Running Free

How good is Running Free on a scale of 1-10

  • Total voters
    15
8- It's a fun song and much better live.  I always really liked the solos.  I actually prefer the Live After Death version.
 
The drums sound a bit funny on the album version.It's not among the best of the album but still it's a nice rocker with a catchy sing-along chorus whether it's live or studio.
8/10
 
8/10 - sanctuaries (much better) twin brother for me. Better story and i good fun live song giving it a high score with this album dominated by such ::)
 
7/10. Fun rocker, good energy. Nothing particularly special, and it somewhat pales compared to later Iron Maiden.
 
While I usually prefer my Maiden complex, this is a simple song that delivers. I also love the way they play it live, especially to close the night out - introducing members of the band, etc. I'm a little biased since I try to play bass, playing along to the songs with just the drums and bass intro really gets me into it. The live versions out there also have a few minutes of just drums and bass so Steve (or yourself) can mess around on the guitar with different fills.
9/10 One of my favorites from the Pauly D era.
 
Nice little classic. The riff is kickass, as are the lyrics, and the chorus is a rock anthem. Love the drums too. Only things I'm not too keen on are the simplistic guitars in the bridge and the piss poor production. 8/10
 
We're back to the similar type of song as prowler and sanctuary. This is a catchy song and I like it. Similar punk feel. Not as strong as prowler, so one score less.

7/10
 
A simple yet really catchy song. Feels more complete then for an example Sanctuary. A better chorus and more interesting lyrics.
Have more of like a jam then a solo in the middle which isn't so normal for the band. Also a great live song

7/10
 
This song was meant to be played live. It's far better in that environment with the crowd participating.
But as others have said, it has a catchy hook, a good drum beat, and the harmonized bridge in place of a solo is well done.

7/10
 
This one has dropped slightly in my estimation; perhaps it's just the slow turn of my tastes towards the proggier stuff. However, the LAD version of this is one of my favorite Maiden tracks. 7/10
 
...I'm really not that fond of the album version of this song. It's really lacking a lot of vibrancy for Maiden standards. Now, played live is a different story, but I'm looking solely at the album version, and there's not much to it. Had it not been played as much as it had, I'd write it off as just mediocre (for Maiden standards) filler.

4/10.

RTC's Maiden Ranking:
1: Remember Tomorrow
2: Sanctuary
3: Prowler
4: Running Free
 
This song, more or less feels like the older brother of Sanctuary. Both are fun, catchy songs that I enjoy for that very same reason.

I do feel that this song is stronger, though. Not by a huge margin, but still stronger nonetheless.

I've never been too fond of it live, though. Strange, because I enjoyed Sanctuary live. Well...perhaps it's because of that singalong part. I can like singalong parts in a song when it's meant to be there in the first place when played live. But here...no, sorry, I don't feel that way.

I think I'll give this the same rating as Sanctuary, even though I feel it's stronger, it's not enough for an 8.

Ah, well. 7/10 it is.
 
9/10

Running Free might be one of the most dated sounding songs that Maiden has ever released, but I’ll be damned if I don’t love it. It’s classic, simple Maiden that translates well onstage. There’s also some nice guitar harmony work in the middle, right before Steve Harris leads the band through a section of alternating chugs and spidery licks.
 
This was the first song I can remember really falling in love with, back when I was too young to have much taste in music at all, so it obviously have a very special place in my heart. It's quite a straight forward little rocker with ano awesome groove to it, I never felt the managed to reproduce the groove in the drums on any other recording, here the fuzzy, kinda warm sound of the record really makes the song a lot better, which is not the case on some other songs (the opposite, even, in some occasions).
Always having problems with putting a simple number on a song, this one was actually easy for me. A clear seven.
 
Low rent Sanctuary. Sorry. High-energy singalongs at live performances do not in any way affect how I enjoy this song on the album. I skip it more often than not these days. It's simple, boring, and somewhat offensive to my sensibilities. It's good live because Bruce makes it fun. It's not good on this album where there's no interplay.

I'm debating between a 3 and a 4 here, but I think we'll go with 4. Gonna be stingy on my low end too.
 
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