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

Personally, Revelations used to be in my top 5, but it's dropped a bit since I ran it into the ground. It's probably somewhere in my top 20 or 30 now. Aces High used to be a top 10 song for me, and now I'd put it in the top 30 or 40. CSIT has never had a chance to enter the top 50. I'd be surprised to see it in the top 80, honestly. I'm not even halfway through my rankings yet, though. I've just never seen anything special about it, and in recent weeks, I've listened to it a ton of times to see why it's doing so well, and I just cannot wrap my mind around it. This could quite possibly be one of Maiden's most mediocre songs (imo of course).

It has a great intro with the synths and stuff. Shows where the album itself will go and keep in mind that Somewhere in Time is my favorite Maiden album. The bass playing and drums are energetic, Bruce's vocals on the chorus are awesome. Guitar melodies are interesting (especially the one between "just let yourself go" and the chorus) and both solos are some of Maiden's best.

It does get repetitive after a while and doesn't have the greatest lyrics in the world and that is why it's not in my Top 15 at the moment. But it is in my Top 20 while Aces High & Revelations can't even come close to being in my Top 50.
 
It has a great intro with the synths and stuff. Shows where the album itself will go and keep in mind that Somewhere in Time is my favorite Maiden album. The bass playing and drums are energetic, Bruce's vocals on the chorus are awesome. Guitar melodies are interesting (especially the one between "just let yourself go" and the chorus) and both solos are some of Maiden's best.

It does get repetitive after a while and doesn't have the greatest lyrics in the world and that is why it's not in my Top 15 at the moment. But it is in my Top 20 while Aces High & Revelations can't even come close to being in my Top 50.

I certainly agree with the killer intro. I actually don't mind the lyrics. My biggest gripe about the tune is Bruce's tone on the chorus. It sounds painful, and quite frankly, it's a terrible chorus. I do like the instrumental section. I just feel the song is pushing toward some climax that it never arrives at, and I'm always left a little disappointed. And it's just too long.

Revelations is a gorgeous song. I can't imagine not at least having it in your top 30. Even that would be erring low. That song has gorgeous lyrics, beautiful vocals, and some of Maiden's finest harmonies. I admit the main riff is nothing special, but everything else is just so tremendous.

I get why you'd place Aces High lower, though. That song is strong because of its energy, and it works best in a live setting.
 
Revelations is a gorgeous song. I can't imagine not at least having it in your top 30. Even that would be erring low. That song has gorgeous lyrics, beautiful vocals, and some of Maiden's finest harmonies. I admit the main riff is nothing special, but everything else is just so tremendous.
This. Revelations is at least top 20. One of the absolute best, far from overrated.
 
Revelations, It was in my top 20 for a LONG Time, I Replaced it Recently with Longest Day though. I Do Believe it Shouldnt have been in the Top 10
 
Other thing that surprise me is the Love this forum has to certain songs like Deja vu,Alexander the great,Paschendale,Starblind and some songs of the Xfactor.

About deja vu and Alexander the great, its true that the music is really cool,but the lyrics in the case of alexander are quite......embarrasing.Is like a history homework that made Steve in his childhood.

And its great to see Caught somewhere in time near the top,i always thought its an amazing song,and its sound is so futuristic.Amazing.
 
What do you find surprising about people liking Paschendale and Starblind?

i dont find surprising people liking paschendale and Starblind, i found surprising putting that songs at same level of classics.Maybe paschendale,but not at same level,and starblind? dont know.

I know tastes are different.Dont get angry,but as i check the forum i found more things weird ( for me)
 
I'm not getting angry. I just don't define songs as "classic" merely depending on when they were made and I don't agree that '80s Maiden songs are better than '90s or '00s Maiden songs by default. There are great songs and not so good songs in any decade, that's all.
 
