Virtual XI - A one song album

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IronDuke

Ancient Mariner
Is it just me, or does anyone else thins The Clansman the only truely great song on this album?

Don't get me wrong, the other songs are GOOD, but they don't measure up to the average Maiden song from another album. It's as if they put all their effort into the Clansman, and just kinda made the others in order to release an album.

Most bands do this - have one GREAT song with 10-12 mediocre ones on each album. Maiden, as always, is an exception to the rule. They tend to have about 50% really great songs, with the other half being medocre.*
For this album, though, they seem to have 'sold out' (not really, but I can't think of a more accurate term at the moment)

The only other song I really make an effort to listen to is Futureal, and that's not really for its lyrical merits, but rather for its fast pace.

Who knows, maybe I'm just blowing smoke outta my arse.

[span style=\'font-size:8pt;line-height:100%\']*By mediocre, I mean average for what we've come to expect from Maiden. A mediocre Maiden song is better than a good song from someone else.
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I disagree. VXI has some of my absolute favourite Maiden songs on it. "Futureal", "The Educated Fool", "Lightning Strikes Twice" and "Como Estais Amigos" spring to mind. While I really like "The Clansman", I don't think it is the best song on the album.
VXI is actually one of my favourite albums. I know a lot of people don't like it, but frankly, I don't care [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Maybe it's because I'm an uber-history dweeb that I like the Clansman so much.
Like I said above, however, I just think the album lacks something the other ones seem to have.

I can't quite articulate what it is which makes me like certain songs and dislike others, but I know if I enjoy a song when I hear it....know what I mean?
 
Out of the two Blaze albums, I prefer VXI to TXF - both are great but I just think that VXI has a more complete feel to it, not necessarly that the songs are superior in themselves.
I think that The Clansman is probably the best song on the album, followed closely by The Educated Fool, but The Clansman is the most 'classic maiden' sounding on the album too - maybe this is what you're getting at IronDuke. One of my favourites off this album is actually When Two Worlds Collide, not one of the most popular songs, I know.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-IronDuke+Aug 8 2005, 02:49 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(IronDuke @ Aug 8 2005, 02:49 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I can't quite articulate what it is which makes me like certain songs and dislike others, but I know if I enjoy a song when I hear it....know what I mean?
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Yes
 
I've always been addicted to The X Factor but I like Virtual XI. Mainly because it was my first Maiden album, but also because of the music.

I consider a song like The Educated Fool as one of my favourite Maiden songs.

The album could've been a little less repetitive at some points and the production could've been a lot better, but it's a nice album and not as bad as everybody else says.
 
Anonymous said:
I like Virtual XI. Mainly because it was my first Maiden album
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Thankfully, VIRTUAL XI was not my first Maiden album.
If it were, I probably would have stopped right there-- and never would've heard everything else.

Needless to say, this is my least favorite Maiden album... by a very large margin.
 
I Break up This Album into 3 Parts
Good Songs (In this Order for all
-Clansman
-Futureal
-Educated Fool
And Short Angel and the Gambler
Tolerable songs
-Lightning Strikes Twice
-When Two Worlds Collide
Songs I Hate
-Angel and the Gambler (long)
-Como Estais Amigos ( Just Never can Get Into It)
-Dont look to the Eyes of a Stranger (disaster)
 
As one may tell from my username, I freakin' love this album! It's a perfect counterpart to The X Factor (another great album!), and I somehow wish Maiden had done at least one more album with Blaze (they had some damn strong material already ready that was later used on Brave New World). A lot of people thrash Virtual XI for the length of the songs and repeatative parts. A valid point, but I don't mind it. There are a lot of melodic and rhythmic qualities on this album. The Clansman and The Educated Fool especially have some very interesting arrangements in their intros and solo parts. Lightning Strikes Twice, When Two Worlds Collide and Como Estais Amigos all shine in the melodic department.

Then there is, of course, The Angel And The Gambler, which I personally think is an enjoyable rock epic, but I can see why a lot of people don't like it.
It's hardly the typical Maiden song, but I'm into old-school rock as well, and perhaps this is why I don't mind songs like this one or "Weekend Warrior".

Blaze is amazing on this album, and do check out his version of When Two Worlds Collide here;
So great!
 
Sometimes albums have a tendency to get better the mroe you listen to them. However, I do think The Clansman stands out on this effort. The Educated Fool comes in second for me personally.
 
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