The BRUCE DICKINSON Discography v. Goodbye, Bruce

[TAC]

For me QFF is the only low point on a great album.
I love Sun & Steel but that's the hair metal fan in me 

Sun And Steel, now THAT'S a catchy song.

[theseoafs]

A quick track by track for me -- I'll move us on to Powerslave in the morning.

Where Eagles Dare -- Mr. McBrain announces his entry into the group, and the beginning of the group's string of albums with their classic lineup, with aplomb.  The instrumental work is truly incredible here, though I agree it gets just a bit repetitive in the middle.

Revelations -- This album also marked the transition into a more mature writing style -- the band moved away from the "horror" style into myth, religion, war, and science fiction.  As has been mentioned, Mr. Dickinson's contributions can't be underestimated -- this is a fantastic song, and largely thanks to Bruce's contributions.

Flight of Icarus -- Never knew that the reason this one isn't played any more is a dispute over the tempo.  (For the record, I prefer the slower tempo of the studio version.)  Anyway, we've got another deserving Maiden classic here.  This is a fine song to listen to a dozen times at the request of your son -- at least it wasn't Quest for Fire, bosk.

Die With Your Boots On -- Eh, this one is fine.  A little filler-y in comparison to much of the album, but a very strong tune on its own.  (One of the posters mentioned that Bruce's little bit of vocal improv in the last chorus -- the "try, try" -- is pretty cool, and I agree that this is a special little embellishment.)

The Trooper -- Really, what is there even left to say about this one?  This song is Maiden.

Still Life -- A fantastic, haunting, underrated little gem.  They should pull this one out in modern tours -- it seems to me like this one would fit right in along with Brave New World and Paschendale.  NIGHTMAREEEEESSSSSSS

Quest for Fire -- Nahhhh.

Sun and Steel -- Nothing special about this one, but it's really just a bit of filler.  Entirely inoffensive.

To Tame a Land -- And thus began the age of really proggy epics.  This is a truly unique and excellent piece.

[Perpetual Change]

Kinda disappointed in this thread. Everyone's just giving their track by tracks and rankings, and there is no discussion at all. It has, so far, been the exact opposite of the other discography threads Orbert runs.

[Hayden]

Revelations -- This album also marked the transition into a more mature writing style -- the band moved away from the "horror" style into myth, religion, war, and science fiction.  As has been mentioned, Mr. Dickinson's contributions can't be underestimated -- this is a fantastic song, and largely thanks to Bruce's contributions.

Really well summed up .

Die With Your Boots On -- Eh, this one is fine.  A little filler-y in comparison to much of the album, but a very strong tune on its own.

This word is being applied to "Die With Your Boots On" a lot, but I don't really know if the it's justified here. "DWYBO" is a really memorable track, and I think that a fair bit of effort was devoted to it. As far as down-sides go, it merely falters in its direction; it just feels a little misguided, and could have used a revision or two. But to call it 'filler', I'm not so sure.

To Tame a Land -- And thus began the age of really proggy epics.[...]

Actually, one could argue that it began at the end of the previous album, with "Hallowed...".

[TAC]

Kinda disappointed in this thread. Everyone's just giving their track by tracks and rankings, and there is no discussion at all. It has, so far, been the exact opposite of the other discography threads Orbert runs.

Perp, I wish I could contribute more. Between work and the Blizzard, I just haven't had the time. It sucks making long posts on my phone.

[Perpetual Change]

Kinda disappointed in this thread. Everyone's just giving their track by tracks and rankings, and there is no discussion at all. It has, so far, been the exact opposite of the other discography threads Orbert runs.

Perp, I wish I could contribute more. Between work and the Blizzard, I just haven't had the time. It sucks making long posts on my phone.

I get it. I guess I'm being a bit selfish, since I was so excited about this I actually wrote my post in advance while on lunch at work, but it seems to have gotten buried under tons of lists and rankings and stuff... which is pretty much what has been happening this whole thread. If anyone else agrees with me and wants to make a concerted effort to promote better discussion here, cool. If not, I'll just quietly withdraw from the front rows and head up to the balcony of this thread.

