No. 15 - Afraid to Shoot Strangers (see first post for 50-15)
(Harris, 1992 -> on stage-status: last time in 1998)
If there's one song I have an emotional connection with, it's got to be this one.
Due to some personal issues I couldn't see Bruce's farewell tour in 1993. It was going to be my second concert and I was very disappointed, because I thought I'd never see Maiden with Bruce again. I remember that I played
A Real Live One a lot around that time, and sometimes, this live version recorded in Stockholm even brought tears in my eyes.
When I hear it, it brings me back to 2 September 1992 when I witnessed this song for the first time, in concert. After Bruce ends with
No trust, no reasoning, no more to say, the song's melodies are so powerful, piercing straight through my heart. Steve's bass and Nicko's drums carry the whole thing with immense force, and I remember Bruce kept us busy during this section. He stimulated the wave of v-shaped arms in the air. Thousands of arms making the same moves, while this enchanting music took away my breath.
It was and still is the best song from the first new album I bought since I was a fan (I became a fan in 1991). It's in the same league of the best material that came out since, but it made a bigger impression than most of that stuff.
Actually, with this song Maiden tried out something new, namely a rhythmic and calm beginning, built around a bass pattern, in which the role for Nicko was nihil or minimal. This was done on various later songs as well, e.g. on
The X-Factor, check out Fortunes of War for instance. This song is not only important in this development.
Listen to the part which starts at 2.44, where we hear a certain style, where Steve and Nicko follow eachother smoothly, and Steve does a certain bass pattern and the guitars play the same(!) melody (no harmony, no rhythm guitars). This was done later as well, on various occasions. E.g. take Look For The Truth, take When The Wild Wind Blows:
Afraid To Shoot Strangers is written all over these instrumental sections.
This song is trademark Steve Harris writing, and it represents the sound of post-
No Prayer Maiden, and therefore its relevance is easily recognized.
I hope that this song will return, one day, and I am curious if it will have the same effect.
Since I expect that some people will say that Blaze did it better, I'd like to encourage them to take another listen:
Blaze did it well, but not necessarily better than Bruce. I'll point out some bad Blaze moments during
his version of ATSS:
I wipe (0:42)
visualize (0:57)
finish (we've got a winner: that was a cringing, rotten moment: 1:34)
ourselves (1:52)
I find Bruce's
A Real Live One and the
Donington version better, and the studio version as well.
I think Bruce puts more drama into it. And he makes less mistakes. He simply can handle it better. More feel, a more natural performance.
No. 14 - Mother Russia (see first post for 50-14)
(Harris, 1990 -> on stage-status: never played)
I really love this song. At various moments in its music I hear the echo of the title track of the previous album, style wise (check the rhythms under the solos) and when I compare the atmosphere (intro Mother Russia / calm mid piece 7th Son).
At the same time I like the lyrics. The line "Can you be happy now you're people are free" is dead on, and 20 years later, we can still ask this. We can even wonder how free the people are. Currently Russia sees its largest anti-government demonstrations in history.
Let's focus again at the music: the intro has a nice melody and the beginning of the instrumental mid piece uses the same figure, with some awesome keyboards and distortion guitars reminiscent of black metal(!) in the background.
There are different moods. One of the more emotional parts are the dramatic guitar lines right before the solos.
A very majestic song, suited well for three guitars.
BotWH... it ain't that good Forostar. It just canny be better than HBTN. I won't have it! 
Back from vacation [holiday] in Southern California for Christmas. Digging the new setup. On to the countdown: Prowler, a perfect description of early Maiden power. Afraid to shoot Strangers, certainly a high point of the era for me. An experiment at the time that was an off the charts success. And no, Blaze did NOT do it better. Finally Mother Russia. Oh hell yes some love for this underrated beast! A haunting metal machine that has never gotten the big love it deserves. What a top 50 list so far! 
