Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown

Look, if someone has made a project and wants to share, I think that's well and dandy. Just realize that exactly NOBODY will agree with valacirca on this one!

Jeff - what about Paschendale (orchestral version)?
 
I wouldn't add it 'cos it's just a different mix, while Journeyman electric version is a different song to the album's version.
 
I am answered. I like to listen to that mix occasionally, to see the work of the orchestra in the background.
 
Yeah, that's a great mix of Paschendale, too, just as is with Blood Brothers and The Nomad, but they're also from the same versions that made onto the album.
 
I would not have Twilight Zone anywhere near the bottom 100, let alone 147. It's a good song.
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Well, I just want to agree with Albie here; Twilight Zone is a great song.
 
valacirca said:
Why not? I don't know if the head-shaking is for the list-so-far or for the youtube clips btw.
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I think the best reason would be that for 95% of the songs, everyone knows them already.  Another good reason: on slower connections, a large number of Youtube clips might take some time to load. I don't really mind either way though.

valacirca said:
I disagree. It was by far the easiest part of this project...
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Well, my difficulty stems from the fact that I can't even rank my top 3.  If I try to rank top X, then I usually have a huge difficulty ranking the top (X + 3).  I'm not sure I can even list my top 10, not to mention rank them.

Oh, and you might already have noticed it, but you will get criticism from someone for every single song you choose to rank at any particular location. ;)
 
Val, can I try? Note that I include studio releases only.  :)

The Songs (my opinion)
144. The Apparition (Fear Of The Dark)
"Now I'm here can you see me / 'Cos I'm out on my own / When the room goes cold tell me you can feel me"

Maiden can do a lot better than this. Their contribution to this song is so un-inspired. Their worst song (IMHO).  -_-


143. Hooks In You (No Prayer For The Dying)
"I've got a keys to view at number 22"

Another meh by me. Bruce's voice is too sharp, but it fits into the song. Still, it makes no sense to me at all.


142. Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger (Virtual XI)
"Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger / Don't look to the eyes of a fool"

As everybody else on this forum knows: The repetitiveness brought this song to it's demise. The verses are barely listenable in my ears.


141. Tailgunner (No Prayer For The Dying)
"Nail that fukker kill that son / Gonna blow your guts out with my gun"

This is one helluva annoying song with boring chorus.


140. Drifter (Killers)
"I'm gonna get my song 'till I can't go on / I'm gonna keep on roaming gotta sing my song"

Paul sounds drugged here. The chorus is good, but the rest of the song is just boring. Beast Over Hammersmith version kicks ass. Paul era's worst song.
 
Jeffmetal said:
Excluding all the cover versions, Reach Out and That Girl which aren't Maiden songs technically, there are 155 songs to be ranked; adding 4 extra tracks (Age Of Innocence…How Old? Nicko McBrain joking on vocals, Charlotte The Harlot ‘88, Journeyman Electric Version & Prowler ‘88), we got 159.
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I make it 157 (see below - note, I have not included "Mission From 'Arry"). What list do you have? I could make it 161 if I include Soundhouse Tapes - as each of the 4 tracks are different.

Burning Ambition
Sheriff of Huddersfield
Black Bart Blues
Nodding Donkey Blues
Pass The Jam
More Tea Vicar
Journey Man (Electric Version)
Virus
Judgement Day
Justice of the Peace
Age of Innocence (How Old?)
Charlotte The Harlot ('88)
Prowler ('88)

Mixes, etc. excluded, as they are just that - mixes.
>>> Blood Brothers (Orchestral Mix)
>>> The Nomad (Rock Mix)
>>> Blood Brothers (Rock Mix)
>>> Dance of Death (Orchestral Mix)
>>> Paschendale (Orchestral Version)
 
