The Trooper

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date

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

  • Total voters
    19
A

Anonymous

Guest
Here, you can read other visitors' comments on 'The Trooper' as well as post your own. Any contribution to the commentary will be much appreciated, may it be cultural references relevant to the song (links to related websites, interpretations that may have been overlooked in the Commentary, and the like) or personal essays related to the topic of the song. Just be aware that messages that are either off-topic or too wacky may be deleted.
 
'the Trooper'

A real letdown on an otherwise amazing album.

I don't like The Trooper at all anymore. I'm frankly sick of it, it's overrated and very overplayed. I just can't see what's so great with it. Therefore, 2.5 stars.
 
'the Trooper'

I gave it 3.5 stars, but only because it's great live. I think the music is too repetitive. I'm a fan of long, complex songs, and I keep wondering where the rest of this one went. [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
'the Trooper'

A metal classic, period. The guitar sound is reminiscent of galopping horses, which creates a very vibrating atmosphere. On the other hand this sound has been used before (anyone knowing Hard Lovin' Man by Deep Purple?). Still I only give it 4 stars because it's a bit too simple, and I don't like that wooohoooohoooo-part in the chorus.
 
'the Trooper'

I've updated the commentary on The Trooper single and I was wondering what was your take on this picture:

southrise.jpg
 
'the Trooper'

A friend of mine has a flag like that. What we always thought was that it was a blatent ripoff off Trooper Eddie. As far as I know it's not any kind of traditional confederate symbol, and the most likely explanation is that someone just copied Riggs' artwork to make a buck. Another Eddie ripoff was posted on the official Maiden forum once; I don't recall the specifics but it was on the side of a building in Ireland and was tied in somehow with the IRA and that whole terrorist conflict.
 
'the Trooper'

Now that is an instant classic. As soon as you hear the very first notes you know you'll get some quality Metal. That's Maiden in a nutshell. 5 stars
 
'the Trooper'

[!--QuoteBegin-Fixxxer76+Oct 1 2004, 09:38 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Fixxxer76 @ Oct 1 2004, 09:38 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]A friend of mine has a flag like that.  What we always thought was that it was a blatent ripoff off Trooper Eddie.  As far as I know it's not any kind of traditional confederate symbol, and the most likely explanation is that someone just copied Riggs' artwork to make a buck.
[snapback]88023[/snapback]​
[/quote]

It is definately not a traditional Confederate symbol. I see that flag everywhere where I live. Even seen it on a zippo lighter before, and I may have owned one when I was in college. I think it's pretty cool that someone copied The Trooper and put it on a flag.

Getting back to the poll, The Trooper rocks! Everything about it is awesome, the song, the Eddie, even the video.
 
'the Trooper'

Four and a half. Ingenious main riff - instantly recognizable, along with the galloping horses. Bruce sings with undefeated power. Both solos are all metal classics, short and poignant.

I really had tears in my eyes when Bruce came out with that Union Jack the last time I saw Maiden. [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
'the Trooper'

Classic Maiden!

I wanted to write this too. Are you guys familiar with the song "Great Balls of Fire." If so listen to a part of "Great Balls of Fire" and you can hear a similar sound in the Trooper. The part from the Trooper that sounds like Great Balls of Fire is the beginning of the song when Bruce sings You'll take my life and I'll take yours too (ta ta ta tu), You'll fire your muskets and I'll run you through (ta ta ta tu). The ta ta ta tu is the part that in my opinion sounds like Great Balls of Fire.

Check it out and reply.
 
'the Trooper'

I still remember when I first heard that song. At that time, I only knew the NOTB album. I had an unknown track on my computer that I had downloaded ages ago without remembering it. It was one of those "Unknown Artist" tracks, with no track title either. I played it out of curiosity, and the opening riff with the unmistakeable bass line immediately told me "This has to be Iron Maiden". And this was only two seconds into the song at max! Of course, I was only 100% certain of it when Bruces vocals kicked in.

Granted, the song has become somewhat boring over the years, although it can still be very exciting when played really loud. It's never been one of my favourites, but I still appreciate this as absolutely classic Maiden. Four stars.
 
'the Trooper'

I guess it does get boring over the years. But man, back then, it blew me out of the water. Isn't it annoying when somebody remembers Maiden because of a certain song that you just get tired of? I guess it happens with a lot of bands. With Emperor it's always "I Am the Black Wizrads" [!--emo&<_<--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/dry.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'dry.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
'the Trooper'

[!--QuoteBegin-Ascendancy+Dec 3 2005, 06:45 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Ascendancy @ Dec 3 2005, 06:45 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I was watching a Billy Connelly programme a long, long time ago, in that programme he was in Belfast. I noticed this protestant mural.
Could this not be the influence for the artwork?

Eddie carries the flag in his hand, as does our Shankhill person. But in the Confederate flag, the 'thing' carries the flag in his right hand.

The Shankhill Mural has the Grim Reaper in the background, as does The Trooper.
[snapback]124500[/snapback]​
[/quote]
Are you sure that was done before 1983? I think maybe the loyalists stole that idea from Maiden, I'm not 100% sure but it's worth checking out.
Edit: removed image
 
'the Trooper'

I too think that this song is great, despite its overplaying.

Out of any Maiden song, I think the solos in The Trooper are the best, maybe not technically (I'm no guitar expert, so I wouldn't know), but I find, listening to the song, the solos fit perfectly.

It's got good, sing-along verses, a fantastic riff and an overall good vibe feeling about it.

Four and a half stars.
 
