IRON MAIDEN Special To Air On PLANET ROCK

[Ron Moses]

From Blabbermouth.net:

-------------
A one-hour IRON MAIDEN special will air on Planet Rock on Saturday,
August 21 at 6:00 p.m. U.K. time and will be repeated on Thursday,
August 26 at 11:00 p.m.

Planet Rock's Liz Barnes flew to Chicago to interview IRON MAIDEN
about the British heavy metal legends' latest album. In this special,
Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris and Adrian Smith talk through "The Final
Frontier" and debut some of the brand new tracks.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=144834
-------------

They stream, so those of us not in the UK can listen in too. I think
6pm UK time is 1pm Eastern...? http://www.planetrock.com/

ron

[Giorgos Tzampanakis]

Post by Ron Moses
They stream, so those of us not in the UK can listen in too.
I think 6pm UK time is 1pm Eastern...?

Yes it is.

[Ron Moses]

I really enjoyed that, and learned a lot about the new album. Their
comments definitely reflect how I've been feeling about the album.

The Final Frontier is shaping up to be my favorite Maiden album since
Powerslave, I have to say. (Blasphemy! I know.) It's very different
from the "classic era" albums, of course, but the compositions on TFF
sound (to my ears) considerably more developed and adventuresome than
most of those on the last three discs. While there is good material
on those albums, there's also a lot of repetition and cliche -- I
think almost every track on AMOLAD falls back on the old 6-4-1-5
progression at some point, and too many choruses on the past three are
just a single line repeated four times (they could have done something
more interesting with the chorus of a track as strong as Montsegur,
no?). I'm not slamming the last three albums by any stretch -- I do
enjoy them -- but compared to TFF they end up sounding... well, a
little lazy at times. (Disclaimer: This could be a side-effect of my
life-long love of prog rock... my ears gravitate toward complexity, so
maybe it's my fault.)

TFF sounds like they've made a concerted effort to wring every bit of
drama out of every verse and chorus and avoid "stock" riffs, as Lars
Ulrich would say. Every tune is taken to the next level, and even
when it doesn't fully work, the effort is evident. A perfect example
is the "In Albion's land" line that bridges the verse and chorus of
Coming Home. You could connect those two without that extra line, and
it would function just fine. Sing it through in your head and you'll
hear it would work -- just jump directly from "our land of birth" to
"coming home." But adding that one line gives the chorus infinitely
more impact, and it's that kind of touch that elevates this album to a
whole other level.

I think it's a fantastic album, but it will take time for a lot of
fans to warm to it, I think. With that additional complexity comes
additional time required to let it all sink in.

ron


p.s. hi, i'm new 'round these parts. nice newsgroup you guys got
here! :-)

[Perry Johnson]

Post by Ron Moses
on those albums, there's also a lot of repetition and cliche -- I
think almost every track on AMOLAD falls back on the old 6-4-1-5
progression at some point, and too many choruses on the past three are

What's a 6-4-1-5 progression? You mean power chords on the respective
frets?

[Ron Moses]

Post by Perry Johnson

Post by Ron Moses
on those albums, there's also a lot of repetition and cliche -- I
think almost every track on AMOLAD falls back on the old 6-4-1-5
progression at some point, and too many choruses on the past three are

What's a 6-4-1-5 progression? You mean power chords on the respective
frets?

You're on the right track. 6-4-1-5 refers to the intervals of the root
key. The sixth (minor), the fourth, the root, and the fifth. To use
your example, you can play these chords at the 9th, 5th, open, and 7th
frets respectively. You'll hear that progression a lot, and not just
from Maiden. It's no crime to use it, but if you're resorting to it
on every track, that gets kind of old eventually.

ron

[Ron Moses]

Post by Ron Moses
You're on the right track. 6-4-1-5 refers to the intervals of the root
key.  The sixth (minor), the fourth, the root, and the fifth.

Here's a very funny video illustrating the over-use of chord
progressions like this...

