Worst Iron Maiden Song

[mckindog]

Never hated it, but my first impression of Dance had some of what you're saying.
But it grew, and really rocketed up my chart after seeing it live on the past tour.
Loved Wind from day one.
So yes, two pedestals please

 

[Andrew]

Worst Maiden song for me by a long way is 'Quest For Fire'. Any song that starts: 'In a time when dinosaurs walked the Earth' deserves to be shot at birth! There are other weak ones but none quite as mind numbingly awful as that one.

 

[Crimson Idol]

Ultimately if people like a song you hate, it's still their opinion. Getting annoyed by someone else's tastes is a bit silly. I for one don't really enjoy prog, it feels disjointed to me for the most part... but I don't despise the fact that Mosh enjoys it. I don't like Hooks in you, but I don't rage that Natalie enjoys it.

Dance - I've never understood the hate for "I danced and I pranced", sure its not the greatest lyric in the world but it's not the worst either, and it fits the images the song is aiming for at that stage. Musically however I think its fantastic, it crosses many different styles/areas and still feels seemless.

 

[Mosh]

Dance - I've never understood the hate for "I danced and I pranced", sure its not the greatest lyric in the world but it's not the worst either, and it fits the images the song is aiming for at that stage. Musically however I think its fantastic, it crosses many different styles/areas and still feels seemless.

I agree, I thought nothing of that line until I started visiting forums where people pointed it out many times.

 

[Kill Devil Hill]

The only time Maiden really makes me cringe is when there's one line that has legit been repeated 12 times in thirty seconds. The Longest Day for instance. It has incredible verses, some of the best in Maiden's discography. But the chorus, though good, is repeated so much that it loses all meaning and becomes boring. I wouldn't mind if that line was said twice and then the solo came in and then that line is sung twice more and then the song is finished with the outro, y'know, trim down the repetition. Unfortunately, that's not what happens.

Consequentially, songs like The Angel and the Gambler, For the Greater Good of God, and Heaven Can Wait that had a lot of potential are robbed a bit of their genius. I still love FTGGOG and just ignore the repeated chorus since it's only one section of the song, but TAATG and HCW are almost unlistenable for me.

The intro is just bad.

The intro is one of my favorite Maiden moments. It's just got this, I don't know, bittersweetness to it. I don't know if this song is necessarily the objectively best song in the world, but it's one of those songs that makes you actually feel something. I actually feel the fear, the calling it quits, the sadness, all of it when I listen to WTWWB. That's why I rate the song so highly. It actually makes me feel something.

 

[Andrew]

I agree that sometimes the songs can just go on too long and are too repetitive. Virtual XI had some great songs on it but I rarely listen to that album because so many of the songs repeat themselves for what seems like an eternity.

 

[Crimson Idol]

Agree on the repetitiveness.

The Longest Day took me a VERY long time to get into due to that, now I have been able to give it some more listening I agree that the lyrics are some of the strongest I think Maiden have ever written.. until that chorus where I just want it to end If you could change that somehow, the song would rapidly climb my rankings.

I've never thought of WTWWB like that, but yes, whilst I dont find the intro that special.. the mood of the song throughout (particularly the end) is very image provoking.

 

[Kill Devil Hill]

If anyone had Audacity, it's be cool if they edited The Longest Day the way I described it.

 

[Mosh]

I'm so bored lately that I might do that to pass the time.

 

[OpsY]

Personally, some songs I've never liked include Die with your boots on(puke), Out of a silent planet (Really, never could get over it even tho BNW was my favorite album at the time and remained for years), The man who would be king (again, sorry I know this one has fans but I think it misses something)

And I don't understand the critics on Dance of Death. I agree it's a song that's not a instant crush, it took me years before I saw it as a top 10 but now it's been hanging there for some time and don't see it moving down any time soon. I love the intense build up until bruce starts screaming. Then the second part is "so-so" then the Solos are just Majestic to me and the ending is great aswell. It's a song I can keep on repeat for 6~7 runs when i'm doing road.

As for WTWWB, it's also a song I was skeptical with at first. A Steeve Harris Epic is usually a song to check carefully. I'm not english and I was at first interested by the musical aspect. I liked the "Apocalypse" tone the song took at some point. It's only later by reading the lyrics and seeing the parallels with our society where most sit hours in front of TV watching brain-killing TV shows and believing anything the TV will tell them to be true coupled with the "Dramatic" ending where the people finally poisoned themselves when finally there's no actual catastrophe other than the stupid TV's invention... I don't know this struck me as I wasn't expecing such a turnover.

