The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[pg1067]

FOTD still probably a top 5 Maiden album for me.  Judas also still a top 5 Maiden song.

I have the FOTD album, but I've only listened to it maybe two or three times.  The title track is a top tier song, but the rest of the album did nothing for me.  I should give it another chance and listen from a fresh perspective.

I listened to No Prayer and FOTD recently -- probably for the first time in 25 years.  FOTD (the song) is far and away the best song on either album, but I was a little surprised to find that I liked more songs on No Prayer than on FOTD.  They both bear revisiting.

Just listened to the song "Powerslave" for the first time. That chorus!

The bit from 5:02 to 5:13 reminds me of "Metropolis - Part I", also starting at 5:02. Has it ever been confirmed whether it's a tribute or something?

I mean...they're both sections in which the band does a "bum bum" thing that is interspersed with drum fills, but that's about it.  Not exactly something unique, and I would imagine the similarity is purely coincidental.

[Stadler]

Fear Of The Dark has tons of great songs on it!

I love that record too and some of the deep cuts that nobody ever mentions are really cool songs - Fear is the Key, Childhood's End and The Fugitive, in particular.

I wouldn't say "tons" but it's not devoid of good songs.  I LOVE Afraid To Shoot Strangers and From Here To Eternity (a part of the Charlotte series, BTW).

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

An Invitation

[TAC]

Can't wait!!

[darkshade]

Fear Of The Dark has tons of great songs on it!

I love that record too and some of the deep cuts that nobody ever mentions are really cool songs - Fear is the Key, Childhood's End and The Fugitive, in particular.

I overlooked The Fugitive for years, but it's a cool song, I only rediscovered it only a couple of years ago.

[DoctorAction]

An Invitation

Well excited. It better not just be a streaming concert. I mean, a streaming concert would be ace but given my massive lust for a new album, nothing less will sate me!

Bruce is in the same location he was on that news show. I guess they recorded that the same day

[MirrorMask]

No way it's a streaming concert. First of all they're so big they'd crash every server in the world, also Maiden give me the idea of being old school and since they never did anything during the lockdown months, I'd ve very surprised if they'd do a streaming concert, I can picture Steve saying "nah, bollocks" to that.

It's very likely the announcement of the new album. But let's wait and see....

[TAC]

Well they could do a half soundstage concert and half magic show..

[nobloodyname]

Well they could do a half soundstage concert and half magic show..

Yeah, that was truly awful

I dunno. Who announces anything good on a Thursday? Mind you, things are still released on a Tuesday. Who on earth thought that was a good idea in the first place? No. Friday is where it's at.

[DTA]

Fear Of The Dark has tons of great songs on it!

I love that record too and some of the deep cuts that nobody ever mentions are really cool songs - Fear is the Key, Childhood's End and The Fugitive, in particular.

Childhood's End reminds me so much of Fish-era Marillion, particularly the aggressive tom-roll part. Like something straight off Script or Fugazi. Plus it's yet another Marillion song title (after Hooks In You). Has the band ever commented on the similarities? No Prayer is vastly superior to Fear imo with Run Silent Run Deep being the standout from both albums.

[DoctorAction]

No way it's a streaming concert. First of all they're so big they'd crash every server in the world, also Maiden give me the idea of being old school and since they never did anything during the lockdown months, I'd ve very surprised if they'd do a streaming concert, I can picture Steve saying "nah, bollocks" to that.

It's very likely the announcement of the new album. But let's wait and see....

Fingers crossed!

No Prayer is vastly superior to Fear imo with Run Silent Run Deep being the standout from both albums.

Totally. I love that song.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I mean it would be funny to see them jam a couple of songs as Belshazzars Feast and then announce the new album, of course that will never happen if I know Steve. 

[wolfking]

An Invitation

Fuck me, it's happening!!!

[cramx3]

No way it's a streaming concert. First of all they're so big they'd crash every server in the world, also Maiden give me the idea of being old school and since they never did anything during the lockdown months, I'd ve very surprised if they'd do a streaming concert, I can picture Steve saying "nah, bollocks" to that.

It's very likely the announcement of the new album. But let's wait and see....

Agreed.  If it were a streamed concert they'd be selling tickets.  I bet it's some elaborate announcement of the album.  I saw some speculation of the announcement and the album dropping live on reddit, but I also find that hard to believe.  Surprise album releases not only don't typically sell well, it also doesn't seem like the type of thing IM would do. 

[Stadler]

Fear Of The Dark has tons of great songs on it!

I love that record too and some of the deep cuts that nobody ever mentions are really cool songs - Fear is the Key, Childhood's End and The Fugitive, in particular.

Childhood's End reminds me so much of Fish-era Marillion, particularly the aggressive tom-roll part. Like something straight off Script or Fugazi. Plus it's yet another Marillion song title (after Hooks In You). Has the band ever commented on the similarities? No Prayer is vastly superior to Fear imo with Run Silent Run Deep being the standout from both albums.

Both were on EMI, both had the stylized logo on their (early) records, both had the painted album covers by dedicated artists (Derek Riggs and Mark Wilkinson), both had singles that had corresponding artwork, both had a generous helping of live and studio b-sides, both had the mascot (Eddie and the Jester), both had/have singers that like to wear costumes and masks on stage...  I'd say there was a lot in common, actually.   

[Cool Chris]

Can't wait!!

