This thread is to discuss all those albums that, in your opinion start so strongly (i.e. the first few tracks), and then the rest of the album just fades away. All that potential, gone in a puff of smoke!

To get the ball rolling:

Soilwork - Sworn To A Great Divide
For me, the first three tracks on this album are killer! So melodic and heavy, and then from track 4 onwards, the wheels just seem to fall off!

DevilDriver - The Last Kind Words
Again, first few tracks are killer. "Clouds Over California" is one of the best aggressive metal songs I own. But alas, it all turns to poop shortly there after.

In Flames - Come Clarity

Rammstein - Rosenrot
Starts off with two great songs "Benzin" & "Mann Gegen Mann" Followed by 2 okay songs "Rosenrot" & "Spring" But the rest is sadly, pure medicore.. Except "Te Quiero Puta"

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me
After hearing "I Don't Wanna Be Me" i sat my hopes high, for the rest of this record.. But sadly the rest of the album just disappoint..

Iron Maiden Piece of Mind First five songs rocks but the rest feels like fillers except the lst track starts to grow on me

Dark Passion Play by Nightwish is a very good example. It opens with what is arguably the greatest symphonic metal song of all time and then throws three mediocre songs in your face, of which Bye Bye Beautiful is especially boring. The album does pick up and delivers some damn good tracks such as MPG, Sahara and The Islander later, but nothing comes close to the opening.

Accept - Blood of the Nations. starts off with some of the best traditional heavy metal i've ever heard in my life(first 4 tracks), then goes down to just being really awesome

Written by arwestromen on 23.02.2011 at 17:38

Iron Maiden Piece of Mind First five songs rocks but the rest feels like fillers except the lst track starts to grow on me

I kinda agree. "Piece Of Mind" is my least favorite Maiden album of the 80s (with Dickinson on vocals).

I think that is the case with most of their classic albums, they all have some filler on them IMO.

Written by @gent_-_orange on 24.02.2011 at 01:46

I think that is the case with most of their classic albums, they all have some filler on them IMO.

Some people think like that. While I think it is true for POM, I don't think TNOTB, Powerslave, SIT and SSOASS have any real filler.
And I think their albums after SSOASS have almost only filler songs. But I'm one of those who draw a strict line between post-SSOASS and the albums released until that point. For me, there's no middle ground: 80s Maiden was great, they reached their peak with SSOASS, and turned to shit after.

Written by RavenKing on 24.02.2011 at 02:57

Written by @gent_-_orange on 24.02.2011 at 01:46

I think that is the case with most of their classic albums, they all have some filler on them IMO.

Some people think like that. While I think it is true for POM, I don't think TNOTB, Powerslave, SIT and SSOASS have any real filler.
And I think their albums after SSOASS have almost only filler songs. But I'm one of those who draw a strict line between post-SSOASS and the albums released until that point. For me, there's no middle ground: 80s Maiden was great, they reached their peak with SSOASS, and turned to shit after.

80's Maiden is definitley great and i agree that they went severely downhill after seventh son, but i disagree that the above mentioned albums have no filler... with TNOTB i think that the only real filler song is gangland, For Powerslave i would say that The Duellists and Back in the Village are decent songs but are lacking when compared to the rest of the album. As for SIT i thought The lonliness of the long distance runner and Heaven can wait were really not that good (Just goes to show how much opinions can differ). Seventh son is the best album with Dickinson IMO but i think there overall best album is either down to the S/T or Killers (Dont think many will agree) .... to each his own though.

Manowar - Gods of War.

This album starts pretty good. Sleipner, Loki: God of Fire and Blood Brothers are Highlights. After that the albun starts to fade away.
It's been a while i don't listen to this record, i'm not much into the lastest manowar materials, i stick to the old stuff (Except Triumph of steel, wich is less than average), so i can't really say it gets that weak, but what can i remember is that... Starts good, ends average. Rating: 5/10 (It's not a very low rating to manowar. Maximum i give to them is 8.5 or 9 for Into Glory Ride and Louder Than Hell)

Virgin Steele - Visions of Eden

I love this band. But Visions of Eden starts with a pretty kicking ass/obscure (with a melodic/melancholy chorus) track. The next 3 or 4 tracks are really good. There a average track, then a beutyful ballad that is God Above God. Them it starts to get weaker and weaker. A great starting masterpiece that fades to dust. Rating: 7/10 (it's a very low rating to VS)

Can't remember much more now.

