Update 14/7/2018 Futureal: 6/10 ±0 The Angel and the Gambler: 7/10 ±0 Lightning Strikes Twice: 3/10 -1 The Clansman: 10/10 +2 When Two Worlds Collide: 7/10 ±0 The Educated Fool: 8/10 +2 Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger: 5/10 -1 Como Estais Amigos: 6/10 ±0 Average: 6.5/10 +0.25
This really shows how our perception of numbers can diverge greatly. I also gave this song a 7/10, and to me, a 7 means great. You obviously disagree, since you already said you don't consider "Angel and the Gambler" a great song.
Yep, that's why this isn't the perfect format, that would probably be song by song ranking but that's long and much harder than just voting from 1 to 10. My thinking when ranking was: 10. Masterpiece 9. Song I really love that has a little something that brings it down, or a flawless song that doesn't quite reach the heights of a 10 8. Great song 7. Good song 6. Average song 5. Okay-ish song, not one that I dislike but usually skippable 4. Forgettable song, just bland, boring, filler... 3. Song I dislike, not quite hate but I'd prefer it not being on the album 2. This is the lowest ranking I gave, to The Apparition, and I don't even hate it. I'd say 2 is the worst of 4 (bland and boring) and 3 (bad). 1. Here go the songs I hate. Shape of You, Love You to Death (Priest), Loverman cover by Metallica... The difference between 1 and 2 in my list is huge, I could use 1 or 2 more numbers between them. Maybe we should start counting in hex, and then Empire would be F, Seventh Son D and Weekend Warrior can stay at 9 I guess your "good" song range is larger than mine and "filler" range smaller?
I try not to overthink these things too much. And, I'm not quite sure why, but I find it easier to vote on a 5/5 scale than on a 10/10 one, so I guess I would vote something like this: 8–10 (4–5) => these 3 numbers I reserve for songs I think are flawless, ot at least recognize their own flaws and actually use them in their own favor; 7 (3.5) => a great song, one that doesn't always work due to the flaws being more apparent, but still enjoyable and very strong; 5–6 (2.5–5) => average. The song as a whole doesn't stand out, but it has its moments of brilliance, either musical or lyrically; 2–4 (1–2) => usually forgettable songs apart from one bit or 2. Songs that particularly fail horribly in the lyric department ("Weekend Warrior" being the prime example), or that have good lyrics, but the song itself turns out to be boring and mostly disposable (i.e.: "Gates of Tomorrow"). 1 (0,5) => songs with little to no redeeming qualities at all. No Maiden album tracks fit this category. It's also worth noting that, since this is a Maiden forum, all my ratings here are relative only to Maiden's catalog. If I were to vote everything against every other types of music, there would be a lot more 10s than the 56 I have already given out.
VXI - one of my favorite albums by Maiden, very very underrated, melodic and nostalgic album. Futureal - 10/10 The Angel and the Gambler - 7/10 Lightning Strikes Twice - 7/10 The Clansman - 10/10 When Two Worlds Collide - 10/10 The Educated Fool - 9/10 Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger - 9/10 Como Estais Amigos - 7/10 ------------------------------------------------------- Average album score: 8,62
Futureal - 7 > The Angel and the Gambler - 7 > Lightning Strikes Twice - 8 > The Clansman - 10 > When Two Worlds Collide - 7 > The Educated Fool - 6 > Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger - 9 > Como Estais Amigos - 10 > Average Score: 8.0/10 Actual Score: 9.2/10 Better than the sum of its parts. Virtual XI has its weaknesses, but it's also a really, really good album (in my opinion).