Adrian's Solo Discography Ranked - The Complete List

[Jer]

5. Return Of The King
Bruce Dickinson
Average Score: 8.44/10
Collaborations 8/8

At #5 we bid farewell to "Return Of The King", the last of Adrian's songs from the Chemical Wedding sessions, as well as the final track from the countdown's songwriting collaborations category. This melodic uptempo rocker was a B-side from that album, which makes its final placement all the more remarkable.

Over half the votes for this song were a 9/10 or 10/10, with a smaller cluster around 7/10.

Comments:

Great song.

Return of the King is a great one

Return of the King is awesome, would've liked that on the album instead of Machine Men.

'Return of the King' is fantastic.

Great verse, great pre-chorus, and a pretty strong chorus. A very nice pair of solos, including some cool harmonized bits. There seems to be some clicking in the track [...] maybe that's why it was ultimately a B-side.

I honestly think it's on par with the better stuff on the album.

Look, all I'm gonna say is that it's laughable that a bonus track from The Chemical Wedding somehow made it higher than [multiple] songs from the actual album. Still, I guess it's a testimony to the greatness of this period

Return of the King [is] so much better than anything [Adrian] did with Maiden after his return (IMO).

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 3
9 - 2
8 - 1
7 - 2
6 - 1
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

5. Return Of The King
6. The Lion
7. Mirror And The Moon
8. Silver And Gold
9. Road To Hell
10. Psycho Motel
11. The Ghost Of Cain
12. White Sheet Robes
13. Underground
14. When She's Gone
15. No Friendly Neighbour
16. Rain
17. Believe
18. Awoken Broken
19. She's A Roller
20. Countdown
21. The Last Chain
22. A Quarter To Heaven
23. Something Real
24. Savage World
25. My Lady
26. Welcome To The World
27. Innocence
28. Blood On The Ocean
29. Machine Men
30. Sins Of Your Father
31. Bright As A Fire
32. The Calling
33. I'm Alive
34. Countdown (Alternate Version)
35. Money To Burn
36. Animals
37. Keeping It Mellow
38. Down The Wire
39. Killing Floor
40. After The Storm
41. New Horizons
42. City Of Dreams
43. Western Shore
44. Black Leather Fantasy
45. Don't Ask Me
46. Hypocrisy
47. I See Lights
48. Fallen Heroes
49. Suicide
50. Welcome To The Pit
51. City Of Light
52. Life In The City
53. Into The Black
54. Rage
55. Long Time No Woman
56. Excuse Me
57. Snake Ladders
58. Misunderstood
59. Rock 'N' Roll Woman
60. Watch Me Walk Away
61. Killing Time
62. Scientist
63. No Loss To Me
64. Time Is A Hunter
65. World's On Fire
66. Fighting Man
67. Lifetime
68. Wishing Your Life Away
69. The Late Show
70. Last Goodbye
71. As Tears Come Falling From The Sky
72. You Could Be A King
73. Kid Gone Astray
74. (Can't) Wait
75. Just Like A Woman
76. Blood Brothers
77. School Days
78. Need Somebody
79. Get Up And Get Out
80. Madman
81. Little Girl
82. Mooncusser

Albums:

Spoiler

Welcome To The World 12/13
Awoken Broken 9/12
Collaborations 8/8 (7.78 avg.)
#3: Silver And Gold 10/10 (7.17 avg.)
#4: State Of Mind 10/10 (7.16 avg.)
Limited Releases 20/20 (6.87 avg.)
B-sides 9/9 (6.14 avg.)

 

[Mosh]

It boggles my mind that Return Of the King was left off the album. It's better than Machine Men as well as most of what Adrian contributed to those two Bruce albums.

 

[Confeos]

I don't think it's better than "Machine Men", but I'd happily swap it for "Killing Floor".

 

[Diesel 11]

I’ll keep it as a bonus track, thanks, but a very good one at that.

This Top 10 is all sorts of surprising.

 

[Jer]

4. Search For Bliss
Primal Rock Rebellion
Average Score: 8.50/10
Awoken Broken 10/12

Next on the countdown is "Search For Bliss", a dynamic, layered anthem with a memorable chorus from Primal Rock Rebellion's debut.

The votes for this song were all centered around 8-9/10, demonstrating a consensus view on the overall strength of the track. While I personally gave the song a high rating, I have to admit that I'm surprised it placed as high as it did in the end.

Comments:

Nice.

