Wrathchild (Killers)
I'm not quite sure what it is about “Wrathchild” that I like. It's not, to be fair, the greatest of tracks and there are surely songs I could have chosen in its place that didn't make the list. But there's something about it that draws me. Maybe it's the fact that it would later spawn a glam metal band by the same name, or that it was included on some metal compilation I heard as a kid but never really paid much attention to. Maybe it's the “I'm coming to get you!” which would be repeated later in the title track. Maybe it's that big meaty bassline that gets it going, or the soaraway guitar. I really don't know. But somehow it's found its way into a higher spot on my top ten than I would have expected it would have occupied, if at all.
Drifter (Killers)
This, on the other hand, has always been one of my favourite Maiden tracks. I particularly love the big rocking ending, the “Gonna sing my song, and it won't take long” and the powerful, screaming ending. But the opening is great too: that double guitar attack building up to Di'Anno yelling “Rock and ro-oh-oh-ohlllllll!” It's a track that always makes me want to move. The middle section is inspired too, the slowing down as the guitar solos so beautifully and restrained, the sort of stuttering re-build up to the main melody, the big drum semi-solo from Clive Burr as the whole thing takes off for the big finish. Superb.
Strange world (Iron Maiden)
As I mentioned, the first ballad from the boys, which would be thin on the ground throughout their (so far) forty-four year career (going in terms of album releases; I know they've been together since 1975), it was at the time a startling departure from the hard-edged metal/punk that I had been experiencing on the debut, and segueing as it does directly from the first instrumental, it was something of a double whammy. And it's a beautiful song. Di'Anno proves he can really sing, and Murray shows that he isn't just a fretburner, that he knows how to dial it back several notches when required.
Some bands would have used piano or keyboards, maybe violin to supplement the guitar sound here, but Maiden had no truck with keys up until Bruce left. I remember on the back of “Piece of mind” the promise: “No synthesisers or ulterior motives!” Maiden at that time, the height of their burgeoning popularity and the apex of their commerciality, wanted to buck the trend and stay far away from keytars, synths and keyboards, trusting to the inestimable talents of their two guitarists to make all the music that was required. And they did. The otherworldly sound Murray puts on his guitar (probably phased, what do I know?) allied to Steve Harris's gently thrumming bass and Burr's perfectly placed percussion jsut creates exactly the kind of atmosphere you imagine they were going for.
And Di'Anno? My god he can sing here! Devoid of the snarl, the rawness, his voice is almost gentle and while you wouldn't expect him to release any pop records, he shows he can do other than just growl metal anthems. With no title to suggest it would be a ballad, and as I say the slow fade-in from “Transylvania”, this track virtually transformed side two of the album for me, before kicking it back up with “Charlotte the harlot” and going for the throat, but it was one hell of a surprise, and a very pleasant one.