The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread!

[jjrock88]

Brent I think you need to listen to only Iron Maiden for a week and see if that changes your mind.

[bl5150]

Brent I think you need to listen to only Iron Maiden for a week and see if that changes your mind.

The metal doctor has prescribed a week's course of Maiden until finished.

Yes Doc 

[Lowdz]

One of my first bands- Killers is a Lowdz top 50 album, Beast, PoM and Powerslave aren't far behind and then it went downhill... Or my taste changed maybe? I was really into the shredders by the time SiT hit and Murray and Smith just weren't doing it for me. Live they were alwYs awesome. I've seen them several times, twice at Donington I think.
Of the post ssoass albums only aMoLaD was much of a hit with me.

And as for Pat, I saw a live concert on TV from the Get Nervous tour and fell in love. I have all those early albums on vinyl but she went too pop for me in the late 80s and I lost track.

[KevShmev]

I wouldn't see Pat Benatar until about 1995ish opening for Styx.

That was 1997, I believe.

1996 was Styx's Return to Paradise tour (that they did with Kansas).

[TAC]

After consulting my ticket stub album, I saw Styx twice.
Return To Paradise on 5/26/91 and The Grand Illusion show on 6/20/96. Pat Benatar opened the 96 show.

[bl5150]

After consulting my ticket stub album

I wish I had kept more of those now........concerts in Australia by my favourite bands are so rare and I didn't bother to keep many.  I have also never been one for taking cameras along so my records/memory of gigs aren't what they could be.

Having said that the missus threw a box at me on the weekend ("can I throw this out"- y'know   ) and it had a couple of interesting things in it that I will try and post during the week.

And..........I never thought I would see Maiden week be overwhelmed by Pat Benatar and Styx

[KevShmev]

Hmmm, that is odd. I saw them on 7-27-96 and I remember that being advertised as a Kansas/Styx billing for the whole summer tour.  Weird.

But wait, how did you see the Return to Paradise tour in 1991?  That tour was in 1996.

[King Postwhore]

I thought the Return to Paradise tour was 96 with Kansas as Kev said.  91/92 was the Edge Of The Century tour with Gen Burtnick filling in for Tommy Shaw.

[KevShmev]

According to set.list.fm, both Kansas and Styx played at the Great Woods Amphitheater in Mansfield, MA, on 6-20-96, and Pat Benatar didn't play anywhere that night.

[King Postwhore]

I was at that show.  That was the first time seeing Todd Sucherman live.  He is a monster of a drummer.

[TAC]

Did they tour it twice?

I definitely remember it being billed as the Return To Paradise. The guy comes out sweeping the stage, etc. Tommy Shaw was present, as was Dennis DeYoung.

Pat Benatar definitely opened here in '96. I was dating my The Lovely Mrs TAC and she was a big Pat Benatar fan. No sign of Kansas, unless they were billed 3rd, but I would remember that.

According to set.list.fm, both Kansas and Styx played at the Great Woods Amphitheater in Mansfield, MA, on 6-20-96, and Pat Benatar didn't play anywhere that night.

Setlist FM is wrong. I have NEVER seen Kansas.

I was at that show.  That was the first time seeing Todd Sucherman live.  He is a monster of a drummer.

Do you remember who opened? I KNOW it was Pat Benatar.

[King Postwhore]

Yes, it was Kansas.  I was with my wife, brother and my best buddy.

[TAC]

I just asked my wife and she says Pat Benatar! 

Setlist FM has three generic song entries for that night. Can't be trusted. Was Kansas 3rd on the bill, and we stayed in the parking lot, maybe?

[TAC]

OK Mystery solved..Saw them on 6/27/97 at Great Woods with Pat Benatar. Did not go to the 96 show. Can't find the stub, but for some reason I had the 96 show on my list.

I remember them playing them featuring The Grand Illusion album.

I saw them in '91 and that was a Return To Paradise tour. They must have retoured it in 96 and I did not go.


BTW, stumbled upon this website during this exercise this morning:
https://www.styxtoury.com/performances.html

[King Postwhore]

Ooh!  I'll check that out!

