondering if it’s popular or in vogue at the moment to trash NOTB.

 

[Vaenyr]

Again: Tastes are different. That's it. Just because TNOTB and RTTH (for example) are metal classics, doesn't mean that every person loves or even likes those songs. Also, NOTB does not get "trashed", far from it. If you want to see albums that get a lot of criticism look no further than Maiden's 90s output.

Some people don't like TNOTB or don't adore every song on that album. That's fine. Personally, the only truly great song on there that has stood the test of time is Hallowed. The rest ranges from among the worst they've ever done (Total Eclipse) to abysmal (Invaders) to good (22AA despite its bad lyrics, The Prisoner). IMO of course.

Why is it okay for folks to pretend TXF is among the worst things they've ever heard, but as soon as a couple of people criticize TNOTB we have to investigate if there's some kind of hate campaign going on?

 

[srfc]

I think it's a case of people looking for attention and maybe also a bit of FOMO when people take a pop at albums that were the historically most important album for a band. People trying to delude themself into thinking that their own heyday was actually the most significant for the band so they start indulging in a bit of historical revisionism.

 

[Vaenyr]

I think it's a case of people looking for attention and maybe also a bit of FOMO when people take a pop at albums that were the historically most important album for a band. People trying to delude themself into thinking that their own heyday was actually the most significant for the band so they start indulging in a bit of historical revisionism.

I can somewhat agree. I'm sure such people exist. But we also have to think about that most people who are discovering these albums nowadays have an entirely different context. If you've grown up with melodeath of the 90s, metalcore of the early 2000s or djent and modern progressive metal, listening to TNOTB for the first time might feel like listening to hard rock album. I'm not saying that this is remotely true and I wouldn't even agree with that take, but I can understand how it is difficult to go back to older albums and approach them with the proper expectations, instead of adjusted and biased views based on modern music.

So, someone who listens to that album for the first time might've seen the cover before, might recognize the name, the title track and RTTH, but that doesn't guarantee that they'll like what they hear. Early NWOBHM albums and songs have a distinctly different vibe and atmosphere to the music that followed afterwards, even within the discographies of the bands themselves. Look at how "happy" and bright songs like Invaders, The Prisoner, TNOTB and RTTH sound. Compare that to SSOASS where the majority of the album is quite a bit darker, with the "happiest" songs being CIPWM and the intro riff of The Clairvoyant. Someone looking for heavy and dark music might not appreciate TNOTB as much when they listen to it for the first time nowadays.

Again, not saying that they are right. I'm just trying to offer some nuance that goes beyond "it's trendy to shit on legendary albums".

 

[Ascendingthethrone]

I think TNOTB gets labelled as overrated because many people believe that they have done better albums since then and don’t get why it’s gets lots of praise. Now I wasn’t alive in 1982, but I can imagine its reception as being similar to BNW (I remember this being released quite well). The music impact was massive for both album. Sure I would argue that they have made better albums but few have made their mark on music quite like these two.

 

[srfc]

But we also have to think about that most people who are discovering these albums nowadays have an entirely different context.

Agreed. It's great to be able to approach albums without the baggage of the time it was released in, there's plenty of bands that fall into that category for me. Hair metal bands being the obvious one, I wouldn't be a huge fan of hair metal but can enjoy the fun element of it now, but had I been around in the time these bands were active, I wouldn't have been able to see past the hairspray.

 

[AncientMariner_Essex]

Again: Tastes are different. That's it. Just because TNOTB and RTTH (for example) are metal classics, doesn't mean that every person loves or even likes those songs. Also, NOTB does not get "trashed", far from it. If you want to see albums that get a lot of criticism look no further than Maiden's 90s output.

I don’t think you’ve fully grasped what I’ve been trying to say.

I totally get that people might not like NOTB and prefer other albums, I’ve even said it’s not in my top 5 maiden and there’s plenty of other albums that I prefer.

My question was, even if you don’t like the album is it really an album full of stinkers that’s massively over rated as a fair few people seem to think these days. I might like other albums more but I can definitely see why NOTB is so revered and important but if you go back on this thread so many people are saying it’s the most over rated album in the bands discography and then some are trashing it like it’s a total dud of an album.

It’s not just here I’ve heard people taking out shots at this album elsewhere for a while now and was wondering why.

 

[Vaenyr]

I don’t think you’ve fully grasped what I’ve been trying to say.

I totally get that people might not like NOTB and prefer other albums, I’ve even said it’s not in my top 5 maiden and there’s plenty of other albums that I prefer.

My question was, even if you don’t like the album is it really an album full of stinkers that’s massively over rated as a fair few people seem to think these days. I might like other albums more but I can definitely see why NOTB is so revered and important but if you go back on this thread so many people are saying it’s the most over rated album in the bands discography and then some are trashing it like it’s a total dud of an album.

It’s not just here I’ve heard people taking out shots at this album elsewhere for a while now and was wondering why.

It could just be that these people genuinely dislike the songs on that album. Every opinion can theoretically exist. Hell, I'm sure most members here never thought anyone would have VXI as their favorite album, but here I am lol