Hallowed be thy name Also not much to add that hasn't already been said. Awesome song, top 5 for me. As for the court case - I think they already went through this once with one of the members of Beckett and settled financially a few years ago. This new court case is a second guy who now believes he a right to some recognition. I just hope they settle it as it's the highlight of the live set for me. All time classic.
The music may come under the spotlight when we get to 'The nomad', there's an identical riff in both songs if I remember correctly.
Run To The Hills - Obviously a classic, but I find it amusing this is the "quintessential" Iron Maiden song, since the structure is quite different from most of their famous tracks. (Specifically, the "tribal" opening with the drumbeat and the twin leads sounding like war whoops, which doesn't resemble anything else in their catalog.) Once they hit the gallop, we're back in classic Maiden territory, but the chorus moves to a major key.... which definitely increases the "singalong" quotient, but it's not a common trait for this band. Anyway. I'm not discounting the song at all.... It's one of my favorites, and I appreciate that it's a bit more "quirky" than some of their later tracks. (My personal pick for "Definitive Maiden Song" would be The Trooper, which is basically The Classic Iron Maiden Sound Distilled. But I'll talk more when we reach POM.) Gangland - Not a bad song, but it suffers by being bookended with two of the greatest Maiden tracks ever. And then it suffers even more once you realize Total Eclipse could've (and should've) been in this spot. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Truthfully, NOTB would still be regarded as a classic based on just three songs: The title track, Run To The Hills, and this one. This is where the Dickinson era comes into its own: Di'anno could've never pulled off a performance like this on his best day. From first note to last, Bruce absolutely nails it. A vocal masterclass. I honestly can't believe they've stopped playing this song live! (But then again, I live in the Southeast, so we only get like 20% of Maiden tours even coming around here...)
Total Eclipse And now the B-Side to Run To the Hills and the second to last track on the 1998 remaster, written by Harris, Murray, and Burr. This was the other track that was up for the album between it and Gangland, and Gangland was picked for the album, which certainly Steve has come to regret. We kick things off with Clive cuing the band, and they lock into a good groove, but at :24, the riff leads the way, with Steve and Clive building it up as Bruce enters at :38, has some great rasp to his voice, kind of enters Dio territory at times, but still has his flavor. We gotta mention the solo at 2:38 by Murray, just ripping it up, and smoothly slides into Adrian's solo at 2:50, a good solo as well, but I might have to give it to Dave for this one. This is a strong tune, though I would honestly replace Invaders instead of Gangland off this album. Total Eclipse (4/5)
We will cover live albums in one day. Tomorrow we can cover Beast Over Hammersmith and start Piece of Mind on Wednesday
Hallowed Be Thy Name The intro sets the mood perfectly, with the folk-sounding guitars and the bell just tolling...tolling...tolling until it's time to die. Brilliant. Both of Bruce's long notes as the into goes into the main riff further show how excellent of a vocalist he is. It's not just about screaming or hitting high notes. He sells this role perfectly in what he describes as "theater of the mind". Then we come to The Riff. It's the essence of Iron Maiden. The harmony riff with the bass moving chords is to me as quintessential as the gallop or Bruce's high flying vocals. It's something that they've done before, but this one in Hallowed seems to be the most iconic. I like the slower pace of the studio version since it's easier for Bruce to get out all the words. It's still a REALLY wordy song, but Bruce still manages to wrench out the proper emotion (as on "terror"). The song would be great if we just had the first 4 minutes, but the back half of Hallowed really kicks it into gear and makes it the great epic that it is. I love the playing from everyone in the solo section and after. I find Dave's solo (the first one) really interesting in that he sounds more like Adrian than his usual self. The harmony section at 5:50 is one of the greatest sections in all of Maiden's catalog. Tremendous song all around. Well-deserved classic. In regards to the lawsuit and plagiarism...makes me sad that Steve won't own to up it now and didn't at the time. Granted, the guys in Beckett should've at least demanded some sort of credit back then. Whoever else contributed to the song should be properly credited and compensated. It doesn't change what Steve did write, which is fantastic. Full Album Thoughts: Well, it's bloody fantastic, isn't it? It's always great to hear bands that continue to top themselves. For me, Killers is better than the debut and NOB is better than both of those. We'll see where we go for round 4. NOB is one of the classic metal albums of all time and it set the stage for the band's greatness for the rest of the decade. Everyone stepped up their game here...Steve, Dave, Clive, Adrian, Bruce, Martin, DEREK RIGGS. Tremendous effort from everyone. Great songs: Children of the Damned The Prisoner 22 Acacia Avenue The Number of the Beast Run to the Hills Gangland Hallowed Be Thy Name Damn Good and oh-so-close: Invaders (the chorus is the only thing that prevents it from being great)
Total Eclipse As I said on the Gangland post, while I believe this is a superior song (and one of the best from the Beast sessions), I prefer the flow the album has with Gangland in position #7. I like that NOB>Run>Gang>Hallowed has a fast pace all the way through and that would be altered with this slower song. So, I would not put it on the album and would keep it as a B-side. I'm really glad it's been put on the remastered version so that people get to hear it. For me, the flow of side 2 works better without it. I love this freakin' song so much and it's one of the coolest in the catalog. It's really dark and brings this really creepy element. Bruce's vocal gives me chills. The riffs sound like nothing else Maiden have done. The change for the solo section is great, total Clive. You guys talked about getting chills from Hallowed, which I understand, but for me this entire song is chill-enducing. It's got such a creepiness about it...makes me so uncomfortable. But damn I love it so much. Wish they would play it live again. I'll really miss Clive. He brought such a great touch and swing to the music.