They use 1-5-6-4 as their example, but you should get the picture. In
fact, at around 3:45 in the video they do a very clever switch into
our 6-4-1-5 progression, so you can hear what that sounds like as
well.

ron

[Ron Moses]

And here are several examples from the past three Maiden albums. You
can play Name That Tune! :-)

http://www.the-mosi.net/Maiden6415.mp3

Sorry the editing's a bit sloppy, I just threw it together real quick
as a demonstration.

ron

[Perry Johnson]

Post by Ron Moses
And here are several examples from the past three Maiden albums. You
can play Name That Tune! :-)
http://www.the-mosi.net/Maiden6415.mp3
Sorry the editing's a bit sloppy, I just threw it together real quick
as a demonstration.

Very interesting! Both your mp3 and the Axis of Awesome guys.

I feel that Maiden's riffs have deteriorated. They rely on simple
progressions like that and riffs that tend to be forgettable. I also
think that Maiden's strongest points at the moment is the soloing,
especially by Adrian, and of course Bruce's singing.

[Ron Moses]

Post by Perry Johnson
I feel that Maiden's riffs have deteriorated. They rely on simple
progressions like that and riffs that tend to be forgettable.

I agree, obviously. Bear in mind that for every riff I sampled in
that mp3, there are two or three others that come *this* close to
qualifying but are just a shade different. I didn't want anyone
calling me out as a cheater, y'know ;-)

But I also think the riffs have improved dramatically on TFF. That
Isle of Avalon jam blows my mind. Is that the same Maiden I've been
listening to all these years? So different, so unexpected, and yet
still full of that IRON! :-)

Post by Perry Johnson
I also
think that Maiden's strongest points at the moment is the soloing,
especially by Adrian, and of course Bruce's singing.

Yes, and I think Bruce's singing has actually improved on TFF,
especially as compared to Dance, where I think he sounds like he
swallowed a cheese grater dipped in glue on some tracks. Sure, he
doesn't quite reach the heights that he did back in the day, but vocal
cords age, what's the guy to do? It's amazing he can sing as well as
he does at his age. (Geddy Lee sure as f**k can't.)

ron

[Ron Moses]

Post by Ron Moses
Yes, and I think Bruce's singing has actually improved on TFF,
especially as compared to Dance, where I think he sounds like he
swallowed a cheese grater dipped in glue on some tracks.

My apologies, I meant A Matter Of Life And Death, not Dance Of Death.
I'm listening to a lot of Maiden recently, especially those three
albums, and they're starting to blur into one another. The vocals on
Dance are pretty awesome.

ron

[Perry Johnson]

Post by Ron Moses

Post by Ron Moses
Yes, and I think Bruce's singing has actually improved on TFF,
especially as compared to Dance, where I think he sounds like he
swallowed a cheese grater dipped in glue on some tracks.

My apologies, I meant A Matter Of Life And Death, not Dance Of Death.
I'm listening to a lot of Maiden recently, especially those three
albums, and they're starting to blur into one another. The vocals on
Dance are pretty awesome.

He sounds consistently great on recordings. However, I saw Maiden live
twice during the last 4 years and I did think that he had some
problems hitting the high notes, in that he would hit them, but not
loud enough.

[Ron Moses]

Post by Perry Johnson
He sounds consistently great on recordings. However, I saw Maiden live
twice during the last 4 years and I did think that he had some
problems hitting the high notes, in that he would hit them, but not
loud enough.

Even on some of the classic studio recordings, they sometimes wrote
stuff that was just a bit too high for him. I'm thinking of Aces
High, which is an amazing track, but if you listen close he doesn't
really make the push for all of those high notes ("jump in the
cockpit"). And on Live After Death, I don't think he even bothers
with most of them, he just throws his voice in the general direction
and hopes for the best -- which is fine, you have to make a few
concessions on tour so you don't blow your voice out in the first two
shows. But in the studio, if you're not hitting all those notes, it's
time for another take.

No slam against Bruce, though. The guy's a legend. I just had my
first opportunity to hear the Blaze Bayley albums last night... holy
shit I love Bruce Dickinson. :-)

ron

[White Spirit]

Post by Ron Moses
No slam against Bruce, though. The guy's a legend. I just had my
first opportunity to hear the Blaze Bayley albums last night... holy
shit I love Bruce Dickinson. :-)

The biggest problem with Virtual XI is that it sounded a bit pedestrian,
which is not what Maiden should ever sound like.

