Once again, here's myself and my friend Marshall listening through the Maiden catalog. Let's wrap up the Bruce years, mk-1. Parts 1 and 2 here and here. Let's pick up where we left off with:
 |
| (1988) |
Moonchild
Bryan: 3.75/5 Like 'Caught Somewhere in Time' it announces the new project with appropriate gusto. Welcome to the show. Unlike that one I think it works a little less once disconnected from the album as a whole. But a lot of people feel the exact opposite of this. I can remember this both as a frequently played single on the jukebox at a local pizzeria in high school as well as a local pub here in Chicago in the internet-jukebox era. The lyrics seem poorly suited to such portability. And yet: the evidence has been around me for decades that this is not the case.
Marshall: 4/5 This is such a cool song. Very different intro than they've ever done before, with the acoustic guitar, and the "seven deadly sins" bit. Then, whoa!, those synths.
Bryan: 5/5 Some of my favorite Steve Harris bass-playing in this song. One of my faves. Lovely structure.
Marshall: 5/5 The best song on the album. I love how it builds into "someone chasing, I cannot move." Then it changes again. I absolutely love the changes in this song, and how it keeps building in new directions.
Bryan: Exactly. The intro and first chorus and bridge, you’d think, oh, okay, that’s good enough. But there are like four more parts to the song, and each one works so well together. One of their best.
Can I Play with Madness
Marshall: 4/5 One of the best choruses of their career. Right up there with "Run to the Hills". This song really brings back memories of Headbanger's Ball!
Bryan: 2.75/ 5 I could even be talked into a 2. Then again, I could be talked into a 3.5 It's one of those type of songs to me. Even back in the day I wasn’t particularly excited by this one. This next single from the album, though:
The Evil That Men Do
Bryan: 5/5 …I absolutely love. I tried to talk myself out of a 5 for this song, but I really can't, it's just a perfect song. I remember how much MTV played the crap out of this video. That has nothing to do with why I love it, just a memory. "Love is a razor, and I've walked the line of that silver blade" has stuck with me over the years.
Bryan: That is a funny mis-hear. Bruce really emphasizes each syllable, so your ear had to really work for that one to keep up the deception all these years. I have similar stubborn mishears, with Maiden and many others.
Side Two:
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Bryan: 3.75/5 This was probably my favorite Maiden song from when it came out until I caught up with the band in 2000. The whole album felt to my 14 year old self like everything they'd been working towards for years and this song, specifically, the pinnacle of their achievement. I've cooled on it considerably since those days. It’s like a false peak in the Presidentials, if there are any White Mountains hikers out there: still awesome but its height is deceptive from the ground. Some fantastic atmosphere, especially the middle part. I can do without the Bruce incantation these days, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. The funny thing about this whole project is that although it ostensibly tells a story as a concept album there's no actual story, it's just a lot of prophecy and introspection. Navel-gazing, really, but in a totally metal way.
Marshall: 3/5 The best part of this song is when Bruce holds the "ohhhh." I also like the stop in the middle, and the guitar solos that follow. Reminds me of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" but not as good. There's a part where he sings "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" sixteen times in a row that is another sign of Harris' laziness.
The Prophecy
Bryan: 4/5 Love that ending bit. Very pretty little tune.
Marshall: 3/5 The best part of this song is how it starts and how it ends. So beautiful. I also like all the different directions this song goes during the solos.
The Clairvoyant
Bryan: 4.3/5 Another one I remember seeing on MTV a lot. The lyrics are all kind of that fake-sounding-wisdom/ fake-epic that was so widely copied, often imitated, seldom improved. Guaranteed to make 14 year olds think they've heard something incredibly profound. (And they weren't wrong)
Marshall: 4/5 One of the better songs on the album. The guitar riff and the chorus are both excellent. When I was first discovering Maiden, I thought this song was called "Live After Death" because I'd seen that album cover, and because of the chorus of this song. I got the album Live After Death and was very confused that it not only was a live album, but that it didn't include the song "Live After Death!"
Only the Good Die Young
Bryan: 4.15/5 Awesome chorus to finish the album. The rest of the song is good, but the chorus is great.
