Dance of Death

How good is Dance of Death on a scale from 1-10?


  • Total voters
    26
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Forostar said:
My opinion is somewhat different.  :D

Looking at the Bruce's performance I think the song contains some beautiful drama (he's very much into it!) and the music contains spectacular guitarwork (melodies and solos I find better than in Paschendale), tight drum patterns and really nice tempo changes.

Don't forget that the film was the idea, and the lyrics don't have to follow it exactly.

:huh: But I did mention Bruce's performance, I love it too  Also check my rating about the song, not that bad  ;)

Will-I-Am said:
Bruce's interpretation during the first 2 1/2 minutes of the song,
brings me in mind an imaginary narration of Shakespearean actor -and that's a compliment of course!
Especially after 1:09, the whole atmosphere thrills me to the bone

[...]
I believe that the scenario should be a bit more developed to have a perfect song
4 1/2 stars

[...]

Don't forget that the film was the idea, and the lyrics don't have to follow it exactly.

Yes, this is correct. Also some lyrics at the end are a recognizable reference to the film, if you know about it :

When you know that your time has come around
You know you'll be prepared for it
Say your last goodbyes to everyone
Drink and say a prayer for it


The knight is prepared; he somehow sacrificed himself to die earlier and save the child
He is sitting with his friends and love of his life at a table
and they are praying...

;)
 
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

I was blown away when I had first heard this song. I was just barely getting into Maiden, and I could not stop listening. The song is instrumentally amazing. From the acoustic intro to the bridge leading into the main riff to the solos to the ending, the track's drum work, bass, and guitar blend together perfectly. I personally enjoy Janick's solo the most in this track, but don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from Davey or H here, but I fell in love with Janick's solo the minute I heard it. It had speed and emotion and it fit the song perfectly, to my ears. The song keeps me entertained from start to finish and captures my imagination with it's rather cheesy, yet enchanting and dramatic lyrics. I give it a 4.5, just lacking a bit in the lyric section, but definitely one of the best songs off of Dance of Death.
 
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

My second favorite song on the album and a member of my Top 10 Maiden Songs list.
 
Re: 'dance Of Death'

Forostar said:
Here is more info behind this track, found on the web. By the way, the whole interview (more than a year old) is pretty interesting, also handling about other songs!

source:

[a href=\'http://www.cavemanproductions.com/IMivs.html\' target=\'_blank\']http://www.cavemanproductions.com/IMivs.html[/a]Dance of Death IS SPIRITUAL love Prance



Q50 When you were co-writing the track ‘Dance Of Death’, did you come up with that catchy ‘devil’s trill’?

There was something I put together quite a while ago and I played it to Steve and he really… he liked it a lot and he came in with some melody ideas for it, for the different… vocal melodies and stuff. And then he came in with a couple of thematic melodies which run through it as well. And so he was just putting different ideas together. It was basically the same as it is now, with a few little bits and pieces added. And the idea originally was a movie I saw years ago – ‘The Seventh Seal’, Ingmar Bergman movie. It’s a really old famous movie. I think it was done about ’57 or something like that, black and white, and what struck me, there was a knight in there who was looking for something in the world that would be worth surviving for and Death comes for him and he wants to survive long enough to find some faitih and some humanity in this world of plague and wars that he lives in and he begs Death tolet him live long enough to find this faith and hope and Death plays chess with him, and it’s kind of an allegorical tale and it’s very… I find it a fascinating tale. And at the end, Death comes for him and he takes him away, him and this little troupe that he’s with. And the end of the movie – which I’m told was something that they just stuck in at the very end and all the actors had gone home and they had to… it was something that Ingmar Bergman just had an idea for. And the end of the movie, they do the Dance Of Death into the distance and you see them dancing over the mountains, and it just struck a chord with me. For a long time I’ve thought about doing something about that, and so I took that idea into Steve and he took it on a completely different tangent, he went somewhere else with it and expanded it and came up with some amazing words, and it’s quite an epic song and it’s thematic in content, and I think there’s very few bands can do those kind of songs any more, or allow themselves to do it. And we perhaps have a little bit of freedom. I think with that song and with ‘Paschendale’, there’s not too many bands who can do songs like that.
:shred:
 
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

The riff at 5:16 (and again at 6:28 in a lower key) is one of my favorite Maiden moments. So much feeling! Janick and Adrian both play the riff, right?
 
