Blood on the World's Hands

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How good is Blood on the World's Hands on a scale of 1-10?

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1.

After some consideration, I've come to the conclusion this is my least favourite Iron Maiden song.

For me, this song is perhaps the perfect example of why I dislike The X Factor - and that's not Blaze Bayley. In fact, I'd put Blaze as probably the best bit of this song.

The bass intro is cool, and probably the best bit of the song. But after that, the main verse and choruses just chug along. I usually think of Maiden as quite an energetic band, and this lacks that energy, that spark (even the solos feel quite boring to me) as well as a hook to keep me interested until over 4 minutes in. Then Blaze's emotive "Blood on the worlds hands" finally gives the song something, before quickly dropping it again for the same chug that persists throughout the rest of the song.

On the whole this album is like this for me. It has some cool moments and it is certainly not irredeemable but in a lot of places and songs it feels like the band are exhausted, and the music suffers from it.
 
DJMayes said:
I usually think of Maiden as quite an energetic band, and this lacks that energy, that spark
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I wouldn't listen to X factor for 20 years because of this.
However, if you give it a fair chance (for instance, pretend it's some different band), it can actually be very rewarding.
I quite like Blood, gave it an 8
 
Love the way this starts with a bass solo. It's really moody and a perfect way to start the song. The transition into the main song is a bit jarring, but I think that's more because of the production than the song itself. The transition sounds fine live. Love this song, really intense chorus. This is an example of socially conscious lyrics that are actually effective. The guitar solos are just as angry as Steve's lyrics. Love the half time chorus after the guitar solos. That was created to be an awesome live moment.

The sudden ending is perfect.

One of the great overlooked tracks from this era. If I had to choose one song from the Blaze albums for Bruce to sing today, this would be it without question.

10
 
Blaze and Steve are great on this track. It's a heavy monster. Never loved the chorus, but I like some of the guitarwork. 6/10.
 
8/10 fires Blazing stronger than before.

Blood on the World’s Hands brings things up again. The intro bass solo is pointless, Steve flubs a couple landings and the strange phaser effect does nothing to help his sound. Sorry, Steve. A solid harmonic hook and a great chorus drive this song, despite another plodding and simplistic verse where the vocals follow the guitar, which follows the bass, yada yada. There is a twisty, odd-metre riff in the bridge that is rather fantastic. This song has really grown on me over time, mostly due to the swirling music during the pre-chorus/chorus "out of control" part.
 
Love the way it starts, and the song as a whole is pretty strong. Nothing more to say really. 8/10.
 
Another one that is very, very heavy, especially lyricwise. Steve's bass intro is a highlight and one of the best he's ever written. The chorus is very chilling and menacing, Blaze's vocals fit the song's atmosphere perfectly. A very high 8.
 
The bass intro is a fresh change, but I can’t say I love it all that much. The rest of the song is alright, and a bit more catchy than others on this album. 7/10
 
The bass solo intro is a nice change of pace. A little self-indulgent, but I can dig it.

The verse riff is straightforward, but catchy. Blaze has the best vocal performance of the album here, sounding surprisingly strong and controlled throughout. He's still a little off key in a few places, but not distractingly so.

The pre-chorus isn't very catchy, but fits with the feel of the song, and it rolls into a decent interlude with an OK solo. This blows up into a big, bright chorus where Blaze even manages to do a "yeah, yeah" that actually works! This rolls back into the verse and pre-chorus, building to a sudden stop that works well.

For me, this is clearly the best song on the album overall, as well as Blaze's best vocal performance. A good producer would have coaxed this level of performance out of Blaze on every song, no matter how many takes it took; and if he sounded this good everywhere else, my opinion of his time in the band would have been very different.

Really good overall, with a few weaker elements. 8/10.
 
The intro is one of a kind - classic Steve. The verses and the melodic riff are the best parts of the song. I like the repetition of the chorus after the instrumental section (the tension is presented quite well with this part). 7/10
 
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A long but really cool bass solo opens up the song. The verses are thrown together but Blaze expertly sings them. This is a moody, atmospheric track about all the violence and darkness in the world and it's great. The instrumental and bridge are some of the best parts. Overall, it's not quite my favorite of the album, but it's really strong nonetheless. 8
 
just listened to BOTWH right after The Aftermath - while i might like individual sections of The Aftermath more (the "after the war, what does a soldier become?" section along with the guitar solos) - I was left with the feeling that Blood makes a greater statement of purpose and is a better (and less meandering) song overall
 
This song is a 9 for me. It’d be a 10 if not for the production. There’s a live version with Blaze, I forget which single it’s from, and it’s a really really heavy song.
 
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