Trollheart's Comprehensive Guide to Iron Maiden

Trollheart · 11-12-2017, 07:50 PM

Track title: “The Man of Sorrows”
Album: The Book of Souls
Year: 2015
Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris
Subject: ****ed if I know
Type: Kind of mid-paced
Length: 6:28
Familiar? Not really
Rating: 4/10
Ah, so randomness brings us back to the same album as last time. There's something really odd about this track. On Bruce Dickinson's 1997 solo album, Accident of Birth there's a song he penned called “Man of Sorrows”. This one only differs in the use of the definite article at the start, but it is a different song. It's written without any input from him, as you can see, and yet, you have to wonder why he didn't say, when Dave and Steve were coming up with a title, “Uh, guys? I have a song called “Man of Sorrows” on one of my albums. Given that mostly or only Maiden fans are going to have heard that, don't you think you should come up with another name for this track?” Maybe he did. Maybe they waved him down and told him to shut up and get back to writing “Empire of the Clouds”. But it's weird, Or at least, I find it weird. Maybe nobody else does.

It kind of reminds me of “Strange World” from the debut when it starts. Not completely, but it just gives me that feeling, with the slow jangly guitar. It soon punches in as Nicko's drums set the pace, and it seems like it's going to be what I term a slow cruncher, but then it gains a little speed as the twin guitars kick in, however I couldn't really call this a typical Maiden rocker. At least, not yet: there are six-plus minutes of it. Nice little solo there as it comes near a close; not the sort of thing we've been used to with Maiden, but still nice to hear. Sort of an odd little ending though.

FYI, here's Bruce's “Man of Sorrows”, just in case you're interested and want to compare the two.

~~MicShazam~~ · 11-13-2017, 02:49 AM

Three things I remember from when I listened to The Book of Souls back in 2015. It is 92 minutes long and suffers badly from a lack of editing. Bruce's voice is almost entirely shot on this album and he sounds like grandpa Simpson. That epic album closer, Empire of the Clouds, is one of the least interesting songs Maiden has ever written, but it's also the longest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Hawk

Kill yourself. X Factor is great.

Sign of the Cross alone makes it worth it.

The Batlord · 11-13-2017, 03:38 PM

**** you, "Running Free" is amazing! That song has so much ****ing bounce that I can't handle it.

Trollheart · 11-13-2017, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

**** you, "Running Free" is amazing! That song has so much ****ing bounce that I can't handle it.

**** you right back. I said it was bouncy, didn't I? But "Phantom of the Opera" pisses all over it, as does just about any track on the debut.

The Batlord · 11-13-2017, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

**** you right back. I said it was bouncy, didn't I? But "Phantom of the Opera" pisses all over it, as does just about any track on the debut.

Nah, "Prowler" is the only song as good.

Trollheart · 11-13-2017, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

Both right and wrong

While it is one of my favorite Maiden albums (so ok, spot on) I don't like Alexander the Great much. Favorite track of mine from this disc: Wasted Years!

I don't think I said it was your favourite, did I? I remember you going on about it, particularly that ****fest "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"...

Quote:

I guess one of the things I like a lot about this album is that I - unlike you - really find the songwriting appealing, plus I really like the guitar tones on this album.

And I do like this song quite a bit. It's got this folk metal feel that I think cool, even if it's no Blood Brothers in that regard. The quiet intro is quite nice too. There are better songs on the album but the only bad song on the album is the Angel and the Gambler... which you seem to think is the best one!? Heresy!

I don't actually particularly LIKE A&tG, but it's the one on that album I hate least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Nah, "Prowler" is the only song as good.

Well, you're The Batlord so I guess you must be right. Can I go kill myself now?

The Batlord · 11-13-2017, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Well, you're The Batlord so I guess you must be right. Can I go kill myself now?

No idea why you've waited this long.

~~MicShazam~~ · 11-13-2017, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I don't think I said it was your favourite, did I? I remember you going on about it, particularly that ****fest "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"...

I don't remember doing that, but I like it, so it's possible. A song I could gush and go on about is Sea of Madness. It feels pretty unlike other Maiden songs of that time. It is another Adrian Smith penned tune, along with Wasted Years (so my two favorites off the album is from Adiran... they should have let him write more!)

~~MicShazam~~ · 11-14-2017, 04:23 PM

My personal reactions to the 4 previous tracks:

Infinite Dreams is awesome. Absolutely top level Maiden.
The Edge of Darkness is one of the reasons why the X Factor album is underrated.
All of The Final Frontier is flat out boring. Honestly, post-Brave New World albums from this band are pointless.

Trollheart · 11-14-2017, 05:15 PM

My reactions to your reactions:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

My personal reactions to the 4 previous tracks:

Infinite Dreams is awesome. Absolutely top level Maiden.

It is good, not saying it isn't. But the ones I mentioned I feel are much better. Pretty solid album all round.

Quote:

The Edge of Darkness is one of the reasons why the X Factor album is underrated.

The jury's still out on that, but if this is the case, then I think I was probably justified in my hatred of the album cos Maiden can do so much better.

Quote:

All of The Final Frontier is flat out boring. Honestly, post-Brave New World albums from this band are pointless.

I don't think, at this point, I'd have any problem with that statement. BNW is where I stopped really listening to Maiden as anything other than "Oh there's a new album out? Download, must listen to some time" and seldom ever did. I kind of feel I didn't miss much really.

11-12-2017, 07:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Track title: “The Man of Sorrows” Album: The Book of Souls Year: 2015 Written by: Dave Murray/Steve Harris Subject: **ed if I know Type: Kind of mid-paced Length: 6:28 Familiar? Not really Rating:** 4/10 Ah, so randomness brings us back to the same album as last time. There's something really odd about this track. On Bruce Dickinson's 1997 solo album, Accident of Birth there's a song he penned called “Man of Sorrows”. This one only differs in the use of the definite article at the start, but it is a different song. It's written without any input from him, as you can see, and yet, you have to wonder why he didn't say, when Dave and Steve were coming up with a title, “Uh, guys? I have a song called “Man of Sorrows” on one of my albums. Given that mostly or only Maiden fans are going to have heard that, don't you think you should come up with another name for this track?” Maybe he did. Maybe they waved him down and told him to shut up and get back to writing “Empire of the Clouds”. But it's weird, Or at least, I find it weird. Maybe nobody else does. It kind of reminds me of “Strange World” from the debut when it starts. Not completely, but it just gives me that feeling, with the slow jangly guitar. It soon punches in as Nicko's drums set the pace, and it seems like it's going to be what I term a slow cruncher, but then it gains a little speed as the twin guitars kick in, however I couldn't really call this a typical Maiden rocker. At least, not yet: there are six-plus minutes of it. Nice little solo there as it comes near a close; not the sort of thing we've been used to with Maiden, but still nice to hear. Sort of an odd little ending though. FYI, here's Bruce's “Man of Sorrows”, just in case you're interested and want to compare the two. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-14-2017, 04:23 PM	#9 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	My personal reactions to the 4 previous tracks: Infinite Dreams is awesome. Absolutely top level Maiden. The Edge of Darkness is one of the reasons why the X Factor album is underrated. All of The Final Frontier is flat out boring. Honestly, post-Brave New World albums from this band are pointless.