Marshall: 3/5 Every time I hear this song I'm reminded of a conversation I had on my computer bulletin board system (BBS). I wrote some of the lyrics for this song that I thought was funny: "The demon in your mind will rape you in your bed at night." The other kid replied, "is it a girl demon?"
Bryan: Oh dear. And yet: I know this kid. I have met this kid, at every Maiden concert, at every tabletop event, throughout my life.
Final Thoughts:
Marshall: Total 29 Average 3.6 A concept album! A first and a last. One of their best. It's all downhill from here, kids.
Bryan : Total 32.95 Average 4.15 I don't know - they've still got Brave New World to come. All in all, how Bruce felt about Somewhere in Time is kind of how I feel about this one. (Actually, I agree with how he feels about this one, too I guess. From the wiki: "it was only half a concept album. There was no attempt to see it all the way through, like we really should have done. (It) has no story. It's about good and evil, heaven and hell, but isn't every Iron Maiden record?" That's funny, too, because Harris was allegedly inspired by an actual story, Orson Scott Card's Seventh Son. I'm always impressed with how Harris can adapt so many things without inspiring in the mind of the listener anything resembling the source matieral.) I say that despite it having two of my favorite Maiden tunes.
 |
| (1990) |
Side One:
Tailgunner
Marshall: 4/5 I love the energy of this song.
Bryan: 2.25/5 Parts of it are good. The chorus is awful.
Holy Smoke
Bryan: 2.75/5 Kind of a cool chorus, has some energy, but not so great for me overall.
Marshall: 3/5 This song is all about the lyrics. Some of them are bizarre, some funny, but it's very clever. This was the first song I heard from this album. It was in a music class in high school, a girl played the video for this song for the class. I was like, "WTF? That is not the Maiden I know and love. It's okay song, but it's not pure genius like I expect from Maiden." The song, and the album, has grown on me a bit since then. But I'll never get over that feeling of disappointment.
No Prayer for the Dying
Bryan: 1.5/5 Something starts to get going here and there (like around the two minute mark and that little fast break) but pretty disappointing, especially as a title track.
Marshall: 4/5 My favorite song on the album. I love how this song begins. There's a really good guitar riff like I know and love about Maiden. It was at this point in the album when started hoping it was starting to improve. Sadly, it was also the time when I realized Dickinson was going to insist on having a gravelly voice for the entire album, even the beautiful singing parts.
Bryan: His voice definitely is out of whack this album.
Public Enema Number One
Bryan: 2/5 The title’s kinda lame for Maiden. Not a fave for me musically either.
Marshall: 4/5 For me, right up there with "No Prayer". I like the chorus and guitar solo.
Fates Warning
Marshall: 3/5 This song has such a cool intro. Classic Maiden sound, there. The rest of the song is pretty good, but the album does start going downhill at this point.
Bryan: 2/5 You like this one (all these, actually) a lot more than me. For me this is the first boring side of music in IM’s history.
Marshall: More of this “sides” talk!
Side Two:
The Assassin
Bryan: 3/5 Everything pre-chorus is great; I like the verses a lot. But that chorus/ "better watch out"s are lame. This is the sort of thing that would be cool to discover as an unreleased track on the box set or something. Not as the side B opener. If that's indeed what this is in this strange sides-less era.
Marshall: 1/5 I agree that this isn't bad until the chorus. But that chorus is horrendous. It was at this point in listening to this album for the first time that I said, "OH NO." The Maiden I knew and loved was gone for good, right after I discovered them!
Run Silent Run Deep
Bryan: 2/5 I was excited to revisit this because I have read the book and seen the movie since my last spin of this record. But not only does it (like most of their novel/movie tie-in songs) bear only the vaguest resemblance to either, it's boringly written to boot.
Marshall: 3/5 I like how he sings this song, and I like the chorus. The instrumentation is pretty bland. There is a cool riff at the end of the solo, but they don't build on it like they used to.
Hooks In You
Marshall: 2/5 Filler
Bryan: 1/5 This is, for anyone playing along at home, the sort of thing I reserve a 1-out-of-5-star rating for.
Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter
Bryan: 2.5/5 The title is a 5 star for sure; the rest, meh.
