Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier out August 16

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News

[Stats]

Stats

[Bad_Bud]

El Dorado was way better live than as the recorded version...

The guitars are mixed too low.

[hERICtic]

El Dorado was way better live than as the recorded version...

The guitars are mixed too low.

The last two albums also had lousy production. Dance of Death was muddy and their last one was "stale".
They should fire Keven Shirley.

[Nosrac1691]

What's the difference? It all begins and ends with Steve Harris.

[hERICtic]

True, but maybe Harris needs a new perspective. Sad that their albums in the 80s have a better production than their last few.

[MetalCrypt]

Kevin Shirley's stuff always sounds flat and really hurts the songs.  BNW was alright, but what followed was atrocious.  I don't know why they stick with that guy, it's not like they'd have trouble finding an excellent producer who'd jump at the opportunity of working with them.

 Dew-Scented - Invocation

[Dragonchaser]

Kevin Shirley's stuff always sounds flat and really hurts the songs.  BNW was alright, but what followed was atrocious.  I don't know why they stick with that guy, it's not like they'd have trouble finding an excellent producer who'd jump at the opportunity of working with them.

Imagine if they recorded at Finnvox 

[hERICtic]

I get probably 10-12 cds a month. Most are bands with one or two albums out, not popular, limited funds. Yet their productions usually are fantastic. Then we have Maiden, been in this business for a long time. They have the money, the connections, the popularity.............and have albums that sounds terrible. There isnt any excuse for it.

Its not just their last two either. No Prayer for the Dying was muddy. Virtual 11 was too damn slick, poppy. Ironically, one of the other biggest metal bands of all time seems to have this production disease also. Metallica had better productions early in their career than later.

Its just bizarre.

[tbab]

Man, I must not have an ear for this crap. BNW and DoD sound basically the same to me in terms of production.

Maybe I'll go back and listen more intently...

[MetalMike]

I didn't find the sound of Dance of Death or Brave New World got in the way.  It was more that many of the songs just kind of sucked.  Of course, there are some standouts as well.  Then there's A Matter of Life and Death, bleh.

[Phoenix]

Really, I love the sound of AMOLAD - never found it flat at all, even from the first day I heard it. Dance of Death is the only one that sounds really iffy.

[Nosrac1691]

Really, I love the sound of AMOLAD - never found it flat at all, even from the first day I heard it. Dance of Death is the only one that sounds really iffy.

Completely agree.

[hERICtic]

Really, I love the sound of AMOLAD - never found it flat at all, even from the first day I heard it. Dance of Death is the only one that sounds really iffy.

Im curious. Do you think it has a better sound than Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, Fear of the Dark, Brave New World, just to name a few? Perhaps I'm just comparing it to whats in my collection overall, which seperates it from being a great sounding album. In other words, compared to lets say the latest Overkill, Nevermore, Gamma Ray, Masterplan, Charred Walls of the Damned, Brainstorm, Heathen, Paradox (some albums I recently bought, since I cannot remember four years back) AMOLAD just sounds flat. Not sharp at all. Stale is the word I like to use. But yeah, Dance is just muddy.

[Phoenix]

It doesn't have a better sound than Powerslave, SIT or BNW, I'll give you that. But it has a huge, enveloping sound that sucks me in when I'm in the mood for it.

[hERICtic]

I guess we just have different concepts of what sounds appealing sound wise. At least we are in agreement their earlier albums had a better production. Maybe its just the sound quality on my computer, but their latest track just sounded awful to me.

[Phoenix]

It's probably not as good as it will actually sound on the album.