1. The Number of the Beast (1982)
2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
3. Powerslave (1984)
4. Iron Maiden (1980)
5. Killers (1981)
6. Somewhere in Time (1986)
7. Piece of Mind (1983)
8. Brave New World (2000)
9. Dance of Death (2003)
10. A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
11. Fear of the Dark (1992)
12. No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
13. Virtual XI (1998)
14. The X Factor (1995)
Be cool to hear other people's opinions :)
1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
2. Somewhere In Time
3. The Number of the Beast
4. Piece of Mind
5. Killers
6. Powerslave
7. Fear of the Dark
8. No Prayer For the Dying
9. Iron Maiden
10. Brave New World
11. Dance of Death
12. A Matter of Life and Death
13. The X Factor
14. Virtual XI
In my opinion, when Adrian Smith left before No Prayer the band took a huge hit because I don't feel Jannick Gers is half the guitarist/songwriter. When Dickinson left it was over. Blaze Bayley? Ugh. Since the return of Dickinson and Smith the band just doesn't seem to have "it" anymore.
Does anyone else think they should have dumped Gers when Smith returned?
Does anyone else wish Paul DiAnno would have replaced Dickinson for The X Factor and Virtual XI?
To me, since they have gone with three guitarists, has Steve Harris gone on some kind of ego trip and pumped up the volume on the bass track? It's rather overwhelming, in a bad way. Don't get me wrong, the guy is probably the best there ever was not only playing but also writing and producing.
Hopefully the band will regain the songwriting skills from the "Golden Years" and record a new album with that style and sound.
In response to jagrrw68 -
I actually liked the Blaze era. It was a lot darker & if anything it fitted in with the 1990's quite nicely. There is of course no doubt Blaze didn't have Bruce's prescence or vocal talent to really pull off the older songs but I think he did a good job at an impossible task.
Di'anno returning wouldn't have worked. His voice was shot by that point. Blaze made up in enthusiasm what he lacked in range at least.
I agree with you in part about the albums since Bruce & Adrin's return but only about the last 2. Dance Of Death was the only album I don't class as good in their entire catalogue. I think AMOLAD had some strong stuff on it but for me was ruined slightly by the fact the band seemed to hail it as a masterpiece (there were more derserving albums to be played in full on tour)
As for Janick I have no problem with him & think he works well with Dave. Adrian back is a bonus.
I personally haven't noticed any recent overloading with Steve's bass but it's an interesting point that I hadn't considered.
hmmmmm....some interesting thoughts here - first up, Blaze - as with Cars, I have a LOT of time for this and for what he did - it was an almost impossible task to replace Bruce. For my money, he did an outstanding job - ok, there was no way he could match the vocal style & stage craft of Bruce, but he certainly made up for it with his energy and enthusiasm. He gave 200% every time......his subsequent outstanding solo material is proof of how talented this guy is. Have to say that my first experience of live Maiden was with Blaze!
Di'anno returning would be a disaster...'nuff said!!
Of the 3 albums since Bruce & Adrian returned....only Dance Of Death do I consider to be not up to standard (the brilliant Paschendale being the notable exception).
Brave New World was an outstanding return by the duo & AMOLAD is - in my opinion - the best they have done alongside SSOASS, and a perfect example of how 3 great guitarists can work together.
But I do think SSOASS should have played in full also when they toured with that......'cos truly great albums should be played in full in the live arena in my opinion!
Haven't noticed the heavier bass recently, so now is a good reason to play AMOLAD again :)
In response to MissCars and Prodigalson62...
I agree with you both that Bayley had an impossible task to replace Dickinson. If I had seen him perform live maybe I'd have seen the enthusiasm he brought. (I did have tickets to see them but I believe that's when Murray cut his fingers or something like that and they canceled some shows). I'll give those albums another listen.
The comment I made about Di'anno returning was wishful thinking on my part. I didn't realize his voice was that far gone. But the idea of him replacing Dickinson would have been interesting if his voice was still there.
I just finished listening to the last three albums and many of the songs begin the same way, with Harris' bass overpowering the intro. When I listen to their stuff from 1980-1992 I can tell what the song is in the 1st few notes, but their recent material sounds too similar on the intros. Maybe it's just me I need it to grow on me or something.
Do either of you think they'll ever do a full U.S. tour next time around? I was disappointed they didn't come to Las Vegas on the last tour. I wanted to see that so bad. That could be another reason why I don't give the last three albums much of a listen. Seems like they are turning their backs to the U.S. fans aside from Los Angeles and New York and few other select cities.
jagrrw68 -
Yes sadly Di'anno has let his vocals slip considerably. It's quite sad to hear actually.
