The Talisman

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

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An acoustic, "The Legacy"-ish intro kicks off "The Talisman", one of the two best epics on The Final Frontier. Just like the song it took its inspiration for the intro from, it's... brilliant. A masterpiece, to say the least, though it is far faster and more agressive than "The Legacy". And they way it just keeps building without ever reprising the intro is beautiful, and very different from the classic Maiden formula. Janick's solo is one of the best on the album (very chaotic, yet brilliant). The chorus is very memorable as well, though it sounds even better on En Vivo!, with an entire audience. A 10, for sure.
 
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After two songs that I don’t enjoy at all, here’s the first epic of this album that I really like. The acoustic intro is spot on, then the song explodes into an awesome verse with a great vocal performance, something unfortunately not that common on this album, and it continues with a very nice chorus and instrumental part, to then come back with great power and a cool ending, with the vocal variation. 9/10
 
Another neverending acoustic intro that should have been about 30 sec long just goes on and on with Bruce getting as tired as we listening to him. All the music parts are quite solid. In my opinion it is once more the repetitiveness that spoils it completely. A song that could have been a classic if it was about 3 minutes shorter.
 
Hey, who put on "The Legacy"? Oh wait, it's just another Gers acoustic intro. Thankfully it still sounds good here, if a bit familiar. Bruce offers a nice soft intro vocal, though not quite as nice as on earlier songs. The phrasing is a bit weird here, but not too distracting. Bruce uncharacteristically whiffs a couple of lower notes.

A pause, then we kick into a great heavy verse. Bruce strains a bit here. This leads into a fantastic pre-chorus 1 that's over all too quickly. More verse and pre-chorus 1, a brief melodic break, rinse and repeat.

An ascending guitar break leads into a strong pre-chorus 2, another break, and then a somewhat disappointing chorus where Bruce heavily strains to hit the notes.

An odd solo on top of a melodic lead breaks into an anemic solo on top of a simpler riff. This cuts into another brief interlude, then returns to pre-chorus 2, another interlude, and a final run of pre-chorus 2 and the chorus before a quick wrap-up.

This is an odd song with some performance issues, but it's got some excellent elements and is somehow greater than the sum of its parts. I'll round it up to 8/10.
 
That's a high grade for so many straining parts. I've seen you giving much lower grades with less negative commentary. I also think you are expressing yourself mildly about these parts.

EDIT:
Jer said:
it's got some excellent elements
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Which then? That fantastic pre-chorus? It is over all too quickly, hardly takes up much of the song. A too high grade.
 
Forostar said:
Which then? That fantastic pre-chorus? It is over all too quickly, hardly takes up much of the song. A too high grade.
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The opening is excellent musically, just partially reused. The fantastic pre-chorus doesn't stick around as long as I'd like, but the song does hit it three separate times. The verse and pre-chorus 2 both have great feel, but are held back a bit by the strained vocals. The lyrics are great, and many of the instrumental sections are great.

I may have called out more of the defects here than in other places, but the music is in the 8.5-9 range, and I think the vocal straining and handful of musical weaknesses drag it down a bit below an 8 overall. Does that make sense?
 
This could have been the best ever Iron Maiden song, but the intro is too long. What a shame.
Still easily 10/10
 
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A long acoustic typical Janick intro begins "The Talisman", and while I can't say it's one of the band's best, I do think it fits the song quite well. As it draws to a close, it's hard to expect the sheer force and heaviness of that sudden, thunderous crash into a chugging riff that really takes no prisoners. A captivating, frantic verse leads to a really, really awesome pre-chorus, and a few repeats later we have a change-up in another pre-chorus before reaching the chorus itself, which is phenomenal. Yes, Bruce is straining a bit here to reach the notes, but god does he succeed. To my ears, it's clearly one of his best performances since The Chemical Wedding. The instrumental section invokes a bit of The X Factor, but that's actually probably my least favorite part of the song. Overall, this is a really awesome sea-going epic, and it's higher for me now than it ever has been before. The one song on the album that can truly compete with the band's classics. 9
 
An epic by all means. A haunting intro starts this classic - yeah, it's too long, but it sets the atmosphere of the whole song just amazing. When you listen to it and when the song gets going you can imagine being in a ship with ''the talisman'' in your hands...../ Great riff and the galloping tempo is classic Maiden. Great lyrics, the verses and the chorus are golden! Awesome harmonies through the whole song and solo is good... fits the song perfect (could have been longer though). Very hard song for Bruce - the performance of it in En Vivo! is one of his all time best. The perfect duo of Janick/Steve strikes again. One of the best reunion era songs and one of the best songs from Maiden. Modern classic. Sea epic. -> 10/10.
 
Eli said:
10/10. Top 3 song for me, can't praise it enough. Fantastic vocal performance vocal take compiling from Bruce Kevin Shirley. Kudos to Janick and the rest of the band.
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:p

But yeah, one of the best tracks from TFF.
 
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I said it once but I'll say it again. We are all entitlεd to our own opinion after all,right?
I can't fault the music ideas in the song. It is just one more of the usual over -repetitive and ovelong structuring that brings it down. I lose count on how many times the same parts are repeated over and oever again. Of course the intro is too damn long once more,
 
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Being repetetive is one of IM trademarks and I don't have any problem with it. If I like the riff/melody, I don'care how many times it is repeated. I love the long acoustic intros. The Talisman is IMO lyrically the best, and in general 3rd best song after The Book of Souls and Dance of Death in the whole IM catalogue. Of course nobody has to agree :) !
 
Re-listened to it.

It's clearly lyrically influenced by two years of playing Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and probably by The Pilgrim too (also by Gers - Harris). In itself it's not particularly innovative, and it's a less "suite" than The Legacy and Dance of Death, but it's finally a fast piece.

The acoustic (double) intro is the best part. The post-solo, the most intense. The solo is great.

9/10.
 
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