Iron Maiden and their new album....

[Chasbo]

Plus 1 here for sure....

Chemical Wedding is my favorite Bruce Dickinson album of all time. Roy's playing on that was sizzling!

chuck

[markb]

I though it sounded ok. Songs were too long, needed editing. As said above, the steve harris E,C,D progression is all over it, just like every other song he's ever written. I thought it was about the same as Dance of Death, maybe a bit better, and better than Brave New World, which I thought was crap.

Piece of Mind was Maiden at their peak for me, Killers 2nd, Number 3rd.

But I don't care. The main thing is that they are still active and touring, because I saw them 2 years ago, and they just tore the place down. Best I'd ever seen them. I'm glad that 20 years later I can say 'Im going to Maiden', and all is well. 20 years ago, if you told me I'd still be going to see them in 2006, I'd have figured that they would be playing farewell tour # 8, in a tiny club in front of 12 people, with 1 original member left, a fat bald steve harris squashed into striped spandex. The usual sad end to a once great band. But not the case!!!

[neilli]

I got it today and so far it sounds alot better than the last one - also, in the feature pic of Adrian he has his Siamese doubleneck, so that's got to be a good thing!

[axeman81]

OK, I am going to drawn a comparison here to my favorite band. I have been a Rush fan for more than 25 years and frankly, I hear the same stuff being said here as I have about Rush for the last several years. Namely, that the band has progressed from the older format and is into a newer, different sound. I can see why that pisses some people off. I love old Maiden. They are one of my 3 favorite all time metal bands. Killers, Number of the Beast and Powerslave are insanely great albums, but even though it is quite different sounding, I found DoD to be a great album as well. Just as I love Test For Echo as much as Hemispheres, I find Dance of Death to be as fun to listen to as Powerslave. To me, it's all relative. I accept that to be in a band that long, there are bound to be changes in the direction of the music as band members grow themselves and are influenced to play newer stuff. The fact that not everyone feels the same is irrelevant. The guys in Maiden have found this new direction and sound that they like and are free to explore it. To me, it makes each new album more interesting. I would find it as boring as a listner to hear a band regurgitate the same stuff for 25 years. Thats just my opinion of course. Take it or leave it as the case may be.

chuck

+ 1 billion

[HATEMASK]

The new album sounds great.I hate this"the songs are to long crap"prior maiden albums had long songs.7th son is my favorite album of thiers.Some of the songs on here remind me of seventh son songs and I dont subscribe to this maiden is out of ideas junk.i know we all have our opinions but cmon

[jrnic]

The new album sounds great.I hate this"the songs are to long crap"prior maiden albums had long songs.7th son is my favorite album of thiers.Some of the songs on here remind me of seventh son songs and I dont subscribe to this maiden is out of ideas junk.i know we all have our opinions but cmon

You know they can't win either way. If the songs sound the same, then they are "out of new ideas." If they change styles and make a more modern sounding album, then they are "selling out" their older fans. Personally I think the fact that they still sound the same way that they used to is GREAT. I have been a fan for many years (first saw them open for Priest back in '84) and LOVE that they are still cranking out tunes the way they used to.

[skorb]

they are great musicians who for the most part have been consistently killer over 25 years.

I always buy their albums and always see them live. they ARE metal.

I like the single a lot, it's deliberately not really a "single" type song, which is cool. gotta get the cd.

[markD]

i LOVE the new record. i think it is better than DOD!!!! much darker, and the songs are interesting.

[Nuclear Vampire]

I've had a bootleg copy for a week or so and spun it many times before I bought it (which I always do). It took a few listens, but it's really a good album. Kind of a grower.

They plagarise themselves constantly (Different World = Rainmaker, etc), and there's the ever-present "holy trinity" chord progression (C, D, E), that Mr Harris should really stop using so bloody much, but all in all it's a damn good album. Production is excellent, save for Bruce sounding a bit buried sometimes. The DVD that comes with it is very cool. A 30 min making of the album thing, some videos and a phot gallery. Nice little extra.

