New Maiden "Dance of Death" Is Rather Disappointing

[hottoddy]

Dance of Death came out on Tuesday, and I can honestly say after many listens that it is disappointing. I wasn't too impressed with Brave New World, but at least it had Wicker Man and a few other decent tracks. Brave New World was supposed to be the reunion "warm up" album, with promise of better things to come. Sadly, I think Maiden’s day is now officially done. There really isn't a single strong track on the entire album - definitely nothing to compare with their classics. As a 20+ year fan, it has been sad to see the reunion not live up to its potential.

The new album suffers from bad production, and 2-minute songs that repeat themselves 4 times. There is some good guitar work by Adrian and Dave, but Janick continues to be a huge blemish. Much of the album feels like a jumble of ideas mashed together, with no real structure. There are strong bits spread about here and there, but they get lost in the endless repetition. I would give Dance of Death a 2 out of 5.

Anyway, I think Maiden may call it a day after this one. Perhaps Bruce and Adrian can go back to making great solo stuff.

[neilli]

Re: New Maiden "Dance of Death" Is Rather Disappointing

I agree - the first song's good, but the rest of it is a bit laboured. They do too many slower, dreary songs like Sign of the cross from whatever album that was. I just don't know why they keep Janick - I mean he seems like a nice guy, but as for solos......shocking! (especially when he's on the same CD as Adrian Smith). Still, we're off to see them in a couple of months, so hopefully they just do 3 new songs, and then raid the back catalogue!

[Rhoadsfan67]

Re: New Maiden "Dance of Death" Is Rather Disappointing

Well, I dunno... I mean, if you were expecting "Number of the Beast, Part II", then yeah, you will be disappointed. But overall, I think there is a lot of good stuff on there. Yeah, some of it gets repetitive, but they HAVE written a helluva lot of songs, and alot of those have repetitive parts as well.

Looking at it in the same light as St. Anger, I would say Maiden still have a lot to offer. I do wish they would write more of the fast, galloping $hit they used to though....

Oh, and in the live set, they only play "Wildest Dreams" from the new one, IIRC.

[pro-fusion]

Re: New Maiden "Dance of Death" Is Rather Disappointing

Actually, after a couple of listens, I like it quite a bit. Different than the old stuff, but still good. Production seems a bit more raw than Brave New World, though.

[horns666]

Re: New Maiden "Dance of Death" Is Rather Disappointing

What do you expect ...It's Maiden ....2003 ....Well over 20 years and still kickin' ass

It's classic Maiden ...Great production ...Bruce Bruce sound in great form .....great Performance ....cool songs..

Everyone complained that BNW wasn't straight foward enough and now that they are more straight forward ...they still get BS..

Can't please everyone I guess ...but who cares ...as long as I'm happy!!!

Maiden kicks ass!!!

Try Pharoah ...it's a new US power metal band that is very Maiden influenced ....if you don't like that ...well then I don't know what to say ....then try Nelly or Fifty cent I guess [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[ September 12, 2003, 01:26 PM: Message edited by: horns666 ]

[hottoddy]

Re: New Maiden "Dance of Death" Is Rather Disappointing

Originally posted by Brian:

Oh, and in the live set, they only play "Wildest Dreams" from the new one, IIRC.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The one they just finished was a summer festival/mini-US tour. They played Wildest Dreams as a preview to Dance of Death. Maiden is now about to start the official album tour, which is rumored to include 5-6 tracks from Dance of Death.
___________________________

As for Janick, I actually thought he might be getting better on Brave New World. However, he seems to have digressed to making noise again on Dance of Death. He really sticks out like a sore thumb when playing beside Davey & Adrian.

[Venomboy]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

I'm listening to it right now and I like it. I haven't made a verdict on the production though.

I liked BNW a lot too.

It's better than 50 Cent, Chingy, and Nelly put together. Durnce of Durrrth.

[lantz_c]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

I think it’s pretty darn good, but I don’t think there’s a Maiden album that I can say I truly dislike.

[Jerry From Ghana]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

i think paschendale is outstanding

[toejam]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

Originally posted by Chris Lantz:
I think it’s pretty darn good, but I don’t think there’s a Maiden album that I can say I truly dislike.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't have this one yet, but I'm sure it's decent. I liked BNW a lot. I thought the only Maiden album that really sucked was Virtual XI, the second and last album with Blaze. The only good song on it was Futureal. The rest of the songs were very repetitive, with lame choruses over and over and over again, and it seemed like they programmed a drum machine since there was really no drum fills on the album, only a lot of cymbal crashes. Was Nicko on vacation at the time? [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] I thought The X Factor was a really great album, though it took me a little while to get into Blaze's voice.

[petedz]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

My first impression was very negative. I loved Brave New World, and the new one seems a bit uninspired by comparison. What's with the milk-toast lyrics fer chris'sake?!

I'm trying to give it another chance. They still sound like Maiden, and that's more than nearly any other band of my generation can boast. As I happen to be thinning out my CD collection, I can honestly say the new Maiden is better than a good 20% of the excrement I've bought over the years.

[Jerry From Ghana]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

electricphase - sell me that vintage s for $350 you bastard. nice collection.

toejam - you nailed it with virtual xi. even on brave new world, it's like nicko forgot to do fills. this is the same guy who played on where eagles dare.

[petedz]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

Sorry, the time in which you may edit your message has elapsed.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Huh? ...ok, well, I just wanted to add that the album did grow on me with the most recent listening. I don't understand why they led the album with the two weakest tracks, though...

Jerry - thanks, and in your dreams [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] that's my main player!

[ September 13, 2003, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: ElectricPhase ]

[toejam]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

Originally posted by Jerry From Ghana:
toejam - you nailed it with virtual xi. even on brave new world, it's like nicko forgot to do fills. this is the same guy who played on where eagles dare.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah, it is very hard to believe. Though, the BNW album he did play a little more, with some cool double bass thrown in there.

[jjw]

Re: New Maiden &quot;Dance of Death&quot; Is Rather Disappointing

Saw there latest vid on Kerrang(cartoon car racing then into eddies mouth and out again..lol)

Sounded fine to me,even better mix than their normal old records

Number of the beast days were the same mix wise,but i kind of departed from them a lil later when the albums sounded so bad(mix department)
The guitars used to be held back with the bass and drums having very dominant roles,being a guitarist i like the guitars reefed to the max in the mix..and they sounded a lil louder to me

I am getting it next week,there still cool