I will admit that I like listening to TAATG when I'm doing something else. I find it far more listenable as an "easy listen" than a "serious listen".
Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown
- Thread starter valacirca
- Start date
valacirca said:
Oh, is there now another Monster Magnet fan on the board?
valacirca
Trooper
SinisterMinisterX said:Oh, is there now another Monster Magnet fan on the board?
Nah. All I've heard from them is Dopes to Infinity but I don't remember enjoying it that much.
I was thinking more of post-rock stuff like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai. Some drone/sludge records I've enjoyed also have really long songs. Recordings by Corrupted in particular have tracks that go on forever.
The longest songs I remember sitting through though are from this album and this album, which contain a single 63-minute track and 71-minute track respectively. They were pretty good and had lots of repetitive parts. Quite hypnotic and entrancing.
valacirca
Trooper
Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown - Songs #127 & 126
127. Another Life (Killers) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAZjQd36MAU
"But I'm so tired of living I might as well end today"
It's another one of those how-does-this-sound-again songs for me that isn't necessarily bad, but incredibly forgettable. This one in particular, I recognize simply by that distinctive drum intro. After that... how does it sound again? Oh yeah, it's a hot little number that moves at a breakneck pace with a punkrockish feel similar to a handful of songs they did during the Di'Anno era. Unfortunately, I have to listen to the song to remember how it sounds so that I can write something about it.
More than lacking anything memorable past the intro though, it feels too much like a song that the band was trying to salvage from being lyrically unfinished by injecting as much musicality as possible. It worked to certain extent and there are some nifty instrumental passages, but did they have to repeat that solitary verse over and over again throughout the entire song? Okay, it isn't as bad as it sounds since it gets repeated only twice... but still, repeating the same verse from start to finish the way they do on this track doesn't work for me.
126. Fear is the Key (Fear of the Dark) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsmllPgUkRI
"The kids have lost their freedom and nobody cares 'til somebody famous dies"
In sports, there's this thing that fans and analysts say: "Games aren't won on paper." What it means is that a team could look menacingly good because it's stacked with great players, but it doesn't necessarily translate to success. Basically, the whole could be much less than the sum of its parts, which is what's upsetting about this song, because it has a lot of things going for it: An interesting melody, solid riffs, a powerfully deliberate galloping rhythm, fully developed songwriting and lots of musical shifts that keeps things fresh. In spite of this, "Fear is the Key" merely ends up being the best of the worst on Fear of the Dark, which is sort of like calling someone the valedictorian of remedial school.
It's a decent song that features a heavy eastern-sounding vibe, but it has some unnecessary bits that makes it feel like it overstays its welcome. It starts out strong and gripping, but loses steam midway through and starts to go really sour when it speeds up and oafishly stumbles into that middle part three and a half minutes into the song After that, it just doesn't recover.
127. Another Life (Killers) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAZjQd36MAU
"But I'm so tired of living I might as well end today"
It's another one of those how-does-this-sound-again songs for me that isn't necessarily bad, but incredibly forgettable. This one in particular, I recognize simply by that distinctive drum intro. After that... how does it sound again? Oh yeah, it's a hot little number that moves at a breakneck pace with a punkrockish feel similar to a handful of songs they did during the Di'Anno era. Unfortunately, I have to listen to the song to remember how it sounds so that I can write something about it.
More than lacking anything memorable past the intro though, it feels too much like a song that the band was trying to salvage from being lyrically unfinished by injecting as much musicality as possible. It worked to certain extent and there are some nifty instrumental passages, but did they have to repeat that solitary verse over and over again throughout the entire song? Okay, it isn't as bad as it sounds since it gets repeated only twice... but still, repeating the same verse from start to finish the way they do on this track doesn't work for me.
126. Fear is the Key (Fear of the Dark) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsmllPgUkRI
"The kids have lost their freedom and nobody cares 'til somebody famous dies"
In sports, there's this thing that fans and analysts say: "Games aren't won on paper." What it means is that a team could look menacingly good because it's stacked with great players, but it doesn't necessarily translate to success. Basically, the whole could be much less than the sum of its parts, which is what's upsetting about this song, because it has a lot of things going for it: An interesting melody, solid riffs, a powerfully deliberate galloping rhythm, fully developed songwriting and lots of musical shifts that keeps things fresh. In spite of this, "Fear is the Key" merely ends up being the best of the worst on Fear of the Dark, which is sort of like calling someone the valedictorian of remedial school.
