Your Maiden blasphemy

Number 6 said:
The biggest problem I have with Fear of the Dark is that it feels more like a compilation album rather than an actual studio album. I think it's the least cohesive album of their career.
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Bingo:
  1. BQOBD: this thing starts with (arguably) the most furious Maiden like tune the band ever composed.
  2. FHTE: then goes to a typical maiden bass intro that makes a turn into a hair metal lalala song
  3. ATSS: then it turns 180 degrees into this eerie awkward tempo slow dirge that out of nowhere blasts into a great Maiden song again
  4. FITK: next we get a miserable atempt to write something in the lines of Zepp's Kashmir gon AOR.
  5. CH: some new hues on this one but yeah... it's Maiden.
  6. WL: what now? A ballad... and a bad one... Maiden writting ballads. Just Great. (FYI Ballad isn't the same as calm or slow song)
  7. TF: a Maiden song indeed. Lackluster but Maiden.
  8. COM: this one is a cross between the hair metal ambiance that begins to pest this record with a slightly more aggressive edge
  9. TA:weird song... seems like an interlude. feels incomplete. But you can hear some Maiden in it.
  10. JBMG: cool Maiden hard rocker (perhaps a bit too hard rock but maiden nonetheless)
  11. WW: this pop rocker could be sing by Sting (as an example) and pass as one of his tunes (if it was reworked to increase its quality heavily)
  12. FOTD: long song with a pompous intro, pompous chorus, lots of guitar harmonies and Maiden all the way (yet the verses are a bit too lalala)
So... I agree with Number 6. No matter if you like the album it or not (I personally don't like the majority of the songs in it) it seems like a patchwork of various influences not within each song (normally that's a good thing) but throghout all songs (normally this ends up in one of 2 results: utter masterpiece or utter disaster) that cannot hold itself in a minimum of coherency.It's the album that pictures Bruce's need to make something new and the band trying to tag along that spirit. No wonder the result wasn't satisfying and he ended up leaving the band...
 
Number 6 said:
That's not exactly what I was going for with my post. An album can be musically diverse and cohesive at the same time (see: The Final Frontier and, to some extent, The Book of Souls). To me, Fear of the Dark fits only the former category.
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I agree, I just wanted to point this out. When you said it feels more like a compilation, that's pretty much the thought that comes to mind when I think of the album and the diversity I mentioned.
 
I agree Fear is easily the band’s most musically diverse album. It’s just diverse in the wrong ways and abandons a lot of what makes them interesting.

The Apparition is far from the worst thing on the album, but the recent fascination with that song on the forum has made me less of a fan (similar thing happened with The Fugitive a few years ago).
 
Mosh said:
I agree Fear is easily the band’s most musically diverse album. It’s just diverse in the wrong ways and abandons a lot of what makes them interesting.

The Apparition is far from the worst thing on the album, but the recent fascination with that song on the forum has made me less of a fan (similar thing happened with The Fugitive a few years ago).
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We have those fads all the time. One time, everyone hated on Paschendale, another time Hallowed was nothing special... I don't really pay attention anymore.
 
Gk1 said:
For the most part I am with you on this. However as we move further away from each release time is the cruelest judge. IMO none of the albums after FOTD stood the test of time.

PS: good to be back
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Good to see you back mate.
 
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I never disliked the Apparition and the solo section is quite good. It should've been a chug driven song but the production is wrong for that type and Nicko basically kills the song (in a negative way) with his Virtual XI level of enthusiasm. I don't usually give much flak to drums (or lack of) on VXI because they simply took a wrong production choice, but here we have a candidate for his worst performance off the career.
 
Another one:

The X Factor is not a bad sounding or badly produced album. In fact it sounds a lot better than No Prayer or Fear Of the Dark.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Yeah, like I’ve said a lot, there’s a difference between having “good” production and sounding good anyway.
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True. And of course what sounds good is a subjective opinion.

But in my opinion, TXF sounds just right. The fact that it’s quieter and more dynamic than other Maiden records is not a sign of bad production.

EDIT: It’s a bit funny that AMOLAD, which wasn’t mastered at all, has so much less dynamics than TXF. Usually during mastering at least a certain amount of compression is added to squash the signal and make it louder. I love the way AMOLAD sounds as well, but it seems like everything was already at 11 with the recording and final mix.
 
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I get that we for whatever reason might like specific albums. I also get that we all have our own opinions about production and sound. However I don't get why we need to have so irrational talks about things that are self evident and even a child can understand.
 
All of those three albums sound great. Maiden doesn't even have an album that doesn't sound good other than the debut.
 
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