NEWS: Maiden have started writing NEW material!

He stopped working with Maiden after doing the BNW cover, because he felt they were too picky, i.e. they often returned his designs, telling him to tweak some details, then when he did that, they'd tell him to tweak one more thing and so on. He got fed up with it so he stopped working for them. He came back for the SBIT tour designs and some t-shirts. He also did the Flight 666 cover.
 
I have the feeling that his style progressively evolved into something that did not fit with Maiden's universe as tightly as it used to. However, the guy is still brilliant and he would probably have created a cover for A Matter of Life and Death far better than the one which has been used in the end...
At least it is my opinion. -_-
 
JackKnife said:
I have the feeling that his style progressively evolved into something that did not fit with Maiden's universe as tightly as it used to. However, the guy is still brilliant and he would probably have created a cover for A Matter of Life and Death far better than the one which has been used in the end...
At least it is my opinion. -_-
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In my opinion, the cover of A Matter of Life and Death is not so bad... Eddie could have been much bigger, but this cover is far far far better than the Dance of Death one... :uhm:

Some recent Maiden artworks are very good, even if they are not from Riggs... -_-

In fact, for the next album, the quality of the cover is not my big concern: I am rather wondering if recording with Kevin Shirley one more time is the best thing to do?
I mean, I love the 3 last albums, and the job of the man is wonderful, but sometimes creation needs a change in the Team... no?
 
Peschane said:
In fact, for the next album, the quality of the cover is not my big concern: I am rather wondering if recording with Kevin Shirley one more time is the best thing to do?
I mean, I love the 3 last albums, and the job of the man is wonderful, but sometimes creation needs a change in the Team... no?
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I don't think he plays that big of a role in the creation process, Steve makes a major part of the decisions. Besides, Martin Birch produced all albums from Killers to FOTD.

The only exceptions were TXF and VXI where Steve was the lead producer, and in my opinion both albums could have used a "real" producer to help make them sound better (and tell Steve to reduce the "Don't you think I'm a savior" count in Angel and the Gambler).
 
One of my complaints about the Shirley produced albums are similar to the "Don't you think I'm a savior" comment above. There is a lot of repetition of riffs, lyrics, etc. While we love the epics, every song doesn't have to be over 7 minutes. Quiet intro/outros are nice to set the mood, but again, not every song.

I doubt anyone can really overrule Steve at this point, but a little more editing can go a long way. Would anyone be upset if the next album was 9 tracks and under 50 minutes, as long as the same overall quality was in the songwritting? And if if was that short, AND they played the whole thing on the next tour, we'd get more than 5 classics!
 
I think they should have an epic of over 13 minutes to top Rime. Other then that, shorter songs would be nice.
 
I agree. They've had some song with recognizable tunes like The Wicker Man and The Pilgrim, but they REALLY need a ''The Troper''!!!
 
I wouldn't like the Trooper again...i think we have enough 4 minute E minor simple chorus stuff.

Short rockers? How about Still Life or Only The Good Die Young.
 
Forostar said:
Possible.

Impossible.

Shorter songs: possible
Nice shorter songs: hardly possible. It has been ages since we got a strong short song.
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What I meant is to top it's time, not quality!
And why, I think rainmaker is pretty awesome. And the pilgrim.
 
Zare said:
I wouldn't like the Trooper again...i think we have enough 4 minute E minor simple chorus stuff.
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I don't even know what that means. I'm talking about a song that has that strong melody that sticks to you mind, like The Trooper.
 
Mega said:
What I meant is to top it's time, not quality!
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You mean, including a 14 minutes song just for the sake of recording a longer song than Rime of the Ancient Mariner? I hope 'Arry don't share that idea. If he wants a song to be long, just for the sake of it, he will fill it up with chorus repetitions. We don't need another The Angel and the Gambler. All the 9+ songs that I consider really, really good, have a relatively long instrumental section of good quality (Rime, Alexander the Great, SSOASS, Sign of the Cross) or lyrics that break new ground throughout the song (instead of just repeating itself over the last minutes).

I think AMOLAD includes two good examples of what I talk about here.

For the Greater Good of God has good lyrics, up to the first real chorus. After that, I feel it is long just for the sake of it. If the final lines ("He gave his life for us ...") had come directly after the instrumental part, instead of a new repetition of the (very long) chorus, it would've benefited the song.

The Legacy, on the other hand, has lyrics that continue towards a conclusion all the way through the song. Therefore I think it defends its playing length better.
 
I also didn't mean it like that!

What I want is a progressive piece of epic proportions.

It won't be as good as Rime because Rime is Rime!
 
Mega said:
I also didn't mean it like that!

What I want is a progressive piece of epic proportions.

It won't be as good as Rime because Rime is Rime!
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And I'm pretty sure that this mythical 14+ minute epic will not include a classic line like "hear the groans of the long-dead semen."
 
I am not that fond of the stuff after the solo in The Legacy (6:18-8:40), the rhythm and tempo go on and on, all the time the same. Chords and singing and melody lines as well.

No matter if the lyrics change: it gets kinda repetitive, and that whole part might be even longer than the infamous "Don't you think I'm a savior" stuff in The Angel and The Gambler.
 
Speaking of The Angel And The Gambler... does anyone know if a shortened version (such as this one) exists on audio, like a b-side or something?? I enjoy the song, save for the extreme repetitiveness of the chorus toward the end.
 
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