Metal Reviews

I think Bruce's problem on this album is that he doesn't realize his limits at this point. He may hit an entire octave higher, but his high pitched vocals sound quite terrible most of the time. That said, his mid pitched vocals on here are better than they have been on the past two. Bruce just can't do the high pitched anymore, alas; he needs to realize this.

I agree he shouldn't push quite as high as he does in a few songs, but the vocals overall sound more powerful than on DoD. I think he just sounds like he came into this album more "warmed up" than the last one. Still, the uppermost range is the first thing to go on most singers when they age, and Bruce is only a few years away from senior-citizenship

What's funny though is when you go back to Number of the Beast, it was his mid-range that was underdeveloped and sometimes weak.

Indeed, AMOLAD is a great album. But i disagree with you about X-Factor. I believe they got it right with that album as well. Both albums are great and have that dark edge to it. So, the worst Maidens albums are still FOTD and NPFTD

I think people want to hate the Blaze era so much that they refuse to admit just how bad No Prayer for the Dying was, but I think Fear of the Dark was a pretty good album. My problems with X-Factor, besides Blaze (he's a decent enough singer, but he didn't have the range or the charisma to carry certain Maiden songs), have mostly to do with the production.

The X-Factor's songs were created around Blaze's singing style, thats why the songs as a whole went down so well. Having Bruce sing any of those X-Factor songs would not sound anywhere near as good....an example would be Bruce doing Sign Of The Cross on Rock In Rio....he didnt sound good at all. Now compare that to Blaze's live version on As Live As It Gets....just as good as the original.

But, Virtual XI was a tad different. Blaze had to sing a little differently as if the music was meant for Bruce. A good example of this would be The Clansman on Rock In Rio with Bruce singing it. A very good version of the song.

I agree with you about people wanting to hate the Blaze era so much to refuse to admit that NPFTD was rather poor for Maiden standards (boring, strained, tired effort, IMO), but i cant agree that FOTD is any better.
There are some shockers in that album (The Apparition, Fear Is The Key, Chains Of Misery), and only 4 fairly decent tracks (Be Quick Or Be Dead, Afraid To Shoot Strangers, Judas Be My Guide & Fear Of The Dark). The rest (aside from The Fugitive, which is pretty good) are just average at best.

Went to last nite's Maiden concert in Long Island, NY and I must admit that for me it wasnt as much of a let down as I expected. Hearing all AMOLAD live actually gave me a new appreciation for the album. The two standouts for me were Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg and For the Greater Good of God.

I was surprised at the overall reaction to AMOLAD live. More people in the audience were familiar with the songs than I expected and quite a few were singing along with Bruce. It was incredible, however, how much the energy shifted gears when they started up the classics (Fear of the Dark, Iron Maiden, 2 Minutes to Midnite, The Evil that Men Do, and Hallowed Be Thy Name). During the playing of AMOLAD, it seemed more like a Dream Theater concert than an Iron Maiden concert, more laid back and people just taking the music in rather than getting excited over it.

I guess most of the people at the show werent already aware of the playlist, because when the lights came back on at the end of Hallowed Be Thy Name and it was clear to them that Iron Maiden wasnt coming out again, most people had this look on their face as if they had just been kicked in the balls. Many people left that show pissed off despite the fact that it was still a good concert.

NOOO I HAVENT WAITED THIS LONG FOR THIS FUCKSHIT

Trivium will be there as well
"great"

BOAT! RUDDER! STRANGE, MOUNTAIN!

I'll enjoy myself when they play that 'un.

The Toronto crowd seemed ok with the full AMOLAD... though they were getting restless towards the end.... of course it didnt hurt that Bruce told us how happy he was to be in Canada and such. A friend was at the Boston show and said "boos" came out pretty quick.

Highlights from the performance of AMOLAD: Different World, These colors dont run, and For the Greater good of God. Overally, I was happy to hear new stuff... but as my non-metal fan friend (who was cool enough to go with me after my other friend backed out) commented, it sounds all the same and very repetitve live... I'll echo others in this thread - not the best album to play live.

Highlights from the other 5 songs: ALL. Fear of the Dark is so awesome live

A couple of notes. I usually see Maiden about every 5 years. Honestly, I have never seen them so lethargic on stage. Age catching up, I suppose. Bruce and Janick were great...everyone else sort of stood there and played.

On the other hand, while everyone is still sobbing over a band that should've disbanded 15 years ago, MANOWAR just released a killer single that makes Maiden's feeble attempts at pretending to still play heavy metal look ...umm well... feeble!!

Maiden will disband when they are good and ready, and it hasnt happened yet. But....

whats this new Manowar single??

Pfffft, take it outside.

You sure Steve wasnt going nuts as well? Cause he never seemed to stop at the show I was at. Yea Dave seemed to be just playing and not doing much of anything else. Adrian was kept busy because I think he was having tech problems the entire night, constantly going backstage and signaling to the others that something wasnt right with his setup.

Steve was moving a fair bit more than Dave and Adrian, I'll give you that... but nothing compared to the energy of Bruce and Janick. Also, Adrian did appear to be the only member that was having gear problems at the TO show as well.