Oh come on now! You didn't seriously think I was going to run Metal Month without crowbarring in some Iron Maiden, now did you?
Last year, as you may remember, I featured my top ten tracks from the pre-Dickinson era, but this year I want to try to set out my top forty tracks overall. Now, this does not include any albums after
Brave New World, not because they're not good, but because in general, I have not really listened to any of the albums after that. I've probably heard them once or maybe twice, but certainly not enough to be able to pick out good tracks from them, whereas the other albums I know pretty much inside out. This list also does not contain anything from the new album, because I've yet to fully absorb that. On first listen, it's quite possible that some of the songs from
The Book of Souls might very well have made it onto this list, but as I didn't have the time to fully immerse myself in it before the list was compiled I'm just excluding it, which I think is the fairest way to approach it.
Naturally, some of you will gasp in disbelief at the position of some of these songs, my ignoring others and will think that some of them perhaps do not deserve to be in a Maiden top forty, and that's fine; but remember this is my list and these are my own personal preferences. I know Iron Maiden very well, unlike most other metal bands, and I have been very careful to choose only the tracks here that I personally believe deserve their place, and have ranked them as I think they should be ranked.
So, with that in mind, let's get underway.
40 “The Angel and the Gambler” (from Virtual XI)
It might seem odd, considering all the (deserved) flak I've given the two Blaze Bayley era albums, that I would include a track from one on my top forty, but there's a reason for that. When I relistened to
Virtual XI on “Last Chance Saloon”, in a final, desperate bid to see if there was anything --- anything! --- I had missed on the album, some small item that might point towards any kind of reconciliation between us, something to heal the divide and allow me to accept this as a legitimate Maiden album, my fears were confirmed. It is as bad an album as I had thought, and the passage of time had not done anything to change my mind. Slightly older ears agreed with the younger ones: this is not an album worthy of my favourite metal band.
But I did at least find one track I could stomach, and this is it. While it's very repetitive, very much overlong at just short of ten minutes and just seems to be the result of lazy writing on the part of Steve Harris of all people, there's at least a discernible melody there and I actually like the way Harris uses the keyboards. None of the other songs from either album had a sniff of a chance of getting into my list but this did, scraping in just right at the bottom. But it still made it.
39 “Iron Maiden” (from Iron Maiden)
Many of you will howl and jeer and scoff, and perhaps throw the first thing that comes to hand in derision, protest or perhaps just laugh in incredulity that such a standard, the very signature tune and a song that no gig is complete without, should occupy such a low place on my list. Well, sod you is all I can say.
I think everyone knows my preference for Dickinson over Di'Anno and even narrowing it down, I like
Killers much more than I do the debut. The self-titled album that launched the phenomenon that is Iron Maiden upon us is, to my mind, a little too raw, a little too rooted in punk tropes, and badly produced. Once they sort themselves out though --- ditch Dennis Stratton for Adrian Smith, fire Malone and fall in with Birch --- we have a totally classic album on our hands, which is why much of that album is going to feature here, probably a lot higher than this one.
I don't particularly care for “Iron Maiden” the song, but as it's such an anthem for them I felt it would be next to impossible to leave it off. Nevertheless it too only scrapes in, though at least it's better than “Angel and the gambler”!
38 “Afraid to shoot strangers” (from Fear of the Dark)
There aren't too many fans who will dispute the fact that this was a poor album. The last to feature Dickinson for eight years, it was the one that launched us into what I have termed before “The Wilderness Years”, when we were expected to accept a third-rate vocalist and a slew of fourth or even fifth-rate songs, resulting in two turds on acetate. Thankfully this time is long past now, but even back in 1992 you could see the cracks widening and
Fear of the Dark has maybe five decent tracks, with I think only three selected for my list.
This one I like because of its change in tempo. From a slowish, almost balladic gentle song it kicks up halfway into a real rocker, with the vocal from Dickinson surging in response. I also like the subject matter, that being a soldier is not always an honourable job or one you should wish to do, and that war is never ever ever black and white. One of the tracks which, coming as it does near the start of the album, lulled me into a false sense of security and instilled in me the hope that this could be a decent album, an impression I was very soon disabused of.
37 “Moonchild” (from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son)
A lot of people love this album. I don't hate it by any means, but I see a lot of weak tracks in it. Despite its being a single, and a hit, I don't really care for “Can I play with madness” much at all, and again, the title track is way too long. This also marks the end, mostly, of the shorter Iron Maiden albums, with only eight tracks. With the exception of
Virtual XI which has eight --- seven too many if you ask me! --- all future Maiden albums would have tracks in the double digits, and their running times would extend exponentially, culminating in this year's
The Book of Souls, which runs a staggering ninety-two minutes.
Anyway, what has all that to do with this pick? Nothing really: I'm just pointing out that I wasn't as impressed with
Seventh Son as many others were, but that I do rate several tracks from it, and this, the opener, with its introduction before it kicks up on the twin guitar assault, is one of them. Dickinson's somewhat evil laugh at the end helps too.
