I'm in the same camp ace. I rarely play it.... They made a big deal about no overdubs etc, but overlooked the quality of the actual performance. Too boot leggy for my tastes.
PROWLER Hearing this as the album opener after being familiar with Running Free for a month or so was somewhat disappointing. RF was simple but effective, and well organised. Prowler, otoh, was a bit of a mess, frankly. Although I came to appreciate it, initially it seemed all over the place, really ramshackle, which made me wonder whether the album was going to suck. As we now know, the next four songs were 10/10 classics...but Prowler was a weak opener, IMO, and that's before you consider the questionable lyrics. I was never sure whether it was intended to be scary or comical...I mean c'mon, a song about some perve hiding in the bushes, cracking one off, as the opening statement on your debut album? Inadequate much? These days, I tend to think of it as an intentional parody of the archetypal testosterone-OD'd metal kid who, despite appearances, has actually never even touched a real lady. Or man. Whatever.
PROWLER "Prowler" is definitive NWOBHM. This is what I think of whenever I think of NWOBHM. It's a hell of an opener. It's so unforgiving and so raw and gritty. DiAnno's performance on this album is just off the charts for me. I don't think it's necessarily the best introduction to someone who has never heard Maiden but I think that this song is strong as hell. Yeah, the lyrics are corny but again, remember that this is the band's FIRST ALBUM. They hadn't really sprouted their own wings yet and were still pulling very closely from their influences.
Well, it came before Killers and in 1980, so I still consider it to be part of the "Iron Maiden" material. I think that it's a good way to go by doing the original release of the album and then adding all extra tracks from non-album singles and b-sides. @GodShifter since there's 2 versions of Invasion (Soundhouse and Women b-side) I assume we'll cover the track with WIU.
Never understood Steve Harris's dislike for the production on their debut either. It sounds great to me.... He should be more worried about the production of almost everything since Bruce rejoined in 1999.
Remember Tomorrow: And now we come to Remember Tomorrow, the second track on the original album and third on the 1998 version. Written by Harris and Dianno, the song was inspired by the latter's grandfather, who had died in 1980 when Paul was on tour, and "Remember Tomorrow" was sort of a catchphrase of Granddad's. The song starts with a very soft bassline with Stratton and Murray throwing some tasteful guitar touches and Clive giving a very tasteful drum part, before Paul comes in at :21, and his vocal is just so wonderful, so much feeling, seriously, I could give two ****s about technique, this is a fantastic performance, and the words say so much with so little, sometimes less is more. To me, the sign of a great is when they can take their limitations, work with it, and thrive, and thrive he does on this song. And as mentioned, I love Clive's fills throughout this song, they are so stunning, just perfect for the song. And I love that high note at 2:06, and how it gets faster at 2:23, how 'Arry and Clive create this sort of erratic rhythm, and we can't forget the great solos by Murray at 2:29 and Stratton at 3:06, both are so fantastic, phenomenal. You loved Murray, you loved Adrian, you tolerated Janick, but admit it, you forgot about Stratton until this thread, but the guy could really play, fantastic and underrated, but of my favorite Maiden guitarist, Dave Murray, cannot be neglected because he really bates Stratton to come up with something great, which I think is what he does best, bait the other guy to create something great, and Stratton delivers here. The track slows back down at 3:34, and it's as though the narrator is just crying out in agony during that section, and now Paul is just alone and broken. I will say, this is an much better Track Two than Sanctuary, and it's interesting, because slower tracks are usually saved for Track Three or Four, but this is done so well and shows this band isn't just any old band. This track is stunning, a true classic, I simply have no more to say. On a scale of one to ten, I give it a stadium crying out your name. I will post the Dickinson version below as well as Metallica's cover.
Maiden Japan version: This is a really good version, and I love Paul on this song, and Clive is excellent as well. And holy smokes, Dave and Adrian smoke on this one!
Always thought "Remenber Tomorrow" was one of the few songs off the first two albums that could've fit in on the early Dickinson records.
Remember Tomorrow Wait, what? Di'Anno can sing like this? Why, yes, he apparently can. Nice conventional singing, with a heavy metal wail to boot. I'm a sucker for soft/loud dynamics, so this track is right up my alley. A nice blueprint for future Maiden.
Here is Metallica's version: This is almost good, but Lars just ****s this up badly, and Hetfield, while not the worst, can't capture the emotion of the original.
Oh yes, Remember Tomorrow. Very beautiful. We used to cover it with a band me and my friends had in the early nineties. I played lead guitar. Challenging enough, fortunately we found a tablature from a library. I knew it had to do with Di'anno's grandpa but I didn't know the part about the title being a catchphrase of his. That's cool. It's obviously an important song for Di'anno since he's kept singing it live through the years.
My least favorite track off the album (still good of course) but it took me many years to finally look forward to listening to it instead of skipping it. I never liked it's particular slow/fast/slow/fast aspect. I've come around to it years ago especially with Bruce singing it but yeah, not a favorite.