Bruce Dickinson Solovivor 2024 - "BOOK OF THEL" WINS!

[Shmoolikipod]

Aquarius is just more... Moving.

 

[Jer]

I’m OK with either one winning, but I’ll vote down Darkside this time.

 

[Kalata]

At least Tears lost to two masterpieces. Both deserve to win.

Vote: I know my previous round vote was the exact opposite (shows how strong and great the songs are), but Book Of Thel just sounds so epic (that mystical and ancient vibe!). I love Aquarius, but. I voted for it.


Overall the Top 10 is great. I would change a couple of songs.

 

[Diesel 11]

Did not expect this to be so one-sided, especially as “Thel” was barely staying alive last round and had some higher votes in others. But I’m absolutely for this. Anyone else wanna pop in and throw us a vote? You have until tomorrow evening!

 

[Vaenyr]

Always loved Darkside Of Aquarius, especially the sing-along parts towards the end, but compared directly to Book Of Thel it almost feels unfinished. The latter is simply a better and stronger composition on some similar musical ideas, imo.

 

[Diesel 11]

The gap is narrowing, folks… we went from a 3-10 blowout to a tighter 9-12. 21 responses so far… does “Thel” have what it takes to pull this off or will “Aquarius” make one last push to victory? The game ends tomorrow night at 5pm EST, so be sure to throw in some extra votes if you can!

 

[Kalata]

Always loved Darkside Of Aquarius, especially the sing-along parts towards the end

The sing-along parts in Aquarius is one of my favortie features in a song.

but compared directly to Book Of Thel it almost feels unfinished. The latter is simply a better and stronger composition on some similar musical ideas, imo.

Book Of Thel sounds stronger, but unfinished? The calm middle part is clearly indented to lead to the other half's idea. Like in Hell On Earth, but the chorus is repeated.

 

[Vaenyr]

The sing-along parts in Aquarius is one of my favortie features in a song.

Book Of Thel sounds stronger, but unfinished? The calm middle part is clearly indented to lead to the other half's idea. Like in Hell On Earth, but the chorus is repeated.

I meant that Aquarius almost feels unfinished. It's obviously a fantastic and legendary song, but imo they took some of the ideas from Aquarius and perfected them when writting Book Of Thel.

 

[Diesel 11]

And the winner is...



It was a hard-fought final round, a mere vote away from a tie, but the centerpiece to Bruce's most acclaimed album has come back to win the Survivor for the first time since 2010. A worthy conclusion to a fantastic Survivor, thank you all for playing along!

Top 10
01. Book of Thel ▲3
02. Darkside of Aquarius ▲1
03. Tears of the Dragon ▼2
04. Omega ▼2
05. Chemical Wedding ▲1
06. The Tower ▼1
07. Jerusalem ▲1
08. Accident of Birth ●returning
09. The Alchemist ●returning
10. A Tyranny of Souls ●new

Out of the Top 10:
Navigate the Seas of the Sun (#7)
Arc of Space (#9)
Kill Devil Hill (#10)

(Comparison stats taken from the 2018 ranking game, see first post for direct comparison to the most recent Survivor from 2016.)

If anyone wants a record of the full game, shoot me a message and I'll send you a link to my file. Too lazy to go through and mark down how each song did like NP does.

 

[Diesel 11]

Standings of the Ultimate Top 10:

				Total	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII
1	◄0	Darkside of Aquarius	Accident of Birth	65	9	9	10	10	10	8	9
2	◄0	Book of Thel	The Chemical Wedding	59	10	10	4	9	9	7	10
3	◄0	Omega	Accident of Birth	50	8	2	8	8	8	9	7
4	▲1	Tears of the Dragon	Balls to Picasso	43	6		7	7	5	10	8
5	▼1	Jerusalem	The Chemical Wedding	40	2	8	10	6	7	3	4
6	◄0	Chemical Wedding	The Chemical Wedding	39	7	6	5	4	6	5	6
7	◄0	The Tower	The Chemical Wedding	35	4	5	6	5	4	6	5
8	▲1	The Alchemist	The Chemical Wedding	12		4		3	3		2
9	▼1	King in Crimson	The Chemical Wedding	10	5	1	2	2
10	◄0	Navigate the Seas of the Sun	Tyranny of Souls	9		3	1	1		4
11	▲2	Accident of Birth	Accident of Birth	8	3				2		3
12	▼1	Silver Wings	The Best of Bruce Dickinson	8	1	7
13	▼1	Kill Devil Hill	Tyranny of Souls	5			3		1	1
14	◄0	Arc of Space	Accident of Birth	2						2
15	●new	A Tyranny of Souls	Tyranny of Souls	1							1

 

[Vaenyr]

Thank you for hosting!

 

[Brigantium]

I don't remember Tears of the Dragon being as popular last time!

Thanks for hosting

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Thanks for hosting! Good top ten, minus Tyranny of Souls which is absurd.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

Thanks for hosting! Good top ten, minus Tyranny of Souls which is absurd.

Agreed. I would’ve preferred Trumpets of Jericho or even Gates of Urizen in the top 10.

 

[Diesel 11]

I don't remember Tears of the Dragon being as popular last time!

When I did the ranking game where each song got rated from 1-10, it was the runaway winner. It hasn't always faired as well in the Survivors though, in 2016 it was #6 and in SMX's second game back in 2010 it didn't even make the Top 10!

Good top ten, minus Tyranny of Souls which is absurd.

Yeah, must be Dio fans.

Agreed. I would’ve preferred Trumpets of Jericho or even Gates of Urizen in the top 10.

Well unfortunately MaidenFans is full of "Trumpets of Jericho" haters, it does not do nearly as well on this board compared to where I'd rank it (definitely in the Top 5, if not my #1).

Gotta give credit where credit is due, "Tyranny" is a really interesting track with its Macbeth inspiration and dark passages and booming chorus. It's the first time it's ever made the Top 10 and even then, only barely cracked it. It's not my favorite song off the album but as the sole inclusion I kinda like where it's at.

I think it's a really, really strong list overall, I'm quite proud of all of us. The dark horse candidates of "Tyranny" and "The Alchemist" (probably boosted thanks to Bruce playing it live this year!), and the rest is basically a greatest hits ensemble for Bruce. I'd say "Jerusalem" would be the other dark horse but it's been in the Top 10 in every single game. I'd have loved to see "Back from the Edge" make the Top 10 but otherwise it's really solid. The Top 4 also aligns with the Ultimate Top 4 so that's a good sign lol.

 

[Vaenyr]

Thanks for hosting! Good top ten, minus Tyranny of Souls which is absurd.

Absurdly good, fixed that for you