I have no idea how Search For Bliss got this far... So overrated.

Contains more than a few moments of brilliance...

Dynamic song with a stimulating bass. The song's sound and dynamics remind me of Inside the Machine (from Brucey's Skunkworks album). Adrian does co-lead vocals in the chorus and he brings 2 solos. First a "modern" one and the second is a "classic" one that I like in particular.

A soaring guitar opener leads into a surprisingly gentle vocal intro. The aggression steps up a bit before cutting into a great melodic chorus that trades off vocals back and forth. [...] Excellent song.

Bye bye Search For Bliss

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 3
8 - 3
7 - 1
6 - 0
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

4. Search For Bliss
5. Return Of The King
6. The Lion
7. Mirror And The Moon
8. Silver And Gold
9. Road To Hell
10. Psycho Motel
11. The Ghost Of Cain
12. White Sheet Robes
13. Underground
14. When She's Gone
15. No Friendly Neighbour
16. Rain
17. Believe
18. Awoken Broken
19. She's A Roller
20. Countdown
21. The Last Chain
22. A Quarter To Heaven
23. Something Real
24. Savage World
25. My Lady
26. Welcome To The World
27. Innocence
28. Blood On The Ocean
29. Machine Men
30. Sins Of Your Father
31. Bright As A Fire
32. The Calling
33. I'm Alive
34. Countdown (Alternate Version)
35. Money To Burn
36. Animals
37. Keeping It Mellow
38. Down The Wire
39. Killing Floor
40. After The Storm
41. New Horizons
42. City Of Dreams
43. Western Shore
44. Black Leather Fantasy
45. Don't Ask Me
46. Hypocrisy
47. I See Lights
48. Fallen Heroes
49. Suicide
50. Welcome To The Pit
51. City Of Light
52. Life In The City
53. Into The Black
54. Rage
55. Long Time No Woman
56. Excuse Me
57. Snake Ladders
58. Misunderstood
59. Rock 'N' Roll Woman
60. Watch Me Walk Away
61. Killing Time
62. Scientist
63. No Loss To Me
64. Time Is A Hunter
65. World's On Fire
66. Fighting Man
67. Lifetime
68. Wishing Your Life Away
69. The Late Show
70. Last Goodbye
71. As Tears Come Falling From The Sky
72. You Could Be A King
73. Kid Gone Astray
74. (Can't) Wait
75. Just Like A Woman
76. Blood Brothers
77. School Days
78. Need Somebody
79. Get Up And Get Out
80. Madman
81. Little Girl
82. Mooncusser

Albums:

Spoiler

Welcome To The World 12/13
Awoken Broken 10/12
Collaborations 8/8 (7.78 avg.)
#3: Silver And Gold 10/10 (7.17 avg.)
#4: State Of Mind 10/10 (7.16 avg.)
Limited Releases 20/20 (6.87 avg.)
B-sides 9/9 (6.14 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

I genuinely don't remember how that song goes, so I'm really surprised it's this high.

 

[Jer]

3. No Place Like Home
Primal Rock Rebellion
Average Score: 8.50/10
Awoken Broken 11/12

At #3 we say goodbye to the leadoff single from Awoken Broken, "No Place Like Home". This fiery, melodic rocker has infectious energy, a great solo, and an incredibly catchy chorus.

Over half the votes were either 9/10 or 10/10, but the rest of the votes were all 7/10, reflecting a split in the voters' views on the song's overall quality.

Comments:

An off-rhythm riff starts a steamroller that never lets up. Love that ascending rhythm guitar. The chorus is great, and gets pushed over the top by Adrian's backing vocals. Great instrumental break and solo. Excellent song!

Most aggressive and heaviest song and interestingly enough: perhaps the most catchy one as well. [...] Adrian joins with a nice layer of backing vocals. The solo is one of the most classic sounding ones on the album.

