DJMayes
Ancient Mariner
As far as I can tell from a very brief listen it seems it's the same drums from earlier choruses so likely intentional though I can understand why you find it jarring.
DJMayes' Complete Ranking Of Maiden Songs
- Thread starter DJMayes
- Start date
As far as I can tell from a very brief listen it seems it's the same drums from earlier choruses so likely intentional though I can understand why you find it jarring.
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
FARCE!!! Way to low. Both are top 25 to me. And yes I mean that.
DJMayes
Ancient Mariner
#85-81:
85 - Charlotte The Harlot
Charlotte The Harlot seems to have ascended to a meme amongst the Iron Maiden catalogue due to the string of loosely related songs it's inspired.
Does it deserve this? Beyond the quite clever rhyme, I'm not sure, but it is a fun song. The verses aren't memorable, but the chorus is (though it's one I try not to sing out loud whilst walking the dog). Beyond this, it has a really nice slowed section in the middle, even if it's difficult to fully appreciate it and the lyrics "your draws are off colour, cause you're making love all day" at the same time. The song has a really solid solo as well.
84 - Hooks In You
Charlotte returns with another song, that was probably expected quite a while ago.
I think this song has awful production, and the verses aren't fantastic. But, if you'll pardon the pun, it gets rated so highly because of the hooks. I adore the chorus to this - not necessarily in terms of the lyrics, but the melody. It works really well, although I can understand it's almost poppy compared to a lot of their other work.
However, I rate the instrumental sections as well - namely, the pre-solo section that also plays during the outro choruses.(~2:00), even if the solo isn't as good and the post-solo scream is one of Bruce's weakest. There's enough in this song to love that I can't justify putting it lower.
83 - Mother of Mercy
I think it's probably fairly uncommon, for a song intended to have a build up like this one, for the early part of the song to be the favourite. Mother of Mercy is one of those songs though. The intro is wonderful in my opinion, with some restrained musical sections allowing Bruce room to work his magic - see 1:08, for example.
When the song kicks in at 1:24, it's still great. This section is exciting and catchy, but it leads into a verse that is good, but not as good as the starting section. It still has its moments, especially around 2:00 before transitioning to the chorus. The chorus is the relative letdown of the song - it's another song from The Final Frontier where Bruce sounds quite weary, but even without that I doubt would be great.
The solo here is short, but very good and leads into that 1:24 section again, which I'm glad repeats.
The rest of the song - minus some lyrics which I haven't yet determined are gibberish or not - is the same fare I've talked about above. I hear some comparisons between this song and Afraid to Shoot Strangers. Whilst this is perhaps fair lyrically, I find the songs are worlds apart musically so don't really mind this, especially when other topics are recurring themes in Maiden's music.
82 - From Here To Eternity
Way back when I started listening to the Fear of the Dark album, this was my second favourite song behind the title track. It's got an instant energy and appeal that really works. Nowadays the other songs have grown, but I'm still fond of this. The verse is alright, but the killer part is the chorus. It's strongly reminiscent of Chains of Misery with the gang vocals (though better), and conjures up memories of AC/DC whilst still feeling very Maiden.
I am not sure what to make of the lyrics, but I will forever be grateful that they gave the opportunity for the 2:07, Meat Loaf style "motorbike" solo. The solo section to this entire song is fantastic, and the continuing solo style guitar parts underneath the ending choruses work wonderfully.
On a side note: it's entirely coincidental that 3/4 of the Charlotte songs have come up so far tonight.
81 - Deja Vu
The first thing I want to say about this song is how brilliant the intro is. It's brilliant because for quite a long time, I did double takes thinking that Caught Somewhere In Time had come on. I can only assume this Deja Vu was intentional, and it's a brilliant touch.
In general, I think this is one of the underappreciated songs Dave has done over the years. It's brimming with energy, has nice verses, a catchy riff and a pretty strong chorus. The solo section, as with most of Somewhere In Time, is really nice.
It's not Rainmaker or Judas Be My Guide, but this song is a good reason to always be excited when a writing credit comes up for Dave.
