Iron Maiden Head to Head XXV

[mckindog]

The penultimate group of this round — ten of these tracks are in my personal top 20.

Rules here:
http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/maiden-head-to-head-x.23082/

 

[Forostar]

Six of these tracks are in my personal top 20 and two of them meet each other (the last pair).

1. Sign of the Cross
2. Wasted Years
3. Afraid to Shoot Strangers
4. Alexander the Great
5. To Tame a Land
6. Brighter than a Thousand Suns
7. The Evil That Men Do
8. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

 

[Mosh]

Sign of the Cross
Starblind
Revelations
Alexander the Great
Clansman
Brighter than a Thousand Suns
Wickerman
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

 

[Jeffmetal]

The Number Of The Beast
Wasted Years
Revelations
Aces High
The Clansman
Children Of The Damned
The Evil That Men Do
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

 

[Kill Devil Hill]

Sign of the Cross
Starblind
Afraid to Shoot Strangers (really tough. Revelations has been in my top 2 favorites before.)
Alexander the Great
The Clansman*
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns
The Evil That Men Do
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

* I actually prefer To Tame a Land, but honestly, The Clansman is a much better song and deserves to be ahead of TTAL, regardless of my emotional attachments to that track.

All-in-all, easy round, with the exceptions of having to let go of my top two favorite Piece of Mind tracks.

Edit: Ha. I should've voted for TTAL anyway. It would've been a tie and I wouldn't have felt as bad.

 

[Forostar]

* I actually prefer To Tame a Land, but honestly, The Clansman is a much better song and deserves to be ahead of TTAL, regardless of my emotional attachments to that track.

I believe the point is picking the track you prefer. There are no general criteria for why a song is better than another. We can only explain (or not) why we prefer a song (which is the same as why we find a song better). It's all about subjectivity.

 

[Kill Devil Hill]

I believe the point is picking the track you prefer. There are no general criteria for why a song is better than another. We can only explain (or not) why we prefer a song (which is the same as why we find a song better). It's all about subjectivity.

I suppose. That's what I've been doing (hence me voting for Killers over The Number of the Beast). But I really do think The Clansman is just a significantly better song, and the only reason I seem to prefer TTAL is for nostalgic purposes. And my preference for TTAL is very slight anyway.

Though I do regret voting for The Clansman now that I see I could've induced a tie.

 

[Forostar]

I suppose. That's what I've been doing (hence me voting for Killers over The Number of the Beast). But I really do think The Clansman is just a significantly better song, and the only reason I seem to prefer TTAL is for nostalgic purposes. And my preference for TTAL is very slight anyway.

There are no rules that say that nostalgic purposes don't count when choosing between songs.
An early impression can be a very big one so I'd say it certainly counts. But it's the total picture. In the end of the day, when I doubt, the best thing that works for me is listening to the songs in question, two in a row. After that I can feel (and reason) which one I get the most excited about. Even if that is hard to decide after one listen, it can be done more often.

Though I do regret voting for The Clansman now that I see I could've induced a tie.

But if it would have stayed a tie, mckindog would have broken it by giving his vote to The Clansman.

 

[Kill Devil Hill]

There are no rules that say that nostalgic purposes don't count when choosing between songs.
An early impression can be a very big one so I'd say it certainly counts. But it's the total picture. In the end of the day, when I doubt, the best thing that works for me is listening to the songs in question, two in a row. After that I can feel (and reason) which one I get the most excited about. Even if that is hard to decide after one listen, it can be done more often.

That's what I did. I listened to the songs back to back three times. And the only thing that gave TTAL its edge was nostalgia. It's not so much about early impressions as it is that it reminds me of when I first started reading Dune years ago and all the memories associated with the time period (while I was reading Dune, I would put this song on repeat). So, it's not about the song quality itself. It'll always be one of my favorites, but it wouldn't've been fair if I helped put TTAL ahead of a much better song simply because of the memories it brings.

But if it would have stayed a tie, mckindog would have broken it by giving his vote to The Clansman.

Right. I wouldn't've felt like I betrayed one of my favorite songs and the better song would've gone through. Win-win.

 

[Ariana]

Wow, this is extremely hard. Especially choosing between Wasted Years/Starblind and Aces High/Alexander the Great...

Anyway,

Sign of the Cross
Starblind
Revelations
Alexander the Great
The Clansman
Children of the Damned
The Evil That Men Do
Seventh Son

 

[mckindog]

But if it would have stayed a tie, mckindog would have broken it by giving his vote to The Clansman.

Who, me?

 

[Natalie]

The Number of the Beast
Starblind
Revelations
Aces High
The Clansman
Children of the Damned
The Wicker Man
Brave New World

 

[The_RED_rocker]

Sign of the Cross
Starblind
Revelations
Aces High
The Clansman
Children of the Damned
The Evil That Men Do
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

 

[mckindog]

The Wickerman, Starblind, To Tame a Land, Alexander, Number of the Beast, Brave New World, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns and Afraid to Shoot Strangers are bounced Hmm, smaller number of voters that round and mostly close votes. Wonder if the low voter turnout made a difference?

 

[Forostar]

Bah. I'd hoped that ATSS would have made more impression on the people who visited the North American tour.

 

[Kill Devil Hill]

Afraid to Shoot Strangers AND Starblind? . . . Really?

I can't imagine why anyone could pick Wasted Years over Starblind, I'm sorry. Starblind is super creative and has the best lyrics of any Maiden song and some of the coolest instrumental breaks. What does Wasted Years have? Don't get me wrong. I love Wasted Years. But that's like picking You Got Another Thing Comin' over Cathedral Spires. One is clearly more awesome than the other.

I wish ATSS would've made it further, but losing to Revelations isn't too bad. It just goes to show that ATSS IS an underrated tune. It's easily top 10 material, in my opinion.