Trollheart's Comprehensive Guide to Iron Maiden

Trollheart · 01-08-2021, 07:17 PM

Let's get this going again

Track title: “Judas Be My Guide”
Album: Fear of the Dark
Year: 1992
Written by: Bruce Dickinson/Dave Murray
Subject: ?
Type: Fast rocker
Length: 3:06
Familiar? Very
Rating: 9.5/10

This is more like it! Almost the penultimate track on the last album Bruce cut before heading off solo for ten years, and the last (in terms of track listing) he had any input into writing. It stands, for me anyway, head and shoulders above what has to be admitted as fairly average fare on Fear of the Dark, showing clear evidence of the rot that had begun to set in around the time of No Prayer For the Dying. The band were running out of ideas, rehashing old songs and generally running hard and fast but mostly getting nowhere, like a hamster in a wheel. One of the few shining stars on the last Bruce-helmed album before the new millennium, "Judas Be My Guide" gets you right away with its soaraway solo, following as it does the lacklustre "Fugitive", "Chains of Misery" (was ever a title more prophetic?) and "The Apparition".

Sadly it's followed by the piss-poor motorbike song "Weekend Warrior" (no "Wheels of Steel" or "Born to be Wild", I can tell you!) but for a brief moment there, with the title track to finish the album in fine style, you can forget how bad most of it is. Perhaps it proves that shorter songs were still the best way to go for Maiden. Bruce's voice is certainly on form here, and the boys lash out the riffs like there's no tomorrow. It also features, unlike most of the other tracks on the album (and the previous one too) a recognisable hook. You have to wonder if Bruce's angry, acerbic delivery is a statement on his disillusionment with the band? Maybe not. Great song though.

Trollheart · 01-08-2021, 07:58 PM

Killers - 1981 (EMI)

Now this was an album sleeve that scared me when I was younger. Well it would, wouldn't it? Look at the snarly face of Eddie on the cover, bloody axe in his hand, no sign of remorse, pity or even motive on his skeletal face, the despairing hands of his victim gripping his shirt as their owner slides to the ground in a pool of blood. If you want a nightmare that evokes the worst fears of walking home alone through a bad neighbourhood at night, this comes pretty darn close. But looking at the sleeve, I'd always imagined the music within to be equally scary, raw, evil even. I had at the time no idea who or what Iron Maiden were, to the extent (don't laugh) that I thought Eddie was called "the iron maiden" - yeah, I thought he was a bird. Well, he has long hair hasn't he, and I'm sure we've all dated worse. No? Just me then.

Anyhow, after the revelation that was The Number of the Beast I immediately began to backtrack and of course this being the album prior to that chartbusting success it was the first one I lighted on. Truth to tell, there were only two, as I bought NOTB when it came out, so had only the two prior albums to sink my suddenly hungry teeth into. I did of course buy the debut, and as mentioned elsewhere I have already reviewed that, but compared to Killers it's a big disappointment. Killers was I think where Maiden began to grow up and mature as a band, the first signs of what they could be evident in some of the songs here, and whereas Iron Maiden had been a raw, primordial but somewhat confused debut, their second outing showed them coming out of the traps guns blazing, with much tighter songwriting, a clear image and of course, far better production, this being the first album that the legendary Martin Birch worked on with them.

It's also the first time we hear Adrian Smith , as he had not been there for the debut, and the album is written almost exclusively solo by Steve Harris, Paul Di'Anno only contributing to the writing of the title track. And of course, as all Maiden fans know, speaking of Di'Anno, this would be the last album to feature him as vocalist. After Killers, arguments over substance abuse would lead to his being asked to leave the band, to be replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who would take the band to the top of the world, where they remain to this day, one of the most loved and respected, and successful, Heavy Metal bands on the planet.

Maiden have never been ones for instrumentals, so it's perhaps odd that this album features not one but two, the opener being the first, as "The Ides of March" sets the scene for the first real track, "Wrathchild", which had appeared on various EPs and demos as well as metal compilation albums such as Metal for Muthas. Steve Harris's iconic basswork opens the track then the twin guitar attack that was to go on to become the trademark of this band changes the whole shape of the songs, and though I was never a fan of his, I will admit Di'Anno does a great job throughout this album. His growling, snarling vocal is just the right side of menace that a song like this, and indeed those that follow, requires. It trundles along nicely, not breakneck speed or anything like it, but then Maiden would never really go down the speed metal route, and while they undeniably wrote fast songs, it was never the most important thing to them.

