The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[Stadler]

I've been listening recently to some of the acoustic Iron Maiden covers that Thomas Zwijsen has done with Blaze singing, and I really got into the Judgment of Heaven one. It may not convince Blaze skeptics, but it's a really cool performance for those who like the man. Just an acoustic guitar, a violin, and Blaze, in a church.

Also, it may be a controversial opinion at this point, but I like Blaze better than Bruce on Lord of the Flies and Sign of the Cross—although I think of Rock in Rio as the definitive version of SotC because the production is much better. It's tough, though, because I also like the album tempo better than the RiR tempo.

After seeing Bruce sing that on the Legacy Of The Beast tour,  Bruce owns that song now.  That was the definitive version for me (the show I saw - Hartford, CT - can be heard by someone who wants to hear it). 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Sad hearing about Paul Di'annos knee, he seems to be in really bad shape.

[Glasser]

I've been listening recently to some of the acoustic Iron Maiden covers that Thomas Zwijsen has done with Blaze singing, and I really got into the Judgment of Heaven one. It may not convince Blaze skeptics, but it's a really cool performance for those who like the man. Just an acoustic guitar, a violin, and Blaze, in a church.

Also, it may be a controversial opinion at this point, but I like Blaze better than Bruce on Lord of the Flies and Sign of the Cross—although I think of Rock in Rio as the definitive version of SotC because the production is much better. It's tough, though, because I also like the album tempo better than the RiR tempo.

Deleted, sorry.

[bosk1]

Quick thoughts on V XI:  Production and songwriting are better than X Favor to my ears.  But the vocals still leave me cold, and even with the other two improvements, I don't hear anything that makes me want to come back for more.  I don't see myself ever buying these. 

Starting No Prayer now...

[Glasser]

@Herrick:  Yeah, I'm trying to give Blaze a fair shake and not be unduly influenced by the fact that I know this is Maiden and he is not Bruce.  And that is hard to do.  But I'm finding that, that aside, I just don't care for his singing style--at least, not in this band.  Even the songs on X Factor and, from what I am hearing at the beginning of Virtual XI, don't seem like a good fit for him.  I keep finding myself silently screaming at the player, "Come ON, Blaze!  I really WANT to like you.  SHOW me SOMETHING!!!"  Now, it could very well be that, as with Charlie Dominicci in DT, if I heard him in a different setting with songs he had a hand in writing that are written specifically with a view toward his voice, I might come to a different conclusion about him as a singer.  But I'm just not liking what I am hearing of him in Maiden.

Dominici solo band tune, very cool tune!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2VhKwPMTwc8

[bosk1]

I'm familiar.  And that isn't remotely the best song on the album.  Remember, I said just a few posts above that I really like his voice on material that was actually written to his strengths (unlike WDADU, which decidedly was NOT).

[pg1067]

I wasn't implying there had to be a non-music related reason  it's the bottom 10 80s song statement that caught my eye (given how much I enjoy it instead),  so I was just curious about what it is in the song you dislike so much ...and you were pretty clear about it 

The other thing to consider is how strong Maiden's catalog in the '80s is.  Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many '80s Maiden songs that I can truly say I don't like and would want to skip:

- On the debut, maybe Strange World
- On Killers, Twilight Zone
- Nothing on TNOTB or POM
- On Powerslave, Back in the Village
- Nothing on Somewhere in Time
- Infinite Dreams and probably The Prophecy and The Clairvoyant

That means if I were to rank all of the '80s songs, there'd be four songs I like in the bottom 10.