  1. 2 A.M.
 2. 2 Minutes To Midnight
 3. 22 Acacia Avenue
 4. Aces High
 5. Afraid To Shoot Strangers
 6. Aftermath, The
 7. Age Of Innocence
 8. Alchemist, The
 9. Alexander The Great
10. Angel And The Gambler, The
11. Another Life
12. Apparition, The
13. Assassin, The
14. Back In The Village
15. Be Quick Or Be Dead
16. Black Bart Blues
17. Blood Brothers
18. Blood On The World's Hands
19. Brave New World
20. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
21. Bring Your Daughter…To The Slaughter
22. Burning Ambition
23. Can I Play With Madness?
24. Caught Somewhere In Time
25. Chains Of Misery
26. Charlotte The Harlot
27. Childhood's End
28. Children Of The Damned
29. Clairvoyant, The
30. Clansman, The
31. Coming Home
32. Como Estais Amigos?
33. Dance Of Death
34. Déjà-Vu
35. Die With Your Boots On
36. Different World
37. Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger
38. Dream Of Mirrors
39. Drifter
40. Duellists, The
41. Edge Of Darkness, The
42. Educated Fool, The
43. El Dorado
44. Evil That Men Do, The
45. Face In The Sand
46. Fallen Angel, The
47. Fates Warning
48. Fear Is The Key
49. Fear Of The Dark
50. Flash Of The Blade
51. Flight Of Icarus
52. For The Greater Good Of God
53. Fortunes Of War
54. From Here To Eternity
55. Fugitive, The
56. Futureal
57. Gangland
58. Gates Of Tomorrow
59. Genghis Khan
60. Ghost Of The Navigator
61. Hallowed Be Thy Name
62. Heaven Can Wait
63. Holy Smoke
64. Hooks In You
65. I Live My Way
66. Ides Of March, The
67. Infinite Dreams
68. Innocent Exile
69. Invaders
70. Invasion
71. Iron Maiden
72. Isle Of Avalon
73. Journeyman
74. Judas Be My Guide
75. Judgement Day
76. Judgement Of Heaven
77. Justice Of The Peace
78. Killers
79. Legacy, The
80. Lightning Strikes Twice
81. Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner, The
82. Longest Day, The
83. Look For The Truth
84. Lord Of Light
85. Lord Of The Flies
86. Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)
87. Man On The Edge
88. Man Who Would Be King, The
89. Mercenary, The
90. Montségur
91. Moonchild
92. More Tea Vicar
93. Mother Of Mercy
94. Mother Russia
95. Murders In The Rue Morgue
96. New Frontier
97. No More Lies
98. No Prayer For The Dying
99. Nodding Donkey Blues
100. Nomad, The
101. Number Of The Beast, The
102. Only The Good Die Young
103. Out Of The Shadows
104. Out Of The Silent Planet
105. Paschendale
106. Pass The Jam
107. Phantom Of The Opera
108. Pilgrim, The
109. Powerslave
110. Prisoner, The
111. Prodigal Son
112. Prophecy, The
113. Prowler
114. Public Enema Number One
115. Purgatory
116. Quest For Fire
117. Rainmaker
118. Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg, The
119. Remember Tomorrow
120. Revelations
121. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
122. Run Silent, Run Deep
123. Run To The Hills
124. Running Free
125. Sanctuary
126. Satellite 15...The Final Frontier
127. Sea Of Madness
128. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
129. Sheriff Of Huddersfield (Adaptation of Urchin’s Life In The City)
130. Sign Of The Cross
131. Starblind
132. Still Life
133. Strange World
134. Stranger In A Strange Land
135. Sun And Steel
136. Tailgunner
137. Talisman, The
138. These Colours Don't Run
139. Thin Line Between Love & Hate, The
140. To Tame A Land
141. Total Eclipse
142. Transylvania
143. Trooper, The
144. Twilight Zone
145. Unbeliever, The
146. Virus
147. Wasted Years
148. Wasting Love
149. Weekend Warrior
150. When The Wild Wind Blows
151. When Two Worlds Collide
152. Where Eagles Dare
153. Wicker Man, The
154. Wildest Dreams
155. Wrathchild

Extra Songs
1. Age Of Innocence…How Old? (Nicko McBrain joking on vocals)
2. Charlotte The Harlot ‘88
3. Journeyman (Electric Version)
4. Prowler ‘88

Not included: Cover versions, different mixes of studio albums songs, The Soundhouse Tapes versions, Mission From 'Arry, Reach Out & That Girl which aren't technically Maiden songs.
 
Jeffmetal said:
Excluding all the cover versions, Reach Out and That Girl which aren't Maiden songs technically, there are 155 songs to be ranked; adding 4 extra tracks (Age Of Innocence…How Old? Nicko McBrain joking on vocals, Charlotte The Harlot ‘88, Journeyman Electric Version & Prowler ‘88), we got 159.
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Hm. These are the 13 other songs I counted on top of the 144 studio album tracks:

Bayswater Ain't A Bad Place To Be
Black Bart Blues
Burning Ambition
I Live My Way
Invasion
Judgement Day
Justice of the Peace
Mission From 'Arry
More Tea Vicar
Nodding Donkey Blues
Pass The Jam
Sheriff of Huddersfield
Virus

(The difference with your list is that mine has Bayswater and 'Arry --- which is just to say that I counted them as "original recordings". It doesn't necessarily mean that they're part of the countdown :p)

Onun said:
1 month, really?The first 30 or 40 songs are very easy (I have a mental list of my favourite IM songs), the hardest part are the last ones, the ones I don't really listen so I'll have to listen them all, but it will never take 1 month!

