Your favourite Maiden "beat"

Dr. Eddies Wingman

Dr. Eddies Wingman

Brighter than thousand_suns
Maiden's music is often recognized for the well known "gallop" which we all know, from songs like The Trooper, Only The Good Die Young and so on. But fortunately, 'Arry and Nicko come up with other kinds of patterns as well.

My favourite is the bass/drum rhythm which is used among other places in "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (from 2:26), and in the choruses of songs like "Gates of Tomorrow" and "The Thin Line Between Love and Hate". It is also found in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" during the build-up after the slow part, and the intro to "The Number of the Beast", although here Nicko doesn't emphasize it with bass and snare drums, only the hi-hat.

I guess you get the idea - what rhythm pattern, beat, groove (call it whatever you like) gets you playing air drums?  :P
 
Dead Boss said:
Running Free has great beat. Good coop from Clive and Steve.
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The LAD version is superb. I usually ignore Bruce and all his scream-for-me games, and listen to Steve and Nicko rock that beat for 5 extra minutes.
 
Winner
I guess I'll go for Deja-Vu. Tight, but very fluent subtle drumming. I like it from start til finish.

Albums
It's really a treat to listen to Nicko's drums on the whole SIT album. His performance, the sound, everything.
For the rest: the first two albums with Clive are really a pleasure to the ears. A lot of different moments on the debut album. Killers is probably Maiden's least melodic album, but for the rest it's a true rhythm feast. On Beast he does well too, but I find the patterns a bit less challenging, and within the songs he hardly varies his patterns.


Other songs with favourite drum parts that come to mind, this very minute (perhaps later more):
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - esp. the couplets, but I also that hi-hat stuff in the calm atmospheric part.
To Tame A Land - the first part as soon as the rhythm starts, like with SSOASS: those 'toms' do the trick.
LOTLDR - amazing stuff, I certainly can imagine the reason why this song didn't work out too well live.
TETMD (The 'A Real Live One Version' is amazing! Check out those bass drums!)
Transylvania - Clive's crash-cymbal accents are excellent, and fit the song structure perfectly. Clive really blends with the song
Prowler - the fast part !
Genghis Khan (the famous gear shift from fast --> slow part)
 
Foro, I think your criteria are too narrow. You seem to be focusing on the drumming. And that's a good start, but I got the impression this thread was more about the whole rhythm section working together.

Maybe the word "beat" isn't a good one. "Groove" or "feel" might be more appropriate.

So I think you made some fine choices so far as drums go, but what about when you include the bass (and maybe rhythm guitar) ?
 
I see. Well, I find it hard to think of other parts so easily, even if we speak about the "whole" rhythm section.
I guess that is so because I am (or rather: was) a drummer myself. In all those rhythm parts the whole music follows the accents of the drummer even if those accents were written on bass guitar.

Rime of the Ancient Mariners has a lot of fine moments and further I certainly like the rhythm patterns EW describes, esp. in LOTLDR:

Ta da da Ta da da Ta da Ta da da Ta da da Ta da

I also like the one in

The Unbeliever, which is slightly different (if not mistaken):

Ta da da Ta da da Ta da da Ta da da Ta da Ta da

(Ta = snare drum, da = bass drum)
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
So I think you made some fine choices so far as drums go, but what about when you include the bass (and maybe rhythm guitar) ?
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In case of rhythm guitar, I would choose Brighter than a thousand suns.
 
I've always liked the beat in Hallowed Be Thy Name, both the instrumental section around 2-3 minutes, and with Bruce singing, up to about 4 minutes.  It seems they always play it faster live, and I like the rhythm in the studio version a bit more.  But otherwise the song is better live.

In Lord of Light, the rhythm that follows Adrian's "kick-off" riff around 1:40 is also very good.  And Alexander the Great, the whole song pretty much.
 
Invader said:
It seems they always play it faster live
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They play almost all songs faster live. One exception I can think about is Dream of Mirrors on Rock in Rio, they play it slower actually.
 
Forostar said:
I see. Well, I find it hard to think of other parts so easily, even if we speak about the "whole" rhythm section.
I guess that is so because I am (or rather: was) a drummer myself. In all those rhythm parts the whole music follows the accents of the drummer even if those accents were written on bass guitar.
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One little off topic question. Do you think, that good drums can speed up the song without changing the tempo? Not really, just give it a faster feel.
 
