Hell On Earth

How good is Hell on Earth on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    47
Why Fuji? They are singing about "the wall" so it's either the Chinese Great one, or perhaps the one from those cheeky Pink Floyd dudes.
 
I took the song (and the album)to the beach with me last week to see if it still sounded fresh and I still noticed musically interesting details.
And yes, it passed this little test.
 
We all agree that the chorus and the ''Love in anger, life in danger'' part are amazing, but the pre-chorus is also up there IMO. Not to mention the bridge (aka the calm middle part). Top-notch stuff.

Everything in this song is just perfect - intro, verses, melodies, riffs, vocals, drumming, galloping bass, solos (they merge great with the flow of the song).
 
If they ever want to make a video for "Hell on Earth", please contact me and come here! :hello:
It could be filmed on the beach, I'll show them where exactly.

It's fascinating how well the water and the boats reflect the musical arrangement and flow. There was even a gray heron today that took off right with Janick's solo.
I think for an appropriate fee the gray heron would do that again for the video.
This kind of video would also be something new for Maiden.
 
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dmort93 said:
If anyone's interested there is a podcast called Maiden A-Z in which the hosts go through the song catalogue in alphabetical order. I was on the Hell on Earth episode a few months back and I think it turned out well. Lots of talking points. If anyone's in the mood for another Maiden podcast I'd recommend checking it out!
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Checking it now, let's see!
 
dmort93 said:
If anyone's interested there is a podcast called Maiden A-Z in which the hosts go through the song catalogue in alphabetical order. I was on the Hell on Earth episode a few months back and I think it turned out well. Lots of talking points. If anyone's in the mood for another Maiden podcast I'd recommend checking it out!
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Tnx. It started in november 2020 and is stil running. That means a lot of catching up to do.
 
Just listened to Hell On Earth. F*, this song makes me wanna cry/touches the strings of my soul just like The Red And The Black instrumental section.
Impact is not from lyrics but melodics of music and Bruce's voice. Melodically this song is GREAT. Undeniable Senjutsu's Diamond.
 
Poto said:
I agree. It's not a problem, but it's a bit odd.
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The duality works for me. Earth is a beautiful place, and yet that beauty is affected by events (both man made and non-man made) that can make life on Earth akin to living in hell at times.

The lyrics are dark at times, but not overly so. I think the song's title gives a darker feel to the proceedings than anything within the lyrics.

Steve and Co. are hoping they will see us on the other side (of this Hell on Earth) - the afterlife, the next world, etc.. --- and if we do in fact see each other AGAIN when we pass on from this plane of existence, that will be one of the happiest things I could possibly look forward to.
 
The "love in anger" part dovetails nicely with the "mortals in their rage" section of Starblind. Thematically they're linked
as they look towards what we may experience after what we know as life on Earth ends for each of us.

Anger has been omnipresent in the areas where modern people communicate (social media). I wouldn't doubt that Harris has felt it (perhaps to a greater degree than us as he travels the world and can see how things have changed in the past 42 years).

So many of the interactions we see today revolve around warring factions - and often, the only aspect keeping each faction together is the way that they can "bond" together with "love and like reacts" (on Facebook, etc..) over what they hate and despise in other factions.

When someone disses/flames/"triggers" another person online, witness how fast that person gets dozens of love/like reacts. Do we mindlessly smash the like/love react just to feel like we are part of something bigger and thus blind ourselves to how the person being attacked came to that point of view?

^^ (I discovered this the hard way when many friends who I made on social media immediately deserted me - if not outright derided me - after certain aspects of my socio-political opinions modulated during the past few years)

Hell on Earth and Starblind not only show the folly in anger, but in doing so also give us something to look forward to beyond our mortal limitations, and the anger and rage that work to bind us in this plane and evoke a Hell on Earth.
 
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While listening to this song again, I realized that ''Hell On Earth'' is connected to the album title track not only with part of the lyrics, but with its intro as well - it has that Japanese theme/feel in the melodies and in the acoustic bass imo (like the melody under the chorus of ''Senjutsu''). I never looked at it that way. Does someone agree?
 
Kalata said:
While listening to this song again, I realized that ''Hell On Earth'' is connected to the album title track not only with part of the lyrics, but with its intro as well - it has that Japanese theme/feel in the melodies and in the acoustic bass imo (like the melody under the chorus of ''Senjutsu''). I never looked at it that way. Does someone agree?
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In some ways I can see this.

the theme of Hell on Earth calls to mind modern times, and speaks to me (personally) of the division and strife - broken friendships and strife between my fellow countrymen - of the modern age/times we live in. By contrast/comparison, the Title Track (Senjutsu) speaks of an ancient battle.

I could see Steve Harris thinking of a bridge between the strife of ancient times and the strife of modern times as he wrote the tracks of Senjutsu - and how we often think that we're more advanced/more peaceful/a more "evolved human race in 2022, when we're really just soldiers protecting a wall being attack from all sides - now, then, and in the future.
 
Kalata said:
While listening to this song again, I realized that ''Hell On Earth'' is connected to the album title track not only with part of the lyrics, but with its intro as well - it has that Japanese theme/feel in the melodies and in the acoustic bass imo (like the melody under the chorus of ''Senjutsu''). I never looked at it that way. Does someone agree?
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What does "Japanese theme" mean?
 
Who do we think is playing the lead melody after the final "Love in anger/Life in danger"? I'd have said Janick as he tends to take the lead on Steve's tracks with Adrian harmonising, but the rhythm track sounds closer to Janick's tone than Dave's. Could also be that Steve wanted the classic Maiden duo to sign off what could be their final album.
 
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