On repetitive choruses

It seems to me the repetitive chorus or the seemingly copy/paste sections of songs has gotten more and more egregious over time. Certainly the instrumental break in Where Eagles Dare is repetitive, as is "Heaven Can Way-ay-ait" and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son's chorus goes on and on, but until Brave New World the repetition was confined to a couple of songs on each album and tolerable. Obviously the point that was made that many pop songs are structured this way is right. You just don't want to hear the same phrasings, bridges, choruses over and over again and it seems Maiden has been using this as a crutch either to give the song symetry, or perhaps just to make a song over 7 minutes long. At any rate, yes, this is something that Maiden has been guilty of going all the way back to Running Free, but it seems to have gotten much worse in the past decade.

As an aside, I was at a friend's place the other day and we were watching the Final Frontier video and just as the chorus hit he says, "what's the name of this song again?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
My friend: "What?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
My friend: "What's the album called?"
Bruce: "the final frontier"
My friend: "and the song again?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
 
I almost would say you should not include Heaven Can Wait in that list, because at least on the 4th verse it resolves to something.

Another great entry:

Feel like I've been here before
Feel like I've been here before
Feel like I've been here before
Feel like I've been here before
 
Habberdasher said:
It seems to me the repetitive chorus or the seemingly copy/paste sections of songs has gotten more and more egregious over time. Certainly the instrumental break in Where Eagles Dare is repetitive, as is "Heaven Can Way-ay-ait" and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son's chorus goes on and on, but until Brave New World the repetition was confined to a couple of songs on each album and tolerable. Obviously the point that was made that many pop songs are structured this way is right. You just don't want to hear the same phrasings, bridges, choruses over and over again and it seems Maiden has been using this as a crutch either to give the song symetry, or perhaps just to make a song over 7 minutes long. At any rate, yes, this is something that Maiden has been guilty of going all the way back to Running Free, but it seems to have gotten much worse in the past decade.

As an aside, I was at a friend's place the other day and we were watching the Final Frontier video and just as the chorus hit he says, "what's the name of this song again?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
My friend: "What?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
My friend: "What's the album called?"
Bruce: "the final frontier"
My friend: "and the song again?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
Click to expand...

Huh?  I thought LC just dispelled this idea that AMOLAD was repetitive in relation to the older material.  And The Final Frontier is the only song on the record with repetition in that vein.  How is that getting worse in the past decade at all?
 
Look, 90 per cent of rock and pop songs built on repetitive riffs, rhythms and melodies.
Singling Maiden out for that in any era is ridiculous, particularly when they do a better job of mixing things up than most bands.

If you are just talking about choruses that repeat the same phrase again and again look at the facts:

Brave New World is an obvious offender with four: Wickerman, BNW, Blood Brothers and the Mercenary.
Since then there have been a total of four songs: Final Frontier, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns, For the Greater Good of God and (the worst offender) No More Lies.
There are three on this site's consensus "best album ever": The Evil That Men Do, Seventh Son, Only the Good Die Young
How about these classic era tunes? Children of the the Damned, Run to the Hills, The Trooper, Back in the Village, Somewhere in Time, Heaven Can Wait and Deja Vu?

LC's already covered this more than thoroughly, so I can't see why the argument continues.
If you like the repetitive choruses of the classic era better fine. If you think the choruses of the reunion era are monotonous fine.
But saying they've become more repetitive is wrong.
 
Habberdasher said:
As an aside, I was at a friend's place the other day and we were watching the Final Frontier video and just as the chorus hit he says, "what's the name of this song again?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
My friend: "What?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
My friend: "What's the album called?"
Bruce: "the final frontier"
My friend: "and the song again?"
Bruce: "The final frontier"
Click to expand...

Reminds me of how I sat in a bar with a mate of mine and a song was playing.

Me: "Good song."
Him: "Yeah. Who's that again?"
Me: "Manowar."
Him: "No way, that's not Manowar. I know Manowar."
Me: "It is. Listen to those screams. That's Eric Adams."
Him: "No way."
Me: "What else is it supposed to be?"
Him: "No clue, but it's definitely not Manowar."
Song: "Ooooh Manowar! Born to live for evermore! Fight to conquer every shore!"