We're halfway there! For reference, these are the songs that have made the top half in the spoiler below:
1980 - Iron Maiden
1 - Prowler -
5 - Phantom of the Opera -
9 - Iron Maiden -
1981 - Killers
1 - The Ides Of March / Wrathchild -
3 - Murders In The Rue Morgue -
7 - Killers -
9 - Purgatory -
1982 - The Number Of The Beast
2 - Children of the Damned -
3 - The Prisoner -
4 - 22 Acacia Avenue -
5 - The Number of the Beast -
6 - Run To The Hills -
9 - Hallowed Be Thy Name -
1983 - Piece Of Mind
1 - Where Eagles Dare -
2 - Revelations -
3 - Flight of Icarus -
4 - Die With Your Boots On -
5 - The Trooper -
1984 - Powerslave
1 - Aces High -
2 - 2 Minutes to Midnight -
4 - Flash Of The Blade -
7 - Powerslave -
8 - Rime of the Ancient Mariner -
1986 - Somewhere In Time
1 - Caught Somewhere In Time -
2 - Wasted Years -
3 - Sea Of Madness -
5 - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner -
1988 - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
1 - Moonchild -
2 - Infinite Dreams -
3 - Can I Play With Madness -
4 - The Evil That Men Do -
5 - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son -
7 - The Clairvoyant -
8 - Only The Good Die Young -
1990 - No Prayer For The Dying
3 - No Prayer For The Dying -
9 - Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter -
1992 - Fear Of The Dark
3 - Afraid To Shoot Strangers -
6 - Wasting Love -
10 - Judas Be My Guide -
11 - Weekend Warrior -
12 - Fear Of The Dark -
1995 - X Factor
1 - Sign of the Cross -
7 - Judgement of Heaven -
9 - The Edge Of Darkness -
1998 - Virtual XI
1 - Futureal -
3 - Lightning Strikes Twice -
4 - The Clansman -
7 - Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger -
2000 - Brave New World
1 - The Wicker Man -
2 - Ghost of the Navigator -
4 - Blood Brothers -
6 - Dream Of Mirrors -
7 - The Fallen Angel -
10 - The Thin Line Between Love and Hate -
2003 - Dance Of Death
1 - Wildest Dreams -
2 - Rainmaker -
3 - No More Lies -
4 - Montsegur -
5 - Dance of Death -
8 - Paschendale -
9 - Face In The Sand -
10 - Age Of Innocence -
2006 - A Matter Of Life And Death
3 - Brighter Than A Thousand Suns -
7 - The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg -
8 - For the Greater Good of God -
9 - Lord of Light -
2010 - The Final Frontier
1 - Satellite 15... The Final Frontier -
4 - Coming Home -
5 - The Alchemist -
8 - The Talisman -
10 - When The Wild Wind Blows -
2015 - The Book Of Souls
1 - If Eternity Should Fail -
3 - The Great Unknown -
4 - The Red and the Black -
5 - When the River Runs Deep -
6 - The Book of Souls -
7 - Death Or Glory -
8 - Shadows of the Valley -
9 - Tears of a Clown -
11 - Empire of the Clouds -
85 - Charlotte The Harlot
Charlotte The Harlot seems to have ascended to a meme amongst the Iron Maiden catalogue due to the string of loosely related songs it's inspired.
Does it deserve this? Beyond the quite clever rhyme, I'm not sure, but it is a fun song. The verses aren't memorable, but the chorus is (though it's one I try not to sing out loud whilst walking the dog). Beyond this, it has a really nice slowed section in the middle, even if it's difficult to fully appreciate it and the lyrics "your draws are off colour, cause you're making love all day" at the same time. The song has a really solid solo as well.
84 - Hooks In You
Charlotte returns with another song, that was probably expected quite a while ago.
I think this song has awful production, and the verses aren't fantastic. But, if you'll pardon the pun, it gets rated so highly because of the hooks. I adore the chorus to this - not necessarily in terms of the lyrics, but the melody. It works really well, although I can understand it's almost poppy compared to a lot of their other work.
However, I rate the instrumental sections as well - namely, the pre-solo section that also plays during the outro choruses.(~2:00), even if the solo isn't as good and the post-solo scream is one of Bruce's weakest. There's enough in this song to love that I can't justify putting it lower.
83 - Mother of Mercy
I think it's probably fairly uncommon, for a song intended to have a build up like this one, for the early part of the song to be the favourite. Mother of Mercy is one of those songs though. The intro is wonderful in my opinion, with some restrained musical sections allowing Bruce room to work his magic - see 1:08, for example.
When the song kicks in at 1:24, it's still great. This section is exciting and catchy, but it leads into a verse that is good, but not as good as the starting section. It still has its moments, especially around 2:00 before transitioning to the chorus. The chorus is the relative letdown of the song - it's another song from The Final Frontier where Bruce sounds quite weary, but even without that I doubt would be great.
The solo here is short, but very good and leads into that 1:24 section again, which I'm glad repeats.
