The Pilgrim

How good is The Pilgrim on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    36
I give this a 9/10, and to be honest I'm surprised that a lot of people consider this one of the album's weakest tracks. It has an interesting opening/closing riff, a good fast-paced chugging rhythm for the verses, and keeps a good pace in the other sections too. The mystical Arabian post-chorus riff is a great surprise, reminiscent of something from Amorphis's "Tales from the Thousand Lakes" (which I mention only because that's a great album), and the chord change/cymbal addition for the repeat is spot on. The solo is possibly my favourite on the album - short, but fits the music so well. I didn't like the "Spirit Holy" chorus at all at first, but it's grown on me, although it's still below par, hence the 9 marking. Classic song.
 
9.

For being one of the shorter songs on the albums - it is surprisingly heavy and layered in both lyrical and musical meaning. Big highlights are the ways that the song turns into its driving verses. Melodies have different flavours than standard for Iron Maiden, and the guitar solo continues in this fashion with it at the same time both tasteful and incendiary licks.
 
Again, wish I had voted 8 or 9.

Awesome riffs, the prechorus is catchy as hell, I love the tonality of Janick's solo, and that post chorus riff may be my favorite moment on the whole album.
 
Agreed. In case you may not have been aware of this:
Forostar said:
Janick wrote the lyrics and they are pretty decent.
“The Pilgrim”, which’s lyrics are written by Janick, is about the Crusades and the pilgrims of the Holy Land. (source)
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I did not know that, thanks!

Other than combing through interviews, or combing through the Commentary, I wish there was a way to find out which member wrote specific parts of different songs. As a songwriter I find it very interesting. Bruce is rather upfront about it, but there's no comprehensive list.
 
Some good melodies on this one.It is however beyond me why do we not get any harmonies.Why do they need the 3 guitars then?!!Yet again a simple intro doubled ote by note with a simple chord rythm underneath it. Yet again the same Seventh son solo/the thin line chorus/for the greater good verses rythm pattern.....not very impressed.
 
Here we are again, those wonderful harmonic and eastern sounding scales always hits a soft spot for me. Love when they they experiment with different scales, as well as other time signatures like in the last song.

The intro/outro melody is simple yet great. The melody after each chorus is epic, especially when the key changes after half of it.
Bruces sound great and breaks through the mix better then he did in the last song. And Janicks solo fits the song perfectly.

Really dig this song. It separates itself from the other songs on the album, yet fits the general theme.

8/10
 
Again, Maiden are trying something different with having Janick pen the lyrics. The melodies no this song also have an eastern flavor, something new for Maiden and not unlike Janick to experiment with styles not typically associated with Iron Maiden or Metal in general.

Other than that, this stands as one of the weaker songs on the album, even though it's still enjoyable. On one hand, it works as a breather between the more epic tracks. But on its own there isn't a lot that sticks out to me that makes me want to come back to it. A solid rocker, but more DoD quality than the rest.

6
 
People seem to really like this track, but maybe it just never clicked for me. I enjoy it when I hear it - I never seek it out. 6.
 
I am surprised to see so many think one is only decent or average. There is so much to like here. The eastern harmonies, Janicks fantastic solo and Bruce's wonderful singing. His last note is golden, like someone said on the previous page.

8/10
 
10/10

The Pilgrim gives the listener room to breathe. Nicko’s solid-as-a-rock beat kicks off a great Janick-penned rocker with some cool interplay between oriental and Celtic melodies. The post chorus riff is amazing and unexpected, especially with the sinister key change. Bruce layers octave vocals during the pre-chorus and it adds an interesting, odd touch to the song. Janick's solo is a thing of beauty.
 
This one is great, except for the chorus which brings it down to an 8/10. Otherwise it'd be a 9.
 
A bit of a stepdown from the two previous tracks, although still better than "Different World". Still, it's a necessary stepdown to give the listener some room to breathe after such a monstrous tune that was "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns". The main riff and melodies are very memorable and possibly my favorite things about this song, since the lyrics are the weakest on the album (although that's not to say they are bad). The solo is nice, but not that impressive either. Overall, it gets an 8.
 
A fine rocker, something that is very needed in the second part of the album in my opinion, because everything just becomes overlong. 7/10
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top