"Phantom Of The Opera", this is the best song on the debut-album but also one of the best songs they have ever made. It's actually not easy to say, as the whole album is so strong set of songs. Long song (compared to those quick punky-style offerings) but this is well executed as it never gets boring, this is just so catchy and each instrument get it's own soft-spot to shine in the light. Paul's vocals are really great and also all the band performances are great. This is where it all just works great, musicianship on show here is in top form. Bass is great and shows promise of the future. I would say that this is very cleverly done and carefully crafted piece of music, more like crowning achievement, which remarked the start of their style getting to more epic, longer songs. I definitely agree with you @Mountain Cowboy that this is best song from the whole Di'anno-era. By the way, first pressing UK vinyl and some other early editions have that little added thing at the end of the song.The thing Im talking about is that little short coda/reprise at the end, as the song stops there's few seconds of silence and then you hear once more Paul's voice. Im not 100% sure (but according to the websites), but I think original UK-vinyl, UK Fame-edition, Japanese pressing and the later released Czech pressings have it also. I haven't checked my all pressings of the albums on vinyl or cd, but I suppose that on cd (according to discogs) versions released before 1995 should have that longer version. Atleast the 1995 2cd EU-version has it if the track length is correct on the pages.. I have it few different cd and vinyl..
I've been waiting for this one! One of my favourite maiden tracks, I love everything about it, and its still one of their best. I remember hearing this for the first time, back when id gotten into maiden, and I was driving home from an evening at work and had the radio on. The Dj is playing classic rock and the final track is a listeners choice and this person has asked for Phantom of the Opera by Iron Maiden, and being new into them I was eager to hear it and oh boy, did it hit a chord with me. Its was love on first listen, and rather then have dinner when I got back, I instead went to ask if my brother had the song, and was disappointed he didnt. Id find the cd copy of the s/t album later, but I always have remeithat car journey home. I think the bits thst make this track stand out fkr me, is its the first epic track, 7 odd minutes but with one hellova guitar attack in the middle, its just brilliant.
Does anyone have any information about the writing of the song? I'd be curious to hear Steve discuss the writing process for all of his signature songs. Maybe he'll copy Bruce and write a book.
"If you don't like this song, you don't like Iron Maiden. In fact if you don't understand this next song, you might as well **** off and die."- Bruce Dickinson (2005) Best song off the album. The first epic!
I mentioned earlier in the thread that this is one of the Maiden songs I played in a cover band in my younger days. It was an incredibly hard song to play and has so many different elements to it. The opening riff is pretty difficult to get right and then it just goes from there to more difficult. Like a lot of songs on the s/t, this one has a punk like energy to it and it's so busy with all the changes. I'm going to go ahead and say that this isn't one of my favorites from the debut. It's undoubtedly a great song, but I don't think it's the best song the band did with Di'Anno or, for that matter, one of Iron Maiden's greatest songs. Obviously, I'm in the minority in that opinion (even Bruce Bruce disagrees with me), but whatever. I do like the end section where it becomes instrumental. It kind of reminds me of Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" where a similar instrumental deal goes on to end a classic song. I've never seen a movie about the "Phantom of the Opera", but I'm very aware of the story. I did see Paul Williams' "Phantom of the Paradise, though, which, essentially follows the same basic plot as PotO.
Listening to Phantom of the Opera right now (studio version then LAD back to back) and it just seems like the whole idea of Iron Maiden and even what they continue to do in the studio to this day is all right here in 1980. The great thing about it way back when was that it was so much more unselfconscious and I also believe that the presence of a three minute song just prior provided a further 'light and shade'. There is something lost when it feels like every song is 9 minutes long which is how current Maiden feels. This is obviously another song that I came to through side four of the Live After Death vinyl. Neither singer really owns the song to me because there's just so much going on musically that the vocal is only a small part of the puzzle. I've never thought of Phantom being one of the 'epics' in terms of length. I guess with my fandom starting to roll around 1984 anything shorter than Rime of the Ancient Mariner didn't seem that long. Phantom of the Opera, love it!