'the Trooper'

It gets old at times, but 5/5. Awesome song. Lots of raw power in Bruce's vocals here. It sounds cool live, too, which is surprising. No chorus, which is good for this song.
 
Re: 'the Trooper'

The Trooper is one of my favourite songs, to enjoy it best you need to be able to soak up it's energy, so I typically listen to it on my headphones while at the gym, or when blasting down a fast run on a ski hill.

Everytime I do hear it I think of something that happened years ago on a camping trip I went on with a few friends. It was just after the song came out. The campground was in the backwoods in British Columbia, there was a bit of forest between each campsite for a bit of privacy. We were teenagers so stayed up late and played some music (quietly, so not to bother other campers, and no maiden, none of my friends liked metal). The campsite beside us was full of guys that were very loud, and they played loud music until midnight. They were playing Wham and other music that made my friends question their sexual orientation, if you know what I mean. Well it didn't bother us really, as we stayed up late anyway, and we went to bed when they did. I got up about 6.30 the next morning and went to the lake and washed my face and walked back to our site. as I was getting to our site I saw 2 kids, only about 12 years old carrying this huge ghetto blaster and they walk up to the wham! campsite next to us (wham! guys still sleeping off the night before) and they set it down on the lane immediatly in front the the campsite. They each stood beside it for a second and then one reached down and hit play. I stoppped where I was on the lane to see what they were up to. Well they played the trooper in it's entirety on volume 11 at this campsite and I stood and watched this with a big grin on my face. When the song finished one of them reached down, hit stop, picked up the ghetto blaster and walked away. I went into our campsite and my friends were having a laugh at this. The wham! guys were all woken up by this, all groggy and wondering what was going on (imagine you were peacefully dreaming about cavorting on a beach with George Michael, and then you hear Bruce shouting "YOU TAKE MY LIFE BUT I'LL TAKE YOURS TOO!". The Trooper was the revenge these kids took for having to listen to wham for 4 hours, well done, I thought.

Trooper mural in Ireland: Is in Londonderry on the side of a building on Bond st about a block where I was born and lived until I was 5 before moving to Canada. I was there visiting in Summer 1999 and went to my old neighborhood with a cousin who still lives in the area. Coincidentaly, he is a maiden fan too. We seen the mural and jumped out and took pictures, it really is a well done mural, If I can find the pictures I took of it I will post them. I had my cousin take one of the pictures with me in front of the mural holding my penknife with a snarl on my face, doing an eddie imitation. When I got home my wife was looking through my pictures and seen it and said "what the hell is this all about?" She is not a metal fan, obviously, I had a good laugh with her, I looked like a crazy man. The mural looked new at that time, so It wasn't painted too long before that, but it definitely wasn't the inspiration for Derek Riggs, He was the inspiration for it.

upuaut
 
Re: 'the Trooper'

upuaut said:
Trooper mural in Ireland: Is in Londonderry on the side of a building on Bond st about a block where I was born and lived until I was 5 before moving to Canada. I was there visiting in Summer 1999 and went to my old neighborhood with a cousin who still lives in the area. Coincidentaly, he is a maiden fan too. We seen the mural and jumped out and took pictures, it really is a well done mural, If I can find the pictures I took of it I will post them.
Click to expand...
That's funny, I always thought the original mural was in the Shankhill in Belfast... the mural was definitely used by Loyalists though.  I go to school in Derry but I don't think i'll go to Bond Street to check it out, i'll probably be bricked out of the place :rolleyes:

I did have the photo of the mural in Belfast saved on my computer a while ago but I have lost it now... maybe by searching various sites I may find it.

EDIT:
Here is a list of all the murals painted on the streets of NI, both Nationalist and Unionist.  If you take the time to trawl through every page, you will see examples of the Loyalist Trooper murals.
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/murals/index.html
(use ctrl+f and type in "trooper")
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/murals.pl - filtered out word "trooper".
Keeping in mind that the band has stated before that they hated the concept of their art being used to incite hatred.

EDIT2:
Fixxxer76 said:
A friend of mine has a flag like that.  What we always thought was that it was a blatent ripoff off Trooper Eddie.  As far as I know it's not any kind of traditional confederate symbol, and the most likely explanation is that someone just copied Riggs' artwork to make a buck.  Another Eddie ripoff was posted on the official Maiden forum once; I don't recall the specifics but it was on the side of a building in Ireland and was tied in somehow with the IRA and that whole terrorist conflict.
Click to expand...
That was me who posted it actually... it was a light attempt at humor but I think a link might not go down to well.  PM me if you do want a link to that satirical skit ;)
 
Re: 'The Trooper'

Here's one of the infamous murals:
dpc_00.jpg
The caption reads:

Dean Park, Carrickfergus, 2000; Iron Maiden's Eddie as an avenging loyalist
Eddie, a character from an Iron Maiden album cover, is depicted as an avenging loyalist of the UFF, bringing the war to the republicans, the names of three of whom are shown on the crosses.

Here's another one:
mural2.jpg
Hopewell Crescent, 2000.
This mural depicts Eddie, the fictional avenger from Iron Maiden albums, as a loyalist, wreaking havoc onnationalist and republican areas. It is one of eight such depictions of Eddie in Belfast and Derry, some of which also portray the Grim Reaper. The crosses on this mural in the lower Shankill area, formerly the territory of UDA boss Johnny Adair, bear the names of three north Belfast republicans who are currently alive.

Personally, I don't really like the way they use Eddie to promote hatred. Can't everyone live in peace, even in Northern Ireland?   :huh:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top