Your Maiden blasphemy

Rock in Rio is their best live album.
Kevin Shirley is better at mixing live albums than Martin Birch was. His mix in the encore section of Maiden England '88 is superior than the rest of the album.
If Maiden ever re-release Donington '92 he should be allowed to remix it as Steve's mix is awful.
He should also be asked to do a remix of the Blaze albums as I believe he could massively improve them.
Steve should not be allowed anywhere near a mixing desk.
Janick is underrated as a guitarist but he seriously needs to get his Strat repainted.
TWOTW is obviously pro-Brexit in its lyrics and this automatically makes it a bad song.
Maiden should modernise their stage set. They've been using the same set-up since 1985 and look stuck in their ways compared to many younger bands. They should start by using screens instead of curtain backdrops. Have animated 3D Eddie's doing stuff during the songs. They should also make the stage bigger for stadiums as it's just too small.
 
Spaldy said:
And at least the songs were written to accommodate Blaze's voice.
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It's kinda tragic that the recording doesn't really capture much of that, though. It's one of the most lifeless and stale Maiden productions, which is a shame, as they could have got a lot of more out of those songs, even if they're not exactly top-tier Maiden.

Spaldy said:
Maiden should modernise their stage set. They've been using the same set-up since 1985 and look stuck in their ways compared to many younger bands. They should start by using screens instead of curtain backdrops. Have animated 3D Eddie's doing stuff during the songs. They should also make the stage bigger for stadiums as it's just too small.
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I wouldn't be against modernizing and up-scaling certain elements of their stage show, but I'm not that keen on screens and 3D Eddie's messing around there. I think that the backdrops itself create a nice effect and the actual "theatrical", built stage is very good concept. They incorporate a bit more 3D prop elements to the stage set though; TBOS and TFF stages were rather good on that department, where as Maiden England felt a bit too boxy, although the icy backdrops completed the visual landscape very well.

So, yeah, maybe their theatrical approach could undergo some slight revamping, but I don't think screens would be that exciting, in the end. A couple of most recent stage sets have been absolutely spectacular and I wouldn't want them to change the initial concept of their shows too much, but I'd welcome some shake up for the stage structure and/or scale itself, but maybe not for the show concept per se.
 
Spaldy said:
Rock in Rio is their best live album.
Kevin Shirley is better at mixing live albums than Martin Birch was. His mix in the encore section of Maiden England '88 is superior than the rest of the album.
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Now, let's remember the possibilities gear-wise are near unlimited these days. It certainly wasn't in 1988. It's a bit of comparing apples to oranges. Kevin's drum compression is a bit too aggressive for my taste, in the context of the Maiden England mix.
 
Spaldy said:
Rock in Rio is their best live album.
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Absolutely not. Beast Over Hammersmith is, then Maiden England and then, maybe, RiR.

Spaldy said:
He should also be asked to do a remix of the Blaze albums as I believe he could massively improve them.
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I'm OK with this idea, but only if it would not erase the originals. It could be a bonus feature in a re-release.

Spaldy said:
TWOTW is obviously pro-Brexit in its lyrics and this automatically makes it a bad song.
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I don't see how it is and I also don't see how this automatically makes it a bad song. Lyrics are the least important element of a song, if they even matter at all.

Spaldy said:
Maiden should modernise their stage set. They've been using the same set-up since 1985 and look stuck in their ways compared to many younger bands. They should start by using screens instead of curtain backdrops. Have animated 3D Eddie's doing stuff during the songs. They should also make the stage bigger for stadiums as it's just too small.
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I wouldn't mind if they came up with a new stage set, but I really don't want them to use screens. I'm glad they are one of the few major acts that don't do that. There's so much happening onstage during the songs that a screen would just distract. I love the backdrops. To me there's always an element of tension when a song ends and a new backdrop is added announcing the next song.
 
