Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 29, 2024, 01:19:59 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Iron Maiden's bluesy new single "The Writing on the Wall"

Started by willbo, July 17, 2021, 08:47:56 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

easytarget

New single today - Stratego.
Much more immediate. Banger. Stacked harmonies and synths.

gilbertharding

That's funny. The only Iron Maiden album I ever owned in my life (Piece of Mind) had the legend

QuoteNo synthesisers or ulterior motives

written on the sleeve. What a bunch of wallies.

thugler

Quote from: easytarget on August 20, 2021, 06:27:58 AM
New single today - Stratego.
Much more immediate. Banger. Stacked harmonies and synths.

Pretty good track, Bruce's voice sounds unbelievable.

wrec

The flaws in their stuff from 2000 have been mentioned but I'm still very much on board. Listened to The Final Frontier and The Book of Souls for the first time in a while recently, and while there's the occasional overly repetitive or uninspired bit, I still find them hugely enjoyable, enough so that I can happily listen to those lengthy albums without a break. The first 7 albums are just about perfect- when someone cites any of those as their favourite Maiden I can't argue. They're a different beast (no pun etc) in terms of new material these days, with their often formulaic and not very progressive "progressive" direction, and are arguably hamstrung by Harris's conservative approach, but still I'm going to be all over the new album.

One thing that really clicked with me recently is how incredible Smith and Murray's solos are. Not as much into Gers (he has his moments) but that's the most enduringly creative aspect of Maiden I reckon.

As for the Brexit stuff, I strongly disagree but don't care really. It seems at odds with Maiden's status a very international-minded institution who pioneered touring South America, Eastern Europe etc. Bruce is literally waving a union jack onstage every night during The Trooper. Here in Ireland a couple of people on forums made a point of being offended by that but the general consensus (even among Irish speakers, staunch republicans etc) was to take it on a theatrical level rather than a sincere expression of colonial sentiment.

idunnosomename

Considering the song is about a gigantic British military failure it's hard to see how it can be construed that way


kngen

Quote from: wrec on August 20, 2021, 04:39:08 PM
Bruce is literally waving a union jack onstage every night during The Trooper. Here in Ireland a couple of people on forums made a point of being offended by that but the general consensus (even among Irish speakers, staunch republicans etc) was to take it on a theatrical level rather than a sincere expression of colonial sentiment.

I've seen them twice in Glasgow, and that bit draws an equal amount of cheers and boos from the crowd. I'd wager that their response depends on what football team they support. (cf. punch ups in the crowd at a Tina Turner concert at the SECC when she did Simply the Best. Glasgow can be a very silly place at times)

easytarget

Quote from: wrec on August 20, 2021, 04:39:08 PMNot as much into Gers (he has his moments)
Check his song writing credits on the post-2000 stuff, he's got skills (even if his solos are ... chaotic)

Quote
No synthesisers or ulterior motives
Two albums later and they're slathering synths over everything and it sounds amazing.

idunnosomename

Stratego well, it's fine isn't it. chug chug chug/clunk clunk clunk. wish they'd stop using Kevin Shirley with his rather bland production, but he's kind of part of their brand at this point

thugler

Quote from: idunnosomename on August 21, 2021, 12:49:40 AM
Stratego well, it's fine isn't it. chug chug chug/clunk clunk clunk. wish they'd stop using Kevin Shirley with his rather bland production, but he's kind of part of their brand at this point

Yeah agree on the production, though it's not as bad as some of their newer albums which sounded appalling, thinking of dance of death in particular.


idunnosomename

Murray has been playing pretty much exactly the same since 1980. Which somehow doesn't jar in the slightest. Smith is a bit like Glenn Tipton in that he really kept up with metal and could quite easily match up (if not quite equal in pure shred stakes) with the decade-younger Roy Z in Bruce's solo work.

