Steve Harris: one of the greatest metal songwriters ever or a magpie?

Jer said:
To me, the conventional wisdom that Steve Harris is the be-all and end-all behind Maiden's songwriting has always been absurd. He's a key contributor, but there's a reason that Iron Maiden, The X Factor, and Virtual XI often round out the bottom of people's album rankings (no Bruce, no Adrian), and Killers (no Bruce), No Prayer For The Dying (almost no Adrian), and Fear Of The Dark (no Adrian) are rarely near the top. Also, compare Bruce & Adrian's solo work to Iron Maiden's '90s output, and I think most fans would give the edge to Bruce & Adrian.
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Although I would argue that Steve has written more great songs than the number you mention, I agree that the magic happens when you have Bruce, Adrian, and Steve contributing to the songwriting.
 
Sheer agitation. I do not always have to appreciate severe distracting from a serious post in which some effort has gone in to.

Again:

I have trouble going through all this because you omitted Rime, Seventh Son, To Tame a Land and several others. Hard to say you are comparing well here. And why use short lists? Steve is credited for 57 songs alone and he did way more good things than 10. You used a small number because it conveniently suits your point better. Now use all his songs and we'll try this again.

Sorry but this reeks like Bruce/Adrian bias (no Bruce/no Adrian bla bla bla). With no love for other eras, no love for other songwriters. You ignore the fact that the most popular Maiden albums contain Steve Harris (and Murray) songs as well. Remove them and you suddenly have small EP's or singles left. Also you underestimate the quality of most albums you mentioned. And popularity. E.g. the debut and TXF are not placed at the bottom that often.
 
Forostar said:
I am going to repost this:

I have trouble going through all this because you omitted Rime, Seventh Son, To Tame a Land and several others. Hard to say you are comparing well here. And why use short lists? Steve is credited for 57 songs alone and he did way more good things than 10. You used a small number because it conveniently suits your point better. Now use all his songs and we'll try this again.

Sorry but this reeks like Bruce/Adrian bias (no Bruce/no Adrian bla bla bla). With no love for other eras, no love for other songwriters. You ignore the fact that the most popular Maiden albums contain Steve Harris (and Murray) songs as well. Remove them and you suddenly have small EP's or singles left. Also you underestimate the quality of most albums you mentioned. And popularity. E.g. the debut and TXF are not placed at the bottom that often.
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Yeah, we got the message as we can all read. You clearly did not see the funny side of mentioning 2 songs where Steve had used someone else's work (Coleridge and Albeniz) as songs he had wrote alone. :D
 
I did see it but the consequence is that the rest of the post (well, basically, everything I said) is overshadowed by that. I do not always have to take that.
 
Forostar said:
You're doing it again. You're enjoying it too, right?
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I just find it ironic that you, as a self-appointed arbiter of what should be posted or discussed in this forum, had reacted in such a rude way when people were just pulling your leg, that's all.
 
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Joking aside.

Most of the classic tracks that are creditted to the Smith/Dickinson pairing in peoples minds are actually Smith/Dickinson/Harris. Only 23:58 is a real top tier Smith/Dickinson track, unless I'm forgetting something obvious. Smith and Dickinson have actually wrote more classics as individuals than they have as a pairing.
 
Wickerman1204 said:
Moonchild:
00:00 - 00:08

The Book of Souls:
12;44

Hello all, first post.
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I really don't think either of these cross the threshold of originality. The parts you're pointing out aren't substantial compositions, and I think there will be dozens of songs that have similar passages. The former is just a simple keyboard hook, the latter a very standard Celtic rhythm, and Maiden (and Jan in particular) have used plenty of Celtic elements in their songs.

Let's go easy on the witch hunt, folks.
 
Thieving debate aside, I find Steve blows hot and cold as a songwriter. He's written or co-written at lot of amazing material, but there are times he's fallen short of the mark. The best lyrics survivor really put a focus on moments when Steve's lyrics weren't very strong, and (arguably!) songs like The Red and the Black show Steve doesn't always get it right when he's constructing a song. I do think he was making a very conscious attempt to write the most epic epic ever there, and it simply wasn't. (Plus it got overshadowed by Bruce's Empire, which seems to have been written straight from the heart, no forced efforts there).
 
GhostofCain said:
I just find it ironic that you, as a self-appointed arbiter of what should be posted or discussed in this forum, had reacted in such a rude way when people were just pulling your leg, that's all.
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I can't see which member you are bickering with... but I am glad that's because I have already made them an ignored member. ;)
 
Brigantium said:
Thieving debate aside, I find Steve blows hot and cold as a songwriter.
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Paradoxically, as much as Steve tends to write alone, I think the quality of his input varies according to his perception of the band's motivation (or should I say "Bruce's") and implication in the album about to be recorded.
Of course, this "theory" is not really one, because it is based on one's subjective appreciation of Maiden's catalogue but, in my opinion, this would explain why I rate TNOTB or Piece of Mind much higher than SiT for example. ;)
 
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