The Book of Souls: General album discussion

Srogyy said:
You don't have to explain. It works there because it's a different genre... If something is good for one type of music, it doesn't mean it has to work everywhere... I've never said something doesn't make sense universally. I was referring only to Empire all the time.
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Jesus.....

Ok, the transitions in Empire doesn't work, because you say so.

Now we can lay that to rest.
 
Still absorbing the Book of Souls. My first impression is that there is a lot of cool music on this album, though many of the overall songs are inconsistent.

Preliminary ranking/ratings after a couple days of listening:

5 stars:
  • The Red and the Black (masterpiece... 9:10 to 12:30 reminds me of Seventh Son climax)
4.5 stars:
  • The Book of Souls (nice into, then plods along... a bit like Unbeliever... from 5:48 to the end gives me shivers)
  • Empire of the Clouds (woah... Dickinson solo track sounds like a Harris epic. A little disjointed and cheesy, but from 6:57 to 15:11 is impressive)
4 stars:
  • Shadows of the Valley (Hope Smith doesn't mind that Gers was practicing Wasted Years in slow motion and decided to turn it into a mashup with The Legacy... and Sea of Madness lyrics)
  • When the River Runs Deep (mediocre intro, but gets good at 0:44, and 2:51-4:49 is awesome)
  • The Great Unknown (awesome intro, then plods along 1:37-2:23, then great to the end)
3.5 stars:
  • Death or Glory (climb monkey climb! Too bad about the lyrics... musically, it's fun, especially 2:57-4:02)
3 stars:
  • If Eternity Should Fall (cool intro and 4:54-6:08 is awesome, the rest is meh)
2.5 stars:
  • Speed of Light (meh)
  • The Man of Sorrows (plods along... come on Murray, you usually do better than this)
2 stars:
  • Tears of a Clown (woah again... Smith/Harris song sounds like a Dickinson leftover. Crappy overall, though 2:43-4:06 is OK).
 
deslock said:
Still absorbing the Book of Souls. My first impression is that there is a lot of cool music on this album, though many of the overall songs are inconsistent.

Preliminary ranking/ratings after a couple days of listening:

5 stars:
  • The Red and the Black (masterpiece... 9:10 to 12:30 reminds me of Seventh Son climax)
4.5 stars:
  • The Book of Souls (nice into, then plods along... a bit like Unbeliever... from 5:48 to the end gives me shivers)
  • Empire of the Clouds (woah... Dickinson solo track sounds like a Harris epic. A little disjointed and cheesy, but from 6:57 to 15:11 is impressive)
4 stars:
  • Shadows of the Valley (Hope Smith doesn't mind that Gers was practicing Wasted Years in slow motion and decided to turn it into a mashup with The Legacy... and Sea of Madness lyrics)
  • When the River Runs Deep (mediocre intro, but gets good at 0:44, and 2:51-4:49 is awesome)
  • The Great Unknown (awesome intro, then plods along 1:37-2:23, then great to the end)
3.5 stars:
  • Death or Glory (climb monkey climb! Too bad about the lyrics... musically, it's fun, especially 2:57-4:02)
3 stars:
  • If Eternity Should Fall (cool intro and 4:54-6:08 is awesome, the rest is meh)
2.5 stars:
  • Speed of Light (meh)
  • The Man of Sorrows (plods along... come on Murray, you usually do better than this)
2 stars:
  • Tears of a Clown (woah again... Smith/Harris song sounds like a Dickinson leftover. Crappy overall, though 2:43-4:06 is OK).
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Why are solos what you pay most attention to? What is the singer for?
 
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I like prog and I can see why Srogyy sees the transitions in EOTC as clunky. It's partially because in each case, there's a sudden "halt" in momentum followed by a seemingly random idea. It's like running on a track and suddenly the ground completely vanishes and you find yourself in the middle of a tea party. It's disjointed. Maiden usually don't do that; they're more likely to make you run headfirst into a brick wall to halt the momentum.

I think it works in EOTC though because that's pretty much what happens in the story. It's supposed to be jarring and unexpected.
 
