Eddie's Uncle
Educated Fool
I recently revisited the album.
My main problem with it will always be the production, which is inacceptable, especially for a band of Maiden's level, experience and budget.
VXI is demo level. The drums sound great, but everything else is terrible. The guitars have almost no overdrive, they are played on single coil and sound like a poor man's Jethro Tull.
The vocals are too dry, and WAY too loud in the mix, literally magnifying every weakness in Blaze's voice.
The keyboard sounds cheap and is poorly integrated in the mix. Many underground Metal bands of that era had much better keyboard sounds, despite only having 10% of Maiden's budget or recording equipment. There is no other explanation for this than either being lazy or having little clue about engineering.
Yes, the album is their worst production-wise and in performance. It sounds as if they demoed the album pre-production and then accidentally released it.
The songs however ain't all bad. There is a lot of good stuff to be found here. Also some dreadful drivel, no question. In total, there are some fine tunes that would have fit well on other albums and would kick ass with a real (!) production above demo level.
Futureal: Maiden usually do great when they write fast bangers. Futureal is no exception. One of their best fast ones. Suffers from the production a lot, but I heard them playing it live and it kicked fucking ass. Great song, they should unbury it. 8/10
The Angel and the Endless Chorus: Ok, so Steve wanted to pay homage to the band's rock/prog roots. Why not. The ideas in the song are not even that bad, as a 3,5 minute track it would have somehow worked. No killer, but would have been ok-ish (and way too happy). However, the arrangement absolutely kills the song. The song ist more than 3 times longer than it could be. And I refuse to believe that all band members agreed that this arrangement was any good. 2/10
Lightning Strikes Twice: Epic, suffers HEAVILY from the production, though. Blaze is way too loud in the chorus, which is also a bit below the rest of the level of the song. Other than that, it is a great song. Same vein as X-Factor material, and I love that album. The meter-changes in the song also work well and don't sound as random as in some other Maiden songs. 7.5/10
The Clansman: Pretty much the only song of the album that most fans like. I don't see why, though. The one-note "Freeeeeeedom" chorus is as imaginative as a slice of bread, and as much as I like Blaze: his performance here is really sub-par, missing about half of the notes. The song is a blueprint for lots of the reunion era songs: drawn out, epic in theory but repetetive in practice. Nah, I can live without this one (yes, also with Bruce on vox). 4/10
When Two Worlds Collide: not bad, but sounds a bit unfinished. They had great ideas for this one, but did not take the time to work out a special arrangement. A problem that appeared with this album and continues to this day. I also find the lyrics surprisingly dumb. However, it is still a good song, because it works well. It is just nothing that special. 7/10
The Educated Fool: Funny that people love the DOD album, but dislike this song. It is pretty much a blueprint for that album. Not surprisingly, I don't like it much. Well, for positive points, the FINALLY add some multilayered vocals here. No good ones, but still. The song has a good middle section, which is classic Maiden, minus the twin guitars. But a cool middle section is not enough to make the song great, and the chorus bridge is annoying. 5/10.
Don't Look to the Eyes of this train wreck: maybe Maiden's most tragic accident. The song starts GREAT, there is no doubt about it. The first 3.5 minutes actually work very well. Sure, the productions dampens the atmosphere, but the song as such is pretty cool. But then we get to the 3.5 minute mark, and the song turns into a pure annoying comedy. The endless repetition, the completely uneffective build-up to nowhere, the polka humppa drums, the random breaks without any inspiration, the dull lead melodies, the beginner level bass lines, the random fallback to the beginning. Ouch! They pretty much fall into every trap known to songwriting. So sad, because this could have been a real banger. 4/10
Como Estais Amigos: Yes! That's how it is done. I saw Blaze performing this one live on his acoustic solo tour, and I was blown away! Unfortunately Maiden did not capture the pure magic of this song in this recording, but it is so strong in essence that it still sounds brilliant here. Such an underrated gem, and they never played it live. Sometimes I wonder if Steve is autistic. What a great song 9/10
My main problem with it will always be the production, which is inacceptable, especially for a band of Maiden's level, experience and budget.
