Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Senjutsu

[kaos2900]

I think TFF is easily the weakest of the reunion albums.

[cramx3]

I think TFF is easily the weakest of the reunion albums.

By far.  When reading some people's disappointments at the time of NPftD's release, I feel like I can relate for the release of TFF.  I guess I'll hold off anymore feelings on it until we get there.

[Lowdz]

I've ever felt that a Maiden have ever had a great sounding album, not since TNotB anyway.

[bosk1]

I think TFF is easily the weakest of the reunion albums.

Nope.  Best Maiden album of ANY era.  And it isn't even close.

[Mosh]

I've ever felt that a Maiden have ever had a great sounding album, not since TNotB anyway.

All Birch albums up to Seventh Son and Brave New World IMO.

[TAC]

I LOVE TFF. My favorite Reunion Era album. I may concede that AMOLAD is better, and they're basically tied for me, but TFF is just a bit brighter than AMOLAD.

[Kwyjibo]

TFF is great, not their best but better than most

[cramx3]

I've ever felt that a Maiden have ever had a great sounding album, not since TNotB anyway.

All Birch albums up to Seventh Son and Brave New World IMO.

BNW definitely.  LOVE the sound of that album.

[wolfking]

I think TFF is easily the weakest of the reunion albums.

Nope.  Best Maiden album of ANY era.  And it isn't even close.

[cramx3]

To each their own I say, at least we are all fans  About to head out of my hotel to see them tonight, sold out in Brooklyn 

[TAC]

Have fun Marc!  Will check the Cram youtube page tomorrow for a report! 

[King Postwhore]

I LOVE TFF. My favorite Reunion Era album. I may concede that AMOLAD is better, and they're basically tied for me, but TFF is just a bit brighter than AMOLAD.

AMOLAD is my favorite post reunion album.

[TAC]

I will always maintain that AMOLAD is the defining album of the Reunion Era.

[nobloodyname]

I think TFF is easily the weakest of the reunion albums.

Nope.  Best Maiden album of ANY era.  And it isn't even close.

Yup. That's my reaction to anyone who says similar about A Matter of Life and Death, too

[cramx3]

Have fun Marc!  Will check the Cram youtube page tomorrow for a report! 

I got a ghost video up, but I'll have one long maiden video ready tomorrow afternoon i think.

[TAC]

Have fun Marc!  Will check the Cram youtube page tomorrow for a report! 

I got a ghost video up, but I'll have one long maiden video ready tomorrow afternoon i think.

Checked it out..very nice!

[Ruba]

Aww guys, seems like I missed the start of the party. You've already been through the 80s. But I'll give a quick power ranking of Iron Maiden's seven first albums:

1. Killers
2. Iron Maiden
3. Powerslave
4. Piece of Mind
5. The Number of the Beast
6. Somewhere in Time
7. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

I like the Di'Anno albums best musically, even though Bruce is way better singer. And again, I'll take some of the Bruce's solo albums ahead of any Iron Maiden album. Also, I didn't first think I'd put Powerslave that high up, but when I thought about it, it's pretty damn solid album, without any filler. Those are also pretty much the best Iron Maiden albums. Maybe I'd snuck The X Factor between TNOBT and SIT.

Now onto No Prayer for the Dying. After Seventh Son, guitarist Adrian Smith (who I think is the best guitarist of the current three) left the band. After No Prayer, long-time graphic designer Derek Riggs left the band and and the follow-up Fear of the Dark is the last album produced by Martin Birch. After touring for FOTD Bruce Dickinson left to pursue a solo career. Early nineties were a clear end of an era to Iron Maiden to my mind the band has never reached the heights of the 1980s, even with Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson rejoining the fold in 1999.

I love the cover art. It's pretty simple and effective. It's also worth noting that Eddie is no longer sporting metal plate keeping his skull in one piece in his forehead, which he received after being lobotomized in Piece of Mind era. Oh, and the original picture with Eddie strangling the undertaker is the better one.