It's a decent song that features a heavy eastern-sounding vibe, but it has some unnecessary bits that makes it feel like it overstays its welcome. It starts out strong and gripping, but loses steam midway through and starts to go really sour when it speeds up and oafishly stumbles into that middle part three and a half minutes into the song After that, it just doesn't recover.
Fear Is the Key
...and now we finally get to the song I rank at the bottom of my list.
I'll get into the reasons on LC's Daily Song thread, but it may the only Maiden track I have to force myself to listen to.
Looking at the list so far, though there are a number of specific rankings I disagree with, generally most deserve to be in the bottom third, where you have them.
...and now we finally get to the song I rank at the bottom of my list.
I'll get into the reasons on LC's Daily Song thread, but it may the only Maiden track I have to force myself to listen to.
Looking at the list so far, though there are a number of specific rankings I disagree with, generally most deserve to be in the bottom third, where you have them.
bornless1
Messiah Supreme. True Leader of Men.
ooooooooooooooo not Another Life!! So much sentimental value for me!! But hey, not top of the line Maiden, I'm down with the selection. "Fear is the key" is in a perfect, low spot on the list. Very "unmemorable" tune. Again thanx for this Val. Awesome thread.
Play Classics!
Trooper
Fear Is The Key is cool. I like the heavy vibe of the song, a bit different for Maiden.
valacirca
Trooper
Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown - Songs #125 & 124
125. Lightning Strikes Twice (Virtual XI) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5cJre33RDU
"maybe lightning shwikeshwikes!"
I should just get this out of the way: It a pet peeve of mine how Blaze delivers the chorus with an ineffective melodramatic grit that makes his enunciation sound like “maybe lightning shwikeshwikes!” and add the chorus to the band's history of questionable choruses. I don't know... I just could never get past that and hear it correctly. That's how it has and will always sound for me, which shouldn't be such a bad thing if the rest of the song didn't sound like it could have unfolded more smoothly.
One thing I've noticed from most of these songs I've put on the bottom though is that I often end up liking the solos more than the rest of the song – and to think that I usually maintain that I'm not a big fan of solos. That probably just heightens the fact that the guitarists in the band are simply that good that they can consistently churn out amazing guitar work, and that's exactly the case with this song as Dave starts out a brilliant guitar section towards the end of the song and Janick picks it up to complete what's easily the most memorable part of the song before Blaze repeatedly belts out the chorus to painfully wrap up the track.
124. The Unbeliever (The X Factor) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5OCTn2ICjg
"aaaaaaall my liiiiiiiiiiiife I've ruuuuuun awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay"
A lot of the songs during Blaze's stint with the band, in addition to (or maybe because of) having that dark vibe, also felt very organic and intimate due to their introspective nature. This track would have also worked really well to that effect if not for the measured and repetitive cadence that accompanies the verses. It just doesn't fit with the rest of the song and made the verses feel mechanical and robotic, which pretty much defeats the mood of the song (and maybe even of the album considering that this is the closing track). The most telling example of this is when that final verse comes in after a remarkable build-up by a long instrumental passage. Whatever momentum the song had going at that point just got dropped in an instant.
Anyway, this song would have been lower on this list for sure if not for that sleepy-sounding yet unavoidably catchy chorus. As it stands though, it's still one of the band's poorest efforts in adding another sprawling epic to their catalog and closes The X Factor with a whimper.
125. Lightning Strikes Twice (Virtual XI) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5cJre33RDU
"maybe lightning shwikeshwikes!"
I should just get this out of the way: It a pet peeve of mine how Blaze delivers the chorus with an ineffective melodramatic grit that makes his enunciation sound like “maybe lightning shwikeshwikes!” and add the chorus to the band's history of questionable choruses. I don't know... I just could never get past that and hear it correctly. That's how it has and will always sound for me, which shouldn't be such a bad thing if the rest of the song didn't sound like it could have unfolded more smoothly.