About The Maiden Stuff... I Think Somewhere/Seventh Son/X-Factor are the albuns that have NO fillers.
Piece of Mind have some songs that's not that good, like sun and steel (despite the good intention on the idea of lyrics, it failed) and Quest for fire. I can't hear The Trooper anymore. It's been played for so long by maiden cover bands in my town, that i started to get frustrated just to think of this song.
The Number of the Beast has two tracks i can't listen... GAngland and Run To The Hills (yes, i'm not lying or using drugs). Although i like Gangland best (I'm not on drugs!) Invaders are a pretty generic tune too, for maiden at least.
IM have a bunch of good songs, don't say any is a filler. Killers have Purgatory, wich is a good song, but pretty generic.
No Prayer is a bunch of fillers. Only like a bit of Mother Russia. Maybe Holy Smoke or Bring your daughter.
Fear of the Dark has some catchy tunes, like Judas be my guide (the only big highlight of the album, for me), the title song (wich suffers for the same condiction that the trooper)...
Virtual XI has some good tunes, like "When two worlds collide", "Como estais amigos", "Futureal", "Educated Fool" and "Don't Look At the eyes..." but are not highlights or major tracks. The Clansman is a different felling in a sea of same. This song is great, one maiden's best, and better than SOTC (from x factor), wich is one song i love. Angel and the gambler is the most boring song i ever heard from maiden. If was like a ... 4 minute song, it would be ok. But the song has about 3 or 4 minutes of a chorus! And it gets repetead over and over again! It's very annoying.
Brave New world has good and great songs. Wicker man... Dream of mirrors... The nomad... brave new world... Then Thin Line... Some not that good... like: Out of silent planet or Ghost of the navigator... even blood brothers... But are still good. The MErcenary and fallen angel seens to be pretty generic songs.
Dance of Death has some major tracks. No more lies, panschandale, age of innocence, face in the sand, journeyman... Some strange songs as dance of death and rainmaker (but the first is a generic-maiden good strange song, the other is techno mix-maiden wannabe shit).. and some boring tunes, like a faded version of lord of the flies, wich is Gates of Tomorrow... a nice try of Nico in New frontier, but not that good, and the sadest (in the worst way i can say "sad") song maiden ever released...wich is Wildest Dream. My maiden's worst one EVER.

A matter... is a good album. Different worlds has a different chorus from the feel of the song... Wich is kind good.
The legacy, the longest day, for the greater good... out of the shadows are the other good ones. The others or start good and fade away, or are completely a drag. Brighter than a thousand suns is a good idea, but not that as good as a song.

The Last maiden album, Final Frontier is better than anything since Brave New world.
The first song is a major kick ass song... Nothing more to say about it! I'm tired of writing it...just say there are a bunch of good songs and i don't like that much mother of mercy, wich is still a good song. I think this album is to be honest, the better since x-factor. Better thant BNW.

Piece of mind agree

"Piece Of Mind" has only one song that Id class as filler, ("Quest For Fire") so I dont agree about that. I also dont think any of their other 80's albums with Bruce have any fillers on them. IMO "The Duellists" and "Back In The Village" are great, and very underrated Maiden tracks. I also like "Gangland", certainly too good in my eyes to be classed as filler.

Sun and steel= filler

Oh yeah and the horrible "Die with your boots" on. I couldn't believe they played that in concert when i saw them on the piece of mind tour. History has shown that it is one of their worst songs, yet they included it on their live album but never revisited it in the later years as a classic song

Written by RavenKing on 24.02.2011 at 02:57

Written by @gent_-_orange on 24.02.2011 at 01:46

I think that is the case with most of their classic albums, they all have some filler on them IMO.

Some people think like that. While I think it is true for POM, I don't think TNOTB, Powerslave, SIT and SSOASS have any real filler.
And I think their albums after SSOASS have almost only filler songs. But I'm one of those who draw a strict line between post-SSOASS and the albums released until that point. For me, there's no middle ground: 80s Maiden was great, they reached their peak with SSOASS, and turned to shit after.

I agree, with the exception of "Brave New World" which does have filler tracks towards the end but overall is exponentially better than anything they put out in the 90's with or without Dickinson.

Written by themetalvoice on 24.02.2011 at 21:03

Oh yeah and the horrible "Die with your boots" on. I couldn't believe they played that in concert when i saw them on the piece of mind tour. History has shown that it is one of their worst songs, yet they included it on their live album but never revisited it in the later years as a classic song

oo yeah bad song.

Written by themetalvoice on 24.02.2011 at 21:01

Sun and steel= filler

Not to me it's not. I actually think it would have made a great single.

POM had filler but the stand out tracks defined Maiden. Maiden will never right another song like Where eagles dare or Revelations. Having said that i thin Final Frontier is one of their best albums. All you have to do is eliminate a few fillers on it and you have a masterpiece

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.02.2011 at 21:31

Written by themetalvoice on 24.02.2011 at 21:03

Oh yeah and the horrible "Die with your boots" on. I couldn't believe they played that in concert when i saw them on the piece of mind tour. History has shown that it is one of their worst songs, yet they included it on their live album but never revisited it in the later years as a classic song

oo yeah bad song.

I think it's by far the worst song on the first part of the album. As for songs 6 to 9, I never liked them much.

Written by Angelic Storm on 24.02.2011 at 21:38

Written by themetalvoice on 24.02.2011 at 21:01

Sun and steel= filler

Not to me it's not. I actually think it would have made a great single.

Have to disagree there. Peice of Mind was a class album and all but i think it is brought down a bit by filler songs IMO its sun and steel, Die with your boots on and Quest for fire (The opening line of that song always makes me cringe) But with the case of all the 80's albums the good far outweighs the bad.... When Maiden are on they are most definitley on but i really dont think they have released an album that i would honestly say is perfect (with Dickinson).

