The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[theseoafs]

Just starting my first listen at work now.  Things are off to a good start with If Eternity Should Fail.

[cramx3]

God Tier

• The Red And The Black - just love that instrumental section with solos and trademark Harris guitar melodies all over. It's golden.
  

Yes! Someone else on this forum who thinks this may be the best on the album.  This song is such a beast!  [/list]

[Lowdz]

BoS has arrived chez Lowdz. Now to listen to this bad boy.
Nice package as the actress said to the bishop.

[amagr]

Am i the only one who think that productions sucks? :S

[Scorpion]

I've never been one to get hung up on production, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I dig how it sounds. I find that the sound really fits the album.

Anyway, after my first listen, tentative favourites are If Eternity Should Fail, The Book of Souls, Tears of a Clown, Man of Sorrows and Empire of the Clouds. The Great Unknown and When the River Runs Deep were pretty forgettable on first listen, but not bad, and the rest ranges from good to great. In short: positive first impression - just starting my second listen now.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Am i the only one who think that productions sucks? :S

It sounds like most post-2000 Maiden albums, I think, which is kind of good but not amazing.

They still have this 90s/80s metal vibe going on with their sound, which I don't think is a bad thing; but on the other hand we're used to such perfect, tight and crisp modern metal productions that Maiden can sound old fashioned when compared.

[amagr]

Am i the only one who think that productions sucks? :S

It sounds like most post-2000 Maiden albums, I think, which is kind of good but not amazing.

They still have this 90s/80s metal vibe going on with their sound, which I don't think is a bad thing; but on the other hand we're used to such perfect, tight and crisp modern metal productions that Maiden can sound old fashioned when compared.

If you compare it to BNW its totally different, BNW has crystal clear drum sound and much better guitars.
But i have to say that deluxe edition cd is has awesemore artworks!

[cramx3]

BNW is their peak of sound IMO.  I wouldn't say the production sucks at all, but its on par with the last two albums, nothing great, but not bad.

[Lowdz]

Am i the only one who think that productions sucks? :S

It sounds like most post-2000 Maiden albums, I think, which is kind of good but not amazing.

They still have this 90s/80s metal vibe going on with their sound, which I don't think is a bad thing; but on the other hand we're used to such perfect, tight and crisp modern metal productions that Maiden can sound old fashioned when compared.

It's not awful sounding but maiden have never had great sounding albums. This 'live' sound is just laziness. What I do like on first spin is the use of acoustic guitars at times. My pet hate is when bands use electrics to sound like acoustics. I know that the epic epic has piano too but not got there yet.
Maiden albums have sounded samey for a long time so a bit of variety helps especially on long albums.

[devieira73]

I'm trying to guess who made the solos on this record. Below, these are my best bets:

1.    If eternity should fail - At the end, Smith with Bruce singing
2.    Speed of light - Murray/Smith
3.   The great unknown - Gers + Smith/Murray
4.   The red and the black - Murray/Gers + Smith
5.   When the river runs deep - Murray/Gers + Smith
6.   The book of souls - Murray + Gers/Smith
7.   Death or glory - Murray/Smith
8.   Shadown of the valley - Murray + Smith + Gers
9.   Tears of the clown - Smith/Murray
10.   The man of sorrows - Murray + Smith (by the way, a song with a very Fates Warning vibe!)
11.   Empire of the clouds - Murray + Smith

When "/" appears, it means the solos are in immediate sequence. When "+" appears, it means the solos are separated from each other.

Score: Smith - 11; Murray - 10 e Gers - 5.

Favorite solo: To my surprise, Gers in The great unknown. In fact, I think that it's so good, that I'm really uncertain if it is not from Smith!

[TAC]

This 'live' sound is just laziness.

Paul, I don't know if I agree with that. Steve Harris is the last guy I would characterize as "lazy". I just think he likes what he likes.
What he has carved out, however, is a signature sound for his band.

I sure as hell don't agree with his idea of DVD editing, that's for damn sure.

[Lowdz]

This 'live' sound is just laziness.

Paul, I don't know if I agree with that. Steve Harris is the last guy I would characterize as "lazy". I just think he likes what he likes.
What he has carved out, however, is a signature sound for his band.

I sure as hell don't agree with his idea of DVD editing, that's for damn sure.

Laziness is probably the wrong word but he doesn't seem to want to spend the time presenting the music the best it could be. I'm sure I've heard that he doesn't enjoy being in the studio, maybe that's it. Let's get it done and get on the road.
And yeah, the DVDs are seizure inducing.

[Frosthawk]

I don't think it's been talked about a whole lot, but I'm hearing a lot of things that are unique for Maiden with Man of Sorrows in particular. Everything from little stylistic inflections and even melodic progressions (the song begins in C minor which I don't know if I've heard Maiden do at all before) are things I wouldn't expect from them. It's cool!

[Lowdz]

I should say I've enjoyed the first play through. Some songs stood out more than others and some of it was quite familiar. Empire of the clouds was pretty fucking awesome, loved the piano and orchestration. This is how maiden should sound.
There's nothing to rival the 80s hits in terms of immediacy.
And the wasted years quote, that must be intentional, right?

