I'm way behind! Running Free could have been any band; isn't what I would call a signature Maiden tune, but I always enjoy it. Phantom of the Opera is f***ing epic. One of my favorite Maiden tunes.
Very much a shock after so many years of not playing UK indoor shows to play again the very next year. Wish I had saved myself for this tour rather than last one. The setlist very stagnant and too much focused on the newer album, which I liked but not enough to hear half a dozen tracks from it. Will have to pass. The 02 had awful sound last year (went to the first show, not a venue I have any love for.) Happy to pass but no doubt wont be happy when I see the eventual setlist.
Is it listed anywhere who plays what solo's on the debut album? With the Smith/Murray combination its pretty easy to tell who plays what but I'm not so clear on the first album. I know that solo in the slow part of Phantom is Dave Murray but would be interested to see who plays what on the debut. If anyone knows??
Wow, I am so wrong. I had heard a few years ago it was Aussie and didn't question it. Thanks for setting me straight! (unless someone has other proof)
Transylvania: And now the instrumental of the album, named for the country where Dracula reigns supreme, the legend itself based on Vlad Tepes. There is no evidence, however, that Tepes drank his victims' blood, so it is not entirely clear why Bram Stoker used him as the basis of Dracula. The track starts with a rapid, dirty riff punctuated by the bass and drums before the full band kicks in at :19, and the band locks in so perfectly with each other, and Arry is kicking ass on bass, to me, he is the star of this track. But we should also give Stratton and Murray credit, because they really tie this track together, and the solos at 1:55 and 2:13 are just great, but I give the edge to Murray, who really steals the second half of this song. As far as Stratton, again, great player, but you can sense he's not on the same wavelength as everybody else here. He's doing great here, but you sense that difference in a way and you can see why Adrian replaced him. A great instrumental, though not their best, and you'll have to wait and see which one is my favorite.
Live at the Rainbow: This is one of the earliest shows with Adrian, and god, is he such a boost to the band, they are very tight on this song. Excellent show.
RE: Legacy of the Beast tour - It is strange for them to do another "historical" tour again, but they seem to like rotating them, as Rod said in the press release. I'll go, because I love Maiden, but the concept of "... a set list covering a large selection of Eighties material with a handful of surprises from later albums to add diversity" as their website states doesn't give me a great feeling. To me that sounds like the usual 80's suspects + Fear of the Dark, Blood Brothers and probably Wicker Man. I hope I'm proven wrong. Here's the songs that are featured IN THE GAME Legacy of the Beast - Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast Set List | Iron Maiden Legacy of the Beast . 3 of those pop right out and I know they won't be played live: Shadow of the Valley, Man Who Would Be King and Empire of the Clouds since they never play songs that weren't already played on previous tours. If a song isn't played on the initial tour, it never happens. They usually do sets with 17 songs and with 16 albums, here's my reasonable request/hope for this tour. Have a group of rehearsed songs, 2 or 3 from every album (yes, all of them) and play 1 song from each album every night, switching them out so the setlists stay fresh. They don't have to get really radical in their song choices, because we know they won't, I just want them to change things up a bit. Ah, one can hope.
At the time of the first two albums he wasn't as versatile but he may have improved on his solo career, I do listen to a little of his later bands and that's good stuff but I still don't see too big of an improvement. And as for NOTB I don't think Di'Anno would have been a better fit. Dickinson really made those songs even greater IMO and it was with Dickinson IM became really big. TNOTB was their big breakthrough as that was the album that made them one of the biggest metal bands of the 80's, with Di'Anno that would have never happened. I do like Di'Anno a lot but Dickinson is far better, who I'm a bigger fan of. That is my opinion of course.
Yeah, there's no real evidence that Bram Stoker even knew who Vlad Tepes was. He used him as a character because of his reputation for cruelty and a variant of his name was "Dracul". But he never drank blood or bathed in it (as was the legend of Elizabeth Bathory), so it's kind of unclear. If anything he was known as "Vlad the Impaler" but even that story is probably legend. As to "Transylvania", it's another complex instrumental in the vein of "Genghis Khan" and "Losfer Words" and such. Lots of great changes and highlights Harris's great bass playing and Burr's chops on drums. I've always kind of felt the instrumentals on Maiden albums were kind of throwaways. As impressive as they are in terms of technical prowess and chops, they could have been fully realized songs, too. That being said, there isn't an instrumental on every Maiden album (not by a long shot), so it is what it is. Good tune and a rousing way to start side 2.
