BEAST IN THE MAZE

      It's an exciting one this week on Beast in the Maze  as we discuss a one-of-a-kind album in Iron Maiden's 1988 concept album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son .  Based upon folk tales wherein the seventh son has special powers, the album takes on the theme of what happens to an innocent person when they're given power and fought over by both good and evil.     It also marks the completion of the sonic shift that Maiden began in their previous album, 1986's Somewhere in Time,  where they first began to toy with synth guitar. On Seventh Son,  Maiden brings actual keyboards into play - heresy, in the opinion of many metal fans - and they're not only present but often fairly front-and-center. Despite that though, the album contains some of the harder-hitting solos and musical sections of the Maiden catalogue up to that time.      This album represents Maiden at their most high-concept, progressive stage, just before the band gave ...

 Coming Monday on Beast in the Maze , we're taking on Iron Maiden's concept album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.  The last album with the "classic" Dickinson/Smith/Harris/McBrain/Murray lineup, it is sonically unique among Maiden albums, and to many, it represented a high-water mark in what Maiden could achieve.  Music aside, though, it also represents some of the greatest and most surreal work that artist Derek Riggs ever did for the band, envisioning floating Eddie heads and half-bodies against a blue icy background, as well as the "Magus Eddie" as he's later referred to in the Legacy of the Beast  game. He'd go on to do the art for the subsequent album No Prayer for the Dying , with an Eddie bursting from the grave, as well as a pretty cool "Tailgunner" Eddie, but the Seventh Son  stuff was truly unique. Here's some of the artwork (Note that Beast in the Maze  does not own the copyright for these images, which presumably belong to th...

 We're back in Phish territory this week, and we are focusing on their first official release, 1989's Junta . Originally released on cassette, it also clocks in as their longest studio effort to date. Join us as we discuss bad places for papercuts, how to say "Golgi" and what it is/does, and songs where the lyrics set one tone while the music sets an entirely different one. Some quick links for you -  Wikipedia article ,  YouTube playlist , and Brian's live pick, "Fluffhead" from March 6, 2009 . As always you can find the most recent episode of the podcast inte built-in player on this site, or on any major podcast platform. Enjoy!

    Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast! We've arrived at episode 5, the unrelenting force which is Iron Maiden's third album, the first to showcase legendary vocalist Bruce Dickinson. This is an exciting one for us, and we hope it will be for you, too. Last week we posted some links to help people get acquainted with this treasure of heavy metal, including a few live picks. We'll include links to those below, here, as well.      You can hear the episode on your favorite podcast platform (links are embedded in the menu area of this page), or right here on the built-in player. Feel free to join the conversation in the comments or via email, twitter, or facebook. Matt's live picks:  1.  Hallowed be Thy Name  from the Beast on the Road tour. This was recorded right around the time the album came out, and features the "Beast" lineup in full force. This song is the final track on the album and remains in contention for best Ir...

    If you ever owned The Number of the Beast on CD, it may or may not have contained the song "Total Eclipse." Even the recent digipak releases (pictured on the left above) exclude it. The story goes that it was competing with "Gangland" for which song would make the album and which song would be a B-side for one of the singles.      When the album was initially released, "Gangland" was chosen, and "Total Eclipse" was excluded. Since then, band members have expressed that perhaps they made the wrong choice, and it was added to some of the subsequent releases. In fact, while "Gangland" has never been performed live, there are performances of "Total Eclipse" to be found on the internet (such as this one ).     What do you think? Did Maiden make the right decision? Is the 8 song version better, or should they both be on there? Let us know!

Next week on Beast in the Maze,  we tackle one of the most revered and monolithic albums in the history of heavy metal - Iron Maiden's 1982 album The Number of the Beast.  The first Iron Maiden album to feature lead singer Bruce Dickinson, and the last to feature drummer Clive Burr, many consider this record to be Maiden's crowning achievement. If you've only heard one or two Iron Maiden songs, chances are they're songs from this record.  Here are a few quick links to familiarize yourself with the album before listening to our discussion of it: First, the Wikipedia article , which gives all the basic info including track list, singles, etc. Second, the album playlist on YouTube , which is self-explanatory. Finally, Matt's live pick, which is a performance of epic closing track " Hallowed be thy Name ," taken from the Beast on the Road tour. We hope you enjoy the listen, and look forward to seeing you Monday.

Hey everyone! There's no album discussion this week, but we wanted to stop by and address some things we feel we have left out or gotten wrong in the previous episodes. We talk a little bit more about peripheral Phish figure The Dude of Life, and do some general corrections about Iron Maiden, including identifying some songs which do  in fact contain cowbell. If there's anything we touch on that you'd like to hear us go more in-depth on, or if there's anything we've gotten wrong, please let us know - while we are each very enthusiastic fans, we aren't always experts, and part of the reason for the podcast was for us to learn more, so please don't hesitate!  The embedded player on this site will still have our Lawn Boy episode, but you can download the addendum episode on all of the various podcast platforms.