Things about Iron Maiden that annoy you

It is the most live sounding Maiden album. I like the raw energetic, straight in your face sound (brings some edge, some extra aggression/heaviness). There's good balance between the instruments. Especially between bass and drums. The bass jumps out well. The drums sound just right. On Seventh Son I felt they sounded somewhat soft, and on Brave New World and more recent albums the drums (especially snare and bass) sounded a bit too dominating, pushing away the bass.

Not sure if all this happened due to production or use of instruments or because of the right combination, but I really like it.
 
Hmm, to me No Prayer sounds almost like a good bootleg recording. The drums are very flat in my ears, and the guitars seem somewhat uneven - something that continues throughout the next two albums. I guess I understand that's what you mean with "live sounding" or "raw", but it's not really the quality I want on a studio album. If the songs sound like they would on a live album, then... why not just record a live album? I know what Maiden was going for then, but for my personal taste, it wasn't the right step. Brave New World has one of my favourite sounds of any Maiden album, it's crisp and heavy. No Prayer sounds confined to me, while Brave New World seems to fill a much larger space with its sound.
 
This (also) comes down to taste indeed, although I don't really see what you mean with flat drums or somewhat uneven sounding guitars. The drums aren't as deep or bassy sounding, as on many other metal records of this century, perhaps that's it.

On the guitars, in No Prayer there are moments in which Dave and Janick clearly play different rhythm patterns, take the verses in Public Enema. That was somewhat original. But this would not come down to production of course (unless creativity is part of that :) ). More like different playing choices.

Maiden often said they wanted to try to imitate their live sound in the studio. I really like how some of their live albums sound, with clear distinguishment between instruments, and do not mind they came close to it on No Prayer. The playing is good and there's lots of atmosphere as well, e.g. in the title track or in keyboard sections, e.g. in Mother Russia. One part even sounds a bit black metallish to me, @1.55. I really dig that.
 
I don't think No Prayer sounds bad but BNW is immense. Probably one of their five best produced albums.
 
I see your points, but most of this really doesn't originate in production, but is more part of playing or writing. However, the essence is what I thought:

Forostar said:
This (also) comes down to taste indeed, although I don't really see what you mean with flat drums or somewhat uneven sounding guitars. The drums aren't as deep or bassy sounding, as on many other metal records of this century, perhaps that's it.
Click to expand...

I think the guitars also sound pretty thin, but I can't put my finger on what exactly it is. But this probably really is a matter of taste.
 
I wanted to add that the production of No Prayer is pretty different from later nineties albums. Where FOTD has a more polished sound (more produced), both this and the next albums sound thinner, more compressed, I guess, or more focus on bass and high and less on middle. When I play No Prayer, it sounds fuller/broader, also the guitars! The guitars got crammed up more on the next two albums and on Virtual XI the sound isn't as broad or full as on No Prayer, but I hear a very nice warm guitar sound, yet heavy and excellent sounding. I love that tone. E.g., check the heavy guitar parts in the beginning of When Lightning Strikes.... great! Roaring, especially Dave's on the left.
 
Last edited:
I guess FOTD is an attempt of (then) modern-sounding production
But I don't like it, drums are too wet and guitars are very thin and somehow "processed" sounding
 
In general, on a lot of modern records (in the last 10, 20 years), drums can sound stale, although software becomes better. On No Prayer, you really hear what Nicko was doing and you can imagine this is the way his kit sounds, without much (or any!) correcting afterwards. On Brave New World the snare sounds like it was some sort of replacement. Too even. Again, taste. Still I see how the total sound of the music is perceived as good, and it emphasizes well on the (main) beats.
 
frus said:
I guess FOTD is an attempt of (then) modern-sounding production
But I don't like it, drums are too wet and guitars are very thin and somehow "processed" sounding
Click to expand...

A fair proportion of music in the charts around that time sounded like it had been recorded in a garden shed. Maybe the trend to appear all back to basics stretched into production as well.
 
I cant profess to know as much about production as you guys seem too (interesting discussion, btw) but I know what I like (sometimes). For what its worth, No Prayer sounds thin to me, a bit like luke warm piss, although I can see how some might consider that 'raw.' FOTD is a warmer brand of pish. BNW is one of my favourite Maiden sounds, bright, heavy, soaring at times but I totally agree with the snare issue, sometimes when listening the whole way through I get a sore head and can feel that snare banging in my lug a bit too much.

So really, one of my favourite Maiden albums gives me a sore head. Maybe I'm on the wrong forum...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top