I liked the Blaze era, specially The X Factor, but I was super pumped for the reunion, and eagerly awaiting BNW, as I had gotten into Maiden just when Bruce was about to leave in 93

I thought The Wicker Man was good, not great, and when the whole album dropped I was dissapointed and it has never really clicked with me, even 2 decades after. I liked Ghost of Navigator and The Fallen Angel, and Dream of Mirrors had some great parts but was way too long. I found the album boring, bloated and the endless repetittion of the chorus in many songs (which had become an issue on Virtual XI) was annoying. Was very happy to seem them back at the top of the metal world though.
I am a big fan of Dance of Death (which was much more varied, and feels like the last "fun" Maiden album) and AMOLAD, which was The X Factor part II but worked great as an album. Seeing them play the album in full is a great memory
Didn't care.much for Final Frontier or Book of Souls, but I liked Senjutsu.

I like Brave New World, but it's honestly my least favorite of the 21st century Iron Maiden albums. I find that it doesn't flow as well as what they would put out later. I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but not only is The Final Frontier my favorite 21st century Maiden album, it's my favorite of any of their non-80's albums. I think they were on fire in the song-writing department, and that album really transports me on a journey whenever I listen to it, which is what I listen to Iron Maiden for in the first place.

Also, how is Phil Anselmo racist or a neo-nazi? Wasn't Kevin Bond from Superjoint Ritual at least half-black?

This is exactly what I find in Iron Maiden, as well. Their albums are indeed a journey.

You can't possibly be serious, get the fuck out of here. If you actually wanted to know you could find out in 2 seconds by searching "Phil Anselmo racist".

Unless you're dumb enough to believe in his totally non-racist reasons to show "white power" on stage.

I don't care what Google says. If I did, I would have looked it up there already. All I did was pose the question in case anyone had any personal arguments why they think so. No need to get hostile, dude.

And if you're referring to him shouting "white power" into an audience, he explained that he was joking around and even apologized to anyone who was offended by it. Admittedly, it's not a very funny joke, and he was being stupid, but being stupid and unfunny doesn't mean you're racist.

Yeah - The Final Frontier is easily their best album after the 80s. That one is a genuine trip with this real sense of immersion and adventure.

Dance of Death is interesting, since that one has the most songs that don't feel like normal Maiden in any recent year. It doesn't really have a lot of truly great tunes, but it's fun.

Phil Anselmo probably isn't the kind of guy you'd want to turn to to get any kind of sensible opinion of race issues. Probably also isn't some idealogue or fanatic either though.

That's true, for example you may not be racist even though you are clearly stupid.

If you believe any of the contradictory horseshit explanations he gave then you may be beyond help.

Maybe better to be fascist than stupid….

How can we save us from stupidity?

Dude, what is your problem? Is it so upsetting to you that I'm questioning or even disagreeing with the idea that he's racist? I asked for evidence to support the argument and instead of providing that, you're being rude and inflammatory to me, so unless you're gonna chill out, stop wasting my time.



Well, I think that "Paschendale" and "No More Lies" would fit snuggly into later Maiden albums, but definitely songs like "Face in the Sand" and "Journeyman" bring out a proggy, almost acoustic sound that we rarely hear from them.

But you literally refuse to ''google'' it yourself for some reason, because google is evil and will only show false stuff?

However, you somehow know that that he apologized for it, and just believe it? k den.

Re: is Phil Anselmo racist

You ever see that video from the 90s of Phil stopping a Pantera concert dead to rant at the audience about how "white culture" needs to be saved from rap?

Also having a (half) black friend/bandmate doesn't necessarily make one not racist. Are you familiar with the phrase "one of the good ones"?

Does every thread have to become a platform for U.S. racial problems?

I agree, and I think people need to revisit this album. I think the intro threw people off and they never seemed to get past it. Its by far the most varied song writing wise of the modern Maiden era, has throwbacks to old Maiden (The Alchemist), genuine epics (The Talisman), actual progressive songs that arent just endless riffs replayed (Isle of Avalon) catchy verse chorus verse chorus structured songs (El Dorado), and the boring chorus repetition of the BNW and DOD are gone. People originally complained about the final 3 tracks being boring Harris epics but The Talisman is easily one of Maidens best post reunion songs and absolutely justifies its length, The Man Who Would Be King is basically just a verse chorus verse chorus song, they just have the quiet intro and outro (another one of my favourites) and Where The Wild Wind Blows is to me, the best of the FOTD style structured songs they've done, but I can see why people feel this song falls into meandering Harris epic territory. However I love all the moments of WTWWB and think its flows perfectly.

