Iron Maiden Song Ranking Thread (Currently Ranking: Mister Gold)

[Zydar]

Sea Of Madness!

[Stadler]

44. Sea of Madness
from Somewhere in Time

I like all three guitarists, but if I had to choose one of them, it would be Adrian Smith. And Somewhere in Time for Adrian, in my opinion, is the best single album for a single Maiden guitarist. Sea of Madness is one of only a few solo compositions by a Maiden guitarist, and while it’s not H’s very finest hour, it’s certainly quite a good one, and deserving of more attention from both the band and many of its fans. The riffs here do such a great job of conveying a sense of some confusion while still being pretty strong melodically. Bruce and Steve also show big on this one.

I'm a big fan of SiT; it hasn't aged quite as well as some of the others, but it's so strong, and the songs are so good, that it doesn't really matter.   Dave Murray is far and away my favorite guitar player, but he's not much of a writer, and I like Adrian as a writer more than as a player.  That's odd to say, but I mean that to say that when he started writing more it brought a nice contrast to the Harris material (though, and this sounds contradictory, I was always impressed how cohesively all the songs worked together). 

[425]

That's odd to say, but I mean that to say that when he started writing more it brought a nice contrast to the Harris material (though, and this sounds contradictory, I was always impressed how cohesively all the songs worked together).

I agree completely with this. One interesting feature of Iron Maiden is that even though there are currently five significant songwriters in the band (Steve, Bruce, Adrian, Janick and Dave), who each have some distinctive stylistic elements, all the music fits together pretty well.

[425]

Sorry to have missed a few days. I've been unexpectedly busy, but now I'm good. I'll speed things up a little bit for the next few days to keep on track with the time. For now, here are four more songs:




40. These Colours Don’t Run
from A Matter of Life and Death

One of those songs that doesn’t break much new ground, but does what it sets out to do very well. I think the lyrics here are very strong, and conceptually make a good entrance from Different World into the subject matter that makes up most of the rest of A Matter of Life and Death. I particularly enjoy the well-composed guitar solo from Adrian and the following “oh oh oh” section.


39. Futureal
from Virtual XI

I know some people are not fans of Blaze Bayley, especially his performance on Virtual XI. While that album has a handful of rough moments, I generally think he did a good job on it. This is a song that Bruce can certainly sing, and sing well, but is for me one of Blaze’s standout performances with the band. Here he proves that he’s not limited to the dark, dirge-like tracks that covered much of the runtime of The X Factor. In addition to the strong vocal performance, we have a great riff and excellent guitar solo. An excellent short track that even many of the detractors of this era should be able to get behind.


38. Mother of Mercy
from The Final Frontier

Another reunion era song that I feel is somewhat overlooked. Like The Alchemist on the same album, Mother of Mercy does a great job of telling a story within a relatively short song through a sequence of evolving verses. The lyrics here are really strong, I think, putting a distinct spin on two topics that are pretty heavily-trod ground for Maiden by now—war and religion. The verse that stands out to me, both for its eloquence and for its distinctly conversational style, where you can follow the character’s train of thought, is:

I don’t hold with bad religion, understand what’s underneath it
Now I come to think of it, I just don’t hold at all, you know it
You say you are a holy man, but what is it you do?
From where I stand it’s nothing but a hollow man I see


37. Out of the Silent Planet
from Brave New World

I rarely see anyone talk about this song, and in a way it’s understandable seeing how deep this album is, but I think Out of the Silent Planet is really excellent. This track boasts one of the most distinct Maiden intros, plus some truly killer vocal melodies. I also really like the lyrics—the subject matter, again, is not exactly fresh ground for Maiden, but there are a lot of evocative phrases on this one. Really a crime that this one was only played live a couple of times. I think it could absolutely kill live.

[wolfking]

Some great picks in that last update.

The next update is solid although I've never really liked MOM all that much.

[Mladen]

Futureal is my favorite of the bunch. 

[MoraWintersoul]

Futureal came to my mind the other day when I heard a riff in a Pestilence song that reminded me of it. Played it, still kicks as much ass as it used to. I don't have any deep emotional attachment or grudge with the Blaze era because that was waaaaay before my time, I just always thought they had some good songs buried in there and Futureal is one of them.