VXI is demo level. The drums sound great, but everything else is terrible. The guitars have almost no overdrive, they are played on single coil and sound like a poor man's Jethro Tull.
The vocals are too dry, and WAY too loud in the mix, literally magnifying every weakness in Blaze's voice.
The keyboard sounds cheap and is poorly integrated in the mix. Many underground Metal bands of that era had much better keyboard sounds, despite only having 10% of Maiden's budget or recording equipment. There is no other explanation for this than either being lazy or having little clue about engineering.
Yes, the album is their worst production-wise and in performance. It sounds as if they demoed the album pre-production and then accidentally released it.
The songs however ain't all bad. There is a lot of good stuff to be found here. Also some dreadful drivel, no question. In total, there are some fine tunes that would have fit well on other albums and would kick ass with a real (!) production above demo level.
Futureal: Maiden usually do great when they write fast bangers. Futureal is no exception. One of their best fast ones. Suffers from the production a lot, but I heard them playing it live and it kicked fucking ass. Great song, they should unbury it. 8/10
The Angel and the Endless Chorus: Ok, so Steve wanted to pay homage to the band's rock/prog roots. Why not. The ideas in the song are not even that bad, as a 3,5 minute track it would have somehow worked. No killer, but would have been ok-ish (and way too happy). However, the arrangement absolutely kills the song. The song ist more than 3 times longer than it could be. And I refuse to believe that all band members agreed that this arrangement was any good. 2/10
Lightning Strikes Twice: Epic, suffers HEAVILY from the production, though. Blaze is way too loud in the chorus, which is also a bit below the rest of the level of the song. Other than that, it is a great song. Same vein as X-Factor material, and I love that album. The meter-changes in the song also work well and don't sound as random as in some other Maiden songs. 7.5/10
The Clansman: Pretty much the only song of the album that most fans like. I don't see why, though. The one-note "Freeeeeeedom" chorus is as imaginative as a slice of bread, and as much as I like Blaze: his performance here is really sub-par, missing about half of the notes. The song is a blueprint for lots of the reunion era songs: drawn out, epic in theory but repetetive in practice. Nah, I can live without this one (yes, also with Bruce on vox). 4/10
When Two Worlds Collide: not bad, but sounds a bit unfinished. They had great ideas for this one, but did not take the time to work out a special arrangement. A problem that appeared with this album and continues to this day. I also find the lyrics surprisingly dumb. However, it is still a good song, because it works well. It is just nothing that special. 7/10
The Educated Fool: Funny that people love the DOD album, but dislike this song. It is pretty much a blueprint for that album. Not surprisingly, I don't like it much. Well, for positive points, the FINALLY add some multilayered vocals here. No good ones, but still. The song has a good middle section, which is classic Maiden, minus the twin guitars. But a cool middle section is not enough to make the song great, and the chorus bridge is annoying. 5/10.
Don't Look to the Eyes of this train wreck: maybe Maiden's most tragic accident. The song starts GREAT, there is no doubt about it. The first 3.5 minutes actually work very well. Sure, the productions dampens the atmosphere, but the song as such is pretty cool. But then we get to the 3.5 minute mark, and the song turns into a pure annoying comedy. The endless repetition, the completely uneffective build-up to nowhere, the polka humppa drums, the random breaks without any inspiration, the dull lead melodies, the beginner level bass lines, the random fallback to the beginning. Ouch! They pretty much fall into every trap known to songwriting. So sad, because this could have been a real banger. 4/10
Como Estais Amigos: Yes! That's how it is done. I saw Blaze performing this one live on his acoustic solo tour, and I was blown away! Unfortunately Maiden did not capture the pure magic of this song in this recording, but it is so strong in essence that it still sounds brilliant here. Such an underrated gem, and they never played it live. Sometimes I wonder if Steve is autistic. What a great song 9/10