The last time I tried to listen to this album in one sitting, it felt like I was listening to an album I have heard hundreds of times. I knew excatly when Nicko was coming in, precisely when Steve Harris would cue in chord changes, and exactly when the lead breaks were coming (and what they would sound like). It's better than a lot of the late 80's-all 90's material, but you would think at some point, Harris might just want to write something just a little different. What made Maiden exciting for me in the early 80's was how fresh it sounded. You keep rubber-stamping the same album again and again, and the effect is lessened to the point where it no longer exists at all. I have no idea how many songs I got through because they all run together. Not bad, but not memorable.
At least it's better than the Tool album though, which most people I talk had already forgotten about