I'm getting behind here. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" has some tasty bass playing on it (I particularly like the accents Harris does at 0:40 and 0:55 where Bruce is singing "the sands of time are running low"); that's good, intuitive, melodic playing. I find the middle portion of the song to drag a bit, frankly. I will say I did love playing along to this one as a young bass player. It was challenging, but not impossible. I'm not one that's going to put this one up there as one of Iron Maiden's greatest songs (and it has nothing to do with plagiarism or whatever), I just think they've done better stuff. But, yeah, great guitar harmonies here and a cranking rhythm section with Burr and Harris. I can say that by the time I realized that Clive Burr had left the band (probably by reading the liner notes to Piece of Mind) I was very disappointed. He was the last link to the original album (besides Harris) and without him it didn't feel like the same band anymore.
Hallowed Be Thy Name : An epic track that caps off a legendary album brilliantly. I hope the recent legal entanglements get resolved soon. Total Eclipse : I initially heard this song in 1984 on one of our local stations that had a 90 minute heavy metal show each week night at the time. I didn't realize that it was a b side until a few years later when I became more familiar with Maiden's discography and could not find it on any of the first three Dickinson albums. A much as I love "Gangland", I would have rather had "Total Eclipse" on NOTB even if it meant modifying the track order. Album Thoughts : Although the punkish elements that were present on the first two albums are still evident on "Invaders" and "The Prisoner", NOTB is where the classic Maiden sound comes into focus. With Bruce Dickinson's arrival the band's sound becomes more grandoise while retaining the energy of the earlier albums.
Total Eclipse I know this song from the 1982 live clip on the 12 Wasted Years video. It always sounded somehow amateurish and unfinished to me. I'm listening to the studio version for the first time right now. I really don't think it would work on the album. The album is way too good. To me the opening riff sounds like any local band from the garage. Nothing wrong with the verse. The chorus doesn't really take off. After that it just goes to every direction. No, pass.
Total Eclipse. Pity it wasn't on the original album....but I would not remove Gangland for it. I see Invaders as the weakest track...but am sure the extra track wouldn't have hurt the vinyl cut. They did this live back in 82' when I saw them...and like it a lot.
"Total Eclipse", I think I kept reading and hearing for years from fellow fans and people saying how this song was way better than the couple songs on the actual album. People kept saying how either "Invaders" and "Gangland" should have been replaced. I almost had the kind of autopilot mode in joining the praise for the song, but now thinking this thing seriously while listening for few times in row, eventhough Steve&co could have done different minds and settings over the album, I think the final tracklist of the original album is the best one. I don't remember when I heard this song for the first time in the 80's (it must have been the same as @Silksashbash mentioned, the "12 Wasted Years"-homevideo). Then later I must have heard it from the b-side of "Run To The Hills". "Total Eclipse" is actually ok song, maybe a bit lesser, with slightly darker edge and lyrics, but somehow eventhough I dig the song, it just woudn't work on the album and the song flow. It's got decent chorus perhaps but it won't just get it properly going. I've got a feeling that this song is kinda too basic and generic, if you don't believe me listen to the riffs carefully, now listening to it and thinking, I don't think it brings much anything to the original albums songlist. It lacks something..so maybe it was carefully put as on the b-side. While both "Invaders" and "Gangland" had memorable and catchy stuff added there, this song isn't at all memorable and don’t fit to the album. The original tracklisting by the way flows perfectly. For album thought I would say: Eventhough the first 2 albums were great and both of them have really special meaning, things were now getting a bit different from now on. With Bruce on board, there would be something like their unique sound of Iron Maiden. Taking a few steps forward and taking a bit away from those London punk street influenced sounds towards a bit more sophisticated and ambitious epic songs. Natural flow of things and they got a bit better on each album. Iron Maiden's got great set albums done in the 80's, all fine masterpieces and I think that it's truly incredible run of albums.
