Welcome to Maiden's worst album , an album that is a hit and miss affair , but as you read the following review please keep this information in mind.
When maiden released this album they were in there weakest line up , two of the three main songwrites (Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith) had left the band leaving perhaps Maidens strongest songwriter ,Steve Harris to write the majority of material.One of Maiden's trademarks was its soaring operatic vocals produced by the mighty Bruce Dickinson, but when Dickinson left he was replaced by the terrible Blaze Bayley, just listen for yourself and acknowledge his awful style.
So without further babbling here is the songs and there reviews
Futureal 4/5:The album opens mighty strong , within the first 5 seconds you are rocking along to the incredibly catchy riff , but then Blaze's vocals enter and the whole thing seems sorta ruined.With Bruce I would of gave this 5 , but not even the great solo can rescue it from Blaze's perfromance.
The angel and the gambler 2/5:Geez!! at almost ten minutes long , this is one of Maiden's longest songs , and also one of its worst.The problem here is not mainly Blaze(surprise!) although his singing isn't great there are other aspects which get mighty annoying.For one Steve Harris basically repeats the song twice resulting in its long play time, which is ridiculous.Secondly , this is a metal band !!! , whats with the synths? cmon boys this is rock 'n' roll.But finally the chorus is so boring and annoying "Don't you think im a saviour , don't u think i can save you , don't u think i can save your life?" I mean it is sung way too many times , atleast 10 a chorus and at 10 minutes the phrase is ruining an already average song.
Lightning strikes twice 3.5/5: Hmm an interesting song , the guitars on the verse's are well done , and the solos are awesome as well.It's not a masterpiece and its not awful , but as you look back at Maiden's back catalogue , even the worst song off any golden era albums would kick this songs ass.
The Clansman 4/5: Another epic! , but fear not , this is much better than the awful angel.In true Harris style the lyircs are derived from folklore historic stories , and the song slowly builds up to the verse.Blaze gives an ok perfromance in this one to be fair.But as you listen through the songs you begin to realize that Steve's once inventive bass lines have gone , now he just mainly follows the guitar , but nevertheless a song worthy of better albums.
When two worlds collide 3.5/5 : The song begins unusual and sounds quite epic , the lyrics are quite interesting aswell , and give new light on a pretty stupid topic.Again the guitars solos are brillant , and the harmony parts are interesting aswell.But near the end of the song Blaze begins to sing his heart out, it really is funny , Dickinson could kick this guys ass in a single verse.
The educated fool 3.5/5: This song seems familiar? when i listen to this it reminds me of the way alot of maiden starts , slow with the guitar mimicing the vocal lines.A lyric in this song is cringeworthy " reading the book of life , or is it death!!?".The chorus is weak , and the lyirc unispiring , an average tune.
Don't look to the eyes of a stranger 2.5/5: Weak man!! now the song seem generic and they all seem to follow a pattern , with a few synths in there for measure.Blaze sounds ok... and the riff is annoying me for some reason.The solos are decent and the bass lays down a pretty solid fountation, for the rest of play.
Como Estais Amigos (I don't know what it means) 3/5: Is it me or does this seem like a farewell song? I think Blaze realised he sucked and needed to go.The guitar work is as ever pretty interesting , and the syths( oh how i hate them) are ok in here.A decent end to a below average album.
Conclusion
Maiden have produced much much better albums than this.This is probably there worst effort , due to Blaze and the missing songwriters (who returned for Brave new world , which is brilliant!!!!). If youre a maiden fan , why not buy it ? It isn't great and it isn't really bad...
Thannks for reading please leave a comment :)
Como Estais Amigos ( im guessing it means goodbye because i suck and Bruce is much better and should come back)
Lukai
