Helmuth Von Moltke
Educated Fool
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
Most overrated Maiden album?
- Thread starter Dick Brucinson
- Start date
Agree that its a very mixed album, and the production sounds dated to my ears now in a way the 80s albums don't
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
Damn, heavily disagreed on that one. It's in my top 5 Maiden albums and the only song I truly dislike is The Apparition. The rest ranges from goofy but fun (Chains Of Misery, From Here To Eternity) to great short rockers (BQOBD, Judas Be My Guide) to atmospheric songs with amazing melodies (Afraid To Shoot Strangers, Childhood's End) to the legendary title track.
Edington
Last Son of The Miracle
It's funny, whenever people say Beast is overrated I always go "Yeah, you're right, there's only two or three great songs on there, everything else is overplayed or filler". Then I look at the tracklist and think, "Well, Invaders is crap, but Children of the Damned rips. So does The Prisoner. So does 22 Acacia Avenue..." Then the title track and RTTH are songs I never seek out anymore, but when I do hear them I remember why they're so revered and I remember why I loved them so much when I first heard them. Then Gangland and Total Eclipse are a bit of a step down, but still pretty solid, then Hallowed is Top Tier Maiden no matter how many times it's played, it deserves to be. So it's only really one track I don't like.
I only like the title track and Afraid to shoot strangers. Then, BQOBD, Judas be my guide are ok, I guess. Wasting love is alright but nothing special. The apparition and Weekend Warrior are awful. All the others are just filler.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
And here I was hoping that for once, just for once, your wacky taste and mine would finally align. Alas.
Eddie's Uncle
Trooper
I agree here, even though that aint saying much, because none of them is any good.
Agree here too. That song is really bad and definitely the worst song on FOTD. Usually Weekend Warrior gets a lot of hate too, but I lve it. It's a little too long maybe, but a great anthemic track.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
“The Apparition” is in my top 3 from that album.
Dick Brucinson
The TRUE Dick Brucinson
Am I the only one who likes FOTD as an album more than POM?
karljant
Ancient Mariner
Easily Brave New World, followed by The Book Of Souls and Senjutsu.
I mean, I think they're cool records with excellent tracks and passages, but there are some aspects that, if refined or even omitted, would benefit them. From the composition standpoint both releases contain some songs that IMO are absolutely discombobulated: some are patchworks of sections that simply don't go along, many feature irritating vocal line/ one string guitar mimicking, something that absolutely unnerves me. Songs like Brave New World, The Red And The Black and half of Ghost Of The Navigator's post chorus section are some examples (most of Senjutsu is outrageous in this regard). Then there's also lots of recycling, a fair amount of quasi-plagiarism of riffs/ sections (The Wicker Man) or even blatant (The Nomad) and while I think some sections are repeated far too many times, some others are criminally played only once (like the chorus on Hell on Earth or The Red And The Black). Production wise post reunion Maiden is merely ok and Senjutsu's keyboards sound like crap to me.
On the upside, and despite some aforementioned aspects I reckon to be negative, there's a fair number of songs I really love (like The Wicker Man, Blood Brothers, Out Of The Silent Planet, The Thin Line, The Great Unknown, When The River Runs Deep, The Red And The Black, The Book Of Souls, Stratego, The Writing On The Wall, Lost In A Lost World and Hell On Earth) and some other that I enjoy/ respect (Ghost Of The Navigator, The Fallen Angel, If Eternity Should Fail, Death Or Glory, Tears Of A Clown, Empire Of The Clouds, Senjutsu and Days Of Future Past).
I could also point out The Number Of The Beast, but I won't go there, because let's be honest: it's a superb and iconic album. IMO I only think it's somewhat overrated when some people compare it with the albums that are more similar to it during the 80's, namely Powerslave and Piece Of Mind (the debut and Killers IMO have a different vibe and so do SIT and SSOASS). I personally prefer Powerslave and POM, yet I understand if TNOTB is the #1 for lots of people (because once again... it's an excellent record). But putting it so above any other Maiden album comes as a riddle to me.
I mean, I think they're cool records with excellent tracks and passages, but there are some aspects that, if refined or even omitted, would benefit them. From the composition standpoint both releases contain some songs that IMO are absolutely discombobulated: some are patchworks of sections that simply don't go along, many feature irritating vocal line/ one string guitar mimicking, something that absolutely unnerves me. Songs like Brave New World, The Red And The Black and half of Ghost Of The Navigator's post chorus section are some examples (most of Senjutsu is outrageous in this regard). Then there's also lots of recycling, a fair amount of quasi-plagiarism of riffs/ sections (The Wicker Man) or even blatant (The Nomad) and while I think some sections are repeated far too many times, some others are criminally played only once (like the chorus on Hell on Earth or The Red And The Black). Production wise post reunion Maiden is merely ok and Senjutsu's keyboards sound like crap to me.