[Zydar]

Futureal was one of the very first IM songs I heard, I became a fan around 1998-1999. It's still a highlight from the Blaze era for me.

[DTA]

All great songs.

Futureal is probably one of the few from the Blaze era I can stand to listen to.

These Colours Don't Run is an incredible song...it follows the standard reunion-era song formula, but it works better than most for some reason. Very strong chorus.

Mother Of Mercy and Silent Planet have incredible choruses as well. It's amazing how catchy their music can still be when they've been doing it for so long. I think Silent Planet might be my favorite song on BNW, though I haven't listened to the album in its entirety for a long time.

I'm enjoying this list quite a bit...lots of underrated songs.

[Stadler]

Mother Of Mercy is the standout in that bunch, though I like These Colors Don't Run as well.  I suppose I have to revisit Brave New World; in terms of my perception it really feels lesser to the rest of the post-reunion work.   EVERY album since has a couple songs that I get excited to hear when I see them discussed, but that never seems to happen with BNW (except, possibly, Blood Brothers). 

[425]

I suppose I have to revisit Brave New World; in terms of my perception it really feels lesser to the rest of the post-reunion work.   EVERY album since has a couple songs that I get excited to hear when I see them discussed, but that never seems to happen with BNW (except, possibly, Blood Brothers).

Honestly: I suggest giving Out of the Silent Planet a listen on its own. I think its placement in the album order (toward the end, sandwiched between two long pieces) contributes to its being overlooked.

Great to see a lot of love for Futureal and Mother of Mercy.

I'm enjoying this list quite a bit...lots of underrated songs.

Thanks! There are certainly more to come—as well as some appropriately-rated songs, of course!


I'll go ahead with the next four to make up for lost time a little bit:


36. Only the Good Die Young
from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

On an album full of heavy hitters, Only the Good Die Young is one that doesn’t tend to get anywhere near the most attention, but I think it has a distinct sort of strength. The verses of this song are really, really good. The melodies are nice, and Bruce’s performance has a lot of depth. Also, this song has a bass solo where Steve Harris plays a bass solo. A really fun, energetic closer to one of the band’s finest albums.


35. Aces High
from Powerslave

Not much to say about this one that hasn’t been said already. It’s one of the classics of 80s metal for a very good reason. It’s one of their best live staples and easily the best opener in their repertoire, and it’s taken to a whole new level for me by the lyrical theme and the addition of Churchill’s speech. One of the Maiden songs I most frequently find myself humming or singing.


34. The Wicker Man
from Brave New World

Behind the aforementioned Aces High, this is Maiden’s second-best live opener in my opinion. The Wicker Man opens the reunion era with authority: tons of energy, an anthemic chorus, a strong instrumental section, and, of course, that wonderful intro from that wonderful Adrian Smith. I’ll mention more than once during this list my love for Rock in Rio, which I place right next to Live After Death as my favorite live album ever. This song played to open that electric show right after Arthur’s Farewell is spectacular.


33. The Clansman
from Virtual XI

The Clansman has a very special place in my personal history with music, because it’s the song that first got me into Iron Maiden (and in turn got me into being a serious music listener). Lyrically, the fairly simple but powerful message resonated in obvious ways with me at 15, and from there a serious interest in the music followed—particularly with the middle instrumental section. Janick’s solo here is perhaps the first guitar solo I truly loved. Now, I love Blaze Bayley very much, and he does this song justice, but for me the definitive version has to be the one I heard first: the Rock in Rio version. Bruce is just on another level. That performance also features the moment that first taught me that a live ad-lib can significantly add to a performance: “Come on, fucking scream it!”

It’s really a testament to the strength of the Iron Maiden discography that I can look at this song that means so much to me and that I still find to be so excellent, and say: Yes, I think they probably have 32 stronger songs.

[Stadler]

It's patently unfair, I know, but GREATLY prefer the Bruce versions of all the Blaze-era songs.  I sort-of jokingly told people I was going to the recent Legacy of the Beast show "just to see 'Sign Of The Cross' live", but for me it was one of if not the highlight of the show.   What a performance. 

[425]

I wouldn't say it's wholly unfair. Bruce has one of the best voices in metal, and I think few even among Blaze's fans would say the same of him. The argument for Blaze's versions on some of his songs is just about whether his voice seems better suited to the song in question. Personally, I go about 50-50 on which I prefer. I'll take Blaze on Futureal and Lord of the Flies, and Bruce on The Clansman and Man on the Edge. On Sign of the Cross, I think they give distinct but approximately equally good takes, but I take RiR as the definitive version of that song because the production is so much better than on TXF.

