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Trollheart · 10-10-2015, 09:05 AM

Speaking of Iron Maiden...

30 “Childen of the damned” (from The Number of the Beast)

Given that this was my first Maiden album, I found it a big surprise that the second track was a ballad! Starts off with a sort of acoustic guitar run and a low vocal from Bruce, although it does get harder and tougher for the chorus, but then just as you think it might be about to take off, it slips back to that gentle guitar. It's only when it gets about halfway through that you realise it IS going to pick up and speed along, ending in a big powerful scream from Bruce.

I like this track for various reasons. As I said, it's the first indication I had that Maiden, or any metal band given that they were my very first such, could even be interested in doing slower songs (even if this one did kick balls in the end) and also, I know the book on which the song is based, John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos, so that helped, in the same way that being a fan of the TV show helped me appreciate “The Prisoner”, which came next, all the more. Also I think this was the first time I experienced Dickinson's trademark scream. No, wait: I had heard “Run to the hills”, hadn't I? Oh well, it's still a good story.

29 “Blood brothers” (from Brave New World)
Reminds me a little of both the title track to Fear of the Dark and Afraid to shoot strangers (is there any significance that both those songs are on the one album?) but not only that, it reaffirms the committment of Bruce to the band. It's like he's saying I've been away but I realise this is the place I belong. A better metal anthem it would be hard to find.

28 “To tame a land” (from Piece of Mind

Although I never read the books, I of course knew about Frank Herbert's “Dune” series, but the fact that, quite in contrast to Patrick McGoohan when asked for permission to pay homage to him, Herbert outright refused to let the band call the song “Dune”, leaving them with a rather more esoteric title for the closing track on their fourth album irks me. I mean, why not? Cos the cunt “doesn't like rock bands, especially heavy metal bands, especially Iron Maiden”? Self-important, pompous fucker.

Nevertheless, they made a great song out of it, with great sound effects like breathing and those slightly alien horn/whistling effects at the start, and despite Herbert's blocking of their using the name they used terms from his book. Let him ram that up his ignorant arse. Great closer to the album and it fades out just as it should.

27 “The Prisoner” (from The Number of the Beast

In a total reversal of the reception received by the boys above, star Patrick McGoohan, the very “Prisoner” himself, loved the idea and told the guys to go for it, and we end up with a powerful, slightly paranoid (as it should be) ode to the classic cult sci-fi TV series, with a great hook and a clip from the show to start it off. Not, to be fair, the greatest Iron Maiden song ever written, but it's great fun, and fits in nicely with the darker mood of the album overall, also the idea of things being controlled, directed by an unknown outside agency.

26 “Prodigal son” (from Killers)

Yes, don't worry: there are Di'Anno era songs in the list. I'm hardly going to ignore the band's beginnings just because I prefer their later stuff, now am I? This song featured in last year's list, “Before the Beast”, though of course that was only a top ten and restricted to the first two albums, so consequently this song came higher in that list. Still, I think, given that it's not my alltime favourite Di'anno era song it's done quite well. One of the first proper ballads from Maiden, following “Strange world” from the debut, I've never quite been able to make out what it's about, but it has a lovely rolling rhythm to it, and I think much of it is played on acoustic guitar. Di'Anno, to be fair, puts in a star performance, toning his usual more guttural vocal down to ease us along in the song, and it's good too that there is no actual resolution to the dilemma proposed when he sings “I'm on my knees, help me please. Oh Lamia please try to help me: the devil's got hold of my soul and he won't let me be.” I like too that it ends on exactly the same guitar phrase as it begins.

25 “Holy smoke” (from No Prayer for the Dying)

The main thing I love about this song is the humour that Maiden poke at organised religion, and one would assume, primarily Catholicism, with the idea taken up by Genesis and others of sticking it to televangelists, and the usage of the title to predict what is going to happen to those men of the cloth who fail to carry out their work in a genuine way --- “Holy smoke, plenty bad preachers for the devil to stoke” --- puts the cherry on top. I love how Bruce takes (without any disrespect) the persona of God, or Jesus, as he declaims against those who are perverting his word. The manic glee with which Maiden snap at religion here --- and we all know how well metal and the Church have got on down the decades! --- is almost cathartic. When Bruce sings “I've lived in filth, I've lived in sin and it still smells cleaner than the shit you're in!” I can't help but grin. I'm sure the BBC would have banned this if they could, but by now it's too late and the internet is king.

