If eternity should fail co-written by Roy Z?

My assumption is that in the 80's he wrote the songs by using a guitar to come up with some chords and singing into a tape recorder. There are more elaborate melodies on Powerslave and Revelations because he was singing them, not playing them. Remember Steve Harris does the same thing, but with whistling.

IESF and EOTC sound like everything was written on a piano.
 
^ agreed on IESF. It's a typical rock guitar progression.
Anyways, he knew how to strum a couple of chords back 35 years ago, and he's been known to write songs via aid of guitar ever since.
Hypothetical person learns basic chords in youth, and picks up a guitar every now and then, for 40 years. Even without the huge musical talent that Dickinson has, this hypothetical hobby guitarist would be pretty good now.
 
I've always wondered what the song writing credits actually "mean". Different bands interpret that slightly differently. Sometimes it means "ever single note except for the guitar solos". And other times, it means "came up the lyrics, vocal melody, and basic song structure" e.g. Peter Steele from Type O Negative "wrote" all of their music....but when you really dig down, he came up with the lyrics, vocal melody, and basic skeleton for each song, but specific harmonies, ancillary melodies, tempo shifts, and guitar/keyboard textures were fleshed out by the band.

Not sure where Iron Maiden falls on this. Steve makes it sound like he writes every single thing (sans solos) when he gets a solo writing credit. My guitar teacher used to think that was a stretch (that is, Smith and Murray deserved more credit in concocting most of the guitar harmonies in the 80s). Reading the song writing credits sometimes makes it look like Dave sits around poolside sipping umbrella drinks until Kevin signals him to come in to play a solo...but obviously there must be more to the story on that (I'm sure Dave it quite involved - more so than what the credits usually reveal)

I've always been curious if Bruce really wrote Powerslave note for note as some of the riffs (while not complicated/challenging for a seasoned guitarist) would be fairly elaborate to come up with for a "hobbyist"...particularly in the pre-MIDI/Pro Tools days. The few videos I've seen of him playing guitar don't really reveal much of his guitar prowess. Then again, Bruce is amazingly talented so it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
 
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soundwave said:
Reading the song writing credits sometimes makes it look like Dave sits around poolside sipping umbrella drinks until Kevin signals him to come in to play a solo...but obviously there must be more to the story on that (I'm sure Dave it quite involved - more so than what the credits usually reveal)
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No, actually this is what he does. This, smiling and petting koalas. ;)
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More seriously, "writing" has to be distinguished from "arranging", which some artists do in the song credits, but not Maiden.
 
Anyone interested should definitely check out Zombie Squash (Original Soundtrack) by Roy Z to get a feel for what he is doing on his own.
In the tracks: "Dr. B.E.V.Vil" and "Lament for the Zombies" you can hear some keyboard stuff performed. Particularly the first one could have been on Tyranny of Souls in my opinion!
https://open.spotify.com/album/41tzAaLTHFxev9lJSYmWo4

"I Walk Alone" is interesting, it's definitely possible that he wrote some of the melodies in "If Eternity Should Fail" if that track is taken into account. And I'm basing that on the style of the guitar intro and the chorus.

"Hammerhead" also has some similarities. Listen to the part starting at 1:10 and compare that to the section in "If Eternity Should Fail" starting at 5:02.

Please listen and tell us what you think. :)
 
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soundwave said:
I've always wondered what the song writing credits actually "mean".
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The credits are for the lyrics .. that is what is being published. Some bands give everyone equal credit, most credit those who came up with some/all of the lyrics. Take Speed of Light, Bruce said Adrian brought the music and had Speed of Light as a title and nothing else lyrically. So they are both credited -- Adrian literally for the words "Speed of Light", Bruce for the rest.

