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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
10 Bitesized Maiden gems, 13 Nov 2001
What makes this Maiden album special is that all the songs are so short but packed full of great ideas. The title track and 'Mother Russia' sound like epics but they're both only about 5 minutes long. There are great hooky tracks like 'Holy Smoke', 'Bring Your Daughter...' and 'Hooks in You'(which has some intentionally hilarious lyrics) alongside growers like 'The Assassin' and 'Run Silent Run Deep'. It's a fun rock album played with great energy and enthusiasm. It's a very different but most welcome addition to the Maiden discography.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Below par, but not that bad, 29 Sep 2006
Certainly not one of their best, and i used to hate this album. But as time has gone on and i've listened to it more, i've grown to appreciate this album, and realise it's quite good. Just dissapointing by Maidens astronomically high standards.
Tailgunner is a great opener, followed by Holy Smoke which i love as it rightly slaughters the frauds that are TV preachers. The title track is OK , maybe ruined for me by Bruce's vocal performance on it. Hooks In You and Mother Russia are both very good too.
Believe it or not though, my favorite song on the album is The Assasin. I know alot of people think this is one of Maidens worst, and i would think so too if it was meant to be taken seriously, but it isn't!. Think about it, do you really think the guy who bought us gems such as Hallowed Be Thy Name, Aces High, Infinite Dreams and Alexander The Great meant it when he wrote this song? no, he meant it to be funny/lighthearted. So take it that way, and you'll appreciate it more.
The other songs pretty much do nothing for me. I know Bring Your Daughter.. was meant to be a novelty song too. I suppose it's its popularity that puts me off, and i can't help but feel its trying to be a little more serious than The Assasin.
If you're new to Iron Maiden, by no means buy this album first. Start with Powerslave, Seventh Son, Number Of The Beast or Dance Of Death. Get this once you've established yourself as a fan ;)
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Maiden's 10 Commandments, 18 Jul 2004
This 1990 release was a back-to-basics affair for Maiden, now well established as Heavy Metal royalty after 10 years of success. After the departure of guitarist Adrian Smith, the band were minus a key songwriter and it was uncertain if fans would welcome new guitarist Janick Gers with the enthusiasm they had for Smith, who had left to pursue a solo career. Another key thing about this album is that it was the follow-up to 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' - which was both a great album and the first and only concept album from the band. To top that album was going to take something special if not amazing and 'No Prayer for the Dying' does not quite manage to accomplish that difficult task. Despite this the album is very good and is fondly remembered as it spawned a number 1 U.K. single! In the lull following the Christmas singles chart the band very cunningly put out the albums 2nd single 'Bring Your Daughter...to the Slaughter' and it went straight to number 1. This was during an era when it was very rare for a single to go straight in at number 1 and most people were shocked by this Heavy Metal invasion. Following Maiden's cunning stunt it has become record company policy to release a songs straight after Christmas to get them high debut positions in the charts.Other highlights from this album are top 5 U.K. hit 'Holy Smoke' which attacks TV preachers and their pay to pray philosophy and 'Public Enema Number One' which was co-written by Dave Murray, helping to break the Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson song-writing monopoly. 'Hooks in You' is a tounge in cheek look at the world of bondage and contains a reference to a pervious Maiden song from 1982, '22 Acacia Avenue' but when I first heard it as a 17 year-old I just assumed it was a song about hooks! In 'Tail Gunner' and 'Run Silent Run Deep' we are in true Maiden territory - bomber planes and torpedoes. The big song at the end is 'Mother Russia' which explores the fate of the country during the first months as a democratic nation, urging its people to embrace freedom and remember what a fine nation it was before Communism. This album marked the 10th anniversary of the bands first release. And like all the previous albums and singles before it, there was minimal support or interest from the small, uneven playing field which is British radio. 9 months after Maiden topped the charts with no radio support a band named Nirvana would herald the advent of grunge and Heavy Metal would take a battering from people who grew up listening to it as teenagers! It would be 10 years before a Heavy Metal band hit number 1 again (Limp Bizkit) but Maiden survived this nuclear winter and are still entertaining the troops.
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