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

chaosapiant said:
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.
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I think there are a few objective ways of measuring if a song isn't filler:

1 - It was released as a single
2 - It was included on a compilation album
3 - It was played on a tour after the respective album tour

For example, I think the only songs from TNOTB you can fairly argue might be filler are Invaders, Gangland and possibly Total Eclipse.
 
DJMayes said:
1 - It was released as a single
2 - It was included on a compilation album
3 - It was played on a tour after the respective album tour
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I don’t think any of these are ‘objective’ measures to define what a filler is not. Look for example at Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Warrant’s “Cherry Pie”. Both of these songs were latched on so heavily by the record label that the entire albums were renamed in their honor, and they became huge songs. But they’re also both fillers, not intended to be released by the band originally and just written for the hell of it.

Just because something is a filler doesn’t mean it’s bad, for the record. I think there’s two types of ‘fillers’ when it comes to music. From the artist’s perspective, a filler is a song added to an album to pad the runtime. See: Killers, with half of it comprised of leftovers from the debut. From the fan’s perspective, a filler is a song that’s weaker than the surrounding songs. See: Killers, the worst Iron Maiden album, filled with a bunch of half-assed material end rant.

Does Powerslave have any filler on it? Depends on what version of ‘filler’ you mean, and how much you enjoy the songs. Ultimately the term ‘filler’ is very much abused and misused and this thread only highlights that. But just because something is a single or became a hit or fan favorite doesn’t mean it’s not also a filler.
 
DJMayes said:
For example, I think the only songs from TNOTB you can fairly argue might be filler are Invaders, Gangland and possibly Total Eclipse.
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Total Eclipse why? Filling a B side? :nuts:

DJMayes said:
I think there are a few objective ways of measuring if a song isn't filler:

1 - It was released as a single
2 - It was included on a compilation album
3 - It was played on a tour after the respective album tour
Click to expand...

EDIT: Also Total Eclipse was played in the Beast on the Road
 
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Yes I know. Thus it does not qualify as a filler. Both is not in the album and it was played on the tour.
 
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Fear of the Dark album. You must be deaf and blind to not see, how much of it's songs are monstrous FILLERS.
Fear is the Key
Chains of Misery
The Apparition
Weekend Warrior

imo, Wasting Love and The Fugitive are fillers too, but I understand that these two songs may be more debatable.
 
The fading outro is a standout of that song, very unlike Maiden. In addition to it just working for that song, I think it teases at Maiden fading away towards the end of their career.

I got a similar feeling from WTWWB (plus the album had 'final' in the title), and 'came to die in France' at the end of Empire of the Clouds. I thought they were teasing us.
 
Azas said:
Fear of the Dark album. You must be deaf and blind to not see, how much of it's songs are monstrous FILLERS.
Fear is the Key
Chains of Misery
The Apparition
Weekend Warrior

imo, Wasting Love and The Fugitive are fillers too, but I understand that these two songs may be more debatable.
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Absolutely. This album should have been 8 or 9 songs at the most. A victim of the early CD era when record labels pushed for as many songs per album as possible.
 
My list of stinkers and fillers (and excluding some far fetched takes this is always a personal opinion no matter from whom it cames from).
So here are the first 9 albums in chronological order:

IRON MAIDEN (0 fillers and stinkers)
In my opinion their debut has zero fillers. Yes some songs have a bit of a lackluster vibe here and there (Charlotte The Harlot or even the simplistic Running Free and title track) but they're far from being fillers and that feeling IMO is just because everything else is really good.

KILLERS (0 fillers and stinkers)
Another zero filler easily for me. Yeah, yeah... Another Life, Drifter and to a certain extent Innocent Exile are less complex and dare I say less interesting but also 100% adrenaline packed late 70's heavy rock tunes. Then once again there's the rest of the album that happens to be absurdly good (especially Murders In The Rue Morgue, Killers, Wrathchild, Purgatory, Prodigal Son, Genghis Khan, etc...). That surely help those tunes look least good that they truly are by proximity.

THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST (1 fillers, 0 stinkers)
Now I think Gangland is really far from being Maiden's worst song. IMO it's not even a bad song and has a certain punch. But it was the first Maiden song I listened to that sounded a bit half baked, confuse and rough on the edges as a whole. So I consider it to be a filler but not by much... still has its upside and I understand people that like it. when it comes to parts that really suck obviously we have Invaders' chorus. But since both choruses only amount to 18 seconds and the rest of the song is a blaster (that bass) I gladly turn a blind eye (or deaf hear) to those two brief passages and enjoy the remainder of the onslaught. So no stinkers here.

PIECE OF MIND (1 filler, 0 stinkers)
IMO Quest For Fire's instrumental is really cool. But Bruce's vocal approach is IMO ridiculous and the lyrics are even worst. I always thought that with some soloing action it would give an excellent instrumental track. As it is it falls to the filler category in my book. Sun And Steel also features quite a meh chorus but the rest of the song is truly enjoyable and the reason I don't like it even most is because every song besides QFF is bonkers. So, no... SAS stays out of the filler bag for sure.

