Metal Reviews

I liked the album too, but not as much as their earlier two. It is not the length of the songs that bother me. It is the fact that it seemed like the songs were long for the sake of being long and they were quite repetitive. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner and Shadow Gallery's First Light are examples of songs that are long and yet interesting and just plain fantastic. There isn't a single song on here that's not long and repetitive at the same time. But as FlickoftheSwitch said, "Maiden is like sex and pizza. Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good."

I think Maiden is just progressing towards a more progressive band. AMOLAD was great in my opinion. I just felt disappointed there weren't any gallop on it.

But looking forward to the new one.

AMOLAD was a great album, one of the best of '06, and amazing considering the age of the band. I didn't expect that Maiden was capable of putting out stuff like that any more, so I'm definitely looking forward to the next record.

I agree with you about FOTD, that it is the weakest of the bunch, along with NPFTD. But IMO, I really like Virtual XI, and is still one of my fav Maiden albums.

FOTD does have a lot of crap, like The Apparition, a few good/OK songs, like Judas Be My Guide, The Fugitive; and then the two best songs on the album, Be Quick or Be Dead and Afraid to Shoot Strangers. The title track is good, but the live version shits all over it. The rest are pretty much hit and miss.

As for the new album, I cant wait and I'll also put my hand up to say that I also enjoyed AMOLAD, but will say the shorter 4-5 min tracks need a comeback. I don't mind the 9 min+ ones, but need some variety...

i was excited when they brought back bruce and adrian, and was impressed with 'brave new world' (and the two subsequent albums). i only wish they didn't take so long between projects. it seems they make everything they do anymore such a huge, expensive undertaking, that it takes years for them to get through a single album/tour cycle. i don't think there is a lack of creativity or songwriting inspiration for them though. if we could get at least either an iron maiden or a bruce dickinson solo album every two years, i'd be more than satisfied. neither has disappointed me in a very long time.

as some have mentioned, my only knock on recent maiden music, is that they too often feature a chorus or refrain repeatedly -- creating a long song that doesn't really go someplace new or interesting, but is just long because of repetition. live crowds eat that stuff up though, and something tells me that's where there heads were when recording parts like those.