The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[wolfking]

I don't know what to make of Empire, I'm speechless.  I'm just bewildered that after almost 40 years Maiden have done something completely new and original.  I honestly don't know what to say except, wow.

[TAC]

Great write ups, Kade!



Is it me or are Dave's solos a little dirtier?


And no one has mentioned yet, but to me, the most underrated performer of the Reunion era is Nicko. He is incredible on this album.

[Cyclopssss]

Yeah, Nicko is kickin´ arse all over the place, but the whole band is in fine form. Am I just missing that distinctive bassline from Harris?

[425]

Yeah, his VXI writeup was pretty good, though I'd give The Angel and the Gambler a little more credit (it's a seriously good song that's four or five minutes too long) and Don't Look to the Eyes of the Stranger more credit as well (good concept, works decently but is shaky at times, partially due to bad production).

[TAC]

Yeah, his VXI writeup was pretty good, though I'd give The Angel and the Gambler a little more credit (it's a seriously good song that's four or five minutes too long) and Don't Look to the Eyes of the Stranger more credit as well (good concept, works decently but is shaky at times, partially due to bad production).

Well, IMO TAATG deserves all of the flack it gets, but I am a big fan of DLTTEOAS. A bit repetitive in the middle with the "Don't look to" part, but the instrumental part at the end is one of the finest in their catalog.

[TAC]

It's there. I hear it just fine.

[425]

I think DLTTEOAS as well, though maybe not quite that much.

I think TAATG deserves every bit of "Oy, 'Arry, why is the chorus in here 36 times?" but not that much other criticism. For example, some like to say "and it's not even a good chorus anyway," which I disagree with, I think it's a perfectly fine chorus, I think you're likely to get annoyed with it because you've heard it 36 times.

[TAC]

No, the first 36 times is fine. It's the second 36 that gets to me.

[cramx3]

Great write ups, Kade!



Is it me or are Dave's solos a little dirtier?


And no one has mentioned yet, but to me, the most underrated performer of the Reunion era is Nicko. He is incredible on this album.

Nico has been amazing the last few albums.

[cramx3]

I honestly don't think there is a single thing I like about tAatG. It literally makes the album my least favorite by IM. If you took it out, I'd rate V11 higher than FotD and NPftD

[seasonsinthesky]

I cannot believe this band has made a near perfect double album so late in their career. Incredible. Easily top 3.

[Mladen]

Great write ups, Kade!

Fantastic write ups. 

[TAC]

I don't think I've heard TAATG more than a half dozen times, and all from when the album came out. They did play it live on that tour. That didn't even help.

[Mladen]

I've never really thought Steve was in control on Virtual XI. He had far more influence on the back-to-the-roots approach on NPFTD and FOTD, it was basically his idea, and The X Factor was also driven by him quite a bit, the dark nature of the album is apparently influenced by the events in his life. With VXI, I hear a lot more band effort, even though Steve is credited on most of the songs. He actually doesn't sound as enthusiastic on it as much as on the previous records, some biographies mention that he considered disbanding the band at that point but the rest of the guys wanted to continue.

[425]

*shrugs*

I just listened to the radio edit of The Angel and the Gambler again. This song still rocks. Wish they'd done an edit that was around 5-6 minutes and included the second set of verses.

[fadetoblackdude7]

This album is worth buying for the title track alone, IMO

[fadetoblackdude7]

After finally getting myself familiarized with the first 7 albums, my favorite is...........

























Somewhere In Time 

[425]

Somewhere In Time is awesome. Has my favorite Adrian Smith guitar solo in Stranger In a Strange Land.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Somewhere In Time is awesome. Has my favorite Adrian Smith guitar solo in Stranger In a Strange Land.

YES! I totally agree! Solo is great in the title track as well

[cramx3]

Can't argue with someone who puts SiT as #1, an amazing album.

[fadetoblackdude7]

I know Seventh Son is a popular one and honestly, I was a little underwhelmed after my first listen. But I have faith that it'll be a grower.

