Worst 21st Century Maiden Song

[Edington]

Then to rephrase a tiny fraction:
But I cannot to the best of my ability imagine you playing Powerslave and then putting on, say, Book of Souls and going: Yeah, man, it's still as good as then. It's unfathomable to my mind.

There you go.

Now, I don't agree with saying those two albums are unequal, but I do kinda get where you're coming from. I mean, TBOS has only three more songs than Powerslave but runs nearly twice as long? I see why you might think it was "meandering, long and a bit overcooked". But what really stood out to me on TBOS was that the band have still got the fire and passion they had on Powerslave (and other albums), even if I didn't think the songwriting was up to scratch (which I do, very much so), that would be enough to bring the album up in my estimates.

Which, as we mentioned it, is one reason I don't like TFF much. I just can't hear that "spark" in the band's performance.

Sorry to disappoint.

 

[Jer]

But I cannot to the best of my ability imagine you playing Powerslave and then putting on, say, Final Frontier and going: Yeah, man, it's still as good as then. It's unfathomable to my mind.

Fair point, but I personally think that all of the reunion albums except for Dance Of Death have been better than both of the Di’anno albums overall, and I think that A Matter Of Life And Death was right up there with their best work.

So shouldn’t they keep making new albums for the fans that like them, and keep playing live for the fans that want to see them, and people who don’t like the new stuff can just ignore it...?

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

Bruce's slightly better vocals and the three guitars.

On the albums? I have to politely disagree. Bruce is a more consistent singer now, but some of his work on the 80s albums is just fantastic.

And three guitars ... well, they overdubbed guitar tracks on many 80s songs, and in many cases that made for a clearer sound than what we see on several newer albums. The true addition with the third guitarist is when the three get to do things in different styles within the same song, and of course there's artistic value added with Janick's style being different from the other two (if you like it, of course). If you're not too keen on Janick's solos or the parts he comes up with, then there's basically no value added with a third guitarist, as the other two could just record more overdub tracks just like in the 80s.

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

So shouldn’t they keep making new albums for the fans that like them, and keep playing live for the fans that want to see them, and people who don’t like the new stuff can just ignore it...?

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Magnus]

I personally think that all of the reunion albums except for Dance Of Death have been better than both of the Di’anno albums overall

 

[Diesel 11]

Then to rephrase a tiny fraction:
But I cannot to the best of my ability imagine you playing Powerslave and then putting on, say, Book of Souls and going: Yeah, man, it's still as good as then. It's unfathomable to my mind.

It’s an entirely different Beast than it was back then. Whether it’s for better or for worse is up to you, but I’ll take a nice lengthy modern faux-prog ‘Arry epic over them just trying to recreate the ‘80s again and again. They did something like that with NPFTD and FOTD and while I like them, most panned them. Would they really wanna go down that route again? Probably not.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

They did something like that with NPFTD and FOTD and while I like them, most panned them. Would they really wanna go down that route again? Probably not.

That's a good point.

 

[Diesel 11]

One could argue that they’ve just been reusing the same formulas for the last five albums (muddy song, longer lengths, repetition, acoustic intros, etc) but I think that as a whole they’ve been quite successful with doing what they’re doing. They’re also a more popular band now than they’ve ever been, so while a daydream of mine would be to see them do something like Firepower, I think they’d have to start pumping out a new album every year like back in the day to balance that stuff out.

 

[Edington]

Something like Firepower... in what way?

 

[Diesel 11]

Something like Firepower... in what way?

Shorter, snappier songs, metallic production, etc.

 

[karljant]

@karljant I must say buddy, I actually choose Fear Of The Dark over most of the reunion stuff. There might be a song or two on BNW I like.

What I like about the DiAnno era is that its energetic, raw and fast and the reunion era is the exact opposite - meandering, long and a bit overcooked (as in using the same motif again and again.. and again).

My opinion on Maiden these days is clear as day: fuckin split up the band already, it's overdue. The money will still roll right in. Even I am a Maiden consumer and have bought their beers etc.

Well... buddy... with the exception of the excellence of the DiAnno years, we agree to disagree. And I'm soooooooo glad the band also disagrees.

BTW: Long live Iron Maiden!!!!

 

[John Silver]

Fair point, but I personally think that all of the reunion albums except for Dance Of Death have been better than both of the Di’anno albums overall, and I think that A Matter Of Life And Death was right up there with their best work...

Ahh, fuck off @Jer, this is just you being king contrary man again. That's setting the bar too low, bro.

So shouldn’t they keep making new albums for the fans that like them, and keep playing live for the fans that want to see them, and people who don’t like the new stuff can just ignore it...?

Yeah, I'm fine with ignoring their records, I'm just out to see who else think they suck.
Honestly I don't care about it too much, but somehow it pisses me off to no end reading stuff like reunion era is so good and better than DiAnno and so on and so forth - like you just fuckin wrote, ya limp pimp - then my reptile brain forces me to fuckin respond.

 

[John Silver]

Well... buddy... with the exception of the excellence of the DiAnno years, we agree to disagree. And I'm soooooooo glad the band also disagrees.

BTW: Long live Iron Maiden!!!!

Didn't I agree with you earlier? But of course, buddy, let's agree to disagree, as long as we both know I'm right.

 

[John Silver]

It’s an entirely different Beast than it was back then. Whether it’s for better or for worse is up to you, but I’ll take a nice lengthy modern faux-prog ‘Arry epic over them just trying to recreate the ‘80s again and again. They did something like that with NPFTD and FOTD and while I like them, most panned them. Would they really wanna go down that route again? Probably not.

How many times have I read that exact post from you now? Is it a copy paste job, buddy? I thought you were upping the ante this year.

I don't need to hear any more 'Arry "epics", really I'm fine with what he did back then.
And I wasn't championing a "return to the roots"-approach, I was saying they should call it a day, must have been unclear to you.

 

[karljant]

Didn't I agree with you earlier? But of course, buddy, let's agree to disagree, as long as we both know I'm right.

No. We disagree on the fact that Maiden should write new material and Fear Of The Dark is way worst than everything the band has done on the last 19 years. As for the rest: I don't give a damn if you're right or left or what you think in a general way .

 

[KidInTheDark666]

What if I say that the Di'anno albums are Maiden's worst albums. And it's not entirely Paul's fault. I also blame Steve for the below-average songwriting.

 

[Diesel 11]

The Di’Anno albums are subpar even outside of Maiden’s discography.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

The Di’Anno albums are subpar even outside of Maiden’s discography.

I wouldn't go that far, because I find the instrumental work on the albums to be great. The only problem is that a lot of the songs are unfinished.

 

[Number 6]

The Di’Anno albums are subpar even outside of Maiden’s discography.

There there, let's not get carried away.

 

[LooseCannon]

The first two albums are pretty good. I prefer every Reunion-era album to them. What's "better" is entirely up to the individual. I do pity the people who don't feel they can enjoy today's band because they're stuck in the Thatcher era, though, buddy.