Paschendale

How good is Paschendale on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    33
Daily Song: Paschendale

Welcome to the Daily Vote Thread! Rules are here.

Remember, only a decent review will count towards the contest.

Today's song: Paschendale

Yesterday's song remains open for voting! You can find it here.

Perfection. Completely perfect in every way. Every single riff and every single note is part of telling a story complex and epic in scope, though truly infinitesimally small: the hopes and dreams and violent death of one man on one of the most horrific battlefields in human history. Personally moving to me, I think it's appropriate to append what Bruce said about Phantom to this track:

If you don't fucking like this song, you don't like Iron Maiden.

Absolutely nothing about this song is wrong. I even listened to the bit Yax told me, and I can't see it. It's part of a visual for me. I've always imagined a guy walking along the trenchline during the chorus, narrating the very-near end of his life. Nicko is the rumble of the guns in the distance; and closer when they splash into the muddy field. Steve's bass is the ever present stutter of the guns. The guitars are wailing shells and rapid-fire weapons and the sound of feet thudding on the duckboards.

Terrifying and awe inspiring. This one goes to 11.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

Sorry, but it's a 9/10 from me. Okay, the lyrics ARE fantastic, but on some parts I feel that the music doesn't really match the lyrics. And of course, the thing that annoys me on the whole album - sound quality. Death On The Road version is much better just because of that.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

LooseCannon said:
If you don't fucking like this song, you don't like Iron Maiden.
Click to expand...

I am extremely enthusiastic about this track, but I still think there are a few better ones out there- though not many. This is a masterpiece of songwriting, not a single instant is superfluous or needless. So much is happening there, and you really do feel like you are there, in the trench, the mud, with death and despair all around you. I think the lyrics could have been a little bit better at times: I have never liked the way Bruce sings German war propaganda machine, such before has never been seen... it's one or two syllables too long. There you have it: If that is the level I'm complaining at, you have a bloody amazing song. 10/10.

Incidentally, I declare these to be among the greatest lines Maiden have ever done:

Cruelty has a human heart
Every man does play his part
Terror of the men we kill
The human heart is hungry still

And then comes the riff at 4:40...
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

Whoa, always tough following some big reviews but here goes. Ahem..

Paschendale contains many moments of sublimely brilliant imagery and guitar riffage. It seems there are a thousand riffs, melodies and harmonies contained within this monstrous epic. Yet I really dislike the verse riff at 1:46, which makes it impossible to hand out a 10. If I found the riff forgettable or even dull I could have ignored it and given the song a 10. But I do not like that riff and so points must come off. Plus I always felt Bruce didn't need Steve riding shotgun beneath his opening line...Adrian's haunting fingertappy thing was sufficient accompaniment. All in all a truly fantastic epic.

9.4
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

Perun said:
Incidentally, I declare these to be among the greatest lines Maiden have ever done:

Cruelty has a human heart
Every man does play his part
Terror of the men we kill
The human heart is hungry still
Click to expand...

I fully agree. At least, these lines and the following four are my highlight of the album for sure.

I can imagine the enthusiasm for this song, but at the same time I realize the heaviness of the topic. This subject had huge impact on history, and on the people who were (in)directly related to this battle, and to WWI as a whole. I have a certain interest in this war, especially because in the Netherlands I wasn’t taught much about it, and my country had less to do with it. Last year, I visited a WWI site, which was part of the Battle of the Somme, and it made a big impression.

Now to Maiden and this beloved song. It’s really cool that Maiden made a song about WWI, and the lyrics alone are very impressive. Read it as a poem or a piece of diary and you can already visualize some cinematic movements in this battle.

The thing is, I don’t like the song structure as much as the lyrics and Bruce's performance. The track is incredibly powerful and heavy. It’s rhythmic. It’s warlike in a way. I even understand the softer moments, representing the intervals in the battle. Still, there’s also something like my taste, and in Maiden I prefer melodic songs with more variation, definitely when a song is as lengthy as this one. Dance of Death has these melodies, and for me it has that excellent build-up and variation. It continuously sustains the feel of awe, while in Paschendale there are excellent and less excellent (repeated) parts, and the tempo is not changing either.

It contains the best part of the album but in the last couple of minutes the tension and attention(!) become less than in the first half. In the end I’ll decide on a high 9.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

10, a great song and definately in Iron Maiden's top 20. I won't say any more then that, but I can see why some people place it in the top 5 or even #1.

I really love the intro for this song, its one of my all-time faves. The lyrics are great (though I do prefer some other Maiden lyrics) and the riffs really rule. This song really connects with me when I'm in certain moods. my favourite thing is when its raining or cloudy and windy outside, or sometimes at night, to sit in my car or sit up in my room on the second floor looking out the window and listen to the song while just staring up at the sky, watching the trees blow ferociously and hearing the wind howling in the background. Times like this are when the song gets truly magnified, though its always a great song to listen to.

I also love those lyrics.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

It doesn't get much better than this. The lyrics are pure poetry, the music a theatrical powerhouse, it just conveys such a great atmosphere. 10/10
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

'Paschendale' is 10/10. However, I consider both 'Dance Of Death' and 'Rainmaker' better. To me, they are classics, 'Paschendale' is not.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

Epic in the way only Maiden can be. The plaintive Morse code signal for help, the tough slog of day-to-day life in the trenches, the rain of bombs and bullets, the mud, the blood, death and destruction The utter hopelessness of war. It’s all here. The song deserves every platitude it gets. Easy 10.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

This gets a 10/10 from me and is one of my very favorite Maiden songs.  It's probably my favorite post 2000 song too.  My only complaints are twofold- the production which is a detriment to the entire record not just this song.  And this song doesn't flow like Maiden songs should.  I guess that's why it stands out so much.  I just wish it was a bit more fluid between the transitions.

But the lyrics are great, the performance is awesome, the tapping intro/outro is very haunting and it's not repetitive.  I just wish I could have seen them perform it last summer even though I'd argue that DOD is the better live song.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

Great songs but not better than Dance of Death and certainly not the best 2000> song. Still I like this song very much even though Maiden have many many other songs I like more than Paschendale

8/10
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

9/10
H's tapping is ingenious, and I can feel desperance in "Crucified as if on a cross.." part like it was my own story, Bruce really gives it all he's got. But for me there are better songs.
Also I don't like the loudness of orchestra instruments in some parts, I wish guitars had more space.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

A great epic, this is what Maiden does best IMO (tell a story not just with the lyrics, but with the guitars and drums), they set the entire mood and it really brings you in the story.  10
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

I'd perhaps give it a 10 if they never played it live. DOTR version is significantly better than studio one, due to crap production of the album itself. Like LooseCannon puts lyrics on first place, i do the same with overall sound image. 9.
 
Re: Daily Song: Paschendale

57/10, but I'll vote 10 since that's the highest option.

Spectacular. Awesome. Stunning. The eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth wonders of the world. Everyone should drop to their knees right now and thank Adrian Smith you were born at the right time to experience this song. Perfection beyond words.

The only Maiden song in all 15 albums that was so damn good, on the very first listen of the album I replayed it three times before finishing the rest of the album.

PFD is the pinnacle of human art and culture. It's all downhill from here. Up in Musician Heaven, Bach and Beethoven are kicking themselves in the ass for not writing it. Anecdotal evidence indicates that PFD has been known to cure blindness, teach unruly children to behave and if you give it enough time it'll even wash your car.
 
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