On 05/03/2013 22:44, John M. wrote:
>
> my god awesome stories my friend. hey you got facebook? I have some
> photos up there when I was 18 and iron maiden signed most of my cds!!!
> hehe. best band in the world!!!
That's nice too!
> still cant play maiden tunes like I want to, but imo noone can. its
> not a matter of playing them, it’s a matter of how you play them .
> nicko groove is immense.
I practice on a few Maiden tracks, Trooper, 2 Minutes to Midnight. I was
decent at them on guitar but for drums I still have a lot of practice to do.
Nicko's advice to new drummers in an interview was to practice at least
one hour a day, every day. I saw you write you could practice up to 8
hours a day on the 2Box forum, I bet you're already a much better
drummer than I am!

It was my first instrument at about the same time
I found about Heavy Metal, but I couldn't play so I picked up guitar.
> haha it was a funny mistype but I do it often lol. I was also a big
> iron maiden bootleg collector, I have most cds up to 2000 they must be
> more than 1000 concerts in there lol!!!
I was collecting too but not as much. Picked up bootlegs of my favourite
bands whenever I could find them.
My favourite Maiden bootleg was New York Palladium 1982, bought this on
tape in Italy, in a small "everything at 1€" kind of shop. I'm sure you
know that show

Bootlegs could be found everywhere there, even in reputable record
stores. After 1994 it became harder to find them because of new laws...
most of them came from Italy because it was tolerated there.
Also got "Metal Years" on CD, very nice compilation of Soundhouse Tapes
+ other early recordings.
Other favourite is Paris Bercy 1999 for the return of Dickinson, the
second show of his return and first of his return in France. I was
there, the public was absolutely crazy and they played a perfect show.
Everyone in the audience was so happy it was a giant party...
> my god you parents are cool, mine told me that maiden were the satan lol
Maiden are not satanic at all that's the worst part about it, you should
find some interviews to show to your parents.
Yeah, very lucky about that. She liked bands like Deep Purple, Black
Sabbath, Led Zeppelin before I was born, so when I started listening to
music I made her rediscover Hard Rock and made her listen to Metal.
Do you have the original Maiden CDs, not remastered? I never liked the
1998 remasters and considered myself very lucky to have all the original
CDs.
But there's even better than the remasters or original CDs, there's the
Vinyls... I found about that recently, when done properly a vinyl sounds
every bit as clean as a CD, only with the original sound (original
mastering).
The thing with the original Maiden CDs is that they were released a long
time ago, when digital technology was not as good. Then the remasters
were over compressed and it wasn't the same sound at all.
Someone very well known for making perfect vinyl rips ripped all the
early Maiden albums from mint condition first pressings and I can tell
you, this is the perfect sound... The original CDs were not the original
sound of those albums (they sounded thin, no bass, no detail), and the
remasters were over compressed, with a different sound and no dynamics.
Every single of those albums on vinyl sounds better than all CD
editions. If you ever thought the Somewhere in Time CD sounded bad,
you'll be surprised how good the vinyl sounds in comparison. Killers
sounds just like the tape I had, not "thin", the CD sounds awful and
lifeless in comparison. The US vinyl of Powerslave sounds so good and
detailed, each guitar note is like a liquid drop of metallic happiness
(seriously).
The same guy also did the Metallica albums (another band that never
sounded right on CD), and a few Metal LPs I sent to him like the
Testament albums, first Helstar, Manilla Road, Liege Lord.
The sound chain is M or EX+ first pressing vinyl -> high end turntable
-> FLAC = the original sound of the album as it was intended.
I think you're in for a big surprise about how good Iron Maiden sounds
on vinyl compared to CD.
Those particular rips are made by someone who really knows how to do it
and has a great equipment, I think all his rips sound like proper CD
reissues that the record companies will never do. No cracks and pops at
all, a very clean sound just like a CD.
The first Maiden album I listened to was Killers. I bought the tape in
1990 I think, listened to it on my walkman on the way home and was blown
away... sure it sounded a bit dated but I never cared about that, the
music was so incredibly good...
A few years later I bought it on CD and it sounded clean but it wasn't
the same sound. Well, the vinyl sounds like the tape, the same sound I
remembered but clearer and with more detail!
I'm as happy when I listen to the vinyl rip as I was when I listened to
the tape. The CD sounds lifeless in comparison, while the original sound
was detailed and full of life and energy.
Those vinyl reissues you got probably sound better than the original and
remaster CDs. In my opinion it's not the vinyl that makes the sound, but
what's put on it. It's the mastering, and the fact that it's physically
impossible to over-compress sound for vinyl mastering so they are immune
to brickwalled (over compressed) mastering.
The thing with "from original master tape" is that the master tapes
could have aged badly. Then there's "cleaned up from original master
tapes" but it's just that, cleaned up.
With the original vinyls the sound is the closest possible to the master
tapes because they were made when those were brand new. Also, what
people heard when the album was released in not the master tapes, but a
mastered version of the master tapes to be pressed on vinyl. The master
tapes can sound a bit different from what was pressed so the only way to
get a perfect digital copy of the original sound is to transfer from the
final product which is the vinyl.
I'm glad you enjoy it as much as I do

Every instrument can be heard, there's "room", detail, and the dynamics
are much better. And there's bass, Steve Harris' bass sounds like a
bass, unlike the CDs.
I think those vinyl rips are the best kept secret in music... Most
people myself included have no idea the reason vinyl freaks praise it so
much is that it's not really the wax or the needle or anything magic,
but the sound that was pressed on those pieces of vinyl.
Most vinyl persons will praise it because it was organic, lifelike. But
the reason it sounds like that is that it was a good mastering, without
over compression, simple as that.
I spent years hoping to find the correct sound again for some albums by
buying remasters... The sad truth is that the first CD versions of those
albums sounded terrible and were not really the original sound, and to
make it worse each subsequent remaster was more and more compressed.
More bass, but less dynamics, and not the same "tone". They insist on
improving the sound, while it was already excellent to begin with.
AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Maiden, Metallica, all of those bands
never sounded right on CD so far.
Many of the original CD releases were made at a time when digital
technology was not as good as it is today. Often, for Metal CDs, the CD
was made by a relatively modest record company, with low budget, and
that was all that were were stuck for years before they release a
Remaster that is completely butchered and over compressed.
A good example is the first Exodus album, it sounds nothing like any CD
version you heard, the original sound was not exactly a perfect
mastering but it's so much better than what is on CD.