The Book of Souls: General album discussion

I think that the songs I like the least are TGU and TMOS; what I like about WTRRD is that awesome solo section. I don't get tired of it, neither of the title track hehe.
 
Shadows of the Valley is a few adjustments away from being one of the best songs maiden has ever done. I think the intro takes away from the song. The "into the Valley ..." Part is pure magic.

I haven't listened to red and the black in over a week and have no desire to.
 
I don't hear the Wasted Years intro when listening to SotV anymore. Or at least it stopped bothering me. And hell yeah to:
Babo 91 said:
The "into the Valley ..." Part is pure magic.
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It really is amazing. As for epic tracks, Jannick Gers is the new Steve Harris for quite some time.

But I still need some time to rate the entire album. Been listening to it for a whole month and still enjoy exploring it. Imho it's better than AMOLAD and in my case it means it's the best one since SSoaSS :dancinggeek: IESF, TBoS and EotC are simply majestic. And no fillers detected so far.
 
Cause it's way too long, main riff is "stolen" from Uriah Heep, lead guitar plays the vocal line which is lame (in this particular track especially!), Bruce sounds strained, "ooohs" are cheesy and there's too many of them... blahblahblah. That's what I've gathered from a certain Polish forum :D . Oh, and it would've been better as an instrumental track.
But who cares. I really like this track. Once you get familiar with all the melodies, the whole thing starts to flow pretty great.
 
So after a month of listening, I think I can safely say I love this album. There is not a single song I dislike. My favorite tracks seem quite solid no matter how many times I relisten, with Empire of the Clouds, The Book of Souls, Shadows of the Valley, and If Eternity Should Fail being the big winners for me. Nothing except When The River Runs Deep strikes me as being less than a 8/10 worthy song, though The Red and the Black I'm still not completely sure about. The album really shows Maiden at their best IMO; while it's more straightforward than TFF in some respects, it's an incredibly rich album with plenty of unexpected little pieces to enjoy, and it has more of an energetic and lively feel to it than TFF or even AMOLAD. All in all, a great work where the Maiden guys really showcase everything they've learned throughout their career and used it to make something ambitious and grand.
 
LooseCannon said:
I still don't understand why I'm supposed to hate The Red and the Black. Can anyone explain?
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People shouldn't have to tell us why we should love or hate a song. It's all our own opinions and the ways our minds and ears hear the music. I think TRATB is absolutely perfect just as it is as well as 95% of the entire album. WTRRD is pretty much the only weak song on there and even that one is still enjoyable to listen to.
 
Brave New Pilgrim said:
Basically it's way too long with too many repeating parts. Cut about 4 minutes off of it and it would be an infinitely better track IMHO.
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Sometimes when I listen to it, I find it a little long. Sometimes it's just fine. But for me, this criticism is only enough to push the song to a 9 or 8. Just don't get people giving it a 3, for example.
 
Babo 91 said:
It's not a hateable song. Just wayyyy longer than it needs to be. Apart from a melody or two and Adrians solos, it doesn't really have anything special
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I dunno, I like lots of it. It has a nice feel, and when I'm doing something, like walking in the park or riding the bike, it seems to fit my mood quite well.
 
I've basically been listening to little more than this album since it came out on September 4 (according to iTunes that's a good 170 plays). I loved it immediately after the first listen which was in stark contrast to The Final Frontier which I kind of grew to like. If possible I love The Book of Souls even more now than I did at first. Songs that I loved at first are developing even more over time and keep doing so. And the ones I wasn't fond of at first (When the River Runs Deep and The Red and the Black) have grown into being favorites. I'm not even close to becoming tired of it even after all the time I've spent with it which is a great sign for the future.

What's happened with the passing of time is that I've attached fond memories to these songs and this album. Maybe it sounds silly, I don't know, but the main reason why I love Maiden over all others is that they write great songs and have great shows, but also because their material literally becomes a soundtrack to points of my life. And The Book of Souls is perfectly matching where I am right now. I was hoping for a good album and what I got was something that I truly cherish with each spin and I know will continue to grow and grow over the years.

In the grand scheme of Maiden I'd still probably rank it below A Matter of Life and Death when it comes to the reunion era material. That album was not only super awesome, but I had the extra benefit of seeing them twice on the tour shortly after its release which basically cemented it as one of my very favorite Maiden albums. But it's right up there with that and I can see it maybe even surpassing it with time (and with upcoming shows!).

All I know is that I love, love, love this album and am so thankful that Maiden is still around releasing great new material!
 
Donner said:
I've basically been listening to little more than this album since it came out on September 4 (according to iTunes that's a good 170 plays).
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What, of the whole album?! :blink:

My maths ain't that great but... 170 plays at an hour & a half a time is, what, 255 hours?; over ~27/28 days, that's 9 or 10 hours of playing every single day since early Sept. That... that doesn't sound likely...

Good to see you love, love, love it tho'! :ok:
 
Brave New Pilgrim said:
Basically it's way too long with too many repeating parts. Cut about 4 minutes off of it and it would be an infinitely better track IMHO.
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Repeating parts? Where? Other than "I need somebody to save me" and the title I don't see a single line appearing more than once. The only problem with the song is the instrumental 3 minutes too long.
 
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CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
What, of the whole album?! :blink:

My maths ain't that great but... 170 plays at an hour & a half a time is, what, 255 hours?; over ~27/28 days, that's 9 or 10 hours of playing every single day since early Sept. That... that doesn't sound likely...

Good to see you love, love, love it tho'! :ok:
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Damn typo, more it's 70 plays. I love it but not 9 hours a day for that many days haha!
 
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