"The Book of Souls" - Official pre-release thread (CONTAINS ALBUM SPOILERS)

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Getting a good vibe about BOS from the various reviews and general feel of the first single.
I've liked every reunion album so far so almost 100% certain to like this one.
 
There was some chat earlier about a possible second single, and I thought I had seen a mention that Tears of a Clown would be it. Anyway, in my search I came across a site stating it had the lyrics for it, no idea if they are real. Er, not sure ow to do spoilers, but do a Google search and you will see them.
 
Hottysmiff said:
There was some chat earlier about a possible second single, and I thought I had seen a mention that Tears of a Clown would be it. Anyway, in my search I came across a site stating it had the lyrics for it, no idea if they are real. Er, not sure ow to do spoilers, but do a Google search and you will see them.
Click to expand...

If you do find them, please don't share them here and don't share instructions on how to find them. See leaks and spoiler policy.
 
Gk1 said:
Not sure whether this is the right thread to post this but here goes nothing.

I think that the song is quite good. The main problem -in my opinion - for post reunion Maiden is the Bruce solo albums (Accident of Birth, Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of souls) . For me these albums sound as I would have liked Maiden to.

Playing with different tunings (I know Maiden did it in some acoustic intros) and not being afraid to get into a heavier sound made these albums quite enjoyable for me.H seems to be more comfortable coming with drop D (I think) riffs. I completely loved what he did with his solo album a couple of years back (minus the horrible vocals). Maiden seem to be stuck with normal tuning. They do not experiment with their guitar sound at all. Janick likes the straight into the amp sound and most of the times Maiden seem comfortable with just a clean and a distortion sound (ok maybe one for the solos too). This makes Bruce strain his vocal lines a bit too much. If they played with a lower tuning I think the songs would have need so much heavier.
Since he got back to Maiden H seems to be trying to get the most our of the 'basic Maiden' guitar sound. His riffs seem to be the more sophisticated nowadays. Jan is doing some serious composing as well but his songwriting is also based on classic Maiden melodies and sounds. But please try to imagine the Speed of light with The chemical wedding production.

Let's get to the single:

The intro, main riff and vocal lines up to the 0:50 sec are just mind blowing (in my opinion) . This is where things go downhill (just a little bit). Once the amazing lick by H kicks in I have my head scratched for the first time. Why is it a single - although pretty good - guitar melody? If it was on a Bruce solo album I bet we would get a harmony part as well. And now I see the mixing issues for the first time. This lick is all of the sudden making the rest of the guitars disappear. It might be my poor hearing for that matter but it just doesn't sound that good to me. At least we now get some echo on both the guitar and vocals (thank H for that). I believe that if it was a Bruce solo single then the lick should have been played twice and not four times. This would have not caused the slight fall in the momentum.
And this is where the details between a good and a great tune start to really make a difference.

Then we move to the chorus. I am delighted we don't get the Speed of light repeated 4 or 8 or I don't know how many times. The vocal variation is very good and Bruce sounds like a demon throughout the song. But then again although the chorus is not boring I think that repeating it once wouldn't have caused the -again very small -drop in momentum. There are quite a few Bruce solo songs that doing the chorus is not a crime.

I guess this is where the careful and non-rushed production of Roy Z would have benefited Maiden quite a lot.

Don't get me wrong, I really like the single. It is a very solid song, in my opinion. Have they paid a bit more attention to the production and the arrangement process it would have been an instant classic. Devil hides in the details if you ask me. It is not that Maiden do not care...it is that they do what they always did...and maybe just maybe a bit of guidance would have actually made us all shut the fuck up when listening to their albums.

I know this post is a bit random sorry for that.
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I don't really understand the technical stuff you write, but it seems to me that you would like IM to have a more downtuned guitar sound that would sound like "the chemical wedding " , the downtuned "heavy" guitar sound that was popular in the nineties . I hated that sound , disliked TCW (which many worship ) because of the guitar sound and the band that tried to have that exact sound in one of their albums , Helloween in "the dark ride" , saw their sales' numbers plummet and Weikath was foaming at the mouth against Roy Z . Judas Priest failed , spectacularly , with jugulator too, and their reunion album AOR wasn't that well received either .

Maiden should have a crisp sound like the one in POM , for example , and stay as far away from the downtuned guitar sound as possible . I actually prefer the Shirley produced albums , than the CW sound that many adore .
 
johnglen said:
I don't really understand the technical stuff you write, but it seems to me that you would like IM to have a more downtuned guitar sound that would sound like "the chemical wedding " , the downtuned "heavy" guitar sound that was popular in the nineties . I hated that sound , disliked TCW (which many worship ) because of the guitar sound and the band that tried to have that exact sound in one of their albums , Helloween in "the dark ride" , saw their sales' numbers plummet and Weikath was foaming at the mouth against Roy Z . Judas Priest failed , spectacularly , with jugulator too, and their reunion album AOR wasn't that well received either .

