Shortly after TFF came out, Adrian floated the idea of Maiden making shorter songs. Obviously the band as a whole didn’t take that direction, but Adrian did. His short rockers are hit and miss on Book of Souls, clearly he needed to relearn how to write in that mode after going more in the epic direction since Paschendale. The thing I miss the most in When the River Runs Deep is that the guitars can’t seem to find anything interesting to do when there’s vocals happen. There was a lot more imagination in the riffs found in Evil That Men Do or Flight of Icarus that you don’t find in the chugging power chords of this song. You have three guitars, use them! The instrumental section itself is great, but I would have liked some of those melodies and riffs incorporated into the verses. Like Great Unknown, the lyrical ramblings that don’t seem to point to a focused topic also drag down this song a bit. It’s an enjoyable listen, but I can see it getting lost in the shuffle of memorable Maiden songs. 4