Vibrancy, energy, heaviness, and clean production

No Place Like Home is one of the weakest tracks [on the album]

Shorter and faster, but the chorus is still great.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 2
9 - 3
8 - 0
7 - 3
6 - 0
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

3. No Place Like Home
4. Search For Bliss
5. Return Of The King
6. The Lion
7. Mirror And The Moon
8. Silver And Gold
9. Road To Hell
10. Psycho Motel
11. The Ghost Of Cain
12. White Sheet Robes
13. Underground
14. When She's Gone
15. No Friendly Neighbour
16. Rain
17. Believe
18. Awoken Broken
19. She's A Roller
20. Countdown
21. The Last Chain
22. A Quarter To Heaven
23. Something Real
24. Savage World
25. My Lady
26. Welcome To The World
27. Innocence
28. Blood On The Ocean
29. Machine Men
30. Sins Of Your Father
31. Bright As A Fire
32. The Calling
33. I'm Alive
34. Countdown (Alternate Version)
35. Money To Burn
36. Animals
37. Keeping It Mellow
38. Down The Wire
39. Killing Floor
40. After The Storm
41. New Horizons
42. City Of Dreams
43. Western Shore
44. Black Leather Fantasy
45. Don't Ask Me
46. Hypocrisy
47. I See Lights
48. Fallen Heroes
49. Suicide
50. Welcome To The Pit
51. City Of Light
52. Life In The City
53. Into The Black
54. Rage
55. Long Time No Woman
56. Excuse Me
57. Snake Ladders
58. Misunderstood
59. Rock 'N' Roll Woman
60. Watch Me Walk Away
61. Killing Time
62. Scientist
63. No Loss To Me
64. Time Is A Hunter
65. World's On Fire
66. Fighting Man
67. Lifetime
68. Wishing Your Life Away
69. The Late Show
70. Last Goodbye
71. As Tears Come Falling From The Sky
72. You Could Be A King
73. Kid Gone Astray
74. (Can't) Wait
75. Just Like A Woman
76. Blood Brothers
77. School Days
78. Need Somebody
79. Get Up And Get Out
80. Madman
81. Little Girl
82. Mooncusser

Albums:

Spoiler

Welcome To The World 12/13
Awoken Broken 11/12
Collaborations 8/8 (7.78 avg.)
#3: Silver And Gold 10/10 (7.17 avg.)
#4: State Of Mind 10/10 (7.16 avg.)
Limited Releases 20/20 (6.87 avg.)
B-sides 9/9 (6.14 avg.)

...and here we are, finally down to the top 2. Which song will claim victory? Will the H and Davey pairing propel Welcome To The World's "With You Again" to the top spot, or will "Tortured Tone" from Awoken Broken become a repeat champion?

And on the album front, will Awoken Broken's significant presence in the top 10 allow it to skate to victory, or will Welcome To The World's dominance just below the top 10 be enough to let it squeak out a win?

All will be revealed soon...

 

[Diesel 11]

IJFC believe "With You Again" actually got this far. Oh well. If "Tortured Tone" doesn't win this thing I shall be severely displeased with y'all.

 

[Jer]

IJFC believe "With You Again" actually got this far.

Yeah, I'm with you on that one. It's a great song, but there are much better songs that have already been eliminated IMO.

 

[Diesel 11]

I think I said it before, but the only thing that holds it back for me is the way Makin sings the title in the chorus... it's weird, and surprisingly enough that it knocks a great song down a few pegs.

I think I'll start going through Adrian's discography again, maybe track-by-track in order they appear on this list.

 

[Jer]

2. With You Again
Psycho Motel
Average Score: 8.60/10
Welcome To The World 13/13

...and the runner-up in our countdown is "With You Again", a sweet ballad from Welcome To The World with a heartfelt vocal from Andy Makin and a guest appearance by Dave Murray.

Votes were clustered around 8/10 and 10/10, with none of the ratings going below 7/10. I personally feel like this song placed higher than it deserved to (I think "Underground" should have been in the top 10 instead), but many of you obviously disagreed with me.

(The search function wasn't working for this song, so I only included comments from this thread.)

Comments:

This is about my Father – my life growing up in a very happy family with a Father who had a terminal illness that was never allowed to over shadow the love. I sometimes wish I could go back to that time.

A more peaceful song. Pretty nice.

The guest spot from Dave Murray was something that made many of us in 1997 wonder if Adrian and him would play together again (something that thankfully happened in 1999!)

The bass player seems to be taking a cue from Bruce Dickinson's "Taking The Queen", but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This is a sweet but meaty ballad with a great verse, a good chorus, and nice electric accents around the acoustic guitars.

Best tune [on the album] is without a doubt "With You Again", which manages to be soft and melodic without ever overdoing it, still retaining a somewhat melancholic edge. I really dig it.

