Flash of the Blade

How good is Flash of the Blade on a scale of 1-10?


  • Total voters
    14
An electrifying riff opens up this simple but effective track, as Bruce tells the story of a boy who becomes a fencer. A great vocal performance and great music (including a blazing instrumental section) make this one a surprisingly great track. 9
 
The intro riff with the drums is brutal. Great fast tempo and awesome chorus. The twin-lead guitar harmonies are so melodic. The song would have been better if it had a solo/s. 7/10
 
The lyrics for the song were written by Dickinson obviously having
inspired by his involvement with fencing (later engaged and
at the championship level, winning the seventh place in the ranking of M.
Britain). They tell the story of a young man's attempt to excel in art
of fencing to get revenge for the murder of his family.
The reference to St. George and David is made because, according to
the ecclesiastical tradition, they, like the protagonist of the lyrics,
were called to face powerful opponents such as the Dragon and Goliath.
 
I love the way this one enters. That scorching riff, then the pounding drums, and finally bass to thicken things out. Man, every detail is beautifully arranged. A lot of the simple things on this album are what I find so wonderful. Bruce’s second solo song is a terrific metal tune with incredible guitar work (and fantastic bass runs and drumming), written about a boy who must seek vengeance against those who murdered his family. It’s a slightly silly song that is deadly serious in its performances. Those fucking guitars!!! ONE MAN AND HIS HONOUR!!!!!! 10/10
 
God this song's good. The instrumental section is one of the most Maideney Maiden sections that ever Maidened.

Anyway, does anyone know what the squeaking sounds from 2:55 - 3:10 are caused by? I've seen some say it's pick noise, but it doesn't feel like it fits with the guitar lines (though there's a fair bit going on so it's hard to match up) and, in my experience at least, pick noise tends to be more "clacky" than squeaky.
 
After a couple of great tracks we come across one of the weaker ones again. The introis brutal and makes you think that this is going to be another fantastic song. Unfortunately we get rather unremarkable verses and by the time the obnoxious chorus comes around it's clear that I'll never be a fan of this song. The vocal harmonies in the chorus (usually a huge fan of harmonies) ruin the whole thing for me. Gives me a bit of Sun And Steel vibes and I'm simply not a fan of Bruce's highest register. Just because he can hit some of those notes, doesn't mean he should.
The instrumental section is one of those I mentioned in the previous review, where I said that Powerslave has some amazing guitar work. If you'd strip this song of all vocal passages it would be an easy 8. As it stands currently the verses and especially the chorus drag it down to a generous 5.
 
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