The Longest Day

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How good is The Longest Day on a scale of 1-10?

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Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Cosmiceddie said:
'The Longest Day', what can I say - it's so great (of course in my top ten Maiden songs), the guitar harmony section is out of this world and so is Bruce's singing on this one. I consider 'The Longest Day' even better than 'Brighter Than A Thousand Suns'. Can it get any better? - Yes, it can...and that on this very album.

10/10
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Yep, agree 100%. Longest Day is epic and really evokes in me the feeling of being there. I do think it's on par with Passchendale (which is growing in my eyes) in terms of its ambience, and as you say, I think it's a slight hair better thatn BTATS - maybe a 10 to BTATS' 9.4.
Perun said:
When I first read the title of the song, I said to myself, "oh dear, here they go, writing Paschendale Part II". Well, they didn't. Instead, they wrote something even bigger, even better. How shall I describe it, without putting Paschendale down? Paschendale is an epic, epic, epic song. A stunning piece of musical cinematography if there ever was one. But in comparison to this one, it is, perhaps a bit too epic: Polished and shiny, a perfectly rounded piece of music that glows and burns... The Longest Day however, is dirty and edgy, rough and uncomfortable, just like reality. Paschendale puts the images in your head alright, but I always feel that it sometimes takes you out of the trench and lets you fly over the battlefield showing you how epic it is. With The Longest Day however, you never leave that beach, you never leave the head of that soldier, you are right in the middle of it. You don't even think of leaving him, that's how captivating it is. The tension, the atmosphere, it leaves me on the edge of my seat, I feel the fear overwhelming me, I can sense the horror, the tension, the death, and in the middle of it, I almost want to dodge the artillery shells that are being fired at 5:50. Wow! The best song on the album, not by a long shot - the album in total is too good for that - but still. I tried to sing along to this one, but it was way too difficult for me, showing what a great singer Bruce is. The solos rock hard and Nicko is at his very best here. 10/10.
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Also agree with this. Perfect analysis. Dirty, rough, edgy, all perfect adjectives.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Some of these reviews are just incredible, taker64, cosmiceddie and Perun in particular.  Awesomeness and inspiring reads.  The Longest Day is my favourite Maiden song. The intro is haunting and takes you right onto the beaches, Nicko's drumrolls are perfect.  The pre-chorus is a chorus in itself and is worthy of its own song, but then the guitar layering and Bruce's desperate singing during the chorus is otherworldly.  All is incredible so far and totally aligned with the WWII imagery it is attemping to create...and then comes the mid section...my favourite couple of minutes in Iron Maiden's career!  A grindingly heavy mid-tempo riff representing how fruitless the situation was for the unfortunate soldiers, an Adrian solo that bellows tragedy, the harmonies which summon up images of the spirit shown by the soldiers who have banded together as they face impending death, and then David Murray's piece de reistance...a solo that sounds like the weeping of angels at the madness happening below on earth.  Then the guitar and vocals return with a final chorus of sadness before the battle is lost and the haunting outro represents the return to quiet after thousands have lost their lives.

11/10
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Cosmiceddie said:
Yes, I daresay I find 'The Longest Day' better than 'Paschendale' as well.
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Me too, but not by much.

10/10.

Some really great reviews here guys :)
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

The opening of this song is absolutely perfect — the building tension, with the waves lapping and the bombs echoing in the distance. The release when Bruce sings “sliding we go…” sends chills. The chorus isn’t quite as good, but only in comparison to what came before. That said, this song has dropped somewhat for me. Used to be a top 10 track three or four years ago. Now I can’t quite give it a 10. Instead, a good strong nine.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

That very same harmony people are raving about is dragging the song down for me. It tears up the excitement and removes the dirt instantly. In my ears it's not only a light(hearted) and clean moment, but also a joyful one and sweet, and in my humble opinion it's even a soft and poppy passage as well. It spoils the tension, and it rather sounds like the soldiers take a break from the battle and have an unworried shower all of a sudden.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Yes, exactly. The first part, before the first chorus, is superb. Incredible. But then....ehhhhh. It just seems to lose that edge for me.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

The Mid-Distance Runner said:
Some of these reviews are just incredible, taker64, cosmiceddie and Perun in particular.  Awesomeness and inspiring reads.  The Longest Day is my favourite Maiden song. The intro is haunting and takes you right onto the beaches, Nicko's drumrolls are perfect.  The pre-chorus is a chorus in itself and is worthy of its own song, but then the guitar layering and Bruce's desperate singing during the chorus is otherworldly.  All is incredible so far and totally aligned with the WWII imagery it is attemping to create...and then comes the mid section...my favourite couple of minutes in Iron Maiden's career!  A grindingly heavy mid-tempo riff representing how fruitless the situation was for the unfortunate soldiers, an Adrian solo that bellows tragedy, the harmonies which summon up images of the spirit shown by the soldiers who have banded together as they face impending death, and then David Murray's piece de reistance...a solo that sounds like the weeping of angels at the madness happening below on earth.  Then the guitar and vocals return with a final chorus of sadness before the battle is lost and the haunting outro represents the return to quiet after thousands have lost their lives.

11/10
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Well, the battle was won ... at least from the perspective of the side of the soldier in the song.

Now to my own review:

The first half of the song is great. Like Perun says, dirty, suspenseful - lines like "these wretched souls, puking, shaking fear, to take a bullet for those who sent them here" really brings forth images of the troops in landing vessels on their way over the Channel.

