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.