That Metal Thread

[Squanto Airi]

Oh if we're posting 80s PM, then I have an excuse to post Master Control by Liege Lord.

It's pretty much what Bruce Dickinson would sound like if he was in a band with a tad bit more bite than Maiden.

 

[A Pale Shadow]

Oh if we're posting 80s PM, then I have an excuse to post Master Control by Liege Lord.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PHJNnjQtb9kIt's pretty much what Bruce Dickinson would sound like if he was in a band with a tad bit more bite than Maiden.

You know normally seeing Power Metal instantly makes me roll my eyes and move on, but this shit slaps! I hear PM and think sword swinging elf metal full of saccharine power chords, but that is a straight up thrash riff! And is that a blast beat I hear? Also that album art is sick. I'm officially intrigued, thanks for posting.

 

[GemstoneEddie88]

Oh if we're posting 80s PM, then I have an excuse to post Master Control by Liege Lord.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PHJNnjQtb9kIt's pretty much what Bruce Dickinson would sound like if he was in a band with a tad bit more bite than Maiden.

All of Liege Lord rules but that album especially kills. I was very lucky to see them for the first time last year, they played a few new songs that are yet unreleased but they sounded awesome. The guitarist and singer also played on a few Overkill albums in the 90’s and those albums he played on are quite underrated.

 

[Squanto Airi]

You know normally seeing Power Metal instantly makes me roll my eyes and move on, but this shit slaps! I hear PM and think sword swinging elf metal full of saccharine power chords, but that is a straight up thrash riff! And is that a blast beat I hear? Also that album art is sick. I'm officially intrigued, thanks for posting.

80s Power Metal is a lot different from the power metal we know today. As @GemstoneEddie88 mentioned, Running Wild (early stuff is very thrashy) and Grave Digger (I do like Excalibur, very speedy) are also good bands if you like that style, plus I'll throw in Jag Panzer, especially the Ample Destruction album

EDITING TO ADD ALBUMS:

Also gonna throw in Conquistadores, cause that song is just fun to listen to

 

[Man vs persistent rats]

'80s style but from the '90s. I wish there was more stuff like this. Twisted Tower Dire don't really do it for me in large doses.

Edit: speaking of '80s power metal, it seems like a new remaster of Enchanter's material is coming out. From the preview it does sound a little less dry than before:

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

The Maiden concert was alright. Megadeth was the support which was cool since I never had a chance to catch them live. It was the fourth time seeing the Irons live. The current Run for your Lives tour is more or less a best of set list so that's fine but the crowd was pretty boring to be honest. Still it was nice to catch them live again. Curious what they plan as the next tour since I would like to see a tour focusing on mostly the reunion stuff. And a new album is also due as long as it isn't the same garbage that Senjutsu was.

 

[Squanto Airi]

And a new album is also due as long as it isn't the same garbage that Senjutsu was.

Every Maiden album post Brave New World is like being a battered housewife. There's always a handful of songs that are solid enough to make you think they'll turn it around, then they release Book of Souls or Senjutsu.

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

Every Maiden album post Brave New World is like being a battered housewife. There's always a handful of songs that are solid enough to make you think they'll turn it around, then they release Book of Souls or Senjutsu.

Post reunion Maiden at least for me managed to hold their own quite well when compared to their golden year I would say. At least up to FF.

Brave New World is a nice record even if it gets quite samey towards the end, Dance of Death certainly was quite the mixed bag, but I still enjoy that record. AMOLAD is one of their best albums in general and probably the best thing the band could achieve with that "progressive" sound they really stared to incorporate after the reunion. Final Frontier was still following the at that point typical Maiden formula, but I think showed signs for the band trying to evolve or at least diversify a bit their sound with songs like The Alchemist, Isle of Avalon, Starblind etc.

I personally lost interested in Maiden after Book of Souls, I listened through it a couple of times in recent years, but I always felt like their really started to tread water with that record. It's not necessarily bad, but that was probably the point where they should have pivoted into a completely different direction. And Senjutsu is just a complete mystery to me, no idea how they managed to record something so boring and tedious. Though I assume that the health issues Bruce faced played a big role how that record came to be.

