I am also one who is a big fan of Virtual X1. I love X Factor, it has a great atmosphere throughout. So sombre and dark, Blaze fit perfectly with those songs. I see why they chose him, because with Bruce they couldn't, or at least wouldn't, write such different new things. And Virtual X1 had much more catchier songs imo. I like all songs on it.
So how do people here stand on the whole Priest vs Maiden thing? Whose better ?
They say Priest started the whole twin guitarist thing, i don't see how that's true. But Maiden created the guitar trio setup haha!
I like Maiden, because they have more metal albums. By this i mean, it seems like a lot of Priest songs and earlier albums seem more Rock orientated. Obviously heavy rock, but more commercial with more of a groove that makes them sounds more rock, less metal. But that may just be the really popular songs. Of course Painkiller was killer and definately metal, some say power metal. I don't listen to that much priest, but Painkiller seems a lot different from what they were doing before. How does Painkiller compare in sounds to what was before, and AoR and Nostradamus?
They're histories are quite similar too. I don't think i need to explain why. And i actually love the Ripper albums a lot. People are dumb. Jugulator actually kinda sounds like a pretty natural progression from Painkiller.
But at the present moment, Maiden seem to actually be the more popular band. I see Maiden gaining popularity where i live, whereas people seem to only mention Priest nostalgically.