[Sebastián Pratesi]

Yesterday, they also uploaded an edited live video of "The Clairvoyant", with hidden clues about next week's announcement. https://youtu.be/XVcxgmtwaSk

I listened to the song for the first time in over 15 years. God, they write such great choruses!

[DTA]

Fear Of The Dark has tons of great songs on it!

I love that record too and some of the deep cuts that nobody ever mentions are really cool songs - Fear is the Key, Childhood's End and The Fugitive, in particular.

Childhood's End reminds me so much of Fish-era Marillion, particularly the aggressive tom-roll part. Like something straight off Script or Fugazi. Plus it's yet another Marillion song title (after Hooks In You). Has the band ever commented on the similarities? No Prayer is vastly superior to Fear imo with Run Silent Run Deep being the standout from both albums.

Both were on EMI, both had the stylized logo on their (early) records, both had the painted album covers by dedicated artists (Derek Riggs and Mark Wilkinson), both had singles that had corresponding artwork, both had a generous helping of live and studio b-sides, both had the mascot (Eddie and the Jester), both had/have singers that like to wear costumes and masks on stage...  I'd say there was a lot in common, actually.

  That's a pretty extensive list of similarities that I've never seen mentioned before. Surely all coincidental, but interesting nonetheless. I was actually talking about the similarities between song titles that Maiden has "borrowed" from them...someone's got to be a Marillion fan in the band, right?

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yesterday, they also uploaded an edited live video of "The Clairvoyant", with hidden clues about next week's announcement. https://youtu.be/XVcxgmtwaSk

I listened to the song for the first time in over 15 years. God, they write such great choruses!

Oh, I noticed the video but didn't see it. Wow interesting!

Seems to contain two text messages: Live Forever and Man or Beast
and two images: The first I can't tell what it looks like but I did think about one of the Icebergs in the SSoaSS album cover. The second seems to be a image of the hall Bruce did the video from.

I honestly got some shivers from "Live Forever", this band has given everything to the life on the road, playing live and to their fans. I think the last thing this band will ever do is going out on a final tour to celebrate their music with their fans.

[DoctorAction]

I wonder if there's any link to SSOASS...

[Stadler]

So... I was thinking about this this morning.  "Balthazarr's Feast" does NOT sound like a Maiden album title, but it very much does sound like a song title.    Not having seen that Clairvoyant (love that song) video, I wonder if the "Live Forever" is the album. 

[MirrorMask]

Balshazzar's Feast is a biblical story that gave the origin to the expression "Writing on the Wall", with the Maiden machine pumping out tweets and posts with variants of the WOTW acronym in it - and WOTW was first spotted on a poster for the Legacy of the Beast tour.

I mean, at this point I'm gonna be actually surprised if the album isn't named Writing on the Wall.

[cramx3]

Live Forever sounds like it could be a tour name, maybe for their final tour.

[RodrigoAltaf]

Well, they have their fair share of albums with "death" in the name, so maybe it's time to shake things up a bit, no?

[Mladen]

Live forever sounds like a good song title, especially for an album closer.

Belshazzar's feast could be the name of the first single. It could contain the words "writing on the wall" in the lyrics, which could be the name of the album. The "man or beast" could also be in the lyrics, the chorus in particular.

The image on the poster will be updated with Eddie and more color for the album cover.

Just my predictions / feelings / wishes. 

[pg1067]

"Balthazarr's Feast"

Definitely not.

Balshazzar's Feast

Closer.

Belshazzar's feast

And there you have it.

Balshazzar's Feast is a biblical story that gave the origin to the expression "Writing on the Wall"

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43318.msg2786808#msg2786808

[devieira73]

Countdown:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?utm_campaign=bf&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1c1UBlfaw1CRZgmHOJ6XXLJJlQTY60xCnlrcE4eJUYvFFWKDl_Kg9C-Kw&v=FhBnW7bZHEE
28 hours to go.

[wolfking]

It's July 15 in 2 hours here In Australia!  I want it now dammit!

[MirrorMask]

Shit is about to get real!!!

Now I saw a clip on Maiden's Instagram with the acronym "TWOTW" (with the T at the beginning) and it was literally written on a wall.

Now the real surprise is gonna be if the album ISN'T called (The) Writing on the Wall.

[nobloodyname]

Six o'clock tomorrow afternoon UK time.

[devieira73]

It will be at 16:00 GMT
Also, in IM's facebook, they posted all the album covers, from IM to VXI, reworked, adding some hints of WOTW, Belshazzar's Feast or that pointed mountain. Interesting that they didn't include the reunion albums on those.

[wolfking]

Shit is about to get real!!!

Now I saw a clip on Maiden's Instagram with the acronym "TWOTW" (with the T at the beginning) and it was literally written on a wall.

Now the real surprise is gonna be if the album ISN'T called (The) Writing on the Wall.

That's a fucking dark album title if you ask me.  I know AMOLAD, DOD, NPFTD etc.  But something about The Writing on the Wall just seems dark and heavy.

[MirrorMask]

Maybe it's just the title track and it's a random story that warrants that title.

[Mladen]

Writing on the wall would be a chilling, brutal title. I'll be so happy if it turns out to be the name of the album.

[Stadler]

Well, the phrase MEANS "a foreshadowing of impending doom", so it's inherently dark.   I'm more interested to see if it's meta, in the sense of pertaining to the band or it's future.