Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

Haha, cheers bro. Have a praise!

Anyways, I've loved reading your thread so far Forostar, keep up the good work.
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

It's quite a mixture so far...

41. Public Enema Number One
42. Lord of Light
43. Lightning Strikes Twice
44. Die with Your Boots On
45. Flight of Icarus
46. Remember Tomorrow
47. That Girl
48. Childhood's End
49. Sign of the Cross
50. Fortunes of War

...but I quite like where these are being placed. DWYBO I'd have higher, as I really like it --but nice to see appreciation for the (quite a few) 90's tracks. Especially Childhood's End and Public Enema Number One. I don’t mind Brucie's whole "attitude" vocal on NPFtD & FotD at all.
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

Cheers guys!  :ok:

Soon some of you guys might be less happy, because I will make one of the most heretic moves ever made on this forum.

@Cried: you'll see some more 90s tracks for sure!
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

You know i love Public enema number one... brilliant 90s track albeit short but to the point  :ok:
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

Forostar said:
Cheers guys!  :ok:

Soon some of you guys might be less happy, because I will make one of the most heretic moves ever made on this forum.

@Cried: you'll see some more 90s tracks for sure!
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"Most heretic" & "ever"! What on earth are you going to type?  :D

Unless you're going to place some undisputed masterpiece (that pratically everyone agrees on being a definite top ten) now in your countdown (e.g. HBTN at #40 or something crazy) --then how heretical can you be? Any absolutely toilet track appearing now still ain't going to be that bad. But, sure, if we get to the top ten & you have TAATG or Apparition in there. Well, we all might start to doubt you're all there...

Btw, I just looked at the reverse of my FotD CD; the remastered version --and instead of just the title of the track "THE APPARITION" (only this one), it has the typo "THE APPARITION / Gers)"!  :D 
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

:) Well guys, start rubbing your eyes, and go grab the nearest rotten tomato or egg:

No. 40 - Starblind
(Smith/Dickinson/Harris, 2010 -> on stage-status: never played)

The true power of this song is its melodic strength, Maiden's most important factor. Despite its deep lyrics, some complicated rhythms, this song still contains these amazing melodies, musically and vocal wise. It's this combination that does it...

Bruce delivers one of his finest moments with these haunting lyrics, which almost make me think they were written by an ancient saint, or a wise sorcerer or someone like that. Every sentence is a poetic masterpiece. Love Adrian's moving soloing, especially during the 2nd chorus(!), to be exact: it begins when Bruce sings: Walk away from comfort offered by your citizens of death   ..and continues in that attached chorus.

The very grooving, harmonic interval is another highlight.

Something I am less happy about: A suspenseful core of a certain VXI track is repeated lengthily in this song. Yes, we're dealing here with the prominent recycling of Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger, shown here:
1. Sing/hum or think Bruce's Starblind verses in Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger, in the part starting @ 3:27 in this clip.
2. Sing/hum or think Blaze's lyric "Don't Look to, Don't Look to, Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger", in the intro and couplets of Starblind.

As Wingman noted in the Starblind thread, it doesn't match entirely, but I find it hard to believe that these compositions were made entirely independent from each other.

Conclusion: it is a strong song. It's just that I find 39 other songs better. Imagine how much I like other mighty moments in the Maiden discography. Very much indeed. I have a strong bond with many Maiden songs, not just a few. This isn't my favourite band -by far!- for nothing :)
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

:uhm: It should be in your top 5. It's even in my top 3!

Gonna get some rotten tomatoes now  :innocent:

And i don't agree with that it fits in Eyes of a Stranger.
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

I've long maintained Lord of Light and Starblind are very similar songs, so I shouldn't be surprised you have them ranked so close together.
For me, they both have interesting structures and unusual textures. The difference is I find the hooks of Starblind irresistible. It's 7th. Light is 122.

You make a good point about Enema's vocals, but that doesn't make me like them anymore.
Otherwise, it's fine, but altogether unremarkable, which puts it near the bottom — 139.
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

Well, at least we have something in common there Flash!  :)


No. 39 - Wasted Years
(Smith, 1986 -> on stage-status: last time in 2009)

For me, this song was an important bridge towards the album Somewhere in Time, the very first CD I ever bought, (together with Piece of Mind).

The first time I ever heard it, was when I saw the band playbacking (and switching instruments!) their performance on a German TV show, from the video 12 Wasted Years.

It all looked funny, but I was spellbound by the music and the wonderful vocal melodies. Great melodies and what a guitar solo. I also must stress that the drum and bass patterns during the breaks are so in sync, it's almost like Rush. ;-)

Even though I have grown more attached to some others from this album, this one is a great classic with special status.
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

Wasted Years is probably my favorite off SIT, I would put it higher personally. I look forward to more.  :)
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

Forostar said:
Even though I have grown more attached to some others from this album, this one is a great classic with special status.
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Agreed. I've become totally attached to this whole album. Also, I was just listening to That Girl (after you mentioning it) --with it's "melancholic feel". SiT just sounds so good.  Also, live (WY that is), just doesn't (quite) capture the magic of the album version. I'm still asking though: was the intro recorded with three guitar tracks? Does anyone know?
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

I'm with you on this one.
Everything you say about the top-notch band performance across the board, coupled with the fact the melody is perfectly captivating even stripped down to nothing but a voice and acoustic guitar.
Number 19 on my list.
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

I wrote this before, but I never loved Wasted Years until I saw it (again) on the SBIT tour.  Great, great, GREAT live song.  Just started paying attention to this list, but looking forward to future heresies.  So far so good, except for Fortunes of War which has a laughably abysmal chorus. 
mckindog said:
I ranked all 144 tracks as we went along and kept all my comments on a word document.
Click to expand...
I'd be pretty interested to see that... :innocent:
 
Re: Forostar's Top 50 Iron Maiden songs

No. 38 - Phantom of the Opera
(Harris, 1980 -> on stage-status: last time in 2009)

Monumental epitaph of the early years, so typical with its speedy and heavy parts. Recently I have been watching this 1981 live performance pretty often. Great to see this hungry band doing their raw, aggressive performance on a small podium, in front of a foreign (German) audience.


No. 37 - Purgatory
(Harris, 1981 -> on stage-status: last time in 1981)

A very energetic and fast song (one of the fastest in the catalogue).
There's a lot going on here with the guitars and bass. On top of the both menacing and precise(!) drums we hear Steve play like his life depends on it. Dave and Adrian do different things on rhythm guitar, something which really unfolded on the Powerslave album (and we can also hear it on Die With Your Boots On).

The bridge sums it all up. It is the best part of the song where everyone is laying down their works neatly. Paul is excellent, singing a perfect melody on top of it. And did you guys notice that awesome echo of Dave's solo, which still continues when the harmony kicks in? Great choice by Birch (I guess).
 
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