I have heard four tracks from the new album - Benjamin Breeg, Different Worlds, Brigther than a Thousand Suns and For the Greater Good of God.
Maiden fans have waited 3 years for a new album, and yet every track so far has been lacklustre, uninspiring and embarrassingly basic in instrumentation.
I shouldn't have to wait for a solo to hear some exciting instrumental playing in a Maiden song. For most of these tracks, the guitars hit predictable open chords while Bruce sings some fairly feeble melodies.
There is no pace to any of the tracks - even when the riffs get a tad more aggressive, the drums stubbornly avoid anything too upbeat.
Another point is, and I feel like a bit of a tosser saying this, but this material really isn't "Maiden" to me. That's exactly the sort of comment that I'm sure they've received in the past and moved on doing their own thing as always, but from a fan's point of view, I find little to connect with in any of these tracks. And I loved Brave New World and was highly into Dance of Death, so it's not as though I am bitter about the band's entire direction. There is no songwriting spark, no personal flare which used to be prevalent in the whole band, from a small drum fill to an excellently worked bass line. The band is just plodding along, stuck in the somewhat creaky style that surfaced at times on DoD.
Even For the Greater Good of God - an initially intruiging Maiden-do-Candlemass sort of experiment - falters with unmemorable melodies and riffs that start to drag.
I could write pages and pages about this - Maiden are the most important band in my musical life, and I feel more strongly about them doing good material than any other band. That is what makes me so critical, and after hearing what must be about 50% of the new album already, I feel pretty depressed about the outcome.
