Singles, classics, and the focus of set lists

. Lego already mentioned the SIASL thing, there are probably untold reasons for it not being played

On boots I have from the SIT they often messed up the pre-chorus to chorus section, i.e after the build up bruce would sing the chorus but it was actully the "what became of the men that started" part. Maybe they think they are too sloppy playing it?
 
I think this sums it up. Between 1/2 of the new album being played every tour, and a predictable selection of 'mandatory cuts' like IM, NOTB, Trooper , there isn't much real estate left for the band to introduce too many surprises.
Not true. Two months ago, I saw Midnight Oil, a band of about the same age and during this tour they did close to 90 different songs. Their sets were mostly 23 or 24 songs per concert (much shorter gigs at festivals though). Yes, their songs are shorter and many of them less intense to play, my point is especially that they want and are able to play so many different songs. They love it and the fans as well of course. Only 4 'mandatory cuts', the rest can be anything, every night.
Plus the band obviously loves set list stability and not introducing changes unless needed for pacing.... so we'll never get a Dream Theater or Pearl Jam style set list rotation every night.
Absolutely. But we can only guess why. They sure seem not motivated to (re-)learn (rehearse) enough material in order to put more variety in their setlists.
 
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Think the set-list stability is partly down to the fact that the light show is programmed in for a song, apparently takes a bit of effort to change ...
 
2. Twilight Zone
Another Paul song gone to the grave....
Bruce sang it on the Italian tour in October 1981 though.

Unfortunately, it would not surprise me in the least if the horrid Bring Your Daughter...To The Slaughter makes another return.
I never got the unpopularity of this song on this forum. I'd rather hear it more than most of what came after in IM's repertoire.

Atleast they do play the new songs for the respective tours.

I saw Ozzy on his Ozzmosis tour and he didn't play one track off the album!
Not even "Perry Mason"?
 
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Think the set-list stability is partly down to the fact that the light show is programmed in for a song, apparently takes a bit of effort to change ...
This approach is a free choice of (someone in) the band, or at least, imo it should be. The light show is not the boss itself.

To me, the light show issue sounds like a convenient reason (excuse) for not putting more effort in the musical side of the show.

I don't give a fuck about a light show of lesser "quality" if that would leave more room for variation on that side.

And why would it be more difficult? It doesn't have to be of lesser quality. Let the lightmen work harder. Let the band (and if needed the lightmen) put more time in rehearsing then. Sorry to be blunt (towards the band that is), but I am not a dumb idiot. It's all bullshit. It's fucking lazinessck of motivation.
 
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There have been to date (and due to the length of time not likely) any singles from the BOS.

Those claiming speed of light and empire were singles are incorrect. Empire was a record store day exclusive release and never officially announced as a single nor recognised as a single buy the charts in any country.

Same with speed of light it was a Best Buy exclusive I believe and never intended as a single just a teaser for the upcoming album.

You can't release something as a single and limit each release to just one store in one country like they did with SOL. Kinda the same with empire with only select stores having it. You couldn't even buy these online unless you were getting mugged by some dirty git who managed to get more than one copy and thought he'd fleece his fellow Maiden fans. I hate scalpers with a passion but that's another story lol
 
Not true. Two months ago, I saw Midnight Oil, a band of about the same age and during this tour they did close to 90 different songs. Their sets were mostly 23 or 24 songs per concert (much shorter gigs at festivals though). Yes, their songs are shorter and many of them less intense to play, my point is especially that they want and are able to play so many different songs. They love it and the fans as well of course. Only 4 'mandatory cuts', the rest can be anything, every night.

Absolutely. But we can only guess why. They sure seem not motivated to (re-)learn (rehearse) enough material in order to put more variety in their setlists.

That's awesome! 90 songs is unreal, My mind would be blown if Maiden did that.
 
As regards setlists, I think they tend to follow a kind of pattern, based on what they feel is "a good dynamic", taking their own physical/musical limitations into account at the same time. This is something I posted in the TBOS tour 1 a while ago, but I'm not sure it works so well for the second leg.
Let's compare the setlist of this album tour and that of the previous one (based on En Vivo but taking into account that it underwent changes from its original form) and relish on how methodically they are designed. ;)

1. Satellite 15 / The Final Frontier - 1. If Eternity Should Fail
2. El Dorado - 2. Speed of Light
In both cases, the openers of the album. The Necropolis bit tend to create a first pause - which the segue of "TFF" into "El Dorado" managed to avoid - but I think it is a question of equipment (tuning? I haven't checked yet).

