Iron Maiden Book of Souls

[MartinBarre]

Exodus 'Tempo Of The Damned' is probably my favourite thing they did..

Shovel Headed Kill Machine is the only one of theirs I ever got into, good record. I was shocked one day when I got in my mum's car (she's 65+) and she put on a CD she said she liked. It was that album! Fuck knows how she discovered Exodus.

[toejam]

Overkill's Killbox 13 is my favourite of theirs.

That's one of my favorites, too!

[MartinBarre]

That's one of my favorites, too!

"I Am The One"! What a tune!

[Force]

I'm enjoying BOS more now but that last track is a bigger disaster than the topic it's about, good god, what a mess.

[horns666]

Yes, everyone likes the old shit. When all these old dudes were young , hungry and full of energy!! When they were at their best.

It's cool they still could do most of that stuff live. For that I give them upper most kudos. Hearing any these old bands live, even an off night sends shivers down my spine. Because its the real deal!!

There is some very good stuff on Maiden BOS, or JP's ROS..but is it good as KIllers..POM, or Powerslave? JP's tries to go full blown Painkiller with a good KK (WTF KK?) replaceplent w/ Ritchie Faukner(sp)..from Steve Harris' stable 'Dirty Deeds'. They tries and fell short. Scott Travis just doesn't have that energy it seems. I love the tone of Rob's voice, and Bruce Bruce. But hearing them try..sometimes its cringe worthy.

I love Warrel's older voice better. He can't hit' em anymore either. That's been done..do we really need that again. It's cliche. IMO.

Gary is 1000% right, this isn't Metallica or Queenryche. They have a tried and tue formula that works. They played it safe. I actually prefer Halford and Dickinson's solo works much more. I like Warrel's solo better than the last Sanctuary. It grew on me , but it's a pretty dull album...I'll take the worst Nevermore over that.

QR sucks IMO. They too try to reclaim. Todd is a generic, hired cliche for Tate. Just as Ripper was, a hired cliche for Halford. James Rivera is NO cliche..his highs got BETTER with age..and the original Helstar band OWNS! Helstar derseves much more glory than they get. They're from 1980 for ..Jesus on a stick.

[horns666]

Ohhhhhh..Another thing as a devoted metalelitist !! It's Iron Maiden ..COVER ART...??!!

Really one of my favorite covers in the world and elsewhere is Killers..I have the shirt..the NOTB '82 , and the POM '83 tour jersey..all the ins and out of Maiden. Ohhhhhhhhh and their LOGO...???? It's gone!!! The only reason I bought the 8 track in the first place early '82 was the cover. Then the Vinyl..The cassette..and 2, (inc castle records) and remastered copies of the CD. I bought/collect ALL their stuff new. I'll buy the flight 666 plane.. Ed Force One.. fuggums.

[toejam]

"I Am The One"! What a tune!

I'm partial to The Sound of Dying, but the whole thing is killer.

[Nightbat]

I felt pretty much the same way. No Prayer and Fear did nothing for me, and I just didn't care much for the band any more.

I did love X Factor even with Blaze... Blaze kinda sounded like a young David Lee Roth, even though I've never been much of a fan of DLR's vocals. And Virtual XI was total shit with choruses rambling on and on and on and on, and it seemed like they just programmed a drum machine to play basic beats without really any drum fills, and Nicko just smacked a bunch of cymbals. I only liked the first song, Futureal.

I don't know if it was X or Eleven that I listened to in the record store
But it was on a machine that could only let you skip songs, not fast forward
so after 5 minutes only listening to intros (not even half way through the album) I thought "Fuck it" and left

[MartinBarre]

Ohhhhhh..Another thing as a devoted metalelitist !! It's Iron Maiden ..COVER ART...??!!
.

BoS has amazing cover art. Best cover since 7th Son by a mile. It looks like Eddie again, not some shitey computer generated POS like Dance of Death or cartoon freak like Final Frontier.
The art inside the BOS booklet is also top notch, it really harks back to Derek Riggs heyday IMO and is way, waaay better than the last one he did for them.

[Nightbat]

it really harks back to Derek Riggs heyday IMO and is way, waaay better than the last one he did for them.

Then again, we can conclude from DR's own statements he wasn't that motivated anymore to actually put in effort

[neilli]

Yeah, I agree - the artwork is really good again, instead of being a poor imitation of what DR did. The Fear of the Dark cover was the start of the slow slide into (at best) mediocrity, with only occasional bright spots..

