Iron Maiden - Virtual XI - would it have fared better with Bruce?

[joey78]

I have being listening to this record for the last few days, trying to figure out why it did not succeed

On the surface it has all the makings of an epic record .

great opener in futureal . Angel and the Gambler is just epic to say the least. It is a shame they never played this live post BNW. It is right up there with Hallowed be thy name and Sign of the Cross.

Why did the record fail ? Would it have fared better if Bruce sang on it ?

Let’s not forget that Nomad, Dream of Mirrors, Mercenary and Blood brothers came from the Virtual XI sessions . I would have loved to hear the demos with Blaze

[Psychobolia.com]

The album cover scared me away: dudes playing soccer, some nerd kid with a VR headset walkman and the logo is neutered!

[HueyRamone]

I have being listening to this record for the last few days, trying to figure out why it did not succeed

On the surface it has all the makings of an epic record .

great opener in futureal . Angel and the Gambler is just epic to say the least. It is a shame they never played this live post BNW. It is right up there with Hallowed be thy name and Sign of the Cross.

Why did the record fail ? Would it have fared better if Bruce sang on it ?

Let’s not forget that Nomad, Dream of Mirrors, Mercenary and Blood brothers came from the Virtual XI sessions . I would have loved to hear the demos with Blaze

Whatever that song is where they say "Dont you think i'm a savior? Dont ya think I can save ya" is the worst atrocity in metal, and if you think its good, or that Bruce would have helped it, I question your judgement.

[FreddyFender]

I don't think there was anything less cool in the world in 1998 than Iron Maiden.

Singer would have made little difference. Might have sold a couple more tickets in England and Japan, but they'd be doing clubs in America all the same.

[joey78]

Whatever that song is where they say "Dont you think i'm a savior? Dont ya think I can save ya" is the worst atrocity in metal, and if you think its good, or that Bruce would have helped it, I question your judgement.

Angel and the Gambler is one of the strongest songs in the Maiden catalog . I agree it has a repetitive chorus line and it lasts 2 minutes longer than it should have . But there are many songs post BNW that suffer from the same repetitive chorus lines like No More Lies . But nobody complains cause it’s the original lineup .

[rockker]

A real producer to tighten things up probably would have helped more

[Spongie]

I don't think there was anything less cool in the world in 1998 than Iron Maiden.

Singer would have made little difference. Might have sold a couple more tickets in England and Japan, but they'd be doing clubs in America all the same.

I agree with this. The environment at the time was unfriendly at best.

But I do think Blaze’s voice sounds flat to my ears. Boring actually. Bruce’s vocals would have resulted in much better product. Still would’ve landed with a thud, but at least it would have been more enjoyable for the people who did buy it.

[Wednesday 13 Fan]

Definitely not. Fear of the Dark was terrible.

[inextrem]

"Virtual XI" is better than anything they released afterwards (minus BNW)

[kwf]

There's an edit of TAATG that cuts its length in half. It's still too long

[inextrem]

"Virtual XI" is better than anything they released afterwards (minus BNW)

Wildest Dreams skip
Rainmaker great
No More Lies needed an edit but it’s okay
Montségur great
Dance of Death pretty good
Gates of Tomorrow great
New Frontier great
Paschendale great
Face in the Sand pretty good
Age of Innocence ok
Journeyman great

"Dance of Death" is sort of meh, "AMOLAD" is ok, "TFF" is pretty weak, "TBOS" is listenable and "Senjutsu" is also meh...

If songs like "Fates Warning", "Judas be my guide" or "2 A.M." were released today in a new Maiden album, people would be creaming over them... while in the past they were merely deep cuts. That's how things are.

[Tommy2Tone84]

I like XF and VXI, I just don’t like Blaze. D’Anno did it better.

They should’ve hired someone else. My preference at the time was Ray Alder.

[jens]

Futureal is ok, the rest is dogshit.

[Zander]

The album closer, "Como Estais Amigos" is the best one here. So naturally, it's the only one they never played live.

The Angel and the Gambler sounded OKish on the single edit, but the album version is just laughable in all its repetitiousness.

Futureal is awful. Stupid five penny riff, which is more or less recycled from Infinite Dreams. The lyrics "What is real? - futureal" are some of the dumbest shit on a Maiden records, and there's no shortage of contenders on that category. Blaze struggles too keep up with the band, sounds out of breath - which he honestly admits already on the second line.

The Clansman just bores me and the rest of the album isn't much better. The intro to Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger sounds like the theme music of some ancient Commodore 64 game, which I just now can't remember.

[CrankerBait]

It might have done better with Bruce, but I don't think too many people were into Maiden anymore in the late-90s. Their return to arena and even stadium headliner status around the world in the last couple of decades has to represent one of the biggest, and ongoing, comebacks in rock history, at least as a live act.

[olivier]

No Paul Di anno no maiden

[joey78]

The album closer, "Como Estais Amigos" is the best one here. So naturally, it's the only one they never played live.