Dipping into Harris's love of literature and horror, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, and starts off with a deceptively gentle guitar intro, that slowly turns up to become something of an introductory solo before the whole thing takes off, and this time speed is the thing. The closest to the punk immediacy of the debut, it's a machine-gun fast vocal delivery from Di'Anno, with to his credit completely understandable lyric, while Clive Burr bashes out the drums with manic fury. The partnership between Dave Murray and the new guy really starts to shine here, as they trade licks on the solo, a sound that would become ingrained in Iron Maiden lore and make of both of them legends on the scene.

For a four-minute song it goes by pretty quickly, possibly due to the punkish style of the vocal, and we're into a full-on fretfest to mark the opening of the considerably slower "Another Life" with a kind of almost echoing vocal from Paul. This has never been one of my favourite tracks on the album, though I love Killers and there's really nothing on the album I don't like. There are no weak tracks, but if there are some less strong and powerful than others, I'd put "Another Life" in that category. Great build-up guitar work halfway through as the song really speeds up and then kicking into a searing solo to take it to the final verse and a big screaming guitar ending into the second instrumental. "Genghis Khan" has a sense of, not really that surprisingly, military march in its beat, and of course it's a real chance for Adrian Smith and Dave Murray to show off their guitar chops and further cement the partnership between them that would only be to Maiden's advantage as they went on to take on the world a year later.

Of course, we should not forget Steve, who works his bass like it's an actual six-stringed guitar, and makes it do things perhaps only Phil Lynott or Gene Simmons could do. And the whole thing is as ever driven by the steady, no-nonsense drumming of Clive Burr. Another big guitar opening with Harris massaging his bass like a lover to kick off "Innocent Exile", which runs along with a kind of strut/boogie sound, but again it's one of those tracks I'm not overly fond of. With a title like Killers it'll come as no surprise that many of the songs concern murder and killing, and this is no exception, with a great Texas boogie style guitar break and some fine riffing from the boys. Di'Anno gets to do his thing too, with a big, tonsil-searing scream to end the song.

The title track is up next, and it's certainly one of my favourite tracks on the album, and in my top ten favourite Maiden songs. The only one co-written with anyone, Harris is helped out by Di'Anno on this. His urgent bass accompanies shouting and yelling from his co-writer, who then drops about an octave to a menacing, guttural snarl as the vocal proper begins. With screeching, scratching guitar painting the backdrop, Di'Anno warns of a madman on the loose who will kill without mercy - "A footstep behind you/ He lunges, prepared for attack!" The drumbeat from Burr helps make this song into a classic, trundling along at just the right speed, like a frightened heartbeat, but to be fair it's really Di'Anno who takes the prize, his persona of the mad killer - of course it turns out he's talking about himself in the song: "He walks in the subway/ My eyes burn a hole in your back" - perhaps meant to be schizophrenic or maybe a Jeckyll and Hyde deal, I don't know. It's a powerful song, and certainly deserves to be the title track.

"Killers" is a relatively fast song, thundering along like the retreating, desperate footsteps of the quarry who tries to get away, and in some ways can be seen as a sequel to the title of the debut, but what follows is pure ballad, and a rarity at that. There aren't many Iron Maiden ballads, and after "Strange World" on the debut and this, there won't be another really until "Journeyman", over twenty years later. It's always nice to see how a metal band cope with a ballad, and I'm glad to see they didn't go down the acoustic route, with Smith and Murray showing they can tone it back as easily as they rock it out, and providing a very calming but still heavy backdrop to a really superb vocal from Di'Anno, who really shines on this song.

Fantastic laidback solo on the halfway point, and I think both of the guys take half of it, and really, from the title track to the end there isn't anything to complain about. Like many albums, this has its cutoff point but perhaps uniquely or certainly unusually, it's only in the second half that the album, for me, really gets going and the boys show what they're capable of. "Purgatory" is another rip-roaring rocker, kicking everything back up to ten as the guys head towards the big finish, Clive Burr putting in a fine performance that must have wrecked his arms, and another rapid-fire vocal from Di'Anno with I guess an unintentional message in the lyric as he sings "Please take me away/ So far away!"

And that would have been a decent closer, but Maiden aren't happy with that, so they pull out all the stops and bring the curtain down with a roar of flame and a cloud of smoke as "Drifter" punches its way in, rolling, whining guitars setting up the soundscape as Paul yells "Rock and roll! Yeah!" and the album finishes on a high, the energy practically leaking out of the grooves (you'll forgive an old guy: I bought this on vinyl, remember) and a super hook - "Gonna sing my song/ And it can't go wrong!" It certainly could not. Sweet little slick solo from one or other of the guys slows the song slightly down before on a mounting scale it rises back up to the speed of the opening, Burr helping usher back in the proper tempo as Di'Anno stands side by side with Harris, Smith and Murray as they go for it, squeezing out every inch of passion and fervour till the song finally end on a high, screeched vocal from Di'Anno, and you feel drained as the last notes fade away. Now that's how to end an album!

TRACK LISTING

1. The Ides of March
2. Wrathchild
3. Murders in the Rue Morgue
4. Another Life
5. Genghis Khan
6. Innocent Exile
7. Killers
8. Prodigal Son
9. Purgatory
10. Drifter

Now, before anyone cracks their fingers before the keyboard in preparation for the comment, let me just point out again that I bought this on vinyl and at the time that was the track listing. I know that "Twilight Zone" was added to later releases, but to me it was and never will be part of the album. I heard it in a twelve-inch single B-side, and that's how I know it. How it fits into the flow of the album for other people I don't know, but I'm intimately acquainted with this album and I know how I expect it to go, and for me there's no room for "Twilight Zone", so sue me.

You can see from the talent evident on this album that this was not a band who were going to fade away. Okay, there are no really commercial songs on Killers, no hit singles and I suppose the mostly darker nature of much of the songwriting would have precluded it from doing well in the charts or on radio. But there was no doubt, I expect, listening to that album in 1981 - unlike me, who heard it afterwards - that something great, immense, powerful and altogether unstoppable was coming. This was a monster being born, a wonderful, terrifying, awe-inspiring monster, and to quote WB Yeats, it was beginning to slouch towards Bethlehem to be born.

A year later, its birth cries would ring out across the country, and then the world, and indeed, a terrible, incredible and legendary beauty would be born. And the world would never again be quite the same.

Trollheart · 01-09-2021, 05:09 AM

Track title: “Wildest Dreams”
Album: Dance of Death
Year: 2003
Written by: Adrian Smith/Steve Harris
Subject: ?
Type: Fast rocker
Length: 3:52
Familiar? Not at all
Rating: 8.5/10

Opening track from the second album to feature the return of Bruce, on which Iron Maiden continued their move away from straight-forward metal and into the progressive side of things. I'm not at all familiar with this album, so this doesn't jog any memories, but I do hear the ghost of the Bayley years with Steve Harris throwing in the keyboard flourishes at the start. Basically though, as you'd expect, it's guitar-driven, a short song, almost a return to the gritty but polished metal of the albums from the eighties, and damn does it rock! It also has a hook, as already mentioned, one of the things I can level as missing from later Maiden music, though in fairness not all of the Bayley material.

I will say that, having heard this, I'm not against trying the album out again. Maybe I didn't give it a decent chance the first time. Or maybe not.

Trollheart · 01-09-2021, 05:12 AM

Track title: The Assassin
Album: No Prayer For the Dying
Year: 1990
Written by: Steve Harris
Subject: Um, an assassin?
Type: Fast rocker
Length: 4:16
Familiar? Not much no
Rating: 8.2/10

Sometimes Steve Harris writes great songs solo but occasionally he needs help. This is another of those many, many Maiden songs which suffer from having the definite article put in front of the title - seriously! See how many you can count over the discography. It's got a great ringing guitar with a real sense of urgency, perhaps even panic in the melody, maybe harking back to 1981's "Killers" or maybe even "Gangland" from The Number of the Beast. Bruce's voice is harsh and guttural as he warns "I'm coming after you!" I could probably do without the group vocals on the chorus though: I keep expecting them to sing, better not cry, better not pout, I'm telling you why!