[Mladen]

@Herrick:  Yeah, I'm trying to give Blaze a fair shake and not be unduly influenced by the fact that I know this is Maiden and he is not Bruce.  And that is hard to do.  But I'm finding that, that aside, I just don't care for his singing style--at least, not in this band.  Even the songs on X Factor and, from what I am hearing at the beginning of Virtual XI, don't seem like a good fit for him.  I keep finding myself silently screaming at the player, "Come ON, Blaze!  I really WANT to like you.  SHOW me SOMETHING!!!"  Now, it could very well be that, as with Charlie Dominicci in DT, if I heard him in a different setting with songs he had a hand in writing that are written specifically with a view toward his voice, I might come to a different conclusion about him as a singer.  But I'm just not liking what I am hearing of him in Maiden.

How about these bits?

1. "Here comes the nightmare that never ends, here is the dream that makes monsters of men."
2. "After the war and that no one has won, I'm just a soldier!"
3. "Here, I am the knife in my hand, and now I understand why the genius must die."

I personally get enough power and conviction from his delivery throughout the album. On tracks like Blood on the world's hands and The Edge of darkness in particular, he gets into a comfortable register and just nails it all the way through.

The production doesn't do him justice, though, but the rest of the band is also kind of suffering from the production.

[bosk1]

No Prayer bored me to tears.  Sorry for those who may like it.  I didn't really find a single song that made me want to keep listening. 

On the first song of Fear of the Dark and it is already a more interesting album.

[Stadler]

I wasn't implying there had to be a non-music related reason  it's the bottom 10 80s song statement that caught my eye (given how much I enjoy it instead),  so I was just curious about what it is in the song you dislike so much ...and you were pretty clear about it 

The other thing to consider is how strong Maiden's catalog in the '80s is.  Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many '80s Maiden songs that I can truly say I don't like and would want to skip:

- On the debut, maybe Strange World
- On Killers, Twilight Zone
- Nothing on TNOTB or POM
- On Powerslave, Back in the Village
- Nothing on Somewhere in Time
- Infinite Dreams and probably The Prophecy and The Clairvoyant

That means if I were to rank all of the '80s songs, there'd be four songs I like in the bottom 10.

You crazy, man. 

Debut: Nothing
Killers:  Wratchschild (maybe)
TNOTB: Gangland
POM: Quest For Fire (though I'm not a huge fan of Sun And Steel)
Powerslave: Nothing (though I'm not a huge fan of The Duellists)
SiT: TLOTLDR (maybe)

[425]

How about these bits?

1. "Here comes the nightmare that never ends, here is the dream that makes monsters of men."
2. "After the war and that no one has won, I'm just a soldier!"
3. "Here, I am the knife in my hand, and now I understand why the genius must die."

I personally get enough power and conviction from his delivery throughout the album. On tracks like Blood on the world's hands and The Edge of darkness in particular, he gets into a comfortable register and just nails it all the way through.

The production doesn't do him justice, though, but the rest of the band is also kind of suffering from the production.

Great list. Since bosk probably doesn't remember where those lyrics come from after listening to the album just once, I'll add that 1 comes from Look for the Truth, 2 from The Aftermath, and 3 from The Edge of Darkness

I'll add a couple from VXI:
1. "Is it the rolling of thunder that scares you? Is it the crashing of clouds that hold fear?" (Lightning Strikes Twice)
2. "Inside the scream is silent, inside it must remain, no victory and no vanquished, only horror, only pain" (Como Estais Amigos)

[wolfking]

I wasn't implying there had to be a non-music related reason  it's the bottom 10 80s song statement that caught my eye (given how much I enjoy it instead),  so I was just curious about what it is in the song you dislike so much ...and you were pretty clear about it 

The other thing to consider is how strong Maiden's catalog in the '80s is.  Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many '80s Maiden songs that I can truly say I don't like and would want to skip:

- On the debut, maybe Strange World
- On Killers, Twilight Zone
- Nothing on TNOTB or POM
- On Powerslave, Back in the Village
- Nothing on Somewhere in Time
- Infinite Dreams and probably The Prophecy and The Clairvoyant

That means if I were to rank all of the '80s songs, there'd be four songs I like in the bottom 10.

You crazy, man. 