24 “Only the good die young” (from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son)

We had the opener from this album, and the closer ain't bad either. It's just kind of ... most of what's in between doesn't really do it for me. But this is a great song, powering along on a strong percussion line from Nicko and driven by the twin guitars, a real breath-taker. I like how it starts almost as if it's coming direct from another track, it's not too long and Bruce squeezes every ounce of menace out of his voice in this finale to the album. The little coda of “Seven deadly sins” that originally opened the album is a great touch.

23 “Flight of Icarus” (from Piece of Mind)

This one gets a lot of stick, but it's a favourite of mine. Yes, they totally fuck up the legend of Daedalus and Icarus, making the father out to be evil, but so what? It's got a killer guitar opening, it has a huge Dickinson scream at the end, it's great fun and it was yet another excuse to hear Maiden on the radio and see them on TV. What more could you want?

22 “22 Acacia Avenue” (from The Number of the Beast)

Love the opening chugging guitar that just keeps going as Bruce's vocal comes in, and we're told this is the sequel to the far inferior “Charlotte the harlot” from the debut album. Maiden get a lot of props from me for this, because as I mentioned before, they take an atypical view of prostitution here. While most bands --- certainly most metal ones --- would be leering and laughing, perhaps considering punishment for the “whore”, having fallen so low, Maiden take a more sympathetic view, and in fact the song is about trying to get Charlotte to “Give up all this mad life” and come away with him. A metal band making an honest woman out of a hooker? That's what makes this song what it is, and why I rate it so highly. Not to mention the superb guitar solos at the end.

21 “Another life” (from Killers)

From the rolling drum intro to the screaming guitars that join it, to that hammerpunch ending, this is a great example of what Di'Anno could do when he put his mind to it. Killers is a great album, but there are some duff tracks on it, to my mind. This isn't one of them; while at the same not being close to my favourite on it, it's still worthy of inclusion reasonably high.