I still like The X Factor, overall. There are one or two songs that are
a bit below par, but I prefer it to Fear of the Dark on the whole.

[Soze]

Post by White Spirit

Post by Ron Moses
No slam against Bruce, though. The guy's a legend. I just had my
first opportunity to hear the Blaze Bayley albums last night... holy
shit I love Bruce Dickinson. :-)

The biggest problem with Virtual XI is that it sounded a bit pedestrian,
which is not what Maiden should ever sound like.
I still like The X Factor, overall. There are one or two songs that are a
bit below par, but I prefer it to Fear of the Dark on the whole.

I don`t dislike the Blaze albums...both have some really good songs but
overall are somewhat mediocre. Would rather listen to either of them than
NPftD though. I think Maiden were missing Adrian as much as Bruce, the 4
after he left were all lacking.

[White Spirit]

Post by Soze
I don`t dislike the Blaze albums...both have some really good songs but
overall are somewhat mediocre. Would rather listen to either of them
than NPftD though. I think Maiden were missing Adrian as much as Bruce,
the 4 after he left were all lacking.

I really like NPfTD. I like Janick's style, but I'm glad that Adrian is
back as well. He really brought a lot to the latest album.

[Ron Moses]

Post by Soze
I don`t dislike the Blaze albums...both have some really good songs but
overall are somewhat mediocre. Would rather listen to either of them
than NPftD though. I think Maiden were missing Adrian as much as Bruce,
the 4 after he left were all lacking.

I really like NPfTD.  I like Janick's style, but I'm glad that Adrian is
back as well.  He really brought a lot to the latest album.

This is a much friendlier newsgroup than I was expecting it to be. :-)

I'm still in the process of absorbing that entire sequence of albums,
from Somewhere In Time through Virtual XI. I still need to get my
head around the Di'Anno stuff, too, but I think I'll come back to that
last. I came of age listening to Piece of Mind, Powerslave, and to a
lesser degree, Number of the Beast. But for some reason I waited
until I'm in my 40s to investigate the remainder of the catalog.
Knowing that The Final Frontier was coming out, I decided to leap into
the last three albums just to see what they've been up to most
recently. Having been a fan of several bands who stuck around long
past their expiration date, I was pleasantly surprised by those albums
(and very impressed by TFF).

I'm having a bit more difficulty embracing these middle-period albums,
though. It will probably just take a little time. I'm probably
dumping too much Maiden into my brain at one time! I should probably
get my fill of the latter albums before I even attempt moving
backward.

I really didn't like the Blaze stuff I heard, though. His voice
seemed very ill-suited to front a metal band of Maiden's stature. Top
prize at karaoke night down the pub, sure. I do give them credit for
not going with a Dickinson sound-alike, though.

ron

[Perry Johnson]

Post by Ron Moses
I really didn't like the Blaze stuff I heard, though. His voice
seemed very ill-suited to front a metal band of Maiden's stature. Top
prize at karaoke night down the pub, sure.

Blaze is a good metal singer and a bad Maiden singer at the same time.
Dickinson used an operatic style that Blaze couldn't achieve. This is
the reason why Maiden *had* to change their style when they got him
aboard.

Post by Ron Moses
I do give them credit for not going with a Dickinson sound-alike,
though.

You have to get a sound-alike if you're gonna tour on your older
material. Blaze butchered a lot of the Dickinson era stuff, which
should have been reason enough not to hire him.

[Ron Moses]

Post by Perry Johnson

Post by Ron Moses
I do give them credit for not going with a Dickinson sound-alike,
though.

You have to get a sound-alike if you're gonna tour on your older
material. Blaze butchered a lot of the Dickinson era stuff, which
should have been reason enough not to hire him.

Yeah, that's the thing, it's a fine line. If you go in a different
direction, the fans revolt against the new sound (unless you're Van
Halen, in which case you get one and *only* one chance). If you go
with a sound-alike, you get people accusing you of turning into a
cover band. Look at Journey -- cover your ears if you must -- they
hired this new guy who sounds exactly like Steve Perry, and the show I
saw on VH-1 was impressive in that regard, but a band can't move
forward as a creative endeavor with that approach.

ron

[Ron Moses]

Look at Journey [...]

