Starblind

How good is Starblind on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    12
Here it is: Iron Maiden's magnum opus, Starblind. As I said in my review for Lord of Light, these two songs are just about neck-to-neck for the position of being my favorite IM song. On paper, this song would win. Hands down. As I previously described, Starblind is musically and lyrically sublime and spacial. It's pretty much the musical equivalent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. So why the hell did I pick Lord of Light over Starblind in the end?

Songwriting is only part of the work: the performances and production also have to be factored in here, and Lord of Light beats Starblind in both regards (not to mention it itself is another fantastically written song). While Bruce's voice is still in pretty good shape still, it has begun to show signs of deteriorating recently and I feel that the band should have taken more time in the studio for Bruce to give his best on this song. As Forostar mentioned in a previous post, the chances of this song ever being played live are most likely zilch. Starblind is too fragile and nuanced to be given proper justice in a live setting, so I doubt H would ever want to play it live. However, the production style on The Final Frontier is really unfitting for a song like Starblind. The song would benefit tremendously from a production like that on Brave New World. The lush sound on that album would go hand-in-hand with the musical nuances of Starblind.

Having said all of those complaints, I must reiterate; from a songwriting perspective, Starblind is the crown jewel in Iron Maiden's discography. However, due to an unfitting production and Bruce's voice not quite being what it could be for this song, Starblind is also a diamond in the rough. But it's one hell of a diamond at that.

10/10
 
Chained Prometheus said:
The song would benefit tremendously from a production like that on Brave New World. The lush sound on that album would go hand-in-hand with the musical nuances of Starblind.10/10
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I wonder how Starblind would sound with a Somewhere in Time production. Take Sea of Madness. You hear Bruce singing while Adrian's solo is underneath. That solo is audible. Much more audible than the background solos during Starblind's couplets. These solos are so nice that I'd like hear them better.
 
Forostar said:
I wond how Starblind would sound with a Somewhere in Time production. Take Sea of Madness. You hear Bruce singing while Adrian's solo is underneath. That solo is audible. Much more audible than the background solos during Starblind's couplets. These solos are so nice that I'd like hear them better.
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That's a very good suggestion, and I completely agree. Adrian's solos throughout Starblind are a big part of why I love the song so much.
 
Starblind already is my favorite song of all time and it'd be better with Somewhere in Time type of production. It already blows my mind, what would it do if it had that?
 
Do you think it's possible that the man who's dying in this song -Starblind- can also be the one who's dying in Satellite 15... The Final Frontier?
 
Excellent song. Cant believe it wasnt included in the TFF tour setlist (as well as Isle of Avalon, which IMO is 10x better then wind blows...)
 
5.

Apparently, my view is considered heresy round these parts, but I just cannot get into this song. The music, though quite good, is so incredibly repetitive. I'd be happy chopping a minute and a half off this song.

That said, the lyrics are sublime. Absolutely in Maiden's top ten lyrics of all time. Sadly, they are crammed into overstuffed verses. Bruce knocks it out of the park lyrically, if not always melodically. The post-chorus is phenomenal, but sadly it is also the only part of this song that I ever crave hearing.
 
Calling it repetitive makes me think you guys don't give a damn about layers and variations, but only care about certain chord and structural progressions. And layers/variations are what makes Starblind so great musically. You're probably too caught up with the riffs that backs the lyrics, but guess what, those lyrics are incredible and to pull them off with basis on them, the backing music should be steady. The lines on the lyrics are quite long, therefore the time of the steady backing music is increases. The same thing can be seen with Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but almost noone denies its sheer quality after the breakdown. Starblind has a fantastic instrumental section as well, which is supported by many licks instead of steady melodies of epics, i.e. Rime and Seventh Son.

I brought up Rime and Seventh Son to the argument because along with Starblind, they make up three of my four favorite Iron Maiden songs.
 
The Flash said:
Calling it repetitive makes me think you guys don't give a damn about layers and variations, but only care about certain chord and structural progressions. And layers/variations are what makes Starblind so great musically. You're probably too caught up with the riffs that backs the lyrics, but guess what, those lyrics are incredible and to pull them off with basis on them, the backing music should be steady. The lines on the lyrics are quite long, therefore the time of the steady backing music is increases. The same thing can be seen with Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but almost noone denies its sheer quality after the breakdown. Starblind has a fantastic instrumental section as well, which is supported by many licks instead of steady melodies of epics, i.e. Rime and Seventh Son.
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As I said in my previous post, I agree that the lyrics are fantastic. I think that the instrumental section is awesome, but doesn't justify this song being held among their greatest. And while I understand that the riff shouldn't change every time Bruce finishes a verse, in my opinion, the layers and variations are neither layered nor varied enough. Just because the lyrics are great, does not mean that the melodies are equally as great. In referencing Seventh Son, I find the melodies of the verses of that song to be more memorable and catchy than those in Starblind. The post-chorus section is the only vocal melody in the song that sticks with me at all, everything else feels rushed. Listening to the verses makes me feel winded. It's just too much. Starblind also has 3x as many lyrics as SS.
 
To be honest, your explanation of the song makes your voting of 5 seem incredibly harsh. An awesome instrumental section and fantastic lyrics get 5 out 10?
 
Haha, I can see how you might see it that way. Honestly, I think the way people vote for songs on here can be a bit ridiculous at times. I've seen plenty of rating explanations such as, "I don't like the vocals, the lyrics are lame, I can't get into the verses, but boy, does Murray have an awesome solo! I'll give it an 8."

I understand that we all love Maiden, but what's the point of rating something on a 10-point scale if even the songs you think are mediocre get an 8 or a 9? Some songs will land right in the middle (around 5 or 6). To me, that means, "It's got some good, some bad, but it's not a terrible song," which is how I feel about Starblind. I wouldn't skip it, but I'd never skip to it either.
 
The Flash said:
Calling it repetitive makes me think you guys don't give a damn about layers and variations, but only care about certain chord and structural progressions. And layers/variations are what makes Starblind so great musically. You're probably too caught up with the riffs that backs the lyrics, but guess what, those lyrics are incredible and to pull them off with basis on them, the backing music should be steady. The lines on the lyrics are quite long, therefore the time of the steady backing music is increases. The same thing can be seen with Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but almost noone denies its sheer quality after the breakdown. Starblind has a fantastic instrumental section as well, which is supported by many licks instead of steady melodies of epics, i.e. Rime and Seventh Son.

I brought up Rime and Seventh Son to the argument because along with Starblind, they make up three of my four favorite Iron Maiden songs.
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I do find it repetitive regardless of whatever layers are on top of it, the rhythm is what carries a song and is often hard to ignore. However that is not the reason I don't enjoy it, it just doesn't hook me in any way. I have also made the same point about Rime before, mostly whenever someone calls a song bad to due being repetitive I point out that Rime is incredibly so, and yet is still loved - NOT by me however. I like it and it's one of the stronger points on that album, but it's still no where near the top of my list.

SSoaSS for me is awesome until the solo's kick in, they just feel out of place.

The repetitiveness of Starblind/Rime doesn't frustrate me in any case, I can notice it but it doesn't ruin the song for me, it rarely does tbh (Wheels of Steel by Saxon is a good exception...). It does however usually means one less thing to captivate me about the song, and in the case of Starblind there's just nothing that makes me adore it.
 
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