Wasted Years is awesome, and I'd agree that it works well as a departure from standard Maiden. Plus it's got one of H's greatest solos. I put this and Stranger in a Strange Land in the same basket; both out of the box Maiden songs that show that the band can write catchy, radio-friendly hooks if they so desire. I reckon a lot of it depends on how much you value Adrian's contributions to Maiden - I happen to think he's their strongest songwriter when he gets going.
Agree 100%. Honestly, this is true of a lot of
Somewhere In Time. It's a very Adrian-heavy album, which I love, and it's a definite modification of the Maiden formula that had been used on the last three albums at least. Caught Somewhere In Time, Wasted Years and Stranger In a Strange Land are not songs you would have found on
Powerslave. It's a shame they've always neglected this album so much live. Nowadays they only play Wasted Years and Heaven Can Wait. Would love for them to bring out Stranger In a Strange Land or Alexander the Great.
I'll never get why people love, or even like, the entire Somewhere in Time album. Wasted Years is one of the not so bad moments. My personal favorite is Sea of Madness. Stranger in a Strange Land is decent. Heaven Can Wait is better live than on the album.
After the first 5 albums of nearly top to bottom perfection, SiT just seemed very 'meh'...
I'll grant that Deja Vu and even The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner are fairly unremarkable songs. But the other six tracks are stellar, in my opinion.
And I have to say...
Powerslave is praised up and down, but it has four very mediocre songs right in the middle. Yes Aces High, 2 Minutes to Midnight, the title track and Rime of the Ancient Mariner are all classics, but there's a lot of... well, meh on that album.