Heaven Can Wait

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

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    33
I don't understand why people are a bit hard on this song, I personally think this song is a classic and one of the best Steve Harris penned songs and ranked among my Top 10 favorite Maiden songs, I give "Heaven" a 10/10
 
HCW has an interesting beginning, the bluesy riff always gets me. Great solos, great lyrics. The only downfall for me is the repetitative chorus.

Nonethanless, great song.

8/10
 
Great lyrics, catchy melodies and I don't find it repetitive as most people seem to. Not quite an "epic" as it is merely a long(er) song. The sing-along section before H's solo is particularly fun, especially live. Gets a 9 from me.
 
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I’m not really a fan of the chorus, it’s not that bad but it feels kinds cheesy. All the rest is good though: interesting intro, thoughtful lyrics, etc. 8/10, although it’s strange how often they play it live compared to other SIT songs
 
A song a tend to skip quite often actually, don't like the chorus at all. It's not a catastrophe by any means though and have some nice parts, but probably my least favourite track of the record.
 
This song screams "deep cut", and yet it's one of the album's most played tracks live and by many considered overrated. I disagree. This song is awesome. 10/10.
 
A warm synth heralds a sweet bass lead and some tasteful soloing. The drums join in for a brief march before breaking into a strong, bouncy groove. This suddenly switches gears into an OK verse that's overstuffed with lyrics. This does a nice downward modulation for the pre-chorus before breaking into a bright, soaring, and unfortunately repetitive chorus.

Another round of sloppy verse, slightly better pre-chorus, and catchy but plodding chorus, and we break into a really good solo section. This gives way to a great vocal bridge that cranks up the melody higher and higher before breaking into a very nice extended "whoah-oh" section with great guitar accents.

This builds up a great groove, then takes a sudden left turn into a decent solo section and harmonized break before returning for another round of verse and synthy chorus. This breaks into a heavier variation of the intro before a final musical breakdown into end the song.

Parts of this song are excellent, but other parts are merely good, and the song isn't as cohesive as it deserves to be. But on balance I think I would round it up to an 8/10.
 
A great bass intro turns into a pretty great song, with lyrics that don't let up on the singer but Bruce manages to storm through them expertly anyway. A great mid-piece with a nice audience interaction section helps, and as a whole, this is a great song. I'm surprised it's as played as it is, because it feels like it should be a deep cut if anything. Still, it's pretty fucking good. 9
 
This song is amazing - only live. Nice intro, the melodic riff is superb, great verses. The chorus is simple and not that good (live, Bruce sings it differently and it is so much better; the only weak thing on the whole album imo!). Two very strong solos, especially Adrian's one which is quite good. The part: ''Take my hand....'' is one thing I want to praise. And the highlight of the song are the ''oh-oh'' chants, they sound rather effective. Very nice twin-lead guitar harmonies. The end of the song is very good with great drumming. Fun song. It's not a surprise that it was a live staple during 1986-1998. Because of the repetition of the chorus I'll give it a 9/10
 
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Another 10/10 for this classic (and it's my #3 pick!!!). SIT is ridiculous when it comes to near perfect songs.
 
I love that background feedback like a UFO coming overhead, before that amazing bassline kicks in. Swelling guitars, and then into the riff! The production on this album is spectacular. Steve crams everything into these verses, but they’re executed with precision. This may not be Bruce’s best performance ever, but the song as a whole is just so well assembled that it levels out any weaknesses there may be. The two amigos have more great solos, and the bridge is awesome. The notes, and then the chanting anthemic angelic choirs, so good. And I think this song comes to life live even more than in studio. Bruce shouting “Heaven can! — Heaven can!” is superb. I don’t get the complaints at all, it’s fantastic as a live track. Anyway, regardless, excellent song. Only reason it doesn’t get top marks is because it’s better live. 9/10
 
I've always felt this was underrated, at least on both this forum and the FC. And was it always this fast?

8/10
 
Over the years I've seen quite a lot of hate for this song, but I never understood why. It takes the up-beat energy that was so common during the Killers era and applies it to a much more mature band, resulting in a much more interesting composition than the 3-minute-repeat-the-same-verse-thrice songs of Killers.

The verses fall victim to Steve's tendency to write fast lines with far too much lyrics, but it works with the topic and the atmosphere of the song. The chorus is a classic, and while kinda cheesy, it definitely works. Was super fun to sing along to this last week in Dortmund.
The solos aren't as interesting as the ones on the previous couple of songs. They feel rather obligatory, but aren't bad. Guess not every solo can be outstanding.

The bridge is a nice and strongly needed change of pace leading us to my favorite part, the chanting section. You really need to listen to the music during that part. Adrian's guitar fills after the chord progression changes are amazing and keep building up the energy, only to realease it during the next solo section. Interestingly enough it took me years to realize, that the chanting melody isn't the same throughout the section. The first couple of times we get one variation, but after that for the rest of the section the last part of the melody goes higher than the previous variation, giving us a second version. Was a bit too young when I first heard the song to realize stuff like that.

The rest of the song doesn't feature any more surprises. We get a fun riff before going back to the verses and chorus, eventually reaching a reprise of the intro to close out the song (also something that'll become much more common as their career goes on).
Not quite as strong as the title track, but definitely a strong 8.
 
Apple Music yesterday trolled me while I was jogging and random picked not one not two but THREE "Heaven Can Wait"s in a row: Gamma Ray's, Meat Loaf's, and this one.

I always considered this song the weak link of my favorite Iron Maiden studio album; but it is mainly due to the fact that every album inevitably has a weak link and this song feels like SiT's.

Out of context, it's a great song. The main riff is simple, but the arrangement is great especially under the "who-oh-oh" section. The melodies are good, despite the tempo so fast Bruce struggles with articulation, especially in the descending melody at the end of each verse. In general, it's one of the (many) Iron Maiden (Harris') songs that need the live vibe: the "who-oh-oh" section sounds frankly cringey, the chorus is not particularly interesting (the melody is good, the lyrics... not as much). On the record.
Live, it's a completely different matter. Flight 666 version is HUGE, and I wish they still let the fans on stage for the backing vocals.
 
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