In retrospect, I probably should have gone with Judas Priest. Please
don't think poorly of me. ;-)

ron

[White Spirit]

Post by Ron Moses

Look at Journey [...]

In retrospect, I probably should have gone with Judas Priest. Please
don't think poorly of me. ;-)

I like Journey. I listen to Escape quite a lot. I haven't caught up
with their other albums from that era yet.

[Soze]

Post by Ron Moses

Post by Perry Johnson

Post by Ron Moses
I do give them credit for not going with a Dickinson sound-alike,
though.

You have to get a sound-alike if you're gonna tour on your older
material. Blaze butchered a lot of the Dickinson era stuff, which
should have been reason enough not to hire him.

Yeah, that's the thing, it's a fine line. If you go in a different
direction, the fans revolt against the new sound (unless you're Van
Halen, in which case you get one and *only* one chance). If you go
with a sound-alike, you get people accusing you of turning into a
cover band. Look at Journey -- cover your ears if you must -- they
hired this new guy who sounds exactly like Steve Perry, and the show I
saw on VH-1 was impressive in that regard, but a band can't move
forward as a creative endeavor with that approach.

I always feel sorry for bands once they`ve made 4 or 5 albums...people moan
they`re same old same old if they continue in the same style and then moan
they don`t sound like they should do if they shake things up. I`m as guilty
as anyone I guess, I moan at all the old school death metal bands who
stopped being interesting past about 1993 but drip about 80`s thrash bands
trying different things in the 90`s.

There are a few bands who have changed / progressed and never lost me one
iota ( Voivod and Enslaved spring to mind ) but they`re few and far between.
How many bands have gone on for 30 years and *never* released a dodgy album?

[audiophile]

Post by Soze
There are a few bands who have changed / progressed and never lost me one
iota ( Voivod and Enslaved spring to mind ) but they`re few and far between.
How many bands have gone on for 30 years and *never* released a dodgy album?

Liar, you diss Phobos and Negatron all the time :)

e.
--
the bigger voivod fanboy

[Soze]

Post by audiophile

Post by Soze
There are a few bands who have changed / progressed and never lost me one
iota ( Voivod and Enslaved spring to mind ) but they`re few and far between.
How many bands have gone on for 30 years and *never* released a dodgy album?

Liar, you diss Phobos and Negatron all the time :)

I`ve rubbished Phobos before, don`t really remember doing the same for
Negatron. I warmed to Phobos the last time I played it...those 2 are
definitely my least favourite though, Snake`s voice is one of the reasons I
love the band so much.

[Ron Moses]

Post by Soze
How many bands have gone on for 30 years and *never* released a dodgy album?

Frank Zappa? No, I could probably think of one or two dodgy entries
among his nearly 90 releases. :-)

ron

[Soze]

Post by Ron Moses

Post by Soze
How many bands have gone on for 30 years and *never* released a dodgy album?

Frank Zappa? No, I could probably think of one or two dodgy entries
among his nearly 90 releases. :-)

I couldn`t name you a Frank Zappa song let alone an album!

[audiophile]

Post by Soze

Post by Soze
How many bands have gone on for 30 years and *never* released a dodgy album?

Frank Zappa?  No, I could probably think of one or two dodgy entries
among his nearly 90 releases. :-)

I couldn`t name you a Frank Zappa song let alone an album!

Seriously?!

Interesting. I highly suggest trying out any of the Mothers of
Invention records. I'd be quite curious to see what you think.

e.
--
no idea how to predict that!

[Soze]

Post by audiophile

Post by Soze

Post by Ron Moses

Post by Soze
How many bands have gone on for 30 years and *never* released a dodgy album?

Frank Zappa? No, I could probably think of one or two dodgy entries
among his nearly 90 releases. :-)

I couldn`t name you a Frank Zappa song let alone an album!

Seriously?!
Interesting. I highly suggest trying out any of the Mothers of
Invention records. I'd be quite curious to see what you think.

He`s just one of those people who I`ve always been aware of but never come
into contact with.

