TNOTB/BOH triple vinyl: Will you buy it or not?

TNOTB/BOH triple vinyl: Will you buy it or not?

  • Yes

    Votes: 20 31.7%

  • No

    Votes: 43 68.3%
  • Total voters
    63
I think there are two different things at play here. As far as studio recordings go, I agree with SMX - there is no vault. Even in the Birch era, I don’t get the impression that the band was hard at work making demos, alternate mixes, or recording rehearsals. There are some exceptions I’m sure (in addition to things we know exist like AMOLAD b-sides) but I think Maiden actually would’ve released that stuff by now if it existed. Seems like whenever they go for an archival release, they don’t have a whole lot of material. If Rod had the material to put together a 10 CD Number of the Beast box set with vinyl, stickers, Eddie paper clips, and whatever other trinkets they could think of and charge $500 for it, he probably would and the fan base would eat it up.

The most rich period for alternate recordings is probably Dance of Death and, as More Tea Vicar proved, that well isn’t very deep.

On the live side, there’s definitely a lot of stuff in the vault. Maiden probably has audio and video recordings of everything since Bruce came back and they could always do what other bands do and copyright claim any good soundboard bootleg and release it commercially. Even in the 80s and 90s there is a lot of pro recorded stuff that we know exists. Just off the top of my head: NYC 1982, Hammersmith 1984, Wembley 1990, anything from the Fear of the Dark tour.

IMO it’s not laziness preventing the band from releasing this material. The vault isn’t big, it’s pretty much just live recordings, they’re going to need stuff to milk the fan base with when Maiden retires. Look at how the floodgates opened with Rush right after they retired. A “holy grail” live recording gets released every year at this point. Just be patient, that isn’t too far off with Maiden (sadly).

BTW to answer the question, I will get this at some point. Beast Over Hammersmith is one of my favorite Maiden live albums and the $40-50 sale price is a bit more palatable than the advertised price. I’m also curious about what the vinyl master is like because that 2014 (or whenever it was) vinyl pressing is awful. Speaking of which, I picked up a very clean OG UK vinyl copy of NOTB and it kinda blew my mind. The original CD sound is really good too, but that original vinyl is crisp. Highly recommended.
 
Mosh said:
Speaking of which, I picked up a very clean OG UK vinyl copy of NOTB and it kinda blew my mind. The original CD sound is really good too, but that original vinyl is crisp. Highly recommended.
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I have the 2014/5 remaster on vinyl and Beast sounds pretty good to me, but the only comparison I have is the '98 RAW remaster. Is there some magical way I can hear the original and compare it? I'm actually going through their albums today in chronological order and Beast is up next, so I'll play close attention. My turntable is hooked via USB through my computer and into a pair of Bose desktop speakers. I intend to upgrade to some Audioengine A5+ speakers in the coming months and bypass the computer altogether, so I'm curious how that'll end up sounding.
 

The main thing I notice compared to the 98 remaster is more definition in the drums, you can hear cymbals more clearly and there’s better separation. The 2014 vinyl just sounds really dead, like they eq-d out all the high frequencies.
 
Mosh said:

The main thing I notice compared to the 98 remaster is more definition in the drums, you can hear cymbals more clearly and there’s better separation. The 2014 vinyl just sounds really dead, like they eq-d out all the high frequencies.
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I'll take a listen later and see. Thanks for pointing out the differences so I know what to listen for. I'd never consider myself an audiophile so not sure I'd have noticed the differences. I use Discogs for getting a hold of older vinyls. I've got a copy of Live + One and Maiden Japan on vinyl, original pressings, and they sound absolutely phenomenal. Not a scratch on them and crystal clear sound. If the older studio albums are that good, I might start collecting those too.
 
I find that generally a lot of the most apparent differences are in the drums, so you can start by listening for that.

Also if you do go down the OG vinyl rabbit hole, my advice as someone also in the USA is that you can often find OG American pressings for much cheaper than the UK versions and they tend to be identical. I collect both because I’m a nerd. :smartarse:

Edit: Also not all the 2014 albums are bad. I haven’t heard them all but I really like Seventh Son and the first two albums. Not sure how they dropped the ball on Beast.
 
Mosh said:
I find that generally a lot of the most apparent differences are in the drums, so you can start by listening for that.