Spaldy said:
Rock in Rio is their best live album.
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100% true.
Spaldy said:
If Maiden ever re-release Donington '92 he should be allowed to remix it as Steve's mix is awful.
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Although I think a remix for Donington '92 would be good, I like the authentic sound of the original. It's not that bad.
Spaldy said:
He should also be asked to do a remix of the Blaze albums as I believe he could massively improve them.
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The albums will lost their charm with a different production. The same goes for the debut album. These albums are representative of a certain period of the band and their sound.
Perun said:
I wouldn't mind if they came up with a new stage set, but I really don't want them to use screens. I'm glad they are one of the few major acts that don't do that. There's so much happening onstage during the songs that a screen would just distract. I love the backdrops. To me there's always an element of tension when a song ends and a new backdrop is added announcing the next song.
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^ This.
 
Perun said:
I wouldn't mind if they came up with a new stage set, but I really don't want them to use screens. I'm glad they are one of the few major acts that don't do that. There's so much happening onstage during the songs that a screen would just distract. I love the backdrops. To me there's always an element of tension when a song ends and a new backdrop is added announcing the next song.
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This. The backdrops also fit and blend in with rest of the stage setting beautifully - better than the screens would, I dare say.

A couple of excellent demonstrations:

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Iron_Maiden_Live_in_Denver_CO%2C_8.13.2012.jpg
 
Randalf said:
The backdrops also fit and blend in with rest of the stage setting beautifully - better than the screens would, I dare say.
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Agree. I also quite like the current stage structure - the last different stage structure was for VXI tour, IIRC.
 
Kalata said:
Agree. I also quite like the current stage structure - the last different stage structure was for VXI tour, IIRC.
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Me too, but it wouldn't hurt to revamp it a little bit. Just to break up the shape a little bit or something. And yes, kinda. The Ed-Hunter tour used the 80's stage structure and BNW + Give Me 'Ed tours had similarly shaped, but a little bit bigger setup and also saw the addition of a walkway behind Nicko's kit which wasn't featured during the 80's; this was also done in FOTD tour, that was totally different stage set design to begin with. The current structure in it's "final" form debuted on Dance of Death tour, I believe.
 
Spaldy said:
Rock in Rio is their best live album.
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This shouldn't even be controversial, really. A very fine setlist representing nearly all of their albums to that point and a bunch of solid new tracks, some of the overall best performances from the band as a whole, Bruce absolutely on top form and the best production they've ever had, in studio or live. It's such a solid package I've had people refuse to believe it's a live album when I played excerpts for them.

Not to mention, the crowd was absolutely on fire throughout. It's a bit of a shame the live video is compromised by Steve's awful editing, the 4:3 aspect ratio and poor picture quality thanks to the same cameras broadcasting live for satellite TV and limited footage of Nicko thanks to Bruce being a moron and tearing off one of the cameras during The Wicker Man.
 
Ruflux said:
Not to mention, the crowd was absolutely on fire throughout. It's a bit of a shame the live video is compromised by Steve's awful editing, the 4:3 aspect ratio and poor picture quality thanks to the same cameras broadcasting live for satellite TV
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It's fine. This was 2001, filming in a rather dark setting.
 
Yax said:
It's fine. This was 2001, filming in a rather dark setting.
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Widescreen would've been an option but that's not really a massive issue. I'm more bothered by how absolutely fuzzy the picture is. It's not really what I'd call DVD quality and the latter releases are miles better on that front. But like I said, I recognize it's because they weren't even filming it for DVD really, they just had TV cameras for the broadcast set up already, so I don't hold it against them. The editing's the more annoying issue to me, but at least it's not Donington '92 or Death on the Road.
 
Back in 2001 though, most had a 4:3 TV, so it was the logical choice. Just after that I think, it started moving. I'm with you on Steve's editing though.
 
When it comes to screens: I think there's a place for them in an Iron Maiden show, but I think the place would have to be very creative and not distracting. Not just to make up the entire backdrop, but if there was a section of the stage (mirrored, probably) that could be used creative, that might be fun.

Obviously, we never want a situation where the band is interacting with non-real things. There's a reason Maiden has the best stage show in metal and that's all the time to craft that goes into it.
 
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