Sunday, September 03, 2006

The package

I had to work today and it was busy because of the rain and the fact that we are closed on Monday. When I got home my wife said I had a package. I couldn't imagine what it was, but then I saw the Sanctuary records label on it and realized that the new Iron Maiden had arrived. This means that the Probot review I promised in pushed back aways because I wanted to hear the new Maiden. I listened to a few seconds of each song and then I got to hear all of the first three songs in between washing kids, folding laundry and playing with Metalgirl and Metalboy. It will take some time before I can give a real accurate opinion, but I will give you my initial reaction of what I heard. Of course I like what I have heard so far. It reminds me a little of the last album and also of Seventh son of a seventh son. It's more of a methodical approach that really builds within the song yet it is very tight. The songs I have heard are very interesting and perhaps a little more straight forward than on the last album. There seems to be a lot going beneath the surface of the music on what I heard here. I think the last album was kind of like that, but Brave New World wasn't quite as much that way. Bruce sounds as great as always, maybe even a little more spirited than usual. Oh and the album cover is really cool as usual, kind of like a cross between Army of darkness and a Sgt. Rock comic book. I have decided to devote today and Tuesday to Iron Maiden topics. So I will rank the covers of the studio albums in order of preference. Here they are:

Top Maiden Studio Album covers
1)The number of the beast-Eddie rules over the devil
2)Killers-Great background and a great expression on Eddie's face
3)Powerslave-Fantastic detail
4)Somewhere in time-Great concept
5)Piece of mind-Crazy Eddie
6)Seventh son of a seventh son-A little odd, but somehow fitting
7)A matter of life and death-Back to the great detail
8)Brave new world-Good idea and great sky
9)Fear of the dark-A little strange, but cool
10)Iron Maiden-Eddie was still being formed, but nice shading and background
11)No prayer for the dying-Looks like a high schooler's concept of Eddie
12)Dance of death-Looks like bad CGI
13)X-factor-Could they have a worse cover?
14)Virtual whatever-Why yes they could.

No post on Monday. Have a good holiday and I will be back Tuesday with another Iron Maiden topic.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

My copy hasn't arrived yet. I guess I will have to wait till tuesday to get it. Hope that you like it. It's certainly a grower.

5:09 AM  
Blogger Metal Mark said...

Fred-I expected mine wouldn't be here until Tuesday so I was surprised. I have now listened to eight of the ten songs. I like it alot, but need more time to decide where it ranks with other albums. Dance of death was a grower for me, but I already like this one more initially than I did the last two albums. However it could be that those two have prepared me for this style. They are certainly still trying to grow as a band which is great.

5:15 AM  
Blogger Ray Van Horn, Jr. said...

First, I like your album cover rankings and second, I'm glad you said Sgt. Rock because I thought the exact same thing, that Vertigo had decided to put a horror twist to Sgt. Rock as they did with Jonah Hex. Say hello to Metalboy and Metalgirl for me!

5:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I very much like the cover of the "The Trooper" single very much, I even had a version with Eddy planting the flag on our planet as a flag on my door for some time :)
Besides that, I think Maiden are really boring nowadays. The songs are 2-3 times too long. I think the review on www.bravewords.com of their new album is completely appropriate.
I just grow more and more fond of the early albums though!

5:58 AM  
Blogger David Amulet said...

That's good news, it means mine should be here DAMN SOON.

I think the Brave New World cover is one of the best ever. What a clever use of Eddie! And Powerslave ranks at the top for me (I like that Egyptian stuff).

-- david

10:38 AM  
Blogger Metal Mark said...

Ray-My brother had Sgt. Rock comics when I was like 5 or 6. I remember thinking the covers were really scary.

Joerg-Welcome! I am sure that you are no the only one who isn't big on the recent albums having so many epics. To me it's not so much how long the song is, but whether or not it keeps my attention. The new albums definitely keep my attention.

David-I wasn't expecting mine until Tuesday or Wednesday. I ordered the one with the dvd, but no shirt. So maybe they shipped different ones at different times or from different locations.


Ben-It's good for sure. I have heard the whole thing once now and have started on a second listen. I still thinking about how much I like, but I definitely like it.

6:44 AM  

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