[Yama]

Ron Moses <***@gmail.com> wrote:
: I really didn't like the Blaze stuff I heard, though. His voice
: seemed very ill-suited to front a metal band of Maiden's stature. Top
: prize at karaoke night down the pub, sure. I do give them credit for
: not going with a Dickinson sound-alike, though.

Problem with Blaze was that his low, dark voice does not suit well to
traditional Maiden sound. His singing needs to be mixed relatively loud,
creating a strange contrast with the instruments...it does not sound like he
was singing with Maiden, it sounded like Maiden was playing and he was singing
on top of that, if that makes any sense. Indeed, whole thing sounds like
some sort of karaoke performance ppl like to upload to youtube. They should
have completely updated Maiden sound to match Blaze, but they didn't dare
to make that step.

They really should have picked Marco Hietala instead... :P

Having said that, you may want to check out Blaze's solo stuff. It's pretty
good. Oh and if you have a chance to go to a Blaze gig, don't miss it.
He puts on an amazing show.

[Scall5]

Post by Yama
: I really didn't like the Blaze stuff I heard, though. His voice
: seemed very ill-suited to front a metal band of Maiden's stature. Top
: prize at karaoke night down the pub, sure. I do give them credit for
: not going with a Dickinson sound-alike, though.
Problem with Blaze was that his low, dark voice does not suit well to
traditional Maiden sound. His singing needs to be mixed relatively loud,
creating a strange contrast with the instruments...it does not sound like he
was singing with Maiden, it sounded like Maiden was playing and he was singing
on top of that, if that makes any sense. Indeed, whole thing sounds like
some sort of karaoke performance ppl like to upload to youtube. They should
have completely updated Maiden sound to match Blaze, but they didn't dare
to make that step.
They really should have picked Marco Hietala instead... :P
Having said that, you may want to check out Blaze's solo stuff. It's pretty
good. Oh and if you have a chance to go to a Blaze gig, don't miss it.
He puts on an amazing show.

How is Promise and Terror? I haven't heard it yet. His other solo albums
(or "Blaze" albums) are very good and I think Silicon Messiah and Tenth
Dimension are superb.

[Yama]

Scall5 <***@home.net> wrote:
: "Yama" <***@NOSPAMpajuoulu.fi> wrote in message
: > Having said that, you may want to check out Blaze's solo stuff. It's
: > pretty
: > good. Oh and if you have a chance to go to a Blaze gig, don't miss it.
: > He puts on an amazing show.

: How is Promise and Terror? I haven't heard it yet. His other solo albums
: (or "Blaze" albums) are very good and I think Silicon Messiah and Tenth
: Dimension are superb.

I haven't heard it yet, only couple of songs at Blaze's gig and I don't remember
them. It has some fairly good reviews. I've only listened Man Who Would Not Die and
Blood & Belief in entirety, and they're both pretty good. Blaze has a strong
catalogue of songs now and his band really doesn't even play that many Maiden tracks
live anymore.

[Yama]

White Spirit <***@homechoice.co.uk> wrote:
: The biggest problem with Virtual XI is that it sounded a bit pedestrian,
: which is not what Maiden should ever sound like.

That, and some truly braindead songs (Angel & the Gambler, anyone?), boring
sounds, Blaze just being generally wrong guy to sing Maiden, etc...

[Perry Johnson]

Post by Ron Moses
stuff that was just a bit too high for him. I'm thinking of Aces
High, which is an amazing track, but if you listen close he doesn't
really make the push for all of those high notes ("jump in the
cockpit"). And on Live After Death, I don't think he even bothers
with most of them, he just throws his voice in the general direction
and hopes for the best -- which is fine, you have to make a few
concessions on tour so you don't blow your voice out in the first two
shows.

I agree with your reasoning, however, be wary of using "live" albums
as indication of live performance.

[Ron Moses]

Post by Perry Johnson
I agree with your reasoning, however, be wary of using "live" albums
as indication of live performance.

Oh, I know... I'm a Kiss fan too, we learn that early on. :-)

That reminds me, I really need to pick up the Flight 666 DVD. Not
ever having seen them live, and maybe never having a chance to in the
future, it's probably the closest I'll get.

ron

[Soze]

Post by Ron Moses

Post by Perry Johnson
I agree with your reasoning, however, be wary of using "live" albums
as indication of live performance.

