New Maiden "Dance of Death" Is Rather Disappointing

[slo100]

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

Dance of Death is as different from Seventh Son as Iron Maiden was to Piece of Mind. It is a progression or evolution, for better or worse.

I have loved Maiden since the Beast On The Road Tour when my dad would finally let me go to the Capital Centre to see them. Maiden was my first concert at 13 yrs of age!

Anyway, I agree with all the negative vibes on Janick, he is a clown and does not artistically contribute anything positive to the band. My feeling is he is in the band because he is a "mate" and nothing more. Dave and Adrian are the best guitar duo this side of Gorham/Robertson and they are as much "Maiden" as Steve's lyrics and Bruce's wailing. Janick is the sideshow and they ought to put him in the Eddie costume and be done with it.

My feeling on Dance of Death is that I would disappointed with it if I was expecting a return to the grandeur of Piece of Mind or Number of the Beast. DoD is a solid heavy metal record and stands on its own as a fine piece of work. Compared to other Maiden albums it may indeed pale in comparison. I do think the first three songs are great and the record gets out of the gate strongly and somewhat loses momentum through the rest of it.

Like the record or not, seeing them this summer reaffirmed my belief that even 20 years after first seeing them, they put on a live spectacle like no other. If the effort Bruce put in when I saw them is indicative of his loss of interest I can't imagine what he'd have done otherwise!

For you Brits on the board, I was on a train in London once and spotted the Rustic Arms as we were pulling through East London. It is right off the tracks. I knew about it from Maiden lore but my British co-workers had no idea how or why in the world I'd ever heard of it! LOL!

Up The Irons!

[markD]

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

it is a progression for sure..."progressive" in my mind. that would fit in with all of Harris' influences...and if Maiden went porgressive in the right sense, it would be fantastic. they were playing with "prog" ideas all the way back, but seemed to start to make the shift around "somewhere in time" and "seventh son". they went back to rocking when adrian left, and when he and bruce returned, the progressive slant picked up again. "Dance of Death" took the progressive elements even further, but the songwriting just isn't that great. There are good songs on the record...but overall, maybe it should've included fewer songs.

sorry to keep yaking, I just enjoy discussing maiden.

[slo100]

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

I agree with you. To extend your point, I see Number of the Beast as far more progressive than Killers, don't you? When Adrian left I could not bring myself to continue buying records. When Bruce left I was certain they'd go the way of Judas Priest, and did. Fortunately, they did come back and we have to deal with Janick as baggage. It is so hard to "go back home again" after records like POM and NOTB. They climbed the mountain and after Powerslave in particular, started looking for different ways to go. It is also a sign of the times. Though the records are not even close to comparison, Somewhere in Time and Turbo (Priest) both did the synth thing about the same time. Fortunately, Somewhere in Time still has some killer tracks, in fact, I like all the songs on that record, it was simply a "modern" Maiden. I never latched onto No Prayer and once Adrian left, I really tuned out. I think they were wandering during that period creatively but got back on track with Brave New World. I am ok with the two recent Maiden albums and where they are headed. I guess they feel the progressive sound (which is very similar to my ears to Bruce's recent solo efforts production and sound wise) is the 21st century Maiden sound and the raw feel is dated for them.

All in all it's still a great party, Janick butting in and all.

Hell, walking into the concert this summer I told my buddy that I'd love to hear Die With Your Boots on and The Prisoner not thinking I'd get to hear them and by Goodness I got my wish. So they do have some surprises left in them!

[VitaminG]

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

great couple of posts, Bret. I agree with everything you said.

I just wish the guys would come back down this way. It's not looking likely though. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Number Of The Priest]

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

My newbie opinions probably mean dick-all to you Maiden veterans. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[hippietim]

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

Originally posted by Number Of The Priest:
I still haven't heard all of "Piece Of Mind" yet since I don't own the CD yet, but what I've heard so far is obviously impressive... you know, the usual "The Trooper", "Where Eagles Dare", "Flight Of Icarus".

I also don't own "Killers" yet. I plan on getting this very soon... I'm dying for it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">If you haven't heard all of Piece of Mind and Killers you are missing a LOT of what Maiden is all about. All of Piece of Mind kicks ass. There are no filler tracks. "To Tame a Land" is one of my all time favorites. "Murder in the Rue Morgue" is an awesome "Killers" track. I'm assuming you've got "Number of the Beast" - if not, that needs to be on the top of your Christmas list.

[hippietim]

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

Originally posted by zeegler:
Janick is a fucking clown. I swear they only keep him around for comedic value. When I saw them this year, he danced around on stage like a complete idiot. I wonder if he has any idea how stupid he looks. As for the new album, I'm not impressed. None of the songs I've heard so far have anything going for them. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah, but at least his guitar playing adds no value to the music and at least he detracts from otherwise good stuff. Not many folks get to say they're responsible for bringing down the musical value of Iron Maiden.

[slo100]

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

Number Of The Priest,

The beauty of a band like Maiden for late-comers is that there is a catalog of rich material for you to discover and appreciate. When I got into them it was during the Number Of The Beast years. I had no idea who Paul Di'Anno was. Iron Maiden, Killers, and Maiden Japan are worlds apart from Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind, etc. It actually took a while for me to discover and get used to that raw (talk about raw!) sound and Paul's raspy AC/DC'ish voice compared to Bruce's vocal acrobatics. Songs like Prowler, Murders, Charlotte, etc are all great and even greater in their original form with Paul's whiskey soused voice belting them out.

Check 'em out!

[VitaminG]

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

that's when I discovered them too. I only found out about Di'Anno by accident. When my dad asked what I wanted for my birthday, I said Iron Maiden!! Anything to do with Iron Maiden!! A vid would be cool! So he bought me the "Iron Maiden" video, a live performance from '81. Who the hell is the bloody singer? That's not Bruce!! It took me a while to get used to Paul, but once I did, I actually preferred to hear him sing Phantom of the Opera, Killers, Murders in the Rue Morgue. It's like two different styles, but both distinctly Maiden.