Any suggestions for Thin Lizzy songs that have sparkles of what Iron Maiden would later be inspired from? I know that they were a huge influence for Maiden, so I'd be interested to know if there are songs that would make you think "Ah, yeah, I guess this is what inspired Iron Maiden". (I did listen to some stuff here and there and off the top of my head Emerald is a great song, but I wanted to see if there's some consensus about which songs more represent what Iron Maiden got inspired from).
So considering Steve Harris turned 14 in 1970, you'd have to think he was inspired by the early Eric Bell Era albums. Even though there was only one guitarist on these first three albums, there are a number of songs that have pretty interesting arrangements like
The Rise And Fall Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes, not that this will make you think of Iron Maiden, but it's a cool arrangement for a 1972 song. Knowing Steve was also influenced by Yes, Jethro Tull, and Wishbone Ash, song arrangements seemed to be something that interested him.
And
Gonna Creep Up On You (not a great song by any stretch..) starts out with some serious bass. I mean Steve Harris played basically the same bass guitar as Lynott.
Now I wouldn't start anyone on Thin Lizzy on their first three albums. But once Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson joined the band, there developed a harmonized two guitar style that is Thin Lizzy's greatest gift to Iron Maiden.
That classic era included Fighting (1975), Jailbreak and Johnnie The Fox (both 1976) and Bad Reputation (1977).
No song really screams IRON MAIDEN to me.
Obviously, there's
Massacre which Iron Maiden actually covered.
You mentioned Emerald, which would be the first Thin Lizzy song I would play for an Iron Maiden fan wanting to dive into Thin Lizzy.
I think Steve Harris would have generally been influenced by Thin Lizzy's storytelling and imagination. Again, the musical component was the twin guitar harmonies.
I'm not sure what Nicko's influences are. Pretty sure he was already professionally playing in the mid 70's, but I always found that the drumming to
Opium Trail reminds me of Nicko.
I'll repost this in the Iron Maiden thread. I don't want to give Kev a popsicle headache.