'Arry's Epics (7 minutes and longer)

matic22

Ancient Mariner
I was going through TRATB thread and there was a question about Steve's epics in recent years and if he can still write a good epic. So I decided to make my list from worst to best Harris epic, using only songs written only by Harry and are longer than 7 minutes.

Candidates: Phantom, Hallowed, To Tame A Land, Rime, CSIT, HCW, Alexander, SSOASS, FOTD (It's longer than Hallowed,...), Sign Of The Cross, Fortunes Of War, The Angel And The Gambler, Clansman, Don't Look To The Eyes..., Blood Brothers, No More Lies, FTGGOG, WTWWB and TRATB.

So here is my list:
1. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
2. Hallowed Be Thy Name
3. Rime Of The Acient Mariner
4. Alexander The Great
5. Sign Of The Cross
6. When The Wild Wind Blows
7. Caught Somewhere In Time
8. Blood Brothers
9. The Clansman
10. For The Greater Good Of God
11. Phantom Of The Opera
12. Heaven Can Wait
13. To Tame A Land
14. Fear Of The Dark
15. No More Lies
16. Fortunes Of War
17. The Red And The Black
18. Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger
19. The Angel And The Gambler

*Edit: HCW added later. Thanks for reminding @Collin.
Edit 2: CSIT added.
 
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I would put POTO and The Clansman in the top three.
That track listing would make a great triple album though.
 
Phew, that's a rough one. I think personally it goes a little like this....

1. Hallowed Be Thy Name
2. Phantom of the Opera (really a 1a)
3. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
4. The Clansman
5. Sign of the Cross
6. For the Greater Good of God
7. When the Wild Wind Blows
8. Fear of the Dark
9. Alexander the Great
10. The Red and the Black
12. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
12. No More Lies
13. The Angel and the Gambler
14. Fortunes of War
15. To Tame a Land
16. Blood Brothers
17. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger
 
This is tough

1. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
2. Alexander the Great
3. Sign of the Cross
4. The Clansman
5. Phantom of the Opera
6. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
7. Blood Brothers
8. When the Wild Wind Blows
9. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. The Red and the Black
11. For the Greater Good of God
12. To Tame a Land
13. Fortunes of War
14. Fear of the Dark
15. No More Lies
16. The Angel and the Gambler
17. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger

That's just how I feel today though. The bottom four are a definite, everything else could change completely. Maybe tomorrow Fortunes of War will be my favorite. Though I don't really consider it an epic.
 
1. Hallowed Be Thy Name
2. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
3. When the Wild Wind Blows
4. Alexander the Great
5. Phantom of the Opera
6. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
7. Sign of the Cross
8. For the Greater Good of God
9. The Red and the Black
10. Heaven Can Wait
11. Blood Brothers
12. The Clansman
13. Fear of the Dark
14. No More Lies
15. Fortunes of War
16. To Tame a Land
17. Angel and the Gambler
18. DLTTEOAS

@matic22 According to your criteria Heaven Can Wait needs to be added.
 
1. Hallowed Be Thy Name
2. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
3. When the Wild Wind Blows
4. Alexander the Great
5. Phantom of the Opera
6. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
7. Sign of the Cross
8. For the Greater Good of God
9. The Red and the Black
10. Heaven Can Wait
11. Blood Brothers
12. The Clansman
13. Fear of the Dark
14. No More Lies
15. Fortunes of War
16. To Tame a Land
17. Angel and the Gambler
18. DLTTEOAS

@matic22 According to your criteria Heaven Can Wait needs to be added.

Oooh forgot about that...:eek:
 
Good poll (and some of the best songs in the catalogue):

10. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
10. Phantom Of The Opera
10. Sign Of The Cross
10. When The Wild Wind Blows
10. The Clansman
9. Fear Of The Dark
9. No More Lies
9. The Red And The Black
9. Alexander The Great
8. Blood Brothers
8. To Tame A Land
8. For The Greater Good Of God
7. The Angel And The Gambler
7. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
7. Fortunes Of War
7. Heaven Can Wait
5. Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger
 
Caught Somewhere in Time belongs in this list, @matic22


And Steve wrote more epics (e.g. ATSS which is only 8 seconds under 7 minutes), so could this topic be called "Harris' Epics of 7 minutes and longer"? :)
 
If I may digress a bit: What is an epic, really? This is a list of long songs, of which I'd argue that at least a couple aren't epics - because they don't tell a story. With that in mind, you could argue that Aces High and The Trooper are both epic songs, whereas The Angel and the Gambler isn't. With that in mind, I'd argue Afraid To Shoot Strangers isn't an epic either - it talks of the thoughts of a soldier at a point in time, before going to war. Thoughts, anyone?

As for the ranking of the listed songs, I'll have to give that one a bit more thought.
 
We need to try and come up with a definitive classification of an epic.
Perhaps a song that has a certain feel or is about a particular subject.
I would agree that TAATG isn't an epic, neither is HCW.
 
Blood Brothers and No More Lies are definitely not epics either
And CSIT is also just a long song, not epic
 
I'm sure there's been at least one 'what is an epic' thread, if anyone wants to do a search. ;)
 
In order:
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Fear Of The Dark
Phantom Of The Opera
Caught Somewhere In Time
Rime Of The Acient Mariner
Heaven Can Wait
The Angel And The Gambler
Alexander The Great
To Tame A Land
Sign Of The Cross
The Red And The Black
Fortunes Of War
Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger
When The Wild Wind Blows
For The Greater Good Of God
Blood Brothers
The Clansman
No More Lies

I particularly despise the last 5 and hope they'll never be played again live. Ever.
 
Personal ranking :

1. Hallowed Be Thy Name
2. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
3. The Clansman
4. Phantom Of The Opera
5. Sign Of The Cross
6. Alexander The Great
7. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
8. To Tame A Land
9. Blood Brothers
10. Fortunes Of War
11. Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger
12. Caught Somewhere In Time
13. When The Wild Wind Blows
14. For The Greater Good Of God
15. Fear Of The Dark
16. The Red And The Black
17. No More Lies
18. Heaven Can Wait
19. The Angel And The Gambler

Songs in the middle of the ranking is more or less interchangeable, I could swap order just depending on my mood.
Note : FotD gain like, 7 or 8 places if we talk about a live version: it's really terrific and a very classical highlight of any Maiden concert for a very good reason.

And yes, I actually do like Fortunes of War and Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger. A lot.
 
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