Phantom of the Opera

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How good is Phantom of the Opera on a scale of 1-10?

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    16
Since 1999, when the band kept steady a roster of three guitarists, this song now sounds live as it should. The studio version had more overdubs than the average Maiden song, and therefore needed a third guitarist live to sound right. They have played it live on four tours since then (Ed Huntour, Early Days, SBIT, and Maiden England). However, as far as I can find, it has not been included on an official live release since LAD. Am I correct about this? It would be great to own an official live version of this song with three guitarists.
 
For me, Maiden's second best song after Hallowed Be Thy Name. It's simply astonishing. Everything about this song is perfect. 10/10
 
The best song off the debut. The chaotic verse isn't all that much to my liking, but still it gets a solid 8, especially for the instrumental section.
 
10/10. Totally.
Everything in this song works.
The way they play the verse melody as an intro ending in that sustained B note which makes it sound like something the Phantom is playing on organ.
Clive's drumming, one of his best.
The guitar and vocal harmonies. (ASIDE: does anybody else wish that Dennis Stratton's infamous Queen harmonizations were only mixed out and not erased, and could surface as a bonus track somewhere?)
Both of Dave's solos (Dennis' is a bit less momentuous although it has some nice fluid lines)
Steve's killer attack.
I remember thinking this was probably not the kind of song for Paul, but he sings it perfectly; so does Bruce but actually not one of them are clearly superior to the other.
There are 4 excellent live versions, each with a different lineup:
- Women in Uniform 12'' single version (with Paul, Dennis and Clive)
- Rainbow video (with Paul, Adrian and Clive)
- Beast over Hammersmith (with Bruce, Adrian and Clive)
- LAD (with Bruce, Adrian and Nicko)

All four are excellent although maybe the Rainbow and Hammersmith versions are the most energetic, but the 1980 version is also tops, if a bit muddier. (I have a question for Adrian, though: why on Earth did you insist in playing the triplet arpeggios that introduce the solo section in unison with Dave and not taking the low harmony until the drums kick in?)
 
10/10

Simply my favorite Iron Maiden song. A truly masterpiece.

Love the guitar and bass works and all the atmosphere created here.
 
Simply magnificent. From the genuis and thrilling opening riff, the stunningly tight bassline to the magnificent chorus. It's such a mature track for a first album. I absolutely adore the 'keep your distance' bit. It just adds so much originality to the song. Bruce took it to another level though.

10
 
First sight of an amazing songwriter that is Steve Harris. Fast, furious and raw song with interesting dinamics, great backing vocals, amazing solos and great bass work.

The first masterpiece

10/10
 
Classic epic with almost unimprovable instrumental section, although I still prefer "Remember Tomorrow" (sorry).
Highlight: That instrumental section.
Lowlight: Not everything before the instrumental is as good as the instrumental.
9/10
 
I voted this song as a 10 not because of the studio version but because of the Ullevi 2005 version.

This performance is one of the best by Iron Maiden and one of my favourite live performances but any band. The bit where Bruce shouts "we're Iron fucking Maiden" stirs something inside me everytime I hear it.

Everything about this performance is fantastic even down to the siren in the crowd when Bruce announces the song

 
Amazing song. The first Maiden epic, the first Maiden masterpiece. People complain about the poor production but I think it sounds amazing even in the studio version. Anything less than a 10 would be offensive
 
Okay! So, here we got the first one of Iron Maiden's extended epics (and one of the finest, too). From the haunting intro with Di'Anno's phantasmagoric (see what I did there? :D) vocals, it's the best song on the debut and definitely one of their best ever. It's also one of the very few Maiden songs, I can say, work better in the studio rather than live (although the LAD version kicks ass). Easily a 10.
 
About the Early Days, Live in Ulevi version:

The intro riffs are killing it. Bruce slays it with his scream: "we are fu***** Maiden, and we are gonna fu***** get you wherever you are!!" and the shit gets ugly when the guitar sections are released. 10/10, best song of the Paul era Maiden, one of their greatest epics.
 
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A repetitive opening bit builds into some nice guitar harmonies, then breaks into another repetitive but more memorable riff.

The verse vocals are a mess, trying to stuff in too many syllables while following the guitar melody, but Paul isn't fully in time with the guitars, and isn't always delivering as many syllables as there are notes.

I guess the follow-up section with harmony vocals is the chorus, and it works a lot better than the verse, but it's over pretty quickly.

Another round of verse and chorus, and then we get a staccato bridge with some decent solo vocals and cheesy vocal harmonies before heading into a tasteful solo section.

The song stops, then comes back in with a bass riff and some nice supporting guitar harmonies, building up a bit until it breaks into what will become the iconic Maiden gallop and chord progression. Some nice harmonized leads come in and carry us to a pretty good pair of solos, then back to the harmonized leads, and then to a more boring solo lead. One more verse and chorus and we end on a solid, sudden note.

I know this is a generally beloved song, and it's the first time we hear what will become the hallmarks of the Iron Maiden sound; but almost all of the good stuff is in the second half of the song, and the rest is kind of a mess. 6/10.
 
Phantom is technically overrated, because it's not their best song and it would take a few albums before they hit anything that could take the title.

That said, there really is no reason a band should have a monster like this right on their first album. It paved the way for many metal epics to come, including all of Maiden's, and its instrumental is incredibly well put together. If the instrumental part was its own instrumental song, it would be better than Transylvania, definitely. The verses aren't as perfect as some of Maiden's, but that's a really small thing because this song is really great.

Honestly, I wanna give this any other score because it doesn't deserve how far up it gets in the rankings, but I can't. I gotta go with my gut, and my gut tells me that Phantom of the Opera is a 10/10. Second best song on the album.
 
Instrumentally one of their very best songs. However the vocals are not that interesting to me. Not even in the live versions with Bruce. 9/10
 
The first sign that Maiden weren't your typical NWOBHM band, but it would be a little while before we finally got proof of that. Great bass intro here, leading to a cool riff, but that only leads to verses that are strung badly together. Di'Anno forges on courageously, but this is something that could've been better managed either with more retakes or with Bruce himself as the vocalist. He certainly does a better job live. Di'Anno sounds worse after the song's change-up, but luckily the instrumental makes up for a lot of it - it's great. This is certainly a decent offering for an early band, but it pales in comparison to all of the other '80s epics from the band and most of the ones from the '90s and 2000s as well. 7
 
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