[Scorpion]

I get where you're coming from, but especially stuff like 425 posts have been both very informative and discussion-inciting to me, and it did fit the spirit of what the thread is supposed to be. I'd contribute more, but I'm not really of an age where I have any interesting anecdotes to contribute concerning early IM stuff, you know?

[bosk1]

I just want to come back to this for a second:

I wasn't expecting to say this, but I think I might actually prefer [Number Of The Beast] to Piece of Mind by a good margin.

Having had the chance to listen to Piece of Mind quite a few times now, I like it a lot more than I did just a few days ago.  But here's the issue:  As much as I'm liking it, there are two songs in particular (Quest For Fire and Sun And Steel) that I don't dislike, but could just as well do without if they weren't there.  On NOTB, there isn't a single track I would discard if given the opportunity.  Either way, both are very strong albums.  I'm hoping we can have a bit more discussion on them before moving on to the next one.  I'm thinking about picking up Power Slave, but my dilemma is that I don't want to overdo it and buy too much at once and not really take the time to familiarize myself with the songs.  If I just pick up a huge chunk of the discography all at once, I will surely end up overlooking a lot of good stuff that I just don't end up giving the time to.  Eh, I'll probably pick up Power Slave anyway, and then just hold off on other stuff after that.

[Perpetual Change]

Have you picked up any reunion stuff? I wouldn't make the mistake of overlooking that, especially if the dated sound is one of the things detracting from your experience now.

I might get stoned for suggesting a greatest hits record, but... there's a lot of great stuff on this two-disc set, especially considering the price: https://www.amazon.com/From-Fear-Eternity-Best-1990-2010/dp/B004Y03LQ2

Ultimately, it's not a greatest hits record since you can't really say that Maiden have had many "hits" since the 80's. It's more akin to DT's "Greatest Hit and other cool songs" thing.

[Hayden]

'From Fear to Eternity' is actually a really great compilation, and features a lot of my favourites. I'm not usually a fan of compilations, but I'm glad this one exists, mainly because of the fact that it gives Maiden's latter-day material some well-deserved exposure.

Still, I'd suggest buying the individual albums themselves. Particularly their last four, since they actually work really well as albums, and not just song collections.

[Perpetual Change]

Yeah, you're missing out on a lot of great stuff if you just go with the compilation, but at least the compilation isn't a collection of singles that never took off. It's more like a collection of songs the band like, and are likely to play live, targeted to people who are going to Maiden but maybe haven't heard their music since the 80s.

BNW is decently represented, though "Out of the Silent Planet" is underated.

Almost all the good stuff from DoD is there, except for "Journeyman", which IMO is a top 10 IM tune.

AMOLAD is well-represented, but that is really an album that needs to be taken whole, so yeah.

And literally all the good stuff from TFF is there, except the title track, which is pretty good but not great.

Plus, you get "Paschendale", "The Clansman", and "Where the Wild Wind Blows"-- three top 5 Maiden songs right there.

[bosk1]

Have you picked up any reunion stuff? I wouldn't make the mistake of overlooking that, especially if the dated sound is one of the things detracting from your experience now.

No, not yet, but I intend to.  I'm probably eventually going to get everything.  I'm just taking my time and don't want to oversaturate.  Not sure whether to pick up a compilation.  On one hand, it seems like a waste since I'll eventually be picking up probably the entire discography (or at least a good chunk of it).  On the other hand, it'll likely whet my appetite for albums if there are certain standout tracks that I end up liking a lot.  Not sure.  Just playing it by ear at this point.

Back to POM for a second, one thing that stands out to me more on this album than on other isolated Maiden songs I've heard is that the bass is mixed VERY well.  Harris plays some VERY nice walking bass lines that are very up front in the mix, but at the same time are not overbearing.  His reputation speaks for itself, obviously, but for me just now really being exposed to a lot of his playing for the first time, I'm struck by what a great feel he has for his instrument and how it fits into the overall song structure.  His influence on other rock/metal bassists is also very apparent.  There was a very obscure band I latched onto in the '90s, for example, called Die Happy.  Their bass player, Greg Chaisson (who was in Steeler with Yngwie, Badlands with Jake E. Lee, and some other bands), did a lot of really similar stuff, and listening to POM, it is obvious to me that during the era that Greg was with Die Happy, they really tried to emulate a lot of Maiden's sound, including the very prominent melodic wakling bass lines.  So, yeah...Steve Harris! 