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Didn't really know this song until found out they were playing it on TFF tour. Heard it and immediately it reminded me of the Master and Margarita, with the damned all celebrating at Satan's ball... the same kind of warning of not just mortality, but of the afterlife. Memento mori. It does sound a little Spinal Tap to me, but boy, it's a pretty fabulous song nonetheless. And live on TFF tour, it was pretty fantastic. :edmetal:
 
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Dead Boss said:
This was first Maiden song I've heard and it's one of my favourite. It's certainly best song on album. I like that main riff, and the melodic part(Dave?) after damn great solos, orchestra in the background gives me shiver, simply great song.
:yey:

great guitar work.
 
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Suicidehummer said:
Anyone else think the ending s a bit redundant?...

"To this day I guess I'll never know
Just why they let me go"

Didn't he say he escaped because a "skirmish started" and it took the attention away from him?

"But I'll never go dancing no more
'Til I dance with the dead"

Didn't he just dance with the dead? Isn't that what the song was about?

I think it means that he'll never repeat the experience until he is dead, and consequently takes part in the Danse Macabre.
 
Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Yes. As for the first one, the physical figure of Death is the type that can take any shape or form and take any souls that it pleases. Obviously the narrator of the song was freed from that.
 
Daily Song: Dance of Death

Welcome to the Daily Vote Thread! Rules are here.

Remember, only a decent review will count towards the contest.

Today's song: Dance of Death

Yesterday's song remains open for voting! You can find it here.

Let me tell you a story to chill the bones....

Fantastic. From start to finish a masterpiece of storytelling, with a different, wonderful sound that shows how the band's horizons have widened in the new reunion era. Gers is at his best here, and Bruce sounds amazing.

10/10. Second best song on the album.
 
Re: Daily Song: Dance of Death

Best song of the last 6 albums (TXF-TFF). Fantastic melodies, vocals, everything! 10/10!
 
Re: Daily Song: Dance of Death

LooseCannon said:
Second best song on the album.
  :yes:

Great track. Amazing instrumentation and lyrics. (save for the Prancing bit) The best part is, there is no repetition at all. A true epic. One of the best Reunion-Era songs. 10/10
 
Re: Daily Song: Dance of Death

10/10 without question. Everything is absolutely fantastic, just how NightProwler put it (yes, I find this better than Paschendale).  :)
 
Re: Daily Song: Dance of Death

I really enjoy this song, the lyrics, the subject matter, and think the last 60% of the song is pure Maiden metal. However, the first 40% has some really glaring deficiencies: everyone knows danced/pranced, but I really hate the lyrics after it as well, the whole "undead/all of them"... plus, I think the rhyming of still with still ("as if time had stopped still, I was numb with fear but still...") was really lazy. Live this song rocks. I couldn't give it higher than an 8, though, because of the lazy lyrics from about 1:45 in to 3:00. Remove that 1:15, or better yet, re-write it, and this is a 10.


Listening to the song right now, I would also like to point out that the vocals that come in from 6:14 on to the end are PURE Maiden. I think it's one of the best moments on the album. It might get me up to about an 8.8, but we all know we round down here!
 
Re: Daily Song: Dance of Death

I think this song is overrated by the forum, the intro is too long and it doesn't really become great until the last few minutes.  Still an 8.
 
Re: Daily Song: Dance of Death

First impressions matter. And my first impression of this song was of a dwarf prancing around the Spinal Tap Stonehenge. Which is kinda sad because it has always tarnished for me what really is an epic track. Its slow creep up my personal rankings was helped by the last tour. Dare you to go walking through the graveyard at midnight with this one ringing in the headphones. Nine.
 
Re: Daily Song: Dance of Death

Yeah, great song. Incredible progression, especially during the build-up. Bone-chilling material. The instrumental section once again is sublime and it truly 'tell(s) you a story to chill the bones'. I'm quite fond of the orchestral version, too. There's really a lot happening everywhere and there is not a boring second. I'm unsure whether to give it a 9 or 10. What the hell, 10/10.
 
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