The Man Who Would Be King

How good is The Man Who Would Be King on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    11
Palpy said:
Are there other theories about who he is?
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It could be a tribute to RJD, who died three month before the release of The Final Frontier. There's a song with the same title in Master of the Moon, Dio's last studio album, and if someone has to be called King in the history of their genre he is surely Ronnie. Anyway three months before the release TFF should have already been completed in great detail, so it's more likely that they just changed the title and that the lyrics have nothing to do with him. (that would explain why the worst song of the album should be tributed to the best singer ever)
What makes me sceptical is that if that was true then it would have been said by the band to the point of exhaustion.
 
Amazing beautiful intro starts this song (one of the best intros by Maiden) and with the golden voice of Bruce, it's sounds epic. The melody after the intro with the powerful drums is also awesome. Good lyrics. Fantastic riff (classic Maiden). Good verses and chorus... the pre-chorus is not bad too. The solo from Dave is unique, but I do not find it that great. The melody after it is fun though. Great end to the song with the beautiful vocals and melody. But I have to admit that it is the worst song on the album. 7/10

For this song Steve combined two other Dave songs into one. I find as a mistake that they ended the album with three epics! This song should have been a short rocker... they also ended TBOS album with three slow songs, which again was not so good decision imo. AMOLAD album also ended with three epics, but Lord Of Light is a fast epic and that makes the difference.

- imagine if they play this song during LOTB tour.... actually, this song (along with FTGGOG, TETMD and Revelations) is part of the main music theme in the game. Do they dare?
 
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I think the piece talks about how a person should be. I speak in my opinion and from my point of view that you should not hide for the responsibilities that belong to him. It's a really great piece lyrically. Transcendental I would say!
 
Edington said:
The only parts of this I really like are the clean section near the end (a surprisingly good use of "whoa-ohs") and the prechorus, which is wasted on such a bland chorus. The intro doesn't really build an atmosphere like it should and the lead melody before the verse goes on for too long with some very uninspired drum fills from Nicko.

Bruce sounds bored out of his mind for the most part, he does get a little more into it on the chorus, but as I mentioned it's so bland that it doesn't really make any difference. Dave's solo is decent, though I don't really like how it fits (or doesn't fit, rather) with the rest of the song. Anyone else notice how similar the lead melody before the title drop is to the intro of The Prophecy?
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I've been re-listening to this song recently, and while I still think it's one of Maiden's weaker tracks, I think there's some really good potential for a short rocker. Cut off the calm intro, then shorten the climbing lead melody before the verse and make that the intro. There are some pretty solid foundations in the verse, pre-chorus and chorus (the riff in the verses between the vocals always stood out to me, something I missed in my last review), they just need a little more drive behind them to make them shine. Throw in a guitar solo that doesn't sound like it came from a completely different song, chop off the calm outro and you've probably got a strong single along the lines of Speed of Light.

I'll bump my grade up a point to 6. Still not amazing, but there is some good stuff in here, just maybe not utilised in the best way.
 
It’s not my favorite on the album but I quite enjoy it. That said, the very ending little melody is the most “Maiden” thing Maiden have written since 7th Son. It sounds straight off that album.
 
The solo is incredibly unique in Maiden's catalog. I like the song, the lyrics not so much. They feel a bit awkward.
 
This song is among the best Iron Maiden songs IMO.

I always had a problem with people putting The Final Frontier as one of the weakest albums of maiden by many fans and publications, when it is clearly to me a very strong album with songs like the Final Frontier, star blind, Coming Home or the Alchemist, but these songs aren’t even the best this album has to offer, when you still have The Man who would be king and When the wild wind blows back to back, two songs as powerful as anything maiden has ever did.

The man Who would be king is so great and it have some amazing arrangements that are you unforgettable. Another classic in my books.

Edit:
Now I saw that the previous post was mine, that shows how much I’ve like this songs.
 
So I listened again to The Final Frontier yesterday, this time on the 2017 Vinyl remaster, and this song really stood out to me. I've always liked it, but it was also sandwiched between two songs I liked more. The mid-song instrumental break sounded phenomenal and fresh and the drumming was just incredible. Very good song!
 
Yeah, it's a good tune. Lose the "aaah/solo" section, put a short and memorable solo there in its place with a totally different background than what's there currently, and it suddenly becomes a great song.
 
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I keep listening to the second half of this album when I exercise and this song just keeps rising up as one of my favorites. No small feat, as the back half of this album are all gems. The intro is hauntingly bittersweet, the verses are punchy and catchy with Nicko doing nice work on the ride cymbal, and the guitar... It's not really a solo, it's more of a cosmic sonic freakout, and it's gorgeous. Do I detect slide in there? Either way, the music perfectly matches the feeling of the melancholy lyrics of someone who has become resigned to his fate.

Also - I love the subtlety of the outro. The guitars are layered harmoniously and instead of testing his vocal range, Bruce holds back in keeping with the mood of the song. Nice. My favorite example of this in an IM outro is The Great Unknown.
 
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