For a final major world tour I’d love it if we got a set list with one song from every album, be tough to choose as some classics would get left out but this would be awesome.
Going a bit off-topic, but I'll do it anyway...
The "one song from every album" thing has often been presented as a fan-fantasy and a potential concept for another "hits/history tour" or the "final tour" and while it would be cool if the song selection was interesting, I'd actually go as far as to say that I'd
personally prefer a different approach altogether.
Would the song from "Iron Maiden" be the title track? Probably. That already rules out Phantom of the Opera and Remember Tomorrow, then. Yes, many major hits would be left out and there would certainly be some very interesting cuts from a handful of albums, especially from the later ones,
but... Would I really prefer getting Tailgunner or Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter over, say, Remember Tomorrow, Powerslave or e.g The Clairvoyant just for the sake of having one song as No Prayer for the Dying representation? I know a lot of people would also prefer those No Prayer cuts, but I think the "one song from each album" approach presents itself with some serious pacing issues when it comes to setlists. For example, if the sole Killers cut would be Wrathchild, I would probably just prefer another cut from some another album. As good and energetic live song as Wrathchild is indeed. The albums from the past two decades would probably get some of the longer songs represented. The setlist balance would probably be very good anyway, as the shorter tracks would probably dominate the 80's cuts, but overall, I'd much rather take more deeper cuts altogether, even if it comes with the expense of not getting representation for a couple of albums at all. I love many songs on The Final Frontier, but I could very well do without El Dorado or even When the Wild Wind Blows brought back if it provides a chance for, say, Rime of the Ancient Mariner and some very juicy deep cut in the vein of Still Life or something.
I know, this is very speculative, but I've always thought that the "one song from each album" doesn't sound like a pattern Maiden would strictly follow.
It's a cool idea, I just kind of hope it doesn't quite come to that...
So what do you think about this scenario - guys are rehearsing and trying to make Alexander work, but it is just not happening. So instead thay opt to play Rime of the Ancient Mariner like on the orginal tour. Would you be happy with that switch or still prefer to witness Alexander?
I would be very happy with Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Sure, Alexander the Great is a good song and the crowd reaction would probably be out of this world, but for me, Stranger in a Strange Land is probably the "major" Somewhere in Time song I'm looking forward to seeing and for me, Alexander has never really been on the top of my set wishlist, really. So I'd be fine with something else being played instead if the setlist is otherwise very interesting. I mean, if I could choose between a generic (e.g TFF 2011) kind of a set
with Alexander the Great or a setlist structure similar to LOTB 2018-19 & TBOS tours
without Alexander, I'd probably go with the latter.
I'd like to underline that all of the above is about my personal preferences. I'm super happy if I'll get to see Alexander the Great played live and I'm very happy for all the people who've dreamed about it for years, even decades. I mean, for me, seeing Seventh Son of a Seventh Son live in 2013 and witnessing For the Greater Good of God, Sign of the Cross and Flight of Icarus on LOTB tour was a dream come true; for me, it was probably what Rime of the Ancient Mariner was for a lot of fans in 2008-09! So I can imagine Alexander being somewhat a similar, even greater, experience for a lot of fellow Maiden fans!