I think a lot of members of this forum are younger fans who came in during the 2000s, such as myself, and that means we look at the overall catalogue at once. Personally? I put Starblind and Paschendale ahead of all "classic" Iron Maiden songs, with the exception of Powerslave. Why? They're mature and epic. Starblind and Paschendale also speak to me on a very, very personal level, something few "classic" Maiden songs do.
 
Let's just stop this argument and say that ALL Maiden is great, problem solved.

However, I'm in a stirring the pot kind of mood, so I agree that the "Classic" era is better overall than the "Reunion" era. :innocent:
 
I'm just eternally fucking grateful that the band can and does still churn out music that is of the same calibre of what it was doing 30 years ago.
 
I have just finished comparing the Head 2 Head results to the many, many years of data I have. Very, very interesting numbers.

BEFORE factoring in the H2H results, here are some really cool numbers:

H2H put only one song at its 8 year average position: The Apparition, in dead last.
H2H underranked the following songs by MORE than 50 places: The Educated Fool, 2 AM, The Aftermath, The Edge of Darkness, The Nomad, Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger.
H2H overranked the following songs by MORE than 50 places: The Clairvoyant, Caught Somewhere In Time, Be Quick or Be Dead, The Evil That Men Do.

The H2H ranking differential per album (expressed as a song average) is expressed as a positive or a negative number. A positive number is an overranking, a negative number is an underranking.

Somewhere in Time: +24
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: +17
No Prayer For the Dying: +12
The Final Frontier: +9
Fear of the Dark: +7
Brave New World: +5
The Number of the Beast: +1
Iron Maiden: 0
Piece of Mind: 0
Dance of Death: -3
Powerslave: -4
Killers: -10
A Matter of Life and Death: -11
Virtual XI: -20
The X-Factor: -23
 
Great stuff LC. Glad to see previous voters had the right idea about Educated Fool, Somewhere in Time and Edge of Darkness.
And that current voters corrected injustices with Evil that Men Do and Don't look to the Eyes of a Stranger. ;-)
 
I'm not going to say that H2H is wrong or right in reflecting the current attitudes of the forum. But, on balance, I think it showcases that people like songs from certain albums better to rank than to fight against each other.

I will concede that Caught Somewhere in Time is a top 10 song when I see it being so ranked over the course of 5+ years. I am a patient man with these sorts of things. In the meantime, I consider its recent surges to be nothing more than statistical anomaly caused by the current forum makeup.
 
In the meantime, I consider its recent surges to be nothing more than statistical anomaly caused by the current forum makeup.

There something really cool about being able to talk about an Internet forum in terms of five-year increments and historical context.
 
Revelations is a gorgeous song. I can't imagine not at least having it in your top 30. Even that would be erring low. That song has gorgeous lyrics, beautiful vocals, and some of Maiden's finest harmonies. I admit the main riff is nothing special, but everything else is just so tremendous.

I get why you'd place Aces High lower, though. That song is strong because of its energy, and it works best in a live setting.

This conversation inspired me to come up with a full Maiden list and I've completed it a couple of hours ago. Revelations is 65th, Aces High is 67th while Caught Somewhere in Time is placed at 18.

Revelations is too repetitive. The main riff is nothing special (like you've said) and it gets repeated a lot. Lyrics and vocals are the things that keeps it in my Top 70 if its lyrics and vocals weren't as good, I doubt it would even be in my Top 100.
 
There something really cool about being able to talk about an Internet forum in terms of five-year increments and historical context.
I know I'm not going anywhere, but a lot of the people who voted in this poll? Very likely most of them will be gone.
 
Revelations, to me, is one of the finest pieces of art ever created. It's a top 10, maybe even top 5 song for me. The music is slightly repetitive, but it is by no means excessively so, nor does that make it bad. And Bruce's emotional vocals and cryptic lyrics... It's definitely one of my favorites.
 
CSiT has some amazing lead work by both Adrian & Davey. Can still see why people aren't massively impressed with it though.

Where did That Girl come in btw? :D
 
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