Stratego

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

  • Total voters
    28
Ruflux said:
How come they'd write such a massive chorus to this song which feels far more typical modern Maiden short rocker otherwise. Seriously. That chorus is fucking A-grade material and the most absurd thing is that it's just one of many on the album, many of them written or co-written by Steve. It's definitely a welcome change from the SONG TITLE, SONG TITLE, SONG TITLE, SONG TITLE repetition we tended to get in the reunion era albums before TBOS.

Specifically, I like the chorus but the post-chorus they only do once (!) in the first go-around is what I really love. What a good piece of music and lyrics. But it wouldn't work without the absolutely wonderful build-up in the chorus either.
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The chorus is glorious (like the chorus of GOTN, for example) and as you said, the album is full of them. The post-chorus is indeed amazing, magnificent and perfect feature for the song. You can't go wrong with Steve's choruses. But I think only the post-chorus and the guitar following the vocals during the verses are the typical modern Maiden things in the song. Maybe Bruce's type of vocals in the verses too. For me this is the most 80's sounding song on the album along with ''Hell On Earth'' and ''Days Of Future Past''. I really love the whole song.

Btw, the songs with a SONG TITLE type of chorus in the Reunion era before The Book Of Souls are not so much - I like most of them (BNW, Blood Brothers, OOTSP, FTGGOG) and I think this type of choruses are also needed in some songs.
Gk1 said:
I've always thought that e.g BNW would have been so much better with slightly varying chorus lines

A Brave new world
In a brave new world
We have lost our soul
In this brave new world......and so on
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Iron Savior's ''Brave New World'' chorus:

Brave, brave new world
Of biogenetic design
Where the perfect people live perfect lives
And individuals get pulverized
Brave, brave new world
Where mankind is down on its knees
To the masterplan of insanity
Slaves of science in agony
Brave, brave new world

And to add more - Keel's ''The Final Frontier'' chorus:

We'll face our destiny
On The Final Frontier
Beyond this galaxy
Out on The Final Frontier
On The Final Frontier
It was meant to be
Out on The Final Frontier

To The Final Frontier
We'll face our destiny
Out on The Final Frontier
We're the next pioneers
On strange new worlds
Of The Final Frontier

;)
 
I'll go on record as saying that Straty is the best "heavy rockin' with a hard edge" single since .... 2 Minutes to Midnight.

From a compositional/songcraft standpoint, I'm going to say its the best IM single since the SiT/SSOAS days.

It's eclipsed Hell on Earth as my most played/fave Senjutsu track. HoE (obviously) soars to much higher highs than Straty, but Straty reaches several
highs and never lets up. You never quite know where its going to go next, but when they arrive at the transition it is smooth and steady yet sounds just familiar enough to get the blood pumping and the fists rising.

H has in many ways become a song-crafter par excellence. I take the minority view on this forum that Davey's leads are generally more inspiring, but nobody in the band comes close to H's ability to craft an excellent song that rewards repeat listens.

Isle of Avalon and Starblind are two my favorite Maiden reunion songs - I hope that on the next Maiden slab we get more Smith/Harris collabs.
 
Pibroch_Whistler said:
H has in many ways become a song-crafter par excellence. I take the minority view on this forum that Davey's leads are generally more inspiring, but nobody in the band comes close to H's ability to craft an excellent song that rewards repeat listens.

Isle of Avalon and Starblind are two my favorite Maiden reunion songs - I hope that on the next Maiden slab we get more Smith/Harris collabs.
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You might be mistaken, 'cause Janick wrote Stratego. If this was just a general comment unrelated to it then I apologise.
 
right you are and I stand corrected. Still haven't purchased the CD yet (this wrong will be righted with my next paycheck) so I'm merely
going by the feel of the song and how it relates a bit to H's style IMHO. I'm a liner note fiend, so I should've known this.

Janick managed to pen both my favorite and least favorite songs on Senjutsu (I dont really like Time Machine at all).
 
I continue to defy anyone who thinks modern Maiden don't write songs that stack up to their 80s classics. Stratego contains the driving energy that I miss on Book of Souls. Nicko's pounding kick drum, the heavy riffs, Bruce's soaring vocals, it's all there. Also some of the best melodic material that we've had in recent Maiden songs. The instrumental section is fantastic, Janick delivers an excellent solo and I love the riffing that happens in between. I also really enjoy how Senjutsu and Stratego kinda respond to each other, lyrically and musically. It's a classic Maiden 1 -2 punch. 9.
 
Gallop is always great. Love the ''ancient'' melodies. Great intro, the verses are nice (the guitar following the vocal line is 50/50 here), epic pre-chorus and the chorus is one of Maiden's best. The post chorus too, brilliant idea. So memorable. The keys add a nice and needed flavor. Janick's solo is very good, going with the vibe of the song. The melody after it is brutally good. Big Powerslave vibe! Nicko's drumming (like on the whole album) is great and effective. The outro is awesome and very fitting. Modern classic from the shorter songs. 10/10
 
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