Oh, I know... I'm a Kiss fan too, we learn that early on. :-)
That reminds me, I really need to pick up the Flight 666 DVD. Not
ever having seen them live, and maybe never having a chance to in the
future, it's probably the closest I'll get.

What obscure and far flung part of the world are you from to never get a
Maiden show anywhere near you?!

[Ron Moses]

Post by Soze
What obscure and far flung part of the world are you from to never get a
Maiden show anywhere near you?!

:-)

Oh, it's not that. I'm about an hour north of Boston, so I have
plenty of access to shows. It's just that I never managed to see them
in my younger days (along with countless others), apparently I've
already missed the current tour in this area (and probably couldn't
have justified the expense right now anyway), and who knows if there
will be another tour in a few years time? I hope there will be, and
if there is, I hope I'm paying enough attention to find out about it
in time.

ron

[Perry Johnson]

Post by Ron Moses
Oh, it's not that. I'm about an hour north of Boston, so I have
plenty of access to shows. It's just that I never managed to see them
in my younger days (along with countless others), apparently I've
already missed the current tour in this area (and probably couldn't
have justified the expense right now anyway), and who knows if there
will be another tour in a few years time? I hope there will be, and
if there is, I hope I'm paying enough attention to find out about it
in time.

Definitely see them if you get a chance. I can guarantee that it will
be money well spent. I don't think a Maiden show is comparable to
anything else right now. Or ever.

Sorry for sounding like a fanboy, it's just that I feel it's a shame
that you haven't seen them yet.

[RICK scampiliano]

I hope there will be, and if there is, I hope
I'm paying enough attention to find out
about it in time.

Nostratyrantadamus predicts Maiden will be in New England in the spring
or summer of 2011.

[Soze]

Post by Ron Moses

Post by Soze
What obscure and far flung part of the world are you from to never get a
Maiden show anywhere near you?!

:-)
Oh, it's not that. I'm about an hour north of Boston, so I have
plenty of access to shows. It's just that I never managed to see them
in my younger days (along with countless others), apparently I've
already missed the current tour in this area (and probably couldn't
have justified the expense right now anyway), and who knows if there
will be another tour in a few years time? I hope there will be, and
if there is, I hope I'm paying enough attention to find out about it
in time.

Maiden live is a fantastic experience, I must have seen them about 15 times
now ( some guy on the Priest group has seen them over a 100 IIRC, he works
for an airline and gets free flights so watches them all over the world! ).
They haven`t played local to me in a very long time but I always catch them
at either Cardiff, London or Birmingham when they tour...3-4 hours travel
normally.

[Yama]

Soze <***@salsbury42.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
: Maiden live is a fantastic experience, I must have seen them about 15 times
: now ( some guy on the Priest group has seen them over a 100 IIRC, he works
: for an airline and gets free flights so watches them all over the world! ).
: They haven`t played local to me in a very long time but I always catch them
: at either Cardiff, London or Birmingham when they tour...3-4 hours travel
: normally.

Oh, they still play in Britain? I thought they tour mostly Scandinavia
these days... ;)

[Yama]

Perry Johnson <***@nomail.net.invalid> wrote:
: On 2010-08-23, Ron Moses <***@gmail.com> wrote:
: > My apologies, I meant A Matter Of Life And Death, not Dance Of Death.
: > I'm listening to a lot of Maiden recently, especially those three
: > albums, and they're starting to blur into one another. The vocals on
: > Dance are pretty awesome.
: >

: He sounds consistently great on recordings. However, I saw Maiden live
: twice during the last 4 years and I did think that he had some
: problems hitting the high notes, in that he would hit them, but not
: loud enough.

Bruce's performances on studio albums have steadily detoriated in the 2000's.
On BWN he sounded great, much better than on FotD or No Prayer. On DoD, he
sounded mostly great, but struggled a bit in one or two songs. On last two albums
it has become more noticeable. However, I don't know how much of it is
simply sloppy studio work. Apparently, when making FF, Bruce flew in for a couple
of days, sang everything, and flew off. Maiden & Shirley boast off how quickly
& easily they record entire thing, claiming it shows professionalism.
I call it laziness. Compare to Nightwish, who have been working on their next album for
a year now and they have not even began the actual studio sessions yet...

