THE Iron Maiden Thread

[jjrock88]

Sad news. RIP

[Mladen]

I'm deeply saddened by this news, rest in peace Clive. 

[adace]

R.I.P. Clive. He was a phenomenal drummer.

[cramx3]

RIP Clive, a big part of the beginning of my favorite band.

[Vahvahenki]

  He sure was a big part of why Maiden stood out in their early days. Rest in peace.

[wolfking]

This is just awful, a great drummer and a great guy.  I am really upset about this. 

[bosk1]

Changing topic...

Ya' know...I know this is an unpopular opinion to have, but...well...Powerslave really isn't a great album.  It's just not.  Aces High and 2 Minutes are a very good start to the album.  The thing is, "very good" is not "great."  And that's fine.  Every song can't be "the best ever!!!11one!"  But the problem is, while the album opens strongly, it doesn't open up strongly enough to keep me interested through the next four songs, which are CONSIDERABLY weaker, IMO.  They aren't terrible.  But I just don't find them interesting either.  Honestly, the middle four song sound like filler.  And having half your album be filler is not a good thing.  The two best songs on the album by a mile close it out.  Terrific way to close the album with 20 minutes of outstanding music.  But in the future, I can easily see myself saying, "I don't really want to listen to this album.  Let me just skip to Powerslave and Mariner, and call it a day."  It's not a bad album by any stretch.  But I would definitely consider it the weakest of the ones I have.

Okay, I'm done.  Come at me. 

[theseoafs]

Changing topic...

Ya' know...I know this is an unpopular opinion to have, but...well...Powerslave really isn't a great album.  It's just not.  Aces High and 2 Minutes are a very good start to the album.  They "very good" is not "great."  And that's fine.  Every song can't be "the best ever!!!11one!"  But the problem is, while the album opens strongly, it doesn't open up strongly enough to keep me interested through the next four songs, which are CONSIDERABLY weaker, IMO.  They aren't terrible.  But I just don't find them interesting either.  Honestly, the middle four song sound like filler.  And having half your album be filler is not a good thing.  The two best songs on the album by a mile close it out.  Terrific way to close the album with 20 minutes of outstanding music.  But in the future, I can easily see myself saying, "I don't really want to listen to this album.  Let me just skip to Powerslave and Mariner, and call it a day."  It's not a bad album by any stretch.  But I would definitely consider it the weakest of the ones I have.

Okay, I'm done.  Come at me. 

This is a pretty reasonable opinion, actually.  I never really got into the album's middle half, myself.  Maiden has much better, more consistent albums (SIT, SSOASS, TNOTB).

BTW, bosk, would you mind listing the Maiden albums you've got now?  I'm interested to see what Powerslave is stacking up against here.  (Sorry if you've gotten this question a million times... you should've known when you got into Maiden that you would be an intellectual curiosity to a lot of us  )

[bosk1]

Yeah, I feel like I've posted it a lot lately, but that's okay.  Here they are:

Number Of The Beast
Piece Of Mind
Powerslave
Somewhere In Time
Rock In Rio (CD)
The Final Frontier
En Vivo (DVD)

It's kinda unfair to rank live albums and studio albums together, and to throw video into the mix as well, but if pressed, here's how I would rank them:
1.  En Vivo
2.  The Final Frontier
3.  Rock In Rio
4.  Piece Of Mind
5.  Somewhere In Time
6.  Number Of The Beast
7.  Powerslave

My 1-4 are very close.  Then a bit of a dropoff with SiT and NotB being pretty close to one another.  Then Powerslave, although still pretty respectable, bringing up the rear.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Ahh Nicko!

"I send that up momas ass", "That's a pretty good spank a' doodle"!
 

[masterthes]

I agree with you too Bosk about Powerslave. It's really only about those 4 songs

[Nel]

I agree with you too Bosk about Powerslave. It's really only about those 4 songs

Same here. It was one of the last pre-90s albums I bought, and I easily find it the weakest of the first seven albums.

[Mladen]

I remember reading that Steve Harris was also dissatisfied with the four songs in the middle of the album. I personally love Back in the village and Flash of the blade, and the other two are really good as well. But for the most fans, the strength of the album is in its two opening and closing tracks.

[Perpetual Change]

Changing topic...

