The songwriters behind the first three Iron Maiden albums

efekåseo_suomi

Ancient Mariner
So this is probably going to be a controversal thread, but what I've gathered so far is the following:

  • Prowler by Dennis Willcock, Steve Harris, Dave Sullivan & Terry Rance
  • Running Free by Paul Dianno, Steve Harris “drum pattern” by Doug Sampson
  • Phantom Of The Opera by Dennis Willcock, Terry Wapram, Tony Moore, Barry Purkis, Harris
  • Transylvania by Willcock, vocals removed. Harris, Sullivan, Rance.
  • Strange World by Paul Day, uncredited, Dave Sullivan, Steve Harris, Terry Rance and Ron Matthews,
  • Charlotte The Harlot by Dave Murray and Dennis Willcock
  • Iron Maiden by Harris, Sullivan, Rance, Willcock
  • Sanctuary by Sawyer
  • The Ides of March by Harris, Purkis, Moore
  • Wrathchild by Harris, Sullivan, Rance
  • Innocent Exile by Harris, Sullivan, Rance
According to Adrian, he and Dave wrote Twilight Zone.

Am I missing anything? Did Adrian write anything for Killers? What songs did Bruce contribute to TNOTB? Was there another songwriter for 22 Acacia Avenue (old Urchin song). We also have the 'Life's Shadow' controversy..
 
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So this is probably going to be a controversal thread, but what I've gathered so far is the following:

Prowler (Harris) [lyrics by Dennis Willcock, uncredited; music contributions by Dave Sullivan & Terry Rance, uncredited]
Running Free (Harris/Di’anno) [“drum pattern” by Doug Sampson, uncredited]
Phantom Of The Opera (Harris) [lyrics by Dennis Willcock, music at least partially by Terry Wapram, Tony Moore, and apparently Barry Purkis, uncredited]
Transylvania (Harris) [used to have lyrics by D. Willcock; musical contributions by D. Sullivan & T. Rance, uncredited]
Strange World (Harris) [lyrics by Paul Day, uncredited, music contributions by Dave Sullivan, Terry Rance and Ron Matthews, uncredited]
Charlotte The Harlot (Murray) [lyrics by Dennis Willcock, uncredited]
Iron Maiden (Harris) [music by Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance, lyrics contribution by Dennis Willcock, uncredited]
Sanctuary (Iron Maiden) [written by Bob Sawyer, sold to Iron Maiden]
The Ides of March (Harris) [and Barry Purkis, uncredited; initial melody idea by Tony Moore, uncredited]
Wrathchild (Harris) [music contributions by Dave Sullivan & Terry Rance, uncredited]
Innocent Exile (Harris) [music contributions by Dave Sullivan & Terry Rance, uncredited]

Am I missing anything? Did Adrian write anything for Killers? What songs did Bruce contribute to TNOTB? Was there another songwriter for 22 Acacia Avenue (old Urchin song). We also have the 'Life's Shadow' controversy..
Thank you for quoting my post in another thread verbatim, I'm touched.
 
Children of the Damned, The Prisoner, Run to the Hills and Gangland?

What I'm more interested about is what kind of input Bruce had on those songs...

The Prisoner lyrics are his. There is no doubt about that. Basically comfirmed. From the style, I'd say he wrote lyrics of Children Of The Damned too.

Also, I'd say the vocal melodies are his on those two songs. It sounds like something a singer would come up with (and do not feature hard to sing fast paced lyrics, as is the case with a lot of parts in songs written by Steve).

Run To The Hills... Verse melodies sound to me like classic 'Arry melodies. Chorus melodies are by Bruce (comfirmed in What Does This Button Do?). I presume the B part's vocal melody after the solo is also written by Bruce.

Lyrics of RTTH are a courious case... Could be either Steve or Bruce. Or even a joint effort.

Gangland? I have no idea. I'd bet that the "Once you were glad..." part melody was written by Bruce. I'm almost certain that verse melodies and the chorus' melodies are Steve. I have no idea who wrote the lyrics, but if I had to bet on someone, it would be Steve.
 
What I'm more interested about is what kind of input Bruce had on those songs...

The Prisoner lyrics are his. There is no doubt about that. Basically comfirmed. From the style, I'd say he wrote lyrics of Children Of The Damned too.

