Froggy's Maiden songs countdown.

Edington said:
And me. :ok: WW isn't actually that bad of a song but it would be far, far more enjoyable if Bruce actually sung on it, rather than whatever the hell that raspy growling crap was.
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Like I mentioned in my later post that is one of the big drawbacks of this record. Not only WW but at least 5 other songs out of the album. By far bruce's worst album recording session ever.
 
Jer said:
Feel free to name an Iron Maiden song that Bruce personally butchers worse than “Weekend Warrior”.
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Gangland: Ok... the voice performance isn't where the problem is but the vocal line itself. That being said the fact I can't understand shit of what Bruce's singing on the verses speaks for itself.

No Prayer For The Dying: Such a great song undermined by such a poor vocal performance. Overall it's even more raspy than some of the harsher on FOTD. Besides that Bruce seems to struggle against the world world when he goes up on the end of each verse ("times when I've lied", "you've got nothing to lose", "but never feeling the pain"). Fortunately there's a B-Side live version where the vocal part is countless times better.

Wasting Love: is this the same guy responsible for the state of the art vocals on calm slow down anthems like Tears of A dragon? Omeg? Navigate The Seas Of The Son? Coming Home? Blood Brothers? The beginning of Brave New World? No More Lies? Wild Wind? ... that rasp on "all of our lifes", "tides of time", "the tides of time"... *sigh*

From Here To Eternity: Is this Dickinson trying to pull a Mustaine? Crispy voice appart there are some ridiculous stuff here. In the lyrics comes "More! More! More!" but what I listen to is "Mah! Mah! Mah!". Funny enough there's also this part where I read "Hell!" on the chorus and what is sang (screamed) is something like a croaking "Ewrgh!!!"... OH GOD, why?

Fear Is The Key: Well I also get scared with how awful this song is but it's not a reason for Bruce's voice trembling so much in the verses. Then he goes to a clean great tone and when he pulls the "Passion Was Free"... I would swear that the "Was Free" was dubbed later when Bruce was doing its job at the toilet. I won't even bother pointing the crapload of times the voice goes out of order except for one: when the song is ending Bruce sustains that "Die" with a slight lick at the end really nicely but in the hand that kind of "aaawwwww" is simply laughable.

And then there's a few moments on The Book Of Souls (that are completely understandable, since age is beginning to take its toll (intro of WTRRD,refrain of SOTV, some parts on TRATB and some other moments here and there... but then again: no one can trick father time)
 
karljant said:
And then there's a few moments on The Book Of Souls (that are completely understandable, since age is beginning to take its toll (intro of WTRRD,refrain of SOTV, some parts on TRATB and some other moments here and there... but then again: no one can trick father time)
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Don't forget about the cancer, too.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Verses are fantastic and the lyrics are based on stuff Manfred von Richthofen actually said. The "climb like a monkey" bit is used effectively. Still don't get why people dislike the song based on the lyrics.
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It was only the "Climb like a monkey" bit. I still think it's a little bit cheesy, but when I saw it live it kicked ass!
 
It's a bit out of place with the depressive atmosphere on The X Factor. It would work better on Virtual XI. However the version with Bruce that was on From Fear to Eternity is my favorite.
 
karljant said:
Gangland: Ok... the voice performance isn't where the problem is but the vocal line itself.
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Yep, the vocal line sucks. But I was talking about vocal performance. And there are many, many examples of shit phrasing in Maiden songs, though this is one of the rare examples of one that wasn’t Steve Harris’s fault.
No Prayer For The Dying: Such a great song undermined by such a poor vocal performance. Overall it's even more raspy than some of the harsher on FOTD.
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This is one of the few cases where the raspiness didn’t bother me much, because the weariness fits the content of the song. Plus Bruce is actually singing here, as opposed to “Weekend Warrior” where he’s just delivering a ridiculous, barely melodic cackle through the entire song.
Wasting Love: is this the same guy responsible for the state of the art vocals on calm slow down anthems
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He’s legitimately singing through almost all of the song, and this is another case where the occasional weary rasp fits the content of the track. Seriously, listen to this one and “Weekend Warrior” back to back and try to tell me with a straight face that Bruce sounds worse here.
From Here To Eternity: Is this Dickinson trying to pull a Mustaine?
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Yep, not good. But again, there’s actual singing here. “Weekend Warrior” is like taking the “more more more” part of this one and doing that throughout the entire song.
Fear Is The Key: Well I also get scared with how awful this song is but it's not a reason for Bruce's voice trembling so much in the verses. Then he goes to a clean great tone [...]
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Again, singing vs. non-singing. Singing wins.
 
Yup... but singing out of tune or without fitting the rhythm of the songs? No way. But that's not even the case: on Weekend Warrior there's a sense of rhyrhm and intention on the vocal line that fits the song. And yes: therea are parts where he is singing and quite well. The "just look at you now" and "maybe someone will die" soft parts and the chorus tops EASILY any of the singing on the other 4 examples. And compare the brief scale he makes on the exit of the tune to the ones he sings on the other tracks I pointed... not even close. My problem with this track is that (appart from the solo) it doesn't sound even slightly like what Maiden do and is quite forgetable. It would be nice if it was a B side or featured in a solo project. Now one thing is personal taste and opinion and no one can deny that (only discuss). Other completely different thing is musical standards and singing techniques. tgherefore, despite the quality of the track itself, there's nothing wrong here technicaly speaking. On the other hand, on the studio version of NPFTD (I wonder what happened during the recording ... have you ever heard the song live? It's almost flawless) and the other 3 examples I gave there are seeeeerious flaws for such a crafted singer and even out of key singing.
 
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Collin said:
However the version with Bruce that was on From Fear to Eternity is my favorite.
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That's THE VERSION! Amazing song. And I really think it fits nicely since on the X Factor since it is next to LOTF. Would fit even better if the album would've ended with the stunning Judgement Day instead of the "meh... it's ok" 9 minutes of The Unbeliever.

:shred::shred::shred:

 
You're right ... I knew they had to postpone something due to Bruce's treatment but it wasn't the recording ... it was the tour (and thus the release of the album). Got it mixed.
 
132: The Thin Line Between Love And Hate
The first half is a little bit sloppy imo; but the second half is much better. Would've been higher if the first half was removed.
 
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