Poll

What are your favorites of these Iron Maiden songs?

Strange World
11 (4.5%)
Innocent Exile
5 (2.1%)
Twilight Zone
4 (1.7%)
Invaders
14 (5.8%)
The Prisoner
25 (10.3%)
Die With Your Boots On
17 (7%)
Sun and Steel
6 (2.5%)
The Duellists
11 (4.5%)
Sea of Madness
23 (9.5%)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
14 (5.8%)
The Prophecy
13 (5.4%)
Run Silent Run Deep
6 (2.5%)
Judas Be My Guide
12 (5%)
Look For the Truth
3 (1.2%)
The Unbeliever
6 (2.5%)
Lightning Strikes Twice
4 (1.7%)
The Educated Fool
5 (2.1%)
The Fallen Angel
11 (4.5%)
Montsegur
17 (7%)
New Frontier
2 (0.8%)
The Pilgrim
4 (1.7%)
Out of the Shadows
4 (1.7%)
Mother of Mercy
8 (3.3%)
The Alchemist
6 (2.5%)
When the River Runs Deep
6 (2.5%)
The Man Of Sorrows
5 (2.1%)

Total Members Voted: 36

Author Topic: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Senjutsu  (Read 183475 times)

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Offline Nick

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Killers (1981)
« Reply #105 on: May 25, 2017, 12:42:09 PM »
So, um...not to rush anyone or anything...and not to sound like I don't appreciate the effort that goes into these posts, but...next album sometime soon?  :)

No problem, it's The Number of the Beast.
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Offline Mosh

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Killers (1981)
« Reply #106 on: May 25, 2017, 01:36:02 PM »
So, um...not to rush anyone or anything...and not to sound like I don't appreciate the effort that goes into these posts, but...next album sometime soon?  :)
Sent you a PM.
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Offline Mosh

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Killers (1981)
« Reply #107 on: May 25, 2017, 01:50:54 PM »
We'll be getting to NOTB soon, but some stuff to talk about before we move on:
Closing Thoughts On the Di’Anno Years

Maiden began experiencing problems with Paul Di’Anno during the Killers tour. He was unhappy with the long stretches of touring and began abusing drugs. His performances suffered and it became obvious that Maiden were in need of yet another change. Paul was dismissed from the band at the end of the band’s Autumn European tour. Maiden returned to the stage with a new singer just a month later. Bruce Dickinson (or Bruce Bruce, as he was known then) had already gained notoriety in another NWOBHM group, Samson, and Maiden knew immediately after Paul’s departure that he was the right man for the job.
 
Bruce Dickinson sang on two albums with Samson:
 
Head On (1980)


For some reason my Head On review is giving me a 403 error. Not sure what to do about it, although it's accepting this part:

Overall, Head On is a decent album but it’s clear that this material is beneath Bruce’s abilities. There’s a lot of hard rock/blues influences and the music is fairly simple. Yet Bruce’s operatic and theatrical vocal style brings the otherwise generic music to a higher level. It’s not hard to see how Maiden knew right away that this was the man for the job. Also check out this album for Samson's version of Ides of March!
 
Shock Tactics (1981)


The followup to Head On is a stronger effort, although still quite a few degrees lower than what Maiden were doing. Still, Bruce is able to flex his muscles more here and the music has some more variety. The clear highlight of the album is the Russ Ballard cover, Riding With the Angels. The Kiss fans here will know the significance of the original writer of Russ Ballard, because he also penned New York Groove and the original version of God Gave Rock and Roll To You. Samson nail this cover, mostly thanks to Bruce’s vocal performance. Easily the highlight of the band’s short career.
 
Some interesting trivia for this album: It was recorded in the same studio at the same time Maiden were recording Killers. According to Bruce, he sat in on some of Maiden’s sessions and witnessed the band having difficulties with Paul.
 
