"Caught Somewhere In Time", I think this is great way to open the album with. This is long song and feels like little epic in such sense as the musical variety builds up so greatly. It gets me pumped up each time. Energetic song with some bizarre time vortex trek. I think this song perfectly combines energy and atmosphere here, resulting in one of the memorable songs as there's some excitement going all through the song. Perhaps, Im not actually even sure, not even close to 100% as write this, but actually CSIT could be one of the best openers for Iron Maiden albums or live-shows. It might even be the one, but there's other greats aswell. It's got pretty covered on what the opener needs here, fantastic and memorable intro, great solos, gallop on the bass and also top performance from Bruce. The chorus here in this song is prime, examplary edition of working catchy chorus. It gets to you each time. The guitars are incredible to follow and listen to all through the song, there's also absolutely one of the best solos ever from H. The whole twin guitar harmonies and melodies, the both solos and trade offs, it's just so seamless transition from one to another and the solos really serve the song and purpose here. Steve's groovy and interesting galloping and also steady beats provided by Nicko just work and resulting in one of most catchiest but also exciting Maiden-songs ever. I don't remember how I felt or reacted the very first time I had heard that intro, but I suppose, now thinking it must have upset some of the fans back then who must have been so surprised. I was hooked and grabbed by it anyways. Always loved this one. So, I will rank this as follows: 5/5 I think it's too bad that they still couldn't somehow find a way to include this to the 2008 tour setlist, even if the tour was named Somewhere Back In Time World Tour. The same thing happened with Infinite Dreams for 2013 tour and both of these song were played on the then released albums-tours but never picked again for setlists for later tours. Maybe they felt that Bruce couldn't handle the vocals on those songs? Otherwise with 3 guitars both songs would have worked greatly. I remember that I have been so disappointed that these songs haven't been resurrected back to setlists yet. Maybe, just maybe for someday I will get to hear those songs live as they deserve to be done so, they are now like forgotten gems and I can't understand how could any band afford not to play masterpieces like that? I remember when I was starting to trade and collect Maiden-shows (on cd and dvd) many years ago, one of the shows that I got first was that Paris 1986 show (the clip of CSIT that @Musicman1998 posted earlier). Everything here works as it's needed and this is just phenomenal song to start the album with. Just amazing song that everytime gets me back to the days and it gives me some nice memories..
Apologies, I posted the videos by mistake last night. I was firmly in "album by album thread" mode and forgot we're doing this song by song. All too easy to get carried away. Giving the album a play on vinyl this morning.
Somewhere in Time - haven't heard this tune in years. Much better than I remember. Quick time change, none of this waiting until later in the song, its up front. A good ol' galloper. Would fit well into the set-list now, maybe on the 2018 tour? Edit: a bit of similarity - sound and pace to Only the Good Die Young. It reminds me a little of that one. Either of those tunes on the 2018 set-list would be good. Another song rediscovered and added into my Maiden playlist.
Somewhere in Time is still a pretty great listen overall after all these years, and it's arguably better than anything they've done post-1988, that's for sure (partly because they had a terrific and strong producer to keep them focused, unlike now!)... but as some here have indicated, it's this album where the 'Maiden formula' starts to become apparent, and Bruce Dickinson's more passive participation in the album's creative direction is unfortunate but understandable... although I would love to hear what his "acoustic-based" songs were like that he brought to the table, would they have been anything like 'Tears of the Dragon' perchance? If so, it's Maiden's loss that they never used them, such a move might have broadened their musical spectrum considerably and moved them to a much-needed new level, although I don't think they would even have used the aforementioned 'Tears...' if Bruce had offered it either at the time or later, prior to his 1993 exit; Maiden are a band that have always progressed in increments and not in sudden leaps, Steve Harris is musically very conservative (maybe overly so) and doesn't want to rock the boat too much, then or now, and producer Martin Birch was very wary at the time of both Dickinson's and Adrian Smith's tendencies to want to push the musical boat out a lot further than the Maiden brand was known for... it's no coincidence that it was both Smith and Dickinson who would both be gone a few years later. Maybe Dickinson was still burnt out after the World Slavery Tour and the material he brought to the table simply wasn't good enough, but I guess we'll never know for sure unless we actually ever hear those songs he offered, if they were even recorded/demoed to begin with. All I know is that Dickinson was right in his assessment that Maiden needed to branch out musically at that time, keep the core Maiden ethos, but also stretch their musical wings. Some people contend they did with Somewhere..., but let's face it, once you take away the synths, that album is Just Another Iron Maiden Album, however a good one it is. Still, it is a damn good album overall, and it's a stepping stone to the magisterial Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - which I'll comment on more when we get to - and like I said, once you acknowledge and accept the fact that Maiden move in musical increments not leaps, then it's a logical and solid progression on what came before... but with some vision, foresight, and adventurous thinking, it could have been more as Dickinson wanted it to be. It just irritates me that with the lackluster, misguided, and under-cooked No Prayer for the Dying, they never really completed what they started with Somewhere..., and built upon with Seventh Son..., ultimately losing two of their best songwriters as a result of the musical stagnation and creative malaise that Maiden sank into during their fallow 1990's years (with literally one or two notable exceptions), alas...
