It's not just that Blaze is a god-awful singer (he is - I can count on one hand the number of songs where he doesn't flub a note), but the songs themselves just aren't good. Hell, the average Iron Maiden fan is going to pick up No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark before getting to the X albums, and, well, it's a sign of what's to come.
What's the best song on Somewhere in Time? Okay, I'll grant you, "Alexander the Great" is pretty awesome, but realistically, it's Adrian Smith's "Wasted Years." Best song on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is either "Can I Play With Madness" or "The Evil That Men Do," both of which were co-written by Smith. Without his contributions to No Prayer and Dark, you're left with "Fear of the Dark" itself. And even that creative spark seems to be gone on both Blaze albums. You've got "The Clansman" and that's about it. "Sign of the Cross" is decent (when you've got someone who can sing "Croooooooooooooooooooooooss" without being horribly flat), and Dickinson's decision to jump up an entire octave for the chorus of "Lord of the Flies" in this live version makes that song acceptable.
And that's all.
No comments:
Post a Comment