[horns666]

Listening to it for the 3rd time. The highs and lows are cut off...across the board. The artwork is better once I removed the booklet. I hate doing that. I got OCD, and hate fuggin' up inserts while damaging the edges, when putting them back under the tabs. I also hate carboard slipcases version of bands for the same reason. I'm a collector, and like to keep them like new. I fucked up the cover of Megadeth's 13 putting it back VERY carefully in the jewel case. ..now that's lame artwork, but still.

OK, I'm still not feeling this at all. There is spots here when I'm bobbin my head. But the production and mixing SUCKS! There's a blanket over the whole thing. Did Kelly Gray do this? , No This is Shirley's . The songs move at a snails pace, and the faster ones are mid tempo at best. I put on..'Matter of Life or Death'..and the sound of that is soooo much better. Go ahead compare. Same band, producer and gear. Rock in Rio is AMAZING! This just sounds tired and uninspired with tepid production IMO. The solos are there..everything seems to be there except fresh ideas and solid songwriting. This band didn't age well. I like JP's ROS better and I don't Rob's vocals for the first time in my life..I bought both the same day.

Now, Overkill is a different story IMO. Killbox 13 was the beginning of an new era. They churned out a better one with every year. Immortalis, Ironbound, The Electric Age, White Devil Armory smokes. They don't fuck around, studio or live. They get better, tighter with age..IMO. Compare any new Iron Maiden, Preist (great artwork) , Slayer, Black Sabbath (lame artwork), Super Collider (lame artwork), to Overkill or Helstar's last three. There is NO comparison. Overkill is top shelf. Testament, Exodus too THEY ares part of the BIG 4, NOT Anthrax (Worship Music is great), much of Slayer, and Metallica blows IMO ! Not even close! VH's last is very good w/exception with tattoo ..arrgh..VH's 'Honeybabysweetiedoll (somthin' like that) that tune fuggin' rules, and should have been the opener... playing, production and all in spades.

Real Metaheads never sell out. You can not unsuck a dick! metaphorically speaking..because puffing the pp worked very well for some top tier metal legends..even guys in Cynic smoke pole. They rule..except their last was hardly metal.

[horns666]

Listening to BOS for last time. I wrote it off. Put on A matter of life and death.. That's is epic Maiden!! Especially this song for me, and obviously Bruce on a personal level..'Lord of Light" from '06 'A matter of life and death"..it's perfect, it grabs you and keeps you there.

'There are secrets that you keep
There are secrets that you keep
There are secrets that you tell to me alone
I can't reach things I can't see
You don't see this strange world quite the same as me
Don't deny me what I am
Nothing hidden, still you fail to see the truth
These are things you can't reveal

These are things you can't reveal

We are part of some strange plan
Why the slaughter of the brotherhood of man?
Infernal sacrifice of hell
Fire breathing lead the way
Mounds of bodies as they all burn into one
Revenge is living in the past
Time to look into a new millennium

Spiral path leads through the maze
Down into the fiery underworld below
Fire breathing lead the way
Lucifer was just an angel led astray

Free your soul and let it fly
Give your life to the Lord of Light
Keep your secrets and rain on me
All I see are mysteries
(x2)

We are not worthy in your black and blazing eyes
We gather demons in the mirror every day
The bridge of darkness casts a shadow on us all
And all our sins to you we give this day
Others wait their turn, their lives were meant to last
Use yours wisely as the light is fading fast
Free your soul and let it fly
Mine was caught, I couldn't try
Time returns again to punish all of us

We are cast out by our bloody father's hand
We are strangers in this lonely promised land
We are shadows of the one unholy ghost
In our nightmare world, the only one we trust

Free your soul and let it fly
Give your life to the Lord of Light
Keep your secrets and rain on me
All I see are mysteries


That song justifies 9+ minutes. It doesn't seem to be long. That's what a epic song should be..IMO. Lately the late Dio says it all in such a down to earth level in every song. "It's the same 'ol song"..yes it is. He is a prophet, better than the known ones, and delivers it better than all. "straight to the heart"..yes it does!


Respect,

Bill Z Bub

I LOVE Dio, Rob, and Bruce! The classic Ozzy awesome. Now he's Sharon's puppet..you can see the strings. Sharon in the princess of evil..his puppet master.

[Force]

I mostly agree with you Bill, although I'm liking all songs except that last track, but I don't think the solos are there at all, they're like the rest of the performances, sloppy & 2nd rate.

[horns666]

My fucken husband is driving me fucken crazy w/his stargazing at 5am w/his video camera and his algol star!!!!!!! The orbs do come, but he is killing me. Everyday for the past 2 1/2 years. Help me please. But he is doing better, playing better, I think this star thing helped him physically and mentally.