3. 2 Minutes to Midnight - 3. Children of the Damned
4. The Talisman (!) - 4. Tears of a Clown
5. Coming Home
An oldie or classic, followed by the slower song from the new album. (!) Remember that "The Talisman" used to be between "TETMD" and "FOTD" when the tour started in Russia in February 2011)

6. Dance of Death - 5. The Red and the Black
The first big complex one.

7. The Trooper - 6. The Trooper
'Nuff said :D (a good way to inject some power and speed back into the show)

8. The Wicker Man - 7. Powerslave
9. Blood Brothers - 8. Death or Glory
10. When the Wild Wind Blows - 9. The Book of Souls
The "thick of it", in which the climax is represented by the long, complex song from the new album (or one of those, when there are several on the album, in this case "TRATB" and "TBOS" - "EOTC" not being eligible for live performance).

11. The Evil That Men Do - 10. Hallowed Be Thy Name
(11'. The Talisman - in the first dates of the tour)
A classic that more or less has the same dynamic and crowd-pleasing function as "The Trooper" but a bit longer and/or more complex.

12. Fear of the Dark - 11. Fear of the Dark
13. Iron Maiden - 12. Iron Maiden
The "mandadory" end sequence of any Iron Maiden set: it seems that, while "Iron Maiden" has always occupied this spot, "FOTD" - after being played in the late middle of the set when it was new in 1992/93 - has grown to accompany it "naturally" (like ZZ Top's "Jesus Just Left Chicago" with "Waiting for the Bus" - though in this case, it is more of a technical coincidence they have exploited). Can someone research for how long it has been at this spot? From memory, it must be since "the X Factour" (20 years...).

Encores
14. The Number of the Beast - 13. The Number of the Beast
Another "mandatory" one - with the first comers and classic-oriented members of the audience, but still a shoe-in to get the crowd pleased and excited. The only time it was put aside was in the first leg of the AMOLAD tour. I feel that this song is just "predictable" or "boring" on paper only, not when you are in the crowd.

15. Hallowed Be Thy Name - 14. Blood Brothers
16. Running Free - 15. Wasted Years
This part seems to be where Maiden has been the most original compared to the previous tour, even though each song can be labelled a 'classic' (even "BB" for a lot of Maiden fans - I for one still consider it a rather new song, but it is starting to change ;) ). The only analytical aspect I can make out of these for the moment is that there is one song which is about relatively 'passively' appreciating it ("HBTN", "Wasted Years") and another one which requires more crowd participation ("Running Free", "Blood Brothers"), and that this order has been reversed from one tour to another.

To conclude, this comparison shows how well thought-out Maiden setlists are in so far as they offer a mix of predictability and surprise, while taking into account at the same time the physical capacities of the musicians (see "The Talisman", displaced because it was too much for Bruce's voice at this moment of the concert).
 
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There have been to date (and due to the length of time not likely) any singles from the BOS.

Those claiming speed of light and empire were singles are incorrect. Empire was a record store day exclusive release and never officially announced as a single nor recognised as a single buy the charts in any country.

Same with speed of light it was a Best Buy exclusive I believe and never intended as a single just a teaser for the upcoming album.

You can't release something as a single and limit each release to just one store in one country like they did with SOL. Kinda the same with empire with only select stores having it. You couldn't even buy these online unless you were getting mugged by some dirty git who managed to get more than one copy and thought he'd fleece his fellow Maiden fans. I hate scalpers with a passion but that's another story lol

totally agreed.

In the same bracket, Lord of the Flies and Futureal where not properly released as singles either, nor anything off The Final Frontier.
 
In the same bracket, Lord of the Flies and Futureal where not properly released as singles either, nor anything off The Final Frontier.
"Lord of the Flies" was actually released as a single in 1996. It features the covers of "My Generation" and "Doctor, Doctor". I guess there was a physical release of "Futureal" too but I didn't buy it.
 
"Lord of the Flies" was actually released as a single in 1996. It features the covers of "My Generation" and "Doctor, Doctor". I guess there was a physical release of "Futureal" too but I didn't buy it.

I'd class them as "grey area" singles at best.

