One of IM's best songs! The melodic intro, the rhythm, the quiet lyrics and at the beginning which bring you into an explosive chorus, the melodies, the chorus, Janick playing his solo standing on the speakers, Dave and the drumstick, everything in this song screams "FIGHT FOR YOUR FREEDOM", and Bruce's vocals are ins...
...aw, right.
We're talking about the album version.
Well, it's basically crap. Bad playing, bad singing, bad everything. Maybe their worst performance ever among studio albums. The song itself is very good and it's one of the few times in which 'Arry's fetish for repeated lines during the chorus actually works (yes I'm staring at you both, Seventh Son and Greater Good).
But the performance is not. It's boring. This song is, literally, nothing to me. The best part of the studio version is Brandy's sample.
I'd rank this a 5/10 because, as I said, the song in itself is good, but I lower that to 4/10 because this is the most disappointing Iron Maiden performance of all times (in studio). And I'm in a good mood.
BTW, the Rock in Rio version is a solid 9/10 to me. Maybe a bit more. I won't rank it 10/10 because the Wasted Years riff under the last two choruses is pointless.