But, like Forostar pointed out, the music in the second part of the song feels, in parts, way too happy to fit these pictures. The song loses a little of that dirty and dark feel. This makes the song miss the "perfect" mark, but the first half alone is so good I'll still give this song 9/10.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

This song has its ups and downs. i love the intro and then the sliding we go chorus but i feel the main chorus isnt really that important and it repeats itself too much. Instrumental seection is very captivating though

9/10
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Cosmiceddie said:
Yes, I daresay I find 'The Longest Day' better than 'Paschendale' as well.
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here here

When I first read the title of the song, I said to myself, "oh dear, here they go, writing Paschendale Part II". Well, they didn't. Instead, they wrote something even bigger, even better. How shall I describe it, without putting Paschendale down? Paschendale is an epic, epic, epic song. A stunning piece of musical cinematography if there ever was one. But in comparison to this one, it is, perhaps a bit too epic: Polished and shiny, a perfectly rounded piece of music that glows and burns... The Longest Day however, is dirty and edgy, rough and uncomfortable, just like reality. Paschendale puts the images in your head alright, but I always feel that it sometimes takes you out of the trench and lets you fly over the battlefield showing you how epic it is. With The Longest Day however, you never leave that beach, you never leave the head of that soldier, you are right in the middle of it. You don't even think of leaving him, that's how captivating it is. The tension, the atmosphere, it leaves me on the edge of my seat, I feel the fear overwhelming me, I can sense the horror, the tension, the death, and in the middle of it, I almost want to dodge the artillery shells that are being fired at 5:50. Wow! The best song on the album, not by a long shot - the album in total is too good for that - but still. I tried to sing along to this one, but it was way too difficult for me, showing what a great singer Bruce is. The solos rock hard and Nicko is at his very best here. 10/10.
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i couldnt agree withthis more. just wow, this should be put in like a special archive  :ok:
The first maiden song that i really loved... ooh chills ::)
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

I love the intro and the build up to this epic song. I do hold this only very slightly above Paschendale - but not by much. As Perun said, this track has a more rougher edge to it making it just that little bit more special.

mckindog said:
Used to be a top 10 track three or four years ago. Now I can’t quite give it a 10. Instead, a good strong nine.
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The very same reason I gave it a 9.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

This song has one of my favorite intros of all time. Not just because of its musical quality, it just starts to paint the scene. It gets stronger with every word Bruce says. The verse before the chorus is the strongest part of the song. Then, the chorus comes. It is one of the best Maiden choruses and is the best off the album. Bruce just rocks in this song damn it. It has really hard vocal melodies and the strongness of Bruce's voice gives it a fantastic shape. Also, the strongness is really different from his 80's vocals. I mean his vocals were strong in 80's but it has a different shape this days. He is more of an operatic singer now. That style works in this song perfectly. Steve's bass gives the song the edge and the heaviness. First solo is good, the harmony part starts at 5:40 or near somewhere is perfect. Nicko's drumming is at its best, he does great fills and rolls all along the song. Second solo is also great. And the fantastic lyrics. Iron Maiden's best war themed lyric work after Paschendale. It's not in the same class with Paschendale on the musical side, but not so far away. Still a 10/10 though.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Eddies Wingman said:
Well, the battle was won ... at least from the perspective of the side of the soldier in the song.

...

But, like Forostar pointed out, the music in the second part of the song feels, in parts, way too happy to fit these pictures. The song loses a little of that dirty and dark feel. This makes the song miss the "perfect" mark, but the first half alone is so good I'll still give this song 9/10.
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Wingman, your first quote is why I don't agree with you and Foro on the "happy" instrumental. The fact is, the soldier did win this battle, and likely did feel a moment of triumph upon reaching the top of the hill.
And then he looks around at the cost of that victory — the bodies strewn across the beach — and the dark and dirty reality chokes the joy.
To me, it's an essential part of the narrative.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

I'm gonna give this a straight 10. It was my 2nd favorite Maiden song for a while but has fallen down to the lower realms of my top few now.

As everyone has said the intro is one of the greatest things Maiden have done. The chugging sound is perfect for the imagery of the landing craft slowly heading towards shore. The initial guitar riff sounds pretty sinister too which again is fitting. Bruce's lyrics are perfect and Nicko is great in the last verse of the intro. Then we hit the bridge which is stunning, it totally fits the idea of them landing and then running to get some sort of cover from the enemy fire. Then the chorus. Is it as good as the rest of the song? Not at all, it is by far the weakest part of the song however, is it bad? Not even in all it's repetitions do I get bored of it. Bruce sings it perfectly, of course, with an edge of desperation. The second set of verses, bridge and chorus just make it more epic although special mention for how Bruce sings "Blood and Sand, we WILL prevail!".

The instrumental section was massively important for me when I first got into it because you could almost picture the battle going on in your head due to the music. Initially you have a less interesting but still excellent section before H's solo kicks in, which is great like all his solo's on here, before you go into the clean happy sounding riff people have been complaining about. It's important to remember that the D Day landings were actually a victory for the allies, so I'm totally fine with having a few uplifting parts to the song. The artillery fire sound is great too another example of how Maiden think about their music. Dave's solo flows off of the melody brilliantly and is exquisite before we return for the chorus. Nicko is fantastic in the background, especially between chorus 2 and 3.

It's a massively engaging epic that gets more criticism that most of the other songs I love so it's good to see that it's been getting a lot of high ratings in this thread. 10/10, every time.
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Let me clarify something. There are two guitar solos in this song. The first one is Adrian's, the second one is from Janick, it's not Dave's!
 
Re: Daily Song: The Longest Day

Better watch it again or show the vid here. I think Janick plays some melody or something (and the cameraman zoomed in at the wrong guy) but the real solo is by Dave. For the ones who doubt about this (or who have trouble with recognizing Dave's sound), see it here:

http://youtu.be/ogzzo4aT9vM

6 minute mark
 
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