The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[Nel]

It'd be interesting to see if there will be any alternative art off this album cover, as was the case of TBOS instead of the boring black background.

Heeey, props for the alt art. I'm using the middle one now. The black backgrounds are so boring. Especially when we had art like the tour poster's. This would have been an excellent cover. We don't have enough *green* Iron Maiden album arts.



EDIT: This is about as close as I'm going to get to what I wanted, barring those black bars on the top and bottom.

[wolfking]

I love the cover and the album title personally.  Hoping for some heavy stuff.

[jammindude]

I’ll admit, when I was a kid, I thought album covers like Killers were cool. But IDK…I kinda liked the more “sci-fi” and/or more subtle approach to Eddie’s scary factor.

I just feel like this artwork and the last album have cranked up the gore factor to Fangoria levels, and I’m just not into that anymore.

I like my horror more like Hitchcock and less like Saw.

[TAC]

I like my horror more like Hitchcock and less like Saw.

But it's not a saw, it's a sword.



I have to say, I love the red lettering of the band name.

[The Realm]

Really looking forward to the new album. Have to say that the album title and cover was nothing like I expected! I'm more of a fan of the more epic covers, with lots of background etc..this is just another version of The Book of Souls but probably better overall.

[Stadler]

Anyone know what the Blu-ray is all about?

[TAC]

Anyone know what the Blu-ray is all about?

I'm sure there's more technical terms, but the Blu Ray is the next step up from a DVD.

[jammindude]

Anyone know what the Blu-ray is all about?

I'm sure there's more technical terms, but the Blu Ray is the next step up from a DVD.

You are ON. FIRE. tonight!!!

 

[wolfking]

Anyone know what the Blu-ray is all about?

I'm sure there's more technical terms, but the Blu Ray is the next step up from a DVD.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[wolfking]

I like my horror more like Hitchcock and less like Saw.

But it's not a saw, it's a sword.



I have to say, I love the red lettering of the band name.

Yeah, that's what got me, it looks lethal.  Love it.

[Architeuthis]

Anyone know what the Blu-ray is all about?

I'm sure there's more technical terms, but the Blu Ray is the next step up from a DVD.

That sounds like something Mike Portnoy would say. 
He has gotten smart alecky on his FB posts lately when responding to questions..

[Zydar]

I adjusted the brightness of the cover, and it's actually quite a lot of green in the background. Initially I thought it was pitch black, like TBOS.

[wolfking]

Man, I'm really really liking that cover the more I look at it.

[gazinwales]

Anyone know what the Blu-ray is all about?

A wild guess would be high resolution surround sound audio.
KS recently got a Dolby Atmos set up installed in his Sydney studio.

[Mladen]

Wait, did people actually think the background was black? You can see that green from outer space!

[Polarbear]

Wait, did people actually think the background was black? You can see that green from outer space!

+1

And I have a pretty bad eyesight.

[MirrorMask]

Stupid and silly, and also pointless, guessing game about the songs and how they could be like.


01." Senjutsu" (8:20) Smith/Harris

This is gonna be a "false epic" like If Eternity Should Fail. Relatively simple song, but taken to 8 minutes by an intro and a long solo. The opening title track is always relatively straightforward, see Caught Somewhere in Time.

02. "Stratego" (4:59) Gers/Harris

Single-ish kind of song, like Speed of Light, this is gonna be short and relatively fun.

03. "The Writing On The Wall" (6:13) Smith/Dickinson

Something tells me this might be a mid tempo, don't know why 

04. "Lost In A Lost World" (9:31) Harris

The first Harris epic, this is gonna be the one most in his style, the No more Lies but longer, kinda like Longest Day. And yes, the chorus is going to be "Lost in a lost world" x4, if not 8.

05. "Days Of Future Past" (4:03) Smith/Dickinson

Another fast song, not as single-ish like Stratego, more like The Alchemist or Death or Glory.

06. "The Time Machine" (7:09) Gers/Harris

The "Starblind" of the album, an unusual and weird mid tempo song.

07. "Darkest Hour" (7:20) Smith/Dickinson

Another surprise, a song relatively simple, but yet epic and bombastic.

08. "Death Of The Celts" (10:20) Harris

Isle of Avalon part II, this is gonna have a strong celtic influence, a bit of Clansman also in there.

09. "The Parchment" (12:39) Harris

This one will definitively have a long acoustic intro like The Talisman, and a quite long solo section.

10. "Hell On Earth" (11:19) Harris

The "Legacy" of the album, a pessimistic song that will end up with a glimmer of hope, in a bombastic and memorable manner. I know it's 10 years if not more that we're bracing for their retirement and they still go on, but they must know that any day is a gift now, they'll want to end their possibly last album in a memorable way just in case.

[soupytwist]

01." Senjutsu" (8:20) Smith/Harris

Disco track with a flavour of the orient.

02. "Stratego" (4:59) Gers/Harris

About the board game 'Stratego' with a chorus about capturing the enemy flag.

04. "Lost In A Lost World" (9:31) Harris

Sequel or Prequel to 'Stranger in a Strange Land'

05. "Days Of Future Past" (4:03) Smith/Dickinson

About Sentinels hunting and killing mutants.

06. "The Time Machine" (7:09) Gers/Harris

About a Mutant going back in time to stop the creation of the Sentinels.

