Listening to it again to try and salvage something from it... it honestly pains me to dislike an album so much.
So:
Wildest Dreams - straight ahead rocker with an average performance from Bruce. His phrasing is just amateurish. Production sucks, as well. I can understand wanting a 'live' feel, but try and not make it sound like it was recorded in a bedroom, kay?
Rainmaker - I genuinely like this song!
No More Lies - there is NO reason to put the keyboards over the top of this. That automatically weakens what could be a nice, tight rocker. I dislike the 2-guitar melody that they've been doing a different take on with every album...
Montsegur - musically, quite listenable. Lyrically embarrasing, vocally offensive. Could do better.
Dance Of Death - Fear of The Dark Part 2? The only part I like it the middle section with the initial celtic guitar joined by the string section. Otherwise, this another 'Harris Epic' that is epic only in length...
Gates Of Tomorrow - uninspired opening (Lord Of The Flies Pt 2?). The double-tracked vocals are offputting and just poorly done. At least melodise with yourself, brucey! Musically, it's not bad. Not perfect, either. The chorus is quite interesting, though.
New Frontier - much has been said about Nicko's first song. But let's look at what his contributions are: basically, the underlying melody, and the way the bass line is done (since that's how he presented the song). It's boring, uninspired. Sorry Nick... but you can blame Bruce and Adrian for not padding the song out to be a decent track as well
Paschendale - could be an AWESOME song. My only nigglings are:
- no need to have the bass underlying Bruce's vocals. Does he really need a guide melody? That's what it sounds like.
- The chorus - another Harris hack-job. Leave it out and the song would get even stronger.
Face In The Sand - remove the Blood Brothers Pt 2 Harris intro, and start off from the low rumbling guitar piece, that I'm guessing was the original beginning before Steve got his hands on it, and potentially another decent song is in your hands. Otherwise, it's subpar. Bruce's vocals are just... I mean, this guy is a legend, and he puts in THIS kind of lacklustre performance? Musically, this is a great song IF you took out the keyboards (they're just dressing, no need for them) and the intro.
Age Of Innocence - I dig this song, and the chorus is great. Still very post-92 (which isn't a bad thing, considering that the X-Factor was Maiden writing some of their best stuff). Murray's contributions to DoD cannot be underestimated. The lyrics, as with most songs here, are somewhat clumsy in their phrasing though.
Journeyman - Bruce once said that Maiden's songs are long because they just keep playing until they feel it's time to finish. This is a good example. Maybe the electric version would be different, but this is just... begging for a decent hook to hang on. I love the folky feel, but it'd be nicer if they used one of their three guitars to play the melody that they rely on the keyboards for. With 3 guitars they shouldn't need ANY extra instruments. I mean, Janick played all the parts on All The Young Dudes on guitar, why can't they do that now?
Maiden don't believe in challenging themselves anymore... or their fans. So why do they even bother, other than putting out albums is what they're expected to do?