Great powerful guitar work and a fine solo, and a good old abrupt ending with a snarling Dickinson laugh which is almost, though not quite, as chilling as Di'Anno's on "Killers". Another relatively short song; you won't get bored listening to this one. The only movement on this is fast and forward, but of course there's no escape! Lord but that chorus lets it down so badly!

Trollheart · 01-09-2021, 05:15 AM

Track title: To Tame a Land
Album: Piece of Mind
Year: 1983
Written by: Steve Harris
Subject: Frank Herbert's Dune series
Type: Slow to mid-paced rocker
Length: 7:26
Familiar? Very
Rating: 9.4/10

You would have thought Frank Herbert would have been honoured to be asked by Maiden if they could use the title of his novels in their new song, but no: the old bastard refused. Sod him and his series anyway, never liked it. Harris was then forced to retitle the song, though its lyric talks all about the details in the science fiction epic series, using names and places in the books, so I'm not sure why grumpy Herbert didn't sue anyway. Well let him sulk. This track closes out Maiden's second chart-busting album and pushed them higher into the realms of superstardom with tracks like "Flight of Icarus" and "The Trooper", and at the time was their longest song, beating out by twenty seconds the closer on the previous album The Number of the Beast, "Hallowed Be Thy Name."

It has a very Egyptian-ish opening and then kicks into high gear with chunky guitars and some sort of effect that makes it sound like someone is breathing very heavily or activating a set of bellows. The song then goes on to recount the story of Dune, I guess, and features of course a fine solo from Dave and Adrian (can it be a solo if two are playing? Well in Maiden it is; you really can't call it anything else can you? Guitar duet just doesn't sound right) and a powerful vocal performance from Bruce in full flight. The Egyptian riff runs through the song, maintaining the sort of desert feel as it goes along.

It's as worthy a song to finish on as the aforementioned "Hallowed Be Thy Name", though that will always be my favourite Maiden song ever. This comes quite close though.

Trollheart · 05-01-2021, 09:48 AM

COMING SOON!

Click the link to get started!