 

[Dr Sin]

The Angel and the Gambler - this song had the potential to be a fairly decent song, but it wasn't! The line "Don't you think I'm a savior, Don't you think I could save you, Don't you think I could save your life?" is repeated SO much that it drives me to the brink of insanity! If it was 5 minutes shorter it'd be great!

 

[Von Bek]

There is honestly only one song which I just can't like: When the Wild Wind Blows.

 

[Andrew]

I totally agree that 'The Angel and the Gambler could be a great song. When I first heard it my immediate reaction was that it was a great tune but after 5 minutes of repetition I started losing the will to live and I never listen to it now as the endless repetition is just too painful. There's a few songs that suffer from that on Virtual XI and it's a shame because without that I think it had the potential to be a really good album. There's no end of songs I can't abide on NPFTD and FotD (most of them actually) but I'd still rather listen to them than 'Quest For Fire'. That's the only song I absolutely refuse to ever listen to. Maiden have done some bad songs and some weak ones but QFF is the only one I find so bad it's embarrassing.

 

[harrymerkin]

I instantly skip 'The Alchemist' on the TFF. Same goes for some of those weird fillery tracks on DOD.

 

[Iron Cooper]

1st post but I just never liked Two Minutes To Midnight. Just a big buzzkill to me

 

[Cornfed Hick]

And I don't understand the critics on Dance of Death.

I agree with the others -- it is impossible to hear this song and NOT think of the dwarves nearly trampling the small-scale Stonehenge in Spinal Tap.

I'm also not a huge fan of repetitive choruses, but I still think The Longest Day is phenomenal.

One of my least favorite Maiden songs, if not THE least, is Fortunes of War off The X Factor. I've written about this before (perhaps in this very thread, I haven't checked the pre-2012 posts) but I just hate, hate, hate the vocals, especially the repetitive chorus -- the music is borderline awesome, but the vocals ruin it. Blaze sounds like the hair metal singer band Billy Madison hired when he graduated from third grade.

Compare:

with this, at 4:08:

 

[bornless1]

Bring your dawta, bring your dawta, to the slaw ahawtaaaa..HUH????!! Can't stand it.

 

[Mega]

Did anyone mention The Apparition yet? I think it's pretty lame.
Decent instrumental section, but the verses and lyrics some of Maiden's worst.

 

[Forostar]

I think the lyrics are pretty good. I started to get more into them since The Final Frontier is released.
Check http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/the-apparition.4286/page-2 if you want to read my "essay" on this song.

 

[Shadow]

Let's re-examine what I wrote seven years ago.

Another Life - Sounds like something they just wanted to get down on record as quickly as possible. Lacks all real inspiration and Steve could have done better than the same verse repeated three times.

Interestingly, this has become one of my favourite songs on Killers.

Invaders - I can't see why an excellent song like Total Eclipse had to be cut from the original album with this around.

Yeah, this one kinda sucks.

Public Enema Number One - Same as Another Life. Bruce can write better lyrics than this and the music sounds strained.

Unremarkable song, but probably not bad enough to be on this list.

The Assassin - Like Public Enema Number One, this one just isn't up to the mark. Shame those two were included because the album is quite good otherwise IMO.

Can't argue with this. That chorus is way too goofy.

From Here to Eternity - Tired, unspired and boring.

Fear is the Key - See above.

Weekend Warrior - Once more, see above.

And then there's "Wasting Love", "Chains of Misery" and "The Apparition"... Fear of the Dark wasn't Maiden's finest hour, that's for sure.

The Angel and the Gambler - Terrible song in all aspects, especially the chorus.

I actually enjoy this one quite a bit, even if it's not a particularly good song.

The Educated Fool - See From Here to Eternity.

Really? Apart from the overdone "time will flow" bit, this is probably the best song on Virtual XI.

Gates of Tomorrow - Here we go, the worst Maiden song ever. I used to bash it at every possible opportunity back in 2003 and I still do. Terrible everything.

On this point, my past and current selves are in perfect agreement.

New Frontier - I can't get past the lyrics and the song itself sounds very much like a first attempt at songwriting.

On this one too.

Age of Innocence - Another reason why I don't consider Steve to be particularly great as a lyricist.

This is in the same category as "Public Enema Number One": weak, but tolerable.