Themed Mixtape Game

12. Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land

7.5/10

A classic, but one that I think is somewhat overrated.

Overrated? The album or the song?

1. Leviticus - Borat and Obama

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I think Iron Maiden is a worthy band with a lot of great songs, but I find that they're generally somewhat overrated. I also like Di'Anno Maiden more than Dickinson Maiden too, which might be a controversial stance here.
 
Maiden have so many good albums it's hard to believe. The only albums of theirs I find below par are No Prayer for the Dying, Fear of the Dark and Virtual XI.
 
Di'Anno could have never done justice to an album like Piece Of Mind or Powerslave.

As to accusations of overratedness, that comes with every globally appreciated band. If they were some little known NWOBHM band that were discovered in the reissue wave 1990's you would likely sing a different tune.
 
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Di'Anno could have never done justice to an album like Piece Of Mind or Powerslave.

I agree that he probably couldn't have pulled off the same vocal lines Bruce did, but they could probably have both benefited from a little restraint in the vocal department. It's no coincidence that Losfer Words is probably the most listenable track on either of those two albums, at least imo.
 
I agree that he probably couldn't have pulled off the same vocal lines Bruce did, but they could probably have both benefited from a little restraint in the vocal department. It's no coincidence that Losfer Words is probably the most listenable track on either of those two albums, at least imo.

That's just stupid. But that's your right I guess.

Di'Anno was great for the Iron Maiden he piloted, but he was fundamentally very limited in what he could bring to their sound, technically but also emotionally and textually.

The two albums I mentioned are masterpieces in my world and I can't even begin to imagine Di'Anno at the mantle of such a glorious song like To Tame A Land.
 
Di'Anno was great for the Iron Maiden he piloted, but he was fundamentally very limited in what he could bring to their sound, technically but also emotionally and textually.

I'm not gonna argue for Di'Anno's technical superiority, but hiring Bruce took the band in a direction I didn't like. Nobody would argue that Lemmy Kilmister is a technically superior vocalist to Ronnie James Dio, but if Dio had provided vox for Motorhead from Bomber onwards it wouldn't have been the same band. What Iron Maiden lost was their grit.
 
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Di'Anno could have never done justice to an album like Piece Of Mind or Powerslave.

As to accusations of overratedness, that comes with every globally appreciated band. If they were some little known NWOBHM band that were discovered in the reissue wave 1990's you would likely sing a different tune.

Those are good albums, and yet I prefer the style of the first two albums more. It's totally irrelevant to me that Di'Anno wouldn't have been as good on albums that were clearly built around a different singer.

I think that Iron Maiden is a very above average band. I just don't think that any of their albums are the best around.
 
I've been meaning to change the Sabbat video but kept forgetting since two people mentioned the quality. It probably doesn't matter now that a lot of people rated but I'll change it

Edit: I changed it. This one seems a little louder and a bit better. Hopefully the production is a bit better
 
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Leviticus - Deborah and Barack – 7/10

Something a bit weird and different about this song but hard to place, vague Mercyful Fate-isms I think but it doesn’t really actually sound like them. Never heard them before, but will have to explore further.

Stormwitch - Jonathan's Diary – 5/10

I’ve mostly just listened to Walpurgis Night; this song comes a lot closer to old-school power metal than what I remember. Unfortunately it’s pretty repetitive, and the riffs themselves are mostly generic. I like the harmonized bits the most.

Revocation - Opus Madness – 3/10

Why do people think this generic groove metal band is good tech-thrash? There’s at least a bit more Pantera swagger on this one than whateverthefuck inspired their earlier albums, but still pretty crappy. Sorta pretty leads tho.

Triptykon - In the Sleep of Death – 2/10

Contrived goth garbage. I can’t even recognize this as related to Tom G Warrior.

Ahab - The Hunt – 2/10

Take the same old doom metal riffs, then down-tune them further, gurgle, and add shitty keyboards. HOW INNOVATIVE. Funeral doom was a mistake.

Fates Warning - Giant's Lore – 10/10

Already explained why this one is my favorite from this album and the only song from it that reaches the same highs as The Spectre Within for me, but in short it just conveys the story so beautifully in unison with the instrumentation on a level most bands aren’t capable of. The atmosphere is perfect.

Sabbat - A Cautionary Tale – 4/10

This particular song is somewhat passable due to it being the first on the album as well as one of the shortest, but so many of the same riffs get recycled over and over to the point it drags all of the tracks down. If it wasn’t for Walkyier, this album would have no value.

Summoning – Mirkwood – 1/10

Not metal, barely listenable. I like how the drum machine does that break thing that every other contemporary pop song seems to do these days.

Eternal Champion – Retaliator – 7/10

A tiny bit overlong, but has a really neat mood to it, the vocals and intensity is a little Manilla Road but the level of tension and the chop is more vintage Metal Church, I can imagine these vocal melodies sticking with me after just one listen.

Jag Panzer - Tragedy of Macbeth – 2/10

Horrible for all the reasons modern Iron Maiden is. Overlong boring intro, la-de-da riffs and playskool drums, totally forced epicness.

Blind Guardian - Imaginations of the Other Side – 8/10

Definitely one of their best.

Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land – 10/10

One of Maiden’s greatest songs. The guitarwork is phenomenal, some of the first proper metal shredding imo, and the delivery and build is awesome even if the lyrics read like poor cliff notes of the real thing.