Lord of the Flies was only released as a cd in a couple of countries. It was never released in the UK nor was it released as vinyl + 2 cds, as had originally been intended when the Man on the Edge single was released with a collectors box.

Futureal was only available as mail order from the Fan Club.

EDIT: Wasting Love I would class as being similar as well
 
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Why do these semantics matter? Speed of Light and Final Frontier both had a video that was widely available. Lord of the Flies had a release (albeit limited). If any of these albums were to be promoted, the aforementioned songs would have been played. They were given prominent spots in ensuing tour(s). These are "singles."
 
Why do these semantics matter? Speed of Light and Final Frontier both had a video that was widely available. Lord of the Flies had a release (albeit limited). If any of these albums were to be promoted, the aforementioned songs would have been played. They were given prominent spots in ensuing tour(s). These are "singles."

It doesn't matter a huge deal. Certainly not anymore, but a proper chart release single used to be somewhat exiting back in the day. You'ld get to hear new b-sides, maybe Maiden would get a brief bit of exposure in the mainstream. There was a thread here a few weeks ago about Maiden on Top of the Pops, it was nice seeing a small bit of hype about Maiden in those days, and it gives a bit of gravitas to the tracks that did well in the charts.

The half arsed released tracks don't have that. It was embarassing that Maiden weren't able to release things like Lord of the Flies or Futureal properly. So they shouldn't be thought of as carrying the same sort of weight as Run to the Hills or Can I Play with Madness.
 
Maiden have such a huge catalouge of songs to pick from now, and they always have to play some of the classics and singles, and they don't seem to bother to rehearse other older album tracks.

People should know by now, that Maiden rarely have any surprises when it comes to setlists (the exception are A matter of life and death tour in 2006 and Journeyman in 2003/2004).

And I believe many 80's songs will never be played live again, after they were done in those history tours in 2005 and 2012-2014.
 
I'd class them as "grey area" singles at best.

Lord of the Flies was only released as a cd in a couple of countries. It was never released in the UK nor was it released as vinyl + 2 cds, as had originally been intended when the Man on the Edge single was released with a collectors box.

Futureal was only available as mail order from the Fan Club.

EDIT: Wasting Love I would class as being similar as well

Actually futureal was released as a single, in the uk at least. I have a copy amongst my collection and I remember distinctly walking into my local record shop one lunch time during work and seeing it amongst the new releases and buying a copy.

Now, my local record store back then was a small independent and I knew the owner quite well and he knew the sort of music I was buying and would often get hold of limited edition stuff or rare stuff just on a whim because he knew either me or one of my mates would buy it so he could have sourced the single from some here other than normal sources and it might not have been an official single but it certainly looks like one, packaged up as a proper cd single with proper b sides.

I vaguely remember being able to purchase the single through the fan club as well. Might dig out my old magazines but I remember it being advertised as being able to buy from the website I. One of the fan club magazines.
 
Actually futureal was released as a single, in the uk at least. I have a copy amongst my collection and I remember distinctly walking into my local record shop one lunch time during work and seeing it amongst the new releases and buying a copy.

Now, my local record store back then was a small independent and I knew the owner quite well and he knew the sort of music I was buying and would often get hold of limited edition stuff or rare stuff just on a whim because he knew either me or one of my mates would buy it so he could have sourced the single from some here other than normal sources and it might not have been an official single but it certainly looks like one, packaged up as a proper cd single with proper b sides.

I vaguely remember being able to purchase the single through the fan club as well. Might dig out my old magazines but I remember it being advertised as being able to buy from the website I. One of the fan club magazines.

I'd say he ordered it from the FC. I stand to be corrected on this, but my memory is that it had originally been intended to have a proper release on 7 inch and 2 CD's., there was ad's for it in Metal Hammer, and the 7 inch was supposed to have the "futuristic Powerslave" Riggs cover, but it was deemed their wasn't enough demand for it to be released properly so it was only released on 1 CD through the fan club.
 
I'd say he ordered it from the FC. I stand to be corrected on this, but my memory is that it had originally been intended to have a proper release on 7 inch and 2 CD's., there was ad's for it in Metal Hammer, and the 7 inch was supposed to have the "futuristic Powerslave" Riggs cover, but it was deemed their wasn't enough demand for it to be released properly so it was only released on 1 CD through the fan club.

You could well be right on that. I do get what you've been saying about singles releases. Back in the day Maiden singles were always a big event as you'd often get a couple of rare b sides.
 
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