New Single - The Writing on the Wall

I thought that all of the guitars were mixed really well. Adrian also continues with what he did on songs like The Final Frontier and Coming Home, and recorded an additional acoustic guitar on this track, I think that suits well.
 
chaosapiant said:
I never want to hear a Sneap Maiden record. The only producer aside from Shirley that might work is Steve Albini. He seems to be good at catching a live/dry sound.
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Steve Albini definitely and that would be something interesting to hear. I've got some albums produced by him and they do sound very dry and got that lively feeling.
For example, I still remember the feeling I got when bought Nirvana's In Utero on the day it was released, that album still feels so great. Among other stuff in his wide discography (PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me etc), one of the most impressive and interesting producers out there..
 
I might be wrong-as I've been before- but I think I remember Steve saying he wanted a bigger drum sound since FOTD. Then again Nicko has stated that Steve also wanted a more solid drum playing style by him. On the other hand Maiden's songs tend to gravitate towards slower/mid paced rythms. I got no problem with that if done right. However this whole thing gives me a vibe that he wants to move towards a Black Album vibe and sound. So who better than Bob Rock??
 
Did you hear Sabbath's 13? Talk about mega compression. And heavy pass on a Black Album production for Maiden. If that's your sound ideal then I get why you think Shirley is a shit mixer. That being said, Black Album is a milestone in terms of production and I love it - Just not a sound ideal that fits Maiden as far as I'm concerned.

The albums are heavily influenced by how Steve Harris wants them to sound. We would never get a Black Album style sound. We get what Steve wants us to get and Shirley delivers it to him, but far better than Steve himself would pull off. BNW is somewhat of an exception, where Shirley probably got more leeway.
 
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Yax said:
Did you hear Sabbath's 13? Talk about mega compression. And heavy pass on a Black Album production for Maiden. If that's your sound ideal then I get why you think Shirley is a shit mixer. That being said, Black Album is a milestone in terms of production and I love it - Just not a sound ideal that fits Maiden as far as I'm concerned.

The albums are heavily influenced by how Steve Harris wants them to sound. We would never get a Black Album style sound. We get what Steve wants us to get and Shirley delivers it to him, but far better than Steve himself would pull off. BNW is somewhat of an exception, where Shirley probably got more leeway.
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I am with you on 13's sound. Of course this is how Steve wants the album to sound. Then again wasn't H always saying he did not like the sound and that he had a different idea about the mixes in the past? (post reunion I mean). Anyhow I don't think that in case Rock was hired he would force them to get the Black album sound. This guy knows how to provide space and volume. IMO Maiden songs are more atmospheric now and with less speed so the production plays a more dominant role in the end result. Rock has proven to get the prodiction tha tis suitable for each band (bar St Anger). I also love Kevin's productions for Joe Bonamassa. I just feel that the sound Maiden get is too muddy, that's about it!
 
Yax said:
I think there's been an inflation of the phrase "poor mix" when it actually means "not to my taste" or "not perfect".
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Same as people complaining about "poor writing" in films or TV series. It's an attempt to sound both smart and objectively correct while not really knowing what you're talking about.
 
"muddy" is another one, also lads complaining about Maiden's "live sound" when they would have had no idea how Maiden record if they hadn't have been told.
 
Perun said:
Same as people complaining about "poor writing" in films or TV series. It's an attempt to sound both smart and objectively correct while not really knowing what you're talking about.
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Come on, you can do better that this!!!! You mean that listening to FOTD and BOS provides the same sound quality then?
 
srfc said:
"muddy" is another one, also lads complaining about Maiden's "live sound" when they would have had no idea how Maiden record if they hadn't have been told.
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This sound might suit bands like...I don't know, maybe Kyuss and so on....but I think it lacks punch to the Maiden tunes.
 
Gk1 said:
Come on, you can do better that this!!!! You mean that listening to FOTD and BOS provides the same sound quality then?
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Fear of the Dark isn't what I personally consider Birch's finest Maiden album - On the contrary, I prefer all of the other Birch produced studio albums . I can't get past that damn piercing and at times too loud snare. I think TBOS, even with the boomy toms, sounds more pleasant (at least the vinyl). This illustrates hos subjective this is. You think FoTD is the bee's knees, and I have a hard time with it.
 
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Gk1 said:
Come on, you can do better that this!!!! You mean that listening to FOTD and BOS provides the same sound quality then?
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I didn't say that, I'm just saying I'm not trying to appropriate a terminology I don't understand to describe what I think is different or what I dislike.
 
PhantomOfTheOpera said:
Steve Albini definitely and that would be something interesting to hear. I've got some albums produced by him and they do sound very dry and got that lively feeling.
For example, I still remember the feeling I got when bought Nirvana's In Utero on the day it was released, that album still feels so great. Among other stuff in his wide discography (PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me etc), one of the most impressive and interesting producers out there..
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Steve also handles the production on most of Neurosis’s albums. Talk about a band with different time changes, instrumentation, longer songs, etc. Given to the Rising has a great sound on it, for example. It’s heavy as fuck but there’s so much space in the instruments.
 
Hey Guys, coming by because of the new song and video. I enjoyed the reviews in this thread and had the same experience as many in that I was surprised.

The song itself reminds me of Tyranny Of Souls, especially the chorus. Its first phrase is also Row, row, row your boat in minor...!!??

The guitars are very present and more articulate than before. Steve sounds great, I like his independence from the guitars. Generally the arrangement of bass/guitars is clearer than before, because more independent from each other IMO. Bruce sounds great as well. In the original youtube version his overprocessed voice reminded me of their recent live sound; I prefer the "natural" version. He sounds more rough since 2015, but that's also kind of interesting; he proves he can still hit his highest notes (D), but more importantly, his voice has got that personality and authority.
But the high point of the song is Adrian's solo, filled with so much blues and soul, the last part with those bends (at 4:48 on youtube) just kills me, it seems to be everyone's favorite part -- the true art of playing a fucking guitar solo which means something (not that cold djent or jazzfusion stuff).

I hadn't taken Bruce's "invitation" too seriously, but knew the story of "Belshazzar's Feast" and thought it was an interesting concept. When I saw the video, the cartoon heavy metal Eddie aesthetics weren't so unexpected, but I didn't expect to get this web of existential questions, politics, ancient archetypes and I think also personal experiences. What do you guys make of the final images of the tale? For example @JudasMyGuide?

All in all I really didn't expect Maiden to come out with something this good! I've been listening to it, watching it and thinking about it repeatedly. Btw, I'm sure Bruce wrote those lyrics, not Adrian.

Up the Irons!!!
 
Perun said:
I didn't say that, I'm just saying I'm not trying to appropriate a terminology I don't understand to describe what I think is different or what I dislike.
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Ok, so please let me know how should I reffer to a muddy sound! I am not being sarcastic!
 
srfc said:
Use a word that has a meaning, mud doesn't make a sound that I've ever heard.
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Not sure if this is a joke or not, but 'muddy' is often used to describe how music sounds. I think it comes from the idea of hearing the music through mud, rather than the noise mud itself makes.
 
Muddy usually translates to "too much low mid around 300-600 hz". It's popular, especially from the second half of the 80's and onwards, to scoop this one out and sharpen the upper mids. Reunion Maiden generally aim at a "somewhat linear" frequency response rather than the overly scooped Metal type.
 
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