Trollheart's Comprehensive Guide to Iron Maiden

**Frownland** · 11-20-2017, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I agree, but what I'm saying is that they appeal more to the kind of fan who wants more in their music than "Woh woh who waa waa baby baby!" etc.

This song is 50% whoas

The Batlord · 11-20-2017, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I agree, but what I'm saying is that they appeal more to the kind of fan who wants more in their music than "Woh woh who waa waa baby baby!" etc.

Also, **** Dragonforce, just on general principles.

Honestly I think they're the same kind of band just with delusions of grandeur. Plenty of the same kind of pleb rock fans will rep them and Motley Crue just as hard.

Trollheart · 03-19-2018, 11:46 AM

Track title: “The Man Who Would Be King”
Album: The Final Frontier
Year: 2010
Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris
Subject: I honestly have no idea. Another set of esoteric lyrics: something about a guy who killed someone and now wants to be king? Shrug.
Type: Epic rocker
Length: 8:28
Familiar? No
Rating: 5/10
Like many Maiden fans, I think, this is an album I was neither waiting breathlessly for – I hadn't paid much attention to A Matter of Life and Death or, indeed, for that matter, Dance of Death, and was possibly quietly going off Maiden – and when I did get to listen to it I was left with a general impression of “Yeah, so what?” It certainly wasn't the album to revitalise my love of the band, and I felt that since Brave New World they'd kind of rested on their laurels a little. Having hit the fans (including me) with the triumphant return of the decade-absent Bruce Dickinson, they really didn't seem to have capitalised on that, and I had lost interest. Like most people, my best Maiden albums are in the early to late eighties, those half-dozen opuses that run from Killers to Seventh Son, with maybe Fear of the Dark in there too.

One of Maiden's problems now, I feel, is that their tracks (much like, some would say, my reviews or my supposedly short stories!) are too long, and they go through too many changes and shifts to really appreciate them. Back in the “golden era”, a track like “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” would come along once in a few years, and being the exception to the rule, would be the better for it. I'm sure that if Powerslave or Seventh Son had had five or six nine or ten-minute tracks, I wouldn't have enjoyed them so much, and “Rime” would not probably have made the impression on me that it did. Even as I write, and this song plays, I still haven't really taken any notice of it. It hasn't impressed me, certainly not in the way a “Run to the Hills”, “The Evil That Men Do” or even a “Sun and Steel” did, and still do. Maybe it's just me.

No. No, it's definitely them.

uncle salty · 04-03-2018, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

It certainly wasn't the album to revitalise my love of the band, and I felt that since Brave New World they'd kind of rested on their laurels a little. Having hit the fans (including me) with the triumphant return of the decade-absent Bruce Dickinson, they really didn't seem to have capitalised on that, and I had lost interest. Like most people, my best Maiden albums are in the early to late eighties, those half-dozen opuses that run from Killers to Seventh Son, with maybe Fear of the Dark in there too.

Wow, I could have written this myself.

I was actually getting away from Maiden before he left. No Prayerand Fear were both departures both musically & vocally. Dickinson, by and large, didn't so much sing as growl his way through. And every song on No Prayer is a standard format, all coming in under 5 minutes. I couldn't say for sure, but this is probably in no small part because of Adrian Smith's departure and Janick Gers' arrival.

It was stripped down & basic. It was worse than bad. It was boring.

(*That guy (Gers) is the clown prince, the comic relief, with all his straight up 80s hair band guitar twirling and posturing. The only plausible reason I can come up with for them keeping him is the fact that he contributes a good deal of songwriting.)

I completely ignored the Bruce-less Maiden, and to this day couldn't name a single cut.

There are 16 Iron Maiden studio albums. I have 14. With my mild OCD condition, you'd think I'd have to have all 16. No.

C'mon, the guy's name is Blaze, for crying out loud!!!

Quote:

One of Maiden's problems now, I feel, is that their tracks (much like, some would say, my reviews or my supposedly short stories!) are too long, and they go through too many changes and shifts to really appreciate them.

I agree with this, but with one exception.

The Red & The Black from The Book Of Souls is a throwback to Maiden's prime. It's vintage Harris. Yea, it's 13 minutes long, but doesn't drag. It's interesting for the whole ride.

Matter of fact, the more I listen, The Book Of Souls is as closing in on the Beast to Seventh Son run you mentioned earlier. I've enjoyed this cd more than the last 4 combined, (well, I don't even have two of them. BLAZE, for cryin' out loud!!!) and it's been steadily moving up my internal Maiden chart.

Even the 18 minute long Empire of the Clouds , which I thought was an overly long, ego driven, bloated Dickinson vehicle, has grown on me. It tells a really good story, and takes you on a doomed voyage.

It's still an overly long, ego driven, bloated Dickinson vehicle, but at least I now know when to stop listening.