Maiden should have a crisp sound like the one in POM , for example , and stay as far away from the downtuned guitar sound as possible . I actually prefer the Shirley produced albums , than the CW sound that many adore .
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Bruce sounds much more powerful and within his optimum range in a dropped D tuning though. Fact, just listen to his Tyranny of Souls album. http://open.spotify.com/track/3SmHixExD0maK57ZLnJj5I

I do think Iron Maiden's instruments sound better in E, but Bruce no longer does.
 
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Maniac618 said:
Bruce sounds much more powerful and within his optimum range in a dropped D tuning though. Fact, just listen to his Tyranny of Souls album. http://open.spotify.com/track/3SmHixExD0maK57ZLnJj5I

I do think Iron Maiden's instruments sound better in E, but Bruce no longer does.
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Tuning has nothing to do with actual key. "The Talisman" is in D Minor, but it's still played in E Standard tuning. It's in the exact same key as "Abduction" or "Devil on a Hog".
 
Maturin said:
Tuning has nothing to do with actual key. "The Talisman" is in D Minor, but it's still played in E Standard tuning. It's in the exact same key as "Abduction" or "Devil on a Hog".
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Well then the fault lays at the foot of the producer. Bruce sounds much better on the TOS album. My personal opinion is that the only good sounding album Maiden have made with KS is BNW.
 
Gk1 said:
Not sure whether this is the right thread to post this but here goes nothing.

I think that the song is quite good. The main problem -in my opinion - for post reunion Maiden is the Bruce solo albums (Accident of Birth, Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of souls) . For me these albums sound as I would have liked Maiden to.

Playing with different tunings (I know Maiden did it in some acoustic intros) and not being afraid to get into a heavier sound made these albums quite enjoyable for me.H seems to be more comfortable coming with drop D (I think) riffs. I completely loved what he did with his solo album a couple of years back (minus the horrible vocals). Maiden seem to be stuck with normal tuning. They do not experiment with their guitar sound at all. Janick likes the straight into the amp sound and most of the times Maiden seem comfortable with just a clean and a distortion sound (ok maybe one for the solos too). This makes Bruce strain his vocal lines a bit too much. If they played with a lower tuning I think the songs would have need so much heavier.
Since he got back to Maiden H seems to be trying to get the most our of the 'basic Maiden' guitar sound. His riffs seem to be the more sophisticated nowadays. Jan is doing some serious composing as well but his songwriting is also based on classic Maiden melodies and sounds. But please try to imagine the Speed of light with The chemical wedding production.
Click to expand...

Oh man what a lovely post. I absolutely think Maiden would be fantastic if they explored lower range sounds. Slow it all down and make it heavier. If Maiden were to make heavier and slower albums I would feel they would have progressed and finalized their sound to it's final form. Don't know how to put this into words...
It would feel like the ultimate progression of their style.
I personally find it a bit odd at a subconscious level that they are still making fast paced super energetic song with Bruce trying to hit high notes all over the place.
Maybe they don't want people to say that Maiden has gotten old and don't have what it takes to be soaring fast and upbeat anymore and that 'Bruce is unable to hit those high notes he was so good at' but I personally believe that it's actually almost clinging on to their past legacy with the way they still try to make a point of "we still got it you guys! fast songs!"

Hope I explained my point well.
 
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Maiden (Adrian, mainly) drop to D on Ghost Of The Navigator, Rainmaker, Gates Of Tomorrow, The Legacy (everyone), Mother Of Mercy (full 1 step down everyone) and The Talisman (probably everyone but, Adrian definetly). I'm not counting the old ones like RTTH, The Trooper and some others H drop to D.
 
Apologies if it's already been asked, but about how long will it probably take for the new album to be added to the Iron Maiden Commentary once it's released? I can't remember how long it took AMOLAD and TFF.
 
After listening extensively to Speed of Light, I think this: My initial bad impression remains in parts. The main riff is B-side material. Sounds like Maiden jamming Deep Purple. The verses and pre-chorus also suffer from that jam-feel. It's fine for extended parts in epics, but for a rocker like this? I do however like the chorus. A lot. It's catchy, powerful, and very Maiden. I do also like Dave's solo, while Adrian's seems like a repeat of a past solo a little to much for it to feel fresh. Production sounds like a continuation of the last one, with a bit clearer drums, quieter bass and about the same guitar tone. The vocals do not sit well in the mix, being too loud, something which I can't seem to get over after having listened to it at least 25 times.

Still excited for the album, but I'd rather have had the whole thing than a single that suffers from the "El Dorado" syndrome.
 
Jeffmetal said:
Maiden (Adrian, mainly) drop to D on Ghost Of The Navigator, Rainmaker, Gates Of Tomorrow, The Legacy (everyone), Mother Of Mercy (full 1 step down everyone) and The Talisman (probably everyone but, Adrian definetly). I'm not counting the old ones like RTTH, The Trooper and some others H drop to D.
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Hi Jeff,


I think the riffs H is more comfortable with are in Drop D. There are no real riffs in that respect in any post reunion album,are there?. He/ they might be playing in a drop D tuning but the basic riffs are not around that tuning. I prefer the fuller sound that riffs like e.g. Killing floor have. Isn't it due to the riff also using the drop D string?

I mean that e.g gates of tomorrow can be played with a standard tuning as well but you can't do that with Killing floor or Welcome to the pit.
 
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