Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Believe me, I had a really hard time placing them back there myself. In hindsight, they could probably be a bit higher, but what can I say, the boys have made a lot of great songs.
Now then, next up on our nightly update...
53. The Red and the Black
The Book of Souls (2015)
Most people seem to consider this song a "good if flawed epic", "TAATG done right", or "Rime of the Ancient Cardgame". When I first heard it, I had yet to get into Bruce's 21st century voice, and thus it ruined the song for me, though the instrumental section was a saving grace. Now that I actually enjoy his vocals on it, I no longer see it as a bad song, in any way. Sure, the vocals on top of the guitar harmonies might not be for everyone, but if you want to accuse a song of sounding bad with that, Brave New World is a better one to attack (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what they do on it... gonna have to give it another listen...). Overall, it's 13 minutes and 33 seconds of enjoyable card dealing, dice rolling, and Maiden epic-ing. On a side note, there's a book called The Red and the Black, so when I first heard of the song, I thought it'd have to do more with the book. On a side-side note, I thought the book was about war. Apparently it is not. That'd be cool. A 13:33 war epic by Iron Maiden called "The Red and the Black". Oh well. Excuse my ramblings, it's an awesome song.
52. The Prisoner
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Another TNOTB song that should be higher, but isn't. What first attracted me to The Prisoner is its chorus. For some strange reason, it evokes a sense of nostalgia for me, despite not being anything to do with my childhood and past events and such. Don't ask me why it makes me nostalgic, it just does. Apart from that, I love the drum intro, the guitar build-up, and finally the jump into the song. Classic TNOTB, classic Maiden, damn this song is low, what the fuck?
51. Mother Russia
No Prayer For The Dying (1990)
Mother Russia is an underrated epic. Wait, did I say epic? Can a five+ minute song really be considered an epic? Yes it can. Yes it can. I would argue that this song is one of the most epic songs in Maiden's career, right up there with Seventh Son, Rime, Paschendale, Alexander, and Empire of the Clouds. It's shorter than most, yet the song has a certain feel to it that screams "EPIC!" While many critics consider it a shitty attempt at doing another epic in the style of previous ones, only shorter, there are a lot of fans, and I've even found it in a list of most beautiful metal songs. Is it really actually beautiful? I'm not gonna attempt to figure it out, it's an epic five minute track, that's all I know.
50. Women In Uniform
Single (1980)
Well folks, we've cracked the Top 50. Hope you've been enjoying the list so far. At #50 is Women In Uniform. It's a strange song in the band's discography - their only cover to be an A-side (besides Bring Your Daughter, but that's a whole 'nother story), and never featured on any album, even excluded from original US releases and the 1998 remasters. Nonetheless, it's a classic track from the Di'Anno era, a fun, catchy song, and, yeah. That's all I can really say. Check out the music video too, by the way, it's a cool one.
Just to let you know, I think I've done enough mega posting for the past three nights, so expect one or two songs for the next few nights like usual. Unless I feel like dropping five at a time again for whatever reason.