The Batlord · 04-03-2018, 12:50 PM

*still futilely repping A Matter of Life and Death*

~~MicShazam~~ · 04-03-2018, 01:00 PM

I'm listening to it right now and it's got everything I don't like about Iron Maiden these days. At least it's got more energy than the album that came after.

The Batlord · 04-03-2018, 01:04 PM

I'll just repeat that it's a grower. I was pretty lukewarm on it for a while myself. Now it and Brave New World are the only Maiden albums I really come back to these days.

~~MicShazam~~ · 04-03-2018, 01:11 PM

The only two I have left on my shelf are Brave New World and Virtual XI. I know that last album is kinda flawed... but it's got some nice guitar playing.

Trollheart · 04-03-2018, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

*still futilely repping A Matter of Life and Death*

I'm going to rack that up now. I'll let you know what I think.

Trollheart · 07-17-2018, 03:11 PM

Track title: “Twilight Zone”
Album: Killers*
Year: 1981
Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris
Subject: The dead trying to contact the living
Type: Fast rocker
Length: 2:32
Familiar? A little, yes
Rating: 6/10
Though it's something of a well-known song among fans, I'm not that totally familiar with this track as it wasn't on the original version of Killers that I bought, and I only heard it one or two times on I think the twelve-inch single of “Run to the Hills”. Nah, actually, I'm wrong: that was “Total Eclipse”. Oh well. Not sure where I've heard this, then. It's a typical song off Killers, which is to say it has that punky vibe with yet enough sophistication in the melody and lyric to mark it as so much more. Very short; I like the vocal from Di'Anno – really gets across the idea of the frustration of the dead guy trying to make himself heard. Great guitar riffs of course, reminds me of “Drifter” in the basic structure.

* Not on the original album released in the UK, though included on the American and Canadian versions, and was a bonus track on the Japanese release.

03-19-2018, 11:46 AM	#83 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Track title: “The Man Who Would Be King” Album: The Final Frontier Year: 2010 Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris Subject: I honestly have no idea. Another set of esoteric lyrics: something about a guy who killed someone and now wants to be king? Shrug. Type: Epic rocker Length: 8:28 Familiar? No Rating: 5/10 Like many Maiden fans, I think, this is an album I was neither waiting breathlessly for – I hadn't paid much attention to A Matter of Life and Death or, indeed, for that matter, Dance of Death, and was possibly quietly going off Maiden – and when I did get to listen to it I was left with a general impression of “Yeah, so what?” It certainly wasn't the album to revitalise my love of the band, and I felt that since Brave New World they'd kind of rested on their laurels a little. Having hit the fans (including me) with the triumphant return of the decade-absent Bruce Dickinson, they really didn't seem to have capitalised on that, and I had lost interest. Like most people, my best Maiden albums are in the early to late eighties, those half-dozen opuses that run from Killers to Seventh Son, with maybe Fear of the Dark in there too. One of Maiden's problems now, I feel, is that their tracks (much like, some would say, my reviews or my supposedly short stories!) are too long, and they go through too many changes and shifts to really appreciate them. Back in the “golden era”, a track like “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” would come along once in a few years, and being the exception to the rule, would be the better for it. I'm sure that if Powerslave or Seventh Son had had five or six nine or ten-minute tracks, I wouldn't have enjoyed them so much, and “Rime” would not probably have made the impression on me that it did. Even as I write, and this song plays, I still haven't really taken any notice of it. It hasn't impressed me, certainly not in the way a “Run to the Hills”, “The Evil That Men Do” or even a “Sun and Steel” did, and still do. Maybe it's just me. No. No, it's definitely them. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

07-17-2018, 03:11 PM	#90 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Track title: “Twilight Zone” Album: Killers* Year: 1981 Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris Subject: The dead trying to contact the living Type: Fast rocker Length: 2:32 Familiar? A little, yes Rating: 6/10 Though it's something of a well-known song among fans, I'm not that totally familiar with this track as it wasn't on the original version of Killers that I bought, and I only heard it one or two times on I think the twelve-inch single of “Run to the Hills”. Nah, actually, I'm wrong: that was “Total Eclipse”. Oh well. Not sure where I've heard this, then. It's a typical song off Killers, which is to say it has that punky vibe with yet enough sophistication in the melody and lyric to mark it as so much more. Very short; I like the vocal from Di'Anno – really gets across the idea of the frustration of the dead guy trying to make himself heard. Great guitar riffs of course, reminds me of “Drifter” in the basic structure. * Not on the original album released in the UK, though included on the American and Canadian versions, and was a bonus track on the Japanese release. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-03-2018, 01:00 PM	#86 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I'm listening to it right now and it's got everything I don't like about Iron Maiden these days. At least it's got more energy than the album that came after.

04-03-2018, 01:11 PM	#88 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	The only two I have left on my shelf are Brave New World and Virtual XI. I know that last album is kinda flawed... but it's got some nice guitar playing.