01-08-2021, 07:17 PM	#91 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Let's get this going again Track title: “Judas Be My Guide” Album: Fear of the Dark Year: 1992 Written by: Bruce Dickinson/Dave Murray Subject: ? Type: Fast rocker Length: 3:06 Familiar? Very Rating: 9.5/10 This is more like it! Almost the penultimate track on the last album Bruce cut before heading off solo for ten years, and the last (in terms of track listing) he had any input into writing. It stands, for me anyway, head and shoulders above what has to be admitted as fairly average fare on Fear of the Dark, showing clear evidence of the rot that had begun to set in around the time of No Prayer For the Dying. The band were running out of ideas, rehashing old songs and generally running hard and fast but mostly getting nowhere, like a hamster in a wheel. One of the few shining stars on the last Bruce-helmed album before the new millennium, "Judas Be My Guide" gets you right away with its soaraway solo, following as it does the lacklustre "Fugitive", "Chains of Misery" (was ever a title more prophetic?) and "The Apparition". Sadly it's followed by the piss-poor motorbike song "Weekend Warrior" (no "Wheels of Steel" or "Born to be Wild", I can tell you!) but for a brief moment there, with the title track to finish the album in fine style, you can forget how bad most of it is. Perhaps it proves that shorter songs were still the best way to go for Maiden. Bruce's voice is certainly on form here, and the boys lash out the riffs like there's no tomorrow. It also features, unlike most of the other tracks on the album (and the previous one too) a recognisable hook. You have to wonder if Bruce's angry, acerbic delivery is a statement on his disillusionment with the band? Maybe not. Great song though. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-08-2021, 07:58 PM	#92 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Killers - 1981 (EMI) Now this was an album sleeve that scared me when I was younger. Well it would, wouldn't it? Look at the snarly face of Eddie on the cover, bloody axe in his hand, no sign of remorse, pity or even motive on his skeletal face, the despairing hands of his victim gripping his shirt as their owner slides to the ground in a pool of blood. If you want a nightmare that evokes the worst fears of walking home alone through a bad neighbourhood at night, this comes pretty darn close. But looking at the sleeve, I'd always imagined the music within to be equally scary, raw, evil even. I had at the time no idea who or what Iron Maiden were, to the extent (don't laugh) that I thought Eddie was called "the iron maiden" - yeah, I thought he was a bird. Well, he has long hair hasn't he, and I'm sure we've all dated worse. No? Just me then. Anyhow, after the revelation that was The Number of the Beast I immediately began to backtrack and of course this being the album prior to that chartbusting success it was the first one I lighted on. Truth to tell, there were only two, as I bought NOTB when it came out, so had only the two prior albums to sink my suddenly hungry teeth into. I did of course buy the debut, and as mentioned elsewhere I have already reviewed that, but compared to Killers it's a big disappointment. Killers was I think where Maiden began to grow up and mature as a band, the first signs of what they could be evident in some of the songs here, and whereas Iron Maiden had been a raw, primordial but somewhat confused debut, their second outing showed them coming out of the traps guns blazing, with much tighter songwriting, a clear image and of course, far better production, this being the first album that the legendary Martin Birch worked on with them. It's also the first time we hear Adrian Smith , as he had not been there for the debut, and the album is written almost exclusively solo by Steve Harris, Paul Di'Anno only contributing to the writing of the title track. And of course, as all Maiden fans know, speaking of Di'Anno, this would be the last album to feature him as vocalist. After Killers, arguments over substance abuse would lead to his being asked to leave the band, to be replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who would take the band to the top of the world, where they remain to this day, one of the most loved and respected, and successful, Heavy Metal bands on the planet. Maiden have never been ones for instrumentals, so it's perhaps odd that this album features not one but two, the opener being the first, as "The Ides of March" sets the scene for the first real track, "Wrathchild", which had appeared on various EPs and demos as well as metal compilation albums such as Metal for Muthas. Steve Harris's iconic basswork opens the track then the twin guitar attack that was to go on to become the trademark of this band changes the whole shape of the songs, and though I was never a fan of his, I will admit Di'Anno does a great job throughout this album. His growling, snarling vocal is just the right side of menace that a song like this, and indeed those that follow, requires. It trundles along nicely, not breakneck speed or anything like it, but then Maiden would never really go down the speed metal route, and while they undeniably wrote fast songs, it was never the most important thing to them. Dipping into Harris's love of literature and horror, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, and starts off with a deceptively gentle guitar intro, that slowly turns up to become something of an introductory solo before the whole thing takes off, and this time speed is the thing. The closest to the punk immediacy of the debut, it's a machine-gun fast vocal delivery from Di'Anno, with to his credit completely understandable lyric, while Clive Burr bashes out the drums with manic fury. The partnership between Dave Murray and the new guy really