The Legacy

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

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Gers epic #3. This is the point where he gets a little experimental, after nailing his formula with DOD. I love this track, it's a great ender. I probably don't love it as much as the other two huge epics on the album, so I will go 9/10, but it is really 9.5 out of 10.
 
Can't really get into this no matter how hard I try and I normally like a Jan epic! It's quite experimental, which is good, but it doesn't quite come off in any way that appeals to my taste. The acoustic backing goes on too long and the high-low synthy riff grates me a bit. I do think it's ambitious though which earns it some credit

7
 
Funny enough, the two weakest tracks on this album are Different World and The Legacy. You want your albums to have a great opening and ending. AMOLAD makes up for it with because it's so even. The Legacy is a really good song, don't get me wrong, but it's the weakest epic on the album. It does have a lot of great parts though. The intro is nice, but too long. The verses are decent. The faster part of the song is the highlight with Janick stealing the show. The guitar riff in Empire of the Clouds sounded fresher in 2006.

A worthy conclusion to the best album ever. 8/10.
 
10/10

The Legacy is a bizarre treat. Janick exercises his strangest songwriting notions here to astounding result. The song doesn't repeat parts and has no chorus, instead dividing itself into different major sections that evolve over time. Bruce sings a chilling lullaby of mustard gas (the lyrics are quite nebulous) over 12-string acoustic guitars, followed by a chord pattern that will return in various forms throughout the song to bridge each section. Pained guitar swells appear over the acoustics before the pattern repeats again, this time with distortion and keyboards. The whole song sounds like an alarm: a warning bell getting slowly closer and threatening to unleash hell. When the band kicks in its a massive release, Bruce's oddly effected vocals continue to build to a rousing multi-tracked refrain. The mood escalates throughout the song to a place of sheer excitement, and then breaks it all down again. Janick cuts through with an almost jig riff and unleashes one of his best solos. It's a complete masterpiece: experimental, odd, and completely Maiden. It all ends with an acoustic chord, strummed to completion, as if the listener is finally released from the darkness and war of the album, back into the real world to await the next Maiden album.
 
One of the strongest tracks on the album. The solo and buildup are great, and there's even a couple spots that remind me of EOTC. 9/10.
 
I didn't really enjoy this song when I first heard it. I don't know why, I just couldn't get into it. However, it has really grown on me, so much that I now consider it the best track on the album. Really strong closing song, starting off with acoustic guitars playing a haunting melody, somewhat influenced by Celtic music, while Bruce calmly lets out the sinister lyrics, before building to something far heavier. The part when the distorted guitars first appear (around 2:14) feels very creepy to me, possibly the creepiest part of a Maiden song since the quiet narrated interlude in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". From there, the song just builds until it explodes in an extremely heavy and spine-tingling "chorus" ("Left to all our golden sons..."), before introducing a second riff that carries the song from there until the end, when the acoustic intro is reprised. Overall, "The Legacy" is a flawless masterpiece, and I can't give it any less than a 10.
 
AMOLAD has four outstanding tracks on it: Different World, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns, For The Greater Good of God, and The Legacy.
  • Different World provides the album with a catchy opening, different from the rest of the songs to come but in no way is it bad for that - the chorus, the lyrics, everything kicks off the album well and paves the way for what is to come.
  • Brighter Than A Thousand Suns is a scope piece about the horrors of war, how un-God-like we've become, and the atomic bomb and its power and the deaths it caused.
  • For The Greater Good of God features some of the band's best lyricism, about how religion has managed to create more wars than it's ended, and how horrifying it is to know that something intending for the love of man could bring about such hate.
  • The Legacy is the perfect closer to a strong album such as this - first it attacks an unspecified leader who caused more pain and suffering than can be imagined and then moves on to ask why we just can't be better people - bringing a close to an album that has been an exploration of the horrors of war and finally asking the obvious in the best way possible.
These are the four songs on the album that I personally think stand out among the rest. However, Different World is a bit too different from AMOLAD to be its finest track - to be honest, it seems like it might fit Dance of Death better (not that I'd want the switch). Brighter Than A Thousand Suns is a plodding epic, but the music is... I dunno. A little too bleak maybe? It was at one point my favorite on the album but it's fallen to fourth place now. For The Greater Good Of God has, like I said, amazing lyrics, but it falls short because of the needless repetition. They should have cut it all out and either only kept the verses or substituted it with something else.

And finally, The Legacy. My only issue with this song is that the piece recycled for Empire of the Clouds fits the latter song more. And... that's really it. The build-up seems like a waste of time upon first listen, but it really isn't. It grows and builds till it explodes, and then changes up for the second part of the song. When I first heard AMOLAD, Benjamin Breeg and The Legacy were the stand-outs, the first because I had heard it before and the second probably because it was at the end of the album. But now... now I really have to say that The Legacy is the best song on the album - let alone one of Maiden's finest songs of the 21st century. It asks the questions, it attacks those who live only to have and keep power, and it provides a satisfying conclusion to a satisfying album. It's angry and it's intense, but it's also a cry out for an end to the evil of the world and the wars our evil have begun.

