What is your favorite Maiden record out of the first 7? (the golden run).

[dickinson1978]

Yeah, I'm pretty weird as far as Maiden goes

Generally I prefer what Maiden did in the 90s and the reunion compared to their output in the 80s. As far as the golden era goes, I feel they generally got better with each album.

Basically: Killers < IM < TNOTB < POM < PS < SIT < SSOASS

My top 5 are:
1. VXI (yeah, mostly down to nostalgia)
2. AMOLAD
3. SSOASS
4. FOTD
5. DOD

Another reason is probably that I'm not the biggest fan of Bruce's air raid siren era in the early 80s. I much prefer how he sounded from 95 onwards.

I have the same nostalgia wirh FOTD. People hate that album for me could be in the top 10

 

[Hangdalar13]

It is, and always be Somewhere in Time, closely followed by Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. I don't get the love for Powerslave, I mean it's 4 mega hits and some fillers with enjoyable parts. Sure, the cover is iconic, and the whole Live After Death timeline may play a part in it, but I don't think that it's anywhere near their best records. I listen to Piece of Mind more than Powerslave. POM has only 1 truely weak song, PS has at least 3, but it may be 4. I love the solos in The Duellists, but the song itself, well...

 

[Misirlou]

Honestly, its Seventh Son. It`s the grandiose conclusion of one of the best album runs ever.

 

[Misirlou]

Yeah, I'm pretty weird as far as Maiden goes

Generally I prefer what Maiden did in the 90s and the reunion compared to their output in the 80s. As far as the golden era goes, I feel they generally got better with each album.

Basically: Killers < IM < TNOTB < POM < PS < SIT < SSOASS

My top 5 are:
1. VXI (yeah, mostly down to nostalgia)
2. AMOLAD
3. SSOASS
4. FOTD
5. DOD

Another reason is probably that I'm not the biggest fan of Bruce's air raid siren era in the early 80s. I much prefer how he sounded from 95 onwards.

You might legit be the first person ever that I`ve seen ranking VXI as their favorite album. That`s fine though, you do you. I personally can`t stand that album, but I do enjoy X Factor a lot.

 

[dickinson1978]

You might legit be the first person ever that I`ve seen ranking VXI as their favorite album. That`s fine though, you do you. I personally can`t stand that album, but I do enjoy X Factor a lot.

I think him and another user i cant remember are know for his love for virtual xi. For me those 2 albums are in a different status than the rest of the album. X factor i love it virtual xi dont love it like xfactor but has something for me too.

 

[Azas]

It is, and always be Somewhere in Time, closely followed by Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. I don't get the love for Powerslave, I mean it's 4 mega hits and some fillers with enjoyable parts. Sure, the cover is iconic, and the whole Live After Death timeline may play a part in it, but I don't think that it's anywhere near their best records. I listen to Piece of Mind more than Powerslave. POM has only 1 truely weak song, PS has at least 3, but it may be 4. I love the solos in The Duellists, but the song itself, well...

Ha, on the contrary, I can't understand how Somewhere in Time could be someone's favorite Iron Maiden album.

Sure, the cover art is fantastic, and so is the production. But beyond that? There's no way Somewhere in Time has four songs as timeless as the ones on Powerslave. No f**king way.

Not long ago I revisited Somewhere in Time while driving to my dear grandma's village, so the whole atmosphere was summery and uplifting. One thing really stood out to me during that listen: this is the album where Steve, in my opinion, started to drift into repetitive songwriting and unnecessarily long song structures. Thanks to the superb production and the generally high energy of the album, it's not always obvious, but it's there. At times it becomes tedious.

My dislike of Heaven Can Wait only grew stronger. So many intros, breakdowns, reprises, and repeated sections... it just starts to drag. I absolutely love the "oooh" singalong part because of the atmosphere it creates, but apart from that, the song does very little for me.

Lyrically, I also think Somewhere in Time is a step down. Steve has never written only narrative lyrics, but here he seems to rely more on impressions than storytelling. And when there is a story, I don't find it nearly as engaging as on the earlier albums. To me, this is probably Maiden's nerdiest album.

It also feels like they stepped slightly off the heavy metal highway and onto a different road. I still consider it part of Maiden's golden era. It's fast, energetic, and often relentless - but it belongs to a slightly different universe.

As I've said before, I personally think it was too drastic a stylistic shift after Powerslave, and not for the better.

Now, don't get me wrong - I like plenty of songs on it: Caught Somewhere in Time, Wasted Years, parts of Sea of Madness, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Stranger in a Strange Land, Deja-Vu, and Alexander the Great. So I'm certainly not a default hater of the album. I appreciate it on its own merits.

But as the follow-up to Powerslave? It leaves me unsatisfied.

Powerslave, on the other hand, has four stone-cold classics. The remaining tracks may not be quite as iconic, but they perfectly complement the album's overall microcosm. What's not to love about Losfer Words, Flash of the Blade, The Duellists, and Back in the Village? The guitar work, the solos, the twin-lead harmonies - they're all over the album. On Powerslave, the guitars and drums are king. The guitars sound properly metallic to me, and that's frigging important.

On Somewhere in Time, by contrast, I perceive the guitars as slightly diluted.

If I had one criticism of Powerslave, it would be that two songs revolve around essentially the same theme: sword fighting and duelling.

So that's my contrary opinion.

To me, Powerslave was Maiden's absolute peak.

And I think the grueling World Slavery Tour changed many things afterward.

 

[Hangdalar13]

Ha, on the contrary, I can't understand how Somewhere in Time could be someone's favorite Iron Maiden album.