It occurred to me that all previous 15 studio albums were distinctly different from each other, where BOS GOES OUT OF IT'S WAY to mimic them, with Bruce's solo stuff thrown in too.
Is the album meant to be an empty vessel containing the lifeblood of the older work? A book of souls?
Reflected in the empty logo?
Like putting song ideas into empty metaphorical buckets?
 
eddie666 said:
It occurred to me that all previous 15 studio albums were distinctly different from each other, where BOS GOES OUT OF IT'S WAY to mimic them, with Bruce's solo stuff thrown in too.
Is the album meant to be an empty vessel containing the lifeblood of the older work? A book of souls?
Reflected in the empty logo?
Like putting song ideas into empty metaphorical buckets?
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I like your interpretation! But I don't know if you mean that in a positive or negative way?
 
I don't want to be negative, it's Maiden after all and like it, but it not blowing me away.
They're definitely in their 'space' era after TFF, and an empty vessel, a 'space', does fit.
Harris' absence too.
It doesn't seem to have its own identity, except for Empire maybe but, aside from the instrumentation, isn't radical.

I see 7 eras;
Dianno IM-Killers
Glory days NOB-PS
Synths SIT-7TH
Janick NP-FOTD
Blaze X-X1
Reunion BNW-TFF
Now BOS

The eras are different from each other, but the albums within differ also.
Space, the final frontier. The last redtop? Chakras?
Sorry, too much.
 
So it's starting to sink in now...
Still loving nearly all the songs.
Two of the songs I didn't get into immediately (TRATB and TBOS) are really growing on me and I am now starting to enjoy them immensely.
TGU is another one that has grown on me. Not sure what its about though.
This album is brilliant and the excitement has not worn off yet...
 
As an experiment, in order to find out if Empire invokes the right feelings, I played it for my girlfriend, who is not a native English speaker.

Afterwards, I asked her what she thought it was about, and she said it was the sad story of the death of an airship. And also said it was beautiful and poignant.

So. If someone who has a hard time with English lyrics gets that out of it, I think there is something to be said for it. If you don't like Empire, I genuinely pity you. It's touching and strong and powerful.
 
As far as Empire go I don't know what to say. I mean - how to say this in english.

I love the music, idea, story, lyrics and feelings that are behind all of that.

From the other hand I feel that sound in this song is "empty", dunno how to explain that. When I hear other songs I feel that songs and melodies are all around me (that is how i "see" sound - as colors and feelings, each sound, voice or melody has for me different color) but EotC is simple, it's just one line of sound for me.
 
Meliegree said:
From the other hand I feel that sound in this song is "empty", dunno how to explain that. When I hear other songs I feel that songs and melodies are all around me (that is how i "see" sound - as colors and feelings, each sound, voice or melody has for me different color) but EotC is simple, it's just one line of sound for me.
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Exactly. I think the arrangement is quite empty, because they were just mimicking Bruce's piano ideas and didn't add much enough to them.
 
Random thoughts:

- The Book of Souls is probably the most sprawling and diverse album they've done so far. As an incorrigible ecclecticist, I like that.

- "If Eternity Should Fail" is, if nothing else, the most offbeat Maiden opener ever, save perhaps for "Sign of the Cross". I like it a lot, though I'm really not sure about the spoken word bit at the end.

- The Janick epic has been a standing feature of the reunion albums, but he has really outdone himself here. "The Book of Souls" is stunning, the best he's written since "Dream of Mirrors", maybe his best ever. They have to play that one live.

- Nicko has rarely if ever sounded better. At times, like on "When the River Runs Deep" and parts of "Empire of the Clouds", he is the main attraction. I realize that I may have been underestimating just how much the rhythm playing contributes to my preference for Maiden over any other metal.

- Speaking of "just", it continues to be Steve's filler word of choice when he needs another syllable: "Are you scared to look inside your mind / Are you worried just at what you'll find". No, wait, I mean: "Step inside my inqusitive mind / Are you scared at just what you might find". Opinions on that song seem to be split; I will tentatively side with the camp who likes the instrumental part more than the vocal parts, which suffer from rather uninspired melodies.

- That said, vocal melodies are generally very strong, better than on The Final Frontier, and Bruce mostly sounds good.

- After several listens, "Shadows of the Valley" is the one song that still hasn't made any lasting impression. Not unenjoyable, but undistinguished.

- The last three songs are the most intriguing to me. "Tears of a Clown" has the best melody of all, underpinned by more great drumming. It's one of the most perfectly crafted songs they've ever done. "The Man of Sorrows" is more adventurous, with some parts that sound like nothing Maiden has done before. I really like that, apart from a brief return to the "as we look..." melody after the instrumental mid-section, it never repeats itself. The disaster ballad at the end is pretty neat as well.

All impressions subject to change at any listen.
 
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