Iron Maiden's worst song (AKA the Head to Head results thread)

mckindog

mckindog

Living for Sanctuary from the law
Staff member
And Iron Maiden’s worst song is...
...going to be posted here tomorrow
After a few months and more than fifty polls, the Iron Maiden Head to Head tournament is wrapping up with final poll being launched tomorrow. Your votes have ranked the band’s catalog from one to 144. Over the next few days the results will be counted down in this thread, from worst to first. You’ll get each song’s ranking, the Survivor result that determined its seeding going in, and what songs it matched up against during the tournament to arrive where it has.

And you’ll get your chance to second-guess the results.
Looking forward to hearing what you have to say, starting tomorrow with the band's 14 least favourite songs.
 
Making My Predictions.
Since I'm New Here I Actually Discovered this Maiden Head to Head thing a couple Days ago. I Tried to Vote on as Many as I Could but Oh Well.
Worst Is Most Likely One of these 5
Weekend Warrior
Quest For Fire
Dont Look to the Eyes of a Stranger
Assassin - I Actually Like this Song
Apparition
 
My choice for worst song, and what I think it will actually be, is between Chains of Misery and The Apparition.

Looking forward to seeing the whole results.
 
This lowest end of the list will not match my own choices. Probably not at all. I especially feel that songs like The Apparition and The Assassin will get less credit than they deserve. Can't stress enough how thoughtful (and optimistic!) The Apparition's lyrics are and the music isn't that bad either.

To read my take on The Apparition, go here:
http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/the-apparition.4286/page-2

This first publication of mckindog's findings are for me the hardest part because it's going to be stigmatizing.
I can only hope that this does not only confirm people in their condemning feelings. Would be grand if it stimulates to (re-)discover the songs in question (at least they still have our attention!).

Calling all Maidenfans: never close the book! Taste can change, and from time to time, new subtle elements can be discovered! :ok:
 
As someone who loves Gates of Tomorrow, I feel the same way. I just know this is in the bottom 10, and it's a real shame. I just adore Bruce's vocals on it. He puts so much into it. And the harmonies are great. I get why people don't place it in their top 10, but c'mon, this is at least top 50 worthy.

But it looks like I'm literally the only person who likes it this much. :p
 
Kill Devil Hill said:
As someone who loves Gates of Tomorrow, I feel the same way. I just know this is in the bottom 10, and it's a real shame. I just adore Bruce's vocals on it. He puts so much into it. And the harmonies are great. I get why people don't place it in their top 10, but c'mon, this is at least top 50 worthy.

But it looks like I'm literally the only person who likes it this much. :p
Click to expand...

It's at the low end of the album for me, and probably would only made the middle of my overall rankings... but I enjoy the song a lot and think it get's a lot of negative press :( Then again I love DoD in general :p
 
And Nush called it: Maiden's worst song (as picked by you, the Maidenfans) is The Apparition.
(S: survivor rounds won, W: songs beaten L: songs beaten by)


144) The Apparition
(S: none, W: none, L: 2 a.m., Age of Innocence, Hooks in You, Wildest Dreams, Chains of Misery)

143) Chains of Misery
(S: none W: The Apparition L: Bring Your Daughter, The Unbeliever, Angel and the Gambler, Weekend Warrior)

142) Weekend Warrior
(S: none, W: Chains of Misery, L: Eyes of a Stranger, Back in the Village, Gangland, Wildest Dreams)

141) Wildest Dreams
(S: none, W: The Apparition, Weekend Warrior L: The Assassin, The Mercenary, The Fallen Angel)

140) Angel and the Gambler
(S: none, W: Chains of Misery, L: Quest For Fire, Fear is the Key, Gangland, Hooks in You)

139) Hooks in You
(S: none, W: The Apparition, Angel and the Gambler L: Judgement of Heaven, Gates of Tomorrow, The Assassin)

138) The Assassin
(S: none, W: Wildest Dreams, Hooks in You L: Can I Play With Madness, Sanctuary, Gangland)