At this point I expect one or maybe at best two records before the band either calls it quit or stops suddenly due to people dropping out. And even though Maiden stopped being my favorite band of all time I still root for the band to release one last great album before saying goodbye. I just don't know if they can do that.

 

[GemstoneEddie88]

Every Maiden album post Brave New World is like being a battered housewife. There's always a handful of songs that are solid enough to make you think they'll turn it around, then they release Book of Souls or Senjutsu.

Glad to know they are people out there with a similar taste to mine. Diehard Maiden fans can be so annoying with the fanboy-ism around Senjutsu. I could only stomach to listen to it in full once. And I consider myself a diehard Maiden fan. That being said, I think The Parchment is one of the better songs they’ve recorded in recent years. But like Starblind and Isle of Avalon before it, it is doomed to never be played live.

A Matter of Life and Death is an interesting one for me. I genuinely love it front to back. These Colours Don’t Run is all timer for me, pretty easy top 5 Maiden song. On the other end of the spectrum, Dance of Death is one of the worst albums I’ve heard and it’s pretty easily my 2nd to least favorite Maiden album after Senjutsu.

 

[Troon Petty and the 41ers]

Need to spend more time with this kind of black metal tbh

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

Diehard Maiden fans can be so annoying with the fanboy-ism around Senjutsu.

I was genuine baffled by the amount of positive responses I saw around the release of that LP.

A Matter of Life and Death is an interesting one for me. I genuinely love it front to back

Did you manage to catch them live when they played it in its entirety ?

Dance of Death is one of the worst albums I’ve heard and it’s pretty easily my 2nd to least favorite Maiden album after Senjutsu.

That quite the harsh statement, why do you dislike it that much ? ( We don't need to talk about the cover. That's a given) And second worst ? Not Fear of the Dark or Virtual XI ?

 

[GemstoneEddie88]

Did you manage to catch them live when they played it in its entirety ?

No, but I would’ve loved to have caught that one. I’ve only seen Maiden three times, Maiden England 2012, Book of Souls 2016, and Legacy 2019. Surprisingly, the best of that bunch was 2016, although my favorite setlist was Maiden England. No Infinite Dreams though, but I saw they recently played that, which is huge. My ultimate deep cut is Deja Vu but I don’t believe that one will ever be played live.

That quite the harsh statement, why do you dislike it that much ? ( We don't need to talk about the cover. That's a given) And second worst ? Not Fear of the Dark or Virtual XI ?

After how hard hitting Brave New World into Rock in Rio was, it was a major letdown. I heard more of a mainstream rock sound on the album. They sounded aimless and directionless. I think it’s a corny album. There was a time when I was much younger when I loved the title track, Paschendale, No More Lies, Journeyman and Rainmaker, but now the only thing I really go out of my way to listen to Rainmaker, and that might only be once a year.

Fear of the Dark and Virtual XI aren’t much higher but they both have songs I like a lot. The only 2 Maiden albums that I’m much higher on than consensus are No Prayer and The X Factor. I genuinely love both those albums and listen to them frequently.

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

No, but I would’ve loved to have caught that one. I’ve only seen Maiden three times, Maiden England 2012, Book of Souls 2016, and Legacy 2019. Surprisingly, the best of that bunch was 2016, although my favorite setlist was Maiden England. No Infinite Dreams though, but I saw they recently played that, which is huge. My ultimate deep cut is Deja Vu but I don’t believe that one will ever be played live.

Damn, I also never managed to catch them live for the AMOLAD tour. Such a shame. Interesting to hear that the Book of Souls one was the best for you. Good crowd and setlist I assume ? As for myself I saw them four times, Somewhere Back in Time 2008, Final Frontier 2011, Maiden Englan 2013 and now Run for your Lives 2026. 2008 was the best, I was in Warsaw and the crowd was great, good setlist and I loved all the stage designs.

It was nice that they played Infinite Dreams, but I also would have loved to hear something else even Deja Vu. A tour focused on all the material that they never or rarely play would be really fun.

