Best Song Contest- Round 3, Part 3- The Grand Final!

FTGGOG won the title of Song of the Decade for 2000s so deservedly and became the 3rd song in Round 3. One more to go... This time we will select the song of the 2010s and as I stated earlier at round 1, Senjutsu will compete in that category since there isn't another IM album in 2020s. (It was recorded in 2019 anyway...:smartarse:)

Still in round 2: The Talisman, The Book of Souls, Hell on Earth

Already in round 3: Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Sign of the Cross, For the Greater Good of God
 
TBOS being my all time fav. song gets my vote of course. However the other 2 are almost equally great songs and those 3 songs together are better than the first 3 albums put together IMHO.
 
The Book Of Souls for me. Hell On Earth is nice, but there is a lack of consistence. The Talisman is pretty like The Legacy, very great story, but The Book Of Souls has this Rime Of The Ancient Mariner vibe that definitively got me.
 
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Three absolutely classic songs!

The Talisman - the best song on its album and I love it. The verses, the chorus, the gallop and the instrumental section are superb. The intro is maybe too long, but it sets the atmosphere amazingly well and the song wouldn't be complete without it. Janick's solo is short, but it fits.

The Book Of Souls - amazing song. I really like that it has two distinctive parts (slow and fast). The intro, the riff, the verses, the pre-chorus and the instrumental section (along with the solos) are awesome. The chorus is good but weaker than the other two songs choruses imo. This song would be my 3rd choice.

Hell On Earth - although I wanted the chorus to be repeated one more time, I can say that every part of the song is perfect! Not many Maiden songs can touch the majestic feel of this song. I love it and it's a Top 10 song for me, so my vote goes for it.
 
Phantom, Hallowed?

Why do you think so? Because of the lack of repetition of the first chorus or because the song only has one verse and one pre-chorus? I wouldn't say that.
This song is not heavy enough for me. There is a X Factor vibe in it, but songs like The Aftermath and Blood On The World's Hands are much more powerful, for example. Hell On Earth is too cheesy, not enough "muscular".
 
Hell on Earth has become my new favorite IM song (after decades of Hallowed by thy Name) which is rather out of character since I usually judge songs by their technical precision. There's a good reason Rush and Yes are my lifelong favorite bands.

But there's something about HoE that is so intensely emotional and beautiful that it overrides all my usual criteria. It's just a brilliant, gorgeous song.
 
Phantom, Hallowed?
yes of course. I'm not a big fan of Hallowed anyway. I find TNOTB album extremely overrated. The best song in the album is Children of the Damned for me but it's not on par with those 3. Honestly I think The Talisman is better than the whole TNOTB album.
 
I know the battle is going to be between TBOS and HOE, but neither of those epics fully win me over with some regard to them. “The Talisman”, on the other hand, is a terrific, heavy, hard-hitting tale of hope and despair that proves that even on a weaker Iron Maiden record, Iron Maiden are still Iron Fucking Maiden. It is a latter-day triumph by the gods of heavy metal and stands among their best work. Steve’s lyrics are on point, Janick’s music is gripping, and Bruce’s performance is the culmination of a lifetime. It’s also one of the rare times on the album where the production isn’t holding anything back from its fullest potential.

“The Book of Souls” is strong, but ultimately just a fun romp through history. “Hell on Earth” is transcendent in a lot of its moments but seems like it never quite gets brought to the place it deserves to land at and needed just a little more time to cook. “The Talisman” is pretty much perfect, and I know people will flock to the newer releases but let us not forget what a triumph it is. From the quiet, mesmerizing intro to the final chorus where all of the band’s soul fully shines (I can just imagine the goosebumps piling up on their skins as they laid it down in studio, and even more so pulling it off live), it’s a truly remarkable and phenomenal song, without a second wasted.
 
I know the battle is going to be between TBOS and HOE, but neither of those epics fully win me over with some regard to them. “The Talisman”, on the other hand, is a terrific, heavy, hard-hitting tale of hope and despair that proves that even on a weaker Iron Maiden record, Iron Maiden are still Iron Fucking Maiden. It is a latter-day triumph by the gods of heavy metal and stands among their best work. Steve’s lyrics are on point, Janick’s music is gripping, and Bruce’s performance is the culmination of a lifetime. It’s also one of the rare times on the album where the production isn’t holding anything back from its fullest potential.

“The Book of Souls” is strong, but ultimately just a fun romp through history. “Hell on Earth” is transcendent in a lot of its moments but seems like it never quite gets brought to the place it deserves to land at and needed just a little more time to cook. “The Talisman” is pretty much perfect, and I know people will flock to the newer releases but let us not forget what a triumph it is. From the quiet, mesmerizing intro to the final chorus where all of the band’s soul fully shines (I can just imagine the goosebumps piling up on their skins as they laid it down in studio, and even more so pulling it off live), it’s a truly remarkable and phenomenal song, without a second wasted.
I agree on everything you stated about The Talisman. Everytime I listen to it, I feel like I'm in the ship with the narrator. The song captures me so intensely, no other song has made me feel like that. I think the story would make a great movie (with a soundtrack by Iron Maiden :) )
 
Talisman, yes. Great storytelling and very visual song, a crashing storm of sound with Bruce battling to be heard over it. TBOS is okay, but still sounds to me like a Gers/Harris attempt to relive Dance of Death glory - which they actually did far better with The Time Machine in my opinion. Hell on Earth is fine too, but likewise, sounds like Steve's second attempt to write the epic to end all epics after Red and the Black didn't quite meet the mark.

Talisman sounds like it just flowed easily, creatively.
 
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Talisman, yes. Great storytelling and very visual song, a crashing storm of sound with Bruce battling to be heard over it. TBOS is okay, but still sounds to me like a Gers/Harris attempt to relive Dance of Death glory - which they actually did far better with The Time Machine in my opinion. Hell on Earth is fine too, but likewise, sounds like Steve's second attempt to write the epic to end all epics after Red and the Black didn't quite meet the mark.

Talisman sounds like it just flowed easily, creatively.
I agree about the flow of The Talisman (and for all 3 songs imo, actually) and the connection between The Time Machine and Dance Of Death, but why is ''writing the epic to end all epics'' seen as a bad thing? It's great if Steve can push himself again and again with every album and song. The songs are instant classics for a reason. And The Red and The Black has more different parts and repetition than Hell On Earth, so the song doesn't feel like it's dragged out just to make it feel even more epic.
“Hell on Earth” is transcendent in a lot of its moments but seems like it never quite gets brought to the place it deserves to land at and needed just a little more time to cook.
While I agree that The Talisman is classic Maiden from the 80's but done in the Reunion era, I can't agree with your statement above. Yeah, the song could have been a bit longer, but it's perfect in one way or another. ''Transcendent'' means it succeeded with its message/vibe/meaning/emotion.
 
All right, we ended round 2 with the triumph of Hell on Earth in the last part. We are in round 3 with 1 song from each decade. Let the semi-finals begin...

Songs in round 3: Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Sign of the Cross, For the Greater Good of God, Hell on Earth
 
Both are really great epics for me. I prefer SOTC due to better guitar melodies, the intro and the slow ending.
 
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