Phantom of the Opera

How good is Phantom of the Opera on a scale of 1-10?


  • Total voters
    12
10.

This song is simply amazing. Music is great, the vocals are weird but incredibly catchy, and the bridge is just outstanding. One of Steve's best.
 
Definitely my favourite song on the album. The production quality isn't great, but the vocal speed fits superbly with the speed of the song. Throughout the solo, it keeps progressing, featuring some extremely clever swaps throughout, building up to the next stage and leaves the listener satisfied right up to the end. The fact it's never played live frequently gives it a fresh appeal when it does appear on the setlist
 
Ah. Now it makes sense :p Though I would say that for Maiden standards, it is played frequently.
 
Ah. Now it makes sense :p Though I would say that for Maiden standards, it is played frequently.
But, it's not played exhaustively, which makes it feel fresh. There are plenty of songs that, to me, sound tiresome played live these days

NOTB
RTTH
Trooper
FOTD
Hallowed
Iron Maiden
Running Free

Apart from Hallowed, these have been on pretty much every setlist, and it's just boring hearing them over and over again. Phantom isn't played as much, which makes it feel fresh
 
The Trooper and Run to the Hills are actually not as frequent as everyone makes them out to be. They've been on and off during the last ten years. Running Free was only re-introduced in 2010. And Hallowed has been on every setlist except for the very last one. And I mean every one, like from 1982 straight down to 2011.
 
The Trooper and Run to the Hills are actually not as frequent as everyone makes them out to be. They've been on and off during the last ten years. Running Free was only re-introduced in 2010. And Hallowed has been on every setlist except for the very last one. And I mean every one, like from 1982 straight down to 2011.

I'd say Phantom of the Opera has been played very frequently, even by Maiden standards. To my knowledge, it wasn't played between late 80s-mid, late 90s, when it was brought again by the Ed Hunter/Early Days tours. Still, I must say I almost shat my pants when they played it live during the Somewhere Back in Time tour, which was my very first Maiden gig.
 
I'd really hate to see this song fall into the "overplayed and boring" bin with RTTH, FOTD, Wrathchild and the like. It's a masterpiece andone of their best songs.

15/10
 
I never said it was. However, following the preceding discussion on how frequently it was played, I hoped POTO didn't fall into such a category for Maiden Fans.
 
What more can you say about this one? It's the perfect song, possibly Maiden's greatest achievement. Brilliant lyrics, spellbinding melodies, the song just moves from one incredible passage to the next. Every riff and melody is stunning, and it once again proves Steve is the master of the bass. It also shows what a bias most critics have against (non-commercial) metal that this song is nowhere to be found on 99.9% of the "best songs of all time" lists. 10/10
 
Probably the best song of this album and its known for it's classic guitar solo (it's a good one). This is the beginning of the "core" of this album for me, with the following three songs being my favorites. I really could just close my eyes for the next three tracks and fade away into another world. Take me there Eddie!

10/10
 
A really great song, and by far the best song on the first album!
What I really like about Iron Maiden is that the really can take you on a journey, to another place. They can make the lyrics and the music come together into one. This song is the first (of many to come)one who does just that.
There are great melodies, great riffs, cool melodies, and an epic feeling, especially from the tempo change two minutes in and up until the solos (which are great, especially Murray's dominant run at 5:15-5:20).
Tempted to give this one a 10, but since there are songs that are even better then this in the catalogue, and there are still some flaws; I give this:

9/10
 
A really impressive song for a debut album. All of Steve's best ideas at the time made it into this track.
The main theme is an inventive melody that perfectly conveys the theatrical tone of the song.
I love the way this song is structured too. Very progressive with multiple verses and lack of a chorus. No parts drag at all.
The instrumental section is breathtaking, letting the music paint a picture. Dave's solo during the 6/8 section is one of his best ever.
Di'anno gives one of his best performances as well. One of my Top 10 Maiden songs ever.

10/10
 
This is one of the early Maiden songs I heard. I had it in a Playlist along with the likes of Dance of Death and Powerslave. This was before I bought all the albums and listened in order. So image my shock when I found out this was on the first album! Amazing that they started out this good, and continued the trend for decades to come. It's one of the things that harnessed my high respect for this amazing band.

10/10, and well deserved.
 
As much as I'd love to hand out 10/10's for most of their exceptional songs, such as this one, I'm only going to reserve them for masterpieces so they carry some more weight. Whilst Phantom is an amazing song, I don't think it's quite a masterpiece.

Still, amazing song, extraordinary main riff, and everyone adds everything to this song. An early leader for some time in my rankings.

9/10.

RTC's Maiden Ranking:
1: Phantom Of The Opera
2: Remember Tomorrow
3: Sanctuary
4: Prowler
5: Running Free
 
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