Ranking Iron Maiden albums

[jlighton]

So I'm bored, and I've been listening my way through Iron Maiden's discography over the last few days, so I decided to order them from worst to best

1. Virtual XI: No contest. In addition to all the flaws Iron Maiden sometimes show in their songwriting, and which are out in force in this album, there's just no energy. It feels like they're just going through the motions. The only song that really starts out appealing to me (The Angel and the Gambler) then proceeds to go on forever repeating the same couple of lines.
   
2. No Prayer for the Dying: Stylisticly simpler than the albums surrounding it, it feels like they were trying to recapture the feel of their early work, but it just doesn't click. A lot of the songs feel like retreads of older ones more than new songs working with familiar themes.
   
3. Iron Maiden: in reality, this is probably a worse album than No Prayer, but there's one major difference: it was their first, where No Prayer was their eighth. They really didn't hit their stride until Killers, but you can see the potential here.
   
4. A Matter of Life and Death: there's a noticeable jump in quality between #13 and this. I may not like what they're doing, but I couldn't argue much with somebody who did.
   
5. Dance of Death: This and A Matter… are very much of a piece, possibly more so than any other two Maiden albums. They're both very flawed, with lots of overlong songs, weak and repetetive choruses, and lyrics that don't quite work, but I like the songs on Dance of Death better.
   
6. Fear of the Dark: A noticeable stylistic shift after No Prayer, going more complex again, and experimenting with new directions some, and it works, but the songwritng is often not quite there.
   
7. Brave New World: A return to form after Virtual XI… sometimes. The flaws of A Matter of Dance of Death are all there to see, but not all songs display them. The Wicker Man could have easily come from their golden age, as could Out of the Silent Planet. Dream of Mirrors gets what they're aiming for in the albums if this era 100% right.
   
8. Killers: Maiden really started to click here. They're still fairly raw, but the songwriting is there in ways it really wasn't on their first album. Paul DiAnno is not the singer Bruce Dickinson is, nor is Clive Burr the drummer Nicko McBrain is, but that in no way makes them bad.
   
9. The Final Frontier: Strangely, I could easily see swapping the positions of this and Brave New World, but Killers would still be in between them. I suspect it may simply be here because it was such an improvement on the two in between them. Unlike BNW, it doesn't have any songs with as much of a throwback feel, but the newer-style material works better here. It's still got the same flaws that late Maiden has, but less so.
   
10. Number of the Beast: Yes, yes, it's a classic, containing a bunch of iconic Maiden songs. The problem is that the non-iconic songs aren't that good. I have the remaster, which includes a previously unreleased track from the era. It should have stayed on the cutting room floor.
    
11. Somewhere in Time: Stop listening after six tracks, and it probably moves up at least one slot, but Deja Vu isn't that great, and Alexander the Great is long, ponderous, and the lyrics are just summarizing a history book.
    
12. Piece of Mind: A lot like Number of the Beast, full of good and weak stuff. The good stuff is less iconic, but I like it better, especially the creepy sound of Still Life and Revelations. The bad stuff is just as bad, and Quest For Fire is truly bad, but there's less of it.
    
13. The X Factor: I'm sure this one would get lots of disagreement from all the Iron Maiden fans who aren't reading this, but this is a very strong album. If Bruce Dickinson had been the singer instead of Blaze Bayley, it would probably be rated higher, even by me. It follows up the direction of Fear of the Dark, with more cosistent writing and a darker tone. It took a couple of listens, but it grew on me.
    
14. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: This may be the most consistent Maiden album in terms of song quality, with only one track that doesn't grab me, and even that one (the title track) isn't bad. It's short on truly great songs, but comes close a lot.
    
15. Powerslave: Like NotB, it's full of iconic Maiden songs. Unlike NotB, the less iconic material is solid, or at least OK, and the high points are higher, with better songwriting. It was also where I was first introduced to the band, which may influence my opinions some, but I don't care.