srfc
Ancient Mariner
Well I think you are right in saying the chant was probably always a fundamental section of the song, as it's really the centrepiece of the song. I was just correcting the detail on who sang it before some other nerd did
Well I think you are right in saying the chant was probably always a fundamental section of the song, as it's really the centrepiece of the song. I was just correcting the detail on who sang it before some other nerd did
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Both is possible, e.g. the Amsterdam guys sang better and ended up on the album 
In HCW - the mid part with solos and chant takes 3 minutes. The intro and the outro are 1:30. I think the additional "bloat" was added to those parts.
In HCW - the mid part with solos and chant takes 3 minutes. The intro and the outro are 1:30. I think the additional "bloat" was added to those parts.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
Agreed, both solos are twice as long as a usual solo section would be, i.e normally there would be a solo from both guitarists in the amount of measures there is between the second chorus and the "take my hand section",
the intro to CSIT could easily have been two repetitions rather than 3, Dave's solo seems to end in an unusual spot too maybe something added or taken away there, and the outro of TLOTLDR could easily have only had one of the harmony sections at the end instead of 2 and repeated them less times as well.
The awkward section that Adrian had trouble playing in Alexander also seems to have potential to have been added in.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Maybe that can explain the root of that excuse. If that section is a last minute addition, Smith might've had trouble "feeling it" and in the end recorded over the clicktrack (Nicko did this in 2006 on OOTS).
Luisma
Years Wasted
Well I think you are right in saying the chant was probably always a fundamental section of the song, as it's really the centrepiece of the song. I was just correcting the detail on who sang it before some other nerd did
It was a fundamental part. Maiden wanted a song in which the audience could participate. A sort of hymn and that's why we have this song
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
A pretty weak hymn if you ask me.
Luisma
Years Wasted
But did work eh? How many bands and fans have sung that whoooh... So it did serve it purpose?
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
I guess it did, but that does not make the song any better.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
On the subject of SiT, one bit of insight I gleaned from Bruce’s Button Book was that he felt relieved that he didn’t have to write for the album. Once his material got shot down and he swallowed his pride, he was able to just “be the singer” on the album, and I think vocally it shows. Vocally, I think SiT is one of their very best, and that comment from Bruce made sense in retrospect.
Also, quite a few Maiden albums, to me, come in “pairs”. The debut and Killers, NPFTD and Fear, and SiT and Seventh Son. I feel it’s possible that Steve may be skipping SiT songs because he could very well feel that Seventh Son took the same songwriting principles and improved on them. So naturally he’d prefer to just use those songs.
All that said, this is just me reading into stuff that might not be there.
Also, quite a few Maiden albums, to me, come in “pairs”. The debut and Killers, NPFTD and Fear, and SiT and Seventh Son. I feel it’s possible that Steve may be skipping SiT songs because he could very well feel that Seventh Son took the same songwriting principles and improved on them. So naturally he’d prefer to just use those songs.
All that said, this is just me reading into stuff that might not be there.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
I found the missing Dickinson/Smith track. It's called 'Your time will come' and it was actually played in 2000
srfc
Ancient Mariner
I don't understand why it's a hate track for a lot of fans, it seems to be considered the worst on the album by most.
Intro is great, verse's are good with the busy part "But I never have felt, no I never have felt this way before", chorus is great with the Adrian Smith style synth fills, rhythm guitar parts for the solos are possibly the best ever from Maiden, chant section is brilliant especially the guitar fills. Tempo changes, key changes, galloping, it's what Maiden is all about.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
I think it's more a case of people imagining SIT is being skipped, because they overrate it's quality as an album.
Heaven Can Wait was on every tour until fans didn't vote for it on Ed Hunter which surprised Steve and is why it hasn't feature much since then, Wasted Years was also on most of those tours too in that period.
After that Bruce came back, and SIT was his worst album so no surprise that there was going to be less emphasis on it. It also coincided with a time period when they have a lot of material now. SIT isn't that much more overlooked than SSOASS, it's just SSOASS has more hits than SIT to choose from for the usually 1 track they get in the set, 3 tracks from SSOASS get roatated around whereas it's usually Wasted Years or nothing from SIT.
I'd argue it's more a case of 82-84 being over represented in sets than SIT being overlooked.
MindRuler
Ancient Mariner
It´s not a hate track to me, my least favorite song on SIT. But great song nevertheless, the other 7 songs are better.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
The only weak thing in HCW is the chorus. Great solo from Adrian.
The song is a favorite of the fans (right after FOTD and ATG...
) because of the participation from the crowd on stage. 
Ruflux
Ancient Mariner
Wait, hold on. Wasted Years was played in '88 alongside HCW, but only HCW kept reappearing consistently after that. It skipped the '90/'91 tour but was on every other 90s tour as a setlist staple, while WY appeared a few times in '93 and then disappeared until it was voted in by fans in '99. It then disappeared again until '08, while HCW still got played in '03.
They really didn't start playing Wasted Years with regularity until 2008, when it feels like they finally figured out it's a total fan favorite and it immediately stayed on for basically every tour it fit on afterwards until LotB. That song only got the respect it deserved well after Bruce returned to the band.
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Spot on mate.
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Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
HCW was also played during NPOTR tour 1990/1991.
If this were 2006, I'd agree with you. Up until then, there was nothing particularly noticeable about SIT's representation in live setlists. But things changed with SBIT. Although the accompanying history DVD only covered Powerslave and Live After Death, the tour was clearly designed to highlight the entire mid-eighties period from Powerslave to SSOASS. The SIT Eddie was the one chosen for the branding, and SIT tracks were picked for the setlist... and that's where the imbalance comes in. There were four Powerslave songs, three SSOASS ones and only two from SIT. From my memory, I think this is what really started the legend of SIT being the forgotten classic album, and it really picked up when the Maiden England DVD and tour made things even worse. Granted, there were a few things people picked on before, such as there being no official live recording or the epic from the album not being played live, but I think before 2008 that was more trivia for the diehards than an influence on common fan opinion.
(The following is mostly speculation on my part with some opinion thrown in)
If you ask me, I can imagine Maiden having good reasons for not bringing out any of the deep cuts from that album. Most of the songs simply don't lend themselves for live performances. SIT is the album with the highest degree of studio magic, and Maiden always had the ambition of performing their songs live the way they were on the record. If it's true that they re-worked Heaven Can Wait into a live anthem, that may even mean they were aware of this as the album was being made and they felt they needed to compensate. If you listen to the bootlegs from the tour, songs like CSIT and Sea of Madness don't really spark. I'm not really sure why that is for CSIT, it's not all that different from Moonchild in terms of structure. Sea of Madness on the other hand has nothing for a crowd to work with. Loneliness was dropped almost immediately, and I can really see why, it must have been physically truly exhausting for Bruce to sing. Stranger in a Strange Land does slow the pace, although with the lengthy instrumental sections of modern Maiden songs, I don't think it would be as noticeable anymore. With Alexander, I can see a 50/50 chance of it picking up live, but the possibilities for crowd singalongs during the instrumentals are relatively limited and the most promising parts really end quite abruptly. I'm pretty sure Deja Vu would sink like a stone, there's nothing in there an audience could catch onto. That leaves us with Heaven Can Wait and Wasted Years, the only two songs that ended up being setlist mainstays, for good reasons.
I'm not saying I don't like SIT or the songs I talked about - I do! But I can see why Maiden don't pay so much attention to it in their setlists without them necessarily having to dislike the album. Maiden feed off audience participation and activity, so that's going to be their main influence over evaluating whether a song works well or not. Whether it's okay for us to just stand there and listen, I'm afraid, doesn't matter to them.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Absolutely. It’s subjective and hard to pin down for me, because I’m not musically inclined, but I love Bruce’s diction on this album.Really?