Bootlegs
There is a decent amount of officially released Di’Anno era live material. In addition to what we’ve already discussed, there’s some stuff on Eddie’s Archive (we’ll get to that later) and various b-sides from the period. However, there are no full shows officially available and I’m not sure if the spirit of that lineup has been truly captured on an official release. Fortunately, there are actually a few good bootlegs from this era, so I thought I’d share some before we move on to Number of the Beast.

https://tiny.cc/Tokyo1981
This is a recording from the band’s first Japanese tour. It’s not the same show that was released on Maiden Japan (pretty sure that would be against the rules) but it’s the same setlist. It’s a soundboard recording with a great setlist. Included are songs that were never played again after this tour such as Purgatory, Genghis Khan, and Twilight Zone. There’s also a guitar solo and a rare instance of Maiden playing a cover live: I’ve Got the Fire by Montrose. This bootleg is a soundboard recording and is very high quality, some even prefer it to the sound of Maiden Japan. Arguably the best Di’Anno era bootleg.
 
https://tiny.cc/Milan1981
This is a recording of the band’s first tour with Bruce in late 1981. It’s still part of the Killers tour so the setlist is very similar, so you get a few tracks that were only played with Bruce on this tour. The quality isn’t as good but it’s passable and the historical value makes it worth at least skimming through. Bruce sounds great on Purgatory, I’ll never understand why that song never got played again.
 
https://tiny.cc/RuskinArms1981
One more “Breaking In Bruce” recording. Again, the quality isn’t great on this but the historic content is incredible. This was the band’s final performance of 1981 before going into the studio to record Number of the Beast. The venue is of course the Ruskin Arms, so the performance acted as a sort of homecoming for the band after their first world tour. What makes this album especially special is the performance of some NOTB material. Run To the Hills in particular is a really fascinating listen because nobody in the audience recognizes it! Hearing it introduced as a new song is surreal. This bootleg also includes the soundcheck where they rehearsed Hallowed Be Thy Name.
 
And if you want more early Bruce performances, here’s video of his first show with Maiden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k5CF_6bIgA
 
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Offline cramx3

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From wikipedia
Quote
While fronting the band, Dickinson also came across Iron Maiden for the first time, who were supporting Samson at the Music Machine in 1980.[30] As Dickinson recalls; "I was watching them, and they were good, really fucking good, and at that moment, I remember thinking, 'I wanna fucking sing for that band. In fact, I'm going to sing for that band! I know I'm going to sing for that band!' ... I just thought, 'This is really me. Not Samson.'"

Pretty amazing how that works out

Offline jjrock88

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I enjoyed Bruce's Samson material and that's a cool story about what happened in the studio

Offline PowerSlave

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Killers (1981)
« Reply #110 on: May 25, 2017, 06:18:43 PM »
What makes this album especially special is the performance of some NOTB material.

James, is that you?
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Online TAC

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Mosh, great recap. And the bootleg links are a great touch. Nice.



When I was a kid, I had a cassette of Samson's Head Tactics, which was a mashup of the two albums.

Also, IIRC, Bruce played Riding With The Angels on his Tattooed Millionaire tour.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Phoenix87x

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Like a fool, I neglected the Di'Anno era for so many years. I worship Bruce and just wrote off the first two album and just for the hell of it picked up Killers. Mother of god, what a great album and what a fool I was.

I now routinely listen to the debut and killers quite often. They are so rockin and badass. I love it  :metal

Also, strange world has been in my head for days. So damn good. In one week, I shall see them for the first time. I can not wait.

Online TAC

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Also, this is the point where I was about to become an Iron Maiden fan. As soon as Mosh unleashed TNOTB, my experience will be in real time.

Listening to Purgatory. The opening guitar sounds a lot like Ozzy's You Can't Kill Rock n Roll.
« Last Edit: May 25, 2017, 08:02:54 PM by TAC »
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Mister Gold

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Haven't had much to say so far, since I'm not a huge fan of the Dianno era, but I will say that Phantom of the Opera is one of the band's best songs- although it really comes to life when Bruce sings it live- and that Paul's vocals on Killers is particularly great. In fact, I always felt like he sounded like a punk version of Halford on that song.

The Bruce audition recordings are pretty fun to listen to, if anyone else here has ever listened to 'em. He sounds particularly good on the rendition of Killers.
Beyond the limits of the mortal frame
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Offline Mosh

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Mosh, great recap. And the bootleg links are a great touch. Nice.



When I was a kid, I had a cassette of Samson's Head Tactics, which was a mashup of the two albums.

Also, IIRC, Bruce played Riding With The Angels on his Tattooed Millionaire tour.
Yea, it was the opener. Great performance on the live DVD from that tour. We'll talk about Bruce's solo career for sure.