Sure, the cover art is fantastic, and so is the production. But beyond that? There's no way Somewhere in Time has four songs as timeless as the ones on Powerslave. No f**king way.

Not long ago I revisited Somewhere in Time while driving to my dear grandma's village, so the whole atmosphere was summery and uplifting. One thing really stood out to me during that listen: this is the album where Steve, in my opinion, started to drift into repetitive songwriting and unnecessarily long song structures. Thanks to the superb production and the generally high energy of the album, it's not always obvious, but it's there. At times it becomes tedious.

My dislike of Heaven Can Wait only grew stronger. So many intros, breakdowns, reprises, and repeated sections... it just starts to drag. I absolutely love the "oooh" singalong part because of the atmosphere it creates, but apart from that, the song does very little for me.

Lyrically, I also think Somewhere in Time is a step down. Steve has never written only narrative lyrics, but here he seems to rely more on impressions than storytelling. And when there is a story, I don't find it nearly as engaging as on the earlier albums. To me, this is probably Maiden's nerdiest album.

It also feels like they stepped slightly off the heavy metal highway and onto a different road. I still consider it part of Maiden's golden era. It's fast, energetic, and often relentless - but it belongs to a slightly different universe.

As I've said before, I personally think it was too drastic a stylistic shift after Powerslave, and not for the better.

Now, don't get me wrong - I like plenty of songs on it: Caught Somewhere in Time, Wasted Years, parts of Sea of Madness, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Stranger in a Strange Land, Deja-Vu, and Alexander the Great. So I'm certainly not a default hater of the album. I appreciate it on its own merits.

But as the follow-up to Powerslave? It leaves me unsatisfied.

Powerslave, on the other hand, has four stone-cold classics. The remaining tracks may not be quite as iconic, but they perfectly complement the album's overall microcosm. What's not to love about Losfer Words, Flash of the Blade, The Duellists, and Back in the Village? The guitar work, the solos, the twin-lead harmonies - they're all over the album. On Powerslave, the guitars and drums are king. The guitars sound properly metallic to me, and that's frigging important.

On Somewhere in Time, by contrast, I perceive the guitars as slightly diluted.

If I had one criticism of Powerslave, it would be that two songs revolve around essentially the same theme: sword fighting and duelling.

So that's my contrary opinion.

To me, Powerslave was Maiden's absolute peak.

And I think the grueling World Slavery Tour changed many things afterward.

I respect that opinion. I love all of Powerslave, don't get me wrong. But apart from that 4 timeless masterpieces, the other songs just doesn't do the job for me. They are significantly weaker than the 4 big hits, while in SiT or in SSOASS, I think all of the songs are pretty even, with some of them going higher. If we just consider the hits, then Powerslave is definitely the best. But just because of that four songs. But if I consider the album as a whole, SiT and SSOASS is better. Maybe they don't have highs like Powerslave, but the lows are shallower. It's like a football team, you could have a few superstars, and fill up the rest of the team with benchmarkers, but that doesn't mean that you will beat a team consisted of "weaker", but evenly good players, just because you have a few world class players. But it's just my opinion.

And yes, even Somewhere in Time is my favourite, I can't stand Heaven Can Wait Why is it my favourite? I can't really explain it. It just has something to it. The vibe, the atmosphere, the feeling. Listening to those songs, those harmonies always gives me feelings about a night in a big, lively city, cruising through it, maybe with someone important coming with me. But those things never happened. So why I'm feeling this way? I don't know. But I never got that from any other Maiden album. Maybe SSOASS, it has a similar, dreamy atmosphere, but still not like SiT. The title track and Wasted Years are my all time favourite Maiden songs, but Loneliness, Sea of Madness and SIASL all have an important space in my heart. Especially those slow middle parts in the latter two. I could never get bored listening to those songs. They give me nostalgic feelings of lifes never happened. I don't know. Somewhere in Time is my safe place. And it still breaks my heart that they didn't bring The Future Past tour to Hungary. I guess I will die without hearing anything from that album, apart from Wasted Years

 

[Abas]

Ha, on the contrary, I can't understand how Somewhere in Time could be someone's favorite Iron Maiden album.

Sure, the cover art is fantastic, and so is the production. But beyond that? There's no way Somewhere in Time has four songs as timeless as the ones on Powerslave. No f**king way.

The thing about the four timeless tracks in Powerslave is that they are bookended. Those bookends are so heavy in comparison to the rest of the album that I go through the first two tracks and then wait for the two last tracks.

Somewhere in Time has me happy for every next song from the get-go. I can't say the same thing about Powerslave. That's where Somehere in Time wins it for me.

 

[Hangdalar13]

The thing about the four timeless tracks in Powerslave is that they are bookended. Those bookends are so heavy in comparison to the rest of the album that I go through the first two tracks and then wait for the two last tracks.

Somewhere in Time has me happy for every next song from the get-go. I can't say the same thing about Powerslave. That's where Somehere in Time wins it for me.

I agree 100%!
Aces High, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Powerslave and Rime are amongst my favourite Maiden tracks. I would never deny their importance. But the songs inbetween? They aren't as good as the worst songs from SiT. For me at least. But I will never deny their importance. And I will gladly listen to them for the rest of my life. But Somewhere in Time is better as an album as whole. At least for me.

 

[Diesel 11]

Powerslave is perfect. It has the best songwriting, the most intense energy, the best performances from all involved, and the “fillers” are just as good as the “classics”. Every song is a 10. It’s the pinnacle of Maiden’s classic career and no wonder things began to change afterwards. It can’t be topped.