On repetitive choruses

LooseCannon

LooseCannon

Enterprise-class aircraft carrier
Staff member
This shit has been bothering me for awhile. Tons of people complain about the repetitive choruses from AMOLAD. I mean, how fucking often do you hear it? So, here's my take on the matter.

Maiden's classic albums are loaded with the fucking things. Seriously. Think about it for a minute.

Running Free:
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.

Wrathchild:
I'm a wrathchild, yeah,
I'm a wrathchild
I'm a wrathchild, I'm comin' to get you
Ooh yeah

Children of the Damned:
Children of the damned!
Children of the damned.
Children of the damned!
Children of the damned.

The Trooper:
Ohohohohohohoho!
Ohohohohohohoho!

Aces High:
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live, aces high

Caught Somewhere In Time:
Caught somewhere in time!
Caught somewhere in time!
Caught somewhere in time!
Caught somewhere in time!

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son:
Seventh son of a seventh son!
Seventh son of a seventh son!
Seventh son of a seventh son!
Seventh son of a seventh son!

ANY album with Steve-heavy lyrics has lots of repetitive lyrics. It should be expected by now. TFF is more Bruce and Jan heavy, and well, they did well - and let's look at AMOLAD.

Different World: Tell me what you can hear, and then tell me what you see, everybody has a different way to view the world...I would like you to know that when you see the simple things to appreciate this life it's not too late to learn.

These Colours Don't Run: For the passion, for the glory, for the memories, for the money, you're a soldier, for your country, what's the difference, all the same.

Brighter Than A Thousand Suns: Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns. Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns. Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns.

The Pilgrim: Now give us our holy sign, changing our water into wine, so to you we bid farewell, kingdom of heaven to hell.

The Longest Day: How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through? How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through? How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through? How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through?

Out of the Shadows: Out of the shadows and into the sun, dreams of the past and the old ways are done, oh there is beauty and surely there is pain, but we must endure it to live again.

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg: Someone to save me, someone to save me from myself, a destination away from this nightmare; someone to save me, someone to save me from myself, to bring salvation, to exorcise this hell.

For the Greater Good of God:
Chorus 1: Please tell me now what life is, please tell me now what love is, well tell me now what war is, again tell me what life is.
Chorus 2: For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God.

Lord of Light: Free your soul and let it fly, give your life to the Lord of Light, keep your secrets and rain on me, all I see are mysteries.

The Legacy: No chorus.

Okay, three songs repeat. 30%, of which I would suggest that at least none are just the title of the song repeated over and over, excepting the second "chorus" of FTGGOG, which really isn't much of a chorus.

Look at Seventh Son of a Seventh Son:

Moonchild: Moonchild, hear the mandrake scream; moonchild, open the seventh seal; moonchild, you'll be mine soon child; moonchild, take my hand tonight.

Infinite Dreams: No chorus.

Can I Play With Madness?: Can I play with madness? The prophet stared at his crystal ball. Can I play with madness? There's no vision there at all. Can I play with madness? The prophet looked and he laughed at me. Can I play with madness? He said you're blind, too blind to see.

The Evil That Men Do: The evil that men do lives on and on. The evil that men do lives on and on. The evil that men do lives on and on. The evil that men do lives on and on.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: Seventh son of a seventh son. Seventh son of a seventh son. Seventh son of a seventh son. Seventh son of a seventh son.

The Prophecy: No real chorus.

The Clairvoyant: There's a time to live, and a time to die, when it's time to meet your maker. There's a time to live, but isn't it strange, as soon as you're born, you're dying. There's a time to live, and a time to die, when it's time to meet your maker. There's a time to live, but isn't it strange, as soon as you're born, you're dying.

Only the Good Die Young: Only the good die young, only evil seems to live forever. Only the good die young, only evil seems to live forever. Only the good die young. Only the good die young.

4/8, 50%; even higher when you consider less songs have choruses. Even if you argue that The Clairvoyant isn't really repetitive (it is), then it's still the same numerical amount of songs (3) as on AMOLAD, and the percentages (37.5% of total songs or 50% of songs with choruses) are higher.

Can this go away now?
 
Slow clap.

I feel Brave New World had more than AMOLAD, and even that one wasn't bad about it at all: only on a few songs, and all of them melodically varied and interesting enough to make it a moot point.
 
BNW did. The Wicker Man, Brave New World, Blood Brothers, The Mercenary, Dream of Mirrors, The Fallen Angel, and Out of the Silent Planet all have terribly repetitive choruses, but yet many fans still consider it the best album of them all.
 
I agree with you but how do you classify The Clairovoyant as a repetitive chorus but SSoaSS isn't?
 
It's not really number of repetitions that matter. It's how much time they take. Even TAATG - first time you heard it, did you think "wow, that's 19 choruses now"? No. You thought time... "how long has this been going on now?".

