Whoops! I forgot these. Thanks to the Heavy Metal OverloRd for pointing at least one of these out.
I really should have included these in my list of 88 albums that went under-appreciated in the 1990’s. I loved these, still do, and my life wouldn’t be the same without them.
In alphabetical order:
BLUE RODEO – Just Like A Vacation (up there with Sloan as one of my fave live albums of all time)
FISH – Kettle of Fish 88-98 (my introduction to his solo music, a great set!)
HELIX – B-Sides (a misnomer: no B-sides included, but all great tracks that didn’t make albums)
GEORGE LYNCH – Sacred Groove (pure smoke!)
SANDBOX – Bionic (I guess Mike Smith makes significantly more money playing Bubbles on Trailer Park Boys)
SANDBOX – A Murder In The Glee Club (brilliant, brilliant concept album on insanity. Genius!)
REEF – Glow (I think these guys were pretty big in the UK but unknown here)
ROCKHEAD – Rockhead (see my review for all the details)
SLOAN – Between The Bridges (can’t believe I forgot my fave Sloan studio record!)
THIN LIZZY – Dedication: The Very Best Of (the song “Dedication” was my intro to Lizzy!)
BILL WARD – Ward One: Along The Way (I have a review forthcoming, one of the best solo Sabs ever)
THE WHITLAMS – Eternal Nightcap (Aussie band, saw them open for Blue Rodeo, blew me away)
ZAKK WYLDE – Book of Shadows (thanks HMO! Liked it so much I bought it twice)
I really hope I didn’t forget any more. Embarrassing. Check these out…all great albums front to back!
Here we go again! Let’s continue. Part 28 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!
IRON MAIDEN – Ed Hunter / “Wrathchild 1999” (1999 video game/compilation)
Blaze Bayley was done. Maybe it was the performances. Maybe it was time for a change. Whatever had happened, Steve Harris decided it was time for Iron Maiden to get a new singer. Manager Rod Smallwood told him to meet with Bruce Dickinson, who wanted to make a return to Maiden and finish his career properly. Harris was skeptical. If Bruce quit once before, why would he want to come back?
After meeting with Bruce, Steve decided it was the right move. But it wasn’t as simple as that. Adrian Smith was in Bruce’s solo band, and Steve wanted him, too.
“Does that mean Janick goes?” asked Adrian, who was very much against the idea of forcing Janick Gers out of the band that he had spent the last decade in.
“No,” said Steve. “I want a three-guitar lineup.”
And thus was formed the guitar trio known to metal fans worldwide as The Three Amigos.
Iron Maiden, with Bayley, had already been working on the Ed Hunter video game. It was Maiden’s second attempt since the aborted Melt game was announced. In fact, in the game, it is Blaze’s head that you must find, not Bruce Dickinson’s. This hardly mattered in light of the massive news of a highly anticipated reunion tour featuring Bruce, Adrian, Steve, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, and Nicko McBrain. This was not a one-off, Steve Harris made it clear that if you’re back in Maiden, you’re back for good. This was timed to coincide with the release of the game which also doubled as a Maiden compilation album — their second, since Best of the Beast.
This time it was a little different. To make it special, fans were permitted to vote for which songs were to appear on the disc, 20 tracks total over two discs. Since the 20 Maiden classics here were voted for online by the hard core fans, there is a fantastic balance of Maiden tunes from every era. There are no other Maiden compilations that feature such a heady brew of Paul Di’Anno, Bruce Dickinson, and Blaze Bayley era material.
It’s nice to hear such underrated classics as “Phantom Of The Opera” alongside semi-forgotten later material like “Tailgunner”. So many personal favourites are on here, including “Stranger In A Strange Land”, that I almost feel as if I put this disc together myself! They kick it off with the immortal Live After Death version of “Iron Maiden”; appropriate given that this compilation supported a greatest hits tour.
