Top 10 underrated Maiden songs

Hallowed be thy Brain

Hallowed be thy Brain

Infinite Dreamer
10. Judas be my Guide: Fear of the Dark may not be an amazing album but, it has some good songs (including this one) Bruce sings pretty well and the guitars are great.

9. Still Life: This song is so eerie and mysterious. It also serves as the unofficial title track of Piece of Mind

8. Only the Good Die Young: This is the song that wraps up the concept album SSOASS. It features great lyrics, great melodies and rapid fire solos

7. Futureal: This is like Purgatory part 2, it's fast heavy and features multiple blistering solos. Aside from this song, the whole album is underrated

6. Sea of Madness: Excellent bass, excellent guitar, excellent vocals, excellent everything.

5. The Duelists: Aside from the great vibrato-filled vocals courtesy of Bruce, this song has an awesome melodic passage

4. Lord of Light: Whenever Bruce writes about Lucifer things are bound to turn out well (Moonchild anyone?) Haunting begining, great riff, poetic lyrics all wrappped into one to create the best song on AMOLAD

3. Where Eagles Dare: Sure, this song has been performed live but, it still doesnt get the respect it deserves. Bruce's best vocal performance and great drumming by Nicko. Plus, its a personal favorite of mine

2. 2:00 AM: Blazes best vocal performance and great instrumentation. Speechless.

1. The Nomad & Alexander the Great: Both Epics are appreciated by most fans but, the band has seemed to forget about them. The Nomad was written for Virtual XI but, it was put on BNW and it fits like a glove, great vocals and guitar work. As for Alexander the Great, it has everything that I said about the Nomad but, it was done better by a younger and more creative Maiden.
 
The entire No Prayer For The Dying album. There are ten tracks! Ten underrated songs (for the most part)
And pretty much everything on Fear Of The Dark!
 
3 different eras, 3 different singers. Paul and Blaze did 1/6 of the Studio albums Bruce nevertheless I gave both 5 songs and Bruce 10 because I think Paul/Blaze eras are way more underrated:

With Paul:

Killers This track is a CLASSIC and the band doesn't play it since 1999 - and even then it was due to fan voting. Hell... it didn't even featured the Early Years Tour setlist! WTF is wrong with these guys?
Purgatory Great speedster and a single... only played during 1 tour. I simply don't understand it
Sanctuary Let me get this straight: this song had a single, it was played live contless times and still doesn't even make it to the album playlist. What were the guys thinking about?
Murders In The Rue Morgue Another semi-classic the band tends to forget about its existance. Hey... at least they included it back in the 2005 tour (as the opening track) unlike Killers...
Prodigal Son Unique in maiden's catalogue and a beautiful calm song without being corny or sissy, this is Journeyman beta version... and people still give it flak.

With Bruce:

Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner Great and anthemic song with a vocal delivery from another world this beast was only played live once... I know it''s quite a bitch to pull this night after night but come on! This is pure gold.
Be Quick Or Be Dead The most furious track the band ever composed, released previously as a single and most of all: one of the only standout moments of the disaster known as FOTD. And still most people and the band itself ditched it... *Sigh*
Face In The Sand I'm amazed how this song isn't considered a classic. Everything here is on point, majestic and is so diferent and yet Maiden like. The keyboards, Nicko's double bass, the choir in the end ... such perfection.
Montsegur By this time it's plain for all to see that Maiden has something against playing fast songs. Appart from the bridge - repeated too many times - this monster shreds into a truly epic chorus. And also into oblivion regarding live playing time
Still Life Speaking of "plain for all to see" I think that applies to this tune when it comes to the huge quality here. Not for Maiden. At least they captured it on the 7th son tour)
The Prophecy Ok... 7th son had no fillers so it would be always hard to leave any track out of the live set. But the indiference this amazing track suffers is shameful. The celtic influences, demonic voice layers, and THAT CHORUS... Ouch!
Fates Warning The more serious and heavy song of this album really desearved more attention. Excelent intro that bursts into a SIT/7th Son galoping verses and the chorus is quite nice too. Tossed to the bottom shelf... tsss tss
Tailgunner Excelent opener and track that actually had a videoclip back in the day. Great verses, decent chorus, amazing instrumental part and a ton of indiference from the band and fans alike.
Invaders Yes it has one of the worst chorus ever made but the rest of the song is simply breath taking. The amount of hate on this one is unjustifiable
The Thin Line Between Love And Hate excellent build and melody and great vocal performance mainly on the chorus. The only problem with this tune is both the excessive duration of its last stretch and the lack of recognition regarding the great song it is

