I've been following the thread these last few days, but been to busy to have time to make any useful contributions. And shockingly enough,I haven't broken out the Maiden records yet (working my way thru the King Crimson Starless box set is pretty time consuming), but the need to play that first one LOUD have been there for quite a few days now. Maiden is playing in the nearest larger city from where I live next summer, but it is part og a two day festival so I'm considering letting that one pass me by. Was a bit disappointed by the gig I caught on the Book of Souls tour, to be honest. I'll try to scrible down a few impressions and paragraphs of badly phrased BS when you have gone thru the whole album, @Musicman1998 . Keep up the good work and the irons as well
The first minute and a half or so is a bit repetitive, but then the song kicks into high gear. Love the solo. As others said, it's a cool transition to Strange World.
He was the best drummer Maiden ever had... and Nicko has even said as much. But it was ultimately Burr's own fault he was canned, so them's the breaks.
Loopy's book talks a lot about Clive as Loopy was his drum tech. They had a rocky relationship to say the least. Loopyworld
I think Nicko is being magnanimous in his praise of Clive. I really believe McBrain is a better technician in terms of a drummer. Burr was always kind of a loose player and much of Maiden's material requires strict time keeping due to the complexity of the material and the changes that turn on a dime. I'm not saying Burr couldn't play that way, but McBrain is definitely more of a disciplined player. I can't see Burr handling the later material as well as Nicko has. That said, I do prefer Burr's energy to the more controlled and precise way that McBrain approaches the music.
Transylvania I wish Maiden had more instrumentals since there's only four of them. I love the power of this song and how it still has some groove to go along with the speed. I'm so used to this song that it sounds almost predictable in a way. I know it's not, since this is from the debut, but it was the blueprint for a lot of songs and parts later on in Maiden's career. You've got Steve doubling the guitars, but also then going off on his own and doing some more melodic stuff; there's the great harmony middle bit in between the solos (which they also did on Phantom); the drawn out ending with Steve's "free-time" playing; the tempo changes (intro riff > main riff is a really interesting one). So many examples of Steve's compositional style are here in this song, all wrapped up in the horror theme. It's a good listen and a lot of fun. I also love the way it blends into Strange World.
Just listened to "Strange World" in preparation for the song (whenever @Musicman1998 decides to post it). Now I'm listening to "Charlotte The Harlot"
Strange World: Now we come to Strange World, a song that though credited solely to Harris, ex-singer Paul Day claims to have had a hand in. Initially, it was recorded for The Soundhouse Tapes, but was left off the final tracklist. It is also notable for being the only The song fades in from Transylviania and has this kind of mellow guitar flourish, with Clive accenting it with his hi-hat work, and Steve's restrained and tasteful bass work, before Stratton launches into a solo at :41, and this is by far my favorite of all his solos with Iron Maiden, which makes sense giving that as Arry has said, Dennis seemed more invested in songs like this than Iron Maiden and Prowler, as he just wasn't really into heavier music, which was also illustrated when he originally added Wishbone Ash guitars and Queen-styled background vocals to Phantom Of the Opera. I do believe Stratton when he says he wasn't attempting to push the band in a different direction, but he clearly was a member, but not a member. He was the odd one out, not really a camaraderie the way there was with H. Anyway, back to the song. Oh my god, when Paul comes in at 1:27, it's so pure, so full of emotion, to me, of the two Iron Maiden singers, Di'Anno is the most convincingly vulnerable. There is a sense of fear and sensitivity in his voice, he is that angry, wayward kid, but here, that comes off as a shield with this song in mind, and of course, he's in this world he has no place in, of course he's scared, the angry tough guy persona does not mean jack here. It's sort of like the Ozzy and Dio, where Dio was so godlike, riding the dragon, preaching the Holy Diver, he was this fantastical, bombastic, larger than life guy (and I'm speaking as a performer). Ozzy, though, he has this sort of everyman quality where he knows he doesn't have the best voice, and there is a little fear there, but he will pour everything he's got into the song, and you know he believes every word. Same thing with Di'Anno, he has limitations, but there is that X factor (sorry to bring back bad memories) that can overcome that and elevate him to another level. And we must acknowledge Murray's solo at the three minute mark, it is a stunning piece of work, and he gets the slight edge over Stratton here, it has that Murray flavor, but fits the track like a glove. This is such an underrated track, phenomenal, I adore it.
The Soundhouse Tapes version: This is a phenomenal version and such a fantastic vocal performance. Seriously, this is the guy people told me couldn't sing? He isn't Pavarotti, but seriously?
We're going into Sanctuary tomorrow just to clear things up. I had wondered which tracklist to go with, North American or '98, but I went with North American ultimately.
Strange World is a fantastic song and has always been a favorite. The guitar solos are sublime. Any song that talks about drinking plasma wine (??) will get a thumbs up from me.
Strange World I love this song and how gorgeous it is. It's a wonderful breather after the hectic pace of Transylvania. Dave's guitar solo* in the beginning is another one of his best and he really shines soloing over mellow chord progressions. He's such a fantastic lyrical player. I love hearing Paul's normal singing voice. It's interesting that they've never attempted this song with Bruce. Strange World is definitely one of those deep cuts that Maiden has that's equal quality to their more popular songs. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the only "slow" Maiden song that stays slow all the way through...at least until Journeyman. This is my second favorite song on the debut after Phantom. I really love the echo on Clive's tom fills in the middle section, that's something that really stands out when listening with headphones. Dave does another great solo in the middle with Steve's melodic playing underneath. I can't get enough of this song, really beautiful. * note about the intro solo. @Musicman1998 says it's Stratton playing this solo. Sounds like Murray to me, but Dennis doesn't have enough solos to really tell "his style". There seems to be a lot of discrepancy among Maiden fans who actually played it. Whoever did it, it's a fantastic solo. In the live version @MusicMatt posted, it's Adrian playing the intro solo. As for the Soundhouse Tapes outtake version...holy cow I love this. It's the same bones, but so exciting to hear a different version of it. We get another great Dave Murray solo in the beginning and it's longer too. Same for the middle solo, wonderful and blusier than Dave usually goes. Definitely a highlight of Best of the Beast.
Definitely the second solo is Murray, make no mistake. That said, I am mainly going by that source for which solo is played by who, and I do hear certain nuances in the second solo that I don't hear in the first solo.
Here's a link to every cover song recorded by Iron Maiden. Maiden ALWAYS had killer B-Sides! Iron Maiden: The Cover Songs – Green and Black Music
"Strange World" is a really good song and one of the reasons I like the debut so much. It's a nice change of pace and provides good contrast with the heavier material (much like "Prodigal Son" does on Killers). As always, Harris's bass is doing great melodic lines against the effects heavy guitars. I really enjoy the fact that this one never really rocks out; it stays mellow and restrained. That was a good choice. This is one of Di'Anno's better vocal performances as well. He might not be the most gifted singer in the world, but he was good and conveyed emotion well with his voice. I'd rank this one right up there with "Remember Tomorrow" as a favorite from the album.