Criticising The Best: Iron Maiden

[mrbrownstone]

It is time for instalment number two in this series, this time focusing on one of the biggest bands of all time, Iron Maiden.

Iron Maiden first came to prominence in 1980 as one of the leaders of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) along side the likes of Judas Priest and Saxon amongst others. Since the release of their eponymous debut album in 1980 they have released 15 albums. During all this Iron Maiden have toured all over the world and continue to do so. Through out their careers the line up has stayed more or less the same, although there have been three different singers in Paul Di'anno, Bruce Dickinson and Blaze Bayley.

For me, the quality of albums post Fear Of The Dark has dropped quite a lot although I thought Brave New World and The Final Frontier were both pretty decent. It is hard not to criticise the Blaze Bayley stuff though, that was pretty shit to be honest, no one could ever fill Bruce's boots and Blaze didn't even come close to do so.

With all of this said what, if any, criticisms do you have of this amazing band? If you happen to have none, please explain why.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Again, it is hard to find fault the Bruce Dickenson Iron Maiden. Blayze Bailey on the other hand....well...a few weeks ago he was playing in a Manchester pub for free...says it all really.

Maiden with Bruce have consistently produced high-quality albums for years, even their most recent work is of a good standard. However, the only fault I can find is that I do find alot of their work quite similar, which doesnt mean it isnt good, but I can listen to one Maiden album and then another and they could be from the same era...I dont know if everyone will agree with me, but its just my opinion.

Maiden are still one of the best live acts in the world, there is nothing you can criticise over their live performances, the charisma and stage presence of Bruce is amazing, and his voice is just as strong now as it ever was

 

[The Encore]

Hmm.. I'm a solid 'Maiden' fan and I've been to their concerts and such, the only problem I have with them to be honest is that a majority of their music tends to not interest me. I love only a handful of songs from each of their albums. Thats only my problem, they tend to make solid music but most of it personally I cannot stand. (I hate Run to the Hills btw so I'm not some generic guitar hero fan)

 

[El Rev sXe]

Maiden is my 2nd favorite band. When I first listen to them I realised how awesome metal is. However there have been times whne I said wtf Maiden?! Obviously, I have to name Blaze Bayley. What the fuck was that? Why the fuck was HE on Maiden? I mean they knew Dickinson's vocal range, why did thwy thought that Bayley could ever replace Bruce. The guy can't sing the trooper. Man, even the songs where he sings, BD did better ("The sign of the cross" anyone?).

Second and last critic the period of time before "Afraid of the dark". All the "somewhere in time", "seventh son of a seventh son", "no prayer for the dying" all those records sucked almost completely. Why? That's my question WHY? Fortunly, they brought back Bruce and Adrian Smith and since then, at least for me they have done nothing but gold.