I also think Blaze's version of Afraid to Shoot Strangers edges out Bruce's FotD performance.

[wolfking]

Only the Good Die Young

[Mladen]

The last four songs are all great. 

[Zydar]

Only the Good Die Young

Oh yes

[DTA]

I may be the only Maiden fan who dislikes The Clansman. I just don't hear what's so great about it (same with Paschendale). I've never heard Bruce sing it, so maybe that's what will push it over the edge, but it's just inferior musically imo. I'd rather listen to When Two Worlds Collide than this one.

The other songs would all make my top 50, with Aces High probably being in my top 10. I've been working on my bass playing and Aces High is a really fun song to struggle through. Plus, the modulation in the chorus is so awesome.

Only The Good Die Young is a great closer that I wish the band would've played live. The intro harmony is one of my favorite moments on the album and the bass solo is unexpected and fun.

The Wicker Man is catchy as hell and catchy Maiden is all I need in life. Oddly enough, I seem to recall a version with background vocals in the chorus but obviously the album version doesn't have it. Was there another version released at some point?

[Stadler]

I may be the only Maiden fan who dislikes The Clansman. I just don't hear what's so great about it (same with Paschendale). I've never heard Bruce sing it, so maybe that's what will push it over the edge, but it's just inferior musically imo. I'd rather listen to When Two Worlds Collide than this one.

The other songs would all make my top 50, with Aces High probably being in my top 10. I've been working on my bass playing and Aces High is a really fun song to struggle through. Plus, the modulation in the chorus is so awesome.

Only The Good Die Young is a great closer that I wish the band would've played live. The intro harmony is one of my favorite moments on the album and the bass solo is unexpected and fun.

The Wicker Man is catchy as hell and catchy Maiden is all I need in life. Oddly enough, I seem to recall a version with background vocals in the chorus but obviously the album version doesn't have it. Was there another version released at some point?

HAHA, I LIKE The Clansman, and I still agree with that!   

[nobloodyname]

When Two Worlds Collide has got to be the only metal song in existence where 'declination' features. One of my favourites from Virtual XI, actually. Although I love the entire album... so ner

[Stadler]

(HAHAHAHAHAHA, I'll stand by what I wrote, but I have to be honest; that was a huge gaff on my part.   I mistook "When Two Worlds Collide" with "When The Wild Wind Blows", and then confused that with another Murray song, "The Man Who Would Be King".  Wow, I need more coffee.  All three are great tunes, though, so cut me some slack!)

[425]

I very much like When Two Worlds Collide, but it fell just short of making this list.

@DTA, if you have not heard the Rock in Rio version of The Clansman, I really recommend doing so before writing off the song. It comes to life not only with Bruce singing, but on the stage instead of in the studio with the dubious production of VXI.

For that matter, have you not heard Rock in Rio at all? To me, it and Live After Death are the top two essential Maiden releases—above *any* of the studio albums.

Next four:


32. Moonchild
from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

The build-up on this one is really quite something to hear. The way the acoustic intro gives way to the mounting intro that eventually bursts out into Bruce’s theatrical performance as the Devil… it’s hard to imagine a better way to open the band’s only true concept album. This is Bruce at his most sinister, the rhythm section firing on all cylinders, and Adrian Smith at his most Adrian Smith.


31. The Book of Souls
from The Book of Souls

When the acoustic intro came in on my first listen, I was a little concerned that we had a Talisman remake on our hands. Not that that would be the worst thing; I love The Talisman. But it’s usually better to hear something great and new than a retread. Luckily, this is not a retread. Even five epic-laden albums into the reunion era, Iron Maiden was still giving us new sorts of epics on The Book of Souls. What I love about this song is how majestic the vocal parts sound. The keyboards are far more prominent here than on most Maiden tracks, and they really add a lot to that feel. Another superb songwriting contribution by Janick, who does not show any signs of running out of inventive material. This song has grown on me in the time I’ve been working on this list, so maybe in another few years it could be even higher.