[TAC]

I've never really thought Steve was in control on Virtual XI. He had far more influence on the back-to-the-roots approach on NPFTD and FOTD, it was basically his idea, and The X Factor was also driven by him quite a bit, the dark nature of the album is apparently influenced by the events in his life. With VXI, I hear a lot more band effort, even though Steve is credited on most of the songs. He actually doesn't sound as enthusiastic on it as much as on the previous records, some biographies mention that he considered disbanding the band at that point but the rest of the guys wanted to continue.

I agree with most of this. I wouldn't call it a loss of control per se, but VXI does feel like a cohesive team effort, whereas TXF feels like a Steve Harris solo album.  VXI has more of a classic Maiden feel to it, and that was evident right off the bat.

[Lowdz]

I don't know what to make of Empire, I'm speechless.  I'm just bewildered that after almost 40 years Maiden have done something completely new and original.  I honestly don't know what to say except, wow.

I can't stop listening to it. It's a bit sacrilegious but I've done the cd for the car with EotC as the first track of disc two so I don't have to wait, and Again at the end. It flies by. How can an 18 minute song do that?
The orchestration makes a huge difference and makes me want to hear other Maiden songs with those lush sounds in there.

[Zydar]

I don't know what to make of Empire, I'm speechless.  I'm just bewildered that after almost 40 years Maiden have done something completely new and original.  I honestly don't know what to say except, wow.

It flies by. How can an 18 minute song do that?

That is so true. That song does NOT feel like it's 18 minutes long.

In fact, the whole album doesn't feel like it's 92 minutes - it goes by quicker than that.

[TAC]

I don't know what to make of Empire, I'm speechless.  I'm just bewildered that after almost 40 years Maiden have done something completely new and original.  I honestly don't know what to say except, wow.

I can't stop listening to it. It's a bit sacrilegious but I've done the cd for the car with EotC as the first track of disc two so I don't have to wait, and Again at the end. It flies by. How can an 18 minute song do that?
The orchestration makes a huge difference and makes me want to hear other Maiden songs with those lush sounds in there.

You could've just made one CD with EOTC on it  6 times! 

[Mladen]

Somewhere In Time 

Perfect choice.

[Phoenix87x]

EOTC is mental. Listening to it now and it has immediately become one of my favorite maiden tunes 

There's so much diversity and value to this album, its crazy. So very happy.

[mikemangioy]

This album is pure gold 
Empire Of The Clouds goes straight into my top five Maiden songs!

[devieira73]

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

For the first disc at least, this seems right except TRATB.  You missed a solo by H first so - H/Murray/Gers + H.

Cool! I'll listen again with more attention 
By the way, the solos are very inspired overall this time IMO!

[wolfking]

I don't know what to make of Empire, I'm speechless.  I'm just bewildered that after almost 40 years Maiden have done something completely new and original.  I honestly don't know what to say except, wow.

I can't stop listening to it. It's a bit sacrilegious but I've done the cd for the car with EotC as the first track of disc two so I don't have to wait, and Again at the end. It flies by. How can an 18 minute song do that?
The orchestration makes a huge difference and makes me want to hear other Maiden songs with those lush sounds in there.

When I listened to it, I actually thought it could work as the opener, even the opener for the whole album.

[wolfking]

Don't understand some of the low rankings with TRATB, definitely top 3 for me, amazing tune.

[jjrock88]

Great write ups!!

This album is awesome

[wolfking]

Great write ups!!

This album is awesome

It really is.  I just finished my second listen of the second disc, and it's wonderful.  Empire of the Clouds is just glorious, what a piece of work.  Man of Sorrows is also just so different and brilliant.  This album is fucking gold.

[jjrock88]

I already like it better then TFF

[wolfking]

TFF was such a grower for me but TBOS seems teh opposite.  It's easy to like this album just after a couple of listens.  I hope it doesn't have the opposite effect and tire quickly, but I think this has potential to be a Maiden album high in the rankings.

I was questioning the hype as most people raving would be die hard fans anyway, but after hearing it, this could be the real deal.