The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[wolfking]

A question?

Who is playing the solo from 8:40-9:10 in TRaTB? It's really unique, and I've never heard anything like it on a Maiden album.

Adrian 

Is that the one that has a lot of pauses in it?  If so, that's a weak solo.

Yeah, that's the one.  It's definitely H and IMO it certainly isn't anything special too.

[cramx3]

Well that opinion by Bruce is 100% right but I'm not sure 5 is even enough.  I really hope the rest of the set includes more reunion era songs and less of the "classics"

[425]

Honestly, I would be 100% behind the band if the only pre-1995 songs were Iron Maiden and Hallowed Be Thy Name.

They should play more than half of the new album and at least one song off each reunion album, and at least one Blaze era song. Plus Iron Maiden and Hallowed. Any space that may remain can then be filled with "classics."

[El Barto]

Honestly, I would be 100% behind the band if the only pre-1995 songs were Iron Maiden and Hallowed Be Thy Name.

The problem is that the diehard fans don't make up the majority of people who'll go see Maiden in this country. I recall a lot of people bitching and moaning about the TFF tour we got, which I found awesome. They have to play a lot of the classics here, which I agree is a shame.

[wolfking]

Honestly, I would be 100% behind the band if the only pre-1995 songs were Iron Maiden and Hallowed Be Thy Name.

That will never happen.

[jjrock88]

I enjoyed TTF show, but I could tell the audience was getting restless with the number of newer tracks

[Anguyen92]

I enjoyed TTF show, but I could tell the audience was getting restless with the number of newer tracks

Honestly, to me, these people can either get with it and understand that Iron Maiden has great material past their "classic" era and embrace and enjoy it, or not get with it, do not have to buy the ticket or go see the show, and wait until Iron Maiden do another "history" tour.

I can say, myself, that I do not know too much about the reunion era tracks aside from the more well-known songs of Brave New World, the entire Final Frontier album, and, of course, The Book of Souls album, but if they play stuff from like Dance of Death or A Matter of Life and Death, I'm going to go ahead to get into it if they performed with a lot of enthusiasm.

In conclusion, f' feeling nostalgic over wanting certain songs from their prime era.  Root for the band, on the basis of themselves today, not just their most well-known songs of people's youth.  That's just what I think based on my "moving forward" mentality.

[425]

^ Yep. It's not like there's any deception. It's called "The Book of Souls World Tour." If you go into it not expecting a ton of songs from The Book of Souls, that's your fault. Honestly, if you just want to see 2 Minutes to Midnight, The Trooper and Run to the Hills, put Live After Death into your media player of choice.

Maiden has been more than fair to the "play classics" crowd for a band that is putting out the best work of their career today. They are alternating tours. Last tour, they didn't play a single song from post-1992. The tour before that was The Final Frontier. Then before that was Somewhere Back In Time, when they didn't play a song from after 1992. Then before that was A Matter of Life and Death. Before that, The Early Days. Etc.

I know it won't happen because of whiny people, but there's a limited amount of time in the set, and I strongly believe that that time should be dedicated to songs that have never been played before or that have only been played once or twice.

[425]

Play Classics.

[Anguyen92]

Play Classics.

That video was exactly what I was thinking regarding this matter, and I think in that video, it's pretty fair that Bruce had the mentality that he did when he ripped that sign, since the tour was called "A Matter of Life and Death" tour.  Obviously, a good amount of the show will be dedicated to that album (don't know if that particular show in the video was the one where the album was played in whole though) and for good reason.

Concert-goers of Iron Maiden should have a better understanding of what Iron Maiden wants to play in The Book of Souls tour and make their decision whether to commit to the show or not.  If Maiden makes it clear that it's going to be pretty different than the Maiden England tour, then there's no changing their minds from that. 

They've always made a case for standing for what they believe in, when it comes to making and playing new songs, and this is how they should go about it.  It's reasons like that is why, to me, Rush and Iron Maiden are the best classic bands and done their reunion era right and justice.

[El Barto]

Everybody here is going to agree with that, and I'm sure everybody dug the shit out of TFF tour we got. Doesn't change the reality, though. Half the people in an American Maiden audience are going to be marginal fans, at best. Moreover, because of the way ticketing works here those somewhat-fans will be the ones up front. The guys are aware of this and tend to tailor their US tours accordingly.

