MrKnickerbocker
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I linked EOTC to overdoing something!
I guess I don't get the reference, then. What does FFDP overdo besides suck?
I linked EOTC to overdoing something!
They suck.I guess I don't get the reference, then. What does FFDP overdo besides suck?
I think this is a great album opener. However, I'm not a fan of the riff which comes at the beginning and end of the solo section: the 8-bar riff which is repeated 4 times on each appearance. I know they tried to spice it up with some harmony guitar parts, but I think it just goes on too long. It should have been 2 repeats instead of 4 each time. The rest of the song rocks, but those bits always slow it down to my ears.
The machine-gun sounds are great, too!
Very strong rocker, but it is a bit different in that it goes for over 6mins. However, this is partly due to the riff on either side of the solo being played for 16 bars each, which IMO is over the top and gets a bit boring by the end of these sections. Cut it down to 8 bars on each side of the solo section, and I'd like it even more.
In a way, I missed this track being played out live right in front of me. Why? Well, I saw Maiden at the Hammersmith Odeon on the "Piece of Mind" tour - before the album came out. So, this, "Revelations", etc. was played and I could only stand and watch. Still, a damn fine song and one of the best instrumental breaks of any Maiden song.
What an intro. And what a song to follow it. I'm one of the people who love Piece of Mind, and I love every single moment of it. This is one of the meanest songs Maiden ever did, a great adventure song told in a non-stop, intense, dirty heavy metal song. It's like an Indiana Jones film or a roller coaster ride or whatever, it just doesn't leave you time to breathe through. Plus, as a Prussian, I have to love how this song explicitly mentions Bavaria as enemy territory.
I don't know. It's kind of cheesy and it's always felt like it runs too long. I just could never get into it. But I do love Bruce's vocals in it. Maybe it's that lame chorus.
Cheesiness also killed Man of Sorrows a bit for me (but not nearly to the same degree).
I could listen to that drum fill intro for days. Insane riffage, Dave's solo is a highlight for itself, Bruce's performance is out of this world. The only thing why it doesn't make a full score is repetition. The middle part somewhat drags a bit, perhaps a few more licks would grant it a perfect score.
Great drum work, good riffs and vocals and all that, but it just feels to long. It's a good song but i think I had enjoyed it more if it were just a minute shorter.
If this was IRL we would have called it a day and gone for the two longest bathroom lines. To cool off.As long as we're on the same page with that.
I respect your opinion, but as I have said many, many times on this forum, Empire of the Clouds isn't epic for the sake of being epic. Bruce is deliberately mimicking Irish-style ballads with a metal fashion, songs like The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the original versions of Whiskey in a Jar. Metal, by nature, is a much longer and more elabourate storytelling style than those more pedestrian forms, but that's why it has so much space, time to grow, and why the lyrics are deliberately reflective.Great retorics!
Its epic for the sake of being epic. To obvious to work for me. Its like with the FFDP fan base, to like something just because you are overdoing it.
Someone only dreams in black and white.And the chorus. My god. I usually don't really mind the repetitiveness that Maiden in sometimes guilty of in their choruses, but this one is just plain irritating.
Agree to disagreeI respect your opinion, but as I have said many, many times on this forum, Empire of the Clouds isn't epic for the sake of being epic. Bruce is deliberately mimicking Irish-style ballads with a metal fashion, songs like The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the original versions of Whiskey in a Jar. Metal, by nature, is a much longer and more elabourate storytelling style than those more pedestrian forms, but that's why it has so much space, time to grow, and why the lyrics are deliberately reflective.
I agree that we're welcome to different opinions on the song, and you sure don't have to like the result of Bruce's experiment. But there's a reason why it's designed the way it is. For me, it reminds me very much of some of the great Celtic-inspired Canadian folk singers. Hell, I'm listening to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald right now, and if I was going to make a metal version of this song (not just a metal cover, but start at the beginning), it'd probably end up sounding a lot like Empire - and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the greatest Canadian songs of all time. Like I said, you don't have to like it, but try to see through the creation process a bit more and maybe, just maybe, give Bruce some credit.Agree to disagree
This song is so much better than almost anything else in the damn charts and it really should have deserved to explode therein!Again, thank you Dave for one of Maiden's best songs ever!
Rainmaker, only 2 other songs from this album I find better than this one. Every guitar player co-wrote one really good track and this is Dave's. There are some really strong melodies going on here, with a bit of a melancholic feel, especially in the chorus. Beautiful solo and the harmony afterwards grabs me everytime I hear it.
Like Albie, I first really paid attention to the song when I saw that excellent video. It's been with me ever since, and it has built my spirit in tough times. Great riff, beautiful solo and beautiful lyrics. An overlooked gem.