Ya' know...I know this is an unpopular opinion to have, but...well...Powerslave really isn't a great album.  It's just not.  Aces High and 2 Minutes are a very good start to the album.  The thing is, "very good" is not "great."  And that's fine.  Every song can't be "the best ever!!!11one!"  But the problem is, while the album opens strongly, it doesn't open up strongly enough to keep me interested through the next four songs, which are CONSIDERABLY weaker, IMO.  They aren't terrible.  But I just don't find them interesting either.  Honestly, the middle four song sound like filler.  And having half your album be filler is not a good thing.  The two best songs on the album by a mile close it out.  Terrific way to close the album with 20 minutes of outstanding music.  But in the future, I can easily see myself saying, "I don't really want to listen to this album.  Let me just skip to Powerslave and Mariner, and call it a day."  It's not a bad album by any stretch.  But I would definitely consider it the weakest of the ones I have.

Okay, I'm done.  Come at me. 

Agreed. I think Powerslave gets a lot of love because it's easily one of the most tasty Maiden albums from a guitar playing viewpoint. Compared to previous records, Adrian and Dave really seem to be on another level that I'd argue isn't *completely* recaptured until the reunion.

[Cyclopssss]

I think you have a point there, it does sagg in the middle a bit. But the guitars are stellar overal. You wouldn't think they were boozin' it up heavily as they told afterwards.

[cramx3]

I don't know, Losfer Words, The Duelist, and Flash of the Blade are awesome songs. Nothing great, but not filler IMO. Back in the Village kind of stinks though.

[Zydar]

Yeah the quality drops after Aces / Midnight (although Flash Of The Blade is great IMHO) before it goes back up with Powerslave / Mariner.

[TAC]

Just a thought about Clive..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twTDRkswCWQ

The link is the promo video to Run To The Hills. Why is it special? Well, It pretty much was my beginning point to being a Maiden fan. One of the things that really got my attention was the infectious smile on their drummer.
Listened to Killers last night. Clive had such great hands.

Changing topic...

Ya' know...I know this is an unpopular opinion to have, but...well...Powerslave really isn't a great album.  It's just not.  Aces High and 2 Minutes are a very good start to the album.  The thing is, "very good" is not "great."  And that's fine.  Every song can't be "the best ever!!!11one!"  But the problem is, while the album opens strongly, it doesn't open up strongly enough to keep me interested through the next four songs, which are CONSIDERABLY weaker, IMO.  They aren't terrible.  But I just don't find them interesting either.  Honestly, the middle four song sound like filler.  And having half your album be filler is not a good thing.  The two best songs on the album by a mile close it out.  Terrific way to close the album with 20 minutes of outstanding music.  But in the future, I can easily see myself saying, "I don't really want to listen to this album.  Let me just skip to Powerslave and Mariner, and call it a day."  It's not a bad album by any stretch.  But I would definitely consider it the weakest of the ones I have.

Okay, I'm done.  Come at me. 

OK Bosk, I will tell you that when Powerslave came out, I really did not care for it. I first heard Two Minutes and I thought it was fairly generic. I mean by that time, the intro was already basically the same riff that I had on 4 other albums. The riff is the same as:
Dio-Stand Up And Shout
Saxon-Power And The Glory
Riot-Swords And Tequila
Accept-Flash Rockin' Man

I just felt like they didn't break new ground with it. I thought Aces High was a little generic. I mean it's cool and all, but.. I thought Rime was long for long's sake. They made such a big deal about writing this long song, just seemed that the length was all that mattered to them.
After listening to Genghis Kahn last night, Losfer Words does not stand up. I just thought the whole album was contrived. Even when they started touring, I thought the Egyptian motiff was kind of cliche'd.

Those were my impressions back in 1984-85. That said, Poweslave has aged remarkably well. Still not upper tier for me, or even close. But that doesn't make it a bad album.

[wolfking]

You forgot the original.  Janick's band White Spirit and Midnight Chaser;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag-ALgraezU

[kirksnosehair]

Powerslave, for me, sits somewhere in the middle of the pack.  I love Aces High, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Back In The Village and RotAM, the rest of the songs I like but sometimes I skip them over when I listen to it.

I actually think the two albums that came AFTER this one were stronger. 

