Magnus
Pica Serdica
Isn't the first vowel more like "eye" in east London?
The MAIDEN Years: 2018/19/20/21/22/ad infinitum (Rock in Rio and Nights of the Dead)
- Thread starter Mosh
- Start date
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Probably, I just went by American pronunciation.
Abiathar
Nomad
NPFTD was the first new Maiden album released after I started listening to them. I remember after my first listen feeling a little disappointed. I really enjoyed Mother Russia so at least it ended on a high point.
I really didn’t like Holy Smoke and Hooks in You. Other songs I liked were Run Silent Run Deep and the title track.
Looking back now I like the album. It just doesn’t stack up to the previous 80’s albums. Following on the heels of my all time favourite album didn’t make life easy for the weaker NPFTD.
I really didn’t like Holy Smoke and Hooks in You. Other songs I liked were Run Silent Run Deep and the title track.
Looking back now I like the album. It just doesn’t stack up to the previous 80’s albums. Following on the heels of my all time favourite album didn’t make life easy for the weaker NPFTD.
My only problem with the album is the production as the band themselves said so too. Bruce was really mad at the stripped down approach, which in itself was OK, but the way they did it, not so much. An old recording equipment which was outdated even back then. First album which was not really produced in the classic sense and the beginning of Steve's messing around. There are really good rocking songs on it which they can't write anymore unfortunately. Of course, the album brings back good memories from the era too.
Many times people think about production as a sound issue only but it's much more. No Prayer was the first album where you could hear that they recorded the songs really live in a few takes. Bruce boasted about recording the entire vocals in a week. They wanted everything raw, unpolished, but lacked production quality for the first time. You can always say that this is how it sounds live, but it does not always translates when recorded in a studio. For FOTD they stepped up their game and you can hear that. I wonder how No Prayer sounded if they wanted to invest more into it back then.
Fear of the Dark
This is undoubtedly my least favorite Maiden album and probably the only one that I struggle to find merit with. It’s like they got almost everything wrong. Bruce’s rasp, while good on No Prayer and the accompanying tour, skirts the line between annoying and weak sounding. It often sounds like he’s either bored or isn’t taking the material seriously (and with songs like From Here to Eternity and Weekend Warrior, how could you?). It’s not surprising that he left afterwards, continuing the performance he turned in here. I’m not sure what Birch’s involvement was with this album, it sounds competently engineered but the mix is thin and the drums have no power. Lots of 90’s era reverb which sucks the life out of the music.
This is also the band’s first true foray into the CD era. Although both No Prayer and Fear were recorded digitally, Fear is the first time you see the band taking advantage of the extra space on a CD. A whopping 12 songs and nearly an hour in length, this is the first time a Maiden album actually feels bloated. Listening to it on vinyl is pretty eye opening in this regard. You could remove all of side 2 and 3 and lose virtually nothing of value. The fact that only one song from this stretch was played live (Wasting Love) seems to suggest the band wasn’t that invested in those songs in the first place. I know people like Childhood’s End a lot, but I really dislike the pummeling guitars and Bruce’s delivery of the lyrics. This type of “current events” song would be refined quite a bit on the next album.
With Fear of the Dark, you hear the band in a major transition. The back to basics approach continues, but there are more moments where the older more progressive Maiden rears its head. Overall it just ends up sounding like a jumbled mess that doesn’t really shine in either aspect. The more straightforward rock songs such as From Here To Eternity and Chains of Misery feel really dumbed down even compared to the material on the previous album. The progressive side comes across in some songs, but it seems like the band isn’t really fully committing to it. Childhood’s End has a lot of moments with potential, but feels cobbled together. It’s clear that a change was needed, and I’m glad that Bruce’s departure and the brief hiatus that followed allowed the band to reassess their sound and get back to what they’re good at.
This album is not without its bright spots, however. Afraid To Shoot Strangers is the biggest indicator that this band still has a lot to offer. It’s progressive, it has a great build, Bruce sounds really fantastic on it, it’s incredibly melodic. This type of mini-epic would help set the template for a lot of modern Maiden’s best moments. For a ballad, Wasting Love isn’t too bad. Nice layered guitars, nice hooks, the acoustic element is something new for Maiden. Judas Be My Guide is a great hidden gem, the title track has become a sort of Hallowed Be Thy Name in terms of live effect and singable riffing.