[Anguyen92]

Man, I did not think that any album, released this year, would be more enjoyable to me than Mark Tremonti's Cauterize album, but somehow, this album did it. It felt one of those albums that Iron Maiden really played well to their strengths and deliver a tremendous album. I felt like there was no song that I felt I did not like. It's still a lot to take in and a lot of re-listening though to really get a solid vibe of the song.

Here are my favorites so far. Will be ever-changing of course.

If Eternity Should Fail. The Red and the Black, When the River Runs Deep, Tears of a Clown, and Empire of the Clouds.

[TAC]

And the wasted years quote, that must be intentional, right?

Frankly I think this intro is completely unnecessary and ridiculous. I don't think Steve is lazy but I do think he's stubborn as hell.

[wolfking]

This 'live' sound is just laziness.

Paul, I don't know if I agree with that. Steve Harris is the last guy I would characterize as "lazy". I just think he likes what he likes.
What he has carved out, however, is a signature sound for his band.

I sure as hell don't agree with his idea of DVD editing, that's for damn sure.

I would.  Since DOD I would definitely call the production jobs lazy.  Steve can't fucking hear, people should let him have the final say on how an album should sound.

[theseoafs]

I'm a little lukewarm on it right now.  It's a long album, but the question with double albums is always whether the material warrants the greater length.  I'm not yet 100% convinced that's the case -- in particular, a lot of the stuff on the second disc, with the exception of the closer, didn't really resonate with me.  We'll see how it grows on me over time though (and all IM albums always do). 

[jammindude]

On my first listen as we speak.   Really liked Eternity...listening to Speed of Light for about the 5th time right now and it just keeps getting better.

[TAC]

I'm a little lukewarm on it right now.  It's a long album, but the question with double albums is always whether the material warrants the greater length.  I'm not yet 100% convinced that's the case -- in particular, a lot of the stuff on the second disc, with the exception of the closer, didn't really resonate with me.  We'll see how it grows on me over time though (and all IM albums always do).

That is reasonable and I can't disagree. I'm more than lukewarm on it though. In its totality, this is a pretty solid album.

   Steve can't fucking hear, 

Do you think that's it? You might be right.

[wolfking]

Yeah, I think so.  I can't find anything through google but he's said before his hears are totally muffled from all the years of playing live without plugs.

[ozzy554]

I love this album

My favorite track would have to be Empire of the clouds. I have listened to it multiple times.

[RodrigoAltaf]

So my DTF account was suspended just because I said "the album has leaked" on this topic. I didn't post a link or anything, I just posted this bit of information. Ridiculous attitude by the moderator(s). I don't know the proper channels to address this, but although I enjoy this forum, I've had enough. You night as well cancel my account. Bye!!!

[theseoafs]

see you later

[cramx3]

That doesn't seem right considering Bosk's response to the leak in this thread. Oh well.

[cramx3]

Empire of the Clouds really feels wayyyy shorter than 18 minutes, a sign of a great song.

[gazinwales]

An interesting take on the IM catalogue
https://www.angrymetalguy.com/iron-maiden-from-worst-to-best-15-13/

[Scorpion]

Definitely agree. Empire of the Clouds is amazing and feels like a 9-minute-song at most. Amazing vocal performance by Bruce too.

[Mister Gold]

Definitely agree. Empire of the Clouds is amazing and feels like a 9-minute-song at most. Amazing vocal performance by Bruce too.

Indeed. It's a great contrast from The Red and the Black, which just feels incredibly rushed and scatterbrained from Steve.

Plus, the nod to The Legacy in Empire is flat-out awesome.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Am i the only one who think that productions sucks? :S

It sounds like most post-2000 Maiden albums, I think, which is kind of good but not amazing.

They still have this 90s/80s metal vibe going on with their sound, which I don't think is a bad thing; but on the other hand we're used to such perfect, tight and crisp modern metal productions that Maiden can sound old fashioned when compared.

If you compare it to BNW its totally different, BNW has crystal clear drum sound and much better guitars.
But i have to say that deluxe edition cd is has awesemore artworks!

Agreed! Brave New World is the peak of their sound production, hence the post-2000 thing 

[Zydar]

I can not get enough of this album. Empire Of The Clouds is one of their best songs in a very long time, I get chills when I hear it.

[NotePad]

I haven't heard the album yet, is it more like BNW or AMOLAD in terms of production? Allow me to elaborate: polished like BNW, or raw like AMOLAD?

[jammindude]

 I would say raw, but in a good way. I personally think a matter of life and death is the greatest reunion album by a longshot! But this one is giving it a run for it's money.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

it's definitely more in the raw side

[Vahvahenki]

After one listen I can only say that this will definitely surpass TFF but apart from that, it's too early to say. Something I did manage to do was make some alternate front covers using the illiustrations from the booklet. I might just use these for my digital library as the regular cover is about as boring as watching paint fall from an apple.