Can I Play With Madness?

How good is Can I Play With Madness? on a scale of 1-10?


  • Total voters
    13
It may be commercial but it absolutely worked. Not only it was a hit but it made Seventh Son have a presence on mainstream media I do not remember for the album before nor after it, and thanks to its momentum all the 7th Son singles charted (even the live Infinite Dreams!)
 
You have to give Maiden credit for making the listener wait nearly 12 minutes before getting to the first remotely commercial thing on the entire album. Even when they were at the height of their popularity, they remained an albums band.

The song itself is fine. Similar to later songs like Holy Smoke and FHTE it's not the sort of thing I want to hear from Maiden, but they do it well. Really cool instrumental section. A slightly annoying chorus that has been totally ruined for me by mediocre live performances. But you know you've got a good album when the worst song is a 7.
 
I absolutely love this song and don't get some of the underwhelming comments on here.

I'm not actually a huge fan of the short upbeat rockers generally. But I think the chorus couplet is one of the best they've ever done. Especially the final chorus which has a wonderfully subtle tempo change. Great, if simple song

9
 
Not as good as the other songs on the album, though still great. It's catchy, very radio-friendly and really fun to listen to and sing along. I've heard criticism that this song is way too happy-sounding to fit its subject matter, but I disagree with that. I find the music in here to be actually really dark, especially the main riff. Fits the lyrics perfectly. It is a bit repetitive, but it's short enough that it doesn't get boring and uninteresting. A solid 8.
 
Another 9/10. It may be a bit commercial, but it's a good, short rocker with a pretty good (but brief) solo.
 
I don't like the harmonics in the chorus at all. It ruins the song for me. One of the most skipped songs of all for me, I think.
 
A great, harmonized a capella delivery of the title vocal kicks into a bright, uptempo verse with some neat rhythmic changes in the riff. This builds up and breaks into a bright, fantastic chorus with great backing guitar.

Another round of verse and chorus and we head into a melodic interlude that cuts into a great solo followed by a less focused one, before returning to the excellent chorus and closing out with an a capella intro reprise.

This is a fantastic short rocker with a bright tone that contrasts with the dark lyrics that are pivotal to the album's story. Aside from the final solo being a little unfocused, every element of this song is near perfect. That one minor blemish isn't enough to rob this song of its rightful 10/10.
 
I've begun to appreciate this one over the years. It's sillier Maiden than usual, but damn is it catchy and positively energetic.
 
The band called it "a bit of magic", despite the row it caused in the studio. I think I'd have to agree. Despite being a pretty simple, radio-friendly, accessible track, "Can I Play With Madness" is pretty fucking good nonetheless. Everything on here is pretty great, and it's a showcase of how strong the band is in what could otherwise be one of the lesser songs. 9
 
This is probably the only Maiden song that sounds radio-friendly/commercial. At first it was a ballad (I wish we can hear that version).... amazing pre-chorus and the actual chorus is pure gold. Bass and drums are tight and sound great. The keyboards add a nice melody during the chorus and the lyrics goes perfect with the music.
I wished Adrian's solo to be longer, but it's also good as it is. The start of the song surely can wake you up... :lol: This song is a stadium rocker (more than any other).

8
/10.
 
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