There aren’t many songs that work so well as a fist-pumping straight-ahead rocker, a technically impressive musical performance and as a poignant, touching, emotionally affecting piece of songwriting — all at the same time. There aren’t many songs that work so well, period. Outstanding musicianship. Great lyric. Right there with Wasted Years as the band’s best pop song.
Rainmaker is special to me, because it was the first Maiden video I saw and I liked it so much. Also, the guitar melodies on the chorus reminds me of the city sounds of a racing game I was playing so much when I was a child.
I remember a few car journeys to work where I pretty much listened to it on a loop without ever getting bored, increasing the volume with each listen. I still think it's an excellent song, and I like the fact that it's just a straightforward, uncomplicated track - I wouldn't want Maiden to sound like this all the time, but it's perfect for an album #2. Favourite part is the guitar embellishment that accompanies Bruce's second dream about the rain falling upon the leaves.
Adore the guitar work - the intro riff, Murray's licks, the fantastic solo and the key changed interlude after it - all amazing. The vocal lines are however not as good which drags it down
You're welcome.Damn you, LC, now I'm listening to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and wishing it had harmonized guitar parts and SOS drums.
The same four words, the same four wordsT34: The Wicker Man - Brave New World (Smith, Harris, Dickinson)
Average score: 8.87/10 Deviation: 1.18
Brave New World 7/10
Top 25: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016
Top 50: 2008
Top 100: 2004, 2005, 2006
The second of the Brave New World Power Four (but interestingly, three songs from this album yet remain), this song has a very similar journey to Wasted Years, with mildly lower ratings, except it was "discovered" by the forum a year earlier, meaning that it has one year higher in the ratings than Wasted Years. These Smith productions are likely, both, to rise over the coming polls. Nobody hates this song, it seems to be an argument over whether it is merely great or a timeless classic.
The lyrics and music of this song combine to make, perhaps, the best of Iron Maiden’s historically-based works. I put this song on, close my eyes, and can almost imagine myself as one of the Companions, marching with Alexander. Incidentally, this is the first Iron Maiden song LooseCannon ever heard (we were driving around in my car, and I put in this CD…..and it’s all been downhill from there
Once you get past the second chorus, the modus operandi of this song becomes 'let's surprise the listener'. Imagine it's 1986 and you're hearing this song for the first time. You've listened to all of Maiden's previous albums, and you think you know their style. You think you know when to expect a solo and what it'll sound like. You think you know what's coming next. Steve Harris knows you're thinking this, so he's about to give you some shock treatment.
his song has become a legend itself for lots of Maiden fans including myself and to this day we still hope that the band plays it live one of these f**king days!The problem with a band like Maiden is that they have so much great songs and I understand that it may be difficult for the band to choose their setlists and with any new album the number of 'must be played live' songs increases and so there's always a danger of 'forgetting' masterpieces like 'Alexander the Great'...
I have to say that I don't like this song, it is good musically but the lyrics sound more like a shopping list than a poem.... horrible.
Always liked this song, never loved it and never really thought about why. Forced myself to really pay attention because of this poll and discovered that musically it is close to epic levels. It’s got an atmospheric intro, a good solid main verse and chorus, and some nice, distinct instrumental parts. I never appreciated how good it was on that level. It also has some of the worst lyrics the band ever wrote: “now class, today we are going to learn about the Greeks, repeat after me…” I've seen it criticized for this on this site, but I never fully appreciated just how bad they are.
As much as the lyrics are innaccurate, I still don't mind the way they were penned. The music is awesome and Maiden is right on top of their game in that respect. One thing I've always thought to myself is, why is it on the album Somewhere in Time, it doesn't fit the theme and belongs more on Powerslave IMO.
This is in the second tier of Harris epics. I really enjoy listening to it but I never really go out of my way to put it on. I don't mind the historical inaccuracies but the lyric method "Alexander did this and then this then this then ALEXANDER THE GREAT, HIS NAME STRUCK FEAR INTO HEARTS OF MEN" means I can't attach myself to the message of the song like with some other epics. Musically it's great, but Maiden have done better.
I have to admit, the epics on some of the later albums haven't been nearly as good. Hallowed Be Thy Name and Rime of the Ancient Mariner set the bar so high that songs like Alexander the Great just don't compare.
I'm not the biggest fan of the lyrics or bruce's vocals in this one, but the guitar work saves the song. The lyrics are an excellent history lesson though.
I've heard some use the argument that "Alexander the Great" feels too much like a "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" Part II thing. I disagree. Yes, they are both epics, and I can kind of see where those similarities can be spotted, but honestly, if you're going to compare any song to "Mariner" I'd make a strong case of "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", which I honestly think feels much more like "Mariner" done again than "Alexander the Great" - not that it isn't a good song, because believe me, it's a good song, just more similar to "Mariner" than "Alexander".