36 “Die with your boots on” (from Piece of Mind)
The perfect follow-on from the hugely popular “The Trooper”, this song doesn't go into too many weighty discussions and ideas about war, as later Maiden songs would. Following in the lyrical footsteps of that preceding track, it presents war as more or less inevitable as Bruce declares
“No point asking where it is, no point asking who's to go? No point asking what's the game? No point asking who's to blame?” The best thing you can do is die on your feet, stand up and face your enemies, and in the best tradition of the Vikings and later the Klingons, die with honour and glory. I believe (though I may be wrong) that there was a tradition among old soldiers (maybe Vikings, not sure) that if they did die in bed, they would ask for thier boots to be put on their feet, so that when they had to face their Maker they could say that they did indeed die with their boots on.
It's a bouncy, fist-pumping song with a superb solo from David or Adrian (who knows who does what?) and on the album it picks up the abrupt ending of “The Trooper” and almost piles directly into this, giving you hardly time to draw breath. It also ends suddenly with a big “DIE!” from Bruce. Class.
35 “Where eagles dare” (from Piece of Mind)
The opening track from the album, it hit me square between the eyes when I first heard it. My last experience, at that time, of Iron Maiden had been the stupendous ending to
The Number of the Beast, the incredible “Hallowed be thy name”, so I was unsure if the lads could top that. They didn't --- few if any Maiden tracks could --- but by god they came back with a hammerpunch of a followup album, and to hear this as the first track was a vindication and a realisation that, yeah, I had found a band I could really follow, and who would get me into other metal bands.
I like the way Steve Harris employs a lot of “Boys Own” adventure into his lyrics, with references to war and fighting, battles and heroes. It may be a little simplistic, but tracks like “Aces high”, “Tailgunner” and of course this and the previous one give you a real feeling that he is proud to be British, to be linked to all those heroes, brave men who gave their lives so that people like me were not writing things like this in German --- if I'd been spared the concentration camps, that is!
34 The Nomad (from Brave New World)
There are many reasons why I've chosen this. First of course is that it was taken from the album on which Bruce triumphantly returned to us, and we could put the sour memories of
Virtual XI and
The X-Factor safely behind us. Secondly, I like the way it goes into a long instrumental section near the end, and when I heard it first I thought it would end like that, but then after several minutes of this Bruce comes back in with the vocal, and it's so surprising the first time you hear it t hat it really has an impact on you. It's also interesting that it's one of Maiden's more progressive songs, and doesn't use the fast tempo that they normally prefer to employ. I like the semi-arabic phrasing on it, which certainly puts me in mind of someone travelling through the desert. Finally, I love the fact that although it's a long song --- over nine minutes --- it never seems to drag or seem overextended, or filled out for the sake of it.
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33 “Bring your daughter ... to the slaughter” (from No Prayer for the Dying)
I'd have to include this if only for the title. What a hoot! But given that it was Maiden's only ever number one single, it would have to find a place here. This is possibly the more surprising when you realise that it was written by Bruce solo, his first since writing two tracks on
Powerslave, including the title track. Originally used in the movie
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Dickinson was asked by Harris if he would hold off putting it on his debut solo album and allow Maiden to record it instead. Despite being banned by the BBC (boo!) the song shot to number one, though not in time for Christmas.
It's a good punchy rocker with a lot of humour, and the rhyming of the two words is just pure genius. Again,
No Prayer is not a stellar album, but if I had to pick some decent tracks from it, this would definitely be among them. And so it is.
32 “Out of the silent planet” (from Brave New World)
Originally, I couldn't get this into the countdown and so had to replace another track. Which one? Can't recall now. Might have been “Remember tomorrow”. Yeah, I think it was. Anyway, you all know I love
Brave New World and I do have other tracks from it in the list, but I particularly like this one for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's the odd title --- what the hell does it mean? --- or the hook in the chorus. Could even be the way the guitars follow the vocal melody near the end. Or the big mad guitar intro that then descends into a sort of acoustic buildup, or even the way it speeds up and gets really intense near the end. Maybe it's even the fact that much of the lyric is just the title being repeated. I don't know, but I really like it, so here it is.
31 “The Trooper” (from Piece of Mind)
I don't really have to explain this one do I? One of the best singles released by Maiden, the lyric lays bare the uncaring nature of war, the futility of it, and the eponymous soldier realises this as he dies, declaring “As I lie forgotten and alone, without a tear I draw my parting groan”. Could there be a more stark reminder of how brutal and unglamorous war is? If you fall in battle, don't expect your buddies to pick you up or help you, or stay to ease your passing. They'll be too busy trying to keep themselves alive!
The guitar motif in the song fits in perfectly with the subject matter, and Maiden's traditional “Whoa-oh-oh!” used throughout it just heightens the excitement, and also saves Harris from having to think up a chorus! The usage of the Charge of the Light Brigade in the video to accompany the single just sets the seal on Maiden's comment on war. Perfect.