10-10-2015, 09:05 AM	#2873 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Speaking of Iron Maiden... 30 “Childen of the damned” (from The Number of the Beast) Given that this was my first Maiden album, I found it a big surprise that the second track was a ballad! Starts off with a sort of acoustic guitar run and a low vocal from Bruce, although it does get harder and tougher for the chorus, but then just as you think it might be about to take off, it slips back to that gentle guitar. It's only when it gets about halfway through that you realise it IS going to pick up and speed along, ending in a big powerful scream from Bruce. I like this track for various reasons. As I said, it's the first indication I had that Maiden, or any metal band given that they were my very first such, could even be interested in doing slower songs (even if this one did kick balls in the end) and also, I know the book on which the song is based, John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos, so that helped, in the same way that being a fan of the TV show helped me appreciate “The Prisoner”, which came next, all the more. Also I think this was the first time I experienced Dickinson's trademark scream. No, wait: I had heard “Run to the hills”, hadn't I? Oh well, it's still a good story. 29 “Blood brothers” (from Brave New World) Reminds me a little of both the title track to Fear of the Dark and Afraid to shoot strangers (is there any significance that both those songs are on the one album?) but not only that, it reaffirms the committment of Bruce to the band. It's like he's saying I've been away but I realise this is the place I belong. A better metal anthem it would be hard to find. 28 “To tame a land” (from Piece of Mind Although I never read the books, I of course knew about Frank Herbert's “Dune” series, but the fact that, quite in contrast to Patrick McGoohan when asked for permission to pay homage to him, Herbert outright refused to let the band call the song “Dune”, leaving them with a rather more esoteric title for the closing track on their fourth album irks me. I mean, why not? Cos the cunt “doesn't like rock bands, especially heavy metal bands, especially Iron Maiden”? Self-important, pompous fucker. Nevertheless, they made a great song out of it, with great sound effects like breathing and those slightly alien horn/whistling effects at the start, and despite Herbert's blocking of their using the name they used terms from his book. Let him ram that up his ignorant arse. Great closer to the album and it fades out just as it should. 27 “The Prisoner” (from The Number of the Beast In a total reversal of the reception received by the boys above, star Patrick McGoohan, the very “Prisoner” himself, loved the idea and told the guys to go for it, and we end up with a powerful, slightly paranoid (as it should be) ode to the classic cult sci-fi TV series, with a great hook and a clip from the show to start it off. Not, to be fair, the greatest Iron Maiden song ever written, but it's great fun, and fits in nicely with the darker mood of the album overall, also the idea of things being controlled, directed by an unknown outside agency. 26 “Prodigal son” (from Killers) Yes, don't worry: there are Di'Anno era songs in the list. I'm hardly going to ignore the band's beginnings just because I prefer their later stuff, now am I? This song featured in last year's list, “Before the Beast”, though of course that was only a top ten and restricted to the first two albums, so consequently this song came higher in that list. Still, I think, given that it's not my alltime favourite Di'anno era song it's done quite well. One of the first proper ballads from Maiden, following “Strange world” from the debut, I've never quite been able to make out what it's about, but it has a lovely rolling rhythm to it, and I think much of it is played on acoustic guitar. Di'Anno, to be fair, puts in a star performance, toning his usual more guttural vocal down to ease us along in the song, and it's good too that there is no actual resolution to the dilemma proposed when he sings “I'm on my knees, help me please. Oh Lamia please try to help me: the devil's got hold of my soul and he won't let me be.” I like too that it ends on exactly the same guitar phrase as it begins. 25 “Holy smoke” (from No Prayer for the Dying) The main thing I love about this song is the humour that Maiden poke at organised religion, and one would assume, primarily Catholicism, with the idea taken up by Genesis and others of sticking it to televangelists, and the usage of the title to predict what is going to happen to those men of the cloth who fail to carry out their work in a genuine way --- “Holy smoke, plenty bad preachers for the devil to stoke” --- puts the cherry on top. I love how Bruce takes (without any disrespect) the persona of God, or Jesus, as he declaims against those who are perverting his word. The manic glee with which Maiden snap at religion here --- and we all know how well metal and the Church have got on down the decades! --- is almost cathartic. When Bruce sings “I've lived in filth, I've lived in sin and it still smells cleaner than the shit you're in!” I can't help but grin. I'm sure the BBC would have banned this if they could, but by now it's too late and the internet is king. 24 “Only the good die young” (from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son) We had the opener from this album, and the closer ain't bad either. It's just kind of ... most of what's in between doesn't really do it for me. But this is a great song, powering along on a strong percussion line from Nicko and driven by the twin guitars, a real breath-taker. I like how it starts almost as if it's coming direct from another track, it's not too long and Bruce squeezes every ounce of menace out of his voice in this finale to the album. The little coda of “Seven deadly sins” that originally opened the album is a great touch. 23 “Flight of Icarus” (from Piece of Mind) This one gets a lot of stick, but it's a favourite of mine. Yes, they totally fuck up the legend of Daedalus and Icarus, making the father out to be evil, but so what? It's got a killer guitar opening, it has a huge Dickinson scream at the end, it's great fun and it was yet another excuse to hear Maiden on the radio and see them on TV. What more could you want? 22 “22 Acacia Avenue” (from The Number of the Beast) Love the opening chugging guitar that just keeps going as Bruce's vocal comes in, and we're told this is the sequel to the far inferior “Charlotte the harlot” from the debut album. Maiden get a lot of props from me for this, because as I mentioned before, they take an atypical view of prostitution here. While most bands --- certainly most metal ones --- would be leering and laughing, perhaps considering punishment for the “whore”, having fallen so low, Maiden take a more sympathetic view, and in fact the song is about trying to get Charlotte to “Give up all this mad life” and come away with him. A metal band making an honest woman out of a hooker? That's what makes this song what it is, and why I rate it so highly. Not to mention the superb guitar solos at the end. 21 “Another life” (from Killers) From the rolling drum intro to the screaming guitars that join it, to that hammerpunch ending, this is a great example of what Di'Anno could do when he put his mind to it. Killers is a great album, but there are some duff tracks on it, to my mind. This isn't one of them; while at the same not being close to my favourite on it, it's still worthy of inclusion reasonably high. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 10-29-2015 at 05:47 PM.