Songs that didn't work live

Maturin said:
That's probably one I have to disagree with. I didn't really like the album version - or the album as a whole - but it worked really well live when I saw them in 2016 (Ullevi). (Same with "The Book of Souls" and "Death or Glory".) Didn't find any part forced really.

"Aces High" has never 'worked' live in my opinion. But I don't know, it really is a Maiden trademark to do songs that you can't really sing and then play them live anyway. So I'm kind of torn on it.

"Lightning Strikes Twice" is a painful example. Blaze couldn't hit that note in chorus, and it's apparent even on the record that he is shouting to reach.
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I agree that TRATB was much better live than in the studio. At least those parts weren't cringy and had purpose.

TBOS is a great song. Great live and the studio verison is also great. DOG is a bit above average song that is fun live.

Just watched Ligtning Strikes Twice and I wholeheartedly agree. That song shouldn't have been put on stage for Blaze's sake.
 
well, from the band's perspective, pretty much the whole Somewhere in Time album..... I mean, they dropped loneliness after the first gig for not sounding right with the set, then they drop sea of madness after the European leg of the tour, they were obligated to play CSIT in spite of the horrid twin harmony that came before each verse... (likely avoidable with 3 guitars) but even then, the studio production was so monstrous that replicating live is pretty much impossible. No cover band has ever successfully pulled off SIT tracks even remotely close to studio quality of to the quality of the tour back in 1986....

Aside from WY and HCW, the album has gone to the grave and it's quite sad... I think the live sound would be near impossible to recapture today which is why they ignore it

look how many setlist changed occurred that tour.... clearly many songs weren't working well with the equipment for that album

all this aside, I LOVED the live sound of that tour
 
SirRobbins said:
well, from the band's perspective, pretty much the whole Somewhere in Time album..... I mean, they dropped loneliness after the first gig for not sounding right with the set, then they drop sea of madness after the European leg of the tour, they were obligated to play CSIT in spite of the horrid twin harmony that came before each verse... (likely avoidable with 3 guitars) but even then, the studio production was so monstrous that replicating live is pretty much impossible. No cover band has ever successfully pulled off SIT tracks even remotely close to studio quality of to the quality of the tour back in 1986....

Aside from WY and HCW, the album has gone to the grave and it's quite sad... I think the live sound would be near impossible to recapture today which is why they ignore it

look how many setlist changed occurred that tour.... clearly many songs weren't working well with the equipment for that album

all this aside, I LOVED the live sound of that tour
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I think this has also something to do with Maiden's guitarists being quite stubborn. There are ways of replicating that sound today. I mean, give the engineers at Fractal 2 days and they will come up with the almost exact replica of the sound with Axe-FX. Same with Kemper.

But yeah, apart from WY, HCW and maybe SIASL, that album is dead and burried.

SIASL could work very well live if they change a bit from what they used to do in '99. Replace that organ with string synths and drop a few choruses at the end with only Jan playing the ending solo. Couple that with a bit of audience participation and there you have a good live song.

CSIT will never work live. Never did and won't now, because of Nicko's age.
 
^ the drumming on that album was sensational as was the bass.... musically for me, it's still the greatest thing they ever did. Not the best metal album but looking at from a musical perspective, it's a feel good wow type of album. Sad I'll never hear those great tracks in person
 
This may be an unpopular opinion but I've always thought Number of the Beast was way more ferocious and vicious on record compared to the live versions. Mostly because of Bruce's slightly more raspy vocals but also because of that swinging drumming style by Clive that Nicko just can't always match.

I agree with CIPM (vocals and pacing) and the few SIT songs they've done (mostly due to tempo and sound) as well.
 
Oh yeah, Can I Play With Madness also never worked live. The chorus was impossible for Bruce to recreate even during the Seventh Son tour.
 
Caught Somewhere in Time. I have never liked the live version of this. Sounds hollow.

Fallen Angel. Bruce struggled with this and I feel that the song dragged. Probably because it was only performed at the end of the concert.

The Legacy. Probably one of my top 5 Maiden songs but I am still not sure about the live version. Maybe I am remembering but wrong.
 
Ascendingthethrone said:
Fallen Angel. ... Probably because it was only performed at the end of the concert.
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Not always, it wasn't. There were about 3 concerts where it replaced "The Mercenary" in between "Sign of the Cross" and "The Trooper". I think it would've had worked very well if they'd kept it there, much better than "Mercenary".
 
Number 6 said:
Not always, it wasn't. There were about 3 concerts where it replaced "The Mercenary" in between "Sign of the Cross" and "The Trooper". I think it would've had worked very well if they'd kept it there, much better than "Mercenary".
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Oh yes, I forgot about that. It would have been good for the song to have stayed there in the set. Mercenary is a throwaway track.
 
Tears of a Clown. Plods along, nothing ever really happens in the song. Sandwiched between a lesser (I suppose) known classic and another new song in the set. Didn't stand a chance.

The Red and the Black went down really well at both of my TBOS shows.
 
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SirRobbins said:
^ the drumming on that album was sensational as was the bass.... musically for me, it's still the greatest thing they ever did. Not the best metal album but looking at from a musical perspective, it's a feel good wow type of album. Sad I'll never hear those great tracks in person
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It was their most athletic performance.

Kind of like how Lars from Metallica played his ass off on justice for all. Though obviously he never got close to that again
 
Regarding lightning strikes twice: Steve wrote a literally unsingable chorus which needs to be pasted in the studio. Not even Bruce could do that. He did it to Bruce as well with mother of mercy
 
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Night Prowler said:
Oh yeah, Can I Play With Madness also never worked live. The chorus was impossible for Bruce to recreate even during the Seventh Son tour.
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Can I Play With Madness has always gone down a storm whenever I have seen them play it live. It certainly works live as far as I am concerned.
 
Jer said:
Really? Aside from the phrasing changes in the verse I think this sounds great.
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I don't like the song that much anyway, but live it's even worse. The guitar harmonies bevor the first verse and onwards sound just awful
 
FTB said:
I don't like the song that much anyway, but live it's even worse. The guitar harmonies bevor the first verse and onwards sound just awful
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The guitars behind the verses are the best thing about The Clairvoyant. Think it does come across well live.
 
Might be a controversial one, but how about “Iron Maiden”? Does anyone really enjoy this? Apart from Eddie making an appearance? I preferred It when Eddie did his little walk on during “The Clairvoyant”...
 
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