[jjrock88]

How did the Iron Maiden discussion turn into Pat Benatar lol

Iron Maiden is a band that I enjoy every song from every album.  Not one song that I would skip.

Top five albums

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Somewhere in Time
Number of the Beast
Powerslave
Piece of Mind

[TAC]

I wouldn't see Pat Benatar until about 1995ish opening for Styx.

That was 1997, I believe.

1996 was Styx's Return to Paradise tour (that they did with Kansas).

You are correct.

I figured out my mistake. I only have two Styx shows listed on my Concert List. 91 & 96. I know I saw the Return To Paradise show and The Grand Illusion Show, and I also remember Pat Benatar opening for the Grand Illusion tour. Well, I FOUND my 96 stub and guess what..it says Styx/KANSAS!

So apparently I saw Styx 3 times, not twice. Not sure why the 97 show is not on my List, but I know I saw it.
Anyway, I have no recollection of the 91 show, even though I obviously attended due to my stub, not do I have any recollection of Kansas in 96, though my stub proves I was there, and I distinctly remember seeing the Return To Paradise show.

A lesson for you kids out there..lay off the  !!

[bl5150]

I am going to have an Iron Maiden day tomorrow....sorry Pat.    I have everything from Killers to Seventh Son , so will listen to those + one of the latter ones.  My question to you guys is , knowing my taste to some extent , which one of the post Seventh Son albums would you recommend first? 

[jjrock88]

I would say Fear of the Dark.

[Kwyjibo]

Always was a fan of Pat Benatar but never got around to seeing her live, so I had to do with live videos. I wouldn't mind it if she would put out some new music. Like so many other bands she's turning into a nostalgia act, touring and playing the same hits over and over again.

And now: Back to metal, Maiden ranking time.

For me, Maiden is all about Bruce Dickinson. I know that Steve Harris is the main songwriter and probably the driving force behind the band. But what I mean is that for this kind of music to work you need a powerful soaring metal singer, just like Bruce Dickinson. This is the main reason why I don’t like/can’t connect with the Bailey and the DiAnno albums. The songs just don’t work with another voice. And in the case of the Bailey era there are  also bad production and bad songwriting to blame. So anyway, my rating goes like this:

1. Piece Of Mind
2. Powerslave
3. The Number Of The Beast
4. Brave New World
5. The Final Frontier
6. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
7. A Matter Of Life And Death
8. Somewhere In Time
9. Dance Of Death
10. Fear Of The Dark
11. Killers
12. No Prayer For The Dying
13. Iron Maiden
14. The X Factor
15. Virtual XI

[Lowdz]

I am going to have an Iron Maiden day tomorrow....sorry Pat.    I have everything from Killers to Seventh Son , so will listen to those + one of the latter ones.  My question to you guys is , knowing my taste to some extent , which one of the post Seventh Son albums would you recommend first?

A Matter of Life and Death or Brave New World - avoid the Blaze albums  (I know Kade won't agree!)

[wolfking]

I would say Fear of the Dark.

This or BNW.  maybe AMOLAD too.

[wolfking]

I am going to have an Iron Maiden day tomorrow....sorry Pat.    I have everything from Killers to Seventh Son , so will listen to those + one of the latter ones.  My question to you guys is , knowing my taste to some extent , which one of the post Seventh Son albums would you recommend first?

A Matter of Life and Death or Brave New World - avoid the Blaze albums  (I know Kade won't agree!)

TXF FTW.  I love TXF but I think I wouldn't recommend this to Brent right away.  It would be one of the last to check out.

[bl5150]

Thanks guys - looks like the consensus is Fear Of The Dark and Brave New World.  At least if I expand my horizons beyond 5 or 6 albums my Top 5 will mean a little more.

[Kwyjibo]

Fear Of The Dark is from a time when IM was on the decline, BNW is the triumphant return, so I would go with the latter (and the other three reunion albums) before hearing Fear Of The Dark. Fear Of The Dark has some good tracks but consists of mostly filler material, al least imo.

[jjrock88]

Fear Of The Dark is from a time when IM was on the decline, BNW is the triumphant return, so I would go with the latter (and the other three reunion albums) before hearing Fear Of The Dark. Fear Of The Dark has some good tracks but consists of mostly filler material, al least imo.