May I ask why? To me, he was a selfish, narcissistic abuser who left nothing but destruction in his wake... an utterly, utterly vile creature who died penniless, alone, miserable, and hopelessly addicted to morphine with a trail of human wreckage behind him. Worthy of study, but certainly not sympathy and/or admiration.
Caught Somewhere in Time The intro starts off at a slower pace and I like the band's decision to open the album with something thematic and a mid-tempo groove. It's the same formula, slightly modified, as Aces High and it works on CSIT as well. I don't notice the synths on here, I mean, I can hear them certainly, but I don't notice they're there. I don't pay attention to them and they don't bother me - not here, not anywhere on the album. That's interesting to me because usually I hate them, esp. later keyboard stuff from the band in the 90's and after. On this song in particular I hear them as being more subtle and used in the way they should be, which is as coloration. The guitars, bass, drums and vocals still take the main role and any synths stay in the background. I love the way the song starts off, great harmony riff with Steve playing bass chords underneath until the gallop comes in. It's great to have the tempo slightly increase when Steve and Nicko start the gallop and then when the song really kicks in at :50 we get another tempo change, going into a higher gear and we're off. I love Nicko's playing on this song - his right foot keeps the bass drum triplet for the whole song except for slight changes. Single bass drum...dude's incredible. Rhythmically this song is a powerhouse. Steve doesn't do too many things that are complex, but it just relentless. Bruce sounds excellent singing this song and I really like Steve's words here too. I love this song and my only beef is the chorus. On previous songs like Running Free and Wrathchild, Steve wasn't very imaginative with the choruses and Caught Somewhere in Time is the first one where he just repeats the same phrase, the song title, over and over. It's really lazy songwriting and it gets worse as we travel through the catalog. Here, it doesn't bother me too much, but I certainly notice it. The "caught now in two minds" one from the last chorus shows that he could write something different here. Anyway, that's a very small gripe of mine. Otherwise I freakin' love this song. The change after the 1st chorus is really cool - more excellence from Nicko leads into an excellent Dave solo. The slight change during this solo that Steve and Nicko do is extremely cool. Adrian's solo is another fantastic one that shows both of them keep upping their game. Seriously, those two just keep getting better and better with each album. Well, I guess everyone does, because all five of them really push it on this song/album. Caught Somewhere in Time is an absolute powerhouse.
I've never heard him mention any specific songs, unfortunately. I've been insanely curious since I first heard about these "acoustic songs". If I ever talk to him again, that's the question I'm asking.
Definitely, as there's few really interesting things and bothering matters that need to be asked. I've been wondering and been fascinated with this "acoustic stuff" and etc things when I have heard or read them mentioned somewhere through the years. Well, I just hope to meet him again someday and then I can ask my few precious questions..
The only acoustic things I know he's done are Tears of the Dragon (the B-side version) and a couple of B's from Skunkworks, R-101 and Re-Entry. Well, there's also Ballad of Mutt, but that's such a goof. I hope that Mutt wasn't intended for Somewhere in Time! I was really hoping we'd get these answers in his book, too bad he didn't include that information. Edit: and Tears wasn't written until until 93, the lyrics anyway
Maybe that acoustic-stuff intended for SIT never surfaced to any album in that form, we can only guess and wonder really. Now that you mentioned, I have to listen to the expanded-versions of his solo-albums, there's plenty of interesting stuff there really.. With the last years Bruce vinyl-boxset, Im planning to listen to each album and it's b-sides more carefully or atleast try when got time for it, looking forward as I don't remember all the b-sides. Add the song "Acoustic Song" to your list..there might be more, but can't recall exactly all the b-sides now..
Agreed, I hope it's songs we haven't heard before. I love the expanded editions of his solo albums. Some fantastic songs ended up as B-sides or unreleased until Best Of like Acoustic Song (thanks for the reminder on that one). I listen to Bruce's 96-98 albums more than I listen to a lot of Maiden these days.
Agreed, perhaps "hero" was not that right word I should have used. He's as always been a fascinating individual to me. I've read a lot about him and can identify with some of his interests (like mountain climbing for instance). That's as far as it goes. You're are correct, though: not a person worthy of admiration.