Musically, Maiden pretty much abandoned the synths and proggier song structures and opted to make pretty much balls-out rock record, the album along with Killers are the only Maiden albums to date not to have at least one longer epic song. The overall sound of the album is also a lot grittier than most of its predecessors. Bruce also sings with raspier voice than on earlier Maiden albums. The new guitarist, Janick Gers, is a good guitarist, but severely lacks the finesse when compared to Adrian Smith. I feel Adrian's solos are usually tasteful and well thought-out, where as Janick just squirts notes all around.

The material on the album is very uneven, there are some amazing songs and some meh songs. I think you could make one great album if you'd take the best tracks from No Prayer and Fear of the Dark, but both albums have too many lackluster songs.

The album starts with two rockier songs. Tailgunner (named after an XXX movie) evokes again images of II World War dogfights, but is musically a far cry from Aces High. Holy Smoke has a catchy main riff, but is otherwise pretty dull (fun guitar solos though). Oh, and it has an absolutely hilarious music video.

Then the quality thankfully jumps up a lot. The title track has some of the best guitar melodies in the band's whole catalogue. Public Enema Number One is the best straight-forward rocker on the album, with catchy chord structure and an amazing guitar solo by Dave Murray. I love the punny title and its rather dystopic lyrics. Fates Warning begins with a slow guitar intrduction reminiscing De Ja Vu from Somewhere in Time, but soon picks up pace with heavy gallopping rhythm and heavy guitar chords. The verse has an amazing guitar melody.

The Assassin has some good ideas, but the end product feels quite disjointed. The same can be said about the album closer Mother Russia.

Run Silent Run Deep is also one of the highlights of the album, amazing verse riff and a catchy chorus. I remember reading from some interview that Bruce doesn't really like the lyrics of the song, but I'll have to disagree, they'll portray pretty well the nature of submarine warfare. Also, the twin-guitar solo at 2:51 is one of the greatest moments in any Iron Maiden song ever.

Hooks in You is the only song on the album that has writing credits for Adrian Smith. It is yet another straight-forward major key hard rocker such as the two opening song. And similarly with them, it is a decent, but not very memorable song. Although it has cowbell in the intro.

Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter is a reimagining of a Bruce Dickinson solo song written for A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, with a heavier sound, but it's pretty much home among the other rockers on the album. I've never liked the song very much, but it's an OK hard rock track. Damn, did Maiden want to make an AC/DC record?

Mother Russia, like I said before, has its moments, but it seems like it's composed of parts that don't always go together seamlessly.

To recap, there are four top notch songs on the album (No Prayer for the Dying, Public Enema Number One, Fates Warning and Run Silent Run Deep). I wouldn't call any song on the album bad, but most are just quite average. I don't think hard rock/hair metal is where the Maiden should be at, they're a fucking heavy metal band with some progressive edge.

I also want to say that I love this cover of Kill Me (Ce Soir) which was a B-side and it beats most of the album easily.

Well, this turned out to be a slight novel. Thanks for everyone who bothered to read this far!

[ChuckSteak]

Killers on the top. 

[Mosh]

I’m currently working on an entry for the No Prayer tour, was hoping to have it up earlier but I’ve been pretty busy. Since the conversation has strayed away from the No Prayer album and has become more of a retrospective on their whole career (and since I’ve I think I’ve talked about just about everything up to this point anyway) might as well make a quick entry for this:

The First Ten Years (1990)



In early 1990, to commemorate 10 years of recorded history, Maiden reissued all of their singles on 12” double LPs, CD, and cassette. The singles were packaged in pairs with the original b-sides and a commentary track at the end by Nicko. This also included the Maiden Japan EP paired with the Purgatory single. Later on in the year, after the release of No Prayer, a VHS of The First Ten Years was released which featured all of the band’s music videos. The first five videos were previously collected on Video Pieces and Stranger In a Strange Land was on 12 Wasted Years, but none of the other videos were available commercially until this point.

