Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast: Live in Mexico City (new live album)

Using a number of different systems is a good and common practise. Things that sound great on the system you're mixing on might not reveal deficiencies other listening environments do, so you might back and forth a bit to make sure it translates well to other systems. Some classic monitors, like the NS-10, which at least in the old days, were the go-to monitors for mix, didn't really sound that great at all. But they were revealing, and the engineers learned to mix on it and knew the speakers inside and out. If you really know your system you can make good mixing decisions on them, even if they aren't perfect sounding.

As I remember it, Shirley took the mix and applied scratch mastering compression and limiting to it, so Steve could listen to it. Steve approved of the mix and they sent it out to mastering. They got it back and the engineer had attempted to fix what he thought was wrong with the mix. Steve basically said "this isn't our mix!" and decided they should go with the car scratch master.
I wonder, since this clearly was an error, if they would remix and re-release it in the future. Rush was not happy with the mix of Vapor Trails and they re-did it.
 
Production wise, I find Iron Maiden completely forgivable. Thing is, the albums sound the way they do because the founding member doesn’t give any fucks about what people think, and that’s a rare quality. It means we get some albums produced like VXI sometimes, sure. But it’s also one of the main reasons Iron Maiden never sold out, quit, changed direction, or any number of issues older bands have these days. That integrity comes at a cost sometimes, in this case production. But I’d rather have it the way it is than change anything. If Steve was pliable enough for someone to persuade him to update his production values, what else would he be willing to change? Maybe double bass drums? Down tuning? Not playing Blaze songs and/or only playing 80s hits? Not having the balls to play AMOLAD in it’s entirety? I’m sure folks don’t see it the way I do, but Maiden’s production values are a side effect of who has control. And that control is also what makes them so great to being with. So if Steve wants an album to sounds like NOTD, so be it. It’s worth it.
Agreed. Setlists are more important than production. :---)
 
Preorder finally arrived yesterday.. Great performance, band on fire..but guitars too low on the mix and Bruce's wailings are actually unlistenable at this point
 
I enjoyed the new live album. I only think that it's time for them to detune a little bit the songs for Bruce. He's really too forced and that doesn't help the listen. He's still Bruce but he has to accept that with age the voice changes and gets deeper , not worse , just deeper and it sounds better on the low and medium range
 
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Hey @PhantomOfTheOpera have you received your order yet?

Mine is still saying unfulfilled, even though an email had been sent saying all were shipped last monday. I found this address on Maiden's twitter, social@ironmaiden.com , and sent off an email to them. They responded after about 20 mins saying they've been told that all have been shipped, but that "Clearly that is not reflected in the many emails and order statuses that you have or haven’t received, but at this stage we need to wait until Monday to find out if that is the case. In the meantime, we would be extremely grateful if any of you could fill out the form (link below) so that we can present them with the truth/realities first thing on Monday!"
Not yet unfornately, but I will mention it once the order arrives.
And yes I've followed the talk on the FC-forums and have been contacted etc.
 
I received a notification that my order has been shipped today.
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Was it this kind of message you received? I received this last wednesday 25th day of november and they also said that they would be paying the postages back but haven't yet seen them on my bank account.
I think this whole mess of them not being able to send orders to some people in time, it's totally absurd. Not big deal personally (Im always prepared to wait for packages from other countries, post handlings and possible delays), but this didn't at all quite go like I had planned and so, this has in some little ways spoiled my enthuasiasm and feeling of this release.
Also, pretty cheap and not so good service as they could have sent the package with faster expedited delivery for free as now they just sent it as standard and non-trackable. Some record stores (etc) have made clear that if there's some error, damage or glitch and they sent another item as replacement, then they have always sent the next one faster and free. Not this tiny store that one of the world biggest bands have.
Anyways, I preordered this when it came around to be available in early days october, so given the time of 6-7 weeks before the release date,
I would have liked some proper explanation on why this happened and why they simply couldn't dispatch all the orders in time?
I think they should give proper explanation, apology and perhaps something else to make this up.
How has the official Iron Maiden shop (is it the same as the one that dispatches these new live album packages) worked before or is it completely different store?
 
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but this didn't at all quite go like I had planned and so, this has in some little ways spoiled my enthuasiasm and feeling of this release.

Yes, I feel the same way, this is probably the first release since Live at Donington that I have not been able to listen to on release day* (or even earlier:lol:) and it's nearly been out 2 weeks now and I still haven't heard it.

