Most Underrated Maiden song?

Virus. Feel free to laugh, but I think this is the best Blaze Bayley song by some distance. I love the opening, the riffs, the chorus and the message of the song. In fact, had the song had another guitar solo after the rats in the cellar part and a final chorus, I think it would have a major chance to be in my top 5 favourite Maiden songs. Without it, it lies somewhere in the late 10's, but as a solid A.

I like Virus, but actually enjoy the edited version a lot more. Original repeats itself too much.

It cuts out like nearly 3 mins of slow intro (and maybe some in the mid and in the end too?) and just makes it into a short punchy rocker equal to the likes of Rainmaker, Futureal etc...Love or hate that, I love it.

 
I like Virus, but actually enjoy the edited version a lot more. Original repeats itself too much.

It cuts out like nearly 3 mins of slow intro (and maybe some in the mid and in the end too?) and just makes it into a short punchy rocker equal to the likes of Rainmaker, Futureal etc...Love or hate that, I love it.


This is awesome, especially the first 2 minutes. It doesn't seem proportionate, changes are too weird but I do prefer this version because oh my god, the chorus and especially the verse are amazing.
 
The worst album closer for me was The Unbeliever. What a boring song.
And that would be my nomination for one of the most underrated Maiden songs. :D Love it, some exciting/surprising bits that overall make a song that really strays from the "Maiden formula". One of my favorite songs on that album.
 
This is awesome, especially the first 2 minutes. It doesn't seem proportionate, changes are too weird but I do prefer this version because oh my god, the chorus and especially the verse are amazing.

I don't feel that the changes are weird at all, they're just right in my opinion :D The song is just in your face all the way through! Lots of intensity and adrenaline and very hooky/catchy!

If I was to use an argument to get rid of some of the slow build up song structures I would point to the Virus edit....Its so much better, IMO.

Also, a song like Out of The Silent Planet, in it's edit version makes it a much more aggressive song:

4 min and keep in mind the album version is like closer to 7 min:

 
I sorta do too, but when you remove it completely it suddenly stands out more from the rest of the pack, IMO.

But I do like it, they should just have kept the "Rape of the mind" bit down to like max two times before going into the actual song....doing a slow section, then "Rape of the mind" then slow section three times gets tiresome.
 
If anything, Virus needs length. The only thing that prevents it from being an A+ on my end is the abrupt ending. Add a guitar solo and a final chorus, and it could be looking at being in my Top 5 Maiden songs.
 
I don't know about the ending, I think it works rather well, except that they have to come back with the slow part of "watching beginnings..." (done to death)...but If they would cut the intro down a bit and add a swift Murray solo in the middle somewhere, that would benefit the song I think! :D
 
Well, you're looking at adding about a minute and a half to the song, giving it a run time of 7:44, which is about the length of The Longest Day or Starblind with everything else intact.
 
Hm yeah, well, I still prefer the edit version. If Virus had actually made the X-Factor it would have been a nice track somewhere in the middle of the album, at around the same length of Man On The Edge, to give some balance and diversity.

I think Maiden forget to make it simple sometimes, even when the song begs for it :) Virus would have been a nice punchy tune, without the slow intro/outro thing they always do.
 
Also, close to 8 mins is also very long for a song of any kind, It's just that we've come to expect that from Maiden in recent years. :)
 
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