IJFC believe "With You Again" actually got this far.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 3
9 - 2
8 - 3
7 - 2
6 - 0
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

2. With You Again
3. No Place Like Home
4. Search For Bliss
5. Return Of The King
6. The Lion
7. Mirror And The Moon
8. Silver And Gold
9. Road To Hell
10. Psycho Motel
11. The Ghost Of Cain
12. White Sheet Robes
13. Underground
14. When She's Gone
15. No Friendly Neighbour
16. Rain
17. Believe
18. Awoken Broken
19. She's A Roller
20. Countdown
21. The Last Chain
22. A Quarter To Heaven
23. Something Real
24. Savage World
25. My Lady
26. Welcome To The World
27. Innocence
28. Blood On The Ocean
29. Machine Men
30. Sins Of Your Father
31. Bright As A Fire
32. The Calling
33. I'm Alive
34. Countdown (Alternate Version)
35. Money To Burn
36. Animals
37. Keeping It Mellow
38. Down The Wire
39. Killing Floor
40. After The Storm
41. New Horizons
42. City Of Dreams
43. Western Shore
44. Black Leather Fantasy
45. Don't Ask Me
46. Hypocrisy
47. I See Lights
48. Fallen Heroes
49. Suicide
50. Welcome To The Pit
51. City Of Light
52. Life In The City
53. Into The Black
54. Rage
55. Long Time No Woman
56. Excuse Me
57. Snake Ladders
58. Misunderstood
59. Rock 'N' Roll Woman
60. Watch Me Walk Away
61. Killing Time
62. Scientist
63. No Loss To Me
64. Time Is A Hunter
65. World's On Fire
66. Fighting Man
67. Lifetime
68. Wishing Your Life Away
69. The Late Show
70. Last Goodbye
71. As Tears Come Falling From The Sky
72. You Could Be A King
73. Kid Gone Astray
74. (Can't) Wait
75. Just Like A Woman
76. Blood Brothers
77. School Days
78. Need Somebody
79. Get Up And Get Out
80. Madman
81. Little Girl
82. Mooncusser

Albums:

Spoiler

Awoken Broken 11/12
Collaborations 8/8 (7.78 avg.)
Welcome To The World 13/13 (7.73 avg.)
#3: Silver And Gold 10/10 (7.17 avg.)
#4: State Of Mind 10/10 (7.16 avg.)
Limited Releases 20/20 (6.87 avg.)
B-sides 9/9 (6.14 avg.)

 

[Jer]

1. Tortured Tone
Primal Rock Rebellion
Average Score: 9.63/10
Awoken Broken 12/12

At long last, here it is. The best song of Adrian's solo career based on your votes is "Tortured Tone" from Awoken Broken, a slow-burning lament about depression with a soaring, haunting chorus and a ferocious solo.

This track had previously won the 2013 Adrian Smith survivor thread, and it finished first on our countdown by a wide margin (more than a full rating point above the #2 finisher!). It received one vote of 8/10, one vote of 9/10, and every remaining vote was a 10/10. Amazing.

Comments:

I shall join the chorus of those who predict "Tortured Tone" will come out on top.

If "Tortured Tone" doesn't win this thing I shall be severely displeased with y'all.

Tortured Tone is my favourite. Great atmosphere and Mikee's most accessible vocal.

The album features several great songs, but if I had to choose just two, [one would be] the wonderful "Tortured Tone" (what a thought-provoking ode to depression)

Moody, melodic verse and pre-chorus with nice string accents. Fantastic chorus with really interesting vocal harmonies. A more aggressive bridge / solo section folds back into an even more lush version of the chorus. Great moody outro with creepy strings. Love this song.

This song is different. [...] It's top material. Might be my favourite song. It's atmospheric, not in the least because of Abi Fry's contribution on the viola. For the rest, this song is very melodic and Mikee sings really good on it. The keyboards in the chorus gives the part a bit of a cheesy feel, but the melancholic melody plus the warm and catchy rhythm guitars carry it along nicely.

The stuff coming before the chorus is the strongest. What a build-up! It has a cool, kinda dark guitar riff, and I don't know how he does it but Mikee delivers every line with more tension than the previous. [...] The end of Tortured Tone brings more variation because Adrian is singing along very intensely, like he was the lead vocalist.

Wonderful song with an 80's pop vibe, a la Duran Duran, INXS! Amazing song and chorus!

Incredible song. Love it. First 10 since ASAP!