30. Powerslave
from Powerslave

80s Maiden near their theatrical best. As is so often the case, Bruce steps into a character from a distant place and distant time, and does so compellingly. The pre-chorus riff is just grand, and the instrumental section is excellent. Here I will take a break from the Adrian Smith worship to note Dave’s two excellent solos on this song, as well as Nicko’s huge fills before the return of the main riff.


29. Ghost of the Navigator
from Brave New World

The band’s melodic abilities are on full display on this track. There are so many great riffs and melodies on this song that it’s hard to pick a favorite, so I’ll first make an overall comment on how well, to me, this song evokes the feeling of sailing a rough sea. There’s a feeling of danger and a bit of chaos, but also of majesty. Standout moments include the choppy main riff and Janick’s solo.

[Mladen]

I agree on your take of Bruce's performance on Moonchild. That's some sick stuff. 

As much as I love The Book of souls album, the title track never did too much for me. It's a bit too slow for the album's centerpiece, and even when the pace picks up, it's rather generic and underwhelming. There are still some good bits in it, so it's not bad by any means.

[DTA]

I very much like When Two Worlds Collide, but it fell just short of making this list.

@DTA, if you have not heard the Rock in Rio version of The Clansman, I really recommend doing so before writing off the song. It comes to life not only with Bruce singing, but on the stage instead of in the studio with the dubious production of VXI.

For that matter, have you not heard Rock in Rio at all? To me, it and Live After Death are the top two essential Maiden releases—above *any* of the studio albums.

I've only seen clips of Live After Death on youtube. I'm not really a live album fan and pretty much only watch LAD to see how Steve is playing certain parts. Never heard Rock In Rio but I'll check out The Clansman with Bruce and see if my opinion changes.

Moonchild is an awesome opening track. They always have great opening tracks (even Invaders which everyone seems to hate) but Moonchild has a bit of extra something the others don't have.

The Book Of Souls is the best song on that album and blows away the other longer tracks. I love the acoustic intro, the slow ballsy riff that comes out of it, and the fast riff in the bridge. My only gripe with this song is a Nicko fuck-up/editing mistake with the hihat in the middle section at around 5:30. In fact, I just did a relisten to respond to your post and I think this may be the best long song of the entire reunion era.

If Powerslave only contained the bridge then it'd still probably make my top 20. Such a cool song with a really exciting verse riff. This is one song from LAD I've watched dozens of times on youtube and never get tired of.

Ghost Of The Navigator is pretty good. Not one of my favorites but nothing really wrong with it. I like the rhythm in the chorus and the verse riff has a cool power metal feel but the transition from pre-chorus to chorus is super clunky. I think my biggest issue with Maiden overall is their lack of fluid transitions and abrupt tempo changes.

[wolfking]

That's a killer handful of songs right there.

[TAC]

That's a killer handful of songs right there.

So True.
Honestly, I don't know where I'd put The Book Of Souls on my list. I'd have to think about it. I freaking love that song though.



Going back to the previous batch, The Clansman is one of their best songs period. It's classic Iron Maiden.

I said this in 1988, but I have always felt that Only The Good Die Young was an extremely anti-climactic way to end SSOASS.
I had always found that after that amazing prechorus, the transition and to, and the chorus itself, was a letdown.

[425]

I've only seen clips of Live After Death on youtube. I'm not really a live album fan and pretty much only watch LAD to see how Steve is playing certain parts. Never heard Rock In Rio but I'll check out The Clansman with Bruce and see if my opinion changes.

Understood. If you're not a live album fan and you've seen LAD, there's probably no changing that. For me, Maiden is definitely a lot stronger live than in studio most of the time (which I would not say of a lot of bands), but that's my personal opinion.

Interesting if unsurprising to see mixed opinions on The Book of Souls. That's one that clicked for me fairly recently, after a long time of not knowing how I felt about it.


Sorry again for another delay. Here's four more, and I'll probably add four on top of that midday tomorrow.


28. Face in the Sand
from Dance of Death

Positioned near the end of one of the less popular reunion albums, this is not a song I see getting a lot of attention. But I really enjoy this song, which I find to be a distinct entry in the band’s discography. The riffs and Nicko’s double-bass playing create a strong sense of mounting anxiety. This is also another Maiden track where the keyboards contribute quite a bit.


27. The Clairvoyant
from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

The Clairvoyant is a short, relatively simple song, