New Single - The Writing on the Wall

Donner said:
Not sure if this has been pointed out, but I also love that they are seemingly going with the 'full' logo on this one like they did with TBOS. The chopped off logo that was used from Virtual XI through Final Frontier never ever looked right to me.

Great song!
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Agreed - I love that they brought it back for TBOS and have done so with the single cover.
 
I like that it both sounds completely different than anything they have done before while still sounding like literally dozens of other Maiden songs--many identified on this thread, I will add that I find the intro is very similar to The Red and the Black except on guitar instead of bass.

This song is going to be great live, very anthemic chorus that can be sung along to and you can't help but bob along to it.

Speaking of singing, I really like that Bruce has dialed it back and you can actually hear the words (unlike many Harris compositions both recent BOS, TRATB and older TTAL).

This is mature Maiden and I could see it crossing over into more hard rock circles, given the overall pace of the song, subject matter of the lyrics, and no screechy vocal.

Overall, it's not anything spectacular, just the best song I have heard from them in over 5 years.
 
Whooten said:
Speaking of singing, I really like that Bruce has dialed it back and you can actually hear the words (unlike many Harris compositions both recent BOS, TRATB and older TTAL).
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Here is your answer why Bruce dialed it back on this one...

(Smith/Dickinson)
 
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Comparisons to country are overblown in my opinion (and not necessarily a bad thing even so).

The one song this immediately reminded me of was Firewind's "Losing My Mind". Similar bluesy intro. Both great songs.
 
Twarkle said:
I brought up age simply to point out that most people grow and change as they age and therefore have no desire to recreate the exact moments that they have already lived, and to expect an artist to want to recreate something from their youth 40 years later is unrealistic. I wasn’t was trying to use their age as an excuse for the material because although I don’t love it, I don’t think it needs an excuse, it’s what they have chosen to make.

Edit: I listened to the Flostam & Jetsam song you recommended. Sounds like a band that has been frozen in time. Sounds dated and generic to me. Thanks for the recommendation, though.
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I agree with you and like the new Maiden single but that Flotsam & Jetsam song kicks ass.
 
I actually like all the melodies in the song more and more with every listen.

My only remarks are the too sluggish tempo of the whole song and the low singing of Bruce in the chorus (the chorus should have been with a different vocal melody from the verses imo).

I'm not gonna say that the song is not anything special (because the whole instrumental section and the melodies are great), but it's not one of my favorite songs/singles of Maiden. Average/Decent song.
My ranking of the first singles of every reunion album:

1.The Wicker Man
2.Speed Of Light
3.Wildest Dreams
4.The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
5.El Dorado
6.The Writing On The Wall

Btw, I already started humming the melodies and even the chorus a couple of times. :D
 
for me personally the bottom line on WOTW is - light years (pun intended) ahead of 1) super simplistic 70's throwback Speed of Light and 2) dull (again) and super weird, nosiy and forgettable El Dorado, and 3) monotonous, boring, amelodic Wildest Dreams. only Benjamin gives it a run for money for first singles in last 20 years after of course KILLER Wicker Man. Benjamin totally didn't fit the rest of that album it came from but I sense this new song is very much of a piece of what we can expect with new album. Is it a great song? No, not instantly so. But it's good. Good is good!
 
Very much in the vein of their influences - Lizzy, Purple - without sounding like them.
Catchy as hell without being obvious - an unexpected single, like Breeg, but an entirely understandable choice.

The main riff is vaguely reminiscent of the Legacy and Mother Russia even though the song is nothing like either. The track that best evokes the mood for me is Son of a Gun off Bruce’s first solo album, but this has a more epic sweep.

Adrian‘s solo is fucking fantastic - so emotional as Steve and Nicko March us toward the apocalypse.

The song is a great meld of tone and lyrics - badass in the face of the inevitability of the end. I get a real Steven King Gunslinger vibe chasing the Dark Tower across the dusty plains as the world crashes and burns. Maiden at its cinematic best.

Very excited to see what other tones they explore in the album, but as far as a Maiden “single“ goes this is a good one.
 
mckindog said:
I get a real Steven King Gunslinger vibe chasing the Dark Tower across the dusty plains as the world crashes and burns. Maiden at its cinematic best.
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Yep, you nailed it man. Very spagetti western Ennio Morricone kind of feel to it...but in a good way. Very King The Stand vibe. I love that. Bruce's voice (on crappy stream mind you) is still somewhat muddied up in the mix....like TBOS...to the point of being hard to understand. Not sure why this is such an issue for the band. Anyway, lovely track...
 
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