I think I'd be fair to say that Tortured Tone by Primal Rock Rebellion is my favorite song of 2012.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 6
9 - 1
8 - 1
7 - 0
6 - 0
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

#2: Welcome To The World
Psycho Motel
Average Score: 7.73/10

Adrian's sophomore effort with Psycho Motel featured slicker production and more consistent songwriting, as well as new singer Andy Makin, who brought more of an Alice In Chains feel to the vocals. The album is full of great songs; but standouts like "Underground", "Rain", and "With You Again" leave their mark as classics among Adrian's solo work.

Adrian's involvement with Bruce Dickinson's solo band prevented this version of Psycho Motel from ever touring or promoting this album, which was a shame.

Welcome To The World scored noticeably higher than the previous albums on the countdown, but was unable to claw its way to the top spot in the end.

Comments:

I use to like State of Mind more but I'm finding that Welcome to the World is much better.

I thought Welcome to the World was the better of the two. I certainly prefer Andy Makin to Solli.

Ive found from my fanpage that many prefer the second album, Welcome to the World and aren't especially interested in State of Mind. I like both, but if I did have to choose one, I would pick Welcome to the World.

Very heavy album, even heavier than State of Mind, but with a much better production and, in my humble opinion, better songs. Andy Makin is the singer here and he does a great job [...] Adrian's playing is superb and the rhythm section fits the songs like a glove. [...] Out of the 2 Psycho Motel albums, this is my favourite.

Best album thus far; the production is good, the feel is what I want from the album cover and the band's name. The singer's Layne Staley / modern Dave Mustaine vocals aren't exactly perfect, but they're decent. Otherwise, strong album. Nicely done.

Not a bad album at all, but you can tell it was made in the '90s ...

Wow, this is a much, much stronger album than the previous two. The new vocalist's voice and style is also a better fit to the band's sound, in my opinion. A lot of great riffs, huge choruses and, as always, blinding solos to be found here. Some of the songs still suffer a bit from bad arrangements though.

I do not like the second half much. Repetitive music, not adventurous, not much feel nor originality. Also no melodies that keep me on the edge or that are memorable. It comes down to taste but I do think the first singer is a better one. Bigger range, less monotone voice, more power.

The only record [Adrian] did outside Maiden that I like is Welcome to the World. Not just because of the great vocalist [...] Also, there are some great guitar parts on that record I'd never heard before from H...

If you ever wondered what Alice In Chains would have sounded like if Adrian Smith was a founding member, here's your answer. [...] I've been listening to this album for over 20 years and the luster still hasn't worn off. I love it.

#1: Awoken Broken
Primal Rock Rebellion
Average Score: 7.91/10

In 2012 Adrian defied expectations by collaborating with Mikee Goodman, an extreme vocalist formerly of the band Sikth, whom Adrian had met at his son's birthday party. Their electric mix of crushingly heavy guitars, lush melodies, and wide-ranging vocal dynamics was both surprising and mesmerizing, and most fans believe that it produced the finest album of Adrian's solo career.

The balance of the voters in our countdown would appear to agree, as Awoken Broken claims the #1 album slot by almost two tenths of a rating point, on the backs of excellent songs like "No Place Like Home", "Mirror And The Moon", "Search For Bliss", and of course "Tortured Tone"!

Comments:

I reeeeeealy love [Awoken Broken]

Fresh and adventurous.

Fantastic album, my favourite of all Adrian-led albums. The sound is heavy and modern, the songwriting is inventive and varied, the playing is great, the videos were really good... What is not to like? [...] The combination of aggressive and more melodic singing from Mikee Goodman fits the material like a glove.

A monster of an album that manages to be crushingly heavy and surprisingly melodic at the same time. Adrian experiments with some really interesting sounds and structures here, and totally cuts loose in a number of places.

This album is really powerful and original.

Best album yet. Everything that wasn't great about the Psycho Motel albums has been pretty much ironed-out. I like the vocalist, I like the production, I like the instruments. Great stuff. Nice going, H!

I'm a bit disappointed with this one. My expectations were that it would continue on from the Psycho Motel albums and further evolve in sound and style, and well, it does, but it doesn't really deliver what I was hoping for. [...] This vocalist [...] varies between low snarls, mid- to high clean singing, and high wails. Problem is... only the lower, harsher style works alright - his clean singing lacks power, and the higher stuff comes off as outright whiny. [...] I also [...] don't find H's playing, be it the riffs or the solos, as inspired as on the previous albums.

Awoken Broken is not a surface-level only kind of work; it takes several listens to sort out all the layers and styles.