137) Gangland
(S: none, W: Weekend Warrior, Angel and the Gambler, Assassin L: Different World, Innocent Exile)

136) Fear is The Key
(S: one round, W: Angel and the Gambler, L: Final Frontier, From Here to Eternity, Quest For Fire, Iron Maiden, The Fugitive)

135) The Fugitive
(S: none, W: Fear is the Key, L: Tailgunner, Judgement of Heaven, New Frontier, Age of Innocence, Eyes of a Stranger, Gates of Tomorrow)

134) Iron Maiden
(S: one round, W: Fear is the Key, L: Face in the Sand, The Alchemist, 2 a.m., Fallen Angel, Holy Smoke, Gates of Tomorrow)

133) Gates of Tomorrow
(S: none, W: Hooks in You, The Fugitive, Iron Maiden L: Man Who Would Be King, When Two Worlds Collide, Another Life)

132) Don’t Look to the Eyes of a Stranger
(S: none, W: The Fugitive, Weekend Warrior L: Como Estais Amigos, Fates Warning, Back in the Village, Another Life, Quest For Fire)

131) Quest for Fire
(S: none, W: Angel and the Gambler, Fear is the Key, Don’t Look to the Eyes of a Stranger L: The Journeyman, Lightning Strikes Twice, The Unbeliever, Holy Smoke)

(Iron Maiden Killers Number of the Beast Piece of Mind Powerslave Caught Somewhere in Time
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son No Prayer for the Dying Fear of the Dark The X Factor
Virtual XI Brave New World Dance of Death A Matter of Life and Death The Final Frontier)
 
No big surprises here, as virtually all the songs that get repeatedly bashed make appearances down here in the dungeons.
The most remarkable thing here is the strong presence of Fear of the Dark; Five of the bottom ten songs and the worst three are all from that album.
Is the Apparition really the band’s worst song? I don’t think so (Fear is the Key gets that honour in my books). But it’s not very good, and considering the songs it lost to, it earned its ranking fair and square.
Finally, they may be Maiden’s worst 14 songs, but I’d certainly buy the album.
 
Ariana said:
I only find the low positioning of Iron Maiden surprising.
Click to expand...
That and Angel and the Gambler are my picks for songs that don't deserve to be this low. They are both simple, and yes, TAATG is repetitive, but I find each of them pretty catchy and neither gets the fast-forward treatment from me.
 
Worst Maiden song for me is a tossup between about half of Fear of the Dark and Bring Your Daughter...
 
Worst Maiden song for me is a tossup between about third of Fear of the Dark and third of Killers.
 
I'm not sure why most of you dislike 'Wildest Dreams'. I'm a big fan personally. 'The Apparition' is no shock, but I think 'The Assassin' is Iron Maiden's poorest song.
 
These are my own 14 least good Maiden songs, in chronological order:
(in red the ones that are also in mckindog's post of the board's 14 least good ones, based on the recent head-to-head game)

Sanctuary
Iron Maiden
Innocent Exile
Drifter
Chains of Misery
Look for the Truth
The Angel and the Gambler
When Two Worlds Collide
Don’t Look to the Eyes of a Stranger
The Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
Face in the Sand
The Talisman
 
Forostar said:
These are my own 14 least good Maiden songs, in chronological order:
(in red the ones that are also in mckindog's post of the board's 14 least good ones, based on the recent head-to-head game)

Sanctuary
Iron Maiden
Innocent Exile
Drifter
Chains of Misery
Look for the Truth
The Angel and the Gambler
When Two Worlds Collide
Don’t Look to the Eyes of a Stranger
The Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
Face in the Sand
The Talisman
Click to expand...

The one that caught my eye there was Thin Line. It's not on many top 20 lists, but I think this is the first time I've seen it on a "worst of" list.
Also think it's about time to re-do my personal list.
FWIW, right now Eyes of a Stranger and Wildest Dreams are the only songs on yours, mine and the forum's bottom 14.
 
Still, I think I enjoy the least good songs more than most others.
The Thin Line still gets a 6 out of 10 from me.
 
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