But that’s not all folks. Now that Bruce was back, it would be nice to promote that with a single. So, Maiden remixed “Wrathchild” with a brand new Bruce Dickinson lead vocal on it. The remix was done by Kevin Shirley, Maiden’s new producer and the man behind the boards of Journey’s Trial By Fire album. Since the original version of “Wrathchild” is already on the disc, this is a true bonus track, a little extra for the fans dying to get a preview of the reunited Maiden.
But it was a bonus only included on the US version of Ed Hunter, a version that was priced well over $40 in Canada. I found a “Wrathchild 1999” promo CD on eBay as well.
But how’s the game? Well, keep in mind it’s well over a decade old now. I don’t even know if it will run on a modern computer. It’s a first person shooter, with Maiden music in the background. You get to do combat in the environments of Maiden’s formative years in London, within their album covers, and if you’re lucky you might even run into Eddie. Personally, I never got that far. It’s a pretty challenging game and I’ve never made it very far. I enjoy it though, something about plowing through a bunch of monsters while “Phantom Of The Opera” is playing in the background is real fun.
Ed Hunter is not a “Doom” style first person shooter. I do not know the term for this type of game, but you do not have freedom of movement in the environments. It’s like a shooting gallery game.
I personally enjoyed Ed Hunter quite a bit. I used to take the game out to have a go every once in a while, and I still dust off the CDs for a rocking good time in the car. These discs make an excellent road compilation. I remember driving a bunch of people to a Record Store party (I was always the D.D.) with this on, and it went over very well! Overall I think it’s definitely a worthwhile purchase, if you can track one down at a reasonable price.
In the meantime, Maiden had to prove their mettle by making a new studio album…
Next in line of my reviews from Record Store Excursion 2012! Check out the video below if you missed it. This one bought at HMV, in their 2 for $25 sale. What I came for was Japanese imports, which they apparently don’t carry anymore. Why?
MIKE AND AARON GO TO TORONTO
KISS – Double Platinum (1978, 1997 foil embossed reissue)
For the record, until Record Store Excursion 2012, I’d never seen this before. It’s a pretty cool, pretty accurate CD reproduction of the original foil embossed LP. As far as appearances go, it’s superior to the usual jewel case version, and it’s even superior to the 1997 Japanese edition, which I also have. The cover is fragile, prone to scuffs and fingerprinting, so I’ve kept mine nice and safe in a sandwich bag.
I like that its embossed, not just flat cardboard. I like that the faces inside the cover are also embossed, just like the original LP. The photos don’t really do it justice. I wish I knew the story behind this. In all my years at the record store I never saw one, even though the year on the back clearly states 1997 (the same year as the other Kiss remasters). It even still has the same crappy 1997 liner notes by Robert V. Conte (who?).
I first heard this album back in 1985 or 1986, and it was my first exposure to songs like “Hard Luck Woman” and “Makin’ Love”. For years I would often recommend this album as one of the first Kiss albums for people to get. It is still an excellent introduction despite the fact that the market has been flooded with approximately 15 different compilations (rough guess) since then. It’s also still an excellent introduction even though most of the material has been remixed. (A lot of people can’t tell the difference anyway.) There’s also one “new” song, a disco-ish remake of “Strutter” called “Strutter ’78”. For me, these were the original versions that I heard!
The technical reasoning for the remixing was to make the band’s uneven catalogue sound more alike, when presented together in this fashion. The material produced by Bob Ezrin (Destroyer) sounded leaps and bounds different than the other stuff, so it was remixed to bring it to Ezrin’s level.
“Strutter ’78” was re-recorded with more compression on the drums. I still think it’s a great track, but it lacks the fire of the Kiss original. It’s more sleek. “Hard Luck Woman” has been remixed to highlight the acoustic guitars, leaving the band out until later in the song. “Rock Bottom’s” intro is presented here without the song itself, and it does work in that form, serving now as an intro to “She”. “Black Diamond” lacks the slow-down ending, and I kind of prefer this version: Instead, at the end, the song starts all over again and goes into a fade.
