I agree 100%.FinalBaton wrote:From the 1st LP all the way up to Seventh Son is all classic, great records.
However, my judgement of No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark is much harsher than yours. Both are largely poor records. Fear has some redeeming features due to the magnificence of its title track, the equally great Afraid to Shoot Strangers and the only slightly less excellent Be Quick or Be Dead. No Prayer has nothing of comparable quality. Even its standout tracks Tailgunner and Mother Russia are just above average compared to the rest of Maiden's works. In fact, I think No Prayer might be my least favourite Maiden record.
Questionable vocal performance aside, I actually quite like The X-Factor. I think the turn to less catchy and more experimental songs was needed at the time to get the band out of the creative cul-de-sac it had maneuvered itself into. Virtual Eleven, though, is indeed rather poor, comparable to No Prayer. (Futureal is the only decent song on it, IMO.)
I never really got into any of the later albums. I thought Brave New World was okay-ish. Nothing wrong with it, nothing exceptional about it either. I keep hearing good things about Book of Souls, but haven't really given it a good listening yet.
Absolutely. I remember that Blind Guardian making a bunch of Moorcock-inspired songs were what made me read a couple of his books as a teenager, but somehow those books didn't really do anything for me.vol.2 wrote:I'm sure there are many smaller bands that have been influenced by them in some way or another. There's usually at least one fantasy head in traditional metal bands.