Album Closers

N

No More Tears

Prowler
Hi everyone,

First thread on this forum and I thought I would choose a topic that has been interesting me for a while.

Whilst listening to the albums from the X Factor to A Matter of Life and Death, I have always been struck by the choice of closing songs. Up until FOTD, they tended to use epics (with some exceptions). However since then they have used what I would call more experimental songs.

The Unbeliever: Probably

Como Estais Amigos: Not a traditional rocker but more in line with a ballad.

Thin Line: Amazingly diverse song that has highs and lows, vocal harmonies and a beautiful outro.

Journeyman: Fully acoustic!

The Legacy: A 3 part song with no chorus?

Do you think that Maiden have gone for more of the experimental album closers in recent times (exception with the Final Frontier)? Just strikes me as a trend. I particularly enjoy it.

Just something interesting that I thought you might all have opinions on.
 
In retrospect, closing songs on previous albums could also be called experiments. Take Rime, for instance - a nearly 14-minute track. If this is not an experiment, I don't know what is.:) Hallowed doesn't have a chorus, nor does To Tame a Land. Alexander the Great has a very unusual middle section in terms of rhythmics.
 
I think Ariana has hit on something there. It's the rare Maiden album that doesn't have a unique closer.
Since Hallowed they clearly put emphasis on finishing with something memorable.
And full marks for what the OP points out - they haven't necessarily stuck to routine and finished with the token epic either.
That gets formulaic, and that's why I'm glad Dance of Death isn't a closer, or For The Greater Good of God.
I'd also argue the folky feel of When the Wild Wind Blows makes it different too.
 
When the Wild Wind Blows doesn't feel unique to me. It's a classic Steve Harris song. But at the same time, Isle of Avalon is an experimental song and Starblind is an unusual, memorable piece. I'd argue that Starblind should've been the closer for The Final Frontier. It feels like a closer and its ending would be superb for an album ending. I tend to put it as the last track when I'm doing mixed Maiden albums, anyway.
 
WTWWB is a great way to close the album, I think. It feels like a closer. I think it is unique in that it keeps a steady pace the whole time. It never goes off into some extreme change, nor does it have a long moody middle section. It's pretty simple, yet it still feels like an epic. They did something unique there.
 
Mosh said:
WTWWB is a great way to close the album, I think. It feels like a closer. I think it is unique in that it keeps a steady pace the whole time. It never goes off into some extreme change, nor does it have a long moody middle section. It's pretty simple, yet it still feels like an epic. They did something unique there.
Click to expand...

All that plus the fact that under all the Maidenization, it is essentially a traditional folk ballad complete with a fireside story and melody. I get that Steve's done his share of lengthy songs that float between soft and heavy, but none of them are like this one.
 
I agree with Flash.

I can imagine that people like WTWWB but the longer The Final Frontier is out, the more I realize that it is not a unique song. It's impressive, of course, and it has some great moments and Bruce is really, really good on it.

But the build-up doesn't sound unique (by the way: the pace is not steady the whole time). The ATSS intervals don't give it a unique edge either (on the contrary!) and Maiden has been doing such intros (folky ones) and build-ups since the early nineties. The song is formulaic.

Back to the original question: Maiden did indeed experiment with album closers, but not on TFF.

( More on the ATSS intervals, see my last three posts on page 16 of the WTWWB thread:
http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/when-the-wild-wind-blows.21329/page-16 )
 
@ Foro
I think there's a difference between soft and folky. Fear of the Dark, The Educated Fool, No More Lies are not folky.
The Talisman intro is folky, but the song is full-on metal.
The other different thing being done here is that lyrically this is a full-on folk ballad. The words tell a complete narrative story.
The only song I can think of that has the same lyrical scope and style is Rime, but that has a prog structure.
I know for you surprising tempo changes and a wide variety of riffs and melodies are the mark of an interesting song, and Wind may not be unique on that level (interesting, but not significantly different than other modern Harris tracks).
But you have to consider that toning down the dramatics of the changes and keeping the pace steadier is a departure from your typical Maiden epic, and really in keeping with the tone of the lyrics.
And In terms of the feel and structure of the melody and the lyrics, and in the way Bruce performs them, this is new ground.
 
When the Wild Wind Blows definitely has a different sound to it. I'm not musically knowledgable, so I'm not sure I can describe it, but I pretty solidly agree with the idea that it is a Iron Maidenized folk song. The song has a really desperate feel, until the ironic twist at the end.

This song has a bit of a special place in my heart since it was the first Iron Maiden song I heard, and after hearing it I was pretty sure I would soon be hooked (though The Clansman was responsible for doing the actual hooking) (yes, I know saying my first Maiden song was When the Wild Wind Blows reveals the fact that I am very new to this band).

As far as Maiden closers go, I would say more than half of them have been fairly experimental:
Hallowed Be Thy Name
To Tame A Land
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Alexander the Great
The Unbeliever
Como Estaís Amigos
The Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Journeyman
The Legacy
When the Wild Wind Blows

I would say out of those Thin Line is the least experimental but I think it does meet that threshold. In addition all of them aside from Journeyman, Thin Line and Como are almost certainly in my top 50, and songs from that list are probably a majority of my top 10.

You can pretty well count on Maiden to make a great closer that often won't be anything you've heard before.
 
I don't tend to use the word "experimental" when describing the album closers. Looking at the list of songs, I prefer the term "progressive". For me, if you were to put each of those tracks onto a single album, you would have one of the finest progressive metal albums ever recorded.
 
Well this interesting rule certainly doesn't apply to the Di'Anno albums. Both of them end with typical-to-the-era numbers. But I'm surprised no one here has mentioned Mother Russia - When I made it to NPFTD's final track I just thought: "well, this is totally different!". Probably because the guitar melody pace and the simple, off-beat drumming probably make it sound like a whole different beast. I'd say it falls in our category as well.

Now that's all pretty interesting! I wonder then, if it's some agenda they stick to from the days when Bruce joined? Or do they come to the understanding of sealing the track list with an unusual and memorable tune during each respective album production? Perhaps I'm over contemplating. Anyway, I should instead be doing my work right now :facepalmofepicproportions:
 
I think Steve consciously decided to try to to do better and better after Hallowed be Thy Name, up to Seventh Son. To meit's clear ehe xanted to compose a very special song each time, and wanted it to close the album. Althought I agree with Pilau in considering Mother Russia as an epic song (at least one that has a epic-feel), I think Steve has broken the trend with that album, writing a more modest epic.
 
harrisdevot said:
... I agree with Pilau in considering Mother Russia as an epic song (at least one that has a epic-feel), I think Steve has broken the trend with that album, writing a more modest epic.
Click to expand...
Nice of you to agree with me, but I never actually said it. I said it has a different feel to it than other Maiden tracks and that I think it falls in the same category of experimental closers.

It's all cool though :)
 
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