On the upside, and despite some aforementioned aspects I reckon to be negative, there's a fair number of songs I really love (like The Wicker Man, Blood Brothers, Out Of The Silent Planet, The Thin Line, The Great Unknown, When The River Runs Deep, The Red And The Black, The Book Of Souls, Stratego, The Writing On The Wall, Lost In A Lost World and Hell On Earth) and some other that I enjoy/ respect (Ghost Of The Navigator, The Fallen Angel, If Eternity Should Fail, Death Or Glory, Tears Of A Clown, Empire Of The Clouds, Senjutsu and Days Of Future Past).
I could also point out The Number Of The Beast, but I won't go there, because let's be honest: it's a superb and iconic album. IMO I only think it's somewhat overrated when some people compare it with the albums that are more similar to it during the 80's, namely Powerslave and Piece Of Mind (the debut and Killers IMO have a different vibe and so do SIT and SSOASS). I personally prefer Powerslave and POM, yet I understand if TNOTB is the #1 for lots of people (because once again... it's an excellent record). But putting it so above any other Maiden album comes as a riddle to me.
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karljant
Ancient Mariner
karljant
Ancient Mariner
Word.
dickinson1978
Ancient Mariner
Number of the beast has 2 weak songs
Piece of mind 2 too
Powerslave 3
Best iron maiden album seventh son and brave new world.
Piece of mind 2 too
Powerslave 3
Best iron maiden album seventh son and brave new world.
There is NPFTD and the Blaze era too. I can't decide which is worse. I also don't really like the Final Frontier, but that's subjective. Fear is objectively bad."It is definitely the worst Maiden album" There... I fixed it for you.
I don't think Powerslave has 3 weak songs. IMO only the Duellists is a weak song. Maybe Losfer Words. Piece of Mind only has Quest for Fire. Sun and Steel is ok.
SIT has 0 weak songs. SSOASS also 0 weak songs(maybe Prophecy is a bit weak). Brave New World has 1-2 weak songs, but they're not shit like some NPFTD/FotD or Blaze era songs. They're just weak.
Eddie's Uncle
Trooper
Objectively? Subjectively, sure. Objectively, please explain.
That's 2 already. Add BITV and there you go. Losfer Words: instrumentals always have filler character for me. I don't understand why bands do it. Waste of potential in my eyes. Even if they are good ones. Imagine what a monster Transilvania could have been wih a proper vocal line.
Die With your Boots On is not a bad song but comes close bc of the terrible chorus. Quest For Fire isn't bad, better than Sun And Steel imho.
Agree! (Although Stranger, while still good, is not on the level as the rest)
Prophecy kicks ass, totally underrated song. This album has no bad song (though the chorus of Moonchild is awful).
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.
Azas
Anti Transistor
Cmmon? The Duellists has GLORIOUS guitar harmony section. That alone disqualifies the song from being bad.
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
Definitely disagree on that one. 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.
CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
Nope, if I feel like listening to a whole Maiden album, I'll take FotD over PoM any day of the week (along with some other Golden Era albums). PoM has a fair few of Maiden's "classics," but I've always felt Side A and Side B were very lopsided as far as "these are the best songs on the album, so we're doing them live," and "these are the songs we're largely going to forget about live, and/or are filler." It doesn't help that Side A's been pretty well beaten to death, so naturally I'm pretty well satiated (or over-satiated) as far as needing to hear them again. But again--the songs they've played a lot live are all great, great songs (though I've never been the biggest fan of Where Eagles Dare, Revelations, or Die with Your Boots On personally, and I prefer live versions of The Trooper to the studio).
Not-a-Hot-Take-But-a-Common-One: I've always had the same opinion of Powerslave--I think of it as an Oreo, if you really like the cookie part but are, "eh, it's good, but not my favorite," about the center.
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. Never been big on Weekend Warrior, and though musically The Apparition feels unfinished, I've always found the lyrics oddly charming. But overall it's weirdly the one album of theirs that I get a strong hankering to listen to out of the blue.
Ei siis hai
Prowler
Most overrated (in this order): Senjutsu, The Book of Souls, The Final Frontier
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BNW is the only Maiden album after SSOASS that I can listen to without skipping anything.
FotD has 1 great song, 2 good, 1 ok ballad and the rest shit or mid at best. Can't be compared with SIT,which has 8/8 good songs. Don't forget Fear has 12 songs.
Blaze era has indeed some good songs (especially X factor), but I can't listen to a whole album at once. Too dark and monotonous.