That depends on what you exactly mean with "speeding up a song".

You could say that the speed of the song depends on the speed of the rhythm, which depends on the tempo of the bea(s)t, played by the drummer.

But if the drums have a certain groove or "touch" the whole thing can sound better (which is still a personal impression). The drummer can add or leave out certain things, play certain elements in the pattern harder or softer.
The rhythm gets more scope, more depth. Still the tempo of the rhythm is the same, and the song has the same length.

So mentally: Yes. A song can pass faster because we enjoy it more, because we enjoy the drums more when they are played with good feel.

But literally: if the rhythm of a song has the same tempo, it doesn't matter whatever else the drummer does --> we have the same songlength -> the song does not pass faster.
 
From the early days i pick Twilight Zone...on the chorus, it seems like drums, bass and the guitars are playing the same thing! One of Clive's best moments, for sure. From the golden years, i would separate Running Free on Live After Death (great "soloing" from both, while staying in the song pattern all the time, both rythmically and musically), the main riff from Sea Of Madness, whole Deja Vu, pre-solo part from Rime Of The Ancient Mariner and the part between Dave's and Adrian's solo in Seventh Son.

From the '90s...the beat from the Unbeliever at the start of instumental part comes to mind first. From the recent albums, not much there that hasn't been done before, except the main riff from Brighter Than A Thousand Suns.

Overall favourite beat...hmm. Sea Of Madness.

Regarding Nicko's performances (he is the main beat man, after all), there's nothing more stunning for me than Sanctuary @ Rock In Rio III. The fills, the beat, the speed, the sound. Everything. And, it features his fastest single-pedal drumkicks ever recorded...listen closely just before Janick starts doing his guitar show.
 
Zare said:
Regarding Nicko's performances (he is the main beat man, after all), there's nothing more stunning for me than Sanctuary @ Rock In Rio III. The fills, the beat, the speed, the sound. Everything. And, it features his fastest single-pedal drumkicks ever recorded...listen closely just before Janick starts doing his guitar show.
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Listen to Nicko during Dave`s solo on The Trooper in Death On The Road...that`s helluva fast
 
Dead Boss said:
One little off topic question. Do you think, that good drums can speed up the song without changing the tempo? Not really, just give it a faster feel.
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That makes me think of a really epic part of the Blind Guardian song "Precious Jerusalem", where going into the chorus the drum beat speeds up faster and faster until absolutely erupting into a massive fill.  Listen to 1:24 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJPosPFt ... re=related


As for Iron Maiden, I've always loved "The Sign of the Cross" from Rock in Rio.  A lot faster than the studio version, I love how you can feel the heaviness coming as Nicko starts playing the snare louder and louder.  Classic.

Good calls on "Sanctuary" and "Deja Vu" too.  Both great drum tracks.
 
GuineaPig said:
Good calls on "Sanctuary" and "Deja Vu" too.  Both great drum tracks.
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Thanks for mentioning SIT album. It reminds me of Stranger in a strange land. I would mark it as second best beat.
 
This is an interesting poll. A couple of songs came to mind when I thought about this, so then I went back and double-checked some specifics (all in terms of beat, drums, groove or whatnot).

Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner, I like the drumming in the opening and chorus sections.

Out of the Silent Planet, there's this one part at 5:15 until the end that just gets me playing airdrums every time, there's a similar section in Dream of Mirrors from about 6:20 to 8:10.

Rainmaker. The entire thing just has this feel that tears you away with it, I just want to rock out when I hear it.

Paschendale, on this one I really enjoy the effect of the hi-hat (or cymbals) tapping at the beginning, just really provides atmosphere.

Longest Day, I really like the way the drums build up and highlight certain sections at the beginning, for example when Bruce sings the "cliffs erupt in flames" the drums are juxtaposed to that).

Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger, drums and bass together work well with the lyrics or something, not sure what it is but the rhythm section in this song are really appropriate to the whole feel of it.

No More Lies, the cymbals at the beginning and then the drums coming in after the "no more lies!!" chorus, every time, fabulous.

I went back and listened to some of Clive Burrs stuff, and what really stuck out (apart from Run to the Hills and Number of the Beast) were Running Free, Genghis Khan (especially the intro on that one), and Killers.

So yeah, those are my favorites in terms of drumming or whatever, at least for right now.
 
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