NP: The Legacy
So, after many listens, I will say that this feels like a concept album, in terms of it sustaining a mood throughout. With the right mindset, it's a great experience. However, if you're looking for the catchy songs along the lines of anything off of, say, Powerslave, you will be very sad.
My take on Maiden fans is that there are certain camps:
1.) Fanboys who like everything with Eddie emblazoned on the cover.
2.) Old Schoolers who lament that Paul DiAnno left (even though he couldn't handle it) and never bought into the theatricality that Bruce brought.
3.) Blayze fans who apparently have tin ears. I'm continually amazed such people exist!
4.) People who prefer their Maiden to be short and sweet a la Piece of Mind and Powerslave classics like The Trooper, Flight of Icarus, 2 Minutes to Midnight, and Aces High. These folks have been more and more disenchanted with Maiden over the years.
5.) People who have always looked forward to the "epics". Phantom of the Opera, Hallowed Be Thy Name, To Tame a Land, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Alexander the Great (notice a trend? All album closers...)
And people bridge camps as well, like myself.
I've always thought that Somewhere in Time marked a new phase in Maiden. Obviously, the production is entirely different, and it introduced synths. I remember being kind of pissed about it, but now it's one of my favorites. It saw them looking in a new direction that was continued with 7th Son (which I also didn't much like at first, but now love). Then, I feel like they sort of began to lose their way... Adrian leaving was huge. And of course Blayze was just not good. The songs may be okay, but he was simply bad. BNW put them back on course with a new sound. DOD, imo, has a couple of skip tracks on it, but also has a few really strong tracks.
Basically, AMOLAD sounds a lot like SiT and SSOASS. And those albums seriously polarized the Maiden fanbase, particularly in the States, where we are notoriously impatient. So I'm not surprised that some reviewers are responding in the fashion that many did to SiT and SSOASS. I know a number of Maiden diehards that think SSOASS is their best. But I guess it depends on your taste and what camp you fall into.
My complaints of AMOLAD are along the lines of what I've been hearing:
1. The album seems to be at one tempo. Plodding. Which is okay, but variation would have been nice. I do like to see them rip off furious songs now and then.
2. I am tired of the extended, slow, clean intros. Every now and then is okay, but seriously, by my count, 7 of the 10 songs start that way or close to it. Kevin Shirley should have perhaps mentioned this and encoraged them to stretch themselves a bit more.
3. The guitars could be louder. For a three guitar attack, it's strangely hollow. It seems like the guitars exist only on the far outer edges of the listening field. Too wide.
Otherwise, I'm very happy with album upon further listens. I'm of the camp that's pretty psyched that they're making new music that I want to listen to. I can't say that about a lot of the bands I loved as a kid (namely Van Halen and Metallica).
Looking forward to the live show! (Especially since I'm gonna miss Opeth when they swing by Boston on Gigantour...)