I agree with you that in more recent years they do go for a generic quiet intro, gallop in the middle, etc. It started around the Blaze era, bypassed BNW but reappeared on DOD & AMOLAD. It doesn't bother me but yes I can see what you mean entirely.
I think the band find it tricky to tour as much around America as they are in such high demand. I mean we are their home country & this time only had one show (for the EdHunter tour we got no shows - I had to travel to France!). I hope for you they do do a bigger tour around the US. I actually went to New York & Boston to see them in 2000 & it was great being part of an American audience (not as reserved as us Brits are!)
As as side note as far as Blaze goes I would recommend you try to give his solo stuff a listen. It really is good, especially his first 2 albums - Silicone Messiah & The Tenth Dimension. When he sings songs written for his voice he really does shine. He just wasn't versatile enough for Bruce's stuff.
I agree that Blaze sounds quite good when he sings his own stuff (although it did take me a couple of years and the Virtual XI album to warm up to him). To me his failure with Maiden was that he tried to mimic Bruce's style when he sang anything live he didn't record in the studio. Even the Di'anno tracks were done in Bruce's style. I would have liked to hear the songs done in Blaze's natural style.
share1. Iron Maiden (the one that started it all for me - no matter how poor the production is)
2. The Number of the Beast
3. Killers
4. Piece of Mind
5. Powerslave
6. Brave New World
7. Somewhere in Time
8. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
9. Dance of Death
10. The X Factor
11. Fear of the Dark
12. A Matter of Life and Death
13. No Prayer for the Dying
14. Virtual XI
I known people are gonna jump all over me for this but here goes:
Brave New World
Somewhere in Time
AMOLAD
DOD
SSOASS
POM
Powerslave
TNOTB (my least favorite of the 80s Dickinson albums)
Killers
Iron Maiden
The X Factor
Virtual XI
Fear of the Dark
No Prayer for the Dying
That said, I think ALL Maiden albums are great.
"And now a word from our sponsor: seven deadly sins...- Bruce Dickinson
[deleted]
1. Powerslave
2. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
3. Somewhere In Time
4. Number Of The Beast
5. Piece Of Mind
6. Killers
7. Brave New World
8. Iron Maiden
9. Dance Of Death
10. Fear Of The Dark
11. No Prayer For The Dying
12. X Factor
13. Virtual XI
I actually still haven't heard A Matter Of Life And Death yet.
R.I.P. Harry Kalas
1. Piece of Mind
2. A Matter of Life and Death
3. Number of the Beast
4. Powerslave
5. Iron Maiden
6. Killers
7. No Prayer for the Dying
8. Brave New World
9. Dance of Death
10. Somewhere in Time
11. Fear of the Dark
12. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
I actually haven't heard all of the Blaze albums.
1) Number of the Beast (one of the greatest metal albums ever)
2) Powerslave
3) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
4) Piece of Mind (This would be higher if it wasn't for the couple of filler songs in side two and the mix always sounded thin to me)
5) Iron Maiden
6) Somewhere In Time
7) Killers
8) A Matter of Life and Death
9) Brave New World
10) Dance of Death
11) Fear of the Dark
12) No Prayer For the Dying
13) Virtual XI (I think the Blaze albums aren't entirely his fault. Losing Bruce as a singer as well as an additional song writer hurt. Plus I think most of the material is simply weaker)
14) The X Factor
Killers is an underated album... I think it's one of the best. Paul and Clive are great!
1-Powerslave
2-Killers
3-Seventh Son
4-Piece Of Mind
5-The Number Of The Beast
6-Iron Maiden
7-Somewhere In Time
8-Brave New World
9-Dance Of Death
10-A Matter Of Life And Death
11-No Prayer For The Dying
12-Fear of the Dark
13-The X-Factor
14-Virtual XI
1. Iron Maiden
2. Killers
3. Piece of Mind
4. Powerslave
5. Number of the Beast
6. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
7. Somewhere in Time
8. Brave New World
9. A Matter of Life and Death
10. Dance of Death
11. No Prayer for the Dying
12. Fear of the Dark
13. The X Factor
14. Virtual XI
1.Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
2.Iron Maiden
3.The X Factor
4.Somewhere in Time
5.Killers
6.Brave New World
7.Fear of the Dark
8.The Number of the Beast
9.Powerslave
10.A Matter of Life and Death
11.Piece of Mind
12.No Prayer for the Dying
13.Dance of Death
14.Virtual XI
P.S.:I can't really rank the albums of my favourite band ever. I just put them in "order" of how much i've listened to them and so on.