After AMOLAD was released and I went to see them, I expected that Bruce's singing
would not sound too good in some songs as he struggled even on the album. However,
it wasn't really noticeable live, he sounded more or less like on the album.
Which I guess kinda makes sense given whole 'live studio session' thing they've been
doing...

[Perry Johnson]

Post by Yama
Bruce's performances on studio albums have steadily detoriated in the
2000's. On BWN he sounded great, much better than on FotD or No
Prayer. On DoD, he sounded mostly great, but struggled a bit in one or
two songs. On last two albums it has become more noticeable. However,
I don't know how much of it is simply sloppy studio work. Apparently,
when making FF, Bruce flew in for a couple of days, sang everything,
and flew off. Maiden & Shirley boast off how quickly & easily they
record entire thing, claiming it shows professionalism. I call it
laziness. Compare to Nightwish, who have been working on their next
album for a year now and they have not even began the actual studio
sessions yet...

I don't think you can call a band lazy if they *record* fast. Maiden
are a veteran band, they routinely allow their concerts to be streamed
and broadcast live, even when they play new material, like they did
with the AMOLAD cover-to-cover tour. Plus, they have had the same
lineup and the same producer for a while now, which means they can
find their sound in the studio pretty fast.

I would only call someone lazy if they were *writing* fast. But on the
other hand, I feel that TFF is a strong album. It really doesn't sound
like the songs were written in a hurry.

[RICK scampiliano]

Post by Yama
I don't know how much of it is simply
sloppy studio work. Apparently, when
making FF, Bruce flew in for a couple of
days, sang everything, and flew off.
Maiden & Shirley boast off how quickly &
easily they record entire thing, claiming it
shows professionalism. I call it laziness.
Compare to Nightwish, who have been
working on their next album for a year
now and they have not even began the
actual studio sessions yet...

Lazy, or Efficient? I think they know what they want and they know how
to get it. I don't think they are trying to achieve "studio perfection",
ala Def Leppard, any way. Can you imagine spending 2 years in a studio
recording one word at a time? I personally hate over polished and overly
produced records.

[Yama]

RICK scampiliano <***@webtv.net> wrote:
: Lazy, or Efficient? I think they know what they want and they know how
: to get it. I don't think they are trying to achieve "studio perfection",
: ala Def Leppard, any way. Can you imagine spending 2 years in a studio
: recording one word at a time? I personally hate over polished and overly
: produced records.

I agree (and the Nightwish I used in my example has decidedly moved to over-produced
territory in their last two albums) but does it mean that they have to go full out to
other direction? I'd whip out the possibility of their next album sounding like St. Anger,
but it has become new example of Godwin's Law (Yama's law: As an online discussion about
music grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Metallica's St. Anger approaches 1).
So I refrain.

I just can't believe that what we're hearing on the new album really represent best what
Bruce can sing, or what band can play (some people have complained that the playing
is pretty screwy at times), or that they really couldn't think of a better chorus for
'Final Frontier' than, well, "Final Frontier!". It's not a matter of years and
years finetuning stuff, but just spending a week or two having some more takes and
thinking some songs more through. Bruce himself said in Kerrang! interview that
this was the least prepared album they have made.

[Ron Moses]

Post by Yama
or that they really couldn't think of a better chorus for
'Final Frontier' than, well, "Final Frontier!"

A valid point, but of all the examples of "repeat one line four times
and there's yer chorus" throughout Maiden's catalog -- and there are a
lot of them -- this one strikes me as less offensive than most. A
matter of personal taste, of course, but I find that habit driving
nails through my skull through any number of previous albums...

At the gates and the walls of Montségur, blood on the stones of the
citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur, blood on the stones of the
citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur, blood on the stones of the
citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur, blood on the stones of the
citadel.

No more lies!
No more lies!
No more lies!
No more lies!

Caught somewhere in time...
Caught somewhere in time...
Caught somewhere in time...

I'm not saying they shouldn't have fleshed out that chorus a bit more,
I'm just saying I've heard worse.

ron