The Angel and the Gambler sounded OKish on the single edit, but the album version is just laughable in all its repetitiousness.

Futureal is awful. Stupid five penny riff, which is more or less recycled from Infinite Dreams. The lyrics "What is real? - futureal" are some of the dumbest shit on a Maiden records, and there's no shortage of contenders on that category. Blaze struggles too keep up with the band, sounds out of breath - which he honestly admits already on the second line.

The Clansman just bores me and the rest of the album isn't much better. The intro to Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger sounds like the theme music of some ancient Commodore 64 game, which I just now can't remember.

I don’t get why TAATG is critiqued for it’s repetitiveness when they did the same thing on the the albums that came after that

No more lies
For the greater good of god

The guitar solos on lightning strikes twice and when two worlds collide is just killer ,There are moments of brilliance all throughout the record

[Zander]

The album closer, "Como Estais Amigos" is the best one here. So naturally, it's the only one they never played live.

The Angel and the Gambler sounded OKish on the single edit, but the album version is just laughable in all its repetitiousness.

Futureal is awful. Stupid five penny riff, which is more or less recycled from Infinite Dreams. The lyrics "What is real? - futureal" are some of the dumbest shit on a Maiden records, and there's no shortage of contenders on that category. Blaze struggles too keep up with the band, sounds out of breath - which he honestly admits already on the second line.

The Clansman just bores me and the rest of the album isn't much better. The intro to Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger sounds like the theme music of some ancient Commodore 64 game, which I just now can't remember.

I don’t get why TAATG is critiqued for it’s repetitiveness when they did the same thing on the the albums that came after that

No more lies
For the greater good of god

I hate those two even more than The Angel and the Gambler... that might be because I never listen to the album version, only the edited one. Almost all of Steve's solo efforts in the 21st century are unbearable. When the Wild Wind Blows and The Red and the Black especially come to mind.

[Love_Industry]

It might have done better with Bruce, but I don't think too many people were into Maiden anymore in the late-90s. Their return to arena and even stadium headliner status around the world in the last couple of decades has to represent one of the biggest, and ongoing, comebacks in rock history, at least as a live act.

Yes their comeback was really impressive. With Blaze they were playing clubs in Sweden and in 2000, the year after Dickinson and Smith rejoined I saw them headline the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Priest also had a decent comeback but nowhere near that level of success and other arena bands who fell to that level (Accept, Dio, Saxon) never really made it back to arenas other than for a few shows here and there.

[joey78]

"Virtual XI" is better than anything they released afterwards (minus BNW)

I’ve had Virtual XI on repeat for the last few days and I agree it is definitely a solid record . I would be very interested to see what BNW would sound like with Blaze on vocals.

Are there any BMW demos with Blaze ?

[Maalsa]

I enjoy the album... Most songs are great. However, something about the production of Futureal levels sound off to me; thus a weird intro for the album but IMO recovers quickly. If Bruce sung this album and it was 1989 the album would be a celebrated classic in their catalog.

The Clansman was the best song they wrote in the 90's and one of my favorite IM songs of all time.

This may be cheesy but I love the song AND Braveheart is one of my all time favorite movies and may have inspired the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TISaDse0dYI

-Maalsa

[FreddyFender]

I realize people have different tastes, but I pulled up the record and listened to some of it today.

The songs are bad, the record sounds bad, and Blaze can barely sing the songs. They also have bone-dry vocals mixed wayyyyy too high. Could they not have at least double tracked some of the vocals? Done some harmonies? Some reverb at least???

I mean the vocals sound like they were tracked from an in-studio live session with no overdubs. It sounds like intentional self-sabotage.

Compare this junk with “Running Free.” Then difference in energy and effort is miles apart.

[inextrem]

"Virtual XI" is better than anything they released afterwards (minus BNW)

I’ve had Virtual XI on repeat for the last few days and I agree it is definitely a solid record . I would be very interested to see what BNW would sound like with Blaze on vocals.

Are there any BMW demos with Blaze ?

No that I know, but on Blaze's first solo album there are a couple of tracks that he wrote for what could have been his 3rd Maiden release.

[Zander]

He let it slip that he worked on a few BNW demos and got paid out for them. I think Dream of Mirrors was one.

The Nomad and The Mercenary were also VXI leftovers. You can easily imagine Bayley bellowing the latter one out of key.

[joey78]

See that’s why I think BNW is a bit overrated. Most of those songs wouldn’t be out of place as Blaze songs. The repeat repeat repeat choruses etc. The Mercenary and Dream of Mirrors are pretty shit, of course they kept them in the set and dropped Fallen Angel.

Oh boy , mercenary and dream of mirrors are 2 of my favorite songs on BNW.

I think the songs on BNW are far less repetitive than the albums after it .

[pieceofme]

I doubt it.

This album has a couple of good songs, but most of it is a bore. I doubt Bruce singing would make the songs better.

The Angel and the Gambler is one of the most repetitive songs I've ever heard. Which speaks volumes considering it is Iron maiden.