Which Iron Maiden album does have the biggest number of filler songs to it?

[Diesel 11]

Powerslave's only minor problem is: two songs about the same topic.

But from very different points of view! Dickinson’s is about the thrill of battle, or taking vengeance in your own hands, of power and glory. Harris’s is much more drab, showcasing the unfortunate nature that there is nothing exciting about dueling, there is only life and death as your reward or loss. And the guitar in both songs is magnificent.

 

[GhostofCain]

Which Iron Maiden album does have the biggest number of filler songs to it?
For me the answer is Powerslave.
Sure, the definition of what makes a song a filler is quite a subjective thing at last, but when considering Losfer Words, Flash Of The Blade and The Duellists as fillers, this already makes the album 3 fillers facing 5 non-fillers. If I counted Back In The Village in as well, this would even sum up to 50% of the album being fillers.
Discuss.

Virtual XI without a doubt. All filler, no killer!

 

[____no5]

Fear of the Dark.

Technically The X Factor contains two times more insignificant songs (pretty much all except SotC & MotE) than Fear of the Dark, but due to very bad overall quality and concept-like feel those many songs do not feel as fillers. In Fear of the Dark on the other hand, the contrast between title track and Weekend Warrior or afraid to shot Stranger and the Apparition etc. is huge, so my vote goes there.

 

[Diesel 11]

Technically The X Factor contains two times more insignificant songs

The only potential filler is “Man on the Edge” and even it works as part of the album, as a breath of fresh air before the decent into the abyss. TXF is one of the strongest Maiden albums because every song feels like a rooted part of the overall record. No other Maiden release is so dark and brooding and every song is important.

 

[DJMayes]

The only potential filler is “Man on the Edge” and even it works as part of the album, as a breath of fresh air before the decent into the abyss. TXF is one of the strongest Maiden albums because every song feels like a rooted part of the overall record. No other Maiden release is so dark and brooding and every song is important.

It's interesting that Man On The Edge is the song you chose when it is one of the two singles (alongside Lord of the Flies) from the album and therefore one of the few you can fairly objectively argue isn't filler. I'd also add Sign of the Cross due to being played live.

 

[Diesel 11]

It's interesting that Man On The Edge is the song you chose when it is one of the two singles (alongside Lord of the Flies) from the album and therefore one of the few you can fairly objectively argue isn't filler. I'd also add Sign of the Cross due to being played live.

It’s not the quality of the song, or its status history wise, it’s really just how it fits in the album. All these other songs have themes about introspective shit and while “Man on the Edge” is about mental instability, the rapid paced nature of it feels slightly less important than the pacing of the others.

 

[DJMayes]

It’s not the quality of the song, or its status history wise, it’s really just how it fits in the album. All these other songs have themes about introspective shit and while “Man on the Edge” is about mental instability, the rapid paced nature of it feels slightly less important than the pacing of the others.

I agree that it's somewhat incongruous with the album but that's not the same thing as being filler. MOTE was the lead single, has made multiple compilation albums, and is one of the very few Blaze songs that Bruce has sang live. Those things surely count for something here.

 

[____no5]

The only potential filler is “Man on the Edge” and even it works as part of the album, as a breath of fresh air before the decent into the abyss. TXF is one of the strongest Maiden albums because every song feels like a rooted part of the overall record. No other Maiden release is so dark and brooding and every song is important.

Man on the Edge is my best song on the album and a Top 40 Maiden song. Agreed regarding the dark and brooding release but I find the quality of songs to be very poor. In my opinion not worthy to be released under Iron Maiden name.
Currently in place 17 in my rankings.

 

[Diesel 11]

I agree that it's somewhat incongruous with the album but that's not the same thing as being filler. MOTE was the lead single, has made multiple compilation albums, and is one of the very few Blaze songs that Bruce has sang live. Those things surely count for something here.

Again, I’m talking the album as a conceptual piece of work, divorced from its status as a single. I don’t think it’s a filler, but it feels closest to one given the nature of the album.

 

[Ascendingthethrone]

Are we defining ‘filler’ by songs we don’t like or by it’s actual definition? Have Maiden admitted to songs being filler?

 

[____no5]

A combination of both I guess. Songs that serve no purpose /sub-par etc. Of course Maiden and any group wouldn't typically admit such things.

 

[Perun]

Once again, I don't think any Maiden albums feature 'filler'. Some generic and borderline formulaic songs at times, but no songs written just to pad things out.

I'm not sure about Fear of the Dark, honestly. This seems to have been the album with the strongest influence from a label they've done. If they got the pressure to write Wasting Love and From Here to Eternity as "hit singles", the label may also have given them a target album length, which would explain the unprecedented number of songs. This avenue has just never been explored by fans because talks about that album usually very quickly descend into "FOTD is shit" vs "FOTD is great" screaming competitions.

 

[MindRuler]

FOTD is a mixed bag for me.
Really great tracks, hidden gems, halfbaked ideas and some stinkers.

 

[Black Bart]

As far as I'm concerned, The X Factor is the one - and AMOLAD to a lesser extent- because of the lack of variety, both musically and thematically, but also because of the amount of "filler parts" inside the songs, which may have functioned better had they been more "nervous" and trimmed.

 

[srfc]

I saw an interview with Steve, I think it was recent, I certainly read it recently, where he said Chains of Misery and one of his tracks unspecified shouldn't have been on the album

 

[Black Bart]

I saw an interview with Steve, I think it was recent, I certainly read it recently, where he said Chains of Misery and one of his tracks unspecified shouldn't have been on the album

It was "The Apparition". He has been admitting that for a long time, though.

 

[Kalata]

Powerslave's 'fillers' compared to NPFTD, FOTD, DOD fillers, are gemstones. Diamonds! Powerslave's only minor problem is: two songs about the same topic. As a composition The Duellists is perfect.

I don't think NPFTD has fillers - all songs are well balanced and more or less are on the same level (the title track is one of the band's best songs imo). The same is with Killers. And if I have to give another similar example, this will be TXF - all songs are important for the album's mood and message and there are no bad songs imo.

About DOD, I like all songs without ''Age Of Innocence''. Maybe only ''New Frontier'' can be viewed as a filler, because it's Nicko's only writing credit for the band. Janick has 3 writing credits, but for the previous album he has 4, so I can't view ''Gates Of Tomorrow'' as a filler. Yeah, if you remove these songs from the album, the album still will be great, but I can't call them fillers. With this album, the band did some experimentations with the songs and I think that was intentional.

Agree about ''The Duellists'' and two songs about the same topic.

 

[Azas]

I don't think NPFTD has fillers - all songs are well balanced and more or less are on the same level (the title track is one of the band's best songs imo).

No Prayer For The Dying song is great. As a follow up album to the 7th Son - disappointing, to say it mildly.

 

[Flaming Blimp Crash]

Fear of the Dark. Probably didn't need to be a 57-minute album.

 

[chaosapiant]

I kinda feel like this thread is gonna go around in circles because there's no way to objectively identify what is or isn't a filler. We could list songs that Steve thinks aren't that strong, but even then, at the time these songs were strong enough to make the album and only in hindsight does Steve feel which tracks are weaker than others.