With Blaze:

Fortunes Of War Amazing and dark song - one of their best during the 90's - with a poor vocal performance. I eagger for a live version with Bruce where it should receive the proper dynamics and upper tones it desearves. Other than that... flawless.
Judgement Day One of the best tracks from the X Factor sessions... and it becomes a B side while a lackluster like the Unbeliever is on the album. Indeed it is unbelivable! (pun intended).
Man On The Edge Really... it's beyond my comprehension the disdain Maiden have for fast songs. This track was also a single and sounds amazing with Bruce singing it. Nevertheless 23 years after it was only played in 3 tours (and 1 of them was by fan request).
Futureal Here we go again on the fast song matter... Not as good as the previous but also a single and a damned good one
Judgement Of Heaven Excelent crescendo in a typical maiden bass/guitars signature lign and a superb chorus... and not a single second of this great song was ever played live.
 
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Face In The Sand - amazing intro, brutal solo from Adrian. The oh-oh part fits the song perfect. Unique chorus in the Maiden's discography.
The Mercenary - awesome tempo, speed, riff and solos. Haunting triple-lead guitar harmony and the two choruses makes the song great.
The Pilgrim - thunderous intro, great melodies (Arabic/Eastern feel to it), amazing solo, great drums and riff. The chorus is interesting and fantastic.
Judgement Of Heaven - fantastic melancholic chorus and the instrumental section is unbelievable.
Childhood's End - mesmerizing intro, fantastic twin-lead guitar harmonies and great chorus. Hidden gem.
The Assassin - the Killers song part 2.... very creepy song, love the bass on it and especially the chorus. Wild solo from Janick.
The Duellists - this is a perfect example of a essential Maiden song.
Gangland - it's a good song, but unfortunately, it was included in one of the best heavy metal albums of all time with far better songs than it.
Mother Russia - the song is full of classic Maiden's elements. Great instrumental sections. Overall, it's a very strong song and ends the album in a special way.
Shadows Of The Valley - unique and very modern sounding song.

BONUS:

Quest For Fire - also very underrated song - I like it, great rhythm, riff and very good solos. Sun and Steel has a better chorus (though being repetitive), but why Adrian do not have a solo on it? - I mean, he co-wrote that song.

Purgatory - is also a very good fast song (one of the first speed metal songs). Amazing chorus, screams and tempo. Fun fact: it's Scott Ian from Anthrax favorite Maiden song.
 
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10. 2 A.M.: This song gets a lot of hate for its lyrics and its depressing, simplistic feel. But it always struck me as an honest lament, and with the exception of the botched final note it’s one of Blaze’s stronger vocal performances with Iron Maiden. The chorus and interlude are pretty strong, too.

9. Sun And Steel: Yes, the chorus is cheesy. But once you give in to the cheese it’s so very, very good. This song is a steamroller in the best sense of the word — one might even call it rolling steel.

8. When The River Runs Deep: Why does this song catch so much hate? Aside from some vocal straining on the pre-chorus this one’s consistently great. Driving verse, soaring pre-chorus, crunchy and catchy chorus, great solos. What’s not to like?

7. Prodigal Son: Yes, the vibe is unusual for Maiden, but that’s one of the things I love about this song. How can you argue with those sweet electric solos on top of the acoustic guitar? This is my personal favorite song from the Di’anno era and I’d love to hear it done live by the current incarnation of the band.