With this release, Maiden were beginning to look back on their career more. This obviously showed on the album as well and even the tour (which we’ll get to). Of course, starting in the 90s, more compilations, reissues, and other archival releases followed. The closest thing they had to a greatest hits album was Live After Death and that was a whole five years old at this point.The First Ten Years remains as one of the best archival Maiden releases. They’re pretty hard to find now, but they did a good job with the CDs/LPs. Putting two singles on one disc was a nice way to give fans their money’s worth and the Nicko commentaries are awesome. Listening to the singles in order (or watching the VHS) really shows how quickly the band evolved over the years. As mentioned earlier, this is also the only way to get Maiden Japan officially on CD.

The First Ten Years was a success for the band with each of the CDs charting in the UK albums top 20. Maiden’s may have been declining in the US, but they were still going strong in their home country. Overall, a nice final retrospective of 80's Maiden.

[TAC]

I have literally zero recollection of those releases!

I’m currently working on an entry for the No Prayer tour, was hoping to have it up earlier but I’ve been pretty busy. 

I'm ready with comments and pics!

[Mosh]

I'm not sure if they actually came out in the US. I've never seen them sold second hand out here or known anyone from here who had them.

[Lowdz]

I've got some of those First Ten Years singles but nowhere near all. The Nickolas commentaries were funny.

[Zydar]

I actually have that on VHS somewhere.

[MirrorMask]

I have most if not every "First Ten Years" CDs and I agree they're a nice collection, also the Listen with Nicko sessions are awesome. Sure, I mostly forgot what they are all about by now, but they were just awesome commentaries from him, with the occasional filthy joke thrown in at the end.

I agree that they were a nice packaging for those fans coming in later, and wanting to have a proper singles collection. All the comments I've been able to offer on the B-Sides, are solely and completely thanks to these CDs.

[Stadler]

I have most if not every "First Ten Years" CDs and I agree they're a nice collection, also the Listen with Nicko sessions are awesome. Sure, I mostly forgot what they are all about by now, but they were just awesome commentaries from him, with the occasional filthy joke thrown in at the end.

I agree that they were a nice packaging for those fans coming in later, and wanting to have a proper singles collection. All the comments I've been able to offer on the B-Sides, are solely and completely thanks to these CDs.

They came out on Castle.  I have all of them at this point (the Live After Death is critical, because I think that's the only place to get some of the alternate live versions).   But some of the early, live b-sides are great, as are the b-sides for Powerslave and Somewhere In Time. 

"Nicko, here!  Hi.   Hi."

"We're gonna put it on a CD!"

[RodrigoAltaf]

Yeah, the Live After Death release has Murders in the Rue Morgue and Losfer Words live on the World Slavery Tour. Awesome versions, too!!!!

[Samsara]

Wow, cool. I had never heard of this 10 Years thing. As an aside, 10 Years is a killer band. 

[RodrigoAltaf]

Wow, cool. I had never heard of this 10 Years thing. As an aside, 10 Years is a killer band. 

Just wanna leave this here - Maiden covering Montrose´s I´ve Got The Fire. They used to play this song in their early days with Paul, and recorded a studio version as a B side of the Flight of Icarus single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n1XEzmPV10

[cramx3]

I've always loved that cover

[Setlist Scotty]

I remember when the first 10 years box set was released. I was at the height of my Maiden fandom at the time and super psyched to get each CD. Don't remember how I found out about the box set, altho I was an avid reader of Circus, Hit Parader and RIP! magazines at the time, so probably thru them. It was definitely not something available domestically in the US, so I remember having to drive down to the east side of Milwaukee to a music store that carried import releases. I did that every week for 10 weeks in a row. I also managed to get the box that housed the CDs, altho that cost me (I think) an extra $10 instead of exchanging all the vouchers that came with each CD.

I have very fond memories of that box set and all the B-sides within. It was like a hidden treasure-trove of stuff that I only had a small idea of existing (having seen a few Maiden cassette singles a couple years before).

[Stadler]

They released a live version of "I've Got The Fire" with Paul as well (b-side of "Sanctuary", with "Drifter (Live)". 

My version of the b-sides was not in a box, but as two-CD versions of the main albums.   So my copy of "Iron Maiden" has a second disk with "Sanctuary", "Burning Ambition", "Drifter (Live)" and "I've Got The Fire (Live)". 