My only complaint about Double Platinum was always in regards to the CD version. Since the original pressing of the LP had the Kiss logo embossed on silver foil, I felt the CD reissues were cheap and didn’t do it justice, even the Japanese, which just has a dull paper cover. The domestic jewel case CD is just printed in silver ink.
Where did this come from? What’s the story? No idea. Comment below!
Once upon a time Black Sabbath were the most vital metal band around, but not in 1995. The 80’s and early 90’s were much rougher, with a rotating lineup of singers, drummers, and bass players. Only original member Tony Iommi and longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls weathered the storm consistently.
Bill Ward and Geezer Butler were both playing in Black Sabbath again in late 1994, but by 1995 both had bailed (for the umpteenth time) again. That left Iommi with Nicholls and singer Tony Martin not knowing what was going to happen next. There were rumours in the press that Ice T (yes, Ice T) would be soon joining Sabbath.
That didn’t happen (thank God!) and the lineup here is nothing but pure heavy metal pedigree. It is also a reunion of the 1989-1991 Tyr band. Neil Murray and Cozy Powell were back on bass and drums. This would be Murray’s second and Powell’s third Sabbath album. Murray and Powell, of course, also did time together in Whitesnake, forming a rock solid rhythm section that only great chemistry can produce.
So what happened? What went wrong? Why does Forbidden suck so bad?
The reasons are threefold. One, the album was rushed out amid much confusion within the band. Rumours of Ozzy’s return abounded and Martin didn’t know if he was in or out. Morale sucked. Second, the record company insisted on a more “current” sound. Thus, the album was produced by Body Count’s Ernie C, and I guess that is the connection to Ice T, who guest raps on the opening track. Third, I think the album was recorded in roughly a week and doesn’t really sound finished. Rather, it sounds like a demo sonically and song-wise, with all the filler songs that don’t normally make it to a released album.
Powell, normally a thunderous drummer, is reduced here to a dry hollow whollop thanks to Ernie C’s crummy production. It’s too bad because Cozy is playing some serious awesome drums that you can’t hear properly. The entire album suffers, the vocals sound raw and rushed, and the songs smack of second rate tunage. Granted, everybody knows that Iommi has bags and bags of tapes full of riffs, and some of these riffs are great. However, a riff cannot make a song, and without decent vocal hooks, this Sabbath album is as flat as they come.
It is truly a shame that Tony Martin had to go out with this as his final Sabbath album, after years of loyalty and being dumped twice! I saw them on this tour, and they were great. Shame they were supporting a terrible album.
Highlights:
“Can’t Get Close Enough” is close indeed to being a great song, but not quite. It has a great mellow intro and then this incredible distorted riff kicks in, but the vocal track is slightly underwhelming.
“Kiss of Death” is the closing epic, and best song on the album. Cozy’s drum rolls are like the thunder of Valhalla by the time you get to the choruses and outro. The song reaks of anger and betrayal. “Nothing you can do will hurt me, I am indestructible,” sings Martin over a slow, powerful riff. Wonder if he knew the writing was on the wall as far as his tenure in the band went.
And that’s it. “Rusty Angels” and “Forbidden” have great riffs but are otherwise not noteworthy. “I Won’t Cry For You” had potential as a ballad, but is inferior in every way to similar songs like “Feels Good To Me”, for example. This album is so dead, so lifeless, not even the grim reaper on the cover can be bothered to stand up.
I know some critisized the cover of this album as being too cartoony, but once you open it up and get the full picture, it is much better. The reaper is sitting next to a tomb, and out from the tomb are the ghosts of all five Sabbath members, Ice T, Ernie C, and lots of ghouls and goblins, done in MAD Magazine type charicatures. It’s a rare fun cover from a band that usually takes its doomy image far too seriously.
Shame that the album isn’t as fun. In the 15 years (and counting) since I bought it, I can usually count on it as a sleeping aid. It’s just that boring.
