Best Flight Song

Which of these is the best 'flight' song?

  • Aces High

    Votes: 29 59.2%

  • Flight Of Icarus

    Votes: 8 16.3%

  • Tailgunner

    Votes: 2 4.1%

  • Where Eagles Dare

    Votes: 6 12.2%

  • Back In The Village

    Votes: 4 8.2%
  • Total voters
    49
A

Anonymous

Guest
It's that time again, time for another 'themed' poll! Unlike the last one, this one is entirely serious (even though I briefly thought about putting in 'Lord Of The Flies'...  :halo: ), and is about the subject of 'flight'.

Iron Maiden has five songs that can arguably be construed as relating to the concept of literal flight. Three of these are album openers (coincidence?); the first three are about flying (airplanes and Icaruseses), but the latter two only make mention of the concept ('bombing runs', 'wings get shot away', 'no one should fly where eagles dare', and the paratrooping scene in the movie). At least this time they all actually have something to do with flight.

I'll probably wind up with a whole slew of themed polls, just for fun... 'best war song' with about 300 options... ;)
 
Apparently i was the first one voting.... :p

Well i voted for Where eagles dare cause i love the drum intro and the riffs :)
The solo is incredible and its a really great song  :D
 
When I first started listening to Iron Maiden, I thought Tailgunner could have been their best song <*ducks to avoid expected rotten tomatoes> because of the energy and the gritty traditional metal sound.  I then started to get into Where Eagles Dare for its drumming and guitars and the long instrumental section.  More recently I have started to enjoy more of Aces High and Back in the Village for the way the songs are laid out.  It is hard to make up my mind at this point.  :D

Notice Flight of Icarus is not on the list.  I find the song to be too slow for my taste.  I keep thinking that a more uptempo version would help.  I have never attended a concert in which this song was played, but I hear it is better live.  I was surprized that they have not played it during their Early Days tour.
 
Genghis Khan said:
Notice Flight of Icarus is not on the list.  I find the song to be too slow for my taste.  I keep thinking that a more uptempo version would help.  I have never attended a concert in which this song was played, but I hear it is better live.  I was surprized that they have not played it during their Early Days tour.
Click to expand...

They did play it at the Clive Aid at Hammersmith 2005 (if i remember right.... :p)
 
I voted for Aces High (who cares  :innocent:).  Anyway,  no particular reason,  just like it better than the other songs  :p
 
Genghis Khan said:
Notice Flight of Icarus is not on the list.  I find the song to be too slow for my taste.  I keep thinking that a more uptempo version would help.  I have never attended a concert in which this song was played, but I hear it is better live.  I was surprized that they have not played it during their Early Days tour.
Click to expand...

Flight Of Icarus is the second choice, at least it should be... I know I put it in there. I'm partial to it because it sounds just so much like Dio, possibly my second or third favorite metal band (behind only Maiden and possibly Megadeth; yes, that puts them in front of even prime-form Metallica and Zeppelin and Sabbath). Especially the end of the first chorus 'Fly, touch the suuuun YEAH! Hmmm-mmm-mmm!', it's pure Dio.

So I bet by now you're probably saying, 'Hey, there sure aren't a lot of votes. Polaris, did you not even vote in your own poll?', and you'd be right. I just can't make up my mind. All these songs have something going for me (yes, even Tailgunner), what with the aforementioned-Dio-ness, the soaring tone of Tailgunner, the riffing in Where Eagles Dare, that killer main riff of Back In The Village, and the Aces High-ness of Aces High, I can't decide. Maybe eventually I will, but I still figured it would be a neat poll to make, as these are all arguably great songs, with no real standout (although I imagined Aces High might get a majority of votes anyway).
 
Genghis Khan said:
When I first started listening to Iron Maiden, I thought Tailgunner could have been their best song <*ducks to avoid expected rotten tomatoes>......
Click to expand...
There is nothing wrong with Tailgunner. It is a very good song from a good album. :D

And I think I my vote shall be for this one. And why not? Bruce's gritty vocals on this are a gem.

Quite an underrated album, is No Prayer.
 
Albie said:
There is nothing wrong with Tailgunner. It is a very good song from a good album. :D

And I think I my vote shall be for this one. And why not? Bruce's gritty vocals on this are a gem.

Quite an underrated album, is No Prayer.
Click to expand...

Albie, through various other posts on other threads, I've noticed that you and I are the only ones who give respect to this CD.  I do like Tailgunner.  If I were to rate in now (I've not rated it, yet), I'd give it 4 stars or more.  I do think that 'No Prayer...' has lower production quality than other CDs, however.

Just for having the balls to admit you like the IMC unpopular Tailgunner, here is a praise.  :)
 
Aces High it is. I just love the intro (the use of drums is pure genius) and the opening riff (real catchy), and of course Bruce's vocals (aces hiiiiiiiigh!), although I must add here that I prefer the Live After Death version of the song to the actual studio album version (not sure why, maybe its the 'live' factor).
 
Genghis Khan said:
Albie, through various other posts on other threads, I've noticed that you and I are the only ones who give respect to this CD.  I do like Tailgunner.  If I were to rate in now (I've not rated it, yet), I'd give it 4 stars or more.  I do think that 'No Prayer...' has lower production quality than other CDs, however.

Just for having the balls to admit you like the IMC unpopular Tailgunner, here is a praise.  :)
Click to expand...

I love Tailgunner too. The verses are great in my opinion. I do like No Prayer For The Dying too. But not one of their best ;)
 
Well, this is a tough one.  I've narrowed it down to three;

Aces High
Awesome. I'm not going to talk about the live version, as I don't think Bruce performs as well on this live as in the studio. While it's fairly short and simple, the intro sets you up perfectly for the break-out into full on Heavy Metal.  Bruce's vocals are atmospheric (in terms of pitch as well as timbre!), and the pre-chorus riff is just way too cool.  The solos and post-solo riff are also highlights, as is Bruce's final note.

Flight Of Icarus
Same basic things apply, but it's got a great rocky feel to it.  The little vocal supplements Bruce puts in throughout ('Yeah...', 'Mmmmhmmm') work wonders, and his voice is as full as the guitar sound.  The solos are even better than Aces High, and that final scream is excellent.

Where Eagles Dare
Same great voice, same great guitar sound, much better drumming.  However, Flight of Icarus gets my vote, just for the sheer awesomeness of the vocals.
 
Raven said:
Aces High
Awesome. I'm not going to talk about the live version, as I don't think Bruce performs as well on this live as in the studio.
Click to expand...

I prefer the LAD live version.
Adrian's guitars in the chorus really sound like (sounds coming from) planes, and it sounds a bit crappy in the studio version. The tremolo bending part. :)
 
Here I was sitting, procrastinating, when I googled for a Yodaism I recalled: "Speaking like Yoda for no reason, you are". And here it was, in this very thread. What shocked me, was that I had never voted in this poll, which is outrageous. Therefore, I kindly ask you to excuse this bumping and accept my humble vote for:

WHERE EAGLES DARE!

Of course, I love Aces High. However, I don't think Where Eagles Dare deserves to be overshadowed by it - it has got great vocals and is a great debut by Nicko. This song gives me acute air-drumming syndrome, to the annoyance of my office-mates. The guitar solo is a bit different, and the machine-gun drumming underneath is just something special. I was really pissed off when this song was eliminated so early in the Survivor.
 
Back in the Village.  highly underrated, and my second favorite off Powerslave behind the title track.  Yes, i like it more than Mariner! *red dot appears on forehead*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top