Jupz's Top 50!

Jupz

Jupz

Ancient Mariner
I love countdowns! :D

I will include an album countdown, updating with an album every few days. I'll update 3 songs per day until we get to 20, then 2 songs per day until we get to 10, then 1 song per day. If there is anything you want me to add to make the writeups more interesting, just say it and I will try my best to incorporate it. After my discussion on each section, I will include a spoilered section that talks about the song live, it may include discussion on the current tour. Anyway, without further ado, here is the first 3 :)


50.  Dance of Death
To start off my list, here is one of the more popular reunion era tracks. This song features some of Janick’s best work. The slow, clean intro builds up in tension, with Bruce doing a great job vocally in this part. It then fades off into a nice little guitar lick before the rest of the band joins back in with a nice melody. The songs solo is possibly its best point; one of Janicks best, a fairly lengthy, but always entertaining solo. Janick really feels so free and inspired here. The ending is good, not great, lacking something needed to compete with certain other clean Maiden outros. The lyrics are not very good however, letting the song down quite a bit, and the section from the ending of the intro (about 3:00) to the start of the solo could have been quite a bit better.
It was great seeing this one live on tour, probably the best live song from Dance of Death.

49. The Duellists
One of the most underrated Maiden songs, I really wish I could fit this one in higher on the list, but I simply can’t. Usually overshadowed by the heavyweights on Powerslave, I find this song can hold its ground quite effectively. Bruce really delivers on this track, featuring one of his best performances in the Maiden discography, with some fantastic high notes. The chorus is especially great, with a nice vocal melody. However, the best part of this song is the lengthy instrumental section. The lyrics aren’t bad either. This one would work amazing live in my opinion, especially with the crowd singing along in the chorus. All in all, an excellent song that reinforces Powerslave.
48. Brave New World
The title track from Maiden’s first reunion effort is a good one, going on with “Blood Brothers” to become one of their most anthemic tracks of the last decade. A slow, sad guitar tune opens the song, with some great lyrics (“Dying swans, twisted wings, beauty not needed here”). The lyrical brilliance continues throughout the song, (“All is lost, sold your souls, to this brave new world” is one of my favourites). The vocal melody in the chorus is great, with Bruce varying the delivery to stop it from becoming repetitive, something that Blaze didn’t do (for the record, I love Blaze :p ). The melancholy mood throughout the song aids the lyrics in portraying a dark view of the future.
Like the previous two songs, but even more so, this one seems like it would be amazing live, and I really hope I get a chance to see it in the future.
 
You may want to put blank spoilers on the songs that aren't in the tour--- if you only spoil tag songs on the tour, then it's still a spoiler, you dig?
 
Dance of Death 50th, Brave New World 48th ? Well, that's interesting. Dance of Death is 14th, Brave New World is 19th in my book.

But that's also intriguing because now I definitely want to see the rest  :bigsmile:
 
Awesome! Can't wait to read the rest!
Brave New World would definitely be higher up in my list, but The Duellists is about where I'd put it.
 
Glad to see the Duellists getting some top fifty love. Very underrated song - 57th on my list.
Dance of Death is in about the right spot. It's at 43 for me, a big climber in recent months for some reason.  ;)
Brave New World is where we differ. It's in my top ten, number eight actually.
 
47. Look for the Truth
Here is my first Blaze song, and a very underrated song from The X Factor. There’s simply nothing bad about this track. The soft opening continues the dark tone set by the rest of the album, before giving way to the “Oooh-o-ohh, ooh-oohh-o-ooohh”. I love the melody Blaze sings in that part. The lyrics in this song are pretty good too. Not too much else to say about this one, except that I always look forward to listening to it when listening to The X Factor. A great, fun little song.

46. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
To continue with the string of title tracks, the title track from the last “golden era” album really manages to create an epic feeling through the cold, powerful guitars and Bruce’s strong, echoing vocals. The verses for some reason give me a sense of “order and discipline” (no idea how to describe it but that was the closest I could come up with :p ). The “oooohhhs” before the chorus really add to the epic feeling, and the chorus itself, although repetitive lyrically, never seems to get old. The clean instrumental section is great and adds to the effect. The spoken words are really powerful and often send chills down my spine. This song would be a bit higher if it was 2-3 minutes longer and had another verse and chorus at the end. No idea why it ended up so low on the list, I guess I just don't like the guitar and vocal melodies as much as 45 other Maiden songs :)

45. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
This song is a perfect example of modern day Maiden. A slow, haunting intro, followed by a crushing riff before launching into some more verses and an epic chorus. It took a long while to grow on me - when I first heard it I wasn’t a huge fan (I didn’t hate it, it just didn’t do much for me). These days, I love pretty much everything about it – the chorus and Bruce’s amazing vocals, the soloing, and the fantastic guitar melody in the instrumental section. I found the lyrical topic quite unique and interesting, especially after I found out a bit about Benjamin Breeg. A top-notch song from one of Maiden’s best albums.
 
Jupz said:
46. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
To continue with the string of title tracks, the title track from the last “golden era” album really manages to create an epic feeling through the cold, powerful guitars and Bruce’s strong, echoing vocals. The verses for some reason give me a sense of “order and discipline” (no idea how to describe it but that was the closest I could come up with :p ). The “oooohhhs” before the chorus really add to the epic feeling, and the chorus itself, although repetitive lyrically, never seems to get old. The clean instrumental section is great and adds to the effect. The spoken words are really powerful and often send chills down my spine. This song would be a bit higher if it was 2-3 minutes longer and had another verse and chorus at the end. No idea why it ended up so low on the list, I guess I just don't like the guitar and vocal melodies as much as 45 other Maiden songs :)
Click to expand...

That would make it pretty much like a lot of 1990s and 2000s Maiden songs. I think it is perfect as it is (and thus I rate it much higher than 46th, of course  :D) It simply does not need another repetition of the chorus. Once the second chorus is done, the song never looks back again. Instead it calms down, builds and builds until it ends on a crescendo, making a great contrast to the opening of the next song.

I absolutely love this song.
 
Wow ! Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is my 7th (coincidence :D) god damn we have totally different tastes  :bigsmile:
 
Look for the truth is nowhere near my top fifty. Try 116.
I have no problem with either of the other two rankings. Both songs are good songs that I have a little lower - 66 for Seventh Son, which gets more credit than it deserves in my book, and 58 for Breeg.
 
Look for the Truth : 89th
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son : 7th
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg : 38th
 
I don't have a list of all songs how they go, but SSOASS would be definitely somewhere up. The verses and chorus are good, but the "prophecy" section and then the solos are like sex for my ears. Pure awesomeness.
 
44. The Evil That Men Do
A live staple, and for good reason, this is one of many great songs from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The guitar intro is great, and the vocal melodies here are top notch, with some great vocals by Bruce, particularly in the chorus. The vocals are really what makes the song for me, as Bruce changes between a rasp in the verses and his usual operatic style in the chorus. It was a real treat seeing this one live, one of my favourite songs from the performance, which ensured it a spot in the top 50 :)

43. Flash of the Blade
Another underrated song from Powerslave! This song is an awesome little rocker. The opening riff is great, and the chorus IMO is a blueprint for power metal choruses, with a very catchy vocal melody and fantasy/sword fighting inspired lyrics. A real shame they never played this one live either, I think it would be a great live song. The solo section is great, with some cool guitar leads. Overall, a fun, catchy song from Powerslave that in no way should be considered filler.

42. The Prisoner
To finish off an update full of rockers, here is a classic one from The Number of the Beast. Everything about this song is great! It always has me playing air guitar, air drums or singing along. Great performance by Clive, riffs are awesome and Bruce does a great job too. The chorus, like the previous two, features a great vocal melody, but I like this one more than the others. A good solo by H and then the song wraps itself up with the chorus. A classic song and one of the best from The Number of the Beast.

Sorry about the fairly short writeups, these songs are all pretty short and I can't find too much to say about them  :)
 
Another surprise with The Evil That Men Do's spot.

The Evil That Men Do : 17th
Flash of the Blade : 71st
The Prisoner : 40th
 
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