New Single - The Writing on the Wall

[SixesAlltheway]

First reaction is that it's very typical of "reunion" era Maiden. Sounds like what I expected based on the last few albums. It's also a tad too long, as expected. A little sluggish too perhaps - the tempo in the chorus can get a bit tedious There's also some of that celtic/irish-whatever melodies/themes that I don't like at all. I think in time this will be a song I won't listen to that often.

What I really liked about it though was that the solo section was great. That Bruce still sounds fantastic and that they finally managed to hire capable guys to do a fantastic animated video. past attempts have been very poor compared to this!

 

[matic22]

Two thoughts



Hope the songs are shorter than TBOS


And there's zero chance Steve tuned down for this song in Drop D right?

There is max 1 electric guitar in drop D on this. I wouldn't be surprised if there is none.

The acoustic is in drop D. And yeah, 0 chance of Steve tuning down.

 

[Poto]

The song is growing on me slowly.
I have to say that the first solo is by Dave and I'm sure that his lazy solo was recorded in only one take and he said: That's it. Go for the outro. Hurry The golf field is waiting for me

I like it, and I liked it at first listen. Maybe not too adventurous, but effective. And for some reason Dave is Maiden's number one lead guitarist for me. Yes, he is sloppier these days, but his sound Is Maiden to me. Hearing him play, it's like coming home.

 

[karljant]

I do hope he mentions Alan Averill and Primordial in the CD booklet, that's all I've got to say.

When I was reading @matic22 's take on fallen empires It immediately came to my mind... that and that you my fellow pachyderm wouldn't let it go unnoticed .

"Where is the fighting Man?
Am I he?
You would trade every truth
For hollow victories...
For hollow victorieeeeeeeees!"

 

[karljant]

Plus the lyrics are superb and the video translates that vibe perfectly. I just don't get the reason why the main Eddie is a Samurai but hey! It looks cool so screw it.

P.S. : after this video I think Maiden's trip to China on the next tour is seriously compromised.

 

[matic22]

I just love the fact that the 4 horsemen are Reaper Eddie, Cyborg Eddie, Pharoah Eddie and Mayan Eddie.

 

[dmort93]

That's not precisely stellar writing, IMHO, but it's still better than "of that I'm certain of", that's for sure.

I love Mother of Mercy! Some really cool lyrics on that song IMO

 

[The Alchemist]

I believe the reason why the audio kind of sucks on the animated video is because they compressed and manipolated the dynamics of the track to make room for all the sfx (you know, explosions and other sounds). It could have been done better

 

[The_17th_Son]

The chorus is not bad, but the singing from Bruce is too low.

If you actually grab a guitar and check what notes he is singing, you'll find they are pretty much identical to IESF or Darkside of Aquarius (or any song in D) which is quite high and definitely not easy. His thicker timbre nowadays might be fooling you.

 

[srfc]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1415730744123482113

anyone else famous weigh in?

 

[The_17th_Son]

Another thing, the end-of-song slowdown is on point. There's no way to cheat that and they are very synced throughout the ending. Nicely done there.

 

[Trevoire]

I believe the reason why the audio kind of sucks on the animated video is because they compressed and manipolated the dynamics of the track to make room for all the sfx (you know, explosions and other sounds). It could have been done better

Nah, someone fucked up. There's a slapback thing happening. Either the Left and Right channels are slightly out of sync, or there's two versions of the mix slightly out of sync with each other.

Unfortunately with the video hitting 1.5 million views in less than a day there's no chance of them reuploading. So we're likely stuck with broken audio over an amazing video forever.

 

[Twarkle]

I went to pick up my morning coffee a little while ago and there were two kids in line, probably around 15 discussing “how awesome“ the new maiden track is. I may not love the song, but it’s great (and a bit surreal) to see kids fervently discussing newly released Maiden material the same way my friends and I did 35 years ago.

 

[Helmuth Von Moltke]

Really? There is someone like this?

Yes, two people at least. I felt the same way, the actual fall of Babylon is a little more interesting to me than an animated mad max rip off.

But I like the song, don't get me wrong. It's just that the visuals are frankly childish.

 

[Helmuth Von Moltke]

I went to pick up my morning coffee a little while ago and there were two kids in line, probably around 15 discussing “how awesome“ the new maiden track is. I may not love the song, but it’s great (and a bit surreal) to see kids fervently discussing newly released Maiden material the same way my friends and I did 35 years ago.

That's awesome! I recall once hearing a random teenager blasting out of the silent planet on his headphones while standing in a queue..

Maiden travels so far indeed

 

[BillyTheBoxer]

Read through all 27 pages of this, and I'm very much looking forward to listening eventually. This will most likely be the last Maiden album, so I want to go into it completely blind.

For The Final Frontier I listened to everything I could. Leaked audio, iTunes previews, the lot.

The Book of Souls I had listened to Speed of Light on repeat and waited for the rest of the album to release officially.

For this new album, I'm going in with nothing. No previews, no single and I can't wait!

 

[Kalata]

The single cover is one of the four horsemen (from the video), but why on a motorcycle?

 

[Twarkle]

That's awesome! I recall once hearing a random teenager blasting out of the silent planet on his headphones while standing in a queue..

Maiden travels so far indeed

Right! If you had told me in 1986 while I was anxiously waiting for my dad to get home to drive me to the record store to buy the new Maiden album (it had been a whopping 2 year wait since Powerslave was released, lol) that we would still be getting new Maiden in 2021, I would have thought you were nuts. And if you told me in 1993 that Bruce and Adrian would rejoin and the band and still be members 22 years later I would have shit myself with excitement.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Yes, two people at least. I felt the same way, the actual fall of Babylon is a little more interesting to me than an animated mad max rip off.

But I like the song, don't get me wrong. It's just that the visuals are frankly childish.

No, I mean, I would also like it to be about Babylon, but I definitely wouldn't have thought for a single moment that it wouldn't be used as a metaphor for some socio-political commentary at best. Dunno why, just gut feeling, I guess...

 

[Iron Lurker]

Read through all 27 pages of this, and I'm very much looking forward to listening eventually. This will most likely be the last Maiden album, so I want to go into it completely blind.

For The Final Frontier I listened to everything I could. Leaked audio, iTunes previews, the lot.

The Book of Souls I had listened to Speed of Light on repeat and waited for the rest of the album to release officially.

For this new album, I'm going in with nothing. No previews, no single and I can't wait!

I think the band would prefer you listen to the song and watch the video now, that's why they made such a big deal and build up to it. But I get what you're saying.