No filler with Maiden!

[Kwyjibo]

As much as I love Maiden, I think that almost every album has at least one filler track and with Fear and No Prayer it's more filler than good ones. Not to mention Virtual XI, which is mostly not even filler material 

[TAC]

Fear Of The Dark is from a time when IM was on the decline, BNW is the triumphant return, so I would go with the latter (and the other three reunion albums) before hearing Fear Of The Dark. Fear Of The Dark has some good tracks but consists of mostly filler material, al least imo.

The problem with FOTD is that this was the first Maiden album in the "CD age" and the album is much longer than it needs to be. It's easily 3-4 songs too long. I firmly believe that Fear is 8 songs deep.
Another issue with the album is how bad Bruce sounds on it. Either he didn't care, or his voice was shot.

[Lowdz]

Fear Of The Dark is from a time when IM was on the decline, BNW is the triumphant return, so I would go with the latter (and the other three reunion albums) before hearing Fear Of The Dark. Fear Of The Dark has some good tracks but consists of mostly filler material, al least imo.

The problem with FOTD is that this was the first Maiden album in the "CD age" and the album is much longer than it needs to be. It's easily 3-4 songs too long. I firmly believe that Fear is 8 songs deep.
Another issue with the album is how bad Bruce sounds on it. Either he didn't care, or his voice was shot.

Yeah, this.

Some killer on there but not enough to make me want to play the album to get to it. Even in the vinyl age Maiden pushed the limits of the technology length-wise.
 And I agree with kwyjibo about the filler. Except for Killers which is perfect.

[TAC]

Iron Maiden is one of my all time favorite bands, but yes, there is plenty of filler.

Hey Brent, nothing wrong with taking Defenders over Powerslave. I'd likely do the same.

[bosk1]

Maiden is one of those bands I just never got into.  If not for this forum, I cannot see having given them another chance as I did about 2 years ago.  Glad I did.  There is a lot of fun music there.  I feel like I discussed them to death in the IM thread when I was discovering them. 

I have most of the Bruce-era albums.  Of the few I do not have, I am not in a rush to get them.  I have heard most of the songs, and I am content with that I have.  I don't really care for the non-Bruce albums.  But I DO like most of the live renditions I have heard with Bruce on vocals.  Here is how I would probably rank the albums I have:

1.  The Final Frontier
2.  Piece of Mind
3.  Somewhere In Time
4.  Dance of Death
5.  The Number of the Beast
6.  A Matter of Life and Death
7.  Powerslave
8.  Brave New World
9.  Seventh Son
10.  Killers

Top 10 songs would be:

1.  When the Wild Wind Blows
2.  Coming Home
3.  Rime of the Ancient Mariner
4.  Satellite 15... The Final Frontier
5.  The Trooper
6.  El Dorado
7.  The Clansman
8.  Revelations
9.  Stranger in a Strange Land
10.  The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg

Changed slightly, but not hugely, from when I did a top 25 2 years ago.

[TAC]

Interesting list Bosk. Glad to see Coming Home rated so high. I think it's one of the best songs they've ever done.
You rate Dance Of Death at #4. Nice. It catches way too much flak.

[bosk1]

I may not have ranked Dance of Death as high if not for the live versions.  They just have SO much fun with the title song that it is hard not to like it.  And Monsequr, Paschendale, Face In The Sand, and Journeyman rate pretty high on my lists as well (and No More Lies ain't bad, other than the chorus).

But admittedly, my lists are a lot less scientific and more subjective than a certain Aussie thread starter, so if you sat me down and made me do a song-by-song comparison, I might not rank it as high as some other albums. 

[Kwyjibo]

Interesting list Bosk. Glad to see Coming Home rated so high. I think it's one of the best songs they've ever done.
You rate Dance Of Death at #4. Nice. It catches way too much flak.

Coming Home is a really great song, but for me it sounds more like a Bruce solo tune than an Iron Maiden one. The song would fit nicely on Chemical Wedding.

[TAC]

Yeah, it's got Bruce written all over it obviously. But the fact that it's recorded by Maiden makes it all the more cooler.