Here's what happened with Virtual XI: I heard it for the first time just a few weeks before TFF came out, so it was like getting two new Maiden albums around the same time. I had very low expectations because I had heard bad things about Blaze and this album in particular. Turned out it wasn't bad at all, in fact it was pretty good and there were several songs I wasn't even aware of that I really enjoyed (namely When Two Worlds Collide, which I still like). So it was like a brand new discovery, very cool.
Over time that started to wear off and the flaws of the album became more apparent. One thing that really revealed itself to me first is how bad the production is. Not just the mixing and mastering, but the performance itself. The songs really feel lifeless. As I mentioned in a separate thread, I'm starting to get more into bootlegs lately. I know they played most of these songs live and I'm really curious at how they translated. The lack of energy in Virtual XI makes it a chore to listen to for me nowadays. I vividly remember listening to the album and by the end being a bit disappointed that this album wasn't as good as I thought it was.
Ironically, I discovered The X Factor around the same time and didn't like it. They've sorta switched places since then. I wouldn't give X Factor a 9 (would be more like a 6.5 or 7) but I definitely like it a lot more now, while I enjoy Virtual XI significantly less.
With the ratings, the dramatic changes are for two reasons. The first is, of course, I don't like the album that much anymore. Overall 6 seems appropriate for me. I like it but only a little bit. The second reason is that I took a new approach to rating the songs this time. I tried to be less extreme with my ratings by only handing out 10s and 1s to songs that really deserve it. Even 2s and 9s I was careful with. As a result a lot of my ratings fell and a lot went up. I've found that these new ratings is closer to how I would actually rate them. The only ones that aren't accurate at first glance are POM, AMOLAD (both 10's), and FOTD (4).
I also didn't revisit the songs for the 2011 ratings, whereas I rate while listening now. However, even for back then, an 8 seems really exaggerated for how I felt about the song. I don't remember ever being particularly fond of it.
Re: Daily Song: Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger
This is a hard one. I like it musically, but the repetetiveness is much worse than Angel. There is some great riffs and that guitar sound that I love through the whole album is in there too. So I think I'm gonna give it an 8.
Yea, 2016 ratings might be a bit more honest.
As for the 1, I couldn't find anything in the song to enjoy. Even Weekend Warrior got a 2 because I at least found a really enjoyable harmony toward the end of the song. My criteria is that a 1 would be the least amount of enjoyment I could possibly get out of a song. I didn't think I'd give any songs a 1 but I honestly couldn't find anything about it that I liked. This is also relative to other Maiden songs. Sure I'd still probably rather listen to Don't Look To than a lot of other music, but Maiden is my favorite band and as such I hold them to a much higher standard than most other music.
Moral of the story: 2011 Mosh didn't know what he was talking about.
