'man On The Edge'
It's interesting, in my opinion, that the lyrics describe the basic setting of the controversial but awesome film "Falling Down" in detail (the main character losing his temper in the car stuck in the traffic jam, as well has his mental state and the reasons for it), but the whole happenings in it are being put off with one line:
Across the city he leaves in his wake
And what he does in detail gets not a mention at all. I think it is evident that Blaze (I believe he wrote the words alone) understood the film and it's message correctly, unlike many people I know and who regard this as more of a comedy with a social message (I tend to regard it as a social film with some more or less funny moments).
It could however also be that Iron Maiden spared us the details because the film caused quite a lot of controversy because some believed it to be racist, as the main character is beating the crap out of members of large minority groups such as Asians and Latin Americans (obviously not regarding the fact that he also goes after a nazi- it's a while since I last saw this film, so I don't remember what happened to him, though I think he got killed). Of course, any sensible viewer will realize that there is no racist message in the film, and the main character just goes after anybody who is not himself. I doubt not wanting to be pulled into the stream of such accusations was in the band's intentions -not to mention that Iron Maiden has never cared for political correctness. I rather think they wanted to emphasize the film's message with this song, and perhaps also point it out to those who misunderstood it.
In any case, this song does justice to the film, and it's certainly prime headbanging material. Four and a half stars- I don't really think the intro fits.
