Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown

valacirca

Trooper
The Songs:
150. Quest For Fire (link)
149. Weekend Warrior (link)
148. Gates of Tomorrow (link)
147. Twilight Zone (link)
146. The Apparition (link)
145. Gangland (link)
144. Drifter (link)
143. Blood on the World's Hands (link)
142. Be Quick or Be Dead (link)
141. Wildest Dreams (link)
140. Fates Warning (link)
139. Nodding Donkey Blues (link)
138. Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter (link)
137. Sun and Steel (link)
136. From Here to Eternity (link)
135. Hooks in You (link)
134. Chains of Misery (link)
133. I Live My Way (link)
132. Justice of the Peace (link)
131. New Frontier (link)
130. The Assassin (link)
129. When Two Worlds Collide (link)
128. Judgement of Heaven (link)
127. Another Life (link)
126. Fear is the Key (link)
125. Lightning Strikes Twice (link)
124. The Unbeliever (link)
123. Judgement Day (link)
122. The Alchemist (link)
121. Burning Ambition (link)
120. Sanctuary (link)
119. Heaven Can Wait (link)
118. Man on the Edge (link)
117. Prodigal Son (link)
116. Purgatory (link)
115. Running Free (link)
114. Lord of the Flies (link)
113. Holy Smoke (link)
112. Virus (link)
111. The Fugitive (link)
110. Iron Maiden (link)
109. Childhood's End (link)
108. The Angel and the Gambler (link)
107. Journeyman (link)
106. Futureal (link)
105. Run Silent Run Deep (link)
104. Sea of Madness (link)
103. Flash of the Blade (link)
102. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger (link)
101. Face in the Sand (link)
100. Look for the Truth (link)
99. Charlotte the Harlot (link)
98. Only the Good Die Young (link)
97. Lord of Light (link)
96. The Thin Line Between Love and Hate (link)
95. The Prophecy (link)
94. The Educated Fool (link)
93. The Edge of Darkness (link)
92. Tailgunner (link)
91. No More Lies (link)


The Albums:
15. No Prayer for the Dying (link)
14. Fear of the Dark (link)
13. Virtual XI (link)
12. The X Factor (link)
11. Killers (link)

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I think I mentioned it here somewhere that I had this crazy idea over a month ago. The idea was to listen to all of Iron Maiden's original material and rank EVERYTHING.

I'm not sure if this is the proper forum or if this should be on the IMC board, but I guess the mods could just move this around to where they feel it's appropriate.

Feel free to comment whether you agree/disagree with what you see.

Expect around an entry a day although my initial installment is probably going to have the bottom four just to jumpstart this sucker. I'll start it off in several hours...

(BTW... I wish we had a way to embed YouTube vids so that each entry could be acompanied by an embedded video. Just a suggestion :p)

I'll just leave Eddie here for good luck. LOL.

7th-son-of-a-7th-son-2.jpg
 
So you want to rank all songs from studio albums right?

I was thinking about this yesterday haha. Today I'm gonna make my ultimate Maiden rank then.
 
Onun said:
So you want to rank all songs from studio albums right?

Everything original that the band recorded. So basically, the only exclusions are covers (there should be a poll for best iron maiden covers of other artist's songs if there hasn't been one already for a while btw).

As of my count, there are 157 tracks. I capped it at 150 songs so that it's a big round number.
 
Oh ok. I'll create the rank with the songs on the studio albums first and then I add the other ones, easier this way.
 
Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown - Songs #150 - 147

150. Quest For Fire (Piece of Mind) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi6clueAai0
"In a time when dinosaurs walked the earth..."

"Dinosaurs"? Seriously? This being a countdown and all, I open up  this list with my least favorite Iron Maiden track, and it's a no-brainer. It's from their classic era, so it stands out like a sore thumb. I don't care if some people argue that it's supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. All I know is that it features the cheesiest lyrics that Steve has ever written. The music is sub-par, the chorus is awful and everything plays out in a comically campy "bad power metal" sort of manner. The only enjoyable thing for me here is the intro, which lasts for a  good 15 seconds... after that, the opening line hits you like a sledgehammer. Makes me cringe every. single. time.

149. Weekend Warrior (Fear of the Dark) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrz7Nv2kcd4
"And the game begins / The adrenaline's high / Feel the tension, maybe someone will die... "

Early on in their career, I felt that Iron Maiden had a few songs that sounded too much like bad Motörhead ripoffs. This one though, feels even worse. If you take the time to close your eyes while listening to it, it isn't that difficult to see them performing in full leather and chains completing an awkward picture of Accept-like fashioning and an extra dash of glam.

It's never a good idea when Maiden channels other bands in their songs and Bruce comes across very Halford-ish on this one. Maybe Judas Priest could have made the song work, but this just not what Iron Maiden does well. It's not even what they do at all. It's pretty horrid. Makes me feel bad putting it ahead of GoT, actually. I'll revisit it when I'm done with the list.

148. Gates of Tomorrow (Dance of Death) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5u1m_5sDQ
"You want forgiveness and you want it cheap / I don't give redemption rewards for the meek"

To be perfectly honest, after Quest For Fire, the quality of the songs - even though they are at the bottom of this list - shoots up considerably. Having said that, this is still one of the most forgettable songs I've heard from the band.

There are just those types of songs that even after seeing the title, squinting and trying to remember it, you just can't quite reconcile "...how does this sound again?" and this is a perfect example of that. Aside from the fact that the intro sounds identical to Lord of the Flies, there's nothing going for this song at all and there's nothing to identify it with. It also doesn't help that the lyrics are exceptionally flat for an Iron Maiden track. Janick has written some really great songs, but this is hardly one of them.

147. Twilight Zone (Killers) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4zzLE1_6z4
"Wooaaaooooaaaaaooooooaaaaaaahhhhhh can't you see me?!"

One of the most dull and insipid songs that the band has recorded. Just like a lot of their worst tracks, it's the type that you have to listen to just so that you could remember how it sounds. Then you recall how bland it is and forget about it immediately after it ends. Also one of the reasons why Di'Anno should have avoided hitting those high notes too much on their first two albums.

He was a great performer and brought to the band a punky vibe that gave them some edginess during the punk revolution of the late 70's/early 80's, but he was just a good vocalist... not great. Where Bruce could hit soaring highs gracefully, Paul's voice sounds shrieky in the higher registers. After posting this, I'll see if I can find any version of the song with Bruce on vocals. That should be interesting...
 
I could do my top 10 and bottom 4. I haven't a clue beyond that. P.S. My #149 is Weekend Warrior too!
 
I couldn't disagree more with you about Quest for Fire... but meh, everyone's a critic these days. Have you seen the movie it's based one? Nothing special, but worth the watch.
 
Ah well. I've voiced my hate for QFF on this forum too much already (this is maybe the third thread where I've talked about how bad it is) I might try looking for that movie though...
 
I would not have Twilight Zone anywhere near the bottom 100, let alone 147. It's a good song.
 
Black_Thunder said:
WOW, here's a praise to ya. I can't even rank my top 10.  :lol:

I would say the Top 10 are probably the most difficult to rank.

Anyway, we discussed this in the other thread, and I said there that I don't fully agree with doing a project like this.  Listing them one by one and discussing them all makes it a lot more justified.  It should prove an interesting read. :ok:

Though by the time you're done you'll have changed your mind. :D
 
This thread is so mfu, even the comments looks like something I'm sure I already read. Hmmm...

Weekend Warrior has a lot to do with The Who, not Motörhead, and despite the historical ridiculous inaccuracy of QFF, the song is amazing and the harmonies and solos are some of Maiden's best.
 
I'm creating my own rank and it's hard as hell. I have the Top 40, now comes the hardest part, probably in 2 or 3 days it is completed!
 
Invader said:
I would say the Top 10 are probably the most difficult to rank.
I disagree. It was by far the easiest part of this project...

Invader said:
Though by the time you're done you'll have changed your mind. :D
...but this is probably true :p

Jeffmetal said:
This thread is so mfu.
Man... I don't even know what this means! LOL.

Albie said:
I would not have Twilight Zone anywhere near the bottom 100, let alone 147. It's a good song.
I know it's all subjective, but I really can't imagine what people can like about it... especially relative to the rest of the band's body of work. It's just so forgettable. Then again, when I think of how far I am from posting songs such as "2 A.M.", "The Angel and the Gambler" & "Age of Innocence" --- then I realize people will probably think the same way of me as well :lol:

Onun said:
I'm creating my own rank and it's hard as hell. I have the Top 40, now comes the hardest part, probably in 2 or 3 days it is completed!
OMG that's pretty quick to rank 'em all up. It took me a month.
 
Donner said:
Do we really need youtube clips?

*shakes head at valacirca's list.
Why not? I don't know if the head-shaking is for the list-so-far or for the youtube clips btw.

Black_Thunder said:
BTW, when speaking about original material, I don't think they have 150 songs  :D. More like 120 ;).
They have 144 from their 15 albums and a handful more released as B-Sides :) (unless of course you were kidding and I was being dense :D)
 
valacirca said:
They have 144 from their 15 albums and a handful more released as B-Sides :) (unless of course you were kidding and I was being dense :D)

Oops, I was serious, but I realized I did my math wrong  :lol:...
 
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.
 
valacirca said:
OMG that's pretty quick to rank 'em all up. It took me a month.
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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