*I realise that I could easily listen on Spotify, but I feel first impressions last and want to listen to it on a proper hifi first.

It seems to be a new store run by the record company, which I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm definitely going to buy at least one format from a brick and mortar shop on future releases.
 
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Yes, I feel the same way, this is probably the first release since Live at Donington that I have not been able to listen to on release day* (or even earlier:lol:) and it's nearly been out 2 weeks now and I still haven't heard it.

*I realise that I could easily listen on Spotify, but I feel first impressions last and want to listen to it on a proper hifi first.

It seems to be a new store run by the record company, which I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm definitely going to buy at least one format from a brick and mortar shop on future releases.

I got the deluxe CD edition from HMV (had to order online due to lockdown though) and got it earlier than the 3LP from the Maiden Parlophone shop.
 
Yes, I feel the same way, this is probably the first release since Live at Donington that I have not been able to listen to on release day* (or even earlier:lol:) and it's nearly been out 2 weeks now and I still haven't heard it.

*I realise that I could easily listen on Spotify, but I feel first impressions last and want to listen to it on a proper hifi first.

It seems to be a new store run by the record company, which I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm definitely going to buy at least one format from a brick and mortar shop on future releases.
I got the deluxe book cd day before the release date and I ordered from record store here.
 
After spending a few weeks listening to the album in the car, here are my thoughts.
  • I am surprised that they went with a 2019 show. Bruce is struggling with some songs. He didn't seem to struggle as much in 2018.
  • FTGGOD is amazing. Bruce's 'tell me about war' and 'any particular god?' moments are great.
  • Adrian is having a blast. His dive bomb in 2MTM was unexpected. Plus he really goes off on a jolly in the Wicker Man solo. I loved both these moments.
  • Nicko Mcbrain is not human. I read that he had a collapsed vertebrae on the US tour. How on earth does he play that well considering that injury.
 
Adrian is having a blast. His dive bomb in 2MTM was unexpected. Plus he really goes off on a jolly in the Wicker Man solo. I loved both these moments.

I got to see Maiden on consecutive nights during the Legacy of the Beast Tour. If you recall, Adrian and Janick were playing the solo to Revelations on alternating nights. I noted that on the night Adrain did not play the solo on Revelations, he totally tore up The Wicker Man. It seems this is the case on the live release as well (though we can't be sure which night said recording was made) as Janick plays the solo on Revelations.
 
So I've been mostly ignoring the live album stuff. It's cool they put it out and I will check it out, but it isn't high on my priority list. Randomly wading into this thread and reading the last few pages has been pretty interesting though. So the live album sounds bad, no surprises there, but reading some of the outrage here is entertaining. Complaining directly to Joe Lazarus about the production quality of the last few albums? How crazy can you get? Maiden fans continue to be one of the most entitled bunches on the planet.

That said, the recent debacle with preorders speaks to a point that has been made in this thread (and many times in the past): that is, Iron Maiden doesn't listen to their fans. They are bad businessmen because they continually ignore what the fans want.
Or,
If you're businessman, you can't close your eyes to what majority of your consumers speak. It is damaging to your reputation and enterprise value. Problem may be, Rod and the Band doesn't know opinion of the fans about problems with production.

This is total bullshit, and it blows my mind that there are people who genuinely think Maiden, an enterprise that has existed for 40+ years now, is made up of dummies who don't understand business and have a lack of understanding of what the fans want. You guys complain about the sound of the albums and the setlists, but guess what? You reliably buy these products and concert tickets. Maiden still gets your money. A clear signal is sent to the band that no matter how much you dislike it, you are still going to buy it. Maiden doesn't need to sell this product to you because you're a reliable customer. The market they're going after, the blue collar 55-year-old in Bristow, Virginia who went to the Jiffy Lube Amphitheater show because he remembers Maiden from the 80s and wanted something to commemorate the experience at that show, doesn't give a shit how it sounds. In fact, chances are his hearing is damaged more than Steve's. To that end, the idea that this is an opinion the majority of the fans care about and share is very out of touch in itself. People complaining on an internet forum is not a majority of the fanbase.

But once something comes up that actually impacts most fans and actually matters, such as a record label fucking up distribution, Maiden immediately comes out to show support for the fans. They clearly have an ear to the ground and are aware of what is important. That they have been able to do that while also ignoring the noise, is one of many keys to their longevity.
 
Good post, but I don't think we complained about setlists in this thread (or I may have missed it).
Complaining about setlists happens when a tour starts.
 
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