When The River Runs Deep

How good is When the River Runs Deep on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    18
This is probably the overall weakest track on the album for me. I actually like the chorus slows down, it's a very different thing for Maiden to do. But otherwise, there's just nothing that stands out here as great, and a few things that just don't sound very good, like:

Forostar said:
Cringing vocals in the beginning. Can't believe what Bruce wants to prove here. Yes, Bruce you can still sing high but here you're doing not much else than fucking up vocal chords. Compared to this, the chorus in Mother of Mercy is a blessing.
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Agreed, those opening lines instantly knock down my enjoyment of the song.
 
This, along with SOL, is the weakest song of the album for me. My biggest complaint is that I feel the final solo (Adrian's :eek:) while good, is unnecessary, and the song would flow better without it. All in all, I have given this song plenty of chances, and it has yet to grow on me at all.
 
Lego said:
These are two of my faves as well.

WTRRD has such a HEAVY half time groove like Maiden have never done before, I sincerely hope it's in the setlist because headbanging along to this one live would be otherworldly!!!
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I'd agree - wtrrd is one of my favorites also. It's got one of the best riffs they've written in years, very 80s sounding. I like the half speed of the chorus also; the vocals do grate a little but not enough to take away from the full performance.

In the live arena, I think this would be a good choice from the album to play.
 
Probably my second favourite on the album although I find the intro a little odd, some strange special effect going on in that part.
The rest is sublime, fast, frantic, and Bruce singing predominately in the high register, giving the finger to those nah sayers regarding his ability to do this.

I especially like when the tempo drops for the long chorus. Its interesting and nice. Love the guitar work. Pretty cool song.
 
This song's amazing. Yes, I like the title track, TRATB, Shadows and Eternity more, but this is very close behind them (fighting Eternity for the #4 spot, to be honest) and I just think it's very underrated. Excellent solos, great idea with the fast verse/slow chorus contrast, very melodic and catchy; they haven't written a short song this good since Rainmaker at least. A very strong 8/10 for me.
 
After 4 masterful tracks, the album starts to take a slight dip here. This song has its moments though. The riffs are nice and Bruce gives a good performance. The intro is a little bit messy but I don't mind it. It's a pretty simple rocker overall, a bit unremarkable but still enjoyable. I think it's a much needed break from the denser songs on the album, so it's placed well, but out of context it isn't as enjoyable. Good song, just not one I'm going to go out of my way for. Also not big on any of the solos. I do really enjoy the chorus though.

6
 
I like this song, gave it a 7 .. I like the riffs, very early Maiden sounding to me. Not their best work by any stretch, but a fun song and I agree with @Mosh that it helps the album flow nicely
 
There's a fair amount going on in this song. I like its structure — particularly the half-time chorus that others have taken issue with — and some the performances.
I like the instrumental section and find its double-time main riff quite catchy.
Again, Bruce has some strain issues. But I think it's more the melodies that don't do it for me.
A solid song — it's almost always better than I remember — but rather pedestrian.
 
The least memorable song of the album. Bruce isn't great, the music isn't great. Chorus is cool, though. 6/10.
 
Weakest song on the album. Poor vocal lines and singing, bad verse and uninspired intro. It sounds like something they wrote during Dance of Death, but decided it wasn't good enough. 5/10.
 
WTRRD is Middle of the road BOS in my opinion. Not the best, but way the heck better than IESF and TRATB. Actually it is catchy and the vocals don't bother me at all. I'd be very happy to hear it live and toss one of the other aforementioned slugs out of the set list.
 
I absolutely adore this song. I can understand people who don't like it... However I think that it is a song that was missing from their recent catalogue
 
The river' has really climbed my BOS list lately. I always liked it, what a unique sound and interesting piece from our legendary band.
At no time does it plod aimlessly or become disjointed and unhinged altogether, like one song from BOS that made the 'concert cut'. The river flows beautifully!
 
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If I were the producer and would cut down the collection of songs to the classic 8/9 songs format, this one would be left out. It does feel very filler after the strong start of the album. Riff is pretty by standard, the first solos are as well (except for the one at 4.20 which is genius)
The classic rock approach on the verses is very nice thou, and a mid range melody on the chorus instead of a soaring high vocals were used to is a good change.
Still the most skippable track for me.

6/10
 
7/10

When the River Runs Deep is the weakest track on the first disc, which is saying a lot because it’s still solid. Smith’s riff is awesome, but I find the opening vocals grating. Bruce stretches himself near to the breaking point and it simply isn’t a great performance. The verse is better and I love the half-time chorus. Three more awesome solos appear in the bridge, with H and Murray dipping into the wah-wah pedal and Janick busting out a frenetic, catchy lead.
 
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