Marshall: 2/5 The chorus of this song is nerve wracking, but it's not bad otherwise.
Mother Russia
Bryan: 2.5/5 Some of the instrumental sections are wonderful - they feel helicoptered in from another album, almost, to help this one out. The riff/verses are clunky.
Marshall: 3/5 This felt like Harris' attempt at another epic album ender. It was good, but it does feel recycled.
Final Thoughts
Marshall: Total 29 Average 2.9 This was a serious disappointment when I first heard it, because I was expecting a sequel to Seventh Son, and this was all I got? I had a bad feeling the band was not headed in a good direction and I was right. Still, I rated these songs much higher than I used to because they grew on me a bit.
Bryan: Total 21.5 Avg 2.15 My least favorite Maiden up to this point.
And finally, the last of Bruce's first tenure with the band:
 |
| (1992) |
 |
| I just realized I didn't have a picture of the back cover in my Dog Star Omnibus folder. Here's one of my Fear of the Dark pillow, though, under a black light. |
I think starting here I'll dispense with mentioning side one or side two. By 1992 CDs were well-established, and the days of designing your albums to fit on either side of vinyl were done.
Be Quick or Be Dead
Marshall: 4/5 Say what you will about this era of Maiden, but they could still bring the energy! I love the way this song, and this album, opens.
Bryan: 3/5 Good album opener, but kinda standard, right? Still, nothing objectionable - perfectly respectable Maiden here, even if Bruce is dubiously advising all youth to “pull themselves stupid”. But hey, maybe someone needed to hear it.
Marshall: Is that a euphemism for masturbation that all the kids are using these days?
Bryan: Who's using it I'm not sure, but it was indeed at least at the time of this album a UK euphemism for masturbation. In case it ever comes up as a crossword clue.
From Hell to Eternity
Marshall: 3/5 I have good memories of hearing this song on the radio and feeling excited to buy the new Maiden album.
Bryan: 2.5/5 I mean, this is an LA Guns tune. And nothing wrong with that, it's a sensible place for Maiden or anyone to have positioned themselves in 1992. At least at this month on the calendar in '92; the era of metal ruling the charts was drawing to a close. This song shows they can pull this kind of AOR-friendly song off, but I'm not sure it was their strongest foot forward.
Afraid to Shoot Strangers
Bryan: 2.75/5 I remembered this as a little better than it is. They're trying a few different things on this record, but I'm not sure they're good things. Album to album, at feels more alive than No Prayer for the Dying, but still nothing's blowing me away. I like everything going on in the chorus, both times it comes around. You can hear the direction Steve Harris would be heading with X Factor and beyond.
Marshall: 4/5 I love how this song builds. I love the guitar melodies on this song. I always thought it was cool how much more melodic the guitar is than the vocals. I'd missed hearing a good anti-war Maiden song. One of my favorite songs on the album.
Fear is the Key
Bryan: 2.5 I like aspects of this one, but I'm pretty sure someone is ripping off Queensryche in a couple spots. Probably not on purpose just as a consequence of arrangement and chords. The "lies and lies and lies" part reminds me: Bruce only did this record if they allowed him to do non-traditional-Maiden-type songs. So that explains some things - not only does it sound more energized because Bruce is more engaged, it sounds somewhat un-Maiden-y here and there because Bruce is more engaged.
Marshall: 2/5 It’s okay. Filler.
Childhood’s End
Bryan: 2.25/5 This seems like it should be on X-Factor.
Marshall: 2/5 Whoa! I never noticed that! This sounds EXACTLY like The X Factor. And here I was, thinking The X Factor was a complete departure for Maiden.
Bryan: Also, I can't figure out why they named the song "Childhood's End" if it has nothing to do with the book. Isn't the book of sufficient gravity to own that title? Apparently not.
Marshall: 4/5 First time I've heard a Maiden ballad since Strange World! This is really good. Good instrumentation, good melodies, good chorus.
Bryan: 2.25/5 It seems like it's a personal thing to both Bruce and Jannick and I feel bad not really loving it. Nice guitar-work, just not one I ever seek out when I feel like listening to Maiden.
