Setlist retirement poll

[Magnus]

I suppose you've heard their stuff from the last, say, 30 years or so?

 

[srfc]

I wouldn't want them to retire any song. I've no problem with them leaving any song out for a tour though, except Iron Maiden.

I think FOTD being dropped on the new album tour would be ok.

 

[Randalf]

I wouldn't want them to retire any song. I've no problem with them leaving any song out for a tour though, except Iron Maiden.

I think FOTD being dropped on the new album tour would be ok.

This.

There's no need to ditch any of the biggest classics forever, but giving them a rest once in a while isn't that bad. To be fair, they've done it with Run to the Hills, but 2 Minutes to Midnight would've done well with one or two more rests and I wouldn't mind if FOTD was omitted once or twice over the past five tours.

I'm more than willing to let go of the Sanctuary/Running Free/Wrathchild category though. The first two, especially Running Free, are fun set closers and all and Wratchild ROCKS, but given that their standard set is 15-16 songs long and some (justfied as it is) other classics/staples already man a huge portion of it, I just rather see pretty much anything else being played instead. It's not like they'd dust off any really terrible songs anyway, so it's a safe bet to say that you'd get something interested and more preferable in their place anyway. It's not that Wrathchild, for example, wouldn't still rock, but I think it's hard to dig anything fresh out of it anymore, while The Trooper and FOTD have sounded at least a bit more fresh over the TBOS/TLOTB tours.

 

[GhostofCain]

This.

There's no need to ditch any of the biggest classics forever, but giving them a rest once in a while isn't that bad. To be fair, they've done it with Run to the Hills, but 2 Minutes to Midnight would've done well with one or two more rests and I wouldn't mind if FOTD was omitted once or twice over the past five tours.

I'd say The Trooper should be given a rest more often.

2 Minutes to Midnight has been given a rest quite often (too often in my humble opinion). If I remember correctly, it was not played live on the following tours: DOD tour 2003/2004, The Early Days tour 2005, TFF tour 2010, and TBOS tour 2016/2017.

 

[FTB]

They could drop all of them except Hallowed and replace them with deep cuts and i would be extremely happy

 

[Jer]

Waiting 7 years to post a single spam message takes dedication!

 

[Travis The Dragon]

Everything except Hallowed and Iron Maiden which is a must for bringing the big Eddie out. It just wouldn't feel right on any other song.

 

[karljant]

IMO there are 5 songs that should be a must in every Maiden concert:

The Number Of The Beast, The Trooper, Wasted Years (undisputed classics that mark the evolution of the band's "golden era"); Fear Of The Dark (crowd sing along) and Iron Maiden (Eddie, of course)

And I'm being absolutely honest since from this lot only one song is in my top 10 (Wasted Years)

 

[karljant]

Now on a more personal side I don't know why Killers and Iron Maiden get som much slack around here. I mean, of course Sanctuary, Running Free, Iron Maiden and Wrathchild, either you like them or not, are kinda overplayed but: Prowler, Remember Tomorrow, Transylvania, Genghis Kahn, Purgatory?... and above all :
Murders In The Rue Morgue, Killers and the masterful Phantom Of The Opera???
Come on these are songs that can do no wrong. There isn't a single track out of their Di'Anno albums I don't like.

 

[Magnus]

Come on these are songs that can do no wrong. There isn't a single track out of their Di'Anno albums I don't like.

And yet I'd prefer not to hear the current line-up butchering them. It was another band that played those songs, that band is no more.

 

[Randalf]

While I agree about most of those songs, I think that Phantom of the Opera and Remember Tomorrow sound very good with the current line-up. Sure, very different from their original versions, but the first mentioned works very well with some added heaviness and drama, even with the cost of the unrelenting, fast and aggressive nature of the original, and I just love Bruce's take on Remember Tomorrow from 2005... Wouldn't mind hearing it played again for one more time (tour), but not really on the top of my wishlist anyway.

But yeah, I think that the... suitability and the nature of those songs for the band that Iron Maiden currently is - great, but obviously very different than back then, is definitely one of the reasons why many of those songs aren't really brought back. Good as most of them are, other stuff they've more or less dusted off for a run or two, like Can I Play With Madness, Sign of the Cross and The Clansman, or Revelations, the mentioned Phantom of the Opera and Children of the Damned from the older stuff, just suit their current style and state a bit better.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say that the current line-up would butcher any of those songs, there's definitely not too much that they can add to a song like... Prowler, for example, where as the most recent renditions of stuff like Children of the Damned and Revelations not only just hold on their own very well when compared to pretty much any past performance, but there's also a lot of freshness and almost new-found power and "mature edge" in those performances.

 

[karljant]

While I agree about most of those songs, I think that Phantom of the Opera and Remember Tomorrow sound very good with the current line-up. Sure, very different from their original versions, but the first mentioned works very well with some added heaviness and drama, even with the cost of the unrelenting, fast and aggressive nature of the original, and I just love Bruce's take on Remember Tomorrow from 2005... Wouldn't mind hearing it played again for one more time (tour), but not really on the top of my wishlist anyway.

But yeah, I think that the... suitability and the nature of those songs for the band that Iron Maiden currently is - great, but obviously very different than back then, is definitely one of the reasons why many of those songs aren't really brought back. Good as most of them are, other stuff they've more or less dusted off for a run or two, like Can I Play With Madness, Sign of the Cross and The Clansman, or Revelations, the mentioned Phantom of the Opera and Children of the Damned from the older stuff, just suit their current style and state a bit better.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say that the current line-up would butcher any of those songs, there's definitely not too much that they can add to a song like... Prowler, for example, where as the most recent renditions of stuff like Children of the Damned and Revelations not only just hold on their own very well when compared to pretty much any past performance, but there's also a lot of freshness and almost new-found power and "mature edge" in those performances.

I think the main issue here is Bruce's voice. Of course he is one hell of a singer but his voice deteriorated quite a bit during the last 15 years., So, while he still preforms a significant amount of songs at a great to decent level, the struggle in tunes such as Aces High, Children Of The Damned, Wasted Years, The Evil That Men Do, Where Eagles Dare (just to name a few the band played In their 2 last tours) is notorious. And that's ok... the man's almost 62. And it's not like he butchers any of those tunes or something.
Now, unlike the examples i mentioned, I think he still can nail any of the Di'Anno era songs with ease. And while there a considerable amount of them I prefer with the original vocals, all of Bruce's renditions of those tracks are well done, even since his voice started to hit his inevitable yet slow descending curve, he still can sing them at a great level and there's not a single one I listened I didn't liked. As far as I'm concerned they could play Phantom and Murders in every single show.

 

[Midnight]

Now on a more personal side I don't know why Killers and Iron Maiden get som much slack around here. I mean, of course Sanctuary, Running Free, Iron Maiden and Wrathchild, either you like them or not, are kinda overplayed but: Prowler, Remember Tomorrow, Transylvania, Genghis Kahn, Purgatory?... and above all :
Murders In The Rue Morgue, Killers and the masterful Phantom Of The Opera???
Come on these are songs that can do no wrong. There isn't a single track out of their Di'Anno albums I don't like.

When those albums are good, they are good. Phantom, Killers, Wrathchild, Rue Morgue, Prowler, Running Free, Sanctuary...
Unfortunately, the slower songs never did anything for me. They just seem to drag on and on, even if they're only a couple of minutes long. Not to mention that hearing Paul trying to sing softly is like hearing Axl Rose in Sweet Child O' Mine. The emotions are there, but the voice doesn't fit.