Maiden is easily Top Three (with Genesis and Oasis) for b-sides.  Love them, and Total Eclipse is in my Top 10 Maiden songs ever.

[Setlist Scotty]

My version of the b-sides was not in a box, but as two-CD versions of the main albums.   So my copy of "Iron Maiden" has a second disk with "Sanctuary", "Burning Ambition", "Drifter (Live)" and "I've Got The Fire (Live)". 

Right - those were the 1995 reissues on the Castle label. AFAIK, those were released domestically in the US, as I recall picking up some of them in a Musicland or some other generic music store chain. Interesting thing about the bonus CD for Live After Death was that it had Losfer Words, Sanctuary and Murders in the Rue Morgue instead of "side 4" from the original album. I wish they'd reissue LAD once again and finally include those tracks as well (properly sequenced in the setlist (as well as "side 4"), even tho I know they weren't part of the Long Beach shows) since there's plenty of room on the second CD. Ah well.

[PowerSlave]

They released a live version of "I've Got The Fire" with Paul as well (b-side of "Sanctuary", with "Drifter (Live)".

I don't know about anyone else, but I've always liked this version better than the one that they did in the studio with Bruce.

[Mosh]

No Prayer On the Road (1990 - 91)


Keeping with the “back to the roots” theme of the album, when it was time to take No Prayer For the Dying on the road it made sense to maintain this aesthetic for the stage show. Fans of the elaborate productions throughout the 80s may have been disappointed to find that Maiden were employing a bare bones approach with their new tour. The props were gone, the fantastical backdrops were replaced with a huge line of Marshall cabinets, and the spandex costumes were exchanged for a more down to earth look with jeans, t-shirts, and leather jackets. Still an arena band, the stage setup wasn’t completely bare. The lighting rig changed a bit and incorporated brighter lights that were more integrated into the stage. This tour also saw the increased usage of background drapes with various artwork. The drapes made their first appearance on the World Slavery Tour, but were always used to complement the stage design. Since this tour didn’t really have a stage design, the drapes instead used single artwork and the tour poster. This became the standard that continues to this day.

They also scaled back Eddie compared to previous tours. Seventh Son featured the most extravagant Eddies yet, with two large Eddie’s and accompanying pyro. The No Prayer tour began with just one walk on Eddie wearing jeans and a leather jacket. Later on in the tour they added a big Eddie which came out of a tombstone ala World Slavery Tour.

Luckily the band made up for the barebones stage by putting on one of their most high energy performances ever. The addition of Janick Gers lit a fire under the rest of the band that was on clear display at nearly every show. Bruce and Steve have always been good about audience interaction and covering the whole stage, while Adrian and Dave typically stayed in their corners for the majority of the shows. Janick, however, is more like Bruce and Steve in that he essentially became a third frontman. Anyone who’s seen Maiden since 1990 knows what I’m talking about because he’s still the same kind of performer. From his very first tour with the band, he was throwing his guitar around, climbing up rafters, and generally having a good time on stage. He also got plenty of chances to show off his playing. Not only did he get to play all of Adrian’s old solos and interpret them his own way, but he also got a short unaccompanied solo spot at the end of 22 Acacia Avenue. This newfound energy also seemed to rub off on Dave, who was moving around on stage more than ever before.

Since Maiden weren’t scheduling themselves around a festival event, the tour itinerary returned to the usual UK tour followed by greater Europe tour followed by USA. The band also visited Japan for the first time since 1987. Similar to the Seventh Tour, the tour kicked off with a secret gig, this time under the name The Holy Smokers. The gig took place in the UK and was used mainly to introduce Janick to the fans. There was also a TV special covering the gig (link below).

As usual, the setlist was heavy on new material with some older songs mixed in. No Prayer received unusually heavy representation with seven new songs on the set. This was the most amount of new material played live since Piece of Mind, clearly the band were confident in their new release. They also played Bring Your Daughter To the Slaughter as an encore track, the first time since the Killers tour that a song from the latest album was played during the encore. The show predictably opened with Tailgunner, which was followed by Public Enema Number One. Rather than mix the rest of the No Prayer songs in with other “classics”, as was the Maiden standard at this point, the band used their older method of hitting the audience with a gauntlet of new songs in the middle of the set.