So like I posted when TFF (song) came out - the chorus is repetitive, but OK because it's fast. "The final frontier" 4x goes by faster than "No more lies!" 2x. (And you still have 6 more "no more lies!" to sit through!)
 
As if I didn't know the one line/one verse choruses. ::)

When the chorus is good/great and it matches the song's intention like with most listed, they're great, when they're anticlimaxing like on most of AMOLAD, they're crap. Simple as that.
 
It wasn't directed at you, Jeff. Just...people who slag in general.

I can understand what you mean by "anticlimaxing". Sometimes, I agree with you. But I think that BTATS, especially, is a stand-out song that blows away the completely subjective requirements for being good.
 
But BTATS is the best on the album. It's incredible how they could've written one of their best songs ever, as are TROBB, DW and OOTS too, on such an album like that. I really can't understand, yet.
 
Hear, hear!  Great post Loosey.  And I agree with SMX too.  There are only a few choruses that I find annoying, and FTGGOG is one of them though I love the song as a whole.  I would also add that it matters how good, catchy, or whatever the chorus is.  Blood Brothers, Dream of Mirrors, Brighter than a Thousand Suns, and others have good choruses so it does not matter if they are repeated.

LooseCannon said:
TFF is more Bruce and Jan heavy
Click to expand...

Did Janick write any lyrics on TFF?  I thought Alchemist was Bruce and Talisman was Steve.
 
See, I love the sound of AMOLAD. I relistened to it whilst posting this, and I just love how dark and brooding it sounds. Similar to why I love The X Factor. I don't think there's a bad song on the album.
 
LC, that is a well laid-out post and a great discussion matter. Kudos. I have never even regarded the golden years as having repetitive choruses - but oh lookie - RTTH, Gangland, BITV - they are all repetitive. Well, they are, but when it comes to the listener's tolerance, the repetitiveness perceived is a function of speed/pace and the musical and lyrical context within a song. So it's not only up to speed like SMX said - but also the musical effect the chorus achieves during the song - which is a subjective interpretation.

This is why perhaps most people consider reunion era albums more repetitive than 80s era.

And while I was writing this post you just posted another one, which I must respond to: The X Factor is one of Maiden's top 5 albums and in no way you could find a replacement for Blaze Bayley on this one!

Jeffmetal said:
But BTATS is the best on the album. It's incredible how they could've written one of their best songs ever, as are TROBB, DW and OOTS too, on such an album like that. I really can't understand, yet.
Click to expand...

And that's basically about a full 1/3 of the entire album. So what you're basically saying is that you think 1/3 of AMOLAD are Maiden's best?
 
No. They're among Maiden's best songs. The X Factor is head, shoulders - except vocally - above AMOLAD.

Jan wrote lyrics to The Mercenary and The Pilgrim, maybe not all of these lyrics, but they're very similar structured, both with a lot of metaphors and alusions.
 
I have objection about including Aces High in the list of repetitive choruses.
It is repeated TWICE. What sort of repetition is that? If it weren't repeated it wouldn't have been a chorus in the first place. It also doesn't take much time and it definitely ain't annoying.
 
Also, chorus is meant for repetition, it's like a mantra, stressing the main idea of a song theme. If it's good or bad, if it doesn't work into the strong structure, if it's badly place or sang is another beast. Bottom line - Chorus is for repetition. Kinda pointless thread.
 
Jeffmetal said:
Also, chorus is meant for repetition, it's like a mantra, stressing the main idea of a song theme. If it's good or bad, if it doesn't work into the strong structure, if it's badly place or sang is another beast. Bottom line - Chorus is for repetition. Kinda pointless thread.
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The complaints are on choruses that are OVERLY repetitive.
 
The main point here is that repetitive "song title repeated over and over" choruses have been a staple since day one, so why are there so many relatively recent complaints?  Personally, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the chorus of FTGGOG.  It's not WHAT is sung, but HOW it's sung.  And that main chorus with the guitar doodle over top is just damn smooth!  Iron Maiden may make choruses that are more repetitive then anyone else, but that's because they can get a way with it and still make damn good songs.  SSOASS is the best title track they have, and it's chorus is phenomenal, despite it's simplicity.
 
I agree Chaosapiant. I also love "How long on this longest day until we finally make it through". The way Bruce sings that is just beautiful!
 
LC is a repetitive chorus


on a serious note: LC is a repetitive chorus

On a less serious note: LC is a repetitive chorus

At any rate. There are only a few choruses that I find annoyingly repetitive, which usually tends to be for reasons expressed by SMX. Also tends to be on sub-par songs to begin with (No more Lies). I love EVERYTHING on BNW, including the repetitiveness... just fits... such a subjective complaint... well except when it comes to Virtual XI and LC being a repetitive chorus.
 
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