Also, I'd say the vocal melodies are his on those two songs. It sounds like something a singer would come up with (and do not feature hard to sing fast paced lyrics, as is the case with a lot of parts in songs written by Steve).

Run To The Hills... Verse melodies sound to me like classic 'Arry melodies. Chorus melodies are by Bruce (comfirmed in What Does This Button Do?). I presume the B part's vocal melody after the solo is also written by Bruce.

Lyrics of RTTH are a courious case... Could be either Steve or Bruce. Or even a joint effort.

Gangland? I have no idea. I'd bet that the "Once you were glad..." part melody was written by Bruce. I'm almost certain that verse melodies and the chorus' melodies are Steve. I have no idea who wrote the lyrics, but if I had to bet on someone, it would be Steve.

Steve does not have a writing credit on Gangland, so I guess Bruce wrote the lyrics.
 
Yeah, chorus melody is 100% him. He talks about it in his book. In particular how he wanted to incorporate the 6th interval at the beginning.

He mentioned at one of his corporate talks how he was inspired to write the chorus by My Way (made famous by Frank Sinatra).
 
Sure. Steve also wrote all the lyrics on Hallowed Be Thy Name.
When you pick the various quasi poetic lines of Gangland and compare them to the three lyrics he wrote for his SIT tunes (even some lyrics from Psycho Motel), you can outline a similar style of writing. Ever thought about or perceived it, smart boy? If he stole some lyrics - as you're implying, like 'Arry did - from which song is it, dude?
 
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What I'm more interested about is what kind of input Bruce had on those songs...

The Prisoner lyrics are his. There is no doubt about that. Basically comfirmed. From the style, I'd say he wrote lyrics of Children Of The Damned too.

Also, I'd say the vocal melodies are his on those two songs. It sounds like something a singer would come up with (and do not feature hard to sing fast paced lyrics, as is the case with a lot of parts in songs written by Steve).

Run To The Hills... Verse melodies sound to me like classic 'Arry melodies. Chorus melodies are by Bruce (comfirmed in What Does This Button Do?). I presume the B part's vocal melody after the solo is also written by Bruce.

Lyrics of RTTH are a courious case... Could be either Steve or Bruce. Or even a joint effort.

Gangland? I have no idea. I'd bet that the "Once you were glad..." part melody was written by Bruce. I'm almost certain that verse melodies and the chorus' melodies are Steve. I have no idea who wrote the lyrics, but if I had to bet on someone, it would be Steve.

Bruce wrote the drum beat for the Prisoner intro. Normally that wouldn't entitle a songwriting credit, but Clive got one for the same thing in Gangland.
 
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Bruce wrote the drum beat for the Prisoner intro. Normally that wou;dn't entitle a songwriting credit, but Clive got one for the same thing in Gangland.
Wasn't it less the beat and more so the fact that Adrian started jamming over the beat which essentially is what lead to the formation of the intro? Either way the lyrics alone entitle him to a credit and I've no doubt he wrote them considering the subject matter and everything.
 
When you pick the various quasi poetic lines of Gangland and compare them to the three lyrics he wrote for his SIT tunes (even some lyrics from Psycho Motel), you can outline a similar style of writing. Ever thought about or perceived it, smart boy? If he stole some lyrics - as you're implying, like 'Arry did - from which song is it, dude?

Sorry, my original message was not meant to hit a nerve.

Adrian might have written the lyrics, but I find it more plausible that Bruce did instead. Bruce has acknowledged he made a big “moral” contribution to four songs off The Number of the Beast, with Gangland being one of them. Furthermore, the topic covered in the lyrics sounds like something Bruce would pen. Last, but not least, a big thing was made about Adrian having written lyrics for Maiden in 1986, which to me suggests that it was his first attempt at doing that.

That being said, I guess we will never get the truth about the songwriting credits off the first Maiden albums.
 
Bruce wrote the drum beat for the Prisoner intro. Normally that wouldn't entitle a songwriting credit, but Clive got one for the same thing in Gangland.

True, but the lyrics to The Prisoner must be Bruce’s too, as he is a huge fan of the TV Series. In fact the song means so much to him that he even performed it live on the Skunkworks tour.
 
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