Phantom of the Opera Incredible song. There's so much contained in just the first 57 seconds of the song before the lyrics even start. Right from the beginning you know you're in for something radically different than what we've experienced in the first 3 tracks on this album. Also note: this bass player is for real. Some of Steve's finest bass playing is contained in this song and he just -shreds- on Phantom. Clive is just a monster on here as well, his jazz influence coming through wonderfully. This vocal section of the song is so perfect how it blends proggy playing, head-banging metal and Paul's street-sneer attitude. At 2:05 we move to the first major change of the song, it's a little bit calmer and almost poppy in a way before leading to *another* time change and the OMG F'N EXCELLENT Dave Murray guitar solo. This is one of his greatest solos, so fluid. How impressive are these guys, we're here on the first side of this debut album and already we're seeing mature players who really know what they're doing. Clive, Steve and Dave already show their incredible talent. Next we come to a great Priest-influenced section, although with much better bass playing than Ian Hill did on the records. Again, here comes another tempo change (is the 5th one so far?) with the killer harmony section and that leads to solos from Dave and Dennis before reprising the harmony part again - a Harris trademark which he'd go back to often in his career. The last change leads us back to the head-banging verse riff and we're out. I'll say it again, incredible song. Phantom is by far my favorite song on this album and one of the best epics in all of Maiden's career. Finally seeing it live a few years ago was a major highlight for me. That Live After Death version is just FEROCIOUS.
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Their first epic. Their first song to have the triplet gallop. Great playing and/or singing by all. And yes, it does point towards their post-Dianno "future."
Maiden's first epic. One thing I notice about this song is the usage of vocal harmonies during the "Don't you stray" line. They are almost Eagles-ish in a way.
Phantom of the Opera is a stunner. Love it. The Lucozade advert was a big thing, how many bands from that era sold one of their songs in a major UK TV advert? I didnt even know who Maiden were back then but i remember absolutely loving this everytime it was on.
Apologies if posted already but this really needs a viewing. Early Maiden, I remember this series presented by a very young Danny Baker..... Phantom if performed live from 2:35
Phantom of the Opera is such a great song, here's the version from the Live + ONE EP. I wish they would release the full gig.
I have to assume that they recorded the entire show, can you imagine seeing them at the Marquee cranking this out?
Phantom Of The Opera. This is what made Maiden so different from all the other Rock bands of the era. Time changes. Brilliant classic.....
Very interesting. Are you sure about the Australia bit? It's from K-Tel and Discogs only knows UK pressings. I've seen this often on record fairs and in fact I've owned the sequel Axe Attack II since I was a kid. It (the sequel) has got way too much music for an LP, as K-Tel comps usually do, but it was my first introduction to UFO, BOC, Nugent, Gillan, MSG, early Leppard, Dickinson era Samson, Dio era Sabbath and probably also Di'anno era Maiden (Rue Morgue).
Remember Tomorrow There is a reason why this song is so legendary and that reason is DiAnno's vocal delivery. I'm a HUGE fan of Bruce and I even loved his spin on nearly all of the DiAnno era stuff but this is one song that is and always will be Paul's! He pours it all out into this song and it's so dynamic. I actually prefer the "Maiden Japan" version of this song because I feel they really took the dynamics to a whole other plane; speeding up the instrumental breaks after the chorus and Paul's vocals just going totally over the top. Great song. Running Free Ahhhh, Maiden's "Radio Hit that Never Was." Ya know, I always have and always will put this song in the bin of songs I could live without. I never was a fan of it and I'm still not a fan. It doesn't flat out suck or anything but it's just so ploddy and dull compared to everything else. I dread hearing it live because even in a live setting this song can't be saved. Phantom of the Opera When I was a kid and I heard this song for the first time I remember thinking it was one of the coolest friggin' things ever. The guitars emulating a spooky organ passage and those vocals, once again, showcase Paul really pushing it. I love this song and honestly, this is another one where I much prefer DiAnno's vocals over Bruce's although I do love hearing this song live whenever I can.