Debut: Nothing
Killers:  Wratchschild (maybe)
TNOTB: Gangland
POM: Quest For Fire (though I'm not a huge fan of Sun And Steel)
Powerslave: Nothing (though I'm not a huge fan of The Duellists)
SiT: TLOTLDR (maybe)

By far one of the bands most underrated songs.

[wolfking]

@Herrick:  Yeah, I'm trying to give Blaze a fair shake and not be unduly influenced by the fact that I know this is Maiden and he is not Bruce.  And that is hard to do.  But I'm finding that, that aside, I just don't care for his singing style--at least, not in this band.  Even the songs on X Factor and, from what I am hearing at the beginning of Virtual XI, don't seem like a good fit for him.  I keep finding myself silently screaming at the player, "Come ON, Blaze!  I really WANT to like you.  SHOW me SOMETHING!!!"  Now, it could very well be that, as with Charlie Dominicci in DT, if I heard him in a different setting with songs he had a hand in writing that are written specifically with a view toward his voice, I might come to a different conclusion about him as a singer.  But I'm just not liking what I am hearing of him in Maiden.

How about these bits?

1. "Here comes the nightmare that never ends, here is the dream that makes monsters of men."
2. "After the war and that no one has won, I'm just a soldier!"
3. "Here, I am the knife in my hand, and now I understand why the genius must die."

I personally get enough power and conviction from his delivery throughout the album. On tracks like Blood on the world's hands and The Edge of darkness in particular, he gets into a comfortable register and just nails it all the way through.

The production doesn't do him justice, though, but the rest of the band is also kind of suffering from the production.

That section in the Aftermath followed by Janicks ripping solo gives me fucking chills.  Just epic!

[NoseofNicko]

I wasn't implying there had to be a non-music related reason  it's the bottom 10 80s song statement that caught my eye (given how much I enjoy it instead),  so I was just curious about what it is in the song you dislike so much ...and you were pretty clear about it 

The other thing to consider is how strong Maiden's catalog in the '80s is.  Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many '80s Maiden songs that I can truly say I don't like and would want to skip:

- On the debut, maybe Strange World
- On Killers, Twilight Zone
- Nothing on TNOTB or POM
- On Powerslave, Back in the Village
- Nothing on Somewhere in Time
- Infinite Dreams and probably The Prophecy and The Clairvoyant

That means if I were to rank all of the '80s songs, there'd be four songs I like in the bottom 10.

You crazy, man. 

Debut: Nothing
Killers:  Wratchschild (maybe)
TNOTB: Gangland
POM: Quest For Fire (though I'm not a huge fan of Sun And Steel)
Powerslave: Nothing (though I'm not a huge fan of The Duellists)
SiT: TLOTLDR (maybe)

By far one of the bands most underrated songs.

Definitely. It was my favorite Maiden song for a while.

[wolfking]

Nice.  Those harmonies in the middle are close to the sweetest most melodic harmonies the band has ever done.

[wolfking]

Man, Dave's solo in the Parchment is wicked.

[pg1067]

No Prayer bored me to tears.  Sorry for those who may like it.  I didn't really find a single song that made me want to keep listening. 

On the first song of Fear of the Dark and it is already a more interesting album.

Last time I listened to the two back-to-back (probably 4-6 months ago), I was surprised that I thought No Prayer had more interesting content than Fear.  Of course, the song Fear of the Dark is the best song on either album, and I can't remember what the No Prayer songs were, but I'll go back to it again and see if my opinion is the same.

You crazy, man. 

Not exactly a controversial opinion.

TNOTB: Gangland

Controversial opinion:  Gangland > Children of the Damned.

[v_clortho]

I'm with you on the head-scratching of CIPWM? (we used to sing "Can I Make A Sandwich!")

We had a friend named Magnus so we'd all sing "can I play with Magnus"

[pg1067]

I'm with you on the head-scratching of CIPWM? (we used to sing "Can I Make A Sandwich!")