Just remembered that Eddie Rips of the World was the same deal  They toured Europe/Aisa, came to America as part of Ozfest and played a short set, then went back to the UK for a few more gigs. We got this short set:

•   Wrathchild   
•   The Trooper   
•   Revelations   
•   Phantom of the Opera   
•   Run to the Hills   
•   The Number of the Beast   
•   Hallowed Be Thy Name   
•   Iron Maiden   
• Encore:
•   Running Free   
•   Sanctuary

The rest of the world got that plus Murders, Another Life, Prowler, Remember Tomorrow, Eagle Dare, Die With YOur Boots on, Phantom, and Drifter. They might not have even come here at all without being part of a package deal, and when they did they played only the stuff people expected.

On the bright side, anybody who had the foresight to head to Denver got to see the whole, awesome set. 

[425]

I've listened three times now, and I think I might be able to sort of rank the songs now. This is very rough though:

Empire of the Clouds
The Book of Souls
-------------------------------
The Red and the Black
The Great Unknown
Shadows of the Valley
-------------------------------
Speed of Light
When the River Runs Deep
Death or Glory
Tears of a Clown
If Eternity Should Fail
The Man of Sorrows

I kind of broke them into tiers, which are basically 1) fantastic 2) really excellent and 3) good. But honestly, this is a superb album all the way top to bottom. Man of Sorrows might be at the bottom for me simply because by the time I get to it I'm very excited for Empire and paying less attention to the song at hand.

All that's clear for me right now is that The Book of Souls and Empire of the Clouds are the top two, and I could be easily persuaded to switch those around.

This is a fantastic album. It's too early to say for sure, but this could easily be one of the band's best albums if it holds up on repeated listens. There's seriously no song that is weak here in my opinion right now.

[Architeuthis]

Is it just me,  or are the vocal tracks a bit too high in the mix on this album???  It just doesn't seem balanced quite right. Vocals seem overpowering compared to other albums..

[Cyclopssss]

Why didn't they release that on dvd? They did about every other damn tour...

[sneakyblueberry]

There's a great boot floating around for it.  Gothenburg I think.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

There's a great boot floating around for it.  Gothenburg I think.

Do you mean this?

https://youtu.be/WR0nodWBaIo

[sneakyblueberry]

That's it.  My brother had it on DVD, it was much better quality than that video but same source I'm guessing.

EDIT:  Man I wish there was a DVD for the SiT tour:

Caught Somewhere in Time
2 Minutes to Midnight
Sea of Madness
Children of the Damned
Stranger in a Strange Land
Wasted Years
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Guitar Solo
Heaven Can Wait
Phantom of the Opera
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden
Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Run to the Hills
Running Free
Sanctuary

What a setlist!!!

[Mladen]

Honestly, I would be 100% behind the band if the only pre-1995 songs were Iron Maiden and Hallowed Be Thy Name.

We can only dream of this. I mean, I love the 80s material and it's always great to see it live, but most of it has been played to death.

[Zydar]

Maybe for those who has seen them many times. Remember that there are still people out there who are going to a Maiden concert for the first time, and want to see the 80s classics.

[Mladen]

True, but they've played only the 80s stuff for the past three years. Not to mention the Somewhere back in time tour that also lasted two years. I think that whenever they go out and play the old stuff, the next tour contains plenty more newer songs. Early days tour was followed by playing AMOLAD in its entirety, Somewhere back in time was followed by a tour with mostly post-2000 material. So now is the perfect opportunity to shake things up BIG TIME again.

[wolfking]

I'm just happy it doesn't sound like TFF or DOD, I don't have any problems with the production.  haven't noticed anything with the vox being too high though.

[cramx3]

I can totally get behind the no classics set list, but as pointed out, thats not a reality for a band that has such big hits as IM.

