The MAIDEN Years: 2018/19/20/21/22/ad infinitum (Rock in Rio and Nights of the Dead)

Mosh said:
Even in its best moments, I can probably easily find other songs that better capture what they’re going for. The solo Harris songs especially suffer here. Who’s going to listen to No Prayer For the Dying or Mother Russia when you can listen to Hallowed Be Thy Name or Infinite Dreams? It just doesn’t compare.
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I'd listen to Mother Russia because it is a good Maiden song. Yes, the fast part (most notably the drum pattern borrows from Seventh Son's title track) may not sound the most original but the solos and riffs in this section are different. And the most important aspect of this song, the bombastic intro (haunting keyboard work, I can visualize a night sky with stars twinkling when I hear those far way but bright sounds) and the verses are quite unique (or at least new) in the catalogue.

No Prayer for the Dying, with its starts and stops in the verses, vocally and musically, is very different from most other Maiden songs. The song is something of a fragile, serious and personal island in the rough, dark (and sometimes humurous) sea of other songs. The fast mid section (with the rhythm guitars) was inspirational for the sudden outburst in Afraid to Shoot Strangers. It has a wonderful guitar melody in its instrumental(!) "chorus".
 
I’ve written a long post about it before (I think Forostar once had it quoted in his sig) but I’ve always loved when Maiden plays breakneck speed live. It doesn’t mangle or ruin anything. Some songs DO lose their nuance, but that nuance is replaced with grit and ferocity. It’s hard to express just how far ahead of everyone else Maiden was when it came to speed and heaviness in the late 70s, early 80s, but it was wild. And when they speed up their songs even to this day, it’s because there remains a youthful spirit in the group, one where exuberance and a love for what they do shines through in every note. Maiden are playing to and for themselves as much as anyone else in the audience.
 
Accident of Birth
I own three different versions of this album, and they all have different track orders. Currently I’m listening to the 2017 vinyl repress, which is modeled after the original vinyl. It’s pretty weird. You’ve got a side break between Taking the Queen and Darkside of Aquarius, so they don’t fade into each other. The little piano bit (which I always heard as an outro to Taking the Queen) is grouped with Darkside on side 2. You also have Omega swapped with Road to Hell.

Just a year after the release of Skunkworks, Bruce was already in another creative mode. This time he’s teaming up with Roy Z again, Adrian Smith is back in the fold, and Bruce is making classic style Metal again. It’s funny (and pretty relatable) how a multi year identity crisis led to Bruce going back to where he began. But it’s pretty clear listening to this album that this is the realm where he belongs. He’s totally in his element as a vocalist and a writer. Finally his voice has some much needed power. He not only sounds comfortable in his voice again, but he turns in what was easily the best performance of his career up to this point.

A lot of fans see this album as Bruce out Maidening Maiden. It’s easy to see why. I can only imagine being a Maiden fan in 1997 coming off of The X Factor and then Bruce releasing this. I really like The X Factor. I think it’s a really deep album with a lot of ambition. But Accident of Birth has that same depth and the same vision, but with the performances and writing to back it up.

Bruce and his band sound totally energized here. Like they all have something to prove. The songs hit hard. There’s a lot of variety here that you just don’t really get on a Maiden album. Piano ballads like Man of Sorrows, folky epics like Taking the Queen, relentlessly heavy tracks like Accident of Birth which just seem a little bit more current than what Maiden ever did (although I think a lot of these traits would show up in the reunion era, never quite to this degree though). But you also have tracks like Road To Hell which might as well be Piece of Mind leftovers.

Roy Z and Adrian Smith are perfect complements to each other. You’ve got the modern shred style of Roy Z mixed with the bluesy old school style of Adrian Smith, and they’re both challenging each other. Adrian Smith does a lot of stretching on this album, and you can hear Roy Z play with more restraint than usual. It’s a very Murray/Smith-esque give and take.

My understanding is that Adrian came later in the game, mostly contributing leads and the few songs he co-wrote. Still, his presence is felt pretty heavily on the songs he helped write. The Dickinson/Smith partnership is legendary, and it’s fantastic to hear them back in action.

