There's really only one reason to hate VXI. GOD AWFUL REPETITION!!!
Especially during Angel and the Gambler, it's hard to believe SOMEONE didn't turn to Steve and say, "Say Arry, don't you think I could WRING YOUR FREAKIN NECK IF YOU MAKE BLAZE SING THAT LINE ONE MORE FREAKIN TIME?!!!!"
IMO, Iron Maiden's choruses started to get lazy with Somewhere In Time. That was really the first album where you had multiple songs that only sang a single phrase 3 to 4 times (sometimes more) as the chorus. But over time, it just got worse and worse....and it really came to a head on VXI. I honestly cannot listen to that album just because over half that album sounds like a record skipping.
Yup. But I don't mind repetition as long as the repeated part is good. I don't mind The Angel and the Gambler or Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger, weirdly enough. Or Blood Brothers.
I pretty much dislike the four latest albums. Dance of Death is the best of them, but far from flawless. Why? They seem to write lengthy songs just for the sake of them being lengthy. Usually the songs have a good riff or two, but end up in a senseless spiral of repetition. I wish they'd make an album with eight 4-6 minute songs and one epic over ten minutes.
Want me to elaborate? Brave New World's main melody is fantastic, but the chorus is utterly boring and eats up probably a third of the song. The Longest Day has really cool verses, but I don't like pre-chorus or the chorus, and those both are repeated unnecessarily many times. When the Wild Wind Blows has parts the makes me have goosebumps, but the music doesn't support the story as well as it could and is very repetitive.
Another thing I'd like to change is clean intros. It started on The X Factor, on which 9 of 11 songs (+ I Live My Way) start with clean guitar. They sort of fitted on the mood of the album, but they're getting boring. God, I wish they'd leave their comfort zone. They're kind of AC/DC of heavy metal now (nothing wrong with AC/DC, I do like their formula better than the post-Blaze Maiden albums).
But they still have written some good material. The Thin Line Between Love & Hate is excellent to my mind, I love the tranquil parts. The first three minutes of Dance of Death are arguably the best three minutes on their whole discography. The remaining song is good still, but has some terribly rushed vocal melodies. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns and Lord of Light are probably their two heaviest songs on their whole discography. And Mother of Mercy is the most fresh-sounding Maiden song since, uhmmm, The Unbeliever (maybe their most experimental song).
I'm ready for shitstorm.