Heaven Can Wait

How good is Heaven Can Wait on a scale of 1-10?


  • Total voters
    31
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

Not a bad song, but not really a standout either. If it weren't for the middle part this probably wouldn't be played live nearly as often. I give it a 7, as it is the weakest track on SIT but then SIT is an excellent album.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

Here we have a pretty happy song, which goes well with the lyrical theme...a person foresees the end of his physical existence, but wishes for his life to continue, thus the happy feel can be described as a celebration of corporeal life.

I always felt that this song was somewhat too "constructed" from several parts, eg. that it doesn't flow as naturally as other SiT songs do. However, if we refer to this interview of Bruce;

Adrian writes song on a much more medium tempo. His lyrics are pretty much... say... traditional, mixed with a Bad Company kind of style, very open, but also based on personal experiences and feelings. There's a song that deal with the way you feel when you reach the top with your band. It's the best time of your life, you have to enjoy it, to live intensely every moment of it. There's another one about violence in the large cities, and the fear it generates. Steve has written more "Maiden-tradition" songs. His songs are about a Greek warrior, about a man who sells his soul to the devil. Oh yes, there's also one about the thoughts of a dying man who sees his soul leave his body, but who simply refuses death...

No, there won't be one this time. All the songs have more or less the same duration – 4 to 5 minutes. But there is a great instrumental written by Steve.

For example, with this instrumental, he drove us all up the wall! Even me, and I had nothing to do on it! When I saw all the different parts, with all the guitar work... we really wanted to send him to the funny farm!

This interview is dated May 1986, inside the period of recording sessions. Bruce clearly mentions Wasted Years and Sea Of Madness, Caught Somewhere In Time, Heaven Can Wait, Alexander The Great + an instrumental of Steve that didn't turn out like that, obviously.

5 minute timeframe for HCW is 2 and a half minutes shorter than record version, so it fits my impression that the oooh part was added after the basic song was already written. Also note that the Harris instrumental is probably became instrumental part of ATG, with all the timeshifts and complexity, and that basic verse/chorus structure minus instrumental part also fits in 4-5 minutes category.

Dave's solo is good, but Adrian feels a bit uninspired, at least compared to his other leads on this album (which really set the bar sky high). But his chords beneath the oooh singing are excellent, and the transition from his solo to verses again is very good.

All in all, it's a very good song, but not as good as other SiT stuff (which just says what standard that album sets as whole). I can't escape the feeling that it was crafted to please audience...with all the experimentation and new stuff that SiT introduced, seems like the fast rocking ordinary riffs + singalong section was something that they needed for crowd participation in concert. Let's also consider this : CSiT was an integral opening track of the show, and in that position it couldn't be that mid setlist highlight. Sea Of Madness didn't work live well, it was too unconventional and a lot of it's magic is based on the production sound they weren't able to reproduce in concert, so they dropped it from the list. The Loneliness Of Long Distance Runner pays greatly to it's background synths, and i bet it was dropped right after first (or second) show because they needed to operate all those MIDI gadgetry on guitars, having focus on that and not being able to fully release their energy into the show. Stranger In A Strange land is slow-paced and melancholic, it's also good live but it can't be considered as crowd highlight. Deja Vu wasn't played because of background synths, but also because the great buildup is based on doubing guitars one at the time, which again wasn't possible in live setting. ATG was immediately dismissed by Bruce because of lyrics. If we take all that into mind, only two songs that could really work and be a mainstay were Wasted Years and HCW. So HCW needed a bit of tune-up for live setting.

Never the less, it's 8/10.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

This song works great live, but it's not bad in the studio.  I rarely skip it, but then I don't skip any song when listening to Somewhere in Time.  Somewhere between 7 and 8, but closer to 8.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

This is one of those Maiden songs that when you hear it on its own, you go “yeah, good tune.” Then you start stacking it up against the rest of the catalogue and realize it’s well down the list. I love the intro even though I agree with those who think the synths are too prominent. But overall, it doesn’t quite deliver on the opening promise, with the biggest bump being the way Bruce’s voice goes way up in the wa- AAA- AIIIT!! part. Bottom line: good song, seven.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

I actually really like this song, I think it has very strong lyrics and verses. The chorus is the only real let down but is more than made up for by the haunting soccer chant mid section. I rate it 9/10.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

9.  I'd give it a flat ten if it wasn't for the chorus, but the rest of the song is fantastic, and while its become the common opinion that this is the worst song of SIT, i personally think it slays Loneliness and is a little better then CSIT.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

Not a real fan of the song but I do like the instrumental sections. The rest of the song is still a bit mehish to me though and this is def the worst song off the album for me. Definitely better live when everyone sings along (even if it is way overplayed live). 6/10.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

Rocker?! Man, this term is overused and annoying. How can a multi parted 7:20 minutes song be a rocker? It's like the guy who said it's a decent song, and he gives 5 out of 10. :S

8. This is one that I love the instrumental section and once again, Davey and H's fantastic solos. It's a funny song lyrically and has an atmosphere that makes me look to the sound with more width and depth. Majestic!!!
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

8/10. I quite like this song and like it better when played live.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

OMG! when I said "decent", I meant it's not that bad, but it's not great either.

I gave SOM a 7, and there's no way this song is better than SOM.
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

All in all the song is quite solid but the chorus is weak. Coming in at track number 4 HCW holds a fairly critical position on the album...maybe Stranger in a Strange Land would have sat better in that spot. An opening four of CSIT, WY,SOM and SIASL would have been immortal. Not sure why this is the most frequently played SIT...I hazard a guess that Steve loves it and in particular thinks the crowd loves the singalong part. 

6
 
Re: Daily Song: Heaven Can Wait

My joint worst song on the album. The chorus kinda annoys me but i find the song to be really energetic. The mid section is epic and i love how adrian plays a short lick and then dave answers it with a lick of his own. Adrian also delivers another epic solo on this one. It makes you think how poor this album would have been without smith. If he doesn't write a song on this album he plays an epic godlike solo on it anyway. Pretty decent song

7/10
 
7 out of 10... I too, find the chorus annoying, although the rest of the song holds up pretty well. I was quite surprised when the lads chose to include it on the SBIT setlist... I would have picked from at least a dozen others before this one. :blink:
 
This is really a live track.  Like FotD the song comes alive during its chorus.  But the rest of the song seems somewhat clumsy sort of like Where Eagles Dare singing.  Great bass, but the guitars are not as good as most of the album.  Still a solid track on a solid album. 8/10.
 
Great song. It sounds better when played live, but the studio version is also good. Maybe it's slightly overlong, so I'll give it 9/10.
 
Let me start by saying, I really don't like this song. Nothing special about it, overly long, and the only good thing is the chorus, which is ok. 6/10
 
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