We had a friend named Magnus so we'd all sing "can I play with Magnus"

We went with "can I play with matches?"   

[KevShmev]

I think The Prophecy is definitely the least best song from Seventh Son..., but it got better each listen, and that acoustic outro is pretty darn nifty.  Infinite Dreams was instantly likable as well, and The Clairvoyant and The Evil That Men Do are both really, really good.  I am not totally connecting with the title track yet, but I am sure the rest of the dots will connect as there is a lot I do like about it.

No Prayer for the Dying seems pretty lackluster. A few good songs, but Holy Smoke was pretty embarrassing.  Easily the worst song I've heard on this journey so far.

[TAC]

Lots to chew on over the past couple of pages..

Regarding what's been mentioned...too much to quote..


I love the intro to The Clairvoyant. It's really the only part of the song I like. I never understood the band's need to play this live for so long.

Infinite Dreams is one of Iron Maiden's best songs. Period.

After the epic SSOASS, Side 2 peters out. I love The Prophecy, but the those three short songs kind of end the album on a bit of a whimper.

They could've done so much more with Only The Good Die Young. It has always felt incomplete to me.


@Bosk..and Kev..

No Prayer-Generally considered as Iron Maiden's weakest album, though some will argue Virtual XI.
It's a stripped down approach, but the quality of songs is just not there. So disappointing after what was then considered a long lay off. The title track and Run Silent Run Deep are keepers. RSRD is one of the best choruses in their catalog.

Fear Of The Dark-Yeah this is more like it. Janick is more integrated and it's a much stronger effort. Their first album in the CD era, so there are 3-4 songs that are really B-side material that were added to fill a disc. Still, it's an album that is easily 8 songs deep and I think it's highly underrated.

The X Factor-The band was sitting on their Back In Black with this one. My issue is that it feels like a demo for a masterpiece. The production is awful, and the songs feel a bit unrefined. Still the songs are full of incredibly strong passages and ideas. I like Blaze. I think he sounds great on this, and adds to the dreadfulness (I mean that complimentary , as that seems what Steve was going for) of the album.

Virtual XI-Blaze feels more comfortable on this, but it feels a bit short compared to TXF. Some great tunes here..The Educated Fool, Futureal, Don't Look To the Eyes Of A Stranger (yeah I know the repeating Don't look too's) but that instrumental part towards the ending is fantastic.

Bosk, not sure if you've heard these..
Futureal-live with Bruce
Man ON The Edge-live with Bruce

The Educated Fool needs the Bruce treatment. Seriously.

[gazinwales]

'Somewhere In Time' celebrates 35 years since it's release today.
I remember buying it when it came out, it was a bit of a shock to hear the synths on a Maiden album.
In my IM top three, a classic.

[MirrorMask]

Me and Bruce must be the only two persons in the world that don't love SIT.

I mean, it's a good and nice album, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I never connected with it the way I did with the other albums.

[Mladen]

Are you also hung up on the fact that your acoustic songs weren't accepted for the album? 

[The Curious Orange]

The thing is, this was the time grunge changed everything. FOTD has a much better production than NPFTD, but it does sound like Maiden are grasping for the Big American Hair-Metal sound that made bands like Def Leppard so much money at the time, but against the soundtrack of the grunge explosion, it sounded very dated and very 80s at the time. The X Factor was an album that adapted to the contemporary sound, it's Maiden's grungiest album, because that's where rock music was at the time. You can't listen to these albums today, 20+ years later, without putting them into the context of the musical landscape of the time.

All of those 90s albums have great songs and hidden gems on them, but they're just not great albums. That said, I love TXF and think it's far better than it's reputation. NPFTD is probably the nearest Maiden have come to disappointing me, it and VXI are tied for the weakest album IMO.

