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Maybe with "To Tame A Land" the point was that Steve enjoyed Dune so much he wanted to inspire us all to read it for ourselves. There's no shortage of Maiden songs that give you something to research, after all.
 
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The problem with "To Tame a Land" is really just the lyrics. They end up being completely nonsensical to those unfamiliar with the book, and thus fails to grab one's attention. "Rime" is an example of a literary adaptation done right: it lures you into the story by laying out all the key points so you can fully comprehend what is going on. On "To Tame a Land", Bruce is essentially babbling meaningless made-up words.
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Yeah, but it's not necessarily their fault. Dune itself isn't very story-driven. Man, I shouldn't have re-read it again after leaving high school. I apologise to all the fans, but it's terribly, terribly written, in a way that looks much more complicated and "profound" than it is, nearly every character is utterly disgusting and inhuman in some way (and they they all tend to think and speak in the same way) and it's unbelievably bloated. Dune (the book) is twice as long than it needs to be, considering the tiny plot. Children of Dune is absolute shite. 400 pages of nothing. I finally gave up halfway the sixth book. (I hope Malazan Book is going to be better, as I've been told.)

Maybe that's somehow reflected in the lyrics. Not intentionally, no, I believe 'Arry was a fan of the book, but I can't help but wonder.

The comparisons with Alex are spot-on - both are 80's closing 'Arry epics that didn't get much live play (or none at all) with clunky lyrics that give their respective albums a rather dark ending. For what it's worth, I'd much rather see them dusting off Tame than Alexander. It's much more atmospheric and they'd nail it live, whereas I'm not so sure about Alexander.
 
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I don't necessarily dislike To Tame A Land's lyrics, and Bruce sounds great on the song. Maiden have simply written better songs, that's all.
 
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