Best song contest - Round 1, Part 14

Which one is the best song in A Matter of Life and Death

  • Total voters
    41
  • Poll closed .
E

Eli

Educated Fool
All right, we had a first at part 13! There was a tough competition between Dance of Death and Paschendale as predicted, with both of them receiving the most and same amount of votes. So, they will both be in round 2.

Now comes a critically more acclaimed and probably one of the most loved (and darkest) albums, A Matter of Life and Death. Another album that deserves all the compliments it gets. Hard to make a sharp prediction on that one. Let's see the votes...

Already in round 2: Phantom of the Opera, Killers, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Revelations, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Caught Somewhere in Time, Infinite Dreams, No Prayer for the Dying, Fear of the Dark, Sign of the Cross, The Clansman, Ghost of the Navigator, Dance of Death, Paschendale
 
For the greater good of god
For the greater good of god
For the greater good of god
For the greater good of god
For the greater good of god
For the greater good of god
For the greater good of god
For the greater good of god
 
For me this is between "The Longest Day", "Out Of The Shadows", and "For The Greater Good Of God", all 10/10 songs. Out of the gate I can say that "The Longest Day" and "Out Of The Shadows" are a hair better overall than FTGGOG, so now I have to choose between a song with a stellar "theater of the mind" approach with fantastic verses and pre-choruses and a slightly lesser chorus, or a stunning power ballad whose only nitpicky weakness is the staccato notes at the beginning of the guitar solo.

I could really go either way on this. "The Longest Day" is more grand and ambitious, while "Out Of The Shadows" is arguably more consistent. Both songs have extremely high highs and only the most minor of lesser parts. Both are in the highest tier of Maiden songs for me.

But I have to pick one over the other, and today I'm feeling "The Longest Day" slightly more.
 
For the Greater Good of God is the clear winner here, I even rate it ever-so-slightly above the mighty Hallowed and Rime. It was a real treat and highlight to see live in 2018, it's something I never thought would reach the stage again, it was a special moment for me.

But, there are some stellar songs here that I'd be perfectly happy to see go through: Brighter Than A Thousand Suns, Out of the Shadows, Ben Breeg, The Legacy. The second half of this album is among the strongest of any Maiden album.
 
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Edington said:
For the Greater Good of God is the clear winner here, I even rate it ever-so-slightly above the mighty Hallowed and Rime. It was a real treat and highlight to see live in 2018, it's something I never thought would reach the stage again, it was a special moment for me.
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I felt the same when I saw them live in 2019. And for me it is very high above Hallowed and Rime.
 
On an album packed with quality, I went for Brighter Than a Thousand Suns.

But there’s at least 5 songs (BTATS, The Longest Day, FTGGoG, Lord of Light, The Legacy) that are better than anything on Dance of Death, The Final Frontier or Senjutsu for me.
 
Edington said:
For the Greater Good of God is the clear winner here, I even rate it ever-so-slightly above the mighty Hallowed and Rime.
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I agree that it’s better than Hallowed, disagree that it’s better than Rime, but certainly it’s a contender for my Top 10. Also very happy to have seen it live. The amount of people who left for the bathroom during that song are dumb as fuck. It wasn’t as good an experience as Sign or Icarus or even Aces, but it was still an awesome moment in an awesome concert. I just wish Bruce had continued the speech he started for the first two nights instead of dropping it.
 
Tough one, as the album is really strong and contains no weak songs.
Dunno, this album actually kicked right me in the forehead when it came out and it has remained one of the strongest reunion-albums for, but now I think I actually haven't listened to it full in some time. Might have to spin it around today.

Brighter Than A Thousand Suns for me this time..usually I've said some other songs like FTGGOG.
 
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I voted for The Longest Day - it's been my favorite since the album first came out and remains so today. That being said, there are others that are very close - For the Greater Good of God, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns and Out of the Shadows.

A Matter of Life and Death truly is an amazing album. I've loved pretty much everything they have done since then, but that album is pure magic.
 
One of Maiden's best albums. Every song is great and filled with great chorus, riffs and melodies. Nicko's drumming is just wow! There are quite a few epics, but the whole album has a lot of energy (more than TFF, for sure).

I voted for one underrated song -> Different World. My other candidates were: Brighter Than A Thousand Suns, The Pilgrim, For The Greater Good Of God and Lord Of Light.
 
Diesel 11 said:
I agree that it’s better than Hallowed, disagree that it’s better than Rime, but certainly it’s a contender for my Top 10.
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All three are within my Top 10, the with FTGGOG at 7, Rime at 8 and Hallowed at 9. Maybe "better" is the wrong word, as I don't think there's anything wrong with Rime and Hallowed that puts them lower down the list, it just boils down to personal preference. TheMercenary pretty much hit the nail on the head:

TheMercenary said:
Not better, just different. But the pleasure to listen to them both is the same in each case.
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