I'd say this is better than DOD, maybe as good as BNW, definetly superior to the weak Blaze-era shite. I'd give it 7.5/10. Maybe even reach 8 upon further listening.

[Davey]

But I don't care. The main thing is that they are still active and touring, because I saw them 2 years ago, and they just tore the place down. Best I'd ever seen them. I'm glad that 20 years later I can say 'Im going to Maiden', and all is well. 20 years ago, if you told me I'd still be going to see them in 2006, I'd have figured that they would be playing farewell tour # 8, in a tiny club in front of 12 people, with 1 original member left, a fat bald steve harris squashed into striped spandex. The usual sad end to a once great band. But not the case!!!

and now you're getting your ass handed back to you at the exit of the venue they're playing. what could be better?

i for one am enjoying the new album. yes, it has the same chords.. as have ALL their albums. yes it has a LOT of dual and tripple harmonies.. as do.. wait for it.. ALL their albums.
the earlier ones had a diferent sound, feel and attitude, true, but it doesnt make them better IMO.

i'm glad they are still making albums, that are in their style and still original to a point. and they also have a 50 time longer shelf life than most of todays bands, who will practicaly disapear in a year or so. not to mention they pretty much sell out any venue they play at. unlike the one hit wonders and instant star in a can bands, who cant sell out a toilet.

[MOSHWITZ]

listened to it today........

nothing grabbed me sept the fact i could just about place all the riffs from other tunes, kinda like they went through all their riff tapes and hashed it out and gave it to Bruce to sing over

[toddstaples]

Yep...... +1

I'm probably gonna get struck by lightning for saying this but,...

I wish Bruce never woulda disbanded his last band and he, AS and Roy Z were still making records. I freakin loved Accident, Chemical Wedding and Tyranny. To me those 3 albums are far better than any Maiden since 7th Son. There, I said it.


9

[pro-fusion]

The new album sounds great.I hate this"the songs are to long crap"prior maiden albums had long songs.

Problem is, many of the new 8 or 9 min. songs have about 4 min. worth of ideas repeated without variation about 20 times. I've heard several of the new songs, and I think they have some great ideas, but they just need an outside voice to help them edit and shape the final product. Too bad Martin Birch is retired.

[fr0sty]

Same here. There are a couple songs I like on Somewhere in Time and 7th Son. I did kind of like Brave new World, but Dances with death was bad.

I think I'm going to pass on this one. When is the next in the "Early Years" dvd due out? That I will buy.

I lost interest in Maiden after Somewhere in Time, which I thought kinda stunk. I am a Maiden fan from the PD days and I love everything up to Powerslave, their last really good record. That is all just my opinion though.

[skorb]

they are great musicians who for the most part have been consistently killer over 25 years.

I always buy their albums and always see them live. they ARE metal.

I like the single a lot, it's deliberately not really a "single" type song, which is cool. gotta get the cd.

Ok, time for a post-cd-purchase update here. and I'm going to backpeddle a bit on my prior post there.

I got it, listened like 3x so far, and I gotta say, it's just OK.

now, please understand, I've loved Maiden since 1981, Killers. I'm an old school fan. I thought the Blaze era was an utter abortion too. what I see missing most from this new cd is that the killer IM guitar tone is just not there. this was true for DOD too, which also was a disappointment overall. where is that razor sharp tone they had on Piece of Mind? their tone now is muddy and undefined, which is a big disappointment to me. maybe it's the 3 guitar thing, but I doubt it.

the songwriting isn't all that great either. some of the songs I really like, and some are just bland and sound forced. where are the songs like Where Eagles Dare and Gangland and stuff like that? now it's mostly all long drawn out (semi-boring) stuff that you kind of have to sit through. I like the acoustic stuff being added (Journeyman from DOD was great) but they don't really arrange it very well IMO on this new cd.

I think they are capable of much better.