The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[cramx3]

Bruce is amazing on it in the verses. The song just picks you up and takes you away.

Yup, he did it in one take too I believe.  My favorite on TFF.

[Phoenix87x]

Holy shit, I am listening to To tame a land and JUST realized its about Dune. Hell yeah, I love this band

[TAC]

Holy shit, I am listening to To tame a land and JUST realized its about Dune. Hell yeah, I love this band

So how many years has it been?

[Phoenix87x]

Since 2009 I guess. But that's with a lot of songs honestly. My biggest issue is that my commute never lets me get to To tame a land, so I was just listening it now, actually concentrating on the lyrics (also I've been on a Dune binge lately) and it all came together.

I was like "Did he just say Muad dib?" It was magical

And while I am at it, I want to give props to Vice City for first getting me in to iron maiden with 2 mins to midnight. First time I ever heard them and then I slowly started getting the albums.

[cramx3]

Awesome song, I believe they wanted to call the song Dune but the author didn't allow them or something along those lines. 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

If they would ever play that live again my life would be complete.

Throw in Alexander the great and I can't even....

[TAC]

Awesome song, I believe they wanted to call the song Dune but the author didn't allow them or something along those lines.

Correct.

[Phoenix87x]

My respect for Frank Herbert definitely has dropped. When a god tier band wants to immortalize your work in an epic song, you say "yes master"

[TAC]

My respect for Frank Herbert definitely has dropped. When a god tier band wants to immortalize your work in an epic song, you say "yes master"

Well, you have to remember that this was early 1983, and Maiden had caught some flak for The Number Of The Beast being Satanically influenced. He really wanted no part of that.

[cramx3]

My respect for Frank Herbert definitely has dropped. When a god tier band wants to immortalize your work in an epic song, you say "yes master"

Well, you have to remember that this was early 1983, and Maiden had caught some flak for The Number Of The Beast being Satanically influenced. He really wanted no part of that.

I thought he saw they were a metal band and was immediately not interested in letting them use the name.  Sucks for him, probably would have helped sell some books.

[TAC]

Bruce pretty much made sure he was called an asshole in every city in the world that year!


To Tame A Land is such an awesome title!

[cramx3]

Yea the title is sick, I'd love for them to bring that back live.  At least it was played unlike Alexander

[jjrock88]

such a classic song!! 

[Mosh]

Great song, but I don't think Bruce could still pull off that bridge.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I have a very fond love for Piece of Mind, so many great tracks on that album.

[Kwyjibo]

Piece Of Mind might be my favorite IM record, I think somewhere in this thread I have ranked it at number one.

[MirrorMask]

I have a very fond love for Piece of Mind, so many great tracks on that album.

Piece Of Mind might be my favorite IM record, I think somewhere in this thread I have ranked it at number one.

I'm a Piece of Mind fanboy as well. Sound is great, songs are mindblowingly awesome, Bruce is emperor of the vocals and it contains the song that had the avalanche effect of making me love Bruce's voice, Iron Maiden and heavy metal in general: Revelations. I still call it my favorite album from them, even though there are dinosaurs walking with humans.

[Kwyjibo]

Yeah, Revelations is a top ten IM song and one of Bruce's finest vocal performances. 

[MirrorMask]

Yeah, Revelations is a top ten IM song and one of Bruce's finest vocal performances. 

"She came to me with a serpent's kiss
As the Eye of the Sun rose on her lips
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry"

 

[Stadler]

Cool story (I think):  Iron Maiden, New Haven Coliseum, some time in '83, Coney Hatch (SUCKED) and Fastway (AMAZING) as the opening bands.  I'm with my friend, and we have front row on the side, so we're kind of looking down from stage left on the band (I can also see the backstage area). 

Maiden had a desk on the side of the stage; In between CH and Fastway, Bruce came out and was talking with the guy at that desk (it was kind of a mixing board, but not the main one that was back on the floor).  He was cool; shorts, and black leather jacket.  I yelled down to him and he was very nice; waved and said "hey mate!".   Later, Maiden takes the stage to "Where Eagles Dare", and the band is playing and he goes out for his cue, and his mike is not working.  He looks over, yells something, but starts singing it anyway, and I swear, you could hear him ACOUSTICALLY over the band playing at full volume.  A friend said it was probably my brain putting the vocals in where they belong, but I swear I heard him singing.  After the first verse, he came back over, and he's on the roadie at the desk in front of us, yelling (it sounded a lot like "Mission from 'arry", if you're familiar) and he goes back for the second verse, and after the first line or so, the mike kicks on and you can hear him (it took a couple words to realize he was miked, so it sounded like he was screaming) but it was still very cool.    Bruce has pretty much been my favorite front man from that point on. 

