Empire Of The Clouds

How good is Empire of the Clouds on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    31
I'll just say it. After hearing this song 10+ times.. I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!! It's perfect and is everything I expected it to be plus more. The piano sounds great, the vocals are great, the guitars are great, the bass is great, the drums are great, the song is great! I really like how it's something different from Maiden, I like it when bands branch out and try new things that sometimes work and sometimes don't, which in this case it worked. I don't really know what else to say.. I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!! I'll give it a.... 16/10.
 
I'm really having trouble getting this song out of my head. It's a shame it'll never get on the radio, cuz it could be absolutely huge.

I guess a 5 minute radio edit is out of the question? :P
 
Just heard it again and it's so cool to keep discovering. This time I focussed on who takes on, or takes the lead in, these faster melodies. Janick and Adrian are doing the most while Dave continues with playing rhtyhm guitar. I'll try to give a more precize analysis later on.

Also, I hadn't really paid attention to the bells, but they fit wonderfully.
 
Night Prowler said:
Just... holy crap.

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I really dunno what more to say. This song is really something else. I have no complaints about anything when it comes to this song. I still think they're gonna play it live, just not on every show. Maybe just for the DVD show that's inevitably gonna be recorded?
 
NP, Bruce said they are not going to play it live. I actually think that the first 4-5 minutes of the song are really good. This is how long it takes me to get to work each morning so this is my playlist in the morning. 5 minutes of Empire as I need to get to the office calm.
 
A final reminder - all confirmed info about setlists on the forthcoming tour needs to be within spoiler tags. It's up to individual users to put spoiler tags around these details. We will be issuing warnings in future (three warnings are an automatic ban).
 
And that's gentle - tour spoilers are generally handled like leaks around here. One fail and off you go.
 
gor said:
It is a bit repetitive. But that's not my main gripe. While it is a nice composition, it would have been complete if it had a real riff and drum based climax (like Mariner does). Instead, the climax is based on the solos section and it's a little bit underwhelming. That's no storm, it's an autumn rain...
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You're thinking the "sinks down like lead, into the sea, then down in falls comes the raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain"? Well, Empire could've had something like it, but I think I side with @LooseCannon et.al. in this discussion. I think the buildup of the song fits the story well, and the fast part with singing is the point where things go wrong. I just think some of the riffs in the mid part go on a bit long. But the song doesn't feel 18 minutes long.

Btw, I have only seen a couple of mentions of the S.O.S. riff that marks the beginning of the mid section. That in itself is a cool detail :)
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
Btw, I have only seen a couple of mentions of the S.O.S. riff that marks the beginning of the mid section. That in itself is a cool detail :)
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I was listening to it in the kitchen yesterday as I washed up, my gf was in the garden clearing out the rabbit when she shouted: "Is that SOS? What the Hell are you listening to?" ha ha

When I explained what the song was about and the context of the SOS part, she wanted to listen to the song from the start and I've gotta say, she had tears in her eyes after. She doesn't even like this type of music and didn't know it was Maiden until I told her!
 
Rikstewart said:
I was listening to it in the kitchen yesterday as I washed up, my gf was in the garden clearing out the rabbit when she shouted: "Is that SOS? What the Hell are you listening to?" ha ha

When I explained what the song was about and the context of the SOS part, she wanted to listen to the song from the start and I've gotta say, she had tears in her eyes after. She doesn't even like this type of music and didn't know it was Maiden until I told her!
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And this is why I admire men who can put up with women crying for no reason at all! Most probably this is the reason why I 'll also die alone. This and the fact that I hate TXF and BNW.
 
Man I love this song. I love how it manages to sound exactly like a Maiden song yet so different from anything I'd expect them to actually do. I think it works brilliantly as an album closer as well. Love the melodies on here, the whole thing really. Not a lot of riffs or anything but just really great melodic moments which is what later day Maiden is all about for me.
 
I was fully expecting the novelty to have worn off, but no, it hasn't. Still great to listen to, and you're right, MaidenCanada, it doesn't feel anything like 18 minutes to me either.
 
It's brilliant. Bruce is the best! While I'm not so sold on quite a few of the songs on the album, it's book-ended by two brilliant slices of Dickinson magic.
 
I think it proves Maiden is still artistically fearless. As good as AMOLAD and TFF were, Empire is their most innovative song since Paschendale and Dance Of Death.
 
There's a poll over at the official BB for a favorite between Mariner and Empire. Despite the novelty, Mariner wins by a great margin (55 to 12 votes so far). I think that speaks volumes. I do not agree with the opinion that they went for the solemn approach so the song doesn't warrant an instrumental climax. Since there is a lyrical climax and Bruce himself describes the song as being divided in conceptual parts (intro - backround / flight / storm / crash / eulogy - outro) the music should have been diverse enough to amplify this. Lastly, people in this thread who believe there is a climax don't agree between them which one it is exactly, so that proves a point as well. Another gripe is that they should have went all out and used real organs instead of keyboards for the instrumentation, just like they used a real piano.

I'm being overly critical about this song not because I don't like it, I enjoy it very much, but I cannot help but seeing it as a major missed opportunity seeing that it is the longest ever Iron Maiden song, which is a statement in itself and was heralded by the press so much. It should have been much more than what it is. That's my personal opinion.
 
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