mayhem

@Zarathustra: I invite you 1) to listen to it carefully before judging, and 2) not to be deceived by the "classicism" that automatically grants it "respectability." I am rather surprised that you consider a 3/5 a "barely passing grade," given that the 3 is meant to be just an objective judgment, certainly not a condemnation. To give less would be unworthy, to give more excessive: if I didn’t do this, I would have to give a 5 "like so many others" (and that is not the case).

I quote Stratos: "we fought hard battles by making songs like 'The Downing of the Zeppelin', which is nothing but the downfall of musical imperialism that always shoves the same songs, the same bands, the same kind of pop music down your throat, and which has really pissed us off, hasn’t it...?" And what were the "same bands"? Who could one think of (especially back then) when talking about a "Zeppelin"? I believe (I could be wrong) that Stratos is talking about what should have constituted - without really succeeding - the "other" music, rather than the always convenient target of "pop" (in the worst sense of the term). After all, he strongly criticized PFM, attributing them a significant temporal inadequacy (read: excessive kindness). The Area wanted to represent something different from the "stereotyped" rock bands of the time, which were (and are) certainly celebrated for good reason. The problem (if it's a problem) is that these latter offered nothing but the old stylistic clichés of blues, appropriately revised and corrected: the Area, on the other hand, as someone noted above, truly made a difference. Whether this is difficult to accept (as I deduce) for those who love both Stratos and Page is another story...

Beautiful review

Last thing: but is it true that "The Wicker Man" (wildest dream at this point...?!) would be the bad copy of an old piece by Judas Priest? Which one?

In my opinion, "Dance of Death" isn't that great: however, reading what you write, I've once again been convinced of how subjective listening to an album can be. In fact, the tracks you criticize the most are the ones I enjoyed the most (especially "Journeyman," which really represents something new for them, if you think about it). And above all, you note a "similarity" between "Fear of the Dark"/"No More Lies" and "Wicker Man"/"Wildest Dream," which for me is like saying we've listened to two different "Dance of Death" albums... I just want to point out that before I started getting to know the actually mediocre "Wildest Dream and company," I revisited with great pleasure "Powerslave" and "Number of the Beast," and I've concluded that they now sound sluggish, they don't know what else to invent, they've lost the sparkle of the past, and they're probably at the end of their journey. However, I don't particularly mind these "gentler" tones, especially since they already showed in "Brave New World" that they could change without "losing their essence." In the end, the rating for the album is rounded down (so I avoid coming across as a metalhead who loves all of Maiden's albums indiscriminately...!)

no really, I can't even write in rhyme anymore, I feel like I'm dying inside.

forgetful of the vote

and I thought I was one of the worst

At the "Provincial Festival of Commonplaces" called by Anonymus (who has forgotten the typical dish "questaNonE'MusicaCariRagazziE'Rumo re"), I don't intend to add too many words. I obviously agree with MaledettaPrimavera. What remains incomprehensible once again is how, in these cases, there are always people who arrive (apparently) from nowhere and desperately try to provoke without knowing, without listening, without understanding. But I won't speak anymore, enough with explanations, since - it seems - I love to shut myself away, to contemplate the dark nooks of the grove behind my house while listening to a din that makes no sense. All this, as is "obvious"(!), is in keeping with my dark and incomprehensible nature (and above all, anti-patriotic).

Wait a moment. Hundreds of philosophy books discuss nihilism. Hundreds of works by the most diverse artists (from Dylan to Deicide, to be clear) are "seasoned" with grim pessimism. Art has always been like this, brutal and violent because unconventional by nature, frightening because it leaves a mark, it leaves something for those who "enjoy" it. And macabre symbols—because that’s what it’s about, in the end—can take on different meanings depending on who is reading (let’s say, almost always!). And if we lack critical spirit (to connect to what aniel says), it makes no sense to continue the discussion: I don’t believe that just because I like "Antichrist Superstar" I think it’s time to call it quits. Not necessarily a text (a poem, a book) has to suggest, in a banal way, "what to do (in case of difficulties)," don't you think? Another example, the beauty of "horror" stories lies in their evocative nature, in triggering incredibly strong emotions (of course, it goes without saying, limited to those who can grasp these aspects and have the sensitivity for it), personally also in helping us forget the flat and mundane daily reality... about the inhuman character of this attitude, I believe it's a very, very subjective discourse (as you rightly point out).