POWERSLAVE (0 fillers and stinkers)
What is this "fillerslave" nonsense? If there's an album where proximity devaluation plays a fulcral point that's Powerslave. IMO The Duelists and Flash Of The Blade despite being the songs I love the least are undoubtedly great tunes and Losfer Words and Back In The Village are excellent compositions (IMO going shoulder to shoulder with a classic such as Two Minutes To Midnight). Then there are those three songs that happen to be some of the best things ever penned in metal.

SOMEWHERE IN TIME (0 fillers and stinkers)
Yeah, Alexander The Great history lesson like emotionless lyrics are kind of meh. But they're easily overlooked by the monster of a track it is. So to point any song as even close to "just good" is beyond my comprehension (left alone filler). Masterpiece from start to finish.

SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON (0 fillers and stinkers)
Once again: don't even think about it! Despite being only #3 in my album rank Seventh Son is titanium solid regarding its absurd quality I think it's unthinkable to even start to throw the word filler in here. And if The Prophecy comes to your mind, congratulations: you just pointed out one of my favorite tracks from the album.

NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING (0 fillers, 1 stinker)
Being vastly regarded as the least good album when it was released by the majority of fans back then one can say this is a filler itself. I disagree. Yeah, some songs may not reach their full potential. And some tracks like Holy Smoke (despite being really good in my book) sound a bit like strange bodies while some others have some cringe moments (Public Enema's title, The Assassin's chorus or Bring Your Daughter's lyrics) but still every song here has something cool to offer to me as a whole. Every song except one stinker: Hooks In You. Lyrics? Crap. Main riff? boring rock n' roll. Pre-chorus? Hate its guts. The only parts I love are the chorus and solo but that alone won't cut it. Really poor for Maiden's standards. Overall I can understand if people point out a couple more fillers but that's it.

FEAR OF THE DARK (4 fillers, 3 stinkers):
Oh boooooooy! How can truly exciting and well penned tunes like Be Quick Or Be Dead, Fear Of The Dark (yes despite the overplay factor that makes me avoid listening to it as much as I can it's a great composition), Afraid To Shoot Strangers and a couple of good tracks in Childhood's End and Judas Be My Guide be placed alongside the remainder of this mess of an album? Let's start with the fillers: The Fugitive shows potential at start then it deflates as the song enters the verse and chorus (the solos are cool but by then I've lost my enthusiasm). The Apparition looks like a work in progress track... some passages are truly enjoyable while others are just so bland and lacking articulation they make me go "WTF?". Chains Of Misery has decent main riffs and verses but what crap is that chorus and those back vocals? Ouch! Weekend Warrior has its charm here and there but ZERO Maiden DNA. I mean it doesn't bother me but placed between Fear Of The Dark and Judas Be My Guide? What is this thing doing here besides filling the space for a proper Maiden song? Then there's that trio of tunes I simply can't stand: From Here To Eternity, Wasting Love and ESPECIALLY Fear Is The Key (easily my least favorite Maiden track).
 
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I'll go with FOD too. I think it was made when Bruce was pretty much wiped out and, probably didn't have much to contribute re: songs. I like Dance of Death, don't love it but do like it. I'm listening to AMOLAD right now and I do think it's their best album since Brave New World, they've not put out a bad album since Bruce returned, however it took me a while to get into Senjutsu. Still have not been able to get into Book of Souls but I do need to spend more time with it.

DOD for me.
PS: I didn't consider Blaze's two albums because Maiden without Bruce is not the real Maiden, it's like The Beatles without John Lennon.
 
Last 8 albums:

THE X FACTOR (0 fillers and stinkers)
This is a controversial album to say the least. IMO it features a top 5 maiden tune (Sign Of The Cross) a superb speedster of a single (Man On The Edge), an array of amazing tunes (Lord Of The Flies, Fortunes Of War, Look For The Truth, Judgement Of Heaven, The Edge Of Darkness) and a couple of good cuts (The Aftermath and Blood On The World's Hands). What's left? 2 AM and The Unbeliever. IMO 2 AM is a really good desolate tune despite its somewhat lackluster of a chorus). Now the start of The Unbeliever is a total clusterfuck: the feeble intro, the ridiculous pinch harmonics and first sang section is 100% stinker stuff. But then the song takes a U turn and the large portion of the song (verses, chorus and bridges) is absolutely stunning. So despite the low quality of the initial section (that make a brief return later) that somewhat downgrades the song it's really hard for me to label it since the vast majority of the song is really great.

Virtual XI (2 fillers and 2 stinkers)
This one's easy. The Clansman, Futureal and The Educated Fool are really good songs. Como Estais Amigos is ok and Lightning Strikes Twice is borderline decent but it can easily fall in the filler bag any given day. Then When Two Worlds Collide is a snooze fest and The Angel And The Gambler and Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger are reaaaaaaaly bad as far as I'm concerned.