starts to shine here, as they trade licks on the solo, a sound that would become ingrained in Iron Maiden lore and make of both of them legends on the scene. For a four-minute song it goes by pretty quickly, possibly due to the punkish style of the vocal, and we're into a full-on fretfest to mark the opening of the considerably slower "Another Life" with a kind of almost echoing vocal from Paul. This has never been one of my favourite tracks on the album, though I love Killers and there's really nothing on the album I don't like. There are no weak tracks, but if there are some less strong and powerful than others, I'd put "Another Life" in that category. Great build-up guitar work halfway through as the song really speeds up and then kicking into a searing solo to take it to the final verse and a big screaming guitar ending into the second instrumental. "Genghis Khan" has a sense of, not really that surprisingly, military march in its beat, and of course it's a real chance for Adrian Smith and Dave Murray to show off their guitar chops and further cement the partnership between them that would only be to Maiden's advantage as they went on to take on the world a year later. Of course, we should not forget Steve, who works his bass like it's an actual six-stringed guitar, and makes it do things perhaps only Phil Lynott or Gene Simmons could do. And the whole thing is as ever driven by the steady, no-nonsense drumming of Clive Burr. Another big guitar opening with Harris massaging his bass like a lover to kick off "Innocent Exile", which runs along with a kind of strut/boogie sound, but again it's one of those tracks I'm not overly fond of. With a title like Killers it'll come as no surprise that many of the songs concern murder and killing, and this is no exception, with a great Texas boogie style guitar break and some fine riffing from the boys. Di'Anno gets to do his thing too, with a big, tonsil-searing scream to end the song. The title track is up next, and it's certainly one of my favourite tracks on the album, and in my top ten favourite Maiden songs. The only one co-written with anyone, Harris is helped out by Di'Anno on this. His urgent bass accompanies shouting and yelling from his co-writer, who then drops about an octave to a menacing, guttural snarl as the vocal proper begins. With screeching, scratching guitar painting the backdrop, Di'Anno warns of a madman on the loose who will kill without mercy - "A footstep behind you/ He lunges, prepared for attack!" The drumbeat from Burr helps make this song into a classic, trundling along at just the right speed, like a frightened heartbeat, but to be fair it's really Di'Anno who takes the prize, his persona of the mad killer - of course it turns out he's talking about himself in the song: "He walks in the subway/ My eyes burn a hole in your back" - perhaps meant to be schizophrenic or maybe a Jeckyll and Hyde deal, I don't know. It's a powerful song, and certainly deserves to be the title track. "Killers" is a relatively fast song, thundering along like the retreating, desperate footsteps of the quarry who tries to get away, and in some ways can be seen as a sequel to the title of the debut, but what follows is pure ballad, and a rarity at that. There aren't many Iron Maiden ballads, and after "Strange World" on the debut and this, there won't be another really until "Journeyman", over twenty years later. It's always nice to see how a metal band cope with a ballad, and I'm glad to see they didn't go down the acoustic route, with Smith and Murray showing they can tone it back as easily as they rock it out, and providing a very calming but still heavy backdrop to a really superb vocal from Di'Anno, who really shines on this song. Fantastic laidback solo on the halfway point, and I think both of the guys take half of it, and really, from the title track to the end there isn't anything to complain about. Like many albums, this has its cutoff point but perhaps uniquely or certainly unusually, it's only in the second half that the album, for me, really gets going and the boys show what they're capable of. "Purgatory" is another rip-roaring rocker, kicking everything back up to ten as the guys head towards the big finish, Clive Burr putting in a fine performance that must have wrecked his arms, and another rapid-fire vocal from Di'Anno with I guess an unintentional message in the lyric as he sings "Please take me away/ So far away!" And that would have been a decent closer, but Maiden aren't happy with that, so they pull out all the stops and bring the curtain down with a roar of flame and a cloud of smoke as "Drifter" punches its way in, rolling, whining guitars setting up the soundscape as Paul yells "Rock and roll! Yeah!" and the album finishes on a high, the energy practically leaking out of the grooves (you'll forgive an old guy: I bought this on vinyl, remember) and a super hook - "Gonna sing my song/ And it can't go wrong!" It certainly could not. Sweet little slick solo from one or other of the guys slows the song slightly down before on a mounting scale it rises back up to the speed of the opening, Burr helping usher back in the proper tempo as Di'Anno stands side by side with Harris, Smith and Murray as they go for it, squeezing out every inch of passion and fervour till the song finally end on a high, screeched vocal from Di'Anno, and you feel drained as the last notes fade away. Now that's how to end an album! TRACK LISTING 1. The Ides of March 2. Wrathchild 3. Murders in the Rue Morgue 4. Another Life 5. Genghis Khan 6. Innocent Exile 7. Killers 8. Prodigal Son 9. Purgatory 10. Drifter Now, before anyone cracks their fingers before the keyboard in preparation for the comment, let me just point out again that I bought this on vinyl and at the time that was the track listing. I know that "Twilight Zone" was added