Apologies for posting this to here on this thread but I feel it's essential to mention ongoing and upcoming events dealing with Iron Maiden. So here's the announcement of 2018 European tour: https://ironmaiden.com/news/article/iron-maiden-announce-legacy-of-the-beast-european-tour-2018 Following the massively successful global tour of 2016-17 in support of their 16th studio album The Book Of Souls IRON MAIDEN will take to the road again in 2018 with a series of arena and festival shows in Europe on the Legacy Of The Beast World Tour opening in Tallinn, Estonia on May 26 and finishing at the O2 Arena, London on August 10. The full list of dates is below and the tour is expected to continue in 2019. Legacy Of The Beast 2018 Tour Dates: May 26 Saku Arena, Tallinn, ESTONIA * 28 Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, FINLAND * June 01 Tele2 Arena, Stockholm, SWEDEN * 03 Dahls Arena, Trondheim Rocks, NORWAY 05 Royal Arena, Copenhagen, DENMARK * 07 Sweden Rock Festival, Solvesborg, SWEDEN 09 Rockavaria, Königsplatz, Munich, GERMANY 10 Expo Plaza, Hannover, GERMANY * 13 Waldbuhne, Berlin, GERMANY * 16 Firenze Rocks, ITALY 17 Novarock Festival, Nickelsdorf, AUSTRIA 20 Letnany Airport, Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC * 22 Graspop, Dessel, BELGIUM 24 Hellfest, Clisson, FRANCE 26 Geneva Arena, Geneva, SWITZERLAND * 28 Volt Festival, Sopron, HUNGARY 30 Messegelaende, Freiburg, GERMANY * July 01 Gelredome, Arnhem, HOLLAND * 05 AccorsHotel Arena, Paris, FRANCE 09 San Siro Ippodromo, Milan, ITALY 10 Hallenstadion, Zurich, SWITZERLAND 13 Altice Arena, Lisbon, PORTUGAL 14 Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid, SPAIN 17 Piazza Dellà Unita D'Italia, Trieste, ITALY 20 Rockwave Festival, Athens, GREECE 22 Hills Of Rock, Plovdiv, BULGARIA 24 Zagreb arena, Zagreb, CROATIA 27 Tauron Arena, Krakow, POLAND 31 Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, ENGLAND * August 02 SSE Arena, Belfast, NORTHERN IRELAND * 04 Exhibition & Conference Centre, Aberdeen, SCOTLAND * 06 Manchester Arena, Manchester, ENGLAND * 07 Genting arena, Birmingham, ENGLAND * 10 O2 Arena, London, ENGLAND * (No further countries will be added to this touring schedule) The concept for the Legacy Of The Beast World Tour was inspired by Maiden’s mobile game and comic book of the same name and the stage set design will feature a number of different but interlocking “worlds” with a set list covering a large selection of Eighties material with a handful of surprises from later albums to add diversity. Maiden manager Rod Smallwood explains further, “As our fans know, we’ve been following a particular touring cycle ever since Bruce and Adrian re-joined Maiden at the start of the millennium, alternating new album tours with “History/Hits” tours. We enjoy working this way for many reasons, not least because it gives the band a chance to play both new material and the older favourites which we know fans like to hear. It keeps things fresh, not just for the fans but for the band too. “For this History/Hits tour we decided to base the theme around the Legacy Of The Beast name, which suits our purposes perfectly by giving us scope to get creative and have some fun, especially with Eddie! I don’t want to give too much away at the moment but we’re working on a number of different stage sets, all in keeping with the Maiden tradition and we hope to give our fans a fantastic experience when they come to see this very special show.” Killswitch Engage will be Maiden’s Special Guest on headline European shows from May 26 to July 1 inclusive, and in the UK from July 31 to Aug 10 inclusive. Guests on other shows are currently being finalized and will be announced soon. Most shows go on sale Friday 24th November. As always, there will be an exclusive presale for Fan Club members, starting Monday 20th. Full on-sale and pre-sale details will be added shortly.
I figured they would go out with another Best Of tour next, but not this soon. I hope they dust off some older less played songs and not the usual suspects.
