Can't be underrated when half of it are filler/bad tracks. If it didn't have the title track nobody would care about the album. I like some songs too, but it is definitely in the 5 worst Maiden albums. By Maiden standards, it's a bad album
I think every Maiden album can be called underrated, more or less. That's the band's strength. The album is not just the title track for many fans, granted. There are 2-3 weaker songs (imo, by Maiden standards and not pure metal stuff), should that make the whole album bad? For example, is a song like Chains Of Misery weaker than Holy Smoke or Hooks In You? Nope imo. Not to mention From Here To Eternity. They're like Gangland/Sun And Steel-type of songs but from a new era. Plus the guitar playing/solos on it is definitely not bad for Maiden standards, the opposite. The 90's stuff is usually the albums which are labeled as the band's worst - in FOTD case, because of some of the weaker/filler/mixed material and style - but I think that speaks more about the rest of the discography. Remove the said ''worst'' songs from it (12 songs album! 10 it's not that different, 8 for sure) and I don't think it can't be compared with some of the 80's material and albums.
The title track and the cover art, I'd say, have boosted FOTD.
Agree that its a very mixed album, and the production sounds dated to my ears now in a way the 80s albums don't
The title track and the cover are massive, true that, but it wasn't released as a lead single. Maiden were still popular in the early 90's.
If there is one album whose production doesn't sound dated to me - it's probably FOTD.
Am I the only one who likes FOTD as an album more than POM?
Certainly not. Better and likes are different after all.
but there are some aspects that, if refined or even omitted, would benefit them.
and while I think some sections are repeated far too many times, some others are criminally played only once
Good points. But I never find Maiden songs flow (the long ones) not done good.
Imagine what a monster Transilvania could have been wih a proper vocal line.
True, but it's also perfect as it is. I think Losfer Words could have been improved with vocals. It's not an impressive instrumental or an interesting one. But I can't categorize it as bad, 80's Maiden changes and twists.
Btw, the
Powersalve album has some odd features (probably because the band had fun before the writing and recordings):
Losfer Words - only 1 short solo for a short instrumental (almost like Genghis Khan and both songs are probably
fillers on their albums).
Flash Of The Blade - no proper solos (happened before and after, but not common - only for Murders, Genghis Khan, Purgatory, Running Free, Iron Maiden and Deja-Vu).
Back In The Village - really short solos (like for Gangland, Sun And Steel, Can I Play With Madness)
I always found this strange with Maiden and metal
at their peak.
Die With your Boots On is not a bad song but comes close bc of the terrible chorus.
Strongly disagree. BNW has 3 great songs and a lot of mediocrity. NPFTD has a better rate with 3 great and 3 pretty good songs (and admittedly some turds).
FOTD has 2 shit songs, 2 mediocre ones and 8 ones between very good and awesome. That's as much quality material as on SIT (and also questions your thesis that the album is objectively bad).
Blaze era had a lot of good songs. Artworks, production and live performances went clearly downhill in that era, but there were quite a few great songs on both albums, especially X Factor.
First statement - sometimes a weak chorus is not enough, at least for me.
Second statement - wow.
For the rest - agreed.
I get that instrumentals can feel undercooked with certain bands, but imo they have a reason to exist. Music is about expressing yourself. You can do that in a million ways, not only with vocals. Take a song like The Red And The Black for example: I could see how someone could make the argument that the rushed vocals in the verses aren't adding much to the song, while the instrumental back half is the strongest part of the song, thus turning it into an instrumental and editing it down a bit could've resulted in an even stronger song. Though that would rob us of its anthemic chorus, which would be a shame.
Considering how modern Maiden songwriting has changed, it would be interesting to see how Steve for example would approach writing an instrumental nowadays. Sure, we can be cynical and say that he'd just have the vocals double the lead guitar, but not having to balance vocals with the music could also result in some really creative riff and lick writing. I don't think it's realistic to expect an instrumental from Maiden though.
This.
Fear goes down a lot of weird and interesting avenues which, I'll admit, not all of them work 100%. It has a great flow, a variety of song types so nothing really sounds too same-y, and only the title track has been flogged to death. But overall it's weirdly the one album of theirs that I get a strong hankering to listen to out of the blue.
Well said. It's because of the material and the variety is a strong aspect for the album. I can compare it with DOD in that regard. Nothing wrong to prefer it to something more traditional and metal for the band. I love to listen to such albums from start to finish, just like the classic ones, it's just sometimes the fun and variety is what we need.
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Critics gave it a 2 star and fans 3.5. That's the opinion of people on FotD. Only NPFTD and Blaze era did worse. That's the opinion of all the fans I know too. It's a pretty bad album by Maiden standards. If it didn't have the title track it would be the worst Maiden album by far. It saved the album.
The common opinion is such, but at the same time it went
#1 in the charts. The worse album without the title track? I don't think so. Blaze's albums and No Prayer would still be, methinks. Still a good album, although the title track is special.
Piece of Mind easily has the best guitar sound they ever achieved in the 80s. Lush and full, not shrill like Powerslave nor overly effected like SiT. Just right.
POM's guitars are a bit
raw (the riffs, not much the solos), but very nice and different to the rest. But the best production from the 80's is imo Powerslave.
SIT and 7Son production is also great but not so metal (they lean in the other direction)
Seventh Son production sounds like a marriage of metal and symphonic approach, great. SIT production fits all genres, futuristic one too lol. Every 80's production has its charm and strengths, debut album too. Good stuff all around.
I think Weekend Warrior is a great track, and even without he title track
I also think Weekend Warrior is not bad but rather a solid song. Very solid. They just needed to remove the acoustic guitars and to have more metal feel. It's a song with repetitions, but I think only the pre-chorus isn't good (The Unbeliever did it better), although somehow fun. The fans wanted more metal approach for FOTD, that's it. And not something different for the band.