Indeed. It's a stellar release with the only weak moments being the intro. The title track is solid, but isn't terribly exciting, either.
But, from that point on, it's fantastic. "The Alchemist", "The Talisman", and "Where the Wild Wind Blows" are among their best songs, IMO. All three deliver a sense of 'urgency' and 'authenticity' (not sure what other words would better describe it). Definitely among the best of the reunion era.

Master of Puppets was one of the worst disappointments of my metal-hearing life. After an amazing Kill em All and a slower but so powerful and heavy Ride the Lighting, the very thin sound on the 1LP release, plus the lack of inspiration in the riffs, was just such a let off.

I never said that Google was evil or anything, I just wanted to hear from them personally. If I were to espouse an opinion and then someone were to ask why I think that way, I'd answer them directly with evidence, experience and other things that support my argument. I don't say "google that and this" because that's not my own opinion, and it's a personal pet peeve of mine whenever people respond that way to a question I asked. All I ask is that if you engage with me, come with your own opinion. Not Google's opinion.

Furthermore, I've been familiar with shit that Anselmo says since 2010, so I technically did look it up beforehand.



I think what he said specifically was that rappers were disrespecting white people. If you disagree, that's fine, but that doesn't mean he's racist. If you think that you can still be racist and have a black friend or bandmate, then I would have to ask what your definition of "racist" is, because that to me is being the exact opposite of racist, with my definition being "treating someone differently or denying them privileges you normally afford other people based on the color of their skin". I take an "actions speak louder than words" approach to whether someone is racist or not, and I've never heard of a black fan of Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual or any Anselmo-lead project saying that they had a bad interaction with him, so I don't care what stupid shit he says when he's drunk and/or feeling argumentative on stage. I'd rather have that than saying the politically correct things about race issues while in the public eye but then denying people privileges based on their skin color in private.

It's nice seeing that people see what I see in The Final Frontier. I don't even mind the long intro. It sets the space-traveling mood and it's probably Maiden at their most musique concrète while still having recognizable melodies.



I do agree that Master of Puppets is a step down from those two albums. I never liked "Leper Messiah" and "The Thing That Should Not Be" gets repetitive after a while, though I like all the other songs even if it's the not-as-good sequel to Ride the Lightning.

Last weekend, Taylor Swift came to Argentina for the first time, and all the kids and girls were overwhelmingly excited to see her in a way I never saw other artists generate this kind of passion and devotion for her music. I thought if metal generated that in us, that kind of artists that stop whatever the country is doing, and all the eyes go to them. I know this is music for young people, but that kind of good vibe in the kids made me think.

Since I read the forum the only band that everybody respects at that level is Iron Maiden, I had the luck of seeing them three times here in Buenos Aires. They had something because the most important thing that they did was 40 years ago, but we still valued them as the kings of the genre and most importantly as the metal shows kings, I don't know why, but very few metal bands put a good live show these days, is like everybody is fine with playing their instruments and not these larger-than-life characters that at some time metal had. Ghost may be one of the bands that still are trying to put on a good show for their audience, but not at the level of Maiden.

Putting on a show on the scale of Maiden costs a shitload of money, most metal bands just can't afford it

Yeah, that is a sad reality of the genre, the lack of money. I hope someday we will be at the top again.

I don't think you need a gimmick or props to put on a great show. Taylor Swift is like the Beatles now, a phenomenon so I wouldn't expect a metal band to have that kind of cultural draw.

I've seen Maiden many times and they are very good live but I wouldn't call them the best live band I've seen.

I didn't realize that till I saw the people's reaction to her show. She is a cultural phenomenon, like the Beatles as you said. I think we were also that at some point, especially with Iron Maiden and Metallica, it would be pretty cool to have a metal artist that generates that in the people.

I can't say Maiden is the best band that I've seen live, but they definitively are the ones who put on the most expensive and big show. I saw them in the Somewhere Back in Time tour and the Maiden England tour and they were fantastic, every song had a different scenario, with different giant Eddies and the big fire and all the cool stuff.

I don't know if this is unpopular opinion but the riffs of Hetfield in "The Thing That Should Not Be" are the best for me ont only in that album, but in the whole 80's career of Metallica and yes, is definitely the best song for me in Master of Puppets

I'm really reading some things here that makes me think that some of you only use your brains to keep breathing and not shit your pants, what the fuck.

lately we are tuned to the same frequency….

I wanted to write it myself but then I would have looked like the usual Lee…

202 pages and the shit opinions keep on coming.