Awoken Broken remains among my favourite albums of this decade.

Best thing Adrian has done, in my opinion.

Overall:

Spoiler

1. Tortured Tone
2. With You Again
3. No Place Like Home
4. Search For Bliss
5. Return Of The King
6. The Lion
7. Mirror And The Moon
8. Silver And Gold
9. Road To Hell
10. Psycho Motel
11. The Ghost Of Cain
12. White Sheet Robes
13. Underground
14. When She's Gone
15. No Friendly Neighbour
16. Rain
17. Believe
18. Awoken Broken
19. She's A Roller
20. Countdown
21. The Last Chain
22. A Quarter To Heaven
23. Something Real
24. Savage World
25. My Lady
26. Welcome To The World
27. Innocence
28. Blood On The Ocean
29. Machine Men
30. Sins Of Your Father
31. Bright As A Fire
32. The Calling
33. I'm Alive
34. Countdown (Alternate Version)
35. Money To Burn
36. Animals
37. Keeping It Mellow
38. Down The Wire
39. Killing Floor
40. After The Storm
41. New Horizons
42. City Of Dreams
43. Western Shore
44. Black Leather Fantasy
45. Don't Ask Me
46. Hypocrisy
47. I See Lights
48. Fallen Heroes
49. Suicide
50. Welcome To The Pit
51. City Of Light
52. Life In The City
53. Into The Black
54. Rage
55. Long Time No Woman
56. Excuse Me
57. Snake Ladders
58. Misunderstood
59. Rock 'N' Roll Woman
60. Watch Me Walk Away
61. Killing Time
62. Scientist
63. No Loss To Me
64. Time Is A Hunter
65. World's On Fire
66. Fighting Man
67. Lifetime
68. Wishing Your Life Away
69. The Late Show
70. Last Goodbye
71. As Tears Come Falling From The Sky
72. You Could Be A King
73. Kid Gone Astray
74. (Can't) Wait
75. Just Like A Woman
76. Blood Brothers
77. School Days
78. Need Somebody
79. Get Up And Get Out
80. Madman
81. Little Girl
82. Mooncusser

Albums:

Spoiler

#1: Awoken Broken 12/12 (7.91 avg.)
Collaborations 8/8 (7.78 avg.)
#2: Welcome To The World 13/13 (7.73 avg.)
#3: Silver And Gold 10/10 (7.17 avg.)
#4: State Of Mind 10/10 (7.16 avg.)
Limited Releases 20/20 (6.87 avg.)
B-sides 9/9 (6.14 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

And so it ends! A worthy song takes the top spot in the countdown. I still wish "The Lion" had won, but oh well.

This was a lot more fun than I expected. Less participants than the Bruce rankings made me wonder at first if this would be able to keep its head up, but it did, and you did an excellent job presenting. I thoroughly enjoyed going through the discography and watching the countdown progress, guessing along as we neared closer and closer to the top spot. I hope the Blaze rankings will be as fun.
So thanks @Jer ! I had a blast!

 

[Jer]

So thanks @Jer ! I had a blast!

You're welcome! Thanks to everyone who participated. I enjoyed hosting it.

 

[Diesel 11]

If you ever come up with another idea for a ranking thing, I'm in. I don't even care what it is.

 

[Jer]

If you ever come up with another idea for a ranking thing, I'm in. I don't even care what it is.

@Diesel 11 's Song Rankings Ranked! What will claim the #1 most ludicrous spot, his 10/10 for "The Apparition", or his 5/10 for "The Longest Day"...?

 

[Jer]

Oh yeah, anyone who enjoyed this countdown should totally check out @Diesel 11 's Blaze Bayley solo discography ranking thread, which is still accepting votes!

I don't even like Blaze very much, but I (mostly) enjoyed going through his solo work, and there were a number of surprisingly good tracks peppered throughout his albums. Give it a shot!

 

[Diesel 11]

@Diesel 11 's Song Rankings Ranked! What will claim the #1 most ludicrous spot, his 10/10 for "The Apparition", or his 5/10 for "The Longest Day"...?

It's obviously the 1/10 vote for "Purgatory".

 

[Forostar]

Thanks for hosting @Jer.

I will compare the results from this game with the results from the 2013 games @Night Prowler hosted.
Game 1 in 2013 did not feature Bruce songs, because these were combined with the Maiden works Adrian wrote in Game 2 (in which they did not stand a chance).