Written by themetalvoice on 24.02.2011 at 21:45

POM had filler but the stand out tracks defined Maiden. Maiden will never right another song like Where eagles dare or Revelations.

Does anyone else here think Dickinson's vocals are quite bad on "Revelations"?
I mean, even when I was a huge Maiden fan in the 80s, I still thought that his vocals, especially in the beginning, are awful.
The song is good but vocals are strange.

Written by Angelic Storm on 24.02.2011 at 20:15

IMO "The Duellists" and "Back In The Village" are great, and very underrated Maiden tracks.

Agreed. I think those tracks are often seen as inferior because they have the misfortune of being featured on a great album.

Written by @gent_-_orange on 25.02.2011 at 01:30
Have to disagree there. Peice of Mind was a class album and all but i think it is brought down a bit by filler songs IMO its sun and steel, Die with your boots on and Quest for fire (The opening line of that song always makes me cringe) But with the case of all the 80's albums the good far outweighs the bad.... When Maiden are on they are most definitley on but i really dont think they have released an album that i would honestly say is perfect (with Dickinson).

For me, "Quest For Fire" is the only filler on the album. The lyrics (especially the opening line) and the way Bruce sings them makes it sound quite silly. lol But it's comic relief is the one saving grace about it. There once was a time when I also regarded "To Tame A Land" as filler. But in time, I came to appreciate it, and now I love the song.

I think every 80's Maiden album with Bruce (aside from POM) is flawless. As none of the tracks are filler to me. Maybe some are slightly less great than others, but all are at least good, and most are magnificent. To me, anyways. xD

@Ravenking: "Powerslave" is my fave Maiden album, and for me those 2 songs just carry on the great momentum supplied by the first 4 tracks. I don't feel they bring down the album at all, they enhance it. But I think they suffer, just like many other amazing, lesser appreciated 80's Maiden songs. Like "Only The Good Die Young", "Caught Somewhere In Time", and "Invaders". In my opinion, those songs are just as great as the more well known songs on their respesctive albums. They don't get the credit they deserve, but they are underrated classic Maiden songs for me.

Written by Angelic Storm on 25.02.2011 at 03:09
But I think they suffer, just like many other amazing, lesser appreciated 80's Maiden songs. Like "Only The Good Die Young", "Caught Somewhere In Time", and "Invaders". In my opinion, those songs are just as great as the more well known songs on their respesctive albums. They don't get the credit they deserve, but they are underrated classic Maiden songs for me.

As I consider all those songs immensely better than the crap Maiden are doing since the 90s, I think we kinda agree. Even the 'filler' songs of the 80s are infinitely better than any shit Maiden did after SSOASS.

There are a lot of albums that fit that description. First few songs are a killer, but the rest of the album is just painful to listen to.

Draconian Times from Paradise Lost springs to mind.

Written by Angelic Storm on 24.02.2011 at 21:38

Written by themetalvoice on 24.02.2011 at 21:01

Sun and steel= filler

Not to me it's not. I actually think it would have made a great single.

yup, it's only 3 minutes long and has a very fast pace(for Maiden anyway) and so it barely classifies as filler.

Written by Valentin B on 25.02.2011 at 11:20

Written by Angelic Storm on 24.02.2011 at 21:38

Written by themetalvoice on 24.02.2011 at 21:01

Sun and steel= filler

Not to me it's not. I actually think it would have made a great single.

yup, it's only 3 minutes long and has a very fast pace(for Maiden anyway) and so it barely classifies as filler.

filler= a boring, useless, pointless song, uninteresting compared to better songs

It has nothing to do with lenght and pace but with the song being interesting or not.
You can have very fast songs full of blastbeats that feel like fillers.
And you can have 15 minutes-long songs that never feel like fillers because of how great they are.

Written by RavenKing on 25.02.2011 at 13:57

filler= a boring, useless, pointless song, uninteresting compared to better songs

It has nothing to do with lenght and pace but with the song being interesting or not.
You can have very fast songs full of blastbeats that feel like fillers.
And you can have 15 minutes-long songs that never feel like fillers because of how great they are.

by my definition filler is a song that you "fill" album playing time with, so you can get to the normal 45-50 minutes that an album is supposed to have. Sun and Steel is only 3 minutes long and doesn't even feel that long. but anyway whatevah.

Written by Valentin B on 25.02.2011 at 14:01

Written by RavenKing on 25.02.2011 at 13:57

filler= a boring, useless, pointless song, uninteresting compared to better songs

It has nothing to do with lenght and pace but with the song being interesting or not.
You can have very fast songs full of blastbeats that feel like fillers.
And you can have 15 minutes-long songs that never feel like fillers because of how great they are.

by my definition filler is a song that you "fill" album playing time with, so you can get to the normal 45-50 minutes that an album is supposed to have.

I understand your reasoning but I don't think we can reduce the term to a simple matter of lenght and pace.

Filler songs are songs written by the band last second to complete an album. SOmetimes filler songs are the best songs and most memorable because they are written on the spot and have lots of vibe, like the song Paranoid which was written in a few hours. Other times filler are just filler verse chorus verse chorus solo chorus fade very generic and boring