...
 
To be totally honest, I never really noticed the overuse of repetitive choruses until Virtual XI.
 
Its a tried and tested method of audience participation call and response. Maiden IMO have perfected it and should in no way apologize or have to explain it.
Hell they don't even need lyrics for a call and response! the god dammed bass is enough! Thank you 'Arry!  :edmetal:
 
p4warrior said:
Huh?  I thought LC just dispelled this idea that AMOLAD was repetitive in relation to the older material.  And The Final Frontier is the only song on the record with repetition in that vein.  How is that getting worse in the past decade at all?
Click to expand...

Like Forostar said earlier, a lot of what is annoyingly repetitive depends on whether we like the mood of the song and the music during the repetitions.  When the song is slow or soft, repetitions to me are more of a detriment to the song's quality.
 
Genghis Khan said:
Like Forostar said earlier, a lot of what is annoyingly repetitive depends on whether we like the mood of the song and the music during the repetitions.  When the song is slow or soft, repetitions to me are more of a detriment to the song's quality.
Click to expand...

I can understand that.  I just strongly disagree with Habberdasher's contention that repetition has gotten "much worse" with reunion Maiden.
 
p4warrior said:
I can understand that.  I just strongly disagree with Habberdasher's contention that repetition has gotten "much worse" with reunion Maiden.
Click to expand...

I think LC made his point.  And the reason people think there is more repetition now, is because, in all fairness, Maiden has slowed down their pace in their older years.  As I said, slower pace makes you notice the chorus more. 
 
Wow, this whole repetitive thing seems to be a huge deal for some people. I'm glad that as a big post-rock fan, I'm very receptive towards repetition in the band's songs. I can't remember listening to any of their tunes and disliking it the least bit for being repetitive or derivative of any of their other tunes...
 
I think that repetition is vital for a memorable song. Look at prog rock:
I takes several listens for you to start really knowing the song, and even then it's not really sticking to your head.
Really memorable classics have repetition in them, to let you know what's the important part.

And don't talk to me about pop, that doesn't count.
 
Mega said:
I think that repetition is vital for a memorable song. Look at prog rock:
I takes several listens for you to start really knowing the song, and even then it's not really sticking to your head.
Click to expand...

No. Prog Rock is known for material with many changes, and smaller focus on choruses (thus a lack of repetition).
Of course there are songs with repetition, but when you look at all the genres, Prog Rock probably has the least.

And repetitive listening has nothing to do with this topic.
 
LooseCannon said:
This shit has been bothering me for awhile. Tons of people complain about the repetitive choruses from AMOLAD. I mean, how fucking often do you hear it? So, here's my take on the matter.

Maiden's classic albums are loaded with the fucking things. Seriously. Think about it for a minute.

Running Free:
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.
I'm runnin' free, yeah, I'm runnin' free.

Wrathchild: I love all the choruses, they make a point.
I'm a wrathchild, yeah,
I'm a wrathchild
I'm a wrathchild, I'm comin' to get you
Ooh yeah

Children of the Damned:
Children of the damned!
Children of the damned.
Children of the damned!
Children of the damned.

The Trooper:
Ohohohohohohoho!
Ohohohohohohoho!

Aces High:
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live, aces high

Caught Somewhere In Time:
Caught somewhere in time!
Caught somewhere in time!
Caught somewhere in time!
Caught somewhere in time!

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son:
Seventh son of a seventh son!
Seventh son of a seventh son!
Seventh son of a seventh son!
Seventh son of a seventh son!

ANY album with Steve-heavy lyrics has lots of repetitive lyrics. It should be expected by now. TFF is more Bruce and Jan heavy, and well, they did well - and let's look at AMOLAD.

Different World: Tell me what you can hear, and then tell me what you see, everybody has a different way to view the world...I would like you to know that when you see the simple things to appreciate this life it's not too late to learn.