One thing I've noticed from most of these songs I've put on the bottom though is that I often end up liking the solos more than the rest of the song – and to think that I usually maintain that I'm not a big fan of solos. That probably just heightens the fact that the guitarists in the band are simply that good that they can consistently churn out amazing guitar work, and that's exactly the case with this song as Dave starts out a brilliant guitar section towards the end of the song and Janick picks it up to complete what's easily the most memorable part of the song before Blaze repeatedly belts out the chorus to painfully wrap up the track.
124. The Unbeliever (The X Factor) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5OCTn2ICjg
"aaaaaaall my liiiiiiiiiiiife I've ruuuuuun awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay"
A lot of the songs during Blaze's stint with the band, in addition to (or maybe because of) having that dark vibe, also felt very organic and intimate due to their introspective nature. This track would have also worked really well to that effect if not for the measured and repetitive cadence that accompanies the verses. It just doesn't fit with the rest of the song and made the verses feel mechanical and robotic, which pretty much defeats the mood of the song (and maybe even of the album considering that this is the closing track). The most telling example of this is when that final verse comes in after a remarkable build-up by a long instrumental passage. Whatever momentum the song had going at that point just got dropped in an instant.
Anyway, this song would have been lower on this list for sure if not for that sleepy-sounding yet unavoidably catchy chorus. As it stands though, it's still one of the band's poorest efforts in adding another sprawling epic to their catalog and closes The X Factor with a whimper.
I think it's long overdue that I compliment you on your effort, valacirca. I think this is one of the most interesting threads we've had in a long time.
At this point, I just want to mention that I think both The Unbeliever and Lightning Strikes Twice are brilliant songs for their own reasons. I can see how you don't like The Unbeliever though - it certainly is different if not to say difficult. To me, however, it is one of the most uniquely atmospheric songs in the entire catalogue. I personally think that at the very end, it captures the mood of the album in its entirety perfectly, and brings it to a fitting close.
At this point, I just want to mention that I think both The Unbeliever and Lightning Strikes Twice are brilliant songs for their own reasons. I can see how you don't like The Unbeliever though - it certainly is different if not to say difficult. To me, however, it is one of the most uniquely atmospheric songs in the entire catalogue. I personally think that at the very end, it captures the mood of the album in its entirety perfectly, and brings it to a fitting close.
valacirca
Trooper
To be honest, considering how brilliant Iron Maiden is, we're already far past anything that's really "bad" so to speak. Whatever criticism there is in these recent additions to the list are merely critiques relative to the rest of their catalog. These songs are still better than A LOT of other music out there 
Play Classics!
Trooper
The Unbeliever > The Legacy as far as album closers go.
If we can get a few people to actually rank all the Maiden songs top to bottom, we can try to use it to put some statistics together. I would ask you to exclude bsides, though. But include Virus.
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
The Unbeliever is fine, but the band took the best part of that song, tweaked it a little, and put it in a much better album closer (The Thin Line Between Love and Hate) a couple of albums later. This is discussed in the Iron Maiden Commentary, by the way, so I won't repeat that analysis here, though M________ dismisses it as "coincidental." I'm not so sure.Play Classics! said:
valacirca
Trooper
Deconstructing Eddie: My Iron Maiden Songs & Albums Countdown - Songs #123-121
Posting these three at the same time to round up the Bottom 30 and post the album at #13 next.
123. Judgement Day (B-Side) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBpV6xv9TPI
"As we exhale every breath / We all get closer to our death"
“Justice of the Peace” had poor verses and a good chorus whereas this one has promising verses but is spoiled by a very lackluster chorus. In any case, both songs are comparable in their fast-pace and pulsating groove. They both give off similar vibes but this is the better of the two. Hmmm... yeah, I can't think of much more. I'll just leave things at that since I can't find anything more noteworthy about the song to point out.
122. The Alchemist (The Final Frontier) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAWhFLLp6fQ
"Know you speak with demons you cannot command"
The comparisons have already been made. It feels like “Man on the Edge”, “Aces High”, “Be Quick or Be Dead”, “Montségur”, “The Wicker Man” and some other short, fast-galloping pieces in the band's collection. Whether one likes it or not will probably depend on how much appreciation there is for the band injecting a throwback to their uptempo, classic style amidst a heap of distinctly reunion-era style tunes on The Final Frontier.
