New single: Stratego

Travis The Dragon said:
I've decided that Stratego ties Aces High as my most favorite single ever released by Maiden!
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That is high praise. Aces high is an absolute beast. The intro, the pace, the riffs, the solos and the soaring vocals. Everything is perfect in that song which is still going strong after 30 years. I like Stratego a lot but will have to see in six months time how i feel about it.
 
Jadukor said:
That is high praise. Aces high is an absolute beast. The intro, the pace, the riffs, the solos and the soaring vocals. Everything is perfect in that song which is still going strong after 30 years. I like Stratego a lot but will have to see in six months time how i feel about it.
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That's cool for sure. Usually when I decide something like this, that decision never changes. I have given the song MANY listens and really thought about it a lot.
 
okay this is a pretty killer track after only one listen! the stream from official site is not great but i can already tell that (thank God) Bruce's vocals are back to front and center just like on BNW...forward in the mix is my preference so this is a good sign. catchy as hell verses and chorus!!! up the irons ya'll!!!
 
Travis The Dragon said:
I've decided that Stratego ties Aces High as my most favorite single ever released by Maiden! I don't count Empire OTC. And the only reason Aces High is tied is because the verses are my most favorite vocals in the history of everything I've ever heard. But as far as the song as a whole goes, Stratego is just incredible! My only very slight issue is I wish there was another chorus right after the second pre-chorus. Oh well. And kind similar to The Alchemist, the first verse leading the the chorus (and I can't leave out the beautiful part after) is 5 separate vocal parts in row! WOW! Just too incredible of a song!
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definitely not going to compare to Aces as that intro riff is one of their top 5 all-time...the whole song is basically a masterpiece...but i REALLY like this new track after just one listen....that hasn't happened for me since Rainmaker and Different World for a Maiden album. between WOTW and this one, i'm beginning to feel like this album is going to be the best since BNW. we shall see...
 
While we try to excuse an OBBVIOUS mediocre mix, let's just hear a real pro tell things as they are. A voice of reason at last. THEY NEED A FRESH SET OF EARS.

 
i personally don't think you can make any judgements on mix/production quality until you get at least a 320kbps rip from production source file. that said, i think the YT feed from band site sounds significantly better than WOTW. but THAT said, YT audio feeds generally suck and notoriously unreliable. and FURTHER, playing any of this through a laptop soundcard/speakers - well forget about objectivity. but you CAN judge relative mix levels okay and it's pretty clear that Bruce's vocals are (finally) back to prominence instead of buried too deep in the mix. Bruce hasn't been this prominent since DOD. we'll never really know about AMOLAD since they basically cut it directly to tape without any real mastering (why???? - that's just crazy but anywho). WOTW sounded iffy mix-wise from couple of online lossy sources and this sounds really pretty good from same sources...so i'm hoping/expecting that this is a really good prod' job based upon Adrian's comments about his once again being excited about the sound !
 
R@inmaker said:
i personally don't think you can make any judgements on mix/production quality until you get at least a 320kbps rip from production source file. that said, i think the YT feed from band site sounds significantly better than WOTW. but THAT said, YT audio feeds generally suck and notoriously unreliable. and FURTHER, playing any of this through a laptop soundcard/speakers - well forget about objectivity. but you CAN judge relative mix levels okay and it's pretty clear that Bruce's vocals are (finally) back to prominence instead of buried too deep in the mix. Bruce hasn't been this prominent since DOD. we'll never really know about AMOLAD since they basically cut it directly to tape without any real mastering (why???? - that's just crazy but anywho). WOTW sounded iffy mix-wise from couple of online lossy sources and this sounds really pretty good from same sources...so i'm hoping/expecting that this is a really good prod' job based upon Adrian's comments about his once again being excited about the sound !
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Wow your impression of the mix is the exact opposite of mine. I found WOTW mix to be so much better than Stratego. Stratego rhythm guitars sounded muddied and Bruce in the verse sounded burried in the mix
 
I’m with you Travis, this is A masterpiece. I cannot stop replaying Statego! My life has no meaning if it isn’t in my ears.
I have shed tears on a couple listens. It has made TWOTW better sounding as well, not when comparing the two, but playing them back to back, and subconsciously wotw is now associated with stratego, from the same album… makes it better..?..
Stratego really blends and blurs the line between vintage and reunion era Maiden. It is both at once. Holy crap guys… I’m blown away by this song. Nothing negative about this one.
 
bornless1 said:
Stratego really blends and blurs the line between vintage and reunion era Maiden. It is both at once. Holy crap guys… I’m blown away by this song. Nothing negative about this one.
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Pretty accurate description. :ok:The song is an instant classic.
 
I noticed the first thing that's probably going to bother me a lot in the future already:

Listen to the left rhythm guitar in both choruses. On the second one, around 4:26, after two bars where the guitar played sustained power chords (just like in the first chorus) it switches to a gallop for the next 5 bars. Usually, something like that would be a great way to have some variety, but here it simply sounds random, like someone forgot their cue. The galloping starts in the middle of the chorus (instead of starting on the 1st bar of the repeat it starts on the third).

Maybe I'm jumping the gun and it is as intended, we'll have to wait and see how it's played live. IESF has a similar problem with the drumming though. On the album version Nicko starts the chorus with a hi hat groove and then switches to the ride cymbal for the rest of the song. Live he only used the cymbal rhythm. Stuff like that is what annoys me about the way Maiden records their modern albums.
 
I wouldn't call it OCD, it's a preference. Not a fan of improvisations on studio albums, that's what live albums are for.
 
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