For some strange reason I stopped getting notifications on this thread's updates, so time to play catch up. The Number of the Beast Instant classic with that scream. What hasn't been said about this track? It is in a class of it's own. ****ing EPIC. 100 Cranks. Run to the Hills I think this is the first Maiden song I heard from a passing car without me knowing who it was, and I only heard a snippet. Another instant classic, and another ****ing Maiden epic. 5 Cranks. Gangland Meh. 3.5 Cranks. Hallowed Be Thy Name The most awesome-ist of Maiden tracks and by far my favorite out of all of them. (with pinky at the corner of my mouth) One-BILLION Cranks. Mad mad sick props for one of the piano players at the Vegas Napoleans dueling pianos that actually played the **** out of this song on his piano. Total Eclipse Love this track. 'nuff said. 5 Cranks. Overall one of my favorite Maiden albums. My cup runneth over with flowing Cranks. (okay that sounded weird, but I hope you get my point). On a side note, was King of Twilight a bonus track on this album?
King of Twilight was a B-side to Aces High. Maybe you're thinking of the '95 Castle reissue of Powerslave?
Total Eclipse - more than just about any Bruce-era Maiden song, is an indicator of what The X Factor may have sounded like with Bruce on vocals.
Total Eclipse I also first heard this song from the 12 Wasted Years video as well as when my friend received the fourth First 10 Years disc for his birthday in '91. I really like this song, especially live from the Hammersmith show in '82. I can't make up my mind if I prefer this or Gangland. For some reason though I just love to sing along with the line "war babies in the garden of eden."
I know we'll get to this when we discuss TXF, but I think Steve did a disservice to Blaze in still writing those songs with Bruce's voice/vocal ability in mind. He continued writing like he always had and the songs suffer for it. Then again, Blaze is a much more limited vocalist than Bruce anyway. As for the "darkness" of the material, I don't even know if Bruce would've saved that material. Steve was in a bad place in his family life and while it's certainly dark, it doesn't have that fire (IMO) that NOB and specifically Total Eclipse have. I'm really curious about when we get to those two albums and hear from people like you who have a great love for it.
TOTAL ECLIPSE Ok song. Better than "Gangland." I never heard it until I got the '98 remaster of NOTB, and I was so excited to be getting a bonus track. But after a few listens, it started being a track I sometimes skipped. The riff doesn't sound very Maiden-esque, although the very beginning actually reminds me of "Revelations." I'm not crazy about the slower breakdown at all. Kills the momentum rather than providing "variety."
Alright, I've decided to hold off on Beast Over Hammersmith until we get to the archive releases in 2002, so with that, here is....... Piece of Mind Piece of Mind is the fourth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, originally released in 1983 by EMI and then by Capitol in Canada and the US, where it was later reissued by Sanctuary/Columbia Records. It was the first album to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who had recently left the Paris-based band Trust and has been Iron Maiden's drummer ever since. Piece of Mind was a critical and commercial success, reaching No. 3 in the UK Albums Chart and achieving platinum certification in the UK and North America. BackgroundEdit In December 1982, drummer Clive Burr ended his association with the band due to personal and tour schedule problems and was replaced by Nicko McBrain, previously of French band Trust, as well as Pat Travers, and Streetwalkers.[2] Soon afterwards, the band went to Jersey to compose the songs, taking over the hotel Le Chalet (as it was out of season) and rehearsing in its restaurant. In February, the band journeyed for the first time to the Bahamas to record the album at Nassau's Compass Point Studios. Recordings were finished in March, and afterwards the album was mixed at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.[3][4] This is the first of five Iron Maiden albums that were not named after a song featured on the album itself (though the lyrics in the song "Still Life" contain the expression "peace of mind"). Originally, the release's working title was Food for Thought---once the band had decided that Eddie would be lobotomised on the front cover—until the band came up with the title Piece of Mind in a pub in Jersey during the album's writing stage.[5] Included in the liner notes is a slightly altered version of a passage from the Book of Revelation, which reads, And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more Death. Neither sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more brain; for the former things are passed away.[6] The actual text (from Chapter 21, Verse 4) is nearly identical, except that it reads, "neither shall there be any more pain" rather than "brain", which was added as a pun on the album's title.[6] In a lower corner on the back side of the album cover, there is this message: "No synthesizers or ulterior motives". Edit Professional ratings Piece of Mind was released on 28 May 1983, peaking at No. 3 in the UK Albums Chart.