Wasted Years: Now we kick into Track Two and the leading single, written by Adrian Smith. We start off with this neat little guitar lick with Nicko's drumming underneath, providing an excellent support, highly creative and rhythmic, this thread is definitely making me appreciate Nicko more, becuase while I am still Team Clive, Nicko is a solid mothaf---er, and very engaging and really adding something to these songs, which, after a month of Matt Sorum, is a godsend. And the guitar lick gives me a Neal Schon vibe,total dickhead, but I love that guy's guitar playing, and while I'm not sure if Adrian is necessarily a Journey guy, I could see him digging what Neal did with Santana or even the first three Journey albums. And on that note, this is definitely a more commercial song than most of this album or Iron Maiden's classic run in general, makes sense why this was chosen as a single, and fortunately, this is a case where "commercial" isn't necessarily bad. At :29, Bruce comes in and wails out the lyrics powerfully, singing of how we must not waste the time we have, and on the chorus, he has a borderline Steve Perry quality, but still Dickinson. And 3:14, Adrian delivers a quality solo, he really shines on this song, and I gotta say, this so far contains some of his best solos yet, I love seeing him grow as the albums progress, I'm beginning to see why he's the fan favorite. I love, love, LOVE this song, such an awesome, catchy song and a classic to me. On a scale of one to ten, I give it Eddie fighting off aliens
I know that Steve Harris is a big Journey fan and it wouldn't surprise me if some of the others are as well.
Cool. Granted, I can See it, giving that Steve loves bands with great musicianship, which Journey has always had
Wasted Years The best, for me anyways, my favourite Maiden single. From Adrian's simple but hypnotic intro....this is a brilliant song. Always loved the video when they get to the mid section just before the solo's....with Nicko and Harris locked in on the rhythm. They never got better than this single's wise.... 5/5
This is my alltime favorite playback performance: Iron Maiden - Wasted Years [live on P.I.T (German TV Show) August 1986]
Iron Maiden - Wasted Years (Flight 666) (Monterrey, Mexico; 22 February 2008) There's plenty of good pro-shot and audience-shot versions from each tour that this song was performed, but I won't post any more videos here. There's plenty of great, good, ok, funny and etc performances out there.. Porto Alegre pro-shot show from march 5th, 2008 has that funny intro, as Bruce pretends to call his mother via the mobile-phone (which someone had thrown to the stage). And also, I think there was mistake of starting the song in correct sequence (must have been either Steve or Nicko messing up) and Adrian's got little smile there as it happens. Before I derail this thread onto something else, let me tell you about the first show from 2009 (Belgrade,Serbia): -H starts 2MTM instead of Wrathchild, the band carries on. -Nicko randomly counts The Trooper in (21:10). Band reactions are hillarious. Then he proceeds to **** up Phantom at 22:20. -And my favourite, H starts playing WY instead of Trooper. Bruce tells him to get his eyes ****ing checked (28:45). -after HBTN, Bruce thinks it's the end of the show. He says goodnight, see you later, while the band just stands there like, WTF is he doing? After he gave so much **** to Nicko and H during the show, he ****ed up in the end too. HBTN was the last song of the set, on the previous years leg of the tour, that's why Bruce must have thought that it was the last song of the evening.
As I said, "Wasted Years" is Iron Maiden's BEST song. Is it their greatest? Perhaps not, but it's par excellence in terms of melody, hooks, and a great driving rhythm. Steve's pretty restrained here in terms of his playing which was very wise as this song had "hit single" written all over it. See? Steve can play with taste when he wants to. He's just great. I do agree with the guitar playing being kind of similar to what Neal Schon might do on any number of projects. Perhaps Adrian liked the Schon & Hammer albums or even HSAS. Smith always seemed to fall more in the commercial/melodic school in terms of songwriting (which is probably why he bailed for a time).
Wasted Years Brilliant song! This is my 5th favorite Maiden song of their whole catalogue. (I've ranked them all) If you want to get someone into Iron Maiden this is the song to do it with. Its very accessible, not too hardcore but harder than mainstream rock/pop. Possibly my favorite Adrian solo and I love how he keeps soloing even after the chorus starts back up at 3:40.
Smith was essentially 'asked' to leave - they're English, they do have manners, y' know! - in February 1990 because he consistently voiced his opposition to the musical direction, quality, and approach taken for the No Prayer... album; he insisted the band spend more time in writing and to hopefully continue the musical direction they had been exploring in the previous two albums... the rest of the band initially agreed, but that plan went out the window in less than two weeks when enough material was written very quickly and Steve Harris decided not to wait for the studio sessions they had booked for April-June that year at London's Battery studios, that recording it in his barn was a good idea, with Harris himself essentially co-producing because even Martin Birch thought that it was all a bit rushed. Even Bruce Dickinson had misgivings about it, but ultimately relented and sided with Harris... a decision he later regretted, but by then, Smith was gone and Maiden had entered the realms of mediocrity. Things were never as good again... Adrian Smith, Martin Birch, Bruce Dickinson, Derek Riggs... all contributed to making Maiden what they were in the 1980's and all gone in a few years of each other.
I actually didn’t know that! I had always assumed Smith just bailed due to burn out and not liking the direction of the band. I never knew he was kicked out! Wow.
