Wrathchild

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How good is Wrathchild on a scale of 1-10?

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    34
Early classic, with superb intro (that bass line!) and groove. This song is a definition of a short rocker. An all time greatest hit for the band. Fantastic pre-chorus and the actual chorus is great live. Crazy solo by Dave and the scream in the middle is just perfect. (I like when on a Maiden song has a scream). Whenever I listen to this song I always feel a lot of energy and air guitar/drums/bass are inevitable. Ideal song for concerts.

10/10.
 
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A classic song from the early days, but I'm not a fan of Di'Anno's vocals or the production here, the latter of which is weak... really weak. All the gut of the previous album was thrown out the window in favor of better sound quality, and it reflects poorly on the song's overall construction. Still, it's kinda neat and a deserving live staple. 7
 
Did you know that?

Wrathchild is only the 8th most played song by the band.

It was the first song played by Dave Murray in his audition.

Clive's audition consisted on playing 'Running Free', 'Wrathchild' and 'Transylvania'.

Nicko had to learn the song, along with 'Killers' & 'Run To The Hills' for his first appearance (A TV show in Belgium) with Maiden.

Blaze Bayley had to learn the song along with many others for his audition. (Blaze Bayley – Soundtracks Of My Life Platinum Edition Booklet)

Is one of the only five songs to be sung by all 3 official Maiden singers (Paul Di'Anno, Bruce Dickinson & Blaze Bayley).

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The lyrics seem to be the words of a young man born from
the unwanted pregnancy of a prostitute, who has set as her goal
of his life finding his father. Although not inspired by
the life of a band member, the feeling of marginalization and
of the rage they exuded was perfectly in tune with her emotions
plagued by youth unemployment in Great Britain at the time.
 
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7.

A strong song that became the poster child for being overplayed for a reason. I really love the bass here.
 
We love to dunk on Wrathchild on here, but it reached its status as an overplayed classic for a good reason. That main riff rocks hard and it has an awesome chorus. Adrian wasn’t the first guitar player to record leads over this song, but he certainly brought a new dimension to the song’s sonic palette. This isn’t just a great showcase for the band’s new guitar player, but also for their new producer Martin Birch. Just a great warm sound with fiery guitar. Lyrically a bit generic, but it fits the song’s energy. 8
 
9
A perfect fit after The Ides of March and a tour de force 3 minutes epic. The transmitted energy through this song is pure brutality and everybody delivers their best here. The lyrics are very authentic too, this number is street all the way. A rare sonic sample, an easy Di'Anno Top 5 and an all time Metal Classic.

Wrathchild is top tier song and ranked somewhere between 18 -34 in Maiden's catalogue, probably ~30.
 
I was just watching a music channel and they played the Deep Purple song "Stormbringer" and as I listened I heard similarities to Wrathchild.
It's pretty well documented that some if not all the guys from IM are Deep Purple fans so that's not such a surprise.
I'd be curious for any Deep Purple fans to opine, I also thought I hear DP notes in other songs on side 2 of Killers.
Am I imagining this or can the more knowledgeable folks make some specific references?
 
Efficient song but the influence from "Stormbringer" is a bit too obvious.

EDIT : I read @el diablo 's post just after typing. Which confirms the "borrowing" is glaring. ;)
 
An incredibly fun and catchy live staple, “Wrathchild” kicks us right into high gear with a HYPE bass intro. A great early Maiden rocker with some incredibly bopping moments. However, it’s also the best example of why I dislike Killer’s recording. In all the little breakdown pieces (the musical part where Paul sings “I’m coming to get you!”) some weird high-pitched sound seems to be blowing through. All these remasters later and that vacuum cleaner seems to be getting louder, Jesus. Overall it’s a strong classic Maiden recording, but that fucking sound pisses me off too much for me to revisit the studio version much. 7/10
 
All memes aside Wrathchild is a decent rocker. It's better than many songs on the debut, but still not something I like to seek out and listen to on my own time. Listening to the original version right now, I appreciate the harmony guitar that plays sometimes in the main riff (before the chorus, before the last verse, but not during the verses themselves). IIRC they don't do that live, which is a shame. All in all a 5.
 
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naranja said:
Doesn't this song predate the first album? Wonder why it didn't make it on their debt
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The first two albums are basically a best-of of the songs written between 75 and 80. Steve chose what he considered the best songs for the debut, Killers got a couple of rewrites and the songs that didn't make the debut. In a sense it's not wrong to call it Fillers :P
 
I think it is possible that they passed on Wrathchild for the debut since they had already recorded a version for Metal For Muthas. To be fair, they recorded Sanctuary as well for a single and Metal For Muthas, but it also wasn't originally on the debut.
 
The Ed Hunter '99 version of the song is credited as a "vocal version" by Bruce. Does it mean that his vocals are simply added to the original Killers' version (I can notice the drumming to be a bit different though) or is it a complete re-recording done by the entire band? If so, I believe it makes it the first studio recording done by the reunion lineup.

 
Mosh said:
I think it is possible that they passed on Wrathchild for the debut since they had already recorded a version for Metal For Muthas. To be fair, they recorded Sanctuary as well for a single and Metal For Muthas, but it also wasn't originally on the debut.
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Kind of good they saved it for Killers as it is one of the best on that album but it would have easily been one of the best on the debut too
 
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