Controversial opinions on metal

[Atomic Tide]

I've always been a huge M-16 fan. Where do you guys rank this one in Sodom's discography?

 

[EspaDa]

4th, after Persecution Mania, Agent and Tapping the Vein.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Their best full-length imo, still inferior to their first two EPs.

 

[Vilden]

Maiden has been beaten to death in this thread but oh well, I've come to realise that SSOASS is their best album. Thats probably somewhat controversial atleast around here?

 

[EspaDa]

It's obviously a great album, 3rd in my hierarchy after Piece of Mind and Powerslave.

 

[CiG]

It's obviously a great album, 3rd in my hierarchy after Piece of Mind and Powerslave.

We share the same exact hierarchy.

 

[The Ozzman]

After seeing SSOASS mostly performed live, it became my favorite Maiden album

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Piece of Mind > SSOASS > Powerslave > The Number of the Beast > Somewhere in Time > Killers > Iron Maiden > No Prayer for the Dying > The Final Frontier > A Matter of Life and Death > The X Factor > Brave New World > Dance of Death > Fear of the Dark > Virtual XI > The Book of Souls

 

[The Ozzman]

Virtual XI > The Book of Souls

wat

 

[EspaDa]

x factor is good but saying it's better than brave new world is blasphemy

 

[Krow]

Vegard you need to listen to The Book of Souls again because its far from their worst and the best theyve released in a long fucking time.

 

[The Ozzman]

Vegard you need to listen to The Book of Souls again because its far from their worst and the best theyve released in a long fucking time.

Wow we agree on something. This was pretty much their best release since Brave New World.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Maiden has been beaten to death in this thread but oh well, I've come to realise that SSOASS is their best album. Thats probably somewhat controversial atleast around here?

Controversial or not, this is the correct answer.

 

[The Butt]

I really don't give a fuck about post-Powerslave Maiden tbh.

Less than 0. Negative fucks.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

SSOASS used to be my favorite, but when I really overplayed all of their albums as a total Maiden fanboy, it was the first I got sick of. The most riffless of their classic albums, something like half of the songs rely on shitty beat-counting riffs (DUH duh duh DUH duh duh DUH duh) or galloping, and the keyboards and fancy leads don't justify it as a supposedly "prog" album. I'd rank it below NPFTD, The X-Factor, and Brave New World in addition to the first six. Really, the only thing consistently great about it is the guitar solos and harmonies. Even songs like Infinite Dreams (the anthem rock "Even though we've reached new heights" section) and the title track (fucking horrible chorus) have significant flaws.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Vegard you need to listen to The Book of Souls again because its far from their worst and the best theyve released in a long fucking time.

Aside from If Eternity Should Fail, it's a pretty bad album. Full of self-plagiarism and over-length. A few decent moments buried in there, but bottom 3 material along with Virtual XI and one other reunion album (Dance of Death or AMOLAD depending on my mood).

 

[Vegard Pompey]

There are literally two things I like on The Book of Souls.

1) The opener, which admittedly is totally sick and one of their best revival-era songs.
2) That pre-chorus bit in the title track (By power day and night and death he ruled them...)

 

[HamburgerBoy]

SHOOTING PLASMA FROM MY GRAAAVE

 

[EspaDa]

What about Empire of the Clouds?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I'll give the song (and Bruce Dickinson for writing it) props for ambition, but it's got some flaws. It actually builds reasonably well to start and I like the little Jethro Tull-style melodies in the middle, but other parts like the morse code bits and the overall length work against it. One of the better on the album still.