[16] It was preceded by the single "Flight of Icarus" on 28 April and its supporting tour, the World Piece Tour, opened at Hull City Hall on 2 May. Said tour concluded on 18 December, following 139 concerts in total, with a televised performance at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund.[17][4] In North America, the album became the band's highest charting thus far, peaking at No. 14 in the Billboard 200.[18] By July, Piece of Mind was certified gold by the RIAA,[19] rising up to platinum status in 1986.[20] In 1995, the album achieved platinum status in the UK.[21] Reviews for Piece of Mind were mostly positive. In 1983, Kerrang! magazine published a poll of the greatest metal albums of all time, with Piece of Mind ranking No. 1, and with The Number of the Beast at No. 2.[5] Since its release, the album has received consistent critical acclaim with Sputnikmusic stating that it's "easily an album that belongs in your collection", although they argue that "the likes of Powerslave [1984], Somewhere in Time [1986], and Brave New World [2000] would over take it",[15] while AllMusic described it as "essential for anyone with even the most basic interest in heavy metal", although "the second half dips a bit from the first".[10] In addition, it was ranked No. 21 on IGN's list of the top 25 metal albums in 2007.[22] Track listingEdit Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Where Eagles Dare" Steve Harris 6:08 2. "Revelations" Bruce Dickinson 6:51 3. "Flight of Icarus" Adrian Smith, Dickinson 3:49 4. "Die with Your Boots On" Smith, Dickinson, Harris 5:22 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 5. "The Trooper" Harris 4:10 6. "Still Life" Dave Murray, Harris 4:27 7. "Quest for Fire" Harris 3:40 8. "Sun and Steel" Dickinson, Smith 3:25 9. "To Tame a Land" Harris 7:26 Total length: 45:18 1995 reissue bonus CD No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "I've Got the Fire" (Montrose cover) Ronnie Montrose 2:38 2. "Cross-Eyed Mary" (Jethro Tullcover) Ian Anderson PersonnelEdit Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[1][23] Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals Dave Murray – guitar Adrian Smith – guitar Steve Harris – bass guitar Nicko McBrain – drums Production Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing Frank Gibson – assistant engineer Denis Haliburton – assistant engineer Bruce Buchhalter – assistant mixing engineer Derek Riggs – sleeve illustration, sleeve design, sleeve concept Simon Fowler – photography Keith Peacock – art continuation Rod Smallwood – management, sleeve design, sleeve concept Andy Taylor – management Simon Heyworth – remastering (1998 edition) Ross Halfin – photography (1998 edition) Robert Ellis – photography (1998 edition) Where Eagles Dare: We open the album with Where Eagles Dare, written by Steve and based on an Alistair Maclean novel that was adapted into a film starring Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. The film, and by extension the book, is about a WWII rescue of an American general in Nazi stronghold. The track, and the album, begins with a drum intro that Steve tried explaining to Nicko after saying the song needed a drum intro, and when he tried demonstrating it, Nicko went "oh, you mean like this?" and Steve replied "YES!". It's a cool little drum intro, and a nice way of not only setting up the track but demonstrating what the new guy can do, and though I prefer Clive, Nicko is an awesome replacement, and he shines on this song, as does Bruce, who starts at :28, and good God, does the mother****er belt it out, and you're rooting for the soldiers to succeed in their mission, cause they are about to enter Hell on Earth. At 2:11, Dave lets out a pretty kickass solo, ringing out like a siren over the gunfire and chaos, and oh my God, when he and Adrian harmonize at 2:50, it's absolute magic what these two have together. And when the band as a whole plays, it's clear this lineup has something going for it, because even though Nicko is a little more straight ahead than Clive was, he is still a great fit. This is an outstanding track and a perfect way to open this album. On a scale of one to ten, I give it winning a world war.
Where Eagles Dare, one of my favourite WWII films and by coincidence, my current reading book. If one criticism had of NOTB was its opening number was pretty weak, Steve & Co clearly learnt a lesson and kicked off Piece of Mind with a much better song. Whilst not the best on the LP its a good song in its own right and kicks things off brilliantly as the song builds up the tension like Maj. Smith and Lt. Schaffer scaling the Scloss Adler in the novel. The sounds in the background rattle off like machine gun fire through parts of the song with some great musicianship from all involved and Nico making his presence felt after Burrs departure and Bruce doing a grand job as narrator to the quest before letting rip with a held note for his final lyric. Its a good start, on the front foot for the band and shows that a drummer change hasnt stalled them. Good song, but there are better in the album, starting immediately after with track 2....