Wasn't around at the time, but my dad never liked it much when it came out, both compared to what they did before, and to what Slayer, Kreator, Exodus etc were doing.

I don't like it much either. There are some great riffs on there, but i can't stand Kirk's lead guitar playing and just check out whenever he starts. It's just too long too.

Master of Puppets is brilliant and a milestone... the melody and atmosphere make it stand out and I never get why it's got to be compared to the brutality of some other bands. I suppose back in the 80s it was easier to have that sort of tunnel vision in assuming the only goal was just speed. But it's just another pillar of what the sound can be, the opposite of the mastery of Reign in Blood for example.

I suspect that some guys and girls speaking of some albums they don't contextualize the year and the importance have had….

But at least that guy he gave some examples as to why he didn't like it…

Leper Messiah and The thing tha should not be are my fav songs of Master…

Maybe that is why this is still one of the best threads on the site.

From my point of view, MOP lacks that old familiar heavy/speed/thrash metal song structure that was standard in those days, and most fans of those albums were kinda puzzled simply because MOP couldn't be put in any given (familiar) form. Take almost any 80's thrash band and you could find some sort of NWOBHM traces in it, and that was familiar and safe ground. MOP is a monster of its own.

This forum is a goldmine for weird-as-hell opinions, like that guy saying that Reek of Putrefaction is the ONLY good Carcass album. Not just his favorite, it's the only one he likes. My God.

I just don't think we are ever going to see a heavy metal band with that kind of draw. Lighter pop music just has a far greater reach. I just saw Metallica in a stadium with about 50k people attending and it was massive. Few artists of any genre pull like that. Do any up and coming metal bands have that kind of draw on a wide scale? probably not, but there are 10k arena level bands I think. Of course in different areas there are different scenes as well. Some metal bands that play arenas in Europe do theaters over here.

When it was new, "Puppets" was generally considered a milestone and a marked improvement over the two previous releases. It was quickly considered the best the fledgling thrash genre had to offer, up to that point.

It moved the band - and the subgenre - "above ground" at least in terms of exposure to the 'mainstream of metal'. Thrash was still largely an underground phenomenon and the bands, to that point, weren't taken seriously by the broad contingent of Maiden / Priest / Sabbath fans of the day (assuming they'd even heard any of this music in those pre-internet days). Puppets was absolutely the 'gateway' for many to Slayer, Exodus, Overkill, etc. I suppose Metallica had a contingent of fans who were on board since "Kill" and considered Puppets a "sell out" but I never heard such talk once back then.

Yeah, Puppets was by and large considered a masterpiece of thrash and metal in general back in the 80's. It was key in exploding the genre and opening up bigger doors for bands like Testament, Death Angel, etc.

It wasn't until the backlash against 90's Metallica that I began to hear people ripping the 80's stuff.

Honestly I saw worse opinions but it’s unpopular thread…

Important is that the opinions are at least supported by some facts…

Ex If I think that Gaahl era is best of Gorgoroth I’ll explain why but if I say that The Number of beast is a shit album this is only trolling…

I don't feel it's as good as Ride the Lightning, but it's a very good album nonetheless. It's also where my interest in metallica pretty much ends, though I'll still listen to a few songs here and there.
The thing is, these kinds of classics have a lot of associations for many people that go beyond music. I think this is something that internet critique culture has a little trouble with in general, perhaps, but I've hinted at this before on the forum and my general dissatisfaction with the way music is evaluated. We should embrace the fact that music makes it feel things more than we should try to figure out what the best albums by such-and-such a band are. We should be happy, even thrilled, to declare without self-consciousness that the way we feel about a record is linked with our personal experiences with that record. How many people went to parties where master of Puppets was playing? How many got special memories associated with a loved one, a good friend, the first time they smoked marijuana and got high, or got drunk to an album; the first song they learned on guitar or drums that really challenged their abilities. All this stuff matters. Brave New World is the 21st century maiden album I really like -- why? Because it was a new album, with Bruce Dickinson, made after I got into the band, and i saw them in concert the year prior to its release and then the year it came out. Of course the music is good and that has a lot to do with it too, but it's not the only set of factors. If you were at a large concert hall and heard most of an entire audience singing along to "Dream of Mirrors", you'd maybe feel it too.

I think the same. I put Master of Puppets above Ride The Lightning, and yes, I actually think that MoP song is actually the weakest of the album. It is a very good one, (and the most overrated, if you ask me) but the rest are better.

Keep of Kalessin's debut was the last true Norwegian black metal album.