After how hard hitting Brave New World into Rock in Rio was, it was a major letdown. I heard more of a mainstream rock sound on the album. They sounded aimless and directionless. I think it’s a corny album. There was a time when I was much younger when I loved the title track, Paschendale, No More Lies, Journeyman and Rainmaker, but now the only thing I really go out of my way to listen to Rainmaker, and that might only be once a year.

Fear of the Dark and Virtual XI aren’t much higher but they both have songs I like a lot. The only 2 Maiden albums that I’m much higher on than consensus are No Prayer and The X Factor. I genuinely love both those albums and listen to them frequently.

Brave New World is certainly the more coherent and "better" album, but I think I prefer Dance of Death.

No Prayer really landed in a shit spot. Right after Seventh Son and after that the excellent title track Fear of the Dark. But I think it's a much better album overall than Fear. X-Factor is a Top 5 album for me.

 

[Squanto Airi]

Twisted Tower Dire don't really do it for me in large doses.

Same, and it sucks cause I want to like them more, but I can only take a few songs at a time. Same with Slough Feg.

Post reunion Maiden at least for me managed to hold their own quite well when compared to their golden year I would say. At least up to FF.

I'll give another listen since I'm doing a discography listen.

Diehard Maiden fans can be so annoying with the fanboy-ism around Senjutsu.

My main problem is the fanboy-ism (at least the one I heard) was centered around it "being Maiden" despite the same people trashing the 90s era stuff.

My ultimate deep cut is Deja Vu but I don’t believe that one will ever be played live.

Somewhere in Time gets underrated as an album despite there not being any skips imo

 

[Sayer of the N-Word]

I was genuine baffled by the amount of positive responses I saw around the release of that LP.

Not me, there are plenty of oldheads who desperately want Maiden to put out one more good album before they die, and the latest crop of poser will just glom on to whoever's big (no judgment, every trve metalhead was a poser once...). No one would have noticed if Maiden was a smaller band. Can you name a single album that Anthrax has put out since 2000?

 

[Kharash]

I've been enjoying some Raven as of late.

Also the new Véhémence is out

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

I'll give another listen since I'm doing a discography listen.

Nice, let know what you think them after you're done with the discography (Or write something about the entire discography if you feel like it. Gives us more to talk about).

Somewhere in Time gets underrated as an album despite there not being any skips imo

Yeah, that one oddly seems to go under a bit. But I agree with you, almost perfect from start to finish. Easily another Top 5 from Maiden.

Not me, there are plenty of oldheads who desperately want Maiden to put out one more good album before they die, and the latest crop of poser will just glom on to whoever's big (no judgment, every trve metalhead was a poser once...).

I think both extremes of Maiden fans are annoying. The oldheads that got stuck in the 80s and the ones that will worship anything as long as that Maiden logo is on it. There is a healthy in between and I really do like four out of the six reunion albums but especially Senjutsu is just such a mixed bag that I would have expected at least some semblance of honesty and reflection from the fanbase. And even people who like it should be able to easily discern that its has some (major) flaws ( like all things).

No one would have noticed if Maiden was a smaller band.

That certainly played a major part in the album's perception. And as much as I hate how corporate Maiden has become you also can't really blame them. Who else is still out there carrying that same importance as Maiden ? Who else is touring that extensively and maintaining their legacy ? Even if it's a bit hyperbolic Maiden is the last BIG Metal band out there. And despite the massive proliferation of Heavy Metal nobody old or new managed to reach the same mindshare as them. Can't change that or the fanbase the band has developed.

 

[GemstoneEddie88]

I've been enjoying some Raven as of late.

Very underrated band. I just caught them live a couple weeks ago and they still bring it. Insane energy.

 

[Squanto Airi]

Can you name a single album that Anthrax has put out since 2000?

To be fair, who listens to Anthrax post-Sound of White Noise?

 

[GemstoneEddie88]

Good crowd and setlist I assume ?

Sorry for the late reply: simply put this was the best whole band performance I’ve seen. This was the first show of the Book of Souls tour if my memory serves (it was most certainly the first American date, I can say that was confidence). Adrian Smith especially was GODLIKE the whole show. I remember his solo during Wasted Years as the closer was just on another level. Setlist was alright. I got to hear Children of the Damned and Powerslave live so it’s hard to leave that show going, “set couldve been better” haha