OFF: Re: Dio, Maiden, etc.

[Carl Edlund Anderson]

On 10 Sep 2008, at 22:22 , Steve Swann wrote:
> Either way, what a hell of a comeback, huh?  I can hardly think of
> another band that, so many years into their career, actually got their
> shit in gear again and came out with 2 of their best albums decades
> after most people had written them off.
> So, I just listened to Paschandale again, to make sure I wasn't just
> overrating it from memory.  Holy shit, I'm totally not.  :)



Agreed!  Though let's not forget they've actually had _3_ studio  
albums since the return of Dickinson and Smith to the band: the first  
was _Brave New World_ (also quite good! "The Wicker Man" etc.),  
followed by DoD and them AMALAD.  So they really came out swinging,  
and haven't let down the side since.

Though I would not want to say that other albums from, ah, _older_  
artists :) that have not gotten the same commercial or critical  
attention are any less good.  tBS might have been playing grimy clubs  
instead of selling out giant stadiums, but I don't think _Denial of  
Death_ is any less good.  Likewise, the Iommi/Hughes _Fused_ album  
surely made barely a ripple in terms of sales figures, but a  
"reunion" studio album featuring the original Sabbath lineup would  
surely have contained very similar music indeed, though have surely  
attracted considerably more media attention and sales (in the event,  
there wasn't so much as a gig in support of it, let alone a tour!).   
Whether or not the upcoming Heaven & Hell (="Mob Rules" lineup) album  
is actually as good (though of course it could be as good or better),  
it will surely sell more copies in any case.  As with Imaginos, all  
the musical brilliance in the world can only help so much when one's  
market position is not good. :/

Maiden's post-reunion success in musical terms in all theirs, but the  
commercial angle is unquestionably aided by the fact that they have  
come out as a reunited (even augmented) _band_ and only spent the 90s  
and two albums without Smith and Dickinson ... well, I guess 3 albums  
without Smith.  (I don't think the real problem with the "Blaze" era  
was really Blaze -- I think the band was in many ways right to pick a  
different kind of singer with which to be going forward -- and think  
the problem was principally that they were missing two contributing  
songwriters, and Harris wasn't carrying that job all on his own.   
Harris is more prolific than Buck Dharma, but the dynamic there when  
too many other writers are absent seems similar.)

Likewise, in HW, with Brock slow to produce new songs these days and  
Alan (who contributed a fair percentage of the writing over the last  
few decades) out of the band, and Richard not _really_ a top drawer  
writer AFAICT, I am dubious about HW's capacity to produce new  
material (and then not process it into the ground in the studio! ;)).

Still, I do have real hopes that Maiden and H&H can produce yet more  
cool albums!

Cheers,
Carl

--
Carl Edlund Anderson
http://www.carlaz.com/