1/5 stars
OF NOTE: Japanese version had a bonus track, a short 2 minute song called “Loser Gets It All”. It is, sadly, the best track on the album. The good news is that you can get it on a compilation album called The Sabbath Stones if you can’t find the Japanese version.
Side one
1. “The Illusion of Power”
2. “Get a Grip”
3. “Can’t Get Close Enough”
4. “Shaking Off the Chains”
5. “I Won’t Cry for You”
Side two
6. “Guilty as Hell”
7. “Sick and Tired”
8. “Rusty Angels”
9. “Forbidden”
10. “Kiss of Death”
Dokken have never surpassed Back For The Attack, although they certainly have tried hard. This album is the pinnacle of Dokken. (No laughing!) No ballads! “Heaven Sent” is as close as we get. 13 songs, one being a George Lynch instrumental (pure smoke!), this album is packed full of great tunes and performances. Think about that — 13 songs, in 1987. That was overachieving, big time. Overkill!
One could argue that you only need one Dokken album proper, and I would argue that it’s Back For The Attack. Never had the band been so heavy or focused. Turns out they were falling apart at the seams, but at the time they were “Burning Like A Flame” up the charts indeed.
It’s a heavy regal hard rock sound, with oodles of smokin’ Furious George guitar as only he can play it. Not to be outdone are Jeff Pilson on bass and backing vocals (the vocals being a critical component of early Dokken) and “Wild” Mick Brown destroying his kit, cymbal by cymbal!
Highlights:
The heavy angry groove of “Kiss Of Death”, Don at his screaming (!) best
“Burning Like A Flame”, the melodic but not-wimpy single
“Mr. Scary”, George’s ferocious solo piece
and of course the hit single “Dream Warriors” which everybody knows.
Even the cover art is the classiest thing this band has done, and totally representative of the music inside.
5/5 stars! ( I only wish the track “Back For the Attack” was included! Get it on the “Dream Warriors” single instead.)
Disclaimer: I know nothing of the writings of William Blake. Curious because of this album, I decided to take a crack at them. I did not get far!
Suffice to say The Chemical Wedding is a swirling Blake-inspired non-concept album, a distinct up-ratchet from the excellent Accident of Birth. Upon hearing The Chemical Wedding, I said, “Well that’s it — Bruce has buried Iron Maiden, and his own back catalogue too!”
Seriously heavy, much heavier than anything Bruce has done before or since, The Chemical Wedding is an absolute triumph. The lineup remains the same: Bruce and Roy Z with Adrian Smith, Eddie Casillas, and David Ingraham. With a little bit ‘o narration from Bruce’s hero Arthur Brown (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown). The lyrics range from alchemy to the legend that Christ once went to England during his missing years, it’s a spellbinding listen, as long as you don’t hurt your neck from all the headbanging you’re going to do.
I had one customer who was a Christian. He asked me what was good in new metal, so I put The Chemical Wedding on for him. He ripped the headphones from his ears — couldn’t stand the lyrics! He told me they were “too demonic”, particularly the lead single “The Killing Floor”:
Satan has left his killing floor
Satan – hellfires burn no more
Although there is also a line about “Panzer divisions burning in the mud” so to me this is another commentary on the evil present in the world.
Going through the album track by track would get monotonous. So choose from the adjectives below: “fast”, “powerful”, “scorching”, “heavy”, “grinding”, “wailing”, “throbbing”, “headache-inducing” for the various songs.
There are numerous highlights, but my two favourites are:
“The Tower” – this one has a unstoppable pulse thanks to Eddie Casillas, and is one of the more melodic songs on the album while retaining its heaviness.
“Book of Thel” – with velocity comes the album epic, this one picks up where “Darkside of Aquarius” left off from the last album. I don’t know what a book of Thel is, but judging by the heavy evilness coming from my speakers, maybe I don’t wanna know!
Not to be outdone are the scorching opening “King in Crimson” (does not seem to be about a Stephen King character!) and the melodic Maiden-esque Japanese bonus track “Return of the King”.
