Consecutive albums with a huge drop in quality

[Zook]

Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera -> A Twist in the Myth

[Skeever]

Maiden:  Somewhere in Time > Seventh Son (going from contender for best album in their discography to absolute tripe in a single album cycle)

I'd like to pull the thread here a bit... what do you not like about Seventh Son?
This is definitely an uncommon opinion, because I think most fans would say Seventh Son is great. Is it the keyboards? The cryptic, underbaked concept?

[wolfking]

Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera -> A Twist in the Myth

Great pick.

[Skeever]

Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera -> A Twist in the Myth

Great pick.

I would have agreed at the time, but not really anymore.
Really, really love "Fly", can't believe how well that song has aged for me, over 15 years later.

[bosk1]

Maiden:  Somewhere in Time > Seventh Son (going from contender for best album in their discography to absolute tripe in a single album cycle)

I'd like to pull the thread here a bit... what do you not like about Seventh Son?
This is definitely an uncommon opinion, because I think most fans would say Seventh Son is great. Is it the keyboards? The cryptic, underbaked concept?

The underbaked concept certainly doesn't help, but to me, the songs just aren't there at all.  It isn't the keyboards either.  Somewhere in Time is my favorite classic era album, and that one is dripping with keyboards.  When I was going through my discovery of Maiden back in 2011 or so, I was really enjoying all the Bruce albums.  This was the last one I bought (as far as what was out at the time), and it was a wakeup call to the fact that just because Bruce sang on a Maiden album wouldn't necessarily mean that it was a good Maiden album.  I was shocked at how little I liked anything I was hearing.  A couple of repeat listens didn't change my mind, so I shelved it for good.  Never bought the two albums that followed it given my reaction to this one and knowing how fans viewed those two.

[TAC]

The underbaked concept certainly doesn't help, but to me, the songs just aren't there at all.  It isn't the keyboards either.  Somewhere in Time is my favorite classic era album, and that one is dripping with keyboards.  When I was going through my discovery of Maiden back in 2011 or so, I was really enjoying all the Bruce albums.  This was the last one I bought (as far as what was out at the time), and it was a wakeup call to the fact that just because Bruce song on a Maiden album wouldn't necessarily mean that it was a good Maiden album.  I was shocked at how little I liked anything I was hearing.  A couple of repeat listens didn't change my mind, so I shelved it for good.  Never bought the two albums that followed it given my reaction to this one and knowing how fans viewed those two.

While I don't really agree, this is a legit position. It's always interesting to hear people's thoughts that listened to these albums after the fact.

[wolfking]

Yeah, I can fully respect that explanation.

[Skeever]

Same. And honestly, not sure where Seventh Son would rank in terms of my overall view of Maiden's discog.

In High School, it ranked fairly high, but that's because I think I was a little too generous with the album's serious tone and concept as things that "elevate" it. These days I'm less impressed with all the pretense, and do agree that a lot of the songs just aren't there for me. I would probably agree with Bosk that Seventh Son was the worst album Iron Maiden had released when it was the newest one. However, it's still much better than the next 2 (or four) albums for me, and then I'd put it below all of the reunion albums (probably).

[bosk1]

...However, it's still much better than the next 2 (or four) albums for me, and then I'd put it below all of the reunion albums (probably).

Yeah, from what I've heard of those next four, I might agree as well.  Although there are some good songs on X and XI that are dragged down by the vocals.  And that isn't meant to unfairly slam Blaze.  I can respect him as a singer.  He just wasn't the right singer for Maiden.  Kind of similar to how I feel about Charlie Dominicci.  Having heard his work on his later solo albums, I came to respect him as a singer and realize that the problem with him on WDADU is simply that he just wasn't the right singer for that material. 

[Zantera]

I actually do like Seventh Son quite a lot and it would most likely make my top5 Maiden albums, but if I'm playing devil's advocate I would say the hits from it are fairly weak compared to the other singles of the classic era - Can I Play With Madness? is not a song I feel very strongly about at all and The Evil That Men Do is fine but I feel like both fade when stacked against Aces High/2 Minutes to Midnight or The Trooper/Flight of Icarus, or Wasted Years/Heaven Can Wait just to name a few. It also feels odd having the self titled epic in the middle of the album because despite liking the 3 songs after, it feels almost anticlimactic after the self-titled track.

Again, love the album but I can definitely see some small nitpicks there.

[bosk1]

To follow up on that, those two singles raise some interesting discussion points.  Never liked Can I Play With Madness at all.  First time I heard it live (Flight 666), I was a little confused at why they played it, as it felt like a low-tier b-side.  The Evil That Men do, on the other hand, is pretty interesting for me.  First heard it on Ev Vivo!  And that version is actually really good.  I mean, I wouldn't say it is a standout track from that set, but it definitely fills its timeslot well, has a lot of energy, and is just a fun few minutes of music.  When I subsequently heard the album version, I thought it was a letdown.  That version was just flat and lifeless to my ears.  And I think that highlights how I feel about the album as a whole.  The whole thing just feels flat and lifeless to me.  Maybe there are some tunes in there that would grab me more in a live setting where they are a bit more energetic and lively, like The Evil.  But the album versions just don't do it for me.