07. "Darkest Hour" (7:20) Smith/Dickinson

Churchill's 'Darkest Hour' speech about the collapse of France in the war - this will be an upbeat comedy song.

08. "Death Of The Celts" (10:20) Harris

A simple 10 minute chant sung by Rangers fans.

09. "The Parchment" (12:39) Harris

Paper, Paper everywhere not a pen to write...

10. "Hell On Earth" (11:19) Harris

About the success of Ed Sheeran and what that means for the planet.

[devieira73]

"Bruce continues, “We’re all really excited about this album. We recorded it back in early 2019 during a break in the Legacy tour so we could maximize our touring yet still have a long set up period before release to prepare great album art and something special as a video. Of course the pandemic delayed things more - so much for the best laid plans – or should that be ‘strategies’!?  The songs are very varied, and some of them are quite long. There’s also one or two songs which sound pretty different to our usual style, and I think Maiden fans will be surprised - in a good way, I hope!“"

I wonder if TWOTW is one ot those songs (I think so). Personally I would love to hear another song as different to them as Empire of the Clouds.

[Stadler]

Anyone know what the Blu-ray is all about?

I'm sure there's more technical terms, but the Blu Ray is the next step up from a DVD.

Where's that facepalm gif? 

[Stadler]

Man, I'm really really liking that cover the more I look at it.

I'm LOVING that cover.  I think it was TAC that said it but I agree:  that lettering of the logo is probably the best of their career.

[The Curious Orange]

Is that all that Belshazzar Feast thing was? A teaser for the video? I thought it would be the album title, I was thinking what a silly title, but it's better than "Senjutsu"...

Somebody post a picture of Comic Book Guy with a "Worst. Album. Title. Ever." caption...

[Ben_Jamin]

Is that all that Belshazzar Feast thing was? A teaser for the video? I thought it would be the album title, I was thinking what a silly title, but it's better than "Senjutsu"...

Somebody post a picture of Comic Book Guy with a "Worst. Album. Title. Ever." caption...

It's an awesome album title when you know what Senjutsu is....

And yes, we know now it was a teaser for the video. Not the bands fault people assumed Belshazzar's Feast was anything more.

It did its job and got people talking about Maiden and invested in seeing what the hype is about. Which is all it was in the end, marketing.

[Melphina]

That album art is kind of boring, but it's just a bit better than Book of Souls. What's with Maiden's penchant for cheap animation? Can we get a live music video or is that not in the budget?!

[Mladen]

It is my assumption that the album covers got slightly oversaturated with details over the years, culminating in The Final Frontier. The fans were absolutely ready to see something simpler, and I guess the band felt so as well.

[Zydar]

I remember looking at the Somewhere In Time cover, and trying to find all the nuggets. Good times.

[soupytwist]

It is my assumption that the album covers got slightly oversaturated with details over the years, culminating in The Final Frontier. The fans were absolutely ready to see something simpler, and I guess the band felt so as well.

Didn't the artist of The Final Frontier say that isn't Eddie on the cover? 

[Melphina]

It is my assumption that the album covers got slightly oversaturated with details over the years, culminating in The Final Frontier. The fans were absolutely ready to see something simpler, and I guess the band felt so as well.

I'm down with simple, but not boring. Oh well.

[cramx3]

I like this Eddie and I like the font for the album, I just don't like the bare background.  At the end of the day, it's really not that important IMO.  Kind of similar to the song titles and lengths, it doesn't really matter.  The quality of the music is all that matters.  It is fun to talk about though.

[Dedalus]

Probably because of the change in the way music is consumed.

Covers like Powerslave or Somewhere in Time work well on vinyl, for the sake of size. It's worth saying the same for covers like AMoLaD which looks much better in large size seen on the computer than in the CD booklet.

Considering the current times, where music is mostly consumed in digital media, I believe this may interfere with the decision to focus only on Eddie, as the band's iconographic symbol, and therefore the sacrifice of background details.

[cramx3]

Yeah, I remember being a kid and buying plenty of albums from browsing the CD store and just being caught by the album artwork.  Even the classic IM albums like Powerslave had such intriguing artwork.  I do think the way we consume music today has an effect on that.  Also, for digital, we can just replace the artwork with something we like. 

[devieira73]

Pictures of various formats:
http://www.ironmaiden666.com.br/2021/07/senjutsu-confira-detalhes-do-boxset.html?fbclid=IwAR0rk_j-YVYfaKCqY3HPdzeqnxez0ugSoMrK3M6wyVe34kBzZwW-oECM5S4

[cramx3]

In all seriousness, I am wondering what is on the blu-ray.  If it contains any live videos, it may make me get it.  But based on the picture in that link, it looks like it may be the music video for TWOTW.  Which would be a huge pass for me and I'll just get the standard CD version.  I usually don't even buy CDs anymore, but for IM I will.

[MirrorMask]

Pictures of various formats:
http://www.ironmaiden666.com.br/2021/07/senjutsu-confira-detalhes-do-boxset.html?fbclid=IwAR0rk_j-YVYfaKCqY3HPdzeqnxez0ugSoMrK3M6wyVe34kBzZwW-oECM5S4

Looks like the 2 CD "book" will make a nice pair with the Book of Souls one....

[RodrigoAltaf]

There's a limited edition, available for fan club members only, with a wooden, handcrafted box. AMAZING.