Where most members of the band are showing a severe lack of passion and energy, Janick Gers is quickly starting to carve out his place. He contributes a lot to the writing, although the quality is certainly debatable. I’m not going to hold it against him too much because everybody has a low batting average on this album, but he’s definitely planting seeds for his writing style on later albums. There’s a lot of acoustic guitar work on here that I presume comes from him, and it ends up being one of the more refreshing elements on the album. His soloing style takes a major step up here and, unlike No Prayer, I hear a lot more contrast between the two guitarists. Even on the rhythm guitars, it feels like there’s a little more attention to separation than there was even in the 80s.
Is Fugitive missing a guitar solo like Gangland? I hear a rhythm guitar track and a single lead lick after the first solo, but then nothing. Very strange.
This is undoubtedly my least favorite Maiden album and probably the only one that I struggle to find merit with. It’s like they got almost everything wrong. Bruce’s rasp, while good on No Prayer and the accompanying tour, skirts the line between annoying and weak sounding. It often sounds like he’s either bored or isn’t taking the material seriously (and with songs like From Here to Eternity and Weekend Warrior, how could you?). It’s not surprising that he left afterwards, continuing the performance he turned in here. I’m not sure what Birch’s involvement was with this album, it sounds competently engineered but the mix is thin and the drums have no power. Lots of 90’s era reverb which sucks the life out of the music.
This is also the band’s first true foray into the CD era. Although both No Prayer and Fear were recorded digitally, Fear is the first time you see the band taking advantage of the extra space on a CD. A whopping 12 songs and nearly an hour in length, this is the first time a Maiden album actually feels bloated. Listening to it on vinyl is pretty eye opening in this regard. You could remove all of side 2 and 3 and lose virtually nothing of value. The fact that only one song from this stretch was played live (Wasting Love) seems to suggest the band wasn’t that invested in those songs in the first place. I know people like Childhood’s End a lot, but I really dislike the pummeling guitars and Bruce’s delivery of the lyrics. This type of “current events” song would be refined quite a bit on the next album.
With Fear of the Dark, you hear the band in a major transition. The back to basics approach continues, but there are more moments where the older more progressive Maiden rears its head. Overall it just ends up sounding like a jumbled mess that doesn’t really shine in either aspect. The more straightforward rock songs such as From Here To Eternity and Chains of Misery feel really dumbed down even compared to the material on the previous album. The progressive side comes across in some songs, but it seems like the band isn’t really fully committing to it. Childhood’s End has a lot of moments with potential, but feels cobbled together. It’s clear that a change was needed, and I’m glad that Bruce’s departure and the brief hiatus that followed allowed the band to reassess their sound and get back to what they’re good at.
This album is not without its bright spots, however. Afraid To Shoot Strangers is the biggest indicator that this band still has a lot to offer. It’s progressive, it has a great build, Bruce sounds really fantastic on it, it’s incredibly melodic. This type of mini-epic would help set the template for a lot of modern Maiden’s best moments. For a ballad, Wasting Love isn’t too bad. Nice layered guitars, nice hooks, the acoustic element is something new for Maiden. Judas Be My Guide is a great hidden gem, the title track has become a sort of Hallowed Be Thy Name in terms of live effect and singable riffing.
Where most members of the band are showing a severe lack of passion and energy, Janick Gers is quickly starting to carve out his place. He contributes a lot to the writing, although the quality is certainly debatable. I’m not going to hold it against him too much because everybody has a low batting average on this album, but he’s definitely planting seeds for his writing style on later albums. There’s a lot of acoustic guitar work on here that I presume comes from him, and it ends up being one of the more refreshing elements on the album. His soloing style takes a major step up here and, unlike No Prayer, I hear a lot more contrast between the two guitarists. Even on the rhythm guitars, it feels like there’s a little more attention to separation than there was even in the 80s.
Is Fugitive missing a guitar solo like Gangland? I hear a rhythm guitar track and a single lead lick after the first solo, but then nothing. Very strange.
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
FOTD could have been great album had they trimmed it down to the 8-10 track formula they were using prior. There's too much filler that should have been relegated to B-side status.
Remove Weekend Warrior, The Apparition, The Fugitive and maybe Fear is the Key and you have a top ten Maiden album.
I disagree with you on the production. It's easily the best sounding album they released in the 90's (admittedly that's not saying much) and certainly not "thin". BQOBD or JBMG are some of the heaviest all-time Maiden songs.
I agree that it probably contains Janick's best guitar work in the Maiden catalogue. Here he's actually crafting his solos as opposed to the messy freestyle he's known for today.
It's a shame that this album began the gradual decline in guitar harmonies that wouldn't return for over a decade.