And forget about war - this song can be used in several other situations as well. Of late, the world we live in has suffered from several acts of terrorism, violence, and mass murder. Just this week another shooting happened at a school. The survivors and the families of those who were slaughtered unnecessarily are calling out for something to change - an increase of gun control and more safety at schools for starters. But there are also those who consider that unnecessary - let more people die, because money is more important to us. All they want to send is their thoughts and prayers. As many have pointed out, thoughts and prayers do absolutely nothing to protect innocent lives from crazy people with guns, ammunition, and a wish to kill.

This is just a recent example, and I'm only throwing this in here to help make my point - The Legacy's lyrics are poignant and fit these situations. The people in power now have no wish to help save human life, they just want power, money, and what those two things bring. The first part of The Legacy attacks these kinds of people, and accuses them for the hardships those under them have received. It also attacks them for deceiving people and buying into their system - and how are they being repaid? How are we being repaid? The entire political system is flawed, those in charge are flawed, and the future looks bleak and filled with a great deal more flaws before mankind will ever - if ever - get back on the right track. The left and the right, the black and the white, no one can get along. No one wants to get along. And no one is trying to get along.

And that's where the second part of the song picks up. We live in an uncertain world - fear, hate, ignorance, they're all leading to death. Death by bombs, death by war, death by guns, you get the picture. Some say Armageddon is near, and honestly, it looks about that bleak right now - we seem destined to live in fear. I know I am, and I know many others are as well. Still, there's a hope - can't we treat our fellow men better? A shaking of hands? Live and let live, forget and forgive? But anger and loathing is rife - it's becoming a way of life, and taking the lives of many who get in the way... and now only the dead remain.

The song picks up again - some people are just not wanting peace; their whole life is death and misery. You can see this quite clearly throughout history - the Third Reich, the Soviet Union, the Middle Ages, the Roman Empire, and currently North Korea and... honestly, just about everywhere else. No one cares that they're sending innocent people out to die - people who never wished for what is happening currently to happen, and people who didn't do anything to cause it either. It's fine to lead others to the slaughter, because hey, at least I'm not risking my neck! The only thing that they know - fight fire with fire; life is cheap. But if they do stop to think that man is teetering right on the brink.... - but do you think that they care? They benefit from death and pain and despair.

This isn't an attack at a particular individual in the political system or holding an office of power. This is an attack at all the people in the political system and holding an office of power. Some people, one would hope, are honest and striving to be the best they can be and not to abuse their power. Those people are few and far between. I honestly don't think one can just select one individual and blame them for everything that's happening - Trump, for instance, is a horrible person, but he's only the most obvious example and isn't actually worse than any of our other "leaders" are. He just seems to be because he's such an imbecile; it wouldn't surprise me if he was merely a front for the rest of the people behind the scenes pulling the ropes and sending our world on a path to Hell.

Because that's where we're headed if nothing else changes - and that's what The Legacy is saying in its final line. It's a bleak line, and almost seems like a change around from the hope the others were, but it's not untrue. They benefit from death and pain and despair - do you really think that our leaders care about what we feel? Absolutely not. It's sickening, it's horrifying, and it's enough to give any sane person nightmares. The Legacy leaves you on that note, and the album ends - finishing off with some strumming. Well-fitting.

So basically, what I'm trying to say is this - The Legacy is one of Maiden's greatest songs. It makes you think about life and where we're headed, and it sums up and wraps up the entire AMOLAD album better than any other song could.

The Legacy is a masterpiece.

10/10
 
Wow, nice essay there @Diesel 11, thank you for taking the time to write it. I don't want to duplicate what you've said too much, so I'll try to only add to it.

When I first heard this song I had headphones on and it was dead of night - no distractions, no background noise, just me and the song. I didn't initially see it as a masterpiece because it seems so ambiguous and odd, although I was struck immediately by its dramatic power. But every time I have heard it since I remember my first impression - how it drew me in and asked me questions: and then left me thinking.

The song starts with a situation about which very little specific detail is given but an awful lot is implied. It's a war situation. An individual is being spoken to on their deathbed. An individual who seem to have claimed some sort of special knowledge (more than one reference to "prophecies") that they didn't really have, or had fabricated. Who had claimed they could solve a problem but then made it worse, possibly on purpose. Who didn't care how many people died, or how they died. Who was hiding "secrets" and ultimately has been proved to be false from start to finish. And as they are now dying they won't have to live with the consequences of the mess they've made. It seems they may even have scuppered a possibility of peace on purpose for their own ends (the verse about "our golden sons"). Why would you scupper a possibility of peace? Because you wanted to win decisively and not have to agree to a compromise? Because you had to prove you were "right"? Or possibly because you personally had something to lose from the current situation not continuing? (I actually wonder if the mind-altering "yellow gas" was something the soldiers were subjected to on their return, to prevent them from telling what had actually happened and thus keep this person's "secrets" safe for a bit longer.) And it was possible for them to do all this because others trusted them. Because no-one was asking the questions they should have been asking.

