Lord of the Flies- Death on the Road

Arran_Ramone

Invader
Hey everyone. Im just wondering- I learnt Lord of the Flies a while back, and i tried playing it to Death on the Road and it seems that it is played differantly. Its a pain 'cos i don't own "The X Factor", so if i wanna play along i gotta keep youtubing it.
Can anyone tell me what is played differantly on Death on the Road? Especially the intro, its a great intro and it sounds beastly on DotR.
Cheers in advance for any help.
 
You're a drummer, aren't you?

So are you referring to playing the drum part, or the guitar part, or something else?

It would help if you could be more descriptive about the "difference" you're hearing. I'll be glad to compare the two versions, but not on a wild goose chase - tell me what to listen for. :bigsmile:
 
Ah sorry.
I am a drummer, but i also play quite a bit of guitar.
Well, the notes are definetly differant. Im not sure how to describe it at all.
The studio version is double stopping the D and G strings at 4,0,7,0,9,0,4,2,0 (If you get what i mean! aha), but when i play this along to the live version it clashes completley to what im playing. To my ears anyway.
Im really sorry that im awful at describing such things.
Im just certain the fret patterns have been changed.
 
Ah yes, they are very different. On the live version, the guitarist* doesn't play the open strings. He holds down the double stops.

The reason: the guitars are tuned down a half-step on the studio version. So that version is actually 5-0-0-8-0-0-10-0- etc. Playing as if the riff were in the key of C, but sounding in the key of B.

Live, they chose to play in standard tuning... so they learned it in the key of B, but now that open string would be out of tune (sounding a G instead of an F#). Thus the change in the riff to get rid of the open strings.

It also sounds like the studio version is fingerpicked, while the live version is played with a regular pick. That's why the studio version is staccato while the live version is legato.


* I don't know which of the 3 guitarists plays that intro on the live version, but I suspect it's Dave.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
Ah yes, they are very different. On the live version, the guitarist* doesn't play the open strings. He holds down the double stops.

The reason: the guitars are tuned down a half-step on the studio version. So that version is actually 5-0-0-8-0-0-10-0- etc. Playing as if the riff were in the key of C, but sounding in the key of B.

Live, they chose to play in standard tuning... so they learned it in the key of B, but now that open string would be out of tune (sounding a G instead of an F#). Thus the change in the riff to get rid of the open strings.

It also sounds like the studio version is fingerpicked, while the live version is played with a regular pick. That's why the studio version is staccato while the live version is legato.
* I don't know which of the 3 guitarists plays that intro on the live version, but I suspect it's Dave.
Thanks a lot for that, i'll try it out tomorrow morning. Very very helpful :)
Its Janick that plays it live, apart from seeing it on the DVD (via Youtube, i dont own the DVD), I found it easy to tell due to the short amount of feedback before the intro.

Thanks again, and well done on being able to make sense of my ravings! :D
 
That intro I like way more in the studio version. In my ears it sounds quite messy during the 2003/2004 tour, almost like they forgot how it went. (Now I know it's only a different technique and tuning as SMX described, but still...)

Janick starts the song, just like in the studio version.
 
I prefer the live version actually, but I think I'm rather rare in that.  I like Bruce's singing and the guitar in this version, it just seems to have so much more energy than the studio.  :)
 
Invader said:
I prefer the live version actually, but I think I'm rather rare in that.  I like Bruce's singing and the guitar in this version, it just seems to have so much more energy than the studio.   :)

I also prefer the live version.
I havnt made my mind up on Bruce's singing of it, but the guitars sound great- The intro is what originally attracted me to the song, especially that slight bit of feedback. It gives it a bit of character i think!
 
I like studio version more. IMHO Bruce was screaming not singing the live version. Same goes for all X Factor songs.
 
I like Bruce's singing at least as much as Blaze's. It's just that I think the music in the studio version is performed better, or at least, it sounds that way to me. Especially in the intro, and before the mid-tempo starts, the separate guitars have their distinguished roles.
 
I love the "sloppiness" of the guitar in the DOTR intro.  I'm pretty sure it was meant on purpose, as it just gives this awesome feel to the riff.  Another example of sloppy riffs would be "Beyond this Life" and "Panic Attack" by Dream Theater, which both have weird, "sloppy" riffs played in a strange time signature and just sound great.
 
GuineaPig said:
I love the "sloppiness" of the guitar in the DOTR intro.  I'm pretty sure it was meant on purpose, as it just gives this awesome feel to the riff. 

I totally agree with you there :D
 
Wow, I didnt know Maiden ever played in dropped tuning.
then what about the tabs in standart tuning that sound great? with the open strings.
 
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