The rest of the song - minus some lyrics which I haven't yet determined are gibberish or not - is the same fare I've talked about above. I hear some comparisons between this song and Afraid to Shoot Strangers. Whilst this is perhaps fair lyrically, I find the songs are worlds apart musically so don't really mind this, especially when other topics are recurring themes in Maiden's music.
82 - From Here To Eternity
Way back when I started listening to the Fear of the Dark album, this was my second favourite song behind the title track. It's got an instant energy and appeal that really works. Nowadays the other songs have grown, but I'm still fond of this. The verse is alright, but the killer part is the chorus. It's strongly reminiscent of Chains of Misery with the gang vocals (though better), and conjures up memories of AC/DC whilst still feeling very Maiden.
I am not sure what to make of the lyrics, but I will forever be grateful that they gave the opportunity for the 2:07, Meat Loaf style "motorbike" solo. The solo section to this entire song is fantastic, and the continuing solo style guitar parts underneath the ending choruses work wonderfully.
On a side note: it's entirely coincidental that 3/4 of the Charlotte songs have come up so far tonight.
81 - Deja Vu
The first thing I want to say about this song is how brilliant the intro is. It's brilliant because for quite a long time, I did double takes thinking that Caught Somewhere In Time had come on. I can only assume this Deja Vu was intentional, and it's a brilliant touch.
In general, I think this is one of the underappreciated songs Dave has done over the years. It's brimming with energy, has nice verses, a catchy riff and a pretty strong chorus. The solo section, as with most of Somewhere In Time, is really nice.
It's not Rainmaker or Judas Be My Guide, but this song is a good reason to always be excited when a writing credit comes up for Dave.
We're halfway there! For reference, these are the songs that have made the top half in the spoiler below:
1980 - Iron Maiden
1 - Prowler -
5 - Phantom of the Opera -
9 - Iron Maiden -
1981 - Killers
1 - The Ides Of March / Wrathchild -
3 - Murders In The Rue Morgue -
7 - Killers -
9 - Purgatory -
1982 - The Number Of The Beast
2 - Children of the Damned -
3 - The Prisoner -
4 - 22 Acacia Avenue -
5 - The Number of the Beast -
6 - Run To The Hills -
9 - Hallowed Be Thy Name -
1983 - Piece Of Mind
1 - Where Eagles Dare -
2 - Revelations -
3 - Flight of Icarus -
4 - Die With Your Boots On -
5 - The Trooper -
1984 - Powerslave
1 - Aces High -
2 - 2 Minutes to Midnight -
4 - Flash Of The Blade -
7 - Powerslave -
8 - Rime of the Ancient Mariner -
1986 - Somewhere In Time
1 - Caught Somewhere In Time -
2 - Wasted Years -
3 - Sea Of Madness -
5 - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner -
1988 - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
1 - Moonchild -
2 - Infinite Dreams -
3 - Can I Play With Madness -
4 - The Evil That Men Do -
5 - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son -
7 - The Clairvoyant -
8 - Only The Good Die Young -
1990 - No Prayer For The Dying
3 - No Prayer For The Dying -
9 - Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter -
1992 - Fear Of The Dark
3 - Afraid To Shoot Strangers -
6 - Wasting Love -
10 - Judas Be My Guide -
11 - Weekend Warrior -
12 - Fear Of The Dark -
1995 - X Factor
1 - Sign of the Cross -
7 - Judgement of Heaven -
9 - The Edge Of Darkness -
1998 - Virtual XI
1 - Futureal -
3 - Lightning Strikes Twice -
4 - The Clansman -
7 - Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger -
2000 - Brave New World
1 - The Wicker Man -
2 - Ghost of the Navigator -
4 - Blood Brothers -
6 - Dream Of Mirrors -
7 - The Fallen Angel -
10 - The Thin Line Between Love and Hate -
2003 - Dance Of Death
1 - Wildest Dreams -
2 - Rainmaker -
3 - No More Lies -
4 - Montsegur -
5 - Dance of Death -
8 - Paschendale -
9 - Face In The Sand -
10 - Age Of Innocence -
2006 - A Matter Of Life And Death
3 - Brighter Than A Thousand Suns -
7 - The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg -
8 - For the Greater Good of God -
9 - Lord of Light -
2010 - The Final Frontier
1 - Satellite 15... The Final Frontier -
4 - Coming Home -
5 - The Alchemist -
8 - The Talisman -
10 - When The Wild Wind Blows -
2015 - The Book Of Souls
1 - If Eternity Should Fail -
3 - The Great Unknown -
4 - The Red and the Black -
5 - When the River Runs Deep -
6 - The Book of Souls -
7 - Death Or Glory -
8 - Shadows of the Valley -
9 - Tears of a Clown -
11 - Empire of the Clouds -
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
It has always seemed to me that "Hooks in You" was particularly disliked on this forum, at least until the "Speed of Light" intro made cowbell fashionable again
. For my part, I like the rock side to Iron Maiden so I enjoy it a lot."Hooks in You" however has got nothing to do with the story of Charlotte the Harlot (it is inspired -or so I read- by Behind the Green Door, a popular American porn film) but "From Here to Eternity" has (I quote: "The Beast and Charlotte they were two of a kind").
