It reminds me of (or foreshadows) the "you can't protect yourselves even in your own home" part of Age of Innocence off Dance of Death. And I hate that part of that song.
I wish Eddie would knock on Kevin "Caveman" Shirley's door and teach him a few production skills .. but I digress (and this comment is more apt for later in this thread)!
and I was one of the "old souls" in the early 1990's high school scene. Loathing most grunge and yearning for the 80's rock that I preferred. Felt that all of my favorite bands (Maiden, Priest, Rush) were declining in the 90's Thankfully, Dream Theater and Fates Warning were composing some great material during that time.
off to my 2nd job to make rent and ends meet - will be back to enjoy the festivities here in 3 hours. Don't skip Childhood's End know, ya here? Fecking immortally great (is imortally even a word?) tune there!
Would be great to hear Run Silent Run Deep live - also wish I could've been at the shows where they played Public Enema # 1
Childhood's End: And now we come to Childhood's End, penned by Steve about the injustices of the world, particularly all the children who go with food or shelter. Nicko starts off with his wash cymbal and then the guitars kick in and harmonize on this really strong riff, and then Nicko plays this really cool drum roll underneath the guitars, and Bruce sings at :46, and his rasp really works on this track, conveying anger and disgust with what he sees in the world, and the band is very engaged as well, and the keys work very well on this track, giving a semi symphonic quality to this song at times, and damn, Janick's solo at 2:46 is pretty damn good, has a little slop at the beginning but still very good otherwise, I had to check the credits again to make sure it didn't switch to Dave. Makes his "puke all over the fretboard" solos all the more infuriating, because we know he can do good solos, structured solos that can serve the song. He's still no Dave Murray, but c'mon, it's Dave Murray. Second best track on the album, behind BQOBD, really good tune, I like it a lot, and I completely forgot about it until this thread.
Childhood's End The drums make this song for me. Very unique sounding compared to the rest of the Maiden catalog. I have loved this song since the first time I heard it.
Childhood's End A better song , but did I say I hate the drum sound on this album!!! Struggling (as I knew I would on this album).... 3/5
"Childhood's End", the song starts with great and emotional guitar intro, aswell the riff is great and Im digging the new and somewhat really experimental take on the drums. This shows that any sort of change to being typical is always welcome and fresh, so Nicko surely could/should do this kinda things more often. Bruce's raspy voice suits the role and voice. The lyrics are thoughtful, gloomy, showing desperation and the words here are still very relevant today. Great, tight playing from the whole band, especially Dave & Janick shine here. Im so digging the whole guitar-stuff on this song, it's just something that's got uplifting clarity in it and it's also very beautiful, showing contrast to the dark lyrics. Great atmosphere especially musically. Middle part is great when the guitars just take it over and the whole instrumental-section is awesome, I could listen to it on repeat (in fact the whole song could be instrumental). Great solo by Janick, wasn't it only him doing the solo, right? I think I read that someone was confused over who played what, but I think they might have just fooled us a bit on this song. I know the styles and sound differ on each, it's easy spot during the reunion-era albums especially. Im not sure if any official sources gives credit to whoever soloed what but there some list on the internet, if that's reliable source for these. What source has the most accurate info as there's couple cases where it's been unclear really who plays what? All in all, this is great song and I've always loved it. Totally forgotten and underrated song, that's been so overlooked over the years. This could have been killer song live in concert, too bad they never played it. This is one of the best songs on the album, in the top5 for sure, so I can do no other than give this song the rank it truly deserves: 4½/5
The guitars, bass, and Michael Kenney's keys are mixed so well throughout the FoTD album that the lack of punch in the drums is more than made up for. Then again, I tossed the remaster for the original issue a few years ago, and I always crank up the midrange on my EQ - I just set all of my EQ nobs to smack in the middle and yes the drums are a bit buried in the mix.
The comment above hit the nail on the head — Childhood’s End is a unique sound in Maiden’s catalog. For better or worse. Personally, I appreciate this song but I tend to forget about it as soon as it’s done.
I need to get my hands on original copies of these albums. I only have the remasters. I’m upset that I sold my originals back in the early 00s.
where to start here? CE is a top 10 all time Maiden song for me. Loved it on first listen, but its stature has grown over the past 24 years. A mention was made of the guitars providing a slight sense of hope in an otherwise bleak lyrical outlook. This duality is a huge part of the song's appeal. One aspect of this song that I feel to be quite genius is the 2 stanzas to the chorus - the first stanza shows Bruce keeping the same vocal phrasing with each line, while the 2nd stanza of the chorus shows him changing his phrasing with each line - very cool touch that gives the chorus a refreshing feel even after 24 years and hundreds of listens.
what's great about Janick's solo is how perfectly it segues into the incredibly heartfelt harmony bit.
"will it ever end?" "will we learn someday?" "we take these things for granted" there's a sense here that the narrator is crushed under the weight of what is happening around him, but he refuses to not only give up on all hope, but he refuses not to care. He could take the easy way out and drown his sorrows, or simply put on a Stepford smile and adopt a careless cool modern ironic hip vibe - but he refuses to. There's heroism and bravery in that stance to me. "I'd sail across the ocean, I'd walk a hundred miles if I could make it to the end or JUST TO SEE A SMILE" Bruce lets us know that he isn't necessarily living in the ghettoes or starving or drinking polluted water - but the fact that others are weighs on him. As a musician, he travels the world and has a keen eye on seeing a wide range of society and human experiences. he holds out a bit of hope for the future - while looking to a youthful past that seemed a bit brighter (perhaps because we were all more aloof/ignorant in our youth), but he's not going to simply lie down and accept things as they are. He's going to get his bandmates together and contribute to a completely kick-ass tune that will inspire listeners for time eternal.
Janick's solo is bookended by harmony guitar leads - the solo has brings chaos after the first harmony part (again perfectly fitting the lyrics), but finds a path to the structured and soothing/uplifting (for lack of better words) 2nd harmony (both harmony parts are different from one another also). The solo sections mesmerize, fitting the thematic elements and the worldview of the lyrics perfectly. Bruce repeats the chorus as the song closes with even more bitterness and spite, and the song ends rather suddenly - saying its piece and getting out. Tight,focused, never a wasted note or a meandering moment. Fantastic tune.
