Best Steve Harris song

What is the best song with a sole Steve Harris credit?


  • Total voters
    10

Perun

His name struck fear into hearts of men
Staff member
Since we're doing this now, let's settle once and for all what the best song is with a sole Steve Harris writing credit.
 
First, for Hallowed be thy name I woudl vote, but really, it is for Ancient Mariner Rhyme.

But Hallowed is the best.

Hello!
 
"-" is easily Steve Harris's finest composition. Nicko sets the scene with some light tapping on the high hat, which lasts about fifteen seconds, and then goes silent as we're given nine seconds of silence within which to prepare ourselves for what's to come. As soon as that bass riff kicks in, you know you're in for something extraordinary. Steve has never been more nimble at his two-finger approach to playing his instrument, and you have to wonder sometimes if the man isn't using a pick. The talent on display is incredible. It starts fast, then slows down, almost coming to a crawl, before lifting up again and running faster than any Maiden song we've heard yet.

At 1:54 Nicko returns to the scene, playing the ride cymbal before switching back to the high hat and building in intensity alongside the bass. One of the most interesting things in this song is that after about 24 seconds of this, we hear another bass enter the scene. We, the listener, may think that it's a multi-tracked piece of studio magic, but actually it's just a testament to Steve Harris's incredible skills. At 3:03 we suddenly hit the unTHINKable - Steve starts playing power chords out of the blue! Wow! Now that is something incredibly unique in the Iron Maiden discography that we have never heard before. Deftly he plays the rare chords of E, C, and D in a progression that Nicko helps define in 4/4 time. It's been ages since I heard an artist play this progressively! A further showcasing of the majesty of Iron Maiden. Truly pushing boundaries.

Now at 4:09 we hear Adrian playing a light bluesy melody that's snuffed out in 5 seconds with a roaring Janick solo! The man is a god! So many twists, and turns, and dives, it's incredible. Jan prides himself on never playing the same solo twice, and in this song he doesn't even stick to one melody! It is all over the place, going high before heading low and then ripping up the airwaves like a plane stuck in the Bermuda Triangle. Truly breathtaking. It's also his longest solo to date, clocking in at a record 2 minutes and 49 seconds.

Now we're at the 7:03 mark and things are heading somewhere really interesting. Dave and Janick start playing a riff reminiscent of "Lord of the Flies", but the guitars have been panned to the left channel in a brilliant display of defiance towards modern metal noise. Dave is also lower in the mix to allow Janick to really shine as he plays a cacophonous riff further boosted by Adrian's excellent artistry, as he bops the side of his guitar to provide extra percussion in this magnificent number. Now Steve has always wanted to incorporate some of the influences he felt from Nightwish's symphonic approach, and in this song he gets to do that. At 8:12 Michael Kenney, who was made an official member shortly before the release of the parent album, VVΘTVV, starts playing a light synth piece that is then buried under a midi-created orchestral piece that was deftly added to the song in post. Truly astounding what modern technology can assemble! Then suddenly at 9:37 we get twelve seconds of Kevin Shirley's masterful ability to brickwall the shit out of the production, and then Bruce Dickinson finally hits the scene.

Now one thing that makes this song special is that fact that even though Steve wrote a whole set of lyrics for the song, Bruce decided to ad-lib during his performance. Even though he first calls upon us to "hear the rime of the ancient trooper", we are then greeted by an onslaught of wordplay that speaks of "dying pharaohs, twisted alchemy", and even references William Blake a handful of times ("Thus I should be a chimney sweep in great England Jerusalem" and "That's when the chemical wedding turned physical"). When he screams at the top of his lungs that he "can't even see through these talismen!!!", you feel that in every inch of your body. I know that he's beaten his cancer, but in this song he makes you believe he's still got it. Goosebumps, man, goosebumps.

After the three minute, twelve second verse, Janick brings out the acoustic guitar to play a motif that reminds the listeners of Bruce's solo song "Son of a Gun" and Bruce's Maiden song "Wasting Love". Now while the song doesn't have a typical chorus, per se, it does have a refrain in the form of the bridge. This begins at 14:01, and lasts until 17:35. Bruce repeats the word "null" sixty five times in that time frame, beautiful echoing the hollowness that modern music has to offer. According to Steve, there was originally going to be a set of lyrics riding on top of that discussing modern philosophy and the dark tale of Oedipus Rex, but the band decided to cut that because they felt the simplicity would allow for a more anthemic appeal when playing it live. Shame then that it was replaced by "Wrathchild" after the first night of the Legacy of the Legacy of the Beast Tour.

The rest of the instruments all fade away for twenty-six seconds as the bass plays a mournful dirge-y riff, before Kenney returns with his piano at 18:01 to play the main theme from "Empire of the Clouds" in a cheerful nod to Bruce. Then we are met by Paul Di'Anno's triumphant voice screaming "CHARLAYYYYY" and instantly it all makes sense - this is the grand finale to the Acacia Avenue saga! Next Blaze's exquisite voice dodges all the notes required to stay on key as he strains to call the audience to "believe in the metal, the metal and the science, the science of the metal, the riffs they just slap". Bruce closes the deal at 19:45 in one final scream of "The book of the red and the marriage reception!" Then the band falls silent for the remainder as an industrial hum finishes us out. The song officially ends at 21:13 in a dig at Rush. The last thing we hear is studio chatter, as Adrian states, "I'm fucking quitting," and then there's silence.

We are left speechless. This is truly the finest song the band has ever released and represents everything Steve has ever built to over his career. So much beauty and majesty in this track that officially beats out Bruce's "Empire" for the longest Maiden song to date. I frankly have no idea how they'll top this one. Steve has mentioned in interviews that he's envisioned a sequel called "+", but given that it's been ten years since the release and Legacy of the Legacy of the Beast Tour has been greenlit for a twelfth year, I'm starting to worry that this will be it for the band. Yet even so, it's a more than worthy way to close out there career. 13/10, the greatest thing I have ever heard or will ever hear.
 
LooseCannon,
Your answer is correct. On Monday, 22 March, Iron Maiden released an album for the third time after releasing two previous albums before. Exactly nine days before, Liverpool won the League Cup for the second time after beating Tottenham 3-1 in the final held in London.
Steve Harris, however, achieved this feat by placeholder lyrics.

As I found out recently, there's some difference between real thousand_suns and mods being thousand_suns ;)
 
“Seriously, It’s Hallowed” follows the sad tradition of sequels to famous songs like “The Unforgiven II” and “Return To Hangar” in that it just reminds you how much better the original was. While I appreciate the gall of lifting two new passages from Beckett’s “Life’s Shadow” for the sequel’s lyrics, Janick’s out-of-tune wanking on top of galloping acoustic guitars just isn’t a good sound, and Blaze belting out “Ser-i-ous-ly, it’s Hal-LOOOOOOOOOOWED!!” at the end really doesn’t have the same impact as the original.

Frankly, I’d rather listen to “-“.
 
Frankly, I’d rather listen to “-“.
Agreed. The fact that it removed it from the poll makes me suspicious that there's a mod cover-up happening on this very forum. I know that the majority of Maiden fans considers VVΘTVV to be a non-canonical release, but I still say it's bollocks and I will keep saying that until the rest of the fanbase comprehends the vast tapestry in its songs. If @Perun doesn't want to seem like he's playing with democracy, he would add "-" back into the poll and stop playing around with the lives of the MaidenFans community!
 
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