The Red And The Black

How good is The Red and the Black on a scale of 1-10?


  • Total voters
    18
First listen and I'm moving on to the next song. Way too much going on and I may need 5 more spins through to get a gage on "tratb" . Not my favorite right off though. Seems like I just heard a three song medley...I'm sure it's a grower.
 
Wow... I came in this forum thinking this was probably gonna be the most loved song from the album.

But I can see why people think the way they do. When I FIRST heard this song, I was like "Eh... too long. Doesn't know what it's focusing on. etc." But after two or three more listens... it's my favorite on the album! Granted it does go on too long... but it's still pretty epic. The "woah woahhooos" get me pumped up. I can tell this is gonna be a good one live.
 
I get a great vibe from these sections starting with:
The black jack king and the red queen clash....
The good luck charm is overkill....
Meanwhile we play the waiting game....
You hedge your bets the battle lost....

Among my favourite on the whole album!

Unfortunately the chorus, mentioning the title, is much worse.

Thuuu reeeeeeeeeeed aaaand thuuu blaaaack, na naaaaaaaa naaaa na naa na naaa.

Tedious melody, and the basis for a large chunk in the instrumental part. It's as Rush's Natural Science, starting good and going downhill around halfway. :/
 
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It is quite hard for me to stand more than the first 3 minutes.Then the next 3 minutes before the instrumental part is a real pain to listen to.
 
Does anyone else get the feeling that this marvellous song is Steve's attempt to re-do the content of The Angel and the Gambler but make an actual Iron Maiden song rather than a Yes tribute?
Absolutely. Not even with the lyrics, but the music and general vibe of the song totally takes me back to Angel. It also seems like Harris especially wrote this with the live stage in mind. Not just the woah oh oh choruses, but I can totally hear thousands of South American fans singing along to some of those guitar melodies. This one is going to rule live.

First part of the song (or the "vocal" part) is awesome. Guitar leads being played alongside Bruce's singing is something they never did before as far as I know and it works perfectly.
It's actually all over When the Wild Wind Blows. I think the melodies on this one are more singalong friendly though.
 
The part of the guitar melody at 8:03 - 8:05 is very nice.It's like a little surprise and first time i heard it i smiled.
 
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I get a great vibe from these sections starting with:
The black jack king and the red queen clash....
The good luck charm is overkill....
Meanwhile we play the waiting game....
You hedge your bets the battle lost....

Among my favourite on the whole album!

Unfortunately the chorus, mentioning the title, is much worse.

Thuuu reeeeeeeeeeed aaaand thuuu blaaaack, na naaaaaaaa naaaa na naa na naaa.

Tedious melody, and the basis for a large chunk in the instrumental part. It's as Rush's Natural Science, starting good and going downhill around halfway. :/

Ah hah! It's growing on you! :innocent:
 
First part of the song (or the "vocal" part) is awesome. Guitar leads being played alongside Bruce's singing is something they never did before as far as I know and it works perfectly

Ghost of the navigator, Brave new world, blood brothers, Out of the silent planet, dance of death, when the wild wind blows, montsegur all contain lead guitar mirroring the vocal melody. I'm sure there are loads more as well
 
What the fuck is Steve doing to that bass? 4/10 for the comedy.

While I disagree with 4/10, the question is appropriate. I've been playing bass for decades, and it took me a couple listens to hear what he was doing. I'm still not sure if it's fingers (I think so), or if Steve finally touched a pick. (That heresy would make me burn my Maiden albums, but it's possible.)
 
He is knocking the strings (stretching the fingers over the strings) as an acoustic flamenco player does. No plectrum.
 
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