I think I've already mentioned not being too keen on listening to some of the band's songs done in this fashion; so as a standalone track, I can't help but feel like they've done too many tracks like this in the past that sound much better for it to be special. Within the context of the new album, “The Alchemist” seems as though there's too little of it to give TFF a refreshing variety. When Janick declares that “We were quite far in the album process when I noted that The Final Frontier missed a real rock-‘n’-roll song," it even comes across too much like an afterthought... a necessity... like the token fast tune. So instead of being a highlight that stands out, it feels out of place and unremarkable.
There's really very little that separates the songs at this point in the countdown; and usually, the decision of what song goes next comes down to whether or not it has a saving grace that makes me think “yeah... this deserves to be higher on the list because of this brilliant bit.” I just can't find that bit on this song.
121. Burning Ambition (B-Side) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFBYM6sQIYU
"You'd better watch your steps now, woman, 'cause I ain't like those other men"
The story is that Steve wrote this for one of his earlier bands but they weren't good enough to handle it so he decided to create his own group, which eventually evolved to be Iron Maiden. So basically, this is Iron Maiden at its earliest; and as good as it sounds, “Burning Ambition” is one of the few songs that sounds really detached from the band's typical sound. Half of it sounds like the beginnings of what was to be the sound of the first two albums and the other half of it sounds like catchy and melodic 70's AOR – something like what Boston would play – and quite frankly, it sounds pretty wimpy (for lack of a better term). It's a great tune for most bands in general, but for Iron Maiden, this was just the start of greater things to come.
Posting these three at the same time to round up the Bottom 30 and post the album at #13 next.
123. Judgement Day (B-Side) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBpV6xv9TPI
"As we exhale every breath / We all get closer to our death"
“Justice of the Peace” had poor verses and a good chorus whereas this one has promising verses but is spoiled by a very lackluster chorus. In any case, both songs are comparable in their fast-pace and pulsating groove. They both give off similar vibes but this is the better of the two. Hmmm... yeah, I can't think of much more. I'll just leave things at that since I can't find anything more noteworthy about the song to point out.
122. The Alchemist (The Final Frontier) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAWhFLLp6fQ
"Know you speak with demons you cannot command"
The comparisons have already been made. It feels like “Man on the Edge”, “Aces High”, “Be Quick or Be Dead”, “Montségur”, “The Wicker Man” and some other short, fast-galloping pieces in the band's collection. Whether one likes it or not will probably depend on how much appreciation there is for the band injecting a throwback to their uptempo, classic style amidst a heap of distinctly reunion-era style tunes on The Final Frontier.
I think I've already mentioned not being too keen on listening to some of the band's songs done in this fashion; so as a standalone track, I can't help but feel like they've done too many tracks like this in the past that sound much better for it to be special. Within the context of the new album, “The Alchemist” seems as though there's too little of it to give TFF a refreshing variety. When Janick declares that “We were quite far in the album process when I noted that The Final Frontier missed a real rock-‘n’-roll song," it even comes across too much like an afterthought... a necessity... like the token fast tune. So instead of being a highlight that stands out, it feels out of place and unremarkable.
There's really very little that separates the songs at this point in the countdown; and usually, the decision of what song goes next comes down to whether or not it has a saving grace that makes me think “yeah... this deserves to be higher on the list because of this brilliant bit.” I just can't find that bit on this song.
121. Burning Ambition (B-Side) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFBYM6sQIYU
"You'd better watch your steps now, woman, 'cause I ain't like those other men"
The story is that Steve wrote this for one of his earlier bands but they weren't good enough to handle it so he decided to create his own group, which eventually evolved to be Iron Maiden. So basically, this is Iron Maiden at its earliest; and as good as it sounds, “Burning Ambition” is one of the few songs that sounds really detached from the band's typical sound. Half of it sounds like the beginnings of what was to be the sound of the first two albums and the other half of it sounds like catchy and melodic 70's AOR – something like what Boston would play – and quite frankly, it sounds pretty wimpy (for lack of a better term). It's a great tune for most bands in general, but for Iron Maiden, this was just the start of greater things to come.