[Lowdz]

I just want to come back to this for a second:

I wasn't expecting to say this, but I think I might actually prefer [Number Of The Beast] to Piece of Mind by a good margin.

Having had the chance to listen to Piece of Mind quite a few times now, I like it a lot more than I did just a few days ago.  But here's the issue:  As much as I'm liking it, there are two songs in particular (Quest For Fire and Sun And Steel) that I don't dislike, but could just as well do without if they weren't there.  On NOTB, there isn't a single track I would discard if given the opportunity.  Either way, both are very strong albums.  I'm hoping we can have a bit more discussion on them before moving on to the next one.  I'm thinking about picking up Power Slave, but my dilemma is that I don't want to overdo it and buy too much at once and not really take the time to familiarize myself with the songs.  If I just pick up a huge chunk of the discography all at once, I will surely end up overlooking a lot of good stuff that I just don't end up giving the time to.  Eh, I'll probably pick up Power Slave anyway, and then just hold off on other stuff after that.

I'd take Sun & Steel over Gangland and Invaders, though I don't actually mind Invaders.

But Bosk1, Powerslave is a great album. No point denying yourself a great album. There will be time to take a rest when the  standard started to drop with Fear Of The dark and No Rest- not to mention the Blaze albums. others won't agree.

[bosk1]

Yeah, you may be right. 

By the way, keep meaning to say this, but keep forgetting:  Nice Jack Butler avatar. 

[Perpetual Change]

Steve Harris is the man. One thing this thread hasn't been covering so far are the live concerts and documentaries. We've already missed a few of those, and a great one that covers the period from the beginning of IM to PoM is the The Early Days documentary, which is an absolute NECESSITY for Iron Maiden fans. It's great. You can't watch it without coming away with understanding that Steve Harris was (and to a large extent still is) Iron Maiden. I'd argue that PoM saw Bruce stepping up to a role of almost equal standing. Ultimately it's the meshing of Steve Harris' initial vision with Bruce's new ideas that complete IM, and PoM is the first time we really hear that (Bruce didn't write on TNOB, nor did he have anything to do with the direction of the record).

I agree that standards plummet with FotD and NPFTD. There's no need to get those albums, honestly, especially since the best versions of the best song are on every live release the band have done since then. Bruce era 90's Maiden is absolutely the bottom of the barrel. Blaze era isn't quite as bad, but neither is it anywhere near as good as the 80's and reunion stuff. 

[TAC]

Bosk, treat yourself to a live album before you buy a compilation.

And hell yes, Steve Harris

I think I told you that in your original thread.

[GuineaPig]

Here's what I think about Piece of Mind: it's the album that improves the most when the songs are played live.

"Where Eagles Dare" gets its pointless and momentum-killing repetition excised live.

"Revelations," "Flight of Icarus," "Die With Your Boots On," and "The Trooper" all get sped up (they were too slow on record).

And of course "Quest for Fire" and "Sun and Steel" don't get played at all.

[kirksnosehair]

I just want to come back to this for a second:

I wasn't expecting to say this, but I think I might actually prefer [Number Of The Beast] to Piece of Mind by a good margin.

Having had the chance to listen to Piece of Mind quite a few times now, I like it a lot more than I did just a few days ago.  But here's the issue:  As much as I'm liking it, there are two songs in particular (Quest For Fire and Sun And Steel) that I don't dislike, but could just as well do without if they weren't there.  On NOTB, there isn't a single track I would discard if given the opportunity.

I agree with that, if you're talking about the original release (sans "Total Eclipse")  I regard "Total Eclipse" in the same way as QFF and SAS)

[bosk1]

I YouTube'd Total Eclipse last week and really liked it. 

