The Book of Souls: General album discussion

Dear god ranking these is hard.

11 - Speed of Light
10 - If Eternity Should Fail
09 - Death or Glory
08 - The Man of Sorrows
07 - The Book of Souls
06 - When The River Runs Deep
05 - The Great Unknown
04 - The Red and the Black
03 - Tears of a Clown
02 - Shadows of the Valley
01 - Empire of the Clouds

09-06 are subject to sudden re-arrangement.
 
1. Empire of the Clouds
2. The Book of Souls
3. If Eternity Should Fail
4. The Red and the Black
5. When the River Runs Deep
6. The Great Unknown
7. The Man of Sorrows
8. Speed of Light
9. Shadows of the Valley
10. Death or Glory
11. Tears of a Clown
 
DJMayes said:
Try being the one person who rates SOTV in their top 10 :p
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Hahaha, i enjoyed SOTV too. Actually, i loved the whole album (with only Man of Sorrows being a low point. I didn't liked Death or Glory on my first time, but it grew on me). I read some bad comments on the internet about the "Play Classics" crowd, but i had no idea that the overall reception were so...mixed. I thought that Book of Souls would be a no brainer, i jost loved the album
 
1. The Book of Souls
2. If Eternity Should Fail
3. Tears of a Clown
4. The Great Unknown
5. Death or Glory
6. Empire of the Clouds
7. Shadows of the Valley
8. The Red and the Black
9. Speed of Light
10. The Man of Sorrows
11. When the River Runs Deep
 
I'll start off by saying that I know a lot of people disagree with my opinions on modern Maiden. Brave New World was their best album since at least Fear of the Dark and their most all around consistent album since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, but after that, when they went more 'progressive' they really lost themselves. Glimpses of brilliance show up on Dance of Death and A Matter of Life and Death, albums i've had a serious love and hate relationship with based on how lacking in immediacy they are, yet how great certain ideas are. However I just feel now that these albums hammer there great ideas to death. Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus-Solo-Solo-Solo-Chorus-Chorus-Chorus-Verse-Bridge-Chorus-End, isn't progressive rock or progressive metal. It's not knowing when to end a song. The same idea applies to The Final Frontier but that's even more uninspired. However despite this new album having song of these flaws, it actually works really well. It's their best thing in a long time without a doubt. I put on The Book of Souls, not expecting the best and having waited four minutes in the moody, captivating build of "If Eternity Should Fail" and there's zero repetition. The chorus comes in two minutes in, maybe overstays it's welcome a bit but then comes back and feels fresh. There's an intro and an outro, the solos are backed by a great bass line rather than just being there to show off, and there's so much to the way it evolves. Is it perfect? No, but this is a huge step forward and following it up with great campy cowbell-induced yet still distinctly metal "Speed of Light" was a very wise choice. After that things get a bit pear-shaped on the consistency level but some fantastic moments are felt throughout. My three favourites are the three that close the album but particularly "Tears of a Clown" for how much it hit me when Williams died. Other then that I love the title track and "The Red and the Black". Some good and bad stuff, and I want Maiden to strip it down next album or take some more notes from how bands like Pink Floyd performed long artistic rock pieces but this is a good start that I really enjoyed. Also i'm glad that I own it on vinyl due to the amazing artwork on it. What a triple gatefold.
 
Can't believe the low ratings I'm seeing on here for The Red and the Black. I think it's easily the best song on the album. At the same time I find Empire of the Clouds to be kind of boring, whereas it's supposed to be such a classic.

Overall, though, the album hasn't held up for me as well as The Final Frontier, which I think is a prog metal classic. Nothing on The Book of Souls can touch songs like Isle of Avalon and Starblind.

I rate the 21st century albums like this:

1. The Final Frontier
2. Dance of Death
3. Brave New World
4. The Book of Souls
5. A Matter of Life and Death

Still consider TBoS very good, though. My opinion will probably rise after I hear the songs live.
 
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I don't agree with your album vs. album assessment. And there is one song that gets in IOA/Starblind area, The Man Of Sorrows, which for me flows even more organically than those two.
 
Just did my song rating for TBOS.
IESF - 9
SOL - 8
TGU - 8
TRATB - 6
WTRRD - 7
TBOS - 10
DOG - 8
SOTV - 7
TOAC - 8
TMOS - 8
EOTC - 10


EOTC is a masterpiece, but the most valuable song is TBOS, which has become my favourite IM song from the reunion era.
 
For now, it goes like this:

The Book Of Souls 10
If Eternity Should Fail 10
Shadows Of The Valley 10
The Red And The Black 9
The Man Of Sorrows 9
Tears Of A Clown 9
Death Or Glory 9
Empire Of The Clouds 9
The Great Unknown 8
Speed Of Light 8
When The River Runs Deep 8

Average: 9

My opinion changed so much about this opus as a whole that all I can say is that I listen to it everyday and it flows perfectly. No way it seems to have 92 minutes long! It is a brilliant and powerful album. To me, the 00's and 10's eras Maiden albums sound like they're really 70's albums but, vital, modern and unique!

Shadows Of The Valley seems to have been pulled out of the 70's vaults and it has 2 of the best Maiden choruses in one song, at this point of their game, is one of the highlights! If Eternity Should Fail is the best opener, alongside Aces High and Be Quick Or Be Dead. A wonderful album!
 
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Guys, it's been six months now and I can't believe how fucking amazing this album still is. I've been listening to it basically every day since its release and can't get enough of it even after all this time.
This goes to show that my initial reaction of 'could this be the best thing the band has put out?' wasnt just caused by the hype of it being new. I now know for sure that it is my favourite album and am so happy that the band can pull this out at this point in their career. when they wrote in the album press release that every song was an integral part of the whole body of work they definitely meant it; you can feel the inspiration in every track from beginning to end. What else can I say? Up the fucking irons.
Long live the book of souls.
 
After listening to some videos of The Red and the Black live from the tour, I have to say my opinion on it has risen quite substantialy. At first I was worried how it would work live because of its length, but it sounds great and I'm looking forward to hearing it for myself in June! Because of this I went back to listen to it again, and it's jumped up a few spaces. For me, it's now nestled quite nicely between Tears of a Clown and The Great Unknown on my ranking list.

:)
 
It is a great album especially the song speed of light song, better live though, as our most of iron maiden albums, all sound great, but when you see them alive around the world, fantastic!!

Moderator edit: Added spoiler tags. Was this really necessary?
 
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Mods doing their job, but I still have to

say that you'd be a total idiot if you believed they weren't gonna play IESF, SOL and BOS. It's 2+2 with Maiden.
 
Zare said:
Mods doing their job, but I still have to

say that you'd be a total idiot if you believed they weren't gonna play IESF, SOL and BOS. It's 2+2 with Maiden.
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Pretty much agree ... but I am sure someone would have complained :)
 
This album has been out now for nearly 7 months and I'm still spinning it 5-6 times a week. I still totally love it, it still feels fresh yet familiar, and I love all of the songs. As far as rankings I'd slot it slightly below AMOLAD as my second favorite of the reunion era albums.
 
Williamc34 said:
It is a great album especially the song speed of light song, better live though, as our most of iron maiden albums, all sound great, but when you see them alive around the world, fantastic!!

Moderator edit: Added spoiler tags. Was this really necessary?
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Not sure? I guess not
 
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