The Dance Of Death discussion thread.
- Thread starter The_Prisoner
- Start date
phlogiston
Bejabbers!
Goreripper
Metal as fuck
Because it's hard to understand. The point you're trying to make is difficult to explain. I think a truly great album has to be a whole collection of great songs; these are pretty rare. But you can still have a bunch of great songs, without the entire album being great.
phlogiston
Bejabbers!
Goreripper
Metal as fuck
phlogiston
Bejabbers!
If it were silent you wouldn't be making me look like an incoherent baboon. Although the baboon part is possibly not your fault...
Goreripper
Metal as fuck
phlogiston
Bejabbers!
Goreripper
Metal as fuck
Blitzkrieg
Master Exploder
Smashed
Sexy Bastard
It's the new Maiden album!
We'll play it to death for a couple of weeks,say it's the best thing they've released since Seventh Son,call it album of the year and a couple of months later it will be sitting back on the shelf only getting played once in a blue moon.
Same as Brave New World etc...
I've been a Maiden fan since Number Of The Beast,but I have to honestly say that they're getting a bit boring and predictable to me.
It's like buying a new AC/DC album - there's no suprises,it's just more of the same.
We'll play it to death for a couple of weeks,say it's the best thing they've released since Seventh Son,call it album of the year and a couple of months later it will be sitting back on the shelf only getting played once in a blue moon.
Same as Brave New World etc...
I've been a Maiden fan since Number Of The Beast,but I have to honestly say that they're getting a bit boring and predictable to me.
It's like buying a new AC/DC album - there's no suprises,it's just more of the same.
Goreripper
Metal as fuck
Smashed, your post was too coherent and made sense! Good sense, at that. Has the beer dried up at that pub you're at?
Nightwing
The Equalizer......
Actually I understand perfectly well what he, (and you) are saying, I just think it's bollocks.........Goreripper said:
If Seventh Son isn't a 'great' album, then I'll lock myself in a room and listen to 'St.Anger' 50 times successively!!!
Just my opinion guys.
Spiff
I have the power
Spiff said:
Have to disagree with you there. Seventh Son, Powerslave and NOTB have always beeen my favourite albums. I really like the production on Seventh Son too, it sounds very different to any of the other albums and sounds great at high volume.
After listening to Dance of Death several times now it's really growing on me. I think Rainmaker is a really catchy song which will sound great live, No More Lies is a well executed change of pace and Paschendale is a great epic track. Dance of Death is also a major epic which works well. Initially I thought New Frontier and Gates of Tomorrow were very ordinaary but they are sounding better with each listen. Age of Innnocence is an interesting track which demands further listening and Face In The Sand is great.
I'd rate Dance of Death in my top five Maiden albums. The thing is with Maiden they are never going to write another Powerslave or NOTB, they recorded those albums when they were in their twenties! A lot has changed since then obviously. As for comments that they haven't exactly reinvented the wheel and they have become predictable, they are in a position where they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they were to come out with an album which sounded radically different and incorporated modern influences there would be howls of 'sell out.' By sticking to their sound and keeping their fan base (and themselves) happy they are labeled boring, predictable and redundant.... as a musician I know what I would be doing - playing whatever the hell I wanted to and not worrying about whether it was 'relevant', 'cutting edge' or fitting in with someone else's ideas of what is trendy or fashionable. That is how Maiden rose to the top of the heap in the mid to late eighties in the first place and how they have managed to sell millions of albums worldwide and maintain a career spanning over twenty years.
They have had a crack at trying new things and new ideas on both BNW and DoD, it just that the differences are subtle - you have to listen a few times to realise they have grown as a band. I don't think No More Lies sounds much like any of their other tracks, nor does Paschendale or Journeyman. It obviously still immediately sounds like Maiden, but if it didn't there would be many more upset people than those who like to whine about the band not progressing.
There's a lot of Steve Harris bashing going on in this forum. Perhaps we should remember that without Steve's vision, song writing skills and perseverance none of us would even be posting here!
UP THE IRONS
Wrathchild
Miserable Bastard
Amen . PIV doesn't post much these days, but when he does it's worth reading.