Then it moves on to deal more generally with man's inhumanity to man - "Why can't we treat our fellow men/With more respect ..." Honestly I think the reason this doesn't happen (more) is because of fear of differences and the unfamiliar, and the questions raised by those things. On a simple level, people who have spent their lives doing as they were told, for fear of unspecified consequences if they don't, suddenly see someone else who is not obeying those (usually arbitrary) rules and apparently suffering no consequences. This then calls the whole basis of their lives into question - maybe they didn't have to obey those rules either, maybe they could have done something completely different with their own lives. So rather than face up to those uncomfortable questions they just persecute the misfit. (This is the problem I have with publications like the Daily Mail, which actually encourage this mentality by stirring up fear and suspicion and paranoia on purpose and basically exploit the ignorance of their readers, when they could allay those fear and suspicions just by providing accurate information instead of hype.) And when that sort of thinking starts to get institutionalised, when it get raised to national level, it seems there will always be unscrupulous people around waiting exploit the situation for their own ends. People like the individual being addressed at the start of the song.

So I think ultimately it's about the consequences of taking someone at their word without asking enough questions. Because when you've done that, even once, you've given that person an awful lot of power.

I actually interpreted the individual in the song as a military leader rather than a political one - I agree it's probably not about anyone in particular, but I think it's about a lot of people generally, or maybe not even an individual so much as a way of thinking. But as to the individual Janick originally had in mind (going back to @gor's post on page 2), he said that it was about an individual, that it was something specific to him, that it had to do with "truths and untruths", it wasn't political but was for other reasons something they couldn't use (or even "touch on"), but that Steve's reworking deals with "the same truths and untruths" and asks the same questions. So it may not have been a public figure at all that he had in mind. But it seems unlikely he will ever tell, so their identity must forever remain a mystery ...

gor said:
Re: 'The Legacy'

I saw the film too. I had trouble finding anything that would establish a stronger connection between the lyrics and the movie's plot other than Bruce's mention of the movie. Also, from what I understood, they were given the drug in the form of a cig that they thought contained cannabis. They really liked the taste too...
Janick was interviewed for the FC and the interview contained a quote that might help shed some light on the meaning of the lyrics. The whole interview can be found in the recently published FC Mag #76.

...I wrote the music, which was about something specific to me. I talked to Steve about it and he took it a different way, but it's still about the same truths and untruths that the music was written about. Although it ended up as a slightly different concept it still has the same feeling that I had in mind, which I think is great."

Are you always happy with the things Steve changes or do you sometimes tell him "no, no, that's not what I had in mind"?

It is what I had in mind. To be fair, we couldn't really write what the song was originally about. It's, mmm, it's not political, but we couldn't touch upon what it was actually about. Steve took the idea of what it was about, and made it into something we could use. There are only so many things that you can write about. We are not a political band, so we don't want to get into that too much. The Legacy was about a certain person, and Steve took it on a different level, and wrote some brilliant lyrics, and he kept the understanding and the feeling of what the song was about, and still asks the same questions."

In my opinion, this quote really closes in on what the song was originally about. So we know that it was about a certain political leader that has used deception and lies to fool his people into something they later discovered was not only wrong but devastating. Also, mentioning that certain political leader would be a no-no for Maiden, as it seems to be a really touchy subject at the moment. My bet is on Bush.

PS. lets not turn this thread into a political debate, I'm just analyzing on possible lyric meaning...
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Just like The Greater Good of God, a nice epic but not among their absolute best, although I like it a bit more than the other. The intro works very well on the song, unlike on some songs of the album. Lyrics are very interesting, I just think the song is missing a moment of magic to be in the Maiden elite. 8/10
 
Love the acoustic opening, reminiscent of 70s Genesis. Bruce sounds a bit odd here, but I'm sure it's on purpose. A brief pause, and some acoustic strumming leads into a neat tapped interlude with some epic-sounding electric breaks.

This eventually leads into a nice slow-gallop verse and a better, brighter pre-chorus. Another round of verse and pre-chorus, and then...WTF is this? I guess it's the chorus. The vocal harmonies here sound terrible and the melody isn't very memorable. At least it ends on a strong note.

Another epic electric break kicks off a rolling uptempo interlude punctuated by a strong solo, eventually giving way to a melodically busy riff and an extended bridge with more questionable vocal harmonies. A return to the rolling interlude dissolves into a very nice acoustic outro, a fitting end to the album.

There's some brilliant stuff here, but the chorus is atrocious and the vocal harmonies on the bridge aren't much better. On balance I think this lands at a 7/10.
 
Jer said:
WTF is this? I guess it's the chorus. The vocal harmonies here sound terrible and the melody isn't very memorable.
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The Legacy is perfect. Best Maiden song ever after RTTH, Aces, CEA, ROTAM, and EOTC.
 
Unique song. The acoustic parts are great and the intro is dramatic, but it's dragged for way too long - that's the only complain that I have about this epic song. Great riffs, great verses, good chorus and great solo from Janick. The triple-lead harmonies are as always wonderful. The verses after the solo are one of the best in Maiden's discography. I think Janick wanted the song to be more acoustic with no choruses, but with more themes through it. I'll be happy to see it live again (missed opportunity with the Legacy of the Beast tour...). 8/10.
 
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