The Fugitive
Marshall: 2/5 Didn't I hear this song before? Oh, that was called "The Assassin". I'm already starting to get tired of their new habit of naming half their songs "The ____'. Anyway, more filler.
Bryan: 1.5/5 I'm not sure if it's referencing the movie (out in theaters in 1993, I guess, so still a year away), or the TV show, or just the concept. If it's Richard Kimball, this is a typically imprecise way of describing the events of either. It has some little musical pockets I like.
Chains of Misery
Bryan: 1/5 There are just too damn many songs on this album. I mean, I don't hate it, but it's slight.
Marshall: 1/5 If I hear "he's got your chains of misery" one more time, I'm going to scream. Filler.
The Apparition
Bryan: 2/5 I wonder if the idea with this song and the last one is A Christmas Carol. Marley's chains that he wore in death were forged in life, and there was that great scene in the old Albert Finney version where Alec Guinness (Marley) leads Scrooge to the room where they wrap the chains around his ghost. Apparitions/ chains/ misery - I doubt it, just think-typing out loud. The solos on this one are great, but mostly, seems rather unfocused and the lyrics are crammed in (and kind of silly). They are funny, though.
Marshall: 1/5 Filler.
Judas Be My Guide
Marshall: 2/5 More filler!
Bryan: 2.25/5 The chorus is kind of fun and there's some energy here and there.
Weekend Warrior
Marshall: 1/5 Ahfdidj1lkkj!!! FILLER!!!!
Bryan: 1.5/5 I don't think "That's Entertainment" by the Jam is any danger of being knocked off its perch as the definitive statement in song about football hooliganism. This reminds me a bit of the Beach Boys' "Student Demonstration Time."
Bryan: 4.25/5 And then, out of nowhere, there's this, which sounds like it landed from some whole other planet, fully formed, wham. Classic Maiden song.
Marshall: 4/5 Another epic Harris album finisher! This was a serious step up from "Mother Russia", and a serious step down from "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."
Final Thoughts:
Bryan: Total 27.75 (Avg. 2.31) I like it slightly better than No Prayer, but outside the last track there’s nothing here to make any of my Maiden mixes over the years.
Marshall: Total 30 (Avg 3.5) I don't know why everyone says this was such an improvement over No Prayer. Yes, the good songs on this are better than the good songs on that, but this album has more filler. It feels like they only had half an album worth of good material, so the scraped the bottom of the barrel for the rest. Harris' newfound penchant for repeating a phrase (usually the song title) is really on display on this album, ready to come to full fruition on Virtual XI.
~
We'll be back next time with The Blaze Years and then the final post in this series, the Bruce Years, pt. 3. Before we go, two things: (1) The rankings thus far (by Avg):
Bryan:
Marshall:
and (2) I hope to have the next post up by Halloween but in case I do not: Happy Halloween!
 |
| My old bedroom, October 1988 |
It's been really intersting to see your thoughts on these albums (the whole series). Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSeventh Son of a Seventh Son - This truly is a huge album, and I still enjoy listening to it. Seems to stand the test of time. Infinite Dreams has always been the standout but I find Moonchild annoying.
No Prayer for the Dying - I think I memory-holed this. Of course I remember it existed but before reading your post, I could only name two songs - tailgunner & daughter/slaughter - which, let's be honest are just average. Such a disappointment. Has a band ever dropped so far between albums?
Fear of the Dark - I would say that there are 5 strong & memorable songs and then 5 absolutely forgettable ones, which for Iron Maiden post 1988 is perhaps considered a success. Fear of the Dark and Afraid to shoot strangers are by far the strongest, and are continuing favorites of mine.
I hear you on "No Prayer." When that one came out, I was just starting to widen my musical eye a little and listening to more than just metal. So, I was a little skeptical of "No Prayer" at the time (as mentioned, this was the first cassette in my early Maiden fandom I was content to just let my brother get and not make a copy for myself). It's an appreciable step down from what came before.
DeleteFear of the Dark - I've been hearing it from all my Maiden friends on my low scores for this one! I used to really like "Afraid to Shoot Strangers," I think I just got sick of it. Which probably means I'll like it again someday down the road; that's how these things usually work with me.
Glad to hear you enjoyed!