Face in the Sand

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How good is Face in the Sand on a scale of 1-10?

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Very powerful song. I love the way this one builds up, can't think of any other Maiden song like it in that regard. The intro is very beautiful and really works perfectly immediately after Paschendale. Once this song gets heavy it's relentless. Love all the vocal melodies and riffing underneath. Very dramatic stuff. They also take a page out of Dream Theater's playbook with the classic "chorus tease" (verse - pre chorus - verse - pre chorus - chorus). It works perfectly here and the chorus is one of my favorites. Love when it comes down a bit for the instrumental section. Great soloing.

This would've been great on the live stage. I suppose if it wasn't for the double bass pedal they probably would've played it. Too bad.

9
 
It's fine, but I've never been a fan of it. It feels forgettable from the moment you hear it - but that might be due to its placement on the album, too. That Paschendale is a tough act to follow.
 
The song never quite lives up to the power of the intro. The strings and bass pedal combo is pretty awesome. But the orchestral sound is a bit high up in the mix and Bruce sounds a bit Fear of the Dark-y. But then again the chorus is a cracker. A real mixed bag.

7
 
8/10

Face in the Sand takes the moody darkness a step further with a brilliant and brooding two-minute intro. It’s the most epic intro the band has ever written and Nicko finally uses a double bass pedal (this time it’s confirmed!). The rest of the song, however, never truly recaptures the brilliance of the intro. Bruce turns his Air Raid Siren up full blast on almost every note and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it gets a little grating by songs end. That said, the song is still quite cool and heavy. A good, workmanlike latter-album tune.
 
One of the album's true gems, it's not perfect but compared to 90% of the album it's tops. A strong 8/10.
 
One of Maiden's most special songs. The atmosphere is very special in this song, in particular the first two minutes. Nicko drives this song forward with his drumming.

9/10
 
"Face In the Sand" is a strong contender for heaviest Maiden song ever. Yes, it is. It's already easily the heaviest from the reunion era! And a really great one, for that matter. Marvelous lyrics and melodies, and the waltzing rhythm surely works extremely well. Not quite an epic (even though it does sound like it), but should've been made into one. That's the only thing keeping me from giving it a full 10. It gets a 9.
 
This song features a very interesting heavy atmosphere and definitely holds your attention, but I feel it never really takes off as it could have done. Still a good song, 7/10 for me
 
I'd say my main problem with this song is the fact the very beginning of the song reminds me of DOD too much... only three songs later. I admit that it's atmospheric, but it's a bit brought down by the murky production. The double-bass is a novelty for Maiden, but I don't really like it's continuous presence in the song, it gets really annoying halfway through.

Also
MrKnickerbocker said:
Bruce turns his Air Raid Siren up full blast on almost every note and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it gets a little grating by songs end.
Click to expand...

But I don't know, there's definitely something about the track that doesn't allow me to dismiss it easily. It sounds very unique and like I mentioned, the atmosphere is really heavy here. I'd say that a "confused 7" sounds about right.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I'd say my main problem with this song is the fact the very beginning of the song reminds me of DOD too much... only three songs later.
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I've seen many people saying that about this song, but I honestly don't get it. The only similarity I see between this and "Dance of Death" is that both are built around a waltzing rhythm, but the melodies are completely different.
 
The opening guitar bit reuses the verse melody from the title track. Not sure if that's intentional or not. This builds very nicely with atmospherics to a decent heavy verse and pre-chorus.

More verse and pre-chorus, then we break into a brighter chorus 1 and 2. Just when the repetitive drums are starting to annoy, we cut to a nice interlude and sweet Adrian solo.

Another round of chorus 1 and 2, then a "whoah-oh" version of chorus 2 which is less successful. A soft reprise of the intro wraps things up.

Solid stuff, but not great. 7/10.
 
"Face in the Sand" reuses a bit of the melody from "Dance of Death" in its intro, but I think it works quite well and feels like a summation of all we heard previously. On that note, this song feels less like a song and more like an extension of the album itself. It's got a great pre-chorus and even better chorus, and as a whole I think it's one of DoD's best songs. 9
 
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This long intro is one of the most amazing melodies from Maiden. Very heavy song. It's the only song in which Nicko uses a double bass pedal. Very good verses, great pre-chorus and amazing chorus. The riff before the solo is brutally good. And the solo is fantastic - actually, Adrian's solos on the DOD album are all amazing. The ''oh-oh'' part is right in place and sounds epic. Again, superb triple-lead guitar harmonies (almost symphonic vibe to it). A hidden gem in Maiden's dicography.

10/10.
 
According to Dickinson, the inspiration for the lyrics was
mass fear caused by the 9/11 attacks in Nea
York but also the propaganda8 which was used by the media during
coverage of the ensuing war unleashed by the United States. in 2003 (with
main allies Great Britain, Italy and Spain) against the
Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. The distorted, simplified
image that they tried to promote, he consciously disoriented
public opinion from the real motives of the war.
according to him
, Dickinson, inspired by constantly
shifting desert sand, which is constantly changing the face of the landscape,
he thought that no matter how hard some people try to build empires
there, in the end, everything will be overturned by the flow of time, will be covered by
the sand of the desert, will be erased like the "reverse imprint" of one
face on the surface of the sand. This Dickinson explanation is reminiscent
intensely a scene from the movie "Dune" ("Dune") (1992), where Muad
Dib (see "To Tame A Land") imagines the end of civilization with
symbolic image of a person covered by her sandstorm
desert.
The phrase "Everyone's looking at death from the sky" refers to
satellite TV coverage of the war.
This is the first Maiden piece in which it is used
trial on drums and, most likely, the last, since, later, McBrain
he stated that he was not satisfied with the result.
 
Perhaps Maiden's best orchestration work this thing sounds huge. A great portrait on how humanity's bipolar tendencies function: one year we're the center of the world and almost invincible and the other we think everything's on the brink of mass destruction and our meaningless lives will soon all be erased when the most probable outcome is neither of those situations will happen soon. Amazing track and my #2 from Dance Of Death: 10/10.
 
Hi, I've reopened this song for voting, after resetting the votes.

Please add your vote for this song and consider the following tips:

  • Try to be consistent across the Iron Maiden catalogue. Don't vote based on the place on the album, but the place in the overall catalogue.
  • 1 should be the worst Iron Maiden songs, 10 should be the best. You can have lots of 10s and 1s as you see fit.
  • Don't vote based on other people's votes. IE, if you think a song is overrated, don't give it a 1 or 2 just because you think it's getting "too high" of votes.
 
LooseCannon said:
Hi, I've reopened this song for voting, after resetting the votes.

Please add your vote for this song and consider the following tips:

  • Try to be consistent across the Iron Maiden catalogue. Don't vote based on the place on the album, but the place in the overall catalogue.
  • 1 should be the worst Iron Maiden songs, 10 should be the best. You can have lots of 10s and 1s as you see fit.
  • Don't vote based on other people's votes. IE, if you think a song is overrated, don't give it a 1 or 2 just because you think it's getting "too high" of votes.
Click to expand...
I always do this. A 10 is top Maiden tier, period. No matter if it's on a classic album filled with other 10's or in a weaker album. There's no vicinity bias. The only situation that vaguely resembles one of that point is me getting saturated on one song due to overplaying (and by overplaying I mean listening to it so many times it wears a bit off). But even regarding that point there are songs I listened to a million times and and in the past were at the same echelon. And while some barely lost their charm others began to bore me a bit more (despite still being great tunes). So, since these are personal opinions I think it's totally fair and a testimony to each tune's freshness as the years pass by.
 
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