Holy Smoke

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How good is Holy Smoke on a scale of 1-10?

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    13
This song is very reminiscent of a potential AC/DC track. The style is very similar.
I HATED this song as first. I was literally laughing. It's grown on me and now I think it's one of the better songs on this album. It's a fun, silly song that I'd love to hear live. 8/10

I also read this is the only IM song with curse words in it. :bigsurprise:
 
Actually like this song. Catchy and funny and a real feel-good Maiden song. The music video is funny as hell too!
The solos are great on this on. The translation between Gers and Murray are great here! The 90's solos have a different feeling then the 80's solos, and the Gers-Murray chemistry is really different then the Smith-Murray chemistry, and its a welcome change for the band. The 80's guitar combo maybe were better, but the 90's came up with some really good solos aswell which are more often overlooked.

Anyway, better then Tailgunner, and I enjoy this!

7/10
 
6. I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as people often make out.


Rankings:

Previous Albums:

Iron Maiden - 6.67

8 - Prowler
6 - Sanctuary
7 - Remember Tomorrow
6 - Running Free
9 - Phantom Of The Opera
7 - Transylvania
4 - Strange World
6 - Charlotte The Harlot
7 - Iron Maiden

Killers - 5.91

6 - The Ides Of March
6 - Wrathchild
6 - Murders In The Rue Morgue
5 - Another Life
5 - Genghis Khan
5 - Innocent Exile
8 - Killers
5 - Prodigal Son
8 - Purgatory
6 - Twilight Zone
5 - Drifter

The Number Of The Beast - 7.56

6 - Invaders
7 - Children Of The Damned
8 - The Prisoner
7 - 22 Acacia Avenue
9 - The Number Of The Beast
10 - Run To The Hills
6 - Gangland
5 - Total Eclipse
10 - Hallowed Be Thy Name

Piece Of Mind - 7.44

8 - Where Eagles Dare
9 - Revelations
9 - Flight Of Icarus
7 - Die With Your Boots On
8 - The Trooper
7 - Still Life
6 - Quest For Fire
6 - Sun And Steel
7 - To Tame A Land

Powerslave - 6.75

8 - Aces High
7 - 2 Minutes To Midnight
3 - Loss Fer Words
7 - Flash Of The Blade
5 - The Duellists
6 - Back In The Village
9 - Powerslave
9 - Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

Somewhere In Time - 8.00

8 - Caught Somewhere In Time
9 - Wasted Years
8 - Sea Of Madness
8 - Heaven Can Wait
8 - The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
7 - Stranger In A Strange Land
8 - Deja Vu
8 - Alexander The Great

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son - 8.25

7 - Moonchild
9 - Infinite Dreams
9 - Can I Play With Madness
9 - The Evil That Men Do
10 - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
6 - The Prophecy
8 - The Clairvoyant
8 - Only The Good Die Young

No Prayer For The Dying

6 - Tailgunner
6 - Holy Smoke
 
Just listened to this song, and it's worse than I remember. I actually liked it when I was younger, but it's been a few years since I heard it. 4/10.
 
5/10

An upbeat, incredibly happy song about true evil lurking in the scam-laden world of televangelism. Although the chorus is actually rather catchy, the song is just disjointed. It’s too rock ’n’ roll, and yet not rock ’n’ roll enough, attempting to prove a serious point while the guitars wail on major-key riffs and Bruce curses through a poorly-written verse. Holy Smoke has the same message as Metallica’s Leper Messiah or Black Sabbath’s TV Crimes, but has none of the depth. The music video certainly doesn’t help, with Bruce dancing in a field of sunflowers and Janick soloing in an empty swimming pool. Iron Maiden have never been a particularly dour or serious band, but this kind of material used to be reserved for b-sides, not lead singles.
 
Not a bad song, I like it .. but this is where doing current event songs do not age well and there were 70 zillion songs saying pretty much the same thing at the time.
 
This song is fun, silly, and yet, at the same time, shows what is wrong with this era of Iron Maiden. Bruce sounds objectively bad here, that horrible, cruel raspy-ish singing voice. The solo is pretty good in places, not so good in others. The lyrics are not special, but I will admit a certain fondness towards the subject manner. 7/10, with a +1 because the video is still just great.
 
I like this song, although it definitely starts to lean toward the problems Maiden had during this time. A lot of it is enjoyable to listen to and fun, but doesn't have the same magic or stick with you the way some of the early albums did. Bruce's voice again fits the material, but is this really what you want to hear from Maiden? It's catchy though and, like I said, enjoyable. I'm also never going to complain about Genesis references.

7
 
Not one of the absolute stinkers on the album (High praise!). It chugs along nicely enough and there's an element to the verse vocals which sounds like Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan and that can only be a good thing.

But the vocals are awful and there's that terrible riff throughout which sounds like Status bleeding Quo.

6
 
I find myself singing this in my head at times lately. Maybe in terms of its topic it hasn't aged well but it continues being a fun song. It doesn't have a lot of depth aside from witty lyrics.

6/10
 
Desdemona said:
I find myself singing this in my head at times lately. Maybe in terms of its topic it hasn't aged well but it continues being a fun song. It doesn't have a lot of depth aside from witty lyrics.

6/10
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I actually agree with this for the most part, only I'd bump up that rating to an 8. :D
 
7 for this one. Not a particularly great track, but a strong enough follow up to "Tailgunner". Simple, but actually quite fun and catchy, too. And the video is utterly hilarious! Good stuff. :D The lyrics are also pretty clever, to some degree.
 
If the intro melody werent so dang happy i would have liked this more, still think it's better than a lot of people give it credit for. The first part of the solo is awesome.
 
A simple major key lick leads into a catchy but overly husky verse, which includes what I believe is the only use of a swear word on any Iron Maiden album. The lyrics and vocal delivery here are pretty flippant, which I guess you either find appealing or not.

Interestingly, the chorus flows directly from the verse, using almost the same melody and a similar rhythm before shifting to the extended "holy smoke" section.

Bruce's vocals get comically growly on the second verse, and his wailing of "holy smoke" is more exaggerated and off key than we've come to expect, which is disappointing.

After the second chorus we get a brief reprise of the opening lick before cutting into a pretty rip-roaring pair of solos with some cool opening effects from Janick. Another round of verse and chorus and we end with a final sigh.

I'm torn over this song, because it's got some great musical elements, but the lyrics are uneven and Bruce's weak vocal performance drags it down a bit. That said, I think it still ekes out a 7/10.
 
Jer said:
includes what I believe is the only use of a swear word on any Iron Maiden album.
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In Fear Is The Key "you're outnumbered by the bastards" and in a sense there are swear words also in Tailgunner and El Dorado.
 
Isn't "ass" a swear word too? In that case, there's "The Assassin" and "Charlotte the Harlot". Not sure if there're others.
 
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