[Dream Team]

Yeah, I feel like I've posted it a lot lately, but that's okay.  Here they are:

Number Of The Beast
Piece Of Mind
Powerslave
Somewhere In Time
Rock In Rio (CD)
The Final Frontier
En Vivo (DVD)

It's kinda unfair to rank live albums and studio albums together, and to throw video into the mix as well, but if pressed, here's how I would rank them:
1.  En Vivo
2.  The Final Frontier
3.  Rock In Rio
4.  Piece Of Mind
5.  Somewhere In Time
6.  Number Of The Beast
7.  Powerslave

My 1-4 are very close.  Then a bit of a dropoff with SiT and NotB being pretty close to one another.  Then Powerslave, although still pretty respectable, bringing up the rear.

Perfectly sane rankings. To me, Powerslave is all about tracks 1, 7, 8 and I never listen to the others. But those 3 are all Top 20.

[Zydar]

I just want to shamelessly plug that the final round of the Maiden survivor (debut album) is under way

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=36209.0

Now back to the discussions

[theseoafs]

Hey guys, I found this funny clip of bosk when he was a little kid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ZeCz36pGw

[TAC]

Hey guys, I found this funny clip of bosk when he was a little kid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ZeCz36pGw

That is fuc#ikg AWESOME!!!!!!!!

[bosk1]

  Well, Iron Maiden does make me happy, so maybe that actually did happen and I just have a repressed memory or something. 

[TAC]

I love when they show the brother for a second and he's got the horns going!

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Rather than scouring the topic for any info on it, I'll leave this here:

https://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/video-bruce-dickinson-introduces-iron-maiden-trooper-beer/

No word on whether or not it smells like acrid smoke and/or horse's breath.  However, after drinking enough of it, you may wake up on the neighbor's lawn gazing at the sky, your body numb and your throat dry...

[TheGreatPretender]

You'll take a mug and I'll take one too. You can't get drunk, because it runs right through.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

[bosk1]

Not bad, but I saw a better version:


You take my beer and I'll take yours too
I'm gonna order me another brew
So when you're waiting for the next rounds
Remember that you have to pay in pounds

The bugle sounds the charge begins
the first one to the bar wins
The smell of cigarette smoke and toxic breath
Some jerk in the bar is quoting Macbeth

Get the car ready for a beer run
We like to play darts for fun
As we race towards the beer can wall
Someone's getting hit because he made them fall

We roll drunks that lay on the ground
And the russians buy another round
We get so near, yet so far away
I guess we won't get our beer today

We get so close near enough to get
A frothy refreshing beverage cool and wet
He pulls the bell and I start to fall
I can't believe we just missed last call

As I lay there gazing at the sky
My body's numb and my throat is dry
As I lay there forgotten and alone
Without a beer I draw my parting groan

[TheGreatPretender]

Yes, well, I didn't want to spend too much of my time on parody lyrics about beer. But nice! 

[Zydar]

I am watching Death On The Road right now, and Lord Of The Flies is so much better live with Bruce

[TAC]

I am watching Death On The Road right now, and Lord Of The Flies is so much better live with Bruce

Love DOTR. Lots of great songs from the Blaze era. Would love to hear more Bruce versions.

Plus one of the things missing from those two albums was guitar depth, and this is where Adrian can also have a huge impact.

I wish they would bring back The Educated Fool. That chorus was made for Bruce. 

[Perpetual Change]

So anyway, someone unloaded a bunch of great metal at the store I usually buy vinyls from, and (among gems like Zepellin IV, the Journey Discography, and some Genesis) I picked up Somewhere in Time for $10.

It's in fairly good condition. A little warped, but not enough to really effect sound quality. Two things surprise me:

1.) It's a slipcase. Seriously? The SiT artwork BEGS for a gatefold. Geez.
2.) It sounds so freakin' good. Something about Iron Maiden's CD remasters leaves me cold. Nicko's playing sounds way more distinct on these Maiden vinyls, and Bruce's voice seems to fit much more comfortably in the sonic space of the original mix. On the CD remaster I had previously, you can't really hear Nicko's cymbal work much because the guitars are so loud, and Bruce's voice kinda awkwardly floats above everything.

[bosk1]

Took a ski trip with the kids on Friday and Saturday.  Just as we were driving through the town of El Dorado on Friday morning...the song El Dorado starts playing on my CD player.