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

Forostar said:
I still think The Assassin has a better chorus than the most monotonous bleating Maiden came up with. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M on my way.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M on the road again.
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I certainly don't think that Wildest Dreams is a great chorus, though, in its defense, you misquoted it, as the main chorus does not consist of two "I'm"s in a row ("I'm on my way/Out on my own again/I'm on my way/Out on the road again"), though the alternate chorus does ("I'm on my way/Out on my own again/I'm on my way/I'm gonna break away"). However, I just don't like the way "Better watch out" is sung, and I think having "Cos I'm the assassin" sung over it is just too much cheese, added to the fact that the line itself is cheesy, as has been pointed out before (if you were an assassin, why would you tell your victim to watch out for you?). Wildest Dreams' chorus is tolerable and fits in with the song, whereas The Assassin is, in my opinion, hurt by its chorus, as it does a moderately good job of setting an atmosphere in the other parts of the song.
 
To think I "liked" that, then you dropped that bombshell! :D Maybe you guys (18 odd of you) should form a breakaway forum? Kidding, but you get my point --I didn't even know it was going on. Sorry...
 
@Cried: That's because you're always stuck on this segment of the forum. Come on, get out! :)
@425: I don't think this shouldn't be taken too literal as spoken words. The lyrics give a look into the mind of an assassin. These are thoughts. Harris dove into the assassin's perspective.
E.g., lots of people were watching out for Jack the Ripper and the fear of people certainly might have attributed to his excitement. Excitement which is described well in these lyrics.
 
I can understand those as thoughts, but I still find the line somewhat cheesy, while the rest of the lyrics are fairly good. And I still think that the chorus drags down the rest of the song. I think the rest of the song is in the middle-low range of No Prayer, but with the chorus it is (in my mind), unquestionably the worst on the album (though I agree with the general consensus that The Apparition is the worst Maiden song).
 
The chorus in The Assassin has a really catchy riff. And the rest of the song is really fine. The build-up is nice. The song consists out of at least 10 different parts. Relatively seen, the chorus doesn't take that much of the song (around 23%) , and -as told- I know far worse choruses (still to come on future albums).

The solos are more special and better than on the title track of this record. In fact, that whole instrumental part is better than the whole NPFTD midsection (incl. the vocals). Also the music underneath the solos contributes in a better way. I like that eastern flavour in the accompanying rhythm guitar (while Dave does his solo) and the drum rhythm swings butt as well. Also, during the couplets the two different guitars are cool, and pretty unique. Especially Janick's ta-ta-ta-ta-taaa ... is a serious attempt to make the song more exciting, and it works.
 
I think Assassin is a fun song, like a lot of No Prayer. And I don't think a lot of the lyrics on that album are meant to be taken too seriously anyway.
 
CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
To think I "liked" that, then you dropped that bombshell! :D Maybe you guys (18 odd of you) should form a breakaway forum? Kidding, but you get my point --I didn't even know it was going on. Sorry...
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Hmm.. tempting... who would be involved? >.>

I think my high end is probably as 'bizarre' as Foro's, but with a different set of songs entirely.
 
Forostar said:
I still think The Assassin has a better chorus than the most monotonous bleating Maiden came up with. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M on my way.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M on the road again.
Click to expand...
25142942.jpg
 
And the next 10 are:

130) Another Life
(S: one round,, W: Gates of Tomorrow, Don’t Look to the Eyes of a Stranger L: Déjà vu, Different World, Look for the Truth, Innocent Exile, Holy Smoke)

129) Holy Smoke
(S: one round, W: Iron Maiden, Quest For Fire, Another Life L: Only the Good Die Young, Can I Play With Madness, Invaders, Sanctuary)

128) Drifter
(S: one round, W: From Here to Eternity, L: Virus, Final Frontier, Back in the Village, Losfer Words, Invaders, Innocent Exile)

127) Innocent Exile
(S: none W: Gangland, Another Life, Drifter L: Losfer Words, Fates Warning, From Here to Eternity, Look For The Truth)

126) Look for the Truth
(S: one round, W: Another Life, Innocent Exile L: El Dorado, Out of the Shadows, The Unbeliever, Age of Innocence, Invaders)

125) Invaders
(S: one round, W: Holy Smoke, Drifter, Look For the Truth L: Thin Line, The Mercenary, When Two Worlds Collide, Sanctuary)

124) From Here to Eternity
(S: one round, W; Fear is the Key, Innocent Exile, L: Sun and Steel, Bring Your Daughter, Drifter, New Frontier, Age of Innocence, Sanctuary)

123) Sanctuary
(S: none W: The Assassin, Holy Smoke, Invaders, From Here to Eternity L: The Alchemist, Lightning Strike Twice, Losfer Words)

122) Age of Innocence
(S: none W: The Apparition, The Fugitive, Look For the Truth, From Here to Eternity L: When Two Worlds Collide, 2 a.m.)

121) Losfer Words
(S: none W: Innocent Exile, When Two Worlds Collide, Drifter, Sanctuary, Age of Innocence L: Heaven Can Wait, Fallen Angel)
 
Again, most of these songs fall about where I would have expected them — even the ones I quite like (Invaders, Eternity).
There's not a lot of depth to any of them.

The exception is Age of Innocence, which is well-played, well-constructed rock song, with an emotional chorus.
Think it deserves more respect than it gets.
 
The following albums are not featured in Maiden(fan)'s 24 least good songs:
Somewhere in Time (1986)
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Brave New World (2000)
A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
The Final Frontier (2010)
 
Interesting conclusions :) After it's all done it would be nice to read some sort of trivia like this.
This part is even less surprisng than the first one. I like some of these a little bit more than that, but it's not a big deal.

@mckindog
I suggest to keep posting the whole current ranking too (from what is already posted) in a spoiler tag (just not to make posts too long).
 
Forostar said:
The following albums are not featured in Maiden(fan)'s 24 least good songs:
Somewhere in Time (1986)
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Brave New World (2000)
A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
The Final Frontier (2010)
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My top 5 albums. Cool!
 
Songs that should've been higher :

Losfer Words (A LOT higher, actually)
Look for the Truth
Quest for Fire
Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger

Songs that should've been lower :

Sanctuary
From Here to Eternity
Innocent Exile
Gates of Tomorrow
Gangland
Hooks in You
 
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