Somewhere In Time: Album Discussion

I had to drop this somewhere.

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I kind of get what Brigs meant - when I listen to the album as a whole, Stranger is about the time I’m beginning to lose my patience a bit - and Stranger used to be in my top 10! Nowadays I must say it does drag a bit… and the album’s a bit exhaustive as a whole - after the incredible 1-2-3 punch of Caught-Wasted-Sea you get Heaven, which is a bit weaker, yet nearly the longest song up until then (HCW), then you get something amazing in Runner (my #3 song here, actually) and when you get to Stranger, already nearly 40 minutes have passed and SIASL is a rather slow song, which relies a lot on atmospherics, IMHO. It would definitely benefit from being somewhere earlier in the track list.

I agree with the Deja-Vu appreciation sentiment here - it’s really a great song and it’s actually my second favourite song off the second half of the album (5-8). I love the moody intro, the amazing riffing in both of the fast intros…

My appreciation of Alex, however, has lessened with the years. Nowadays I dislike the lyrics a bit and I also get the feeling nothing much happens in the song. In comparison with (for example) When the Wild Wind..., which everybody and their brother dislike because of the same reason (too long song with nothing happening within), I don’t really get the unbelievable love it gets.
 
I have similiar feelings about AtG... Just can't fully dig it, really. I always pay close attention to lyrics (that's why I like AMOLAD so much!) but in this case they're just... well, not good at all. They have this strange "primary school student's essey" vibe to me. Good comparison to WtWWB though. Musically they have similiar pace imo, but the story in Wild Wind is simply thrilling.
Actually, AtG is one of my least favourite tracks on SiT. CSiT, WY, SoM, TLotLDR and Stranger are way more enjoyable for me.
 
The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner 10
Alexander The Great 10
Caught Somewhere In Time 10
Stranger In A Strange Land 10
Heaven Can Wait 9
Sea Of Madness 9
Wasted Years 8
Déjà-Vu 8

Average: 9,25
 
Side one is pretty great, side two flags a bit, LOTLDR is great but Deja Vu is simply OK and I've never loved Alex. Stranger is a beautiful song though.

All in all I love this album, the sum is much greater than the parts. The cover is the best...after Powerslave.
 
Somewhere In Time is the album that got me into Maiden twenty years ago. Caught Somewhere In Time is just phenomenal as all the songs are. I also love the slow part in Sea of Madness right before it builds up and gets all heavy again. The whole album is awesome and will always be my favorite
 
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Cornfed Hick said:
Strongly disagree with your rating of "Loneliness..." as below average (4/10) -- it's my favorite track on the album, with the possible exception of "Wasted Years"!
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Yeah, a lot of people disagree with me on that one, apparently. I just cannot take it seriously, despite the great music. Thanks for reading, though!
 
I can't really get into that song either. Maiden's music of the time sounds a mismatch for the gritty social realism stuff of the story and film of the same name. It captures some of the drama and turmoil of the protagonist's life, but the highlight of the original story was the final act of defiance, which the song only hints at. If I was to write a song inspired by the story, I'd make a much bigger deal of that ending.
 
Maybe Harris had only seen the film, or was more influenced by that than by the book if he'd read it. Because, and correct me if I am wrong, the ending didn't come out that strong either. When I read the book (two decades earlier), that seemed more impressive, and I thought it took a relatively bigger part of the story as well.

If I felt that the final act of the story should have more weight, I might be more disappointed in the song as well. But this music..... so good! And the track is quite lengthy and very intense, non-stop. The song feels long enough.

The chorus is very dramatic. You can feel the physcial effort and also the pity when you hear it. And: Bruce sings gritty and there's some rough guitar playing in the couplets as well, I remember a particular moment where Adrian flies out of the bend somewhat (almost Janickish). Don't be misled by its beautiful harmonies and beginning. ;) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is probably the most aggressive eighties song with Bruce in the band.
 
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The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is one of my very favorite Iron Maiden songs of all time. I wish they played it live more frequently instead of only once.
 
They might have played it twice because we have no info on the second gig of that tour.

Meanwhile we can do it with this flawless (fragment of this) live version by this excellent cover band. Enjoy my friends (what a tight performance!):
 
Today we can celebrate thirty years Somewhere in Time!

Still, an incredibly special album, with unique approach by the band, both in the studio and on subsequent tours.

Today, my wife saw a Facebook update on the official Iron Maiden page. It asked: which Somewhere in Time songs do you want to see live during the European tour. And later it got removed! Wow, I am curious what will happen in 2o17.
 
Forostar said:
Today, my wife saw a Facebook update on the official Iron Maiden page. It asked: which Somewhere in Time songs do you want to see live during the European tour. And later it got removed! Wow, I am curious what will happen in 2o17.
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Wow. I hope that means something, although it's probably more likely that whoever runs the page put it up without thinking fans would take it seriously.

I can hear 2016 Bruce really nailing Sea of Madness, that's the one I'd choose.
 
Bands asking what the fans want to hear on facebook has gotten increasingly common in the past few years. I'm not surprised Maiden is starting to do this also, their FB page has gotten a lot more interactive. The bands hardly pay any attention to these polls anyway. :p
 
Forostar said:
They might have played it twice because we have no info on the second gig of that tour.

Meanwhile we can do it with this flawless (fragment of this) live version by this excellent cover band. Enjoy my friends (what a tight performance!):
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Didn't spot this before now. Tight performance indeed. Bloody excellent, I say.
 
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