You will be posting 4/5 songs everyday until reaching the nº 1?
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What can I say... I wanted to be thorough :p I was thinking more like one per day actually :lol: I just posted several to jumpstart the thread. Hehe.

LooseCannon said:
Just realize that exactly NOBODY will agree with valacirca on this one!
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Invader said:
Oh, and you might already have noticed it, but you will get criticism from someone for every single song you choose to rank at any particular location. ;)
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Of course. Coupled with the fact that people are more inclined to speak up when disagreeing about something more than when agreeing with it, there's going to be a lot of criticism here. Sounds fun.
 
For instance I really love Quest For Fire. It may be one of the weaker POM tracks, but man that last note that Bruce holds out ("discover of maaaaaan!") gets me every time. Now that's resonance.
 
Moonchild33 said:
For instance I really love Quest For Fire. It may be one of the weaker POM tracks, but man that last note that Bruce holds out ("discover of maaaaaan!") gets me every time. Now that's resonance.
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Good point. That is a good bit, I agree. the outro too actually. It complements the intro well. All in all, that's 25 good seconds from QFF...
 
BAABPTB is bonded with Space Staton Nº5 (Montrose cover) and it's a similar case to Mission From 'Arry.
 
Vala, I've been trying to do the same thing along with LC's Daily Song series — give each track a good listen, then slotting it in compared to the ones that came before.
I had my playlist organized in a lose ranking prior to that, but the one day at a time thing is really making me think about it more.
It ain't easy.
 
It's definitely not easy. Aside from that, you also have to decide and know when to stop when you're "thinking about it too much" already :p
 
I've been trying to create the damn rank but it's so hard. I've only done the top 65, it will take some time after all haha.
 
^ Generally, I'd advise against rushing :D which is why this took me a month. Hehe. And I'm actually still tweaking it as I go along...

146. The Apparition (Fear of the Dark) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R8ch0z6FuU
"We'll meet up again some place,  some way ...one day."

Never has an Iron Maiden track been so desperately lacking of a chorus than on this song. Whoever thought that putting together two sets of eight musically and lyrically uninspired verses should be tied to a chair, eyes glued open, and be subjected to all of Justin Bieber's videos on repeat for an entire day. Yes, ala-A Clockwork Orange.

It's not even the repetitiveness of it (although that doesn't help either). If it was, then I'd be hating "The Angel and the Gambler" immensely as well... but as it turns out, I actually like that song. "The Apparition" suffers more from being pedestrian and devoid of anything exciting or catchy more than anything else. The drum patterns are elementary, the riffs are nondescript, the vocals come across as very matter-of-factly, and the solos are hardly at the level where it can save the rest of the song. This is Exhibit B why FotD should have only been around as long as SSoaSS.
 
139. Twilight Zone (Killers)
"Oooohhhh, I'm crying / Ooooohhhh, deep inside of me"

After the rocking Purgatory, we thought "Maiden made a perfect album"... and then... BANG!!!! Gotcha! Even if not the worst on the album, it's completely forgettable. The only plus on this song is the riff.
Hey val, I'll stop right here and wait for you, so we can equally rank them  :D.
 
valacirca said:
It's not even the repetitiveness of it (although that doesn't help either). If it was, then I'd be hating "The Angel and the Gambler" immensely as well... but as it turns out, I actually like that song. "The Apparition" suffers more from being pedestrian and devoid of anything exciting or catchy more than anything else. The drum patterns are elementary, the riffs are nondescript, the vocals come across as very matter-of-factly, and the solos are hardly at the level where it can save the rest of the song. This is Exhibit B why FotD should have only been around as long as SSoaSS.
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I agree wholeheartedly. FOTD should have been trimmed down four songs (pick four of From Here To Eternity, Fear is the Key, Wasting Love, The Apparition, Chains of Misery and Weekend Warrior) and it would be a good album. It has a couple of classics and some other really good songs (like Childhood's end).

Both this album and NPFTD suffer from being longer than they need to. Same goes for Dance of Death. Take out Wildest Dreams, Age of Innocence and New Frontier, and the start-to-finish listening experience benefits from it.
 
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