[MirrorMask]

I always like to say that in the '90s all the big ones released a couple of controversial albums:

Maiden > X Factor and Virtual XI
Metallica > Load and Reload
Priest > Jugulator and Demolition

In all three cases, I think that the first album, after the initial shock, has its own merits and can be appreciated for what it is. The second album is actually a bit meh 

[DoctorAction]

On Senjutsu, amazing album.

Skipping Darkest Hour has turned into a persistent habit, mind. Well executed but the subject and lyrics are dull to me.

[wolfking]

Skipping Darkest Hour has turned into a persistent habit, mind. Well executed but the subject and lyrics are dull to me.

Wowsers!!

[KevShmev]

Me and Bruce must be the only two persons in the world that don't love SIT.

I mean, it's a good and nice album, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I never connected with it the way I did with the other albums.

It is definitely my least favorite of the five Maiden albums with Bruce from the 80's, but I still like it.  I think I'd rank the five like this:

1 Powerslave
2 Piece of Mind
3 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4 The Number of the Beast
5 Somewhere in Time

[MirrorMask]

For me that would be:

Piece of Mind and Seventh Son

666 and Powerslave


And then SIT

[Zydar]

1. Seventh Son
2. Somewhere In Time
3. Powerslave
4. Piece Of Mind
5. The Number Of The Beast

[Stadler]

Me and Bruce must be the only two persons in the world that don't love SIT.

I mean, it's a good and nice album, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I never connected with it the way I did with the other albums.

It is definitely my least favorite of the five Maiden albums with Bruce from the 80's, but I still like it.  I think I'd rank the five like this:

1 Powerslave
2 Piece of Mind
3 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4 The Number of the Beast
5 Somewhere in Time

That's a pretty good list right there.  DOesn't mean SiT sucks, it's all relative.  The first four, for me, are THAT good.

[Stadler]

I wasn't implying there had to be a non-music related reason  it's the bottom 10 80s song statement that caught my eye (given how much I enjoy it instead),  so I was just curious about what it is in the song you dislike so much ...and you were pretty clear about it 

The other thing to consider is how strong Maiden's catalog in the '80s is.  Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many '80s Maiden songs that I can truly say I don't like and would want to skip:

- On the debut, maybe Strange World
- On Killers, Twilight Zone
- Nothing on TNOTB or POM
- On Powerslave, Back in the Village
- Nothing on Somewhere in Time
- Infinite Dreams and probably The Prophecy and The Clairvoyant

That means if I were to rank all of the '80s songs, there'd be four songs I like in the bottom 10.

You crazy, man. 

Debut: Nothing
Killers:  Wratchschild (maybe)
TNOTB: Gangland
POM: Quest For Fire (though I'm not a huge fan of Sun And Steel)
Powerslave: Nothing (though I'm not a huge fan of The Duellists)
SiT: TLOTLDR (maybe)

By far one of the bands most underrated songs.

Definitely. It was my favorite Maiden song for a while.

So... I used to tape all my LPs and CDs for use in the car.   And I had to cut something to fit SiT on one side of a 45-minute tape, and that was the song that "worked" time-wise.  So if I've listened to that complete album 500 times, I've heard TLOTLDR maybe 100.  I'll go back and revisit it, maybe.

[425]

My heretical list:
1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
2. Piece of Mind
3. Somewhere in Time
4. The Number of the Beast
5. Powerslave

[cramx3]

For the 5 albums listed, here's mine:

1. Somewhere in Time
2. Powerslave
3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4. Piece of Mind
5. The Number of the Beast

but as Stadler said, it doesn't mean 5 is bad, it's all relative.  I love all these albums.

And in other news, I got a late birthday present from my gf.  She ordered these but they just came late so surprise, I got 4 Iron Maiden album coasters!  They are pretty nice too.  She said they had options to choose the album covers and she wasn't sure which to get so she chose these 4 album covers:  Fear of the Dark, Somewhere in Time, The Number of the Beast, and Killers