I think Paul sang most of his songs better than Bruce. There are some exceptions, but the material was better suited for his style especially on the first album. I listened to two bootlegs from the Killers tour back-to-back not too long ago, one with Paul on vocals and one with Bruce, and I have to say I think if I was around at the time I might not have accepted Bruce right away.  Of course hindsight is 20/20 and Bruce is my favorite singer of all time, but he was such a departure from Paul that I can imagine he still had to prove himself. There was no other choice than to bring it to the next level with NOTB.
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Offline Mladen

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I'm pleasantly surprised you decided to dig into the Samson albums before moving onto The Number of the beast. I was never into them, but it's interesting and fairly important to know where Bruce came from.

Offline wolfking

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You know what, the massive Bruce and Maiden fan that I am, I've never checked out any Samson at all.  Really should fix that.
Everyone else, except Wolfking is wrong.

Offline cramx3

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Also, IIRC, Bruce played Riding With The Angels on his Tattooed Millionaire tour.

Yup, I really enjoyed his performance of this song (a live recording is on the Tattooed Millionaire extended edition).  I listened to some Samson, but their cover of this song was the only thing that really interested me.

Online TAC

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Samson is not great, from what I remember. It's really interesting only because of Bruce.

Looks like there are some Reissues set for June 2nd, including Live At Reading '81. I may grab that, but likely not the studio stuff.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Online Stadler

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Samson is not great, from what I remember. It's really interesting only because of Bruce.

Looks like there are some Reissues set for June 2nd, including Live At Reading '81. I may grab that, but likely not the studio stuff.

I'm with you on Samson.  There was some Samson material on the Bruce DVD that came out a couple years ago, and it was interesting, but I can't say I'm going out and buying the entire catalogue.   I've got enough classic Bruce (who I consider the the greatest metal frontman ever, yes, even above the legendary Ronald Padavona) with the Maiden material and his solo stuff. 

Online TAC

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I literally just ordered the Bruce Anthology DVD last night. In a freak of nature, I have never bothered to get it.

Padavona's issue is that the second half of his career was filled with crappy albums.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Mister Gold

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Yea, it was the opener. Great performance on the live DVD from that tour. We'll talk about Bruce's solo career for sure.

YESSSSSSSSS. :hefdaddy

Quote
I think Paul sang most of his songs better than Bruce. There are some exceptions, but the material was better suited for his style especially on the first album. I listened to two bootlegs from the Killers tour back-to-back not too long ago, one with Paul on vocals and one with Bruce, and I have to say I think if I was around at the time I might not have accepted Bruce right away.  Of course hindsight is 20/20 and Bruce is my favorite singer of all time, but he was such a departure from Paul that I can imagine he still had to prove himself. There was no other choice than to bring it to the next level with NOTB.

I agree that Paul sang most of his songs better than Bruce. However the biggest exception, imo at least, is also arguably the best song to come out of Paul's era of the band: Phantom of the Opera.

Paul does okay on the album version of that track, but I've always felt that song really came to life once Bruce started singing it live. It's an early example of Steve's penchant for writing more progressive and bombastic epics, especially in regards to the vocal melodies, which is something that is really suited more for Bruce's pipes than Paul's. Especially when it comes to those lengthier notes- Paul sounds rather off to my ear and a bit out of breath when he gets to those parts, probably because the bits right before are really fast.
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Offline PowerSlave

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Padavona's issue is that the second half of his career was filled with crappy albums.

To be fair, how does anyone live up to Rising, Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, Holy Diver and Last in Line? The quality has to go down from there at some point.
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Online TAC

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Well, how did Maiden live up to The Number Of the beast, Piece Of Mind, and Seventh Son? the released AMOLAD, Brave New World, etc...

Crappy albums are crappy albums.

would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Mosh

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Exactly. Even forgetting the classics, those later Dio albums are really not good.

