THE Iron Maiden Thread

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Me and my band paused the new album writing process to cover Maiden's entire "Dance of Death" album. This is going to be so amazing  

Why Dance of Death and not The Number of the Beast or Powerslave? Because we wanted to do something new and fresh, and not go classics all the way. We were between Brave New World, Somewhere in Time and Dance of Death, so we're trying some new stuff here.

[TAC]

Lots of great stuff on Dance Of Death..a little filler.. but still great.

[Birch Boy]

39 days for me

Same here, but I'm pumped!

I have Sacred Oath, Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa, and The Big Four: Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer to hold me over until then.

[SPNKr]

Somewhere In Time is slowly growing on me.

[skydivingninja]

Dance of Death, I've decided, is my favorite of the post-reunion albums.  However, I've made a bit of an interesting observation, at least from my point of view, and I'm sure I'll get flamed for this: Iron Maiden does not have a "masterpiece" album.  When I say "masterpiece," I mean one where each song is 100% greatness, "all killer no filler."  NOTB comes close, Piece of Mind comes close, Powerslave comes close, Dance of Death comes close, Seventh Son comes close, and Somewhere in Time comes close, but they all have at least two tracks that bring the album down.  If songs like "Gangland" were cut from TNOTB, it really would be deserving of its "classic album" status.  Am I the only crazy one who thinks this?

[glaurung]

You are definitely not alone in thinking that. It's the biggest reason why I've never been able to decide on a favorite Maiden album. Most of them are filled with tons of awesome but there's always the one song that makes it hard for me to pick it.

[Mladen]

Somewhere in time and Seventh son of a seventh son don't have a single weak track. Or a lesser good track for that matter. It's all killer, no filler. 

[sneakyblueberry]

Somewhere in time and Seventh son of a seventh son don't have a single weak track. Or a lesser good track for that matter. It's all killer, no filler. 

I don't know about that! IMO;

Somewhere in Time = Deja Vu, LotLDR
Seventh Son = Only the Good Die Young

[Mladen]

Erm.... No. Those are awesome. 

[sneakyblueberry]

Meh.  The opening line of Only the Good Die Young puts me right off it.  And its just average compared to the rest of the album.  Deja Vu is just a Murray wankfest with a catchy chorus.  Long Distance Runner... well, its about running.

[Mladen]

I dunno, man. I find Deja vu and TLOTLDR absolutely amazing, with incredible guitar harmonies and plenty of catchy stuff going on. As for Only the good die young, it maybe is the least good on the album in a way, but it's still a great song in my opinion. The solos rule in particular.

[glaurung]

I'll give you that, Seventh Son doesn't have a weak track. The Loneliness is of the Long Distance Runner is the weak spot on Somewhere in Time though.

[skydivingninja]

Really?  On Somewhere in Time I've always felt that "Deja Vu" and "Alexander the Great" were the stinkers.

[sneakyblueberry]

Really?  On Somewhere in Time I've always felt that "Deja Vu" and "Alexander the Great" were the stinkers.

Whoa!  Alexander is my second favourite Maiden epic after Sign of the Cross.  Its oodles more interesting than Rime.

[TAC]

Whoa!  Alexander ....  Its oodles more interesting than Rime.

I actually agree with you. My only problem with it is the ending. It ends too suddenly.

[Zantera]

I haven't listened to the classic Maiden-albums in ages, should def. spin those records some this summer.

[SPNKr]

Whoa!  Alexander ....  Its oodles more interesting than Rime.

I actually agree with you. My only problem with it is the ending. It ends too suddenly.

Yep, ends too suddenly indeed.

[El Barto]

Heaven Can Wait and CIPWM are both crap.  These are the two that bring down those otherwise fine albums.  As for a masterpiece, I'd probably go with Killers.  All good stuff.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Lots of great stuff on Dance Of Death..a little filler.. but still great.

Agree, but the title track and Paschendale are probably up there along my favorite Maiden tunes 

[DarkEternalNight]

I want to get into this band so bad. They seem too repetitive on guitar though.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

They don't stray away very much from their core sound, but you probably have to look upon lots of Maiden albums to get the whole picture. (I personally love the use of keyboards in Seventh Son, for example  )

[Zydar]

I'll give you that, Seventh Son doesn't have a weak track. The Loneliness is of the Long Distance Runner is the weak spot on Somewhere in Time though.

I agree totally. I've never liked Long Distance Runner.

And Only The Good Die Young is one of my favourites on Seventh Son. Such a great chorus to singalong to.

[Nick]

Seventh Son has a lot of weak tracks.

Can I Play With Madness is crap, and Seventh Son and Prophecy aren't much better. Only the Good Die Young is an alright closer, and while Moonchild has grown on me a bit it is still subpar for Maiden opening tracks.

The leaves two amazing tracks and one alright track.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

 

What was that? Seventh Son is one of Maiden's best albums. Can I Play with Madness is one of my favorite live sing-alongs and the title track is one of the best Maiden 8+ minute songs. (Beats the crap out of Rime of the Ancient Mariner, for sure)

[glaurung]

Seventh Son has a lot of weak tracks.

Can I Play With Madness is crap, and Seventh Son and Prophecy aren't much better. Only the Good Die Young is an alright closer, and while Moonchild has grown on me a bit it is still subpar for Maiden opening tracks.

The leaves two amazing tracks and one alright track.

I think I need to take a break form the computer after this fail overdose.

[Mladen]

Whoa!  Alexander is my second favourite Maiden epic after Sign of the Cross. 

Finally, some respect for my favorite song of all time! Alexander is awesome as well, probably my 3rd favorite Maiden epic, just behind To tame a land.

[yorost]

Since when does Sign of the Cross not get respect?  It's a very popular song.

[Zantera]

Since when does Sign of the Cross not get respect?  It's a very popular song.

I don't think it is, generally speaking ofc.
I love it myself, but it's not the type of Maiden-song that everyone says "its brilliant" or whatever.

[glaurung]

It's okay.

[Birch Boy]

Why no talk about Piece Of Mind? That is an amazing album. "Where Eagles Dare", "Revelations", "Flight Of Icarus", "The Trooper",  "Die With Your Boots On" is one of the best streaks in music, in my opinion.

[Zantera]

Haven't listened to Piece of Mind in ages, but i agree its underrated amongst Maiden-fans.

[sneakyblueberry]

Haven't listened to Piece of Mind in ages, but i agree its underrated amongst Maiden-fans.

Its Steve Harris' favourite Maiden album.  Although that may have changed post-reunion.  I think it is let down by its production and the God-awful Sun and Steel/Quest for Fire combo.

[cramx3]

I agree about IM not having a masterpiece album.  They are my favorite band, but none of their albums are in my top 3.  I've always struggled picking my favorite album by them and it usually ends up being one of the following: BNW, AMOLAD, SIT, Powerslave, or SSOASS.

The weak links for each of those albums for me are:

BNW - The Nomad (listened to it today for the first time in awhile and I really like the istrumental section, but the rest of the song is just pretty boring)
AMOLAD - Brighter Than a Thousand Suns
SIT - Sea of Madness
Powerslave - Back in the Village
SSOASS - The Prophecy

[TAC]

SSOASS - The Prophecy

One of my favorite "2nd tier" songs. Might be my favorite performance by Bruce on 7th Son.

[glaurung]

Haven't listened to Piece of Mind in ages, but i agree its underrated amongst Maiden-fans.

Its Steve Harris' favourite Maiden album.  Although that may have changed post-reunion.  I think it is let down by its production and the God-awful Sun and Steel/Quest for Fire combo.

Sun and Steel is great. Quest for Fire is pretty bad though.