Gers can't solo for shit, he's terrible, every time he takes Adrian's lead in Hallowed an angel cries or something, but he has brought plenty of good songwriting ideas in over the years, so whatever. in all his slingshotting his guitar over his shoulder he's basically their Bez live since 1999.

idunnosomename

this is out now. it's ok. it's only just on two CDs (81 min) like the last Metallica

the rhythm is chunkachunkachunk and there's a doo-doo-doo melody and Bruce sings about how war is bad. what did you expect.

idunnosomename

listened to it again it's kind of Final Frontier level for me. that is like, ok, but a bit boring. the Smith/Dickinson songs (Days of Future Past, Darkest Hour) are the high points for me, the Harris triple-ten-minute trilogy at the end a very bad idea. although The Parchment is good imo

some dodgy bits in the production too. flat as a pancake and the keys sound like someone bought a Casio from Argos for £15

edit sorry didnt realise I was posting three times in a row lol

willbo

i been listening to it too. Maiden are a weird one for me, in that I've been listening to them on and off for 25 years but I'm not even sure if I love them or if I'd call myself a fan. They're like strong liquor for me in that I can only handle so much. Love the 80s albums and a lot of the newer ones but their sound just drags on a bit after a while. I like the X Factor album a lot too.

The Mollusk

Quote from: idunnosomename on August 20, 2021, 06:53:25 PM
Considering the song is about a gigantic British military failure it's hard to see how it can be construed that way

I dunno dude, "Born in the USA"? People excel themselves as misinterpreting stuff all the time, doesn't surprise me that boozed up knucklehead heavy metal boomers wouldn't also be guilty of that.

kngen

Quote from: idunnosomename on September 03, 2021, 10:30:25 PM
ok, but a bit boring.

Listening to it on Spotify this morning. Other than the odd moment, found it to be a real chore (as I did with the Book of Souls). Christ, the endless mid-paced chuntering followed by a half-speed 'yoooge' chorus. Yes, it worked really well on The Wicker Man, but you don't have to keep doing it over and over again. Feel like this is their way of circumventing the need to ever play at The Trooper/Aces High pace ever again. 'If we play extra slow for a bit, then the mid-paced bits will sound really fast. It's the perfect crime.'

Quotethe Harris triple-ten-minute trilogy at the end a very bad idea.

If the second-hand CD market was still a thing, this is the disc that would always be pristine while the other would have at least a couple of fingerprints and scratches on it.

Thought it was interesting looking at the Spotify stats that Stratego (clearly the 'one oldish sounding song per album' that is a sop to folk like me who have kept a wary distance since SSOASS) had 1.8m plays (and I realise that it's been out for a wee bit longer) and those three scraped just over 10k plays combined. Wonder what constitutes a 'play'. Just clicking on it for a few seconds, or slogging all the way through to the end of Death of the Celts. Have a feeling the number would be even lower if it's the latter.



druss

I'm definitely in the minority with regard to Maiden, I like the 80s stuff but their albums from Brave New World onwards I've absolutely loved. Give me two CDs of Steve Harris epics, can't get enough of their recent sound.

willbo

there's a nice crisp cover of Stratego by an Australian band called Lord on youtube which really makes you think what could have been. Basically sounds like 80s Maiden playing it.

Yeah, it's funny really, even when I first got into Maiden, I never played hits like Trooper or Where Eagles Dare. I always liked their more offbeat stuff.

kngen

Quote from: willbo on September 07, 2021, 10:29:34 PM
there's a nice crisp cover of Stratego by an Australian band called Lord on youtube which really makes you think what could have been. Basically sounds like 80s Maiden playing it.


Enjoyed that, ta!

Stoneage Dinosaurs

Dennis Stratton who used to do guitars for them is in a covers band with a bloke who looks like Danny Devito, they do gigs and stuff in the town I grew up in. They played at my old local village pub a few weeks back, drunk some beers and got nice and toasted, it was fun.

idunnosomename

Just listened to the debut to remind myself that yeah all the best solos on it are by Dave, but still, impressive performance by Dennis. Also if Steve wrote Phantom today it would be best part of a week long

idunnosomename

Quote from: willbo on September 07, 2021, 10:29:34 PM
there's a nice crisp cover of Stratego by an Australian band called Lord on youtube which really makes you think what could have been. Basically sounds like 80s Maiden playing it.
i mean that's ok (especially how quickly they got it out) but this cover of Judas Be My Guide is super

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=683enoMdg7Q

I like Fear of the Dark. there's two absolute dogshit songs on it, The Apparition and Weekend Warrior, that wouldn't have fitted on an LP that pull it down, but I like the rest of it