[cramx3]

 

You aren't the only one to see Bruce yelling at the side soundboard guy.

Before I got on stage for Heaven Can Wait at MSG in 2008, the power infamously went out during Powerslave.  I was sitting in the first few rows on the side of the stage behind the side soundboard guy.  Bruce came soaring back there and yelling at the guy.  I could hear it but not make out words.  He was intense, and then came back out to the stage and started kicking a soccer ball to entertain the crowd.  Amazing. 

https://youtu.be/jMqoOLlvYYw?t=7m53s Time stamped it for the end for Bruce's short but sweet speech to continue the show 

[TAC]

So I'm at work now and I had to do some desk work so I put on a Maiden shuffle on Spotify.
Afraid To Shoot Strangers came up and it stopped me dead in my tracks. Damn what a fantastic song. It's been a while since I really just sat and listened to it. Amazing track.

[Mosh]

Afraid To Shoot Strangers pretty much wrote the blueprint on the way Maiden structure their songs now.

[Phoenix87x]

I LOVE that little acoustic part at the end of The Prophecy. 

[jammindude]

If you've never heard Blaze's live version of Afraid to Shoot Strangers, do yourself a favor and check it out. It's the ONLY Bruce song that I thought Blaze did even better.

[Mosh]

I don't think Blaze was better, but it's definitely his best Bruce song.

[TAC]

I don't think Blaze was better, but it's definitely his best Bruce song.

Yeah, I agree.

[cramx3]

I don't think Blaze was better, but it's definitely his best Bruce song.

Yeah, I agree.

Yup

[wolfking]

Blaze did okay on quite a few.  Strangers was his best though.  Wrathchild, Heaven Can Wait and Evil That Men Do were pretty solid.

[Zydar]

His version of Strangers was the first I heard of that song, since my introduction to IM was the Best Of The Beast compilation.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yeah, Revelations is a top ten IM song and one of Bruce's finest vocal performances. 

"She came to me with a serpent's kiss
As the Eye of the Sun rose on her lips
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry"

 

I remember I used to obsesively watch Live After Death during my teens when I thought I was the biggest fan in the world, atleast next to my buddy how introduced me to them. Way before internet so my worldview was pretty limited.  Anyway the part when Bruce asks everyone "can you feel it" still sticks with me to this day even when I hear the album version. 

[soupytwist]

Any other 'Somewhere in Time' fans here?   It's my fav Maiden album.  The title track and 'Sea of Madness' is in my opinion are the lost Maiden classics that they should play live much more than they did.

Also I'm one of the few fans who like 'No Prayer'.  I'm not saying it's a great album, but for me it's miles better than the other three 90's albums.

[Scorpion]

I prefer TXF to No Prayer, but I do agree that it's a lot better than FOTD and VXI. There's some really questionable stuff on No Prayer (Bring Your Daughter, I'm looking at you), but when it's good (like the title track and Run Silent Run Deep), it's really good.

[soupytwist]

I prefer TXF to No Prayer, but I do agree that it's a lot better than FOTD and VXI. There's some really questionable stuff on No Prayer (Bring Your Daughter, I'm looking at you), but when it's good (like the title track and Run Silent Run Deep), it's really good.

Bring your Daughter isn't a classic to say the least!  but at least it's not boring like several songs on Fear of the Dark - I swear to God that album sometimes gets a free pass because of the title track.  I think it's easily the worst Maiden album.

[MirrorMask]

Yeah, Revelations is a top ten IM song and one of Bruce's finest vocal performances. 

"She came to me with a serpent's kiss
As the Eye of the Sun rose on her lips
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry"

 

I remember I used to obsesively watch Live After Death during my teens when I thought I was the biggest fan in the world, atleast next to my buddy how introduced me to them. Way before internet so my worldview was pretty limited.  Anyway the part when Bruce asks everyone "can you feel it" still sticks with me to this day even when I hear the album version. 

Same when I hear any other version of Flight of Icarus, I always add

As the sun breaks above the crowd
An old man stands on the hill
LET IT GO!!!!