It feels unfair to both camps to compare this to Maiden. It is a different sound and both are valid independently. Ultimately I think both Bruce and Maiden are best when they’re together. At the same time, it’s hard not to compare the two. The context, Adrian’s involvement, Derek Riggs’ artwork, it’s hard to hear Accident of Birth independently. I think he did a good job distancing himself from Maiden on the follow up, but Accident definitely feels like a younger brother to 80s Maiden. Kind of a bridge between Piece of Mind and Brave New World. Hindsight is 20/20, but a reunion with Maiden seems obvious after something like that. I’m glad we got a chance to hear Bruce make Metal that didn’t have the Metal stamp, cause you get a bit more variety. I hope he has another one in the pipeline.


Anyone know why Janick is thanked in the liner notes?
 
It's inevitable to compare it with Maiden. Accident of Birth & Chemical Wedding were the albums Maiden "never released" during the 90s.
The albums we've dreamt of and exceeded our expectations. Timeless pieces, testimonial & poetic. Thank you Bruce, for ever.
 
Exactly as stated by @Mosh, when I got AOB I was blown away. Having this compared to TXF made it ever so painful for me as a Maiden fan.
AOB is pure gold. Neither Bruce solo or Maiden with Bruce can get to such a high level as AOB and CW (IMO). Roy Z is the secret to this sound.
 
Forostar said:
If you're not particularly into the power, tightness, speed and energy (basically the essence of Maiden's live concerts in their first 25 years) this band was able to channel.

As I argued, some of these songs, particularly The Evil were not sloppy. As long as people only focus on the things they dislike, and not see what they did well, it is no wonder they are not into certain era's of this band.
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Okay, let's talk about this a little. What we can say objectively, I believe, is that TETMD was played much faster than on ARLO than on the album. Whether you like that or not is a matter of preference. Personally, very personally, in my own personal opinion which I do not ask anyone else to share, and which I do not mean to question anyone else's, I think it destroys some of the mystical atmosphere of the song. But that's just a personal matter of preference, I don't mean to say this as a statement of quality of the band's playing. And with that in mind, I think we can also appreciate that the band plays very tightly. The only thing I notice that might be a problem is the guitar in the left channel (Jan?) during the instrumental bridge. There seems to be something wrong there to me, but it's so low in the mix that it's hard to be sure.
Which brings me to the main problem I personally have with this particular recording, and that is the mix. The mix is my main gripe with all the 90's live albums. It doesn't work for me. I wish to emphasise once again that it is my opinion, not a statement of fact or a call for anyone to share this opinion. I think probably the biggest problem is how the guitars are treated. During the TETMD solo, the guitar is turned up in the right channel and all the accompanying music is turned way down and relegated to the left channel. This almost makes the guitar sound like an isolated track, and that's not a good idea. The solo was meant to be heard with the rhythm guitar, bass and drum framing it. I hardly ever think isolated tracks sound terribly good, you can hear every little unclean pick or vibration, and that's usually not audible with background music. Same goes for guitar harmonies. They never line up perfectly and that's not a problem, because you have bass and drums covering up the imperfections. But if the harmonies are so emphasied, like in the intro to Wasting Love, it sounds god-awful. To me. If it sounds good to you, I'm not here to tell you that it shouldn't.

(Personal opinions put in spoilers to avoid the impression that I'm trying to tell anyone they're wrong about their opinions)
 
AOB and the followup CW albums are all-time classics, absolute must-haves. I remember when AOB was released, it was considered a metal comeback album (not for Bruce, but metal in general!). This was a milestone in 1997 and helped revitalize the entire genre. Plus it laid the foundations for Bruce to reunite with Maiden a few years later as we all know. In my opinion, AOB, despite its classic metal style, could not have been created by Maiden, so I don't consider it the album that Maiden should have done. Maybe a few songs like Road to Hell, but in general, this was a pure metal powerhouse, both with in-your-face and direct metal anthems and epics, with a very hard-edged and contemporary sound, that Maiden could not produce or did not want to produce anymore.

If you were to compare these Bruce albums to TXF or VXI, you may want to cry actually. They are not in the same league.

I wore AOB out, blasted all the time, it sounded enormous and liked the entire album as is. CW would be the absolute top of Bruce's solo career a year later to me.
 
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Omega is such an awesome epic song on Accident of Birth. The lyrics are some of Bruce's best ever. The words and music of that song tell such a bleak but poignant story.
 