Also if you do go down the OG vinyl rabbit hole, my advice as someone also in the USA is that you can often find OG American pressings for much cheaper than the UK versions and they tend to be identical. I collect both because I’m a nerd. :smartarse:

Edit: Also not all the 2014 albums are bad. I haven’t heard them all but I really like Seventh Son and the first two albums. Not sure how they dropped the ball on Beast.
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I was actually going to ask that. I know on some masterings, one country's version is often superior to another. For the 2015/2017 remasters, I've heard from several sources that whatever pressing plant used in Europe creates a superior product than the US plant and that the US plant has warps and skips on a good deal of them. Not sure how true that is. But yea, I'll go for the US pressings if I decided to start collecting. Might as well. I've already committed to collect all Maiden releases (within reason).
 
I haven’t gone deep into the pressing plant differences (yet) but my understanding is that since the USA is much larger, there are more pressing plants and thus more variables and less quality control than in the UK. That being said, the master is going to be the same between regions, it’s more about the manufacturing quality. Like you said, if the vinyl is dirty or warped. You can inspect that though if you’re buying second hand.

Personally I haven’t had any problems with the new releases in this area, but maybe I’ve gotten lucky. I have several of the 80s albums and all of the 2017 reissues. The only problem I’ve had is The Book of Souls Live Chapter, I had to return it twice before getting a copy without split seams in the jacket (the triple gatefold that Maiden has been using is so cheaply produced and that is a major turnoff for this upcoming collection).
 
Mosh said:
The only problem I’ve had is The Book of Souls Live Chapter, I had to return it twice before getting a copy without split seams in the jacket (the triple gatefold that Maiden has been using is so cheaply produced and that is a major turnoff for this upcoming collection).
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I consider myself fortunate then. I've got Book of Souls, Live Chapter, Senjutsu, and Nights of the Dead, and all three triple gatefold seams are good and not ripped or torn. Or Rip Torn. I do keep plastic sleeves over all my records though?
 
chaosapiant said:
I'll take a listen later and see. Thanks for pointing out the differences so I know what to listen for. I'd never consider myself an audiophile so not sure I'd have noticed the differences. I use Discogs for getting a hold of older vinyls. I've got a copy of Live + One and Maiden Japan on vinyl, original pressings, and they sound absolutely phenomenal. Not a scratch on them and crystal clear sound. If the older studio albums are that good, I might start collecting those too.
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Bear in mind that this will be subject to YouTube compression which won't give you an accurate presentation of what the real deal sounds like.
 
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Mosh said:
Edit: Also not all the 2014 albums are bad. I haven’t heard them all but I really like Seventh Son and the first two albums. Not sure how they dropped the ball on Beast.
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Agreed. NOTB vinyl remaster sounds really flat. It sounds to me like a lot of mids were boosted which meant the album lost much of it's crunchy eq. I prefer the '98 CD over it.

On the other hand, the SSOASS and PS remasters sound great.
 
Spaldy said:
Agreed. NOTB vinyl remaster sounds really flat. It sounds to me like a lot of mids were boosted which meant the album lost much of it's crunchy eq. I prefer the '98 CD over it.

On the other hand, the SSOASS and PS remasters sound great.
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Gave it some thought, and honestly yea I prefer the 98 CD too. Honestly there are worse CD remasters from that time (Judas Priest and Queensryche border on unlistenable).
 
Probably not anytime soon, due to budget reasons.

I'm not actively against this release either and I honestly wouldn't mind getting the "Total Eclipse inc." version of the album as a vinyl anyway, so it's a nice bonus to go alongside Beast Over Hammersmith that is a real treat, regardless the format!

So, with potentially better financial situation at some point, I might very well get this.
 
Interesting poll result btw.
Approximately 20 % would buy it, while 80% would not. And this even among us here - the hard core of Maiden fans. Just wondering if this is what the management expected??
 
Yup, if anything this overrates how popular the vinyl will be. I would expect about 1% of the overall fan base to purchase the vinyl.
 
chaosapiant said:
My triple Beasty Vinyl package is expected to be at my domicile from Amazon tomorrow. I'll give it a listen and tell everyone what I think. You heard it here first folks: Musical Opinion of Music from The Chaospaint!
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Mine says it’s supposed to arrive in December. Lucky bastard.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Mine says it’s supposed to arrive in December. Lucky bastard.
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Did you order from Amazon? That was their original delivery date, but mine just got updated. Keep an eye on yours. It might be here sooner than you think. You might even have it right now. You're probably already listening to it.
 
chaosapiant said:
My triple Beasty Vinyl package is expected to be at my domicile from Amazon tomorrow. I'll give it a listen and tell everyone what I think. You heard it here first folks: Musical Opinion of Music from The Chaospaint!
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It'd be great if could post plenty of pics from the booklet and stuff when you have it. I'm about to possibly change my mind and might buy it. Depends on how cool it really looks.
 
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