to later releases, but to me it was and never will be part of the album. I heard it in a twelve-inch single B-side, and that's how I know it. How it fits into the flow of the album for other people I don't know, but I'm intimately acquainted with this album and I know how I expect it to go, and for me there's no room for "Twilight Zone", so sue me. You can see from the talent evident on this album that this was not a band who were going to fade away. Okay, there are no really commercial songs on Killers, no hit singles and I suppose the mostly darker nature of much of the songwriting would have precluded it from doing well in the charts or on radio. But there was no doubt, I expect, listening to that album in 1981 - unlike me, who heard it afterwards - that something great, immense, powerful and altogether unstoppable was coming. This was a monster being born, a wonderful, terrifying, awe-inspiring monster, and to quote WB Yeats, it was beginning to slouch towards Bethlehem to be born. A year later, its birth cries would ring out across the country, and then the world, and indeed, a terrible, incredible and legendary beauty would be born. And the world would never again be quite the same. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-09-2021, 05:09 AM	#93 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Track title: “Wildest Dreams” Album: Dance of Death Year: 2003 Written by: Adrian Smith/Steve Harris Subject: ? Type: Fast rocker Length: 3:52 Familiar? Not at all Rating: 8.5/10 Opening track from the second album to feature the return of Bruce, on which Iron Maiden continued their move away from straight-forward metal and into the progressive side of things. I'm not at all familiar with this album, so this doesn't jog any memories, but I do hear the ghost of the Bayley years with Steve Harris throwing in the keyboard flourishes at the start. Basically though, as you'd expect, it's guitar-driven, a short song, almost a return to the gritty but polished metal of the albums from the eighties, and damn does it rock! It also has a hook, as already mentioned, one of the things I can level as missing from later Maiden music, though in fairness not all of the Bayley material. I will say that, having heard this, I'm not against trying the album out again. Maybe I didn't give it a decent chance the first time. Or maybe not. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-09-2021, 05:12 AM	#94 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Track title: The Assassin Album: No Prayer For the Dying Year: 1990 Written by: Steve Harris Subject: Um, an assassin? Type: Fast rocker Length: 4:16 Familiar? Not much no Rating: 8.2/10 Sometimes Steve Harris writes great songs solo but occasionally he needs help. This is another of those many, many Maiden songs which suffer from having the definite article put in front of the title - seriously! See how many you can count over the discography. It's got a great ringing guitar with a real sense of urgency, perhaps even panic in the melody, maybe harking back to 1981's "Killers" or maybe even "Gangland" from The Number of the Beast. Bruce's voice is harsh and guttural as he warns "I'm coming after you!" I could probably do without the group vocals on the chorus though: I keep expecting them to sing, better not cry, better not pout, I'm telling you why! Great powerful guitar work and a fine solo, and a good old abrupt ending with a snarling Dickinson laugh which is almost, though not quite, as chilling as Di'Anno's on "Killers". Another relatively short song; you won't get bored listening to this one. The only movement on this is fast and forward, but of course there's no escape! Lord but that chorus lets it down so badly! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-09-2021, 05:15 AM	#95 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Track title: To Tame a Land Album: Piece of Mind Year: 1983 Written by: Steve Harris Subject: Frank Herbert's Dune series Type: Slow to mid-paced rocker Length: 7:26 Familiar? Very Rating: 9.4/10 You would have thought Frank Herbert would have been honoured to be asked by Maiden if they could use the title of his novels in their new song, but no: the old bastard refused. Sod him and his series anyway, never liked it. Harris was then forced to retitle the song, though its lyric talks all about the details in the science fiction epic series, using names and places in the books, so I'm not sure why grumpy Herbert didn't sue anyway. Well let him sulk. This track closes out Maiden's second chart-busting album and pushed them higher into the realms of superstardom with tracks like "Flight of Icarus" and "The Trooper", and at the time was their longest song, beating out by twenty seconds the closer on the previous album The Number of the Beast, "Hallowed Be Thy Name." It has a very Egyptian-ish opening and then kicks into high gear with chunky guitars and some sort of effect that makes it sound like someone is breathing very heavily or activating a set of bellows. The song then goes on to recount the story of Dune, I guess, and features of course a fine solo from Dave and Adrian (can it be a solo if two are playing? Well in Maiden it is; you really can't call it anything else can you? Guitar duet just doesn't sound right) and a powerful vocal performance from Bruce in full flight. The Egyptian riff runs through the song, maintaining the sort of desert feel as it goes along. It's as worthy a song to finish on as the aforementioned "Hallowed Be Thy Name", though that will always be my favourite Maiden song ever. This comes quite close though. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

05-01-2021, 09:48 AM	#96 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	COMING SOON! Click the link to get started! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 05-02-2021 at 05:16 AM.