I am not a lawyer or anything, but the song itself (the finished product) is under a different copyright/royalty scheme ... but the credits are for publishing, and what is being published are the lyrics

In reality the entire band should have some credit on every song for the entire output from solos, to singing, to drum fills, to bass lines and on and on.
 
bearfan said:
The credits are for the lyrics .. that is what is being published. Some bands give everyone equal credit, most credit those who came up with some/all of the lyrics.
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I wonder how that really works when Blaze was not credited for writing parts of the lyrics to Dream of Mirrors:
7:21.
The Metal Voice -One of those songs and you are are telling me there is maybe even is a second song - it was Dream of Mirrors, you actually wrote the song and came up with the melody line?
Blaze - Yeah, I worked on that song very closely with Steve Harris, on Dream Of Mirrors.
Blaze - Steve already had Blood Brothers, I did a version of that in the studio.
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It would not surprise me if Roy Z wrote some of If Eternity Should Fail after listening to this.
 
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TheTalisman said:
I wonder how that really works when Blaze was not credited for writing parts of the lyrics to Dream of Mirrors:
7:21.


It would not surprise me if Roy Z wrote some of If Eternity Should Fail after listening to this.
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After all, rumour (and Dave as far as the second song is concerned) has it that the lyrics to "Strange World" and to "Charlotte the Harlot" were written by Paul Day. Let's say it is a matter of editorial convenience.
 
Its possible that Blaze was bought out of those songs but he makes no mention of this so who knows. I'm sure that Steve/Rod can be quite ruthless when it comes to 'getting theirs' and it would be hard for Blaze to take the Maiden Machine to court (if he was that way inclined) without concrete proof of his involvement (demo tapes or some such).

He gets kudos for the Worst Idea Ever here though; suggesting a 3 singer show with Di'Anno involved. Not quite as desperate as Brush Shields' video request for the members of Thin Lizzy to play with him because basically they owe him and the fans want it. No, Brush, they don't and we don't (well, I wouldn't mind, to be fair)
 
Niall Kielt said:
Its possible that Blaze was bought out of those songs but he makes no mention of this so who knows. I'm sure that Steve/Rod can be quite ruthless when it comes to 'getting theirs' and it would be hard for Blaze to take the Maiden Machine to court (if he was that way inclined) without concrete proof of his involvement (demo tapes or some such).
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He was paid for his work, but it has not been mentioned if they bought the rights or if he still receives royalties. At first he didn't say which songs they were either:
I can't really remember which ones they were. I know some of the melodies got used later...but I was paid for all my work so there's nothing wrong there.
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- At The End Of The Day - Lawrence Paterson.

Btw, Metallica credited Dave Mustaine for all of his material on Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning...
 
bearfan said:
The credits are for the lyrics ...

...but the credits are for publishing, and what is being published are the lyrics
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The music too gets published. Entirely instrumental music (like classical music) has got publishing rights. Steve has recently made clear what the credits mean in Maiden's case. Whoever contributes to the actual writing gets credit (unless he is a former member and got sacked, I assume).
 
harrisdevot said:
The music too gets published. Entirely instrumental music (like classical music) has got publishing rights. Steve has recently made clear what the credits mean in Maiden's case. Whoever contributes to the actual writing gets credit (unless he is a former member and got sacked, I assume).
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I'm assuming former members signed something to sell their credits, otherwise they could try to claim them (legally). The whole system seems odd to me
 
As far as I know, all of them have actually sold their rights to Steve Harris (DiAnno and Bayley openly stated that).

I don't know if this has any importance on the matter, but Foro posted a video a while ago where Bruce said that Sony had bought the rights for Maiden's back catalogue, and that they where all rich. I remember that Adrian looked quite embarassed when Bruce said that.
 
Yeah, I saw that. I think Bruce was trying to make the point that the reunion was not a cash grab .. which was certainly the case with other reunions .. but it did not come across that well.
 
I think I read somewhere that it goes like this with Maiden;
Main writer/arrangements or co-write/lyrics.

So a track credited Gers/Harris/Dickinson would mean Gers brought the main idea/parts, Harris arranged it and/or wrote additional parts and Dickinson wrote the lyrics. Thats my general understanding of how Maidens credits work. Thus music and lyrics are being published, getting credited and earning additional coin for the writers. Maybe this is why Nicko opened a rib joint, the man is skint....
Note that his takes no account of former members who have been paid/ripped off
 
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