The single for “The Killing Floor” had two unique B-sides, “Real World” and “Confeos”, neither of which are as strong as anything on the album. These songs plus “Return of the King” have been collected on the Bruce Dickinson deluxe editions.
When Accident of Birth came out in 1997, I said, “This is incredible, Bruce is back and better than Maiden are. How the hell is he doing to top this one?” Unlike previous solo albums, Bruce didn’t do a complete 180 and change direction. Instead he simply added more fuel to the fire and created one of the best albums of his entire career, one he should be very proud of.
But again, I had to ask the same question, “How the hell does he top The Chemical Wedding“? I couldn’t see him turning up the gas any hotter without foraging into thrash metal territory, or losing what melody he still had. Luckily, fate intervened.
It turns out that Iron Maiden themselves were looking for another new singer. And Bruce was looking to finish his career off doing arenas, not clubs. A phone call was made….
5/5 stars
…And it is here that we shall pause again. Stay tuned for more Maiden in the days to come.
A lot of Rock-haters (people who hate Metallica’s output from 1991-2003) have no idea that the man is quite the musician himself. Canadians remember the Payola$ and Rock & Hyde, but then there was Rockhead. Bob Rock found a great Canadian punk rock vocalist named Steve Jack, who as it turns out, was also a great screamer. Some of the screams on this album are unreal — check out “Bed Of Roses”, “Heartland”, and “Chelsea Rose” for some awesome vocals. Face it, Canada has some great screamers (James LaBrie, Gerald McGhee, Sebastian Bach!) but Steve Jack was a contender.
This album was born during the the difficult Motley Crue sessions (not to mention a Bon Jovi album), while Bob was going through a divorce. This comes out in the song “Warchild”. In fact it ACTUALLY comes out during that song: Bob can be heard yelling and throwing stuff around the studio at one point, which he recorded after a painful phone call.
I don’t find there is a weak track on this album, and plenty of Bob’s buddies show up. Art Bergmann, Billy Duffy, Paul Hyde, Jon Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora all contribute songwriting skills. Duffy and Sambora also contribute solos. From the screamy Aerorock of “Bed of Roses” to the metal of “Heartland” to the acoustic Zeppelinesque “Angelfire”, every single track is worth a listen. It’s a diverse album actually, running the gamut from light to dark and embracing different sides of rock. Boozy, bluesy, epic, acoustic, you name it. Its roots are firmly planted in the 1970’s, but if this had come out in 1989, it could have spawned 5 singles.
Sonically if you like Bob Rock, you will like this. It’s right in the ballpark of that Motley Crue/Keep the Faith sound he had going on during that period. Big big drums, layers of guitars, a lil’ bit of keyboards here and there, but mostly, lots and lots and lots of guitars.
It is hard to believe that this monumental album, a piece of rock history, was only issued on CD in Japan! Finding a domestic LP or cassette isn’t hard (I’ve owned it on all three formats including CD) so hunt your record shops. I know Wendy Dio has a CD/DVD reissue lined up, hopefully including the full album, single edit, and the video and interviews. If you’re reading this Wendy…
At the time, all funds went to starving people in Africa, hence the name Hear N’ Aid. The inspiration was something fairly obvious: No heavy metal people outside of Geddy Lee was involved in the numerous famine relief projects of the time! (Geddy sang a lead on the excellent “Tears Are Not Enough” (1985) by Northern Lights, but nobody metal could be seen in “Do They Know It’s Christmas” or “We Are the World”.)
“Oh, you knoooow that we’ll be there!”
Showing the world that heavy metal bands and fans aren’t a bunch of assholes, Jimmy Bain and Vivian Campbell of Dio came up with the concept for Hear N’ Aid.
