Well I'll be wearing my final frontier shirt with the red Eddie up close that I got at the show to celebrate tomorrow. As you can tell, I am very excited =D
drinkwine732Posts: 20,418destroyer of motherfuckers
I met a guy at the record store today looking for the CD, just like I was. I was checking to see if they jumped the gun a bit, but they didn't. I'll be there tomorrow with Wicker Man shirt on.
drinkwine732Posts: 20,418destroyer of motherfuckers
edited August 2010
^Their best song. Fuck the casual fans.
On another note, I was listening to a certain space themed album today at the gym, when I started to wonder, "Who is the most important Iron Maiden member." Sure, my immediate thought was that they all are cohesively important to the band. I pressed myself (strange how that works...) for an answer. For the rest of my time there and on the drive home, I thought long and hard (don't you dare). I came to the conclusion that the answer is Adrian Smith. First, I will say that we all must observe that the best riffs in Iron Maiden's history have either been written by Steve or Adrian. Also, I'd like to cite the huge decline in quality between Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and No Prayer for the Dying, not coincidentally the album cycle where Adrian left the band. It's often cited that Iron Maiden only made bad albums when Bruce wasn't there, but I believe No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark to be among Iron Maiden's worst. It's also of note that Steve also heavily contributed to the writing for those terrible albums. It's no coincidence that the albums jumped back up once Adrian rejoined the band, and Bruce got the credit for the change. I was wondering what you all thought on the subject. Weigh in please, I'm interested.
On another note, I was listening to a certain space themed album today at the gym, when I started to wonder, "Who is the most important Iron Maiden member." Sure, my immediate thought was that they all are cohesively important to the band. I pressed myself (strange how that works...) for an answer. For the rest of my time there and on the drive home, I thought long and hard (don't you dare). I came to the conclusion that the answer is Adrian Smith. First, I will say that we all must observe that the best riffs in Iron Maiden's history have either been written by Steve or Adrian. Also, I'd like to cite the huge decline in quality between Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and No Prayer for the Dying, not coincidentally the album cycle where Adrian left the band. It's often cited that Iron Maiden only made bad albums when Bruce wasn't there, but I believe No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark to be among Iron Maiden's worst. It's also of note that Steve also heavily contributed to the writing for those terrible albums. It's no coincidence that the albums jumped back up once Adrian rejoined the band, and Bruce got the credit for the change. I was wondering what you all thought on the subject. Weigh in please, I'm interested.
I think the combination of Adrian WITH Bruce is very important to Maiden. Adrian joined the band first for the Killers album, which I thought was good, but overall not as good as S/T. The addition of Bruce not only sparked Maiden from a British heavy metal band to a full-on international sensation, but greatly boosted the quality of their albums through Seventh Son. As mentioned, Adrian leaving the band led to Maiden's worst two albums with Bruce, but I think that Bruce was losing interest after his song ideas were always being overruled by Steve, which began during the writing of Somewhere In Time. His vocal performances on No Prayer and FOTD were nowhere near what he was capable of, adapting a raspy vocal style instead of his trademark operatic vocals. After he left the band, Adrian and Bruce teamed up on Accident of Birth, proving that there was indeed some chemistry between these two. There's a reason Steve didn't bring just either Bruce or Adrian back. Adrian has the songwriting chops, but Bruce has the energy and the charisma that guides all of Maiden's shows. Therefore, I think Bruce and Adrian are at about the same level of importance for me. I can't imagine Maiden's albums from Brave New World on being nearly as good if Bruce weren't on vocals.
drinkwine732Posts: 20,418destroyer of motherfuckers
Well, I'd say the excellence of Killers is evidence that Adrian performed fantastic Iron Maiden material without Bruce. It's not deniable that songs like Killers, Murders in The Rue Morgue and Wrathchild are among their best. Adrian was not a big part of the writing at the time, but he still had an excellent performance on the album.
The band was never the same after Bruce arrived, though...take him away, and the live Maiden experience diminishes greatly. I could never see a Paul Di'Anno or Blaze Bayley doing half of what Bruce does at his age.
And The Final Frontier is great. It's going to take more listens to hear everything that's going on, but I already feel it's their best effort since Brave New World. I love it.
I can def see them doing both The Final Frontier and El Dorado back to back as the opener. And i really like the production quality too. It has a raw sound to it, but it doesn't sound muddy at all. Also, i like that you can tell its 3 guitars
Comments
On another note, I was listening to a certain space themed album today at the gym, when I started to wonder, "Who is the most important Iron Maiden member." Sure, my immediate thought was that they all are cohesively important to the band. I pressed myself (strange how that works...) for an answer. For the rest of my time there and on the drive home, I thought long and hard (don't you dare). I came to the conclusion that the answer is Adrian Smith. First, I will say that we all must observe that the best riffs in Iron Maiden's history have either been written by Steve or Adrian. Also, I'd like to cite the huge decline in quality between Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and No Prayer for the Dying, not coincidentally the album cycle where Adrian left the band. It's often cited that Iron Maiden only made bad albums when Bruce wasn't there, but I believe No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark to be among Iron Maiden's worst. It's also of note that Steve also heavily contributed to the writing for those terrible albums. It's no coincidence that the albums jumped back up once Adrian rejoined the band, and Bruce got the credit for the change. I was wondering what you all thought on the subject. Weigh in please, I'm interested.
And The Final Frontier is great. It's going to take more listens to hear everything that's going on, but I already feel it's their best effort since Brave New World. I love it.
Final Frontier (Unknown if it includes Satellite 15)
El Dorado
Mother of Mercy
Coming Home
The Talisman