When they played all of AMoLaD, while I LOVED IT TO DEATH, I was one of the only ones who did.  EVERYONE around me complained the entire concert, leaving the concert there were so many people badmouthing the band. I even got confrontational with people saying things like "You should enjoy this because you'll never see them play these songs again, but you can see the Trooper any other time you see IM" which people just gave me a dirty look.  It's sad, but that's American for you.  A large part of the audience is there for the nostalgia.  Bruce actually mentioned this in a recent interview.  The question was (paraphrasing) "Do you see your audience getting younger" Bruce "yes, everywhere except the USA".

[emtee]

I like the sound of the album. A little raw but clear. Totally loving the album front to back. One hell of an accomplishment for a band that's
been around so long. I know it's still new and fresh but I really feel like this might take the top spot away from PS.

[Kwyjibo]

Is it just me,  or are the vocal tracks a bit too high in the mix on this album???  It just doesn't seem balanced quite right. Vocals seem overpowering compared to other albums..

I don't hear this, but then I found the vocals on AMOLAD a little bit too much buried in the background and others say it's their best-sounding re-union album.

[El Barto]

That's it.  My brother had it on DVD, it was much better quality than that video but same source I'm guessing.

EDIT:  Man I wish there was a DVD for the SiT tour:

Caught Somewhere in Time
2 Minutes to Midnight
Sea of Madness
Children of the Damned
Stranger in a Strange Land
Wasted Years
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Guitar Solo
Heaven Can Wait
Phantom of the Opera
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden
Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Run to the Hills
Running Free
Sanctuary

What a setlist!!!

Eh, guess you just had to be there.

[Stadler]

^ Yep. It's not like there's any deception. It's called "The Book of Souls World Tour." If you go into it not expecting a ton of songs from The Book of Souls, that's your fault. Honestly, if you just want to see 2 Minutes to Midnight, The Trooper and Run to the Hills, put Live After Death into your media player of choice.

Maiden has been more than fair to the "play classics" crowd for a band that is putting out the best work of their career today. They are alternating tours. Last tour, they didn't play a single song from post-1992. The tour before that was The Final Frontier. Then before that was Somewhere Back In Time, when they didn't play a song from after 1992. Then before that was A Matter of Life and Death. Before that, The Early Days. Etc.

I know it won't happen because of whiny people, but there's a limited amount of time in the set, and I strongly believe that that time should be dedicated to songs that have never been played before or that have only been played once or twice.

 But this is my beef:  it's two thousand fucking fifteen.  I notice three quarters of the population have smart phones glued to their cocks; you mean to tell me you can't google a setlist for the band you're going to see?   Maiden has been TOTALLY transparent about what they're doing, so any reasonably informed fan can know if they're going to a "album showcase" set or a "classics" set.  All the whiners are in my not so humble opinion, showing their ignorance. 

I only WISH a band like Kiss would do semthing like this; they tour so much and in so many areas, why not do a "makeup classic" tour, sprinkle in a "non-makeup classic" tour, and after a release do a "reunion studio album tour"? 

[cramx3]

^ Yep. It's not like there's any deception. It's called "The Book of Souls World Tour." If you go into it not expecting a ton of songs from The Book of Souls, that's your fault. Honestly, if you just want to see 2 Minutes to Midnight, The Trooper and Run to the Hills, put Live After Death into your media player of choice.

Maiden has been more than fair to the "play classics" crowd for a band that is putting out the best work of their career today. They are alternating tours. Last tour, they didn't play a single song from post-1992. The tour before that was The Final Frontier. Then before that was Somewhere Back In Time, when they didn't play a song from after 1992. Then before that was A Matter of Life and Death. Before that, The Early Days. Etc.

I know it won't happen because of whiny people, but there's a limited amount of time in the set, and I strongly believe that that time should be dedicated to songs that have never been played before or that have only been played once or twice.

 But this is my beef:  it's two thousand fucking fifteen.  I notice three quarters of the population have smart phones glued to their cocks; you mean to tell me you can't google a setlist for the band you're going to see?   Maiden has been TOTALLY transparent about what they're doing, so any reasonably informed fan can know if they're going to a "album showcase" set or a "classics" set.  All the whiners are in my not so humble opinion, showing their ignorance. 

I only WISH a band like Kiss would do semthing like this; they tour so much and in so many areas, why not do a "makeup classic" tour, sprinkle in a "non-makeup classic" tour, and after a release do a "reunion studio album tour"?