The main track, “Stars”, by Hear N’ Aid is a tour-de-force. Written by Bain, Campbell and Dio, this is essentially an epic extended track with a soft intro and heavy verses, and tons of guests. They assembled virtually every major metal singer who was willing and available to take part. That means you will hear Quiet Riot singers Kevin DuBrow and Paul Shortino (still with Ruff Cutt at the time) singing together for the first and only time in history! Rob Halford, Don Dokken, Eric Bloom, Geoff Tate, Dave Meniketti, and Dio himself all take lead vocal slots too.
When the guitar solo kicks in, prepared to be blown away. With Iron Maiden guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith playing backing harmonies, you will hear the monstrous talents of George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Neal Schon, Buck Dharma, Carloz Cavazo, Brad Gillis and Eddie Ojeda all taking a few bars. No charity track had ever attempted to assemble not just singers, but guitar players, on one track before.
All this is backed by drummers, bassists and keyboard players from Dio and Quiet Riot. There are more backing singers than I can name, but most notably, Derek Smalls and David St. Hubbins from Spinal Tap. Of course.
The rest of the album is filled out by songs donated by bands who couldn’t take part in the song, but still wanted to help the starvation situation in Africa. Therefore you will get a live “Heaven’s On Fire” from Kiss, from their Animalize Live Uncensored home video. This is the only place that the audio track was released on. There is an unreleased live “Distant Early Warning” by Rush, and rare ones by Scorpions and Accept as well.
Tracklist:
1.Hear ‘n Aid – “Stars”
2.Accept – “Up to the Limit” (live)
3.Motörhead – “On the Road” (live)
4.Rush – “Distant Early Warning” (live)
5.Kiss – “Heaven’s on Fire” (live)
6.Jimi Hendrix – “Can You See Me”
7.Dio – “Hungry for Heaven” (live)
8.Y&T – “Go for the Throat”
9.Scorpions – “The Zoo” (live)
For the first time in a long time, there was this vibe of, “new Maiden? Meh.”
I recall seeing this listed in our distributor’s catalogue and ordering one for myself. We didn’t even order it in for the store. Think about that! The catalog had the title listed as Vartual Xi, which made me wonder what the hell I was buying.
Virtual XI is the 11’th studio album by Iron Maiden. It is the second with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals and second to be co-produced by Nigel Green. It is also the second to feature cover art by Melvyn Grant, this time an improvement on his Fear of the Dark work (but only barely).
You’ll notice the Iron Maiden logo was changed — the jagged bits lopped off! It is this logo that Maiden used almost exclusively going forward. I prefer the original.
I was living with T-Rev when the album came out, early ’98, and both of us were heavily into the Nintendo 64 classic Goldeneye. One Saturday night when he was out working his second job at the Waterloo Inn, I stayed home with Virtual XI, Goldeneye, and enough junk food to last the weekend. I was set. And my feelings on Virtual XI largely go back to that night and the great fun it was to play the Statue Park level whilst rocking out to “When Two Worlds Collide”.
As highly as I rate the two Blaze albums, I will be the first to admit that he was the wrong singer for this band. His voice lacks the range. As I argued in my review for The X Factor, I think Blaze’s voice suited the mid-90’s and the darker tones that Maiden were taking. I remember cranking Best of the Beast in my store, Dickinson wailing away, and two kids laughing. Context is important! In the 90’s, tastes had drifted and so had Maiden. And don’t lie to me — you owned one of these five albums: Ten, Nevermind, Superunknown, Purple or Dirt. I know you did!
I personally enjoy the dreadfully-titled Virtual XI. I bet Steve Harris wishes he could take that title back. It is not as strong as the powerfully dark X Factor album. This is Iron Maiden trying to relax a little more, be more comfortable in their new sound, and trying to lighten up a bit after an entire album of dark thoughts and suicidal tendencies. Witness “The Angel And The Gambler” which is as close to a good-time rocker as Iron Maiden get. Its problem (and the problem with a few songs on the album) is length: At 10 minutes, it’s not an epic, it’s too repetitive. I could also do without Steve’s boppy keyboard line.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The album kicks off with “Futureal”, a short fast rocker akin to “Man On The Edge” or “Be Quick Or Be Dead”, but with plenty of melody to spare. Harris wrote this one with Blaze.
