Hell On Earth

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


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    40

Jon

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Thread for all discussion of the track 'Hell On Earth' from Iron Maiden's 17th studio album 'Senjutsu'.
 
I think it took nearly four minutes until Bruce started singing on this one, is that a record for Maiden?
Yes - 3:30 minutes without singing! This is also the longest Maiden intro before the song really gets going.
 
My personal favourite of Harris' songs on the album. Generally big, triumphant sound, with an outstanding chorus and without the obvious recycling that plagues three of his other contributions here.
 
Took 5-6 listens for me to come around to this one, still have a few issues and think it's one of the weaker tracks. ultimatly a great way to close out the album and maybe a fine way to close out their discography
 
Second listening made it better than the first and we have a strong concurrent for The Parchment being the best song. Ending an album with two of such giants... impossible to ever top. Feels like the perfect ending of the Maiden discography. Looking at how Steve is thanking so many people from the early days, I can't help wondering about this being the last album. For now let's enjoy the moment and hope they'll play at least half of this record, someday.
 
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Suddenly, this night, I had a click in my head about how good this music is. This is the Maiden I learned to love and, if the band come to an end, this music will dignify and honour its name forever.

A song that I am going to listen many and many times and will always remind me why this is the best band ever.
 
To close the album we're presented with another long epic tune by mr. Harris. And I must stress from the get go how absolutely gorgeous the opening calm sections are. Man this sounds truly immersive. But I think that, once again, the same effect would be achieved with a couple less bars but hey... when we're talking about this level's stuff the damage of over repetition on the main picture is merely residual. The track than goes full galloping mode and does something truly curious: wanders through all the sections from what one could call the song's second act even before Bruce lays a single line in it. So let's get the least positive things out of the way so we can enjoy this beast for the beast of a tune it is shall we. Well, first of all there are a couple of inflections and lines here and there that are really close to some in 2010's When The Wild Wind Blows (especially during the following part). Then there's the underlying guitar line... and while it works on the (shall we call it) pre-chorus it surely once again could be doing something else during the verses . You may say I'm nit picking but this track's overall humongous quality demands this much attention to detail IMO. My other complaint (and this one I must underline) is how the hell you compose such a marvelously epic chorus and only play the sang version once? Man, make the song 14 minutes long... I could care less! This chorus is bonkers and Bruce really nails it. Well, regarding my complaints that's all because everything else here is absolutely marvelous. And with so many lines pointing out stuff I consider could be better achieved you must be thinking I'll seriously penalize the song in my final evaluation. Well I won't. What happens is that when you compose such an opus like this one each minor "flaw" (regarding each one's taste) is way more noticeable than in a "merely" great song. And yes... this is a truly epic and fantastic Maiden opus overall! The pre chorus, the aforementioned refrain... just wow! And the way the solos make the perfect bridge to the song's next act is something... the still part (really enjoy the doubled voices here) has that crescendo and tension before the whole thing explodes once again and man how I love the passion and fire Bruce puts on this section (that raspy tone in "anger"... wow)! The guitar harmony and solos here are also really good and the song fades as it returns to the intro soft melody. So Hell On Earth is not devoid of things I dislike but fact is the stuff I like on this one is so breath taking it absolutely surmounts each one of those details. This song my friends is just another great chapter added to Maiden's gigantic legacy. Brilliant! 9.5/10
 
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Second listening made it better than the first and we have a strong concurrent for The Parchment being the best song. Ending an album with two of such giants... impossible to ever top. Feels like the perfect ending of the Maiden discography. Looking at how Steve is thanking so many people from the early days, I can't help wondering about this being the last album. For now let's enjoy the moment and hope they'll play at least half of this record, someday.
The fade-out at the end feels like Maiden riding off to sunset, but I've felt like this since TFF so who knows. Anyway, I feel much better about ending their discography with those 2 monsters because not only I think they're better than Empire (too soon, of course), but also, the boss has to have the final word. And what great final words.
 
I definitely felt they've played on that 'bowing out' idea noticeably since TFF, also 'came to die in France' as the last line of Empire. The Legacy and Journeyman have a bit of finality about them too, but it's not as emphasised.
 
The long intro is great. Sounds so good, production wise. 2:20~ of great music.
Then the metal part kicks in, didn't knock me out off my feet, but cool. Afterwards the chorus appears without singing, very good.
The verse feels a bit like WtWWB, but it's still fun and sounds good.
Cool bridge into the chorus, which is very powerful. I like it a lot. Bruce singing in unison with himself sounds great.
The slight slowdown for the solos is a bit jarring, but the solos themselves are fantastic. Powerful melodies follow.

The fast singing part is good, then the "Love in anger" part is very good. I didn't expect a phrygian riff right after that, but I'm glad I got one.
A fun Jacnick solo, then another love in anger, and the intro again, as the outro. Steve really loves doing that huh?
It sounds so good here that I don't care. The fadeout is one of the few times in history I actually liked a fadeout. Well done.

I like it a lot more now than I did on my first listen. It feels much less derivative now. I of course still need to process this entire album over many months, but it feels fitting as Maiden's new "possible last song", following WtWWB and EotC.
 
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