Lack of instrumentals since Powerslave

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Hi,

First off, I'm new to the forums, although I had been lurking for a while before I officially registered.  However, there is one question I have that haven't yet found an answer for; I'm sure this has been discussed before, but why has Steve Harris stopped writing instrumental tracks?  In my opinion, they were among the best tracks written for their specific albums (Losfer Words perhaps being the exception, although I do enjoy it quite a bit, and do not consider it a weak track by any means).  Could someone shed some light on this for me please?

Thanks in advance.
 
In a sense, "Transylvania" may be the only 'honest' Maiden instrumental - meaning a song that was intended to be performed as an instrumental.

"The Ides Of March" has primarily been used as a taped intro to live shows, and the track sounds like it was written with that intention. It's not really a full-fledged song; it's just a chord progression, repeating and building for dramatic effect.

If I recall correctly, "Genghis Khan" was patched together in the studio from unused riffs. It may be good, but it was intended as filler.

"Losfer Words" - the title says it all. Apparently, Harris didn't intend to write an instrumental; it just turned out that way when he couldn't come up with lyrics.

My point is that aside from "Transylvania", Maiden have never been an instrumentals band. They only happen by accident. So asking what happened to them isn't quite the right approach. Look at the many complex instrumental sections that have occured within Maiden songs since Powerslave - there's your instrumentals. Harris just isn't at a loss for words anymore.
 
Thanks for the reply; it makes perfect sense now, I had never really looked at it that way.
 
Neither had I. I was pretty sure Transylvania began as a song to which lyrics would follow, but they liked it so much as an instrumental they didn't bother to write lyrics for it. Oh well.
 
Onhell said:
Neither had I. I was pretty sure Transylvania began as a song to which lyrics would follow, but they liked it so much as an instrumental they didn't bother to write lyrics for it. Oh well.
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That could very well be true. It would make sense given Maiden's history. I simply hadn't heard that rumor before, but it sounds logical.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
If I recall correctly, "Genghis Khan" was patched together in the studio from unused riffs. It may be good, but it was intended as filler.
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I think "Genghis Khan" is a great instrumental. I don't recall that it was patched together from left overs.

I remember that Maiden needed new music, since they didn't have much material left for a complete second album. Thus "Genghis Khan" was one of the few songs that were written especially for it.

When the music was written, it seemed that a vocal didn't fit and that's why they left it as an instrumental.



The following is typed by me from a 1983 interview with Harris, featured in an Iron Maiden Guitar Tab Edition book, which contains the tabs of Maiden's first four albums.

Steve, about Transylvania:

"The initial idea on this one was to have lyrics. It originally had a melody line for the vocal, but when we played it, it sounded so good as an instrumental that we never bothered to write lyrics for it"

Genghis Khan:

Interviewer John Stix: "Genghis Khan" is the second instrumental on Killers. The sharp break in the B section is like shifting gears without a clutch."

Steve: "That freaked out our producer as well. It was sort of a change at right angles. We really liked that element of surprise. This was another song where there could have been a vocal melody on top, but it felt good as an instrumental. A vocal would have cluttered it up. Originally it was written to depict the feeling and sound of Genghis Khan's army going to battle".

John Stix: "There are no solos"

Steve: "It wasn't a conscious thing, but it worked out that way. It felt better not to have any guitar solos on this track."
 
Interesting background on all of the instrumentals, whether intended or not. I too am in the camp that would enjoy to hear another before the band sadly calls it quits. Something along the lines of Transylvania would be excellent. To me AMOLAD somewhat brought back the feel and raw instrumentation of the first two albums, to follow that up with something along the lines of Transylvania on the next album would be a natural progression (or shall I say regression) and I think would make many fans very happy. Thinking in this instance especially of the newer fans that have not had the opportunity to appreciate the early years as much as others.
 
I for one am glad that Maiden doesn't do lyric-less songs anymore. Perhaps it's because of the value I place on textual composition in my "job" (humanities graduate student), but I really think thr lyrics are what make the songs go from great to AWESOME.
Tat being said, I do love the instrumental portions of lots of the songs, especially the Dance of Death album (and super-especially Montsegur.)

My two cents, anyway.
 
There being three guitar players in the band, Maiden have been bound to write another instrumental song for eight years, haven't they?
 
I believe so. I am in total agreement that lyrically they're unparalleled and Bruce's singing is a joy to hear, however, what has always made Iron Maiden the best is the writing and ability of it's musicians. I am certainly up for at least one more.
 
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