Ranking of Bruce songs:

2018:
1. Return Of The King
2. Road To Hell
3. The Ghost Of Cain
4. Machine Men
5. Killing Floor
6. Welcome To The Pit

2013
1. Road to Hell
2. Return of the King
3. Ghost of Cain
4. Killing Floor
5. Welcome to the Pit
6. Machine Men

The 2013 Bruce and Maiden game involved 16 posting members and surely more must have voted.

The 2013 without Bruce and Maiden game also involved more posting members (10) than this 2018 one. No clue how many voted but surely more than 10. Let's compare these non-Bruce/non-Maiden results now. A lot more work.

In 2013, the Michael Kiske songs did not compete, and from the Urchin tracks the alternative version of Countdown was not present.
But there were three more The Untouchables songs and two more Urchin songs that did not take part in 2018.
In 2018 we missed these Urchin songs: See Right Through You & Steal My Heart and these The Untouchables songs:
Judgement Day, Singing The Blues & Big Trouble. Purely looking at the songs that were featured in both 2013 and 2018 non-Bruce/non-Maiden games, we'll get these results:

2018 Top 10:
1. Tortured Tone
2. With You Again
3. No Place Like Home
4. Search For Bliss
5. The Lion
6. Mirror And The Moon
7. Silver And Gold
8. Psycho Motel
9. White Sheet Robes
10. Underground

2013 Top 10:
01. Tortured Tone
02. The Lion
03. No Friendly Neighbour
04. Search For Bliss
05. No Place Like Home
06. Western Shore
07. Believe
08. Psycho Motel
09. Rain
10. Mirror & The Moon

2018 11-20:
11. When She's Gone
12. No Friendly Neighbour
13. Rain
14. Believe
15. Awoken Broken
16. She's A Roller
17. Countdown
18. The Last Chain
19. A Quarter To Heaven
20. Something Real

2013 11-20 (these 10 songs made it to the final 20 of the game and did not reach the final 10, listed in order of survival):
11. She's a Roller
11. Sins of Your Father
11. World's on Fire
11. The Last Chain
15. With You Again
15. Bright As Fire
15. White Sheet Robes
18. Misunderstood
19. Silver and Gold
19. After the Storm

2013:
Best URCHIN song: She's A Roller
Best A.S.A.P. song: The Lion
Best THE UNTOUCHABLES song: Judgement Day (this game featured 4 The Untouchables songs)
Best PSYCHO MOTEL song: Western Shore
Best PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION song: Tortured Tone

2018:
Best URCHIN song: She's A Roller
Best A.S.A.P. song: The Lion
Best THE UNTOUCHABLES song: City of Dreams (this game featured only 1 The Untouchables song)
Best PSYCHO MOTEL song: With You Again
Best PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION song: Tortured Tone

Big differences between the games:
There was way more appreciation for State of Mind. Western Shore was seen as the most popular song and the album it is on had two songs in the top 10. It had 4 songs in the top 20 just as much as Welcome to the World, but the rankings from the debut, if you add them up, were higher. Basically: the debut album did better than the second*. Silver and Gold has more songs in the top 10 in the 2018 game, but in 2013 the highest song ended higher and I think A.S.a.P was more popular back then among the members who played along. Look at the gap between When She's Gone and Blood on the Ocean on the 2018 list.


*Now I'll try to compare the popularity of the Psycho Motel songs which is not easy because in the 2013 survivor State of Mind joined the game at the same time as Silver and Gold. As soon as Rage, Money to Burn and Last Goodbye were eliminated (and some The Untouchables songs), Welcome to the World joined the battle. For certain we can say that Rage, Money to Burn and Last Goodbye were the least popular State of Mind songs in 2013, but we can't say they were less popular than the least popular Welcome to the World songs, since they never competed with each other. Therefore I put these songs at the bottom together with the first group of eliminated WTTW songs, and order them by amount of votes they had against them. (Can't) Wait = Wait so I mark it as a State of Mind era song. Just Like a Woman did not take part in 2013 so I leave it out. Click for bigger picture:




As you see, a while back there was way more distributed love for both Psycho Motel albums. I still think there is in general, but simply not in the group that took part in 2018.

 

[Forostar]

I think I'll start going through Adrian's discography again, maybe track-by-track in order they appear on this list.

For more balanced appreciation, I recommend doing the 2013 top 20 and the 2013 Psycho Motel lists as well.