I'm a metal guy from way back (Maiden in '82 was my first concert) but I'm a melody guy as well, which is why I don't like Thrash or any of the really extreme metal.
With that, this is a monumental album. I bought it day of release, but waited until I had a good stretch in the car to listen. I got through disk 1 yesterday and disk 2 this morning. This is an epic record by any standard. Still sorting out the individual songs a bit, so "Speed of Light" is my favorite only because I've heard it more times than all the other stuff combined.
Won't repeat what has been said here, except to say:
- I've long said Dickinson is the best metal frontman ever (even over Halford and Dio) and this seals it. He sings his tits off on this, takes chances, and doesn't phone it in, then delivers the highlight of the album (in my opinion), "Empire of the Clouds".
- Dave Murray is the best guitarist you've (probably) never heard of. In a band with four guitar players (counting 'arry) and now keyboards, you can tell almost every note he plays. There is even a point where Smith and Gers are playing a harmony line (ala Thin Lizzy) and Murray is soloing over THAT, and it sounds amazing! As important to Maiden as Harris and Dickinson, in my opinion.
- Not just Dave, but as a whole, the guitars sound AWESOME. Sometimes Maiden can get a little trebly, especially Gers (and less so, but sometimes, Smith) but here them guitars are so lush and full and warm, but they still cut like knifes.
- What other band can have three top-flight guitar players and a lead bassist, and STILL add keys and make them essential? I forget what song, but it might have been The Man of Sorrows, but there is a point where the keys fade in under a harmony line, and just elevates the entire song.
- Kudos to Harris. This is clearly his band, he calls the shots, but that album is as much Murray and Dickinson as Harris (in fact, I would say this is almost Dickinson's band at this point) and yet it is seamless. Maybe there are egos behind the scenes but in the music, it is a total ensemble effort (the word that kept popping up was "orchestra". This is a metal "orchestra").
Can anyone name a better album by a band that has been in existence at Maiden's level for almost 35 years? This is still fresh, but it at least has the potential to be one of the three best albums the band has ever done, and that after 35 years, in an environment where many bands (Hagar, Kiss, Leppard) question the idea of even putting out new material.
Finally, I don't think I want to see "Empire of the Clouds" live, as just another song in the set. I can see them doing an hour, then taking a break and doing another hour or hour and a half, with "Empire..." kicking that off, but I think I'd rather see Maiden do a "S&M" thing like Metallica, and have them do "Empire...", "Journeyman", "Avalon", and maybe rearrange a couple others ("Children of the Damned", "Rime") and make it an EVENT.
Topic: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls (Read 573333 times)