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Offline Mister Gold

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I mean, if we're talking best frontman in metal, then yeah, obviously Bruce wins that category. At that point, we're talking about more than just their ability to sing, but also to command the stage and crowd. And that's where Bruce has always shined. He's more than an amazing singer, he's also a master at commanding the stage and audience.
Beyond the limits of the mortal frame
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Online TAC

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When the time comes in this thread, I'll discuss my Bruce epiphany. It came much later than expected.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Tomislav95

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I never loved Killers as much as debut but still, Purgatory is one of my favorites on first two albums.
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Offline Mosh

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Bruce is my favorite singer and frontman. He's got the whole package. The amazing thing is that his peak as a vocalist didn't even come until the late 90s. I don't know what he did as far as vocal training goes, because he was extremely inconsistent in the 80s, but somehow his voice aged easily the best of the classic 80s Metal singers.
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Online TAC

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Yeah, I agree. We'll discuss in due time, but while I generally like Fear Of The Dark, it was clearly the low point vocally for Bruce.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline PowerSlave

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Well, how did Maiden live up to The Number Of the beast, Piece Of Mind, and Seventh Son? the released AMOLAD, Brave New World, etc...

Crappy albums are crappy albums.

That's true, but there is some less than stellar material sandwiched in between that stuff. They needed the reunion to reboot themselves, and become great again.

As far as RJD goes, I've always considered his final reunion with H&H/Sabbath to be an excellent album. In fact, the first 3 tracks on The Devil You Know are as good as anything that they did with each other, in my opinion.
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Online TAC

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As far as RJD goes, I've always considered his final reunion with H&H/Sabbath to be an excellent album. In fact, the first 3 tracks on The Devil You Know are as good as anything that they did with each other, in my opinion.

I totally agree. Somehow he regained all of his power for that last album and tour. He struggled a bit on the previous H&H tour.

The live Neon Nights is an incredible live album. Great performance by the entire band.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Mosh

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Going back to Samson: They shared quite a bit of history with Maiden, even before Bruce. Their drummer, Thunderstick, was actually in Maiden at one point. In fact, a lot of the bootlegs from prior to 1980 that have surfaced recently are supposedly from Thunderstick's personal collection. Samson and Maiden did have a bit of a rivalry going and that was probably at least partly because of Thunderstick's time in the band. If you watch the documentary on The Early Days, they don't really have anything nice to say about him. There's also this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjbej0B9KDY

Sound familiar? On the album, it's credited to Steve Harris and Thunderstick, while on Killers it was credited just to Steve Harris. Samson's version was released first, so there must've been bad blood over Steve not returning the favor. However, Steve has always had a strict "no outside writers" rule, including former members. The rule was broken once though, can anyone name the song?

(I discussed this in my original post on Samson but for some reason that paragraph was giving me errors)

Edit: Also, since the first Samson album credits all the members for every track, Thunderburst is technically the first time Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson shared writing credits.
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Online TAC

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Well, Adrian has a writing credit on Hooks In You. He was a former member at that point.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Mosh

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Yea, that's the one. They were also going to use another one of Bruce's songs for The Book of Souls, but chose not to because Steve didn't want to give Roy Z credit.
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RJD's problem is that he was frequently lacking for song-writers. His albums were generally as good as the guitarist he was working with. Maiden has plenty of good songwriting talent. This shouldn't reflect on his front-man status, though. I've seen Dio tour shit albums playing for 500 people and he still put forth 110 percent, improvised vocals and made sure every single person there knew they were appreciated.
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Online TAC

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I agree Bart and was trying to come up with the right wording for a post.
I like Dream Evil but Dio was cooked as soon as Vivian left, and even Sacred Heart is a bit iffy.

Too bad Rowan didn't stick around. I love Wolves.

And Dio was special, in a way that Bruce can't touch. I'll expound later when I'm not on my phone.

OK, I'm home..

  I've seen Dio tour shit albums playing for 500 people and he still put forth 110 percent, improvised vocals and made sure every single person there knew they were appreciated.
Yup, same here, and I totally agree. I also saw two of Bruce's solo tours, and as great as Bruce is, he's not Dio. Bruce doesn't have Dio's persona or humility.

But surely as large stage frontman, Bruce Dickinson could be one of the best ever.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2017, 12:20:03 PM by TAC »
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Lowdz

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I never loved Killers as much as debut but still, Purgatory is one of my favorites on first two albums.

Killers is my go to Maiden album. Never tire of it. Debut was pretty great but Killers was a step up.
After Powerslave my love for Maiden started to wane

Offline Mladen

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Bruce is my favorite singer and frontman. He's got the whole package. The amazing thing is that his peak as a vocalist didn't even come until the late 90s. I don't know what he did as far as vocal training goes, because he was extremely inconsistent in the 80s, but somehow his voice aged easily the best of the classic 80s Metal singers.
Well said.