Why A Matter Of Life and Death is Iron Maidens best album

Think I have to agree with that. After all the fancy prancy Celtic dance, plastic castle cheese of DOD it was nice to get slapped with the most serious outing Maiden had put out since X-Factor. Production was heavy, the songs and the feel of it had a contemporary mid 00's feel to them, the cover was gritty and everything, it was just: Yes, Maiden is back and fitting in perfectly in the metal landscape of those years I feel.
 
DOD was a disappointing follow-up to BNW, for me at least. They did so many things right on BNW and so many things wrong on DOD. AMOLAD was a step up after that I feel with better songs and more direction.
 
Excuse my blasphemy, but after listening to TFF it looks like Maiden has run out of anything new or exciting to offer. They keep trying to reinvent the wheel and all it does it merely grate on your mind.
 
There wasn't really anything that knocked me off my feet on TFF...but I remember listening to Brighter Than a Thousand Suns the first time...I couldn't believe how heavy Maiden sounded..and then the solo instrumental section just floored me.
 
Eric Wright said:
DOD, AMOLAD, and TFF just sound so worn out to me, which is shocking after the massive burst of energy from BNW.
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AMOLAD is far and away the most cinematic album the band has ever produced. It's actually one of the most cinematic albums ever. Fantastic conceptual ideas and the music that fits the concepts. TFF to me sounds like an ultimate "experienced band" album. No, they don't sound like "We're gonna rock the world". But they manage to touch my feelings. It doesn't sound plastic, it sounds very truthful and realistic to me.
 
BNW is IMO their last "in your face album" of excitement and rhythm. TFF was awesome in a magical way but so unlike prior Maiden albums we grew to love as was AMOLAD and DOD. Very unique in their own ways but they do seem to be aiming at nothing but epics now and it seems they are washed out. TFF was a LONG album!
 
I'm not saying they are totally gone. When you have written so many songs over the years with the same formula, it starts to show. They have matured but don't write stuff the way they used to 20-30 years ago. TFF was a great album and an excellent tour.
 
CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
It's called change. Why would they be writing the same stuff as 20-30 years ago? If they were doing this I'd be worried.
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I don't think that's what he's getting at. Maiden doesn't seem washed out because they are changing their sound or experimenting, but rather because they're following the same formula but without the same magic they had "20-30 years ago". When was the last time you heard a really inspired sounding riff or solo on the latest reunion albums? Has anything on TFF ever really jumped out at you like Aces High or Hallowed be thy Name?

That's at least how I interpret what he means.
 
Eric Wright said:
Has anything on TFF ever really jumped out at you like Aces High or Hallowed be thy Name?
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Well let's see, the first time I listened to When the Wild Wind Blows, I cried.
When the riff at 2:23 comes in on the Talisman my spine shivers every time.
The Isle of Avalon is in my top 10, while the Aces high isn't, hell that one isn't even in my top 50.
 
I will give you that, When the Wild Wind Blows did make my eyes water. Nothing else really seemed quite exceptional or let alone interesting on that album leave Starblind and Coming Home.
 
Talisman did jump out at me at once, many of the others took a while, particularly Coming Home. The intros of several TFF tracks, on first listen, did give me an impression of being samey, but once I'd listened to them all the way through, I thought the songs built up into something more. It's just not to everyone's taste!

I certainly felt TFF had a different sound to AMOLAD, a more atmospheric feel, and in that sense was Maiden's music developing rather than being a slightly tired or unambitious continuation of the previous album.

Supposing they opted for mostly shorter, faster, more lively, or more theatrical songs for the next (last?) album, would it work? It might come across as an attempt to cash in on 80s nostalgia rather than being something fresh and new. Note that Final Frontier's title track, when taken apart from Satellite 15, is pretty short and snappy but gets less praise than most other songs on the album.
 
I think they have become rather formulaic. I mean, Wicker Man is Wildest Dreams is Different World is Final Frontier. Ever since the success of Wicker Man they've pretty much set out to re-write the same opening song on every succeeding album. Structure is very samey and lyrically they have many similarities too.

I feel that they have not been that good lately (last 10 years really) at crafting really good and catchy short songs. I don't know why that is...but that trademark of Maiden is definitely gone. And I am tired of the soft and slow intro/outro structure, way overused by now.

Having said all that though..While not being a favorite or anything, TFF had a lot of new stuff going on musically, and they implemented the three guitars much better on TFF than the previous albums I feel. Now if only the next album could be more balanced :)
 
Yeah, the acoustic intros are usually pretty forgettable on the reunion albums and are way overused. They were very effective on The X-Factor but are now used on basically every song now.

Definitely think When the Wild Wind Blows is a beyond exceptional track though, but you have to get through a lot of fluff to finally listen to it.
 
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