BRAVE NEW WORLD (3 fillers and 0 stinkers)
Well everyone knows I really dislike the title track's chorus and its merry go round structure. And while feeling like its quite boring to listen to once the chorus makes its first appearance, I think the main melody is really well penned so it is a pass to me despite thinking the track is atrocious structure wise. Others can point The Fallen Angel as a filler and while I concurred so for a long time, nowadays I think it's a truly enjoyable short tune tune. On the other hand The Mercenary despite being also short is truly boring and predictable and falls in the filler category. The same works with Dream Of Mirrors. As far as I'm concerned the intro is awful and the following melody is ridiculous. Then things start to sound great: nice calm verses, the chorus is really well penned and it all seems to point in a superb direction. And if the song would get a solo, another chorus and called it a day it would mend itself from its awful start. But no... more upbeat repetition, guitar and vocal mimicking for several minutes won't cut it. Finally there's a song that hurts me severely to label as a filler: The Nomad. While the sang verses are merely ok-ish and the chorus enjoyable I always loved the opening riff that happens to be the pre-chorus. However the major stand out section was that state of the art of a instrumental section in the middle of the song. Now since I discovered it's a blatant plagiarism I personally can't listen to it and associate it with the song no more. that being said we're left with a great opening riff and pre-chorus and the rest is quite mundane, giving me no choice but to put it in the filler bag.

DANCE OF DEATH (1 filler and 1 stinker)
I think Dance Of Death overall is a great album. Nevertheless there's one song from the get go that without shadow of doubt doesn't belong here and that's Age Of Innocence: bad lyrics, awful chorus, several bad melodies... alas: a sub par Maiden tune to say the least. Then there's New Frontier: a cool rocker downgraded by a really meh chorus and awkward choice of vocal melodies by Bruce that serves little more than filler as it is while having potential to be more than that. Some may say Wildest Dreams and Gates Of Tomorrow are also filler material but, despite being merely enjoyable, I disagree since both songs are decently structured and have several cool parts and details.

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (0 fillers and stinkers)
I'm gonna focus solely on the songs that one may make the absurdly far fetched claim to be filler material on this gorgeous album: The Pilgrim and Out Of The Darkness. And truth be told while I think both songs are a tad bit below the average insane quality of A Matter Of Life And Death they're far from being fillers since both songs sound really great by themselves. Once again it's only the fact they must share the same album with absurdly brutal stuff like These Colors Don't Run, Thousand Suns, Benjamin Breeg, For The Greater Good Of God or The Legacy. So... nah! Zero filler and stinkers on this one.

THE FINAL FRONTIER (0 fillers and stinkers)
This album is a curious case to me. Despite being quite low on my rank (#12) I can't point out a single filler here. I mean it has two monster tracks (The Talisman and When THe Wild Wind Blows) and the rest is a mix of great and at least really enjoyable tunes. On the latter I would begin by including the intro Sattelite 15: a bit strange and too long but does a great work to open the album giving way to the title track which, despite being quite good, wouldn't work as an opener by itself. Then Mother Of Mercy is also far from being top tier Maiden but still is exaggeratedly disliked for reasons I cannot understand since it's a rock solid metal tune. Another case is Coming Home: one of the songs I love the least from the lot but I understand its charm with its really well penned and pompous sing along chorus that happens to work great when played live. Finally The Man Who Would Be King is perhaps what comes closer to a filler here but despite being a bit of a generic Maiden long song there's nothing wrong with it and the last section is simply stunning. So yeah... far from being Maiden's best album but devoid of songs I don't like or even consider to be fillers.

THE BOOK OF SOULS (2 fillers and 0 stinkers)
Maiden's 16th album is lengthy and ambitious, filled with diversity and some new ground explored. Curiously enough there are some songs here that are commercial Maiden 101 in Speed Of Light and Tears Of A Clown that really fall short alongside top tier Maiden tunes on this department (Run To The Hills, Wasted Years, Can I Play With Madness, etc...). Nevertheless both are still at least enjoyable and I don't think they're fillers. On the other hand Shadows Of The Valley begins with one of the most blatant cases of self plagiarism ever and despite being far from the band's worst song ever I find it to be utterly dull and boring. And while The Man Of Sorrows has more juice in it IMO also lacks what it takes for me not to press the skip button every time I give this record a spin.

SENJUTSU (0 fillers and stinkers)
Maiden's most recent release is quite good and surprisingly solid when it comes to the overall quality of its tracks. To a point that the only two tracks that vaguely can be mentioned as fillers here are Darkest Hour and The Time Machine. And by saying vaguely I'm being generous since both these tunes are well penned compositions with great moments that only happen to be the two songs I like the least when compared with an array of really amazing tunes. So I believe it's nonsense calling them fillers and even more doing it to any other song on Senjutsu.

So here are my two cents. The final tally: 14 fillers and 7 stinkers.
And managing to spot merely 21 skipable tunes among 160 plus songs that make Maiden's 17 album catalogue is simply mind blowing and speak volumes of Maiden's legacy.
 
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