Somewhat appropriate for this tour, there seemed to be extra focus on The Number Of the Beast. Four songs were played from Number Of the Beast, with the occasional addition of The Prisoner making five. Only one song each from the previous three albums were played and two songs from Piece of Mind were played. The rest were the standard staples from the first two albums. They also messed with the typical song order a bit by placing The Trooper near the end and Hallowed Be Thy Name very early on. This was an interesting change of pace but overall I think most fans would agree that Hallowed is best toward the end of the set.

Overall, say what you will about the album, but the No Prayer On the Road tour saw a revitalized Maiden. The year off and change of personnel really made a difference for the better. The songs had more energy than the last few tours and Bruce sounded great. Unlike on the album, the raspy singing style was not used the whole time and was cleverly mixed with his more traditional operatic style. His operatic singing sounded stronger than before and his consistency on this tour was higher than usual. While he would leave the band just a couple years later, any question of his dedication to Maiden could be laid to rest after witnessing this tour.
 

Bootlegs and TV appearances
Unfortunately, No Prayer is the second tour not to have any official live release associated with it. This seemed like a bizarre move to me as it was Maiden’s “comeback” tour after a break and with a new lineup, plus the band sounded great, unlike much of the Somewhere In Time tour. The only official material from this tour is in the form of b-sides from Fear Of the Dark recorded at Wembley. Hopefully this concert is officially released some day. I’m also holding out hope that they have some video footage in the vault that will come out whenever they release Live At Donington on DVD.
That being said, they did do a lot of TV appearances during this tour and there are some very good bootlegs out there, so let's take a look:

Holy Smokers TV Special: This is a short document of the Holy Smokers secret gig that combines live and interview footage. Nothing too special, although you get Public Enema Number One which was only played on this tour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6FG7QZfYmo

No Prayer On the Road Documentary: Very cool documentary that once again features some live footage. This time you get Tailgunner, Wrathchild, Public Enema Number One, and Hallowed Be Thy Name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UjuCBLD-cI&t=1771s

Live at Wembley: This is a soundboard recording of one of the Wembley gigs and is among the best Iron Maiden bootlegs. The audio quality is fantastic and it almost sounds like an official release. The show is incomplete, but most of the important songs are there. The only glaring omission is Bring Your Daughter, but luckily it was well represented on live albums later on. Definitely don’t miss out on this one.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5unqrwbnt7bf2dk/AADgwUbM2OdNBOkrhK4JkynFa?dl=0

Dortmund: This is probably the best audience recording of the tour, as the camera angle is perfect. You get a full view of the stage right in the center. Sound quality is decent but I’m mostly including this so everyone can experience the stage show for this tour.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-h_lGp7ymdERSCBeF33aDoLN8Wh-3opW

Rockslide 1991: The band finished their tour with a short European run that mainly coincided with an appearance at the Rockslide festival in Denmark. The song selection on this one is less exciting, just Run To the Hills and Sanctuary, but there’s some interview footage too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKePPbdvMlo

[TAC]

I saw them twice on this tour:
1-21-91  Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands, NJ
1-25-91 Civic Center, Providence, RI

I must say that this was really one of my favorite tours. I loved the wall of Marshalls that replaced the scenic stages of the 80's.
Upon seeing the band hit the stage, there were two things that became obvious..Jannick was insanely demonstrative, and I had never seen Dave so engaged. I felt that Jannick really pulled Dave out of his shell. This fact was noted by Mick Wall in Run To the Hills, but it is truly my main memory of these shows.

And the setlist kicked ass. After opening with Tailgunner and PE#1, they went right into Wrathchild, Die With Your Boots On, and then Hallowed Be Thy Name in a rare early spot. But it worked so greatly. Then surprisingly launched right into 22 Acacia Avenue. I just thought it was such a cool run of tracks. Again, my high school and college days are now officially behind me, and I thought it was such a great trip down memory lane to start off the show. Not sure if any of that makes any sense..

Anthrax opened!