Perun said:
Okay, let's talk about this a little. What we can say objectively, I believe, is that TETMD was played much faster than on ARLO than on the album. Whether you like that or not is a matter of preference. Personally, very personally, in my own personal opinion which I do not ask anyone else to share, and which I do not mean to question anyone else's, I think it destroys some of the mystical atmosphere of the song. But that's just a personal matter of preference, I don't mean to say this as a statement of quality of the band's playing. And with that in mind, I think we can also appreciate that the band plays very tightly. The only thing I notice that might be a problem is the guitar in the left channel (Jan?) during the instrumental bridge. There seems to be something wrong there to me, but it's so low in the mix that it's hard to be sure.
Which brings me to the main problem I personally have with this particular recording, and that is the mix. The mix is my main gripe with all the 90's live albums. It doesn't work for me. I wish to emphasise once again that it is my opinion, not a statement of fact or a call for anyone to share this opinion. I think probably the biggest problem is how the guitars are treated. During the TETMD solo, the guitar is turned up in the right channel and all the accompanying music is turned way down and relegated to the left channel. This almost makes the guitar sound like an isolated track, and that's not a good idea. The solo was meant to be heard with the rhythm guitar, bass and drum framing it. I hardly ever think isolated tracks sound terribly good, you can hear every little unclean pick or vibration, and that's usually not audible with background music. Same goes for guitar harmonies. They never line up perfectly and that's not a problem, because you have bass and drums covering up the imperfections. But if the harmonies are so emphasied, like in the intro to Wasting Love, it sounds god-awful. To me. If it sounds good to you, I'm not here to tell you that it shouldn't.

(Personal opinions put in spoilers to avoid the impression that I'm trying to tell anyone they're wrong about their opinions)
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I never noticed this Perun. I only have the original version, not sure if that makes a difference. Usually I do not mind if the solo guitar is somewhat more upfront, but in my memory the rest did not suffer that much from it. I probably also do not mind the extra little guitar sounds you talk about. These can also occur in rhythm guitar parts, so you'll have less of that during the solos. ;--p

By the way, I always felt that Adrian's solo in King in Crimson on Bruce's live album sounded a lot like it was done in the studio, so isolated it sounds.

On A Real Live One, I hear a constant live vibe.

But next time I'll hear the album I'll pay extra attention to this aspect. I am a sucker for wide panning, having the guitars up close (I can even enjoy listening to only one box for a while, hearing one guitar). I still enjoyed the rhyhtm section very, very much (as told), also or even especially during the solo.
 
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______no5 said:
It's inevitable to compare it with Maiden. Accident of Birth & Chemical Wedding were the albums Maiden "never released" during the 90s.
The albums we've dreamt of and exceeded our expectations.
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I never felt it like this. To me they were two worlds I both enjoyed.

The albums are not that Maidenesque.
Most songs have a completely different groove. What sets Maiden apart are the rhythms and rhythm section. Any band can play harmonies but even with Dickinson and Smith, I do not feel I have heard Iron Maiden music that Maiden never made.
 
Bruce solo material cold have been a dorection for Maiden. Use modern tunings and so on. And all in all we got 6 brilliant songs written jut by H and Bruce. I would love to hear them as Maiden songs.
 
Nah. It was a direction for Adrian's guitar tuning and that's about it. I'd say the best songs from Brave New World are mainly written by Janick (Ghost and Dream) and Dave (title track) and they sound nothing like Bruce solo work.
 
Forostar said:
Nah. It was a direction for Adrian's guitar tuning and that's about it. I'd say the best songs from Brave New World are mainly written by Janick (Ghost and Dream) and Dave (title track) and they sound nothing like Bruce solo work.
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Not to go offtopic here, but just listened to BNW, and Dream of Mirrors is wonderfully mixed. As well as a very good song.
 
Yesterday I wondered what kind of camera was attached to guitar neck in that video, it must have been super heavy to hold. One of the best solos ever.
 
Arrakis said:
Not to go offtopic here, but just listened to BNW, and Dream of Mirrors is wonderfully mixed. As well as a very good song.
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Well TBH DOM summarizes everything I do not like in modern Maiden.
 
Samantas5855 said:
What is it that you dont like in it
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Well, IMO (of course)

1) The song goes nowhere for around 6 minutes. It gets in a loop of repeating and repeating the same parts

2) Drumming is awful since this is a leftover from VXI

3) It is a 9+ minute song with a sloppy solo by Jan. Could use some more tasteful licks.

4) The chorus is driving me crazy as it is repeated again and again in the song

5) There are no real dinamics to the song. Just a plodding overlong section and then a tempo shift out of nowhere.

6) As also stated in 1) while you expect the song to pick up...it dies again and again.


Again I understand that a lot fo people like it and the melodies are really great. It is that I see it as a lost apportunity to create something classic due to poor arrangement
 
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