6. Fates Warning: My favorite song on No Prayer For The Dying. The verse is driving and epic, the chorus is pretty good, and the bridge and solos are great. You could argue that this borrows some elements from “The Clairvoyant” and doesn’t execute them quite as well, and you could complain about Bruce’s overly growly vocals, but I still think this one’s great overall.

5. Judas Be My Guide: How can a song so short sound so epic? Aside from Bruce’s growly delivery this one’s excellent from start to finish. Absolutely criminal that this hasn’t been played live. I’d take it over “Fear Of The Dark” any day of the week.

4. Sea Of Madness: Often overshadowed by the other two songs Adrian wrote for Somewhere In Time that became singles, this track is comparably brilliant in nearly all respects, with only the verse having a little room for improvement.

3. Flash Of The Blade: This song is pure adrenalin, from its simple and cutting main riff to its absolutely brilliant neoclassical interludes. The verse could be a little stronger, and that other song Dickinson wrote for the album tends to overshadow this one; but I still think this track is excellent.

2. The Longest Day: To my ears this is the greatest song of the reunion era, the one that fully realizes the “theater of the mind” concept that Bruce writes about in his autobiography. The drums are the gun emplacements on the cliff wall. The guitars during the interlude are the rolling waves buffeting the landing craft approaching the shore. The ominous verse and the glorious pre-chorus are some of the best things the band has ever recorded. I don’t understand how people could ever consider that train wreck “Paschendale” to be the equal of this song, much less its superior. To me, this one’s what Maiden’s all about. The only reason I put it at #2 is that most people don’t actually hate on it, they just don’t think it’s particularly great.

1. Out Of The Shadows: I put this song at #1 because it’s frequently savaged by people, but to me it’s a hair’s breadth from being absolutely perfect. I would have preferred that the guitar’s solo phrases were legato throughout, but that’s such a minor nitpick against an otherwise brilliant performance from top to bottom. Bruce sounds amazing here, as does everyone else, and the lyrics are excellent. What’s not to like?
 
10. Judas Be My Guide
Bruce's raspy vocals work perfectly here. Solos and melodies are amazing. It's truly a tragedy that this song never got the attention it deserved.
9. Look for the Truth
Everybody seems to think this is the worst song on TXF. Why the hell? It's similar to all the others. Lyrics are some of Maiden's best imo.
8. Quest for Fire
Typical fun 80s Maiden song. Stupid lyrics and Bruce's falsetto don't bother me at all.
7. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger
Yes, it's their most repetitive song, but fortunately the repetition builds up to the fantastic instrumental section. Lyrics are interesting and the song has a unique atmosphere.
6. Coming Home
Why doesn't anyone talk about this song? It's their best ballad ever in my opinion. Great lyrics, amazing solos and one of Bruce's most emotional performances. A perfect song.
5. Public Enema Number One
The same as Judas Be My Guide, except this has good lyrics and got some live play.
4. Hooks in You
A cheesy track that most people hate. Chorus is one of the catchiest in their whole discography. Extremely fun song, a personal favorite of mine.
3. The Educated Fool
Quite possibly my favorite song from Blaze-era. His vocals are good here, but that's not the main reason why I love this song. The guitar work is just sooo damn good here. The main melody is one of the best Steve ever created.
2. Lord of Light
One of my absolute favorite metal songs is of course the one song on AMOLAD that no one talks about. The galloping dramatic sounding verses are probably my favorite verses by Iron Maiden. The chorus is also amazing. Lyrics are amazing. Every member plays amazingly well.
1. Out of the Silent Planet
Currently my favorite, and by far my most listened to Iron Maiden song this year. It features my second favorite Maiden melody ever, only losing to Caught Somewhere in Time's main riff. Janick's solo is one of his best, and chorus is also for sure a top 5 in their discography.
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
1. Out of the Silent Planet
Currently my favorite, and by far my most listened to Iron Maiden song this year. It features my second favorite Maiden melody ever, only losing to Caught Somewhere in Time's main riff. Janick's solo is one of his best, and chorus is also for sure a top 5 in their discography.
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