Recycled Songs?

Sometimes you can't help but feel certain Maiden songs are just rehashes of classics. The one that bothers me the most is The Duellists which sounds EXACTLY like Where Eagles Dare, and even Bruce's vocals are uncannily....well, the same.
 
Yes, some Maiden songs do have a few similarities here and there, but they still have enough that's original about them. And instrumentally, WED and TD do sound quite different.
 
The intros to Infinite Dreams and The Clansman spring to mind... as does the lead at 3:45 in The Unbeliever and the main melody in Afraid to Shoot Strangers.
 
Sometimes you can't help but feel certain Maiden songs are just rehashes of classics. The one that bothers me the most is The Duellists which sounds EXACTLY like Where Eagles Dare, and even Bruce's vocals are uncannily....well, the same.
Funny, I never realized that, but you're right! I guess I always skip Duellists... always thought it was filler. Now I feel that way even more so.
 
Duellists' instrumental section is nothing like Where Eagles Dare's. Huge difference as Duellists' instrumental section is pretty long.

There are some similarities in many songs and that is a fact that I adressed to in a conversation with @Dr. Eddies Wingman months ago. But when you say "recycled", I feel like it's too harsh of a word.
 
Duellists' instrumental section is nothing like Where Eagles Dare's. Huge difference as Duellists' instrumental section is pretty long.

There are some similarities in many songs and that is a fact that I adressed to in a conversation with @Dr. Eddies Wingman months ago. But when you say "recycled", I feel like it's too harsh of a word.

They have a similar feel, are in the same key, are in the same time signature, at about roughly the same tempo. Not exact copies, but there are a lot of similarities. Not to mention, and I believe this was Eric Wright's main point, the vocal melody and rhythm is almost identical in parts, especially in the first part of the verse.
 
But the chord progression in the verse is different, which in my opinion outweighs the similar rhythm.

Time signature? Of course it is similar. Maiden do not write much in other time signatures than 4/4 at all.
 
Don't agree on The Duellists and Where Eagles Dare. As mentioned the instrumental section of The Duellists is some of Maiden's best work.

I do note similarities between No More Lies and Die With Your Boots On, WTWWB and Edge of Darkness, but it's more like a little piece here and there.
 
But the chord progression in the verse is different, which in my opinion outweighs the similar rhythm.

Time signature? Of course it is similar. Maiden do not write much in other time signatures than 4/4 at all.
The chord progressions are similar enough that one can sing the first couple lines of either verse over either riff. And technically, since it's a triplet feel, they are in 12/8.
 
The chord progressions are similar enough that one can sing the first couple lines of either verse over either riff. And technically, since it's a triplet feel, they are in 12/8.

You're right on the last part. I'll have to pick up a guitar and sing myself to see if I agree with the first one, but I do suspect it will sound awkward.

EDIT: After listening to both, trying to sing the vocal line of one over the rhythm guitar of the other, I really think it sounds awkward. The interchanged vocal lines don't sound right. Also, I think The Duellists has less of a triplet feel than WED. I honestly can't hear that WED could be any more than an inspiration for The Duellists. Far from any recycling in my ears.
 
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You're right on the last part. I'll have to pick up a guitar and sing myself to see if I agree with the first one, but I do suspect it will sound awkward.

EDIT: After listening to both, trying to sing the vocal line of one over the rhythm guitar of the other, I really think it sounds awkward. The interchanged vocal lines don't sound right. Also, I think The Duellists has less of a triplet feel than WED. I honestly can't hear that WED could be any more than an inspiration for The Duellists. Far from any recycling in my ears.
There's no way one has less of a triplet feel than the other; in both songs, there are three 8th notes per beat in both tunes. WED may be slightly more syncopated, but the overall time signature is the same.
 
I do agree that they're not recycled per se- however, they are very similar tunes in terms of dynamic and feel! Not a bad thing by any means, Maiden have a few styles of tunes that work very well, and tend to compose within those constraints. Nothing wrong with that!
 
There's no way one has less of a triplet feel than the other; in both songs, there are three 8th notes per beat in both tunes. WED may be slightly more syncopated, but the overall time signature is the same.

You're right on the theory - there's no questioning the counting. I'll reformulate that argument. I think the two have a different feel - reinforced by that the drums are, as you say, more syncopated in WED.

WED sounds
dagada-daaaaa, dagada-daaaa, dagada-daaaa, dada-dam-dam-dam
whereas TD is
dagada-dagada, dagada-dagada,dagada-dagada-daa daa daa

where each "dagada" is a triplet.

I think they sound quite different, which may be why I never thought of these two songs when we were discussing this topic previously.
 
You're right on the theory - there's no questioning the counting. I'll reformulate that argument. I think the two have a different feel - reinforced by that the drums are, as you say, more syncopated in WED.

WED sounds
dagada-daaaaa, dagada-daaaa, dagada-daaaa, dada-dam-dam-dam
whereas TD is
dagada-dagada, dagada-dagada,dagada-dagada-daa daa daa

where each "dagada" is a triplet.

I think they sound quite different, which may be why I never thought of these two songs when we were discussing this topic previously.
The accents are totally different indeed.
 
Plus they didn't record to a click track... Nicko tends to, um, interpret tempos in a very free-flowing manner...
 
But the chord progression in the verse is different, which in my opinion outweighs the similar rhythm.
Not sure if I agree. A similar rhythm with different chords is going to be more noticeable than the same chords over a new rhythm IMO.
 
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