Remove Weekend Warrior, The Apparition, The Fugitive and maybe Fear is the Key and you have a top ten Maiden album.
I disagree with you on the production. It's easily the best sounding album they released in the 90's (admittedly that's not saying much) and certainly not "thin". BQOBD or JBMG are some of the heaviest all-time Maiden songs.
I agree that it probably contains Janick's best guitar work in the Maiden catalogue. Here he's actually crafting his solos as opposed to the messy freestyle he's known for today.
It's a shame that this album began the gradual decline in guitar harmonies that wouldn't return for over a decade.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
To be pedantic it's right around the years that Nicko started changing drumsets.
IMHO when he switched from Sonor to Premier the sound became more massive, bombastic. You can hear the difference between '92 and '93 live material. His live sound from '93 onward is massive, check out Fortunes of War from Chile, then the often posted Curitiba '98 bootleg. The sound as preserved on live B-sides is just OK compared to what Shirley did with the '99 stuff. Killers, Man on the Edge, Powerslave, all have a massive drum sound. Same or similar drum, same stems, another producer. So although the unprocessed '95 boots contain massive drum sound due to natural reverb of the concert, it was toned down for the live B-sides, or better say the engineering staff did not have the capacity to mix that well. Because Shirley did it, even with three guitars and a wall of sound.
IMHO when he switched from Sonor to Premier the sound became more massive, bombastic. You can hear the difference between '92 and '93 live material. His live sound from '93 onward is massive, check out Fortunes of War from Chile, then the often posted Curitiba '98 bootleg. The sound as preserved on live B-sides is just OK compared to what Shirley did with the '99 stuff. Killers, Man on the Edge, Powerslave, all have a massive drum sound. Same or similar drum, same stems, another producer. So although the unprocessed '95 boots contain massive drum sound due to natural reverb of the concert, it was toned down for the live B-sides, or better say the engineering staff did not have the capacity to mix that well. Because Shirley did it, even with three guitars and a wall of sound.
I love FOTD. It has the best sound of their 90s albums, the vinyl especially sounded good, even back then. They upgraded their sound significantly from No prayer and tried new things. It was inevitable due to the huge changes in the era and the music trends. They were a bit late though which caused serious frictions in the band. Even though many consider the album full of fillers, I don't. They got old musically by No Prayer and they tried new approaches here. There are some tunes on it that should be part of their setlists ever since, like Childhood's End, absolutely relevant.
I bought Fear about the same time I got Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power, the cover of which clearly displays the knocking out of Maiden. It'd be 5 years until they started to come round.
Horrible drum sound, but Bruce is great. Be Quick is top notch, I never liked the title track much but it's a good live party piece, the rest is merely okay and I quite like Weekend Warrior.
'Fear of Playing Metal', it's weak and it'll always frequent the arse end of my list along with the Blaze stuff.
Horrible drum sound, but Bruce is great. Be Quick is top notch, I never liked the title track much but it's a good live party piece, the rest is merely okay and I quite like Weekend Warrior.
'Fear of Playing Metal', it's weak and it'll always frequent the arse end of my list along with the Blaze stuff.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Nice analogy, while I don't think Vulgar is as good as its predecessor or successor, it's everything that Fear of The Dark isn't. Heavy compared to others, ballsy, relevant, vanguard, meta-defining sound (Vinnie's kicks and Dime's guitar).
However, Pantera did open for Maiden right at that time.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
GNR even a better example in 88.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
I can't fathom anyone thinking that Fear of the Dark either doesn't sound good or has a bad drum or guitar sound. The entire album is just an absolute monster of sound. The drums are heavy and sharp, the guitars and also heavy as fuck. That opening riff of The Fugitive is almost up there with Montsegur as some of the heaviest shit they did. It's also the album where, for better or for worse, they tried new things that they'd never really try again. That 70s hard rock vibe on some songs and some of the jagged riffing on tracks like The Apparition. It's not their best work, but it's adventurous and a fantastic driving album.
Actually one of the best drum sound they have overall.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Agreed. I also remember reading somewhere (Run to the Hills biography maybe) where the band specifically set out to make a drum sound on FotD that would stand the test of time. And they did that. Be Quick or Be Dead is an absolute barn-burner of a song and the drums are a large part of that.
This is a sound that your would consider a "big sound" that Adrian always wanted or still wants actually, in a modern format
In its early 90s incarnation. Then they scaled it back and didn't manage to capture it ever since. TWOTW sounds more promising than anything in the past 2 or 3 decades to me.