Up next is “The Angel And the Gambler” which I guess Steve was hoping would sound like 70’s UFO or something like that. A classic Davey guitar solo keeps it in Maiden territory. It had a good video, very Star Wars cantina, funny with dated CG! The video however doesn’t do much to make Blaze Bayley’s case as a frontman.
Then, back to the darkness that marked the last album. “Lightning Strikes Twice” is a decent song with quiet verses and a powerful chorus. It takes a while to build unfortunately, since it’s only 5 minutes long.
Side one ended with “The Clansman”, continuing the Maiden tradition of basing songs on movies and historical events! This was the epic of the album, and one that they performed into the Dance of Death tour. You’ll be chanting, “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” by the end. This one sounds very traditional Iron Maiden, especially the fast parts.
Side two kicked off with a personal favourite, “When Two Worlds Collide”. Here’s Maiden’s take on the whole Deep Impact/Armageddon thing:
Now I can’t believe its true
and I don’t know what to do
For the hundredth time
I check the declination
Now the fear starts to grow
even my computer shows
There are no errors in the calculations
Kinda cheesy, kinda nerdy-cool at the same time. Have you ever seen the word “declination” in a heavy metal lyric before? This is the first and only collaboration between Steve, Blaze and Dave Murray.
Another dark and moody one is up next, “The Educated Fool”, another one I like quite a bit due to its delicate guitars. At this point Maiden were no longer trying to simply assault you aurally, now they were introduced in a smoother sounding guitar sound. But the song does kick in soon. There’s a line reflecting some of Steve’s personal inner pain, “I want to see my father beyond.”
This is followed by “Don’t Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger”. These songs are good tunes, but by this time we’ve already had several dark and moody ones with repeated choruses. The repetition was getting a bit much. Even the previous song, “The Educated Fool” suffers from repetitive chorus syndrome.
Last up is the closer “Como Estais Amigos”, translated as “How are you my friends”. It was written by Blaze and Janick. This one has an epic vibe to it as well, with its anthemic chorus of “No more tears, no more tears. If we live for a hundred years, amigo no more tears.” It is as if Maiden are saying, “We have been through some rough patches but better times are up ahead.” And yes, Maiden really did go through rough times, Steve Harris in particular.
And that is it, a mere 8 songs. Brevity this time unlike the previous two albums. No B-sides were recorded, either. The only B-sides were live. Let’s have a look at ’em!
“The Angel And the Gambler” was released in two parts, one with cover art by Derek Riggs, one from the forthcoming new Maiden video game, Ed Hunter. They wisely included a single edit on the second one. The B-sides were live takes of “Blood On the World’s Hands” and “The Aftermath”, which if you recall are two of the songs I ranked poorly on The X Factor.
“Futureal” was the second single, with more Ed Hunter cover art. Inside, a poster featuring Derek Riggs’ far superior artwork. The live tracks were were “Man On the Edge” (another one I’m not fond of) and “The Evil That Men Do”, from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son! This is one of the few official versions available of Blaze doing a Bruce song. My take? His “Come on! Come on! Come on!” intro fails to inspire me, but the band is playing it fast and great. Vocally this one is well suited to Blaze’s voice. He does an excellent job. (He does screw up the lyrics in the same place that Bruce used to, too!) It was recorded in 1995, which makes sense. Everything I’ve heard from that tour sounds great. Everything I’ve heard from the Virtual XI tour, however…
I think after this album the vibe was generally one of “Who cares what Maiden do next?” I still would have loyally bought it. I had just given up on the idea of Maiden being a huge band that mattered again. I didn’t expect albums that would impact me the way that Piece of Mind or Powerslave or even The X Factor did. Maiden seemed to be coasting, at a time that Bruce Dickinson was forging forward with superior solo albums. In general though, it seemed metal was done, Maiden pretty much with it, and all that was left were unremarkable studio albums and tours.
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