Sorry, I got a bit behind... Phantom of the Opera Not Maiden's best epic, but wow, we know this is no ordinary metal band. I don't know how Steve managed to squeeze in so many musical segments into 7 minutes. Great guitar solos, of course, and I like the variety. Di'Anno isn't given much to do, but his vocals fit in well. I'm beginning to see why some prefer Clive over Nicko. A couple of people have mentioned that he swings, and that's the word that came to mind when we started this thread. There's a jazz flavor to his style.
Transylvania into Strange World, right after the high point of Phantom is majestic. If ever a thread has gotten me wanting to dig the debut out for a play, its this one. Those 3 songs in a row, su-bloody-perb!! Okay, we've hold off on comments for the latter song for now but agreed on Harris bass playing on this one. Excellent. Particulary around 3:05. Annoyingly when they brought it back into the set around 93? they only played this. Think id be very disappointed to hear this song played live without SW straight after. Its like nature put them together in this way. A perfect marriage for me!
Transylvania was my least favorite instrumental at the time but then after hearing it on a few of the Eddie’s Archives discs it really grew on me. Fun to play on guitar too. Yes, the transition into Strange World is excellent.
Good Idea for the coming setlist. Do Tran and Strange together and it will blow minds. Hard for me to be subjective concerning the s/t, Transylvania is another winner. Ide rank it # 2 for the instrumentals, Genghis Khan #1 and Loss at 3.
If we could guarantee that I'd buy a ticket. Does make me wonder what they'd perform. It is intriguing. A few deep cuts, something from the archives, I cant quite see it but who knows.
"Transylvania", this is another winner for the album, no doubt about that as I have always enjoyed a lot of this one. All in all this is very compact and well composed piece. Fast paced, fun (indeed to play on guitar as I tried with my band in the 90's) and energetic instumental song, where every person in the band get chance to shine on the spotlight. Showing their skills without Paul stealing the central in the mix and attention with his voice. Murray and Harris are truly the ones here shining so bright, showing their exemplary skills of musicianship. Nevermind the production of the album and later comparisons to what it could have been if Birch had done this, these songs are just great and I've used to what it sounds. It works, it delivers truly. "Transylvania" seems like really logical continuation from "Phantom Of The Opera" as this carries that spirit and feeling on and on. And also I have to highlight how instant and great the flow from "Transylvania" to next song "Strange World", it's just so perfectly executed that it just works everytime. Something you don't hear too often. This album is true masterpiece, but I have to confess that when I got to Maiden in mid-80's, I had first heard only those Bruce-fronted albums, so I didn't click right away with this one. Then later on as I had done more research and listening, I came to totally new appreciation for these albums. I just keep the debut and "Killers" as good and as essential as the rest of their wonderful 80's catalogue. The run of albums from the debut to "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" is one of the finest runs of albums by anyone anywhere.
I have to admit that ive always enjoyed this instrumental immensely, the pace of it drives along really well and there is some great interplay between Stratton, Murray and Harris. Its perhaps not the best instrumental of their career, but its a great breathtakingly speedy attack of the twin guitars before the handbrake is pulled for 'Strange World' that follows.
TRANSYLVANIA Cool instrumental, but I like The Ides of March, Genghis Khan, and even Losfer Words better. I do think it's a cool transition into "Strange World." Mainly, though, it makes me think of the Early Years DVD. The intro plays over and over again on the main menu until you make a selection.
Guitarist Dennis Stratton was in Maiden from December 1979 until October 1980 and played on the first record.He`s also on that Marquee live Phantom Of the Opera & reading`80. The rest of the audio for that Rainbow `80 with Adrian Smith gig is still unreleased. I can`t believe they kept the audio from Beast Over Hammersmith unreleased because the video came out too dark! The Friday Rock Show BBC has guitarist Tony Parsons and drummer Doug Sampson.Yet an earlier lineup playing Transylvania. I always liked that tune.
Transylvania is probably my favorite of the Iron Maiden instrumentals. I really feel like this thread is doing a good job of making me focus on the first two albums and better absorbing them than ever before. Adrian is my favorite Maiden guitar player but Dave was always a beast and I can't say anything negative about Dennis Stratton either. Great first album.
Transylvania. I absolutely love this. Maiden no doubt were not the first to do instrumentals, but for me at least it was a unusual addition to a already fresh and vibrant new musical approach. To my then 17 year old ears....this was the dogs twitcher!!!