Last edited:
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Last week I played The Final Frontier album in my car and man does this song stand out. The beginning has such beautiful vocals and lovely clean guitar playing. When it gets heavier it stays good. The bridge before the solo is gigantic (best moment on the album). The only small downer is (still) that this solo section feels too short. The chorus isn't the best part but hardly brings down the level of overall enjoyment.
DJ, reading what you say about Deja-Vu does't give me a clue why it's so low in the list. Just positives.
DJMayes
Ancient Mariner
It has always seemed to me that "Hooks in You" was particularly disliked on this forum, at least until the "Speed of Light" intro made cowbell fashionable again
"Hooks in You" however has got nothing to do with the story of Charlotte the Harlot (it is inspired -or so I read- by Behind the Green Door, a popular American porn film) but "From Here to Eternity" has (I quote: "The Beast and Charlotte they were two of a kind").
But it references the keys to number 22 in the lyrics.
I don't really have negatives about it - it's got a very clever intro and is generally good the entire way through but doesn't necessarily have a "wow" moment for me.
Donner
Ancient Mariner
Mother of Mercy is one of my least favorite tracks of the current era of the band. I just can't get beyond the copy/paste chorus, the fact that Steve rhymes of with of and the fact that it features a desire/fire section. I think The Great Unknown is a similar stab at that kind of song and is a gazillion times better.
Charlotte is probably my least favorite song off the debut but it rules.
I always thought From Here to Eternity was a fun song. Hooks in You a bit less so but not godawful like most seem to think.
Incredible is Deja-Vu is incredible.
Charlotte is probably my least favorite song off the debut but it rules.
I always thought From Here to Eternity was a fun song. Hooks in You a bit less so but not godawful like most seem to think.
Incredible is Deja-Vu is incredible.
Just listened to Mother of Mercy again today, it's been a while since I listened to any TFF, and I have to say it's one of my favourites. I always feel it belongs more on AMOLAD, though.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
The Mid-Distance Runner
Educated Fool
Mother of Mercy really could have used a second solo. After Adrian finishes his at 3:12 there is a further 18 seconds of riffing before the final verse kicks in. Plenty of time for Dave or Janick, or both, to solo.
The first couple minutes of Mother of Mercy are amazing.
It really drops off though, with a poor chorus and a dragging conclusion,
Appreciate the AC/DC references on the two FotD tracks.
Probably why so many here dislike them and I don't. Eternity is great fun.
It really drops off though, with a poor chorus and a dragging conclusion,
Appreciate the AC/DC references on the two FotD tracks.
Probably why so many here dislike them and I don't. Eternity is great fun.
bornless1
Messiah Supreme. True Leader of Men.
I've also always thought MOM was picked off the AMOLAD scrap pile and pasted on FF. It is a killer song though. As far as I'm concerned, the rest of this group could be back at 125-129.
Agree here to Eternity is fun. I only wish is was off of "out if the cellar" and not an IM album.
Agree here to Eternity is fun. I only wish is was off of "out if the cellar" and not an IM album.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
It seems they could have made something great off the beginning of "Mother of Mercy" mixed with the end of "The Longest Day". 
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Mckindog, you leave out what happens in between the first chorus and the last string of choruses. 
Another good thing on Mother of Mercy is Nicko's drumming. Very cool, strong patterns, especially in the chorus.
Another good thing on Mother of Mercy is Nicko's drumming. Very cool, strong patterns, especially in the chorus.Indeed.
Your "brimming with energy"-comment is spot on though. The rhythm section is incredibly tight without feeling robotic. Very pure stuff. Nicko and 'Arry both at their peak having their best moment in the studio. Energetic as hell and the catchiest song in the catalogue.
The war and references to religion thing, plus the general sound reminds me more of AMOLAD than TFF.