"Revelations," "Flight of Icarus," "Die With Your Boots On," and "The Trooper" all get sped up (they were too slow on record).

I was really confused when I read that and literally said to myself, "This must be the Battlestar Galactica thread, because here's GP making absolutely zero sense again."  You are a silly, silly person.



EDIT:  By the way, WHY DOES MY STUPID COMPUTER HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM WITH A 1998 "ENHANCED CD"?!  EVERY TIME I TRY TO RIP PIECE OF MIND SO I CAN ACTUALLY LISTEN TO IT AT WORK, MY COMPUTER COMPLETELY FREAKS OUT AND LOSES ITS MIND (NUGGET?)! 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I YouTube'd Total Eclipse last week and really liked it. 

"Revelations," "Flight of Icarus," "Die With Your Boots On," and "The Trooper" all get sped up (they were too slow on record).

I was really confused when I read that and literally said to myself, "This must be the Battlestar Galactica thread, because here's GP making absolutely zero sense again."  You are a silly, silly person.

I have to agree, i think the tempos are great on the albums and infact for the most part too sped up live!

[Scorpion]

Yeah, I agree. Funny thing: I actually heard the LAD version of most songs on POM first, and even though I had no idea of knowing that they were actually supposed to be slower, I repeatedly thought "You know, this is cool, but they should slow it down a little." Especially Flight of Icarus is an offender here, it's so much better in the studio than live.

[GuineaPig]

I YouTube'd Total Eclipse last week and really liked it. 

"Revelations," "Flight of Icarus," "Die With Your Boots On," and "The Trooper" all get sped up (they were too slow on record).

I was really confused when I read that and literally said to myself, "This must be the Battlestar Galactica thread, because here's GP making absolutely zero sense again."  You are a silly, silly person.

I'll have you know that Steve Harris agrees with me. 

[bosk1]

STEVE HARRIS HAS NEVER EVEN SEEN BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!

[Lowdz]

I just want to come back to this for a second:

I wasn't expecting to say this, but I think I might actually prefer [Number Of The Beast] to Piece of Mind by a good margin.

Having had the chance to listen to Piece of Mind quite a few times now, I like it a lot more than I did just a few days ago.  But here's the issue:  As much as I'm liking it, there are two songs in particular (Quest For Fire and Sun And Steel) that I don't dislike, but could just as well do without if they weren't there.  On NOTB, there isn't a single track I would discard if given the opportunity.

I agree with that, if you're talking about the original release (sans "Total Eclipse")  I regard "Total Eclipse" in the same way as QFF and SAS)

For some reason I don't even consider Total Eclipse as part of the album as it wasn't on the original. Strange as I do consider Twilight Zone as being part of Killers and that was a single b side too.

[theseoafs]

I'm hoping we can have a bit more discussion on them before moving on to the next one.

Sure thing.

Have you picked up any reunion stuff? I wouldn't make the mistake of overlooking that, especially if the dated sound is one of the things detracting from your experience now.

I might get stoned for suggesting a greatest hits record, but... there's a lot of great stuff on this two-disc set, especially considering the price: https://www.amazon.com/From-Fear-Eternity-Best-1990-2010/dp/B004Y03LQ2

Yeah, bosk, make sure not to forget the reunion stuff.  I think the reunion albums are pretty much all masterpieces and I plan to hit them pretty hard discussion-wise.

I wouldn't go with the greatest hits record, though.  From Fear to Eternity has a fine tracklist, but it will just be redundant if your ultimate goal is to purchase most of Maiden's catalog (which it should be).

We've already missed a few of those, and a great one that covers the period from the beginning of IM to PoM is the The Early Days documentary, which is an absolute NECESSITY for Iron Maiden fans.   

I do plan on hitting the "major" live albums, starting with LAD.  I wasn't sure about including the documentaries, but if people want to talk about them then there's no reason not to.

Kinda disappointed in this thread. Everyone's just giving their track by tracks and rankings, and there is no discussion at all. It has, so far, been the exact opposite of the other discography threads Orbert runs.

