The first post I'm doing here, and what's better to start with than a comment on the opening song of one of my favorite Maiden albums. I still remember the first time hearing this song, and how the tears t floated down my cheek when the intro started.
This song is amazing in so many aspects! The intro creates a mystic and exciting atmosphere, which makes you so pumped for what's to come. When the songs then stars for real, it takes literally 2 seconds to realize that this is something out of the ordinary, even by Maiden standards. Here, Maiden is firing on all cylinders. The guitar works is of the charts and Bruce is delivering one of his strongest vocal performances in many years. The chorus is among the best and strongest moments has ever produced, can listen to it 1000 and never get tired of it. Up to the middle section, IESF stands out as one of Maidens best songs of all time IMO. After that it goes down a little. I don't like that little drum fill that follows chorus 2, and it also kind of pisses me off that the song doesn't have a proper solo. They should have extended the middle section, which in itself is very good, and filled it with a solo. That would have been so amazing to hear. The spoken outro is also a flaw for me. It feels so forced and random and doesn't really add anything to the song. It feels so anti-Maiden.
Despite these flaws, my grade for IESF is high, very high. The strongest parts of the song stands among the best Maiden has ever done, and with those adjustments I mentioned above, the song could have been the best Maiden song of all time for me. As it is now, the song gets 9/10, since there are some weaker parts that lowers the grade a litte