Originally Posted by uncle salty

Yea, I love Maiden, but I'm not blindly loyal enough to think everything they do in masterful.

I agree with you about the interminably long intros & outros. On Final Frontier, that whole Satellite 15 thing could be completely erased, When The Wild Wind Blows & The Man Who Would Be King would be better served stripped down to 1/2 their length.

In fact, the 2nd half of the album's songs are bloated, indulgent affairs that a casual listener would easily be turned off by.

Heck, I'm a hardcore fan, and those cuts rarely, if ever, make it on to any Maiden playlists on my Ipod. (I change them up every so often)

Also, being a diehard, I probably give new stuff more of a chance to absorb than the passing listener.

I am really loving Book Of Souls. but it didn't start catching until the 3rd-4th listen. Now, 6 of the first 7 cuts are ones I really like, but, like The Final Frontier, the second half loses any kind of momentum the first half brings.

Dickinson on piano for the 18 minute 'Empire Of The Clouds?' Wow, talk about your ego-driven offal.

Anyhow, regardless of any of that, you gotta give this band some credit. 38 years since their first album, and they're still doing world tours.

And I don't mean club dates. These cats are selling out arenas and stadiums.