I'll think about what I can do to change this in the future.  On that note, guys, if you have any other suggestions for the thread, make sure to throw them at me.  I'm not protective of the thread's identity -- all I wanted was a casual place to talk about Maiden's albums, and I'm pretty much happy with however that gets incarnated because the participation so far has been really awesome.

[Jaq]

I've done what I can to bring the discussion, because I got over rankings and lists a few years ago and find myself a better music fan for it, but part of it really is simply...it's Iron Maiden. They're pretty much a band that you can safely say "what else is there to say?" and get away with it.

[theseoafs]

^Well, my suspicion is that will change as we go along.  "What else is there to say?" might be a natural reaction if you're asked to say a few sentences about Hallowed, but my impression is that there's still a lot left to say about Seventh Son, The X Factor, and Brave New World, among others.

[Lowdz]

STEVE HARRIS HAS NEVER EVEN SEEN BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!

Though if he had there'd be a song about it.

[Dream Team]

Bosk, just to beat a dead horse, if you are continuing in chronological order - after Seventh Son, skip the 90s. You don't want to waste time and money on that period when you can be listening to the 4 reunion albums. Maiden's output is IMO conveniently sliced up that way:

80s - amazing
90s - meh
00s - good to excellent

As mentioned, a live album and that Early Years box set would be great additions also. One thing you'll see about the guys in IM, in contrast to the scary image they originally tried to create; they really are some of the nicest, most soft-spoken guys in the history of metal.

[Perpetual Change]

STEVE HARRIS HAS NEVER EVEN SEEN BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!

Though if he had there'd be a song about it.

[GuineaPig]

 


Edit: I can just imagine the lyrics.  Here's a sample:

[CHORUS]

So say we all   (x8)

[bosk1]

Yeah, not sure I'm going to go chronological.  I'll probably get Power Slave next since it is highly rated and is the next up for discussion, and then I'll get either a live album or a studio album from the 2000's.  That's probably my preference for now, but it may also be influenced by whatever the record store has in stock as well. 

Actually, that leads me to something I remembered just last night.  When I started my Iron Maiden recommendation thread last week, I mentioned the fact that I never got into them in the '80s due to a combination of not being overly impressed with their sound from the limited stuff I heard, and also being misinformed about the subject matter of their material, primarily because of NOTB.  But there was one other factor I had forgotten about.  It was simply a matter of inconvenience for awhile.  But let me explain...  I was in middle school and just beginning high school during the classic Maiden era.  And there was no music store in my town.  The vast majority of the music I owed came from me spending my paper route money through Columbia House, where I would pick what I wanted from the monthly catalogs they would send, and I would fill out the little return card for that month and wait several weeks for the shiny new cassette tape to show up in my mailbox.  The nearest record store was off the beaten path, so getting mom and dad to take me there wasn't a common occurence, and it was a pretty long bike ride, so I rarely did it on my own unless there was something Columbia House didn't offer that I really wanted.  Well, guess what?  Columbia House didn't have any Iron Maiden.  None.  I actually thought about buying Piece Of Mind at one point, but it wasn't in the catalogs.  And what little I had heard from Maiden didn't justify the long bike ride.  So they pretty much just slipped off my radar and stayed that way for a long time.  I had forgotten that part of it, but there you have it.  Funny how just the ordinary circumstances of life like that can lead to musical discoveries or lack thereof. 


EDIT:  @ the BSG song posts.

[bosk1]

Also, question:  Just out of curiosity, do people find it fun, or do you find it annoying, having a complete Iron Maiden n00b actively participating in the thread?

[theseoafs]

I certainly think it's fun.  Honestly I would think it was pretty lame if nobody new got into Maiden as a result of the thread.

[JayOctavarium]

Piece of Mind is solid. A bit more solid for me than TNotB. Powerslave though is a whole new level for me. But I'll save my discussion of that for the next segment.


You know... I am learning that i know a TON more Maiden than I thought. Kinda disappointing that when I actually saw Maiden in 2010 (with DT of course) the set was mainly newer Maiden. If it was more 80's orientated I would already be a huge IM nut. Also I have found that a lot of their stuff clicks so much faster live than studio takes..