Yea, but most of the people who complain are old and I doubt they understand they can go to setlist.fm and figure this out.  Totally discriminating against the old folk, but that's how I see it.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

We’ve put a 92-minute album out at a time when most people have the attention span of a gnat.

Ain't that the truth Mr Gers.

https://classicrock.teamrock.com/features/2015-09-14/teamrock-exclusive-iron-maiden-how-we-made-book-of-souls

[cramx3]

Well this sums up a lot of the IM complaints about long songs that cna be cut shorter:

Steve: Even the last album (The Final Frontier) was pretty long – 72 minutes or something. But we knew Bruce wrote Empire Of The Clouds that this album was going to be really bloody long. We don’t seem to be able to condense what we do.

And you don’t want to?

Steve: Not necessarily.

[Architeuthis]

I listened to it again on a different stereo and the mix seemed better. It's almost as if the songs aren't mastered, just mixed. The album is growing on my a lot after the third listen and I feel it will get better and better with each spin. That has happened to me with a few albums, don't like them much at first then they become one of my favorites of all time. Clockwork Angels comes to mind.

[425]

But this is my beef:  it's two thousand fucking fifteen.  I notice three quarters of the population have smart phones glued to their cocks; you mean to tell me you can't google a setlist for the band you're going to see?   Maiden has been TOTALLY transparent about what they're doing, so any reasonably informed fan can know if they're going to a "album showcase" set or a "classics" set.  All the whiners are in my not so humble opinion, showing their ignorance. 

I only WISH a band like Kiss would do semthing like this; they tour so much and in so many areas, why not do a "makeup classic" tour, sprinkle in a "non-makeup classic" tour, and after a release do a "reunion studio album tour"?

I agree completely. Unfortunately, what I think happens is that, in the U.S., most of these fans stopped paying attention when Bruce left, or after No Prayer came out, or even when SiT had synths. And then they never started paying attention again whatsoever. And then they just see that Iron Maiden is playing near them, and they buy tickets assuming that Maiden is a washed-up nostalgia act.

I mean, let's be clear. Music tastes and music listening patterns aside, these people are dumb for not doing any research whatsoever on the concert they are going to see. But that's how these shows end up packed with people who may not have heard The Book of Souls, or even know that it exists.

I think there's room for them to play a few 80s songs, but no more than a few. I think a good setlist for this tour would have at least 6 and preferably 7 songs from the new album, plus at least 3 and preferably 4 TXF-TFF songs. That still gives you room for about five "classics" (not counting the song Iron Maiden). So you could do Hallowed, Trooper, Number of the Beast, and then a couple other songs—whether that be Fear of the Dark and 2 Minutes to Midnight yet again, or throwing in a slightly deeper cut from the 80s.

[Zydar]

We’ve put a 92-minute album out at a time when most people have the attention span of a gnat.

Ain't that the truth Mr Gers.

https://classicrock.teamrock.com/features/2015-09-14/teamrock-exclusive-iron-maiden-how-we-made-book-of-souls

That was a great interview, thanks for the link.

[425]

I think they're just barely mastered. Harris and Shirley don't seem to like mastering very much—AMOLAD was not mastered at all.

[cramx3]

As much as I would REALLY love to see them do a Blaze song, I very much doubt they ever play one again.

And on that note, why not do another list?  A setlist prediction (takes into account standard setlist time ~1:50 and the fact that IM does not play songs live that were not played during the album promotion tour):

If Eternity Should Fail
Speed of Light
2 Minutes to Midnight
The Trooper
The Book of Souls
Death or Glory
Killers
El Dorado
Brave New World
Rainmaker
The Evil That Men Do
The Red and the Black
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

Run to the Hills
The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name

[Mladen]

My friend and me put together one of those last week and it looks similar to your list.

1. If eternity should fail
2. Speed of light
3. Rainmaker
4. The Trooper
5. The Red and the black
6. Death or glory
7. Brave new world
8. Coming home
9. The Evil that men do
10. The Book of souls
11. Fear of the dark
12. Iron Maiden
- - -
13. The Number of the beast
14. Two minutes to midnight
15. Hallowed be thy name