Smashed made a good point too. When all the "new album" novelty wears off, some of us might be able to judge DoD a bit more objectively and be better able to assess its merits.
And speaking of objectivity, anyone who doesn't rate SSOASS as one of Maiden's finest moments is a stupid head. So nerrr!.
W
. PIV doesn't post much these days, but when he does it's worth reading.Smashed made a good point too. When all the "new album" novelty wears off, some of us might be able to judge DoD a bit more objectively and be better able to assess its merits.
And speaking of objectivity, anyone who doesn't rate SSOASS as one of Maiden's finest moments is a stupid head. So nerrr!
.W
Found this review of DoD on the HARD RADIO website.
Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death
(EMI) I kinda regretted giving Brave New World an 8 - it's a 7.5; and I'm not making the same mistake again. I started at 8, and now I'm down to 7.5 after a few plays of this thing. Frustrating being a Maiden fan really. The band is so steadfastly committed to the old school, that they do everything old they can think of, from recording quite live, to power metal story-telling, to those accursed mellow intros, (mostly) Steve tinkling away until the generator behind the amps and ramps heat up their (12!) leg warmers. Then as these songs pick up, well, I have visions of Janick playing live - not a pretty sight. Having said all that, there's much on here to be generally pleased about. Harris and Nicko are still a unique and groovy rhythm section. Bruce is singing quite high and hard and aggressive often, and he's mixed a ways back. There is only one mellow song on the album (conveniently folded at the close - and it's a good one: Celtic meets orchestration back at an old Sabbath ballad). Also, somewhat sweetly and invitingly, there are some really mainstream melodies on here, and others that are sour as a lemon, misguided as In Flames covering Land Of Confusion. Bloody can't stand the title track or the strummy New Frontier (nice bass line, Steve), but Paschendale is a non-obvious epic, Face In The Sand is highly powerful, passionate... a Piece Of Mind-worthy pounder. Best track however, to my mind, is Age Of Innocence which rocks proud with a melody that is part NWOBHM, part Tattooed Millionaire. Cool, unexpected. And that's the thing... little of this album courts the unexpected. If you're a fan of these six distinct guys (each sort of hapless, out-dated, but because of that, human and regular) and the collective they inhabit, Dance Of Death will not disappoint. I just sort of shake my head and play it repeatedly like I'm stunned and incapable of not digesting something smarter, or at least WHEN I'm not capable of digesting something smarter.
Rating 7.5
Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death
(EMI) I kinda regretted giving Brave New World an 8 - it's a 7.5; and I'm not making the same mistake again. I started at 8, and now I'm down to 7.5 after a few plays of this thing. Frustrating being a Maiden fan really. The band is so steadfastly committed to the old school, that they do everything old they can think of, from recording quite live, to power metal story-telling, to those accursed mellow intros, (mostly) Steve tinkling away until the generator behind the amps and ramps heat up their (12!) leg warmers. Then as these songs pick up, well, I have visions of Janick playing live - not a pretty sight. Having said all that, there's much on here to be generally pleased about. Harris and Nicko are still a unique and groovy rhythm section. Bruce is singing quite high and hard and aggressive often, and he's mixed a ways back. There is only one mellow song on the album (conveniently folded at the close - and it's a good one: Celtic meets orchestration back at an old Sabbath ballad). Also, somewhat sweetly and invitingly, there are some really mainstream melodies on here, and others that are sour as a lemon, misguided as In Flames covering Land Of Confusion. Bloody can't stand the title track or the strummy New Frontier (nice bass line, Steve), but Paschendale is a non-obvious epic, Face In The Sand is highly powerful, passionate... a Piece Of Mind-worthy pounder. Best track however, to my mind, is Age Of Innocence which rocks proud with a melody that is part NWOBHM, part Tattooed Millionaire. Cool, unexpected. And that's the thing... little of this album courts the unexpected. If you're a fan of these six distinct guys (each sort of hapless, out-dated, but because of that, human and regular) and the collective they inhabit, Dance Of Death will not disappoint. I just sort of shake my head and play it repeatedly like I'm stunned and incapable of not digesting something smarter, or at least WHEN I'm not capable of digesting something smarter.
Rating 7.5
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