These Colours Don't Run: For the passion, for the glory, for the memories, for the money, you're a soldier, for your country, what's the difference, all the same.

Brighter Than A Thousand Suns: Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns. Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns. Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns.

The Pilgrim: Now give us our holy sign, changing our water into wine, so to you we bid farewell, kingdom of heaven to hell.

The Longest Day: How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through? How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through? How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through? How long on this longest day til' we finally make it through?

Out of the Shadows: Out of the shadows and into the sun, dreams of the past and the old ways are done, oh there is beauty and surely there is pain, but we must endure it to live again.

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg: Someone to save me, someone to save me from myself, a destination away from this nightmare; someone to save me, someone to save me from myself, to bring salvation, to exorcise this hell.

For the Greater Good of God:
Chorus 1: Please tell me now what life is, please tell me now what love is, well tell me now what war is, again tell me what life is.
Chorus 2: For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God. For the greater good of God.

Lord of Light: Free your soul and let it fly, give your life to the Lord of Light, keep your secrets and rain on me, all I see are mysteries.

The Legacy: No chorus.

Okay, three songs repeat. 30%, of which I would suggest that at least none are just the title of the song repeated over and over, excepting the second "chorus" of FTGGOG, which really isn't much of a chorus.

Look at Seventh Son of a Seventh Son:

Moonchild: Moonchild, hear the mandrake scream; moonchild, open the seventh seal; moonchild, you'll be mine soon child; moonchild, take my hand tonight.

Infinite Dreams: No chorus.

Can I Play With Madness?: Can I play with madness? The prophet stared at his crystal ball. Can I play with madness? There's no vision there at all. Can I play with madness? The prophet looked and he laughed at me. Can I play with madness? He said you're blind, too blind to see.

The Evil That Men Do: The evil that men do lives on and on. The evil that men do lives on and on. The evil that men do lives on and on. The evil that men do lives on and on.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: Seventh son of a seventh son. Seventh son of a seventh son. Seventh son of a seventh son. Seventh son of a seventh son.

The Prophecy: No real chorus.

The Clairvoyant: There's a time to live, and a time to die, when it's time to meet your maker. There's a time to live, but isn't it strange, as soon as you're born, you're dying. There's a time to live, and a time to die, when it's time to meet your maker. There's a time to live, but isn't it strange, as soon as you're born, you're dying.

Only the Good Die Young: Only the good die young, only evil seems to live forever. Only the good die young, only evil seems to live forever. Only the good die young. Only the good die young.

4/8, 50%; even higher when you consider less songs have choruses. Even if you argue that The Clairvoyant isn't really repetitive (it is), then it's still the same numerical amount of songs (3) as on AMOLAD, and the percentages (37.5% of total songs or 50% of songs with choruses) are higher.

Can this go away now?
Click to expand...
:yey:
 
Private Benjamin Breeg said:
It becomes an excuse to "not like" the newer material.  There's a huge apologist contingent with fickle old school-only Maiden fans.
Click to expand...

You get the old schoolers in every band.  "Bruce does not keep his voice as high anymore".  But there is Benny Breeg.  "The band is not as fast anymore".  But there is Lord of Light, etc.
Mega said:
I think that repetition is vital for a memorable song. Look at prog rock:
Click to expand...

Not really.  If it is well done, repetition is not needed.  See Infinite Dreams.  Of course repetition does not necessarily hurt a song.
 
Two quick points:

1) I think Maiden has gotten more repetitive in their music more than the lyrics post-reunion. That's why every other songs churns in at over 8 minutes these days.

2) Brave New World and Final Frontier are 2 of my top 10 favorite post-reunion songs
2a) While I prefer "old-school" Maiden, hands down, my biggest complaint is that the newer songs could be tightened up a lot.
 
The better the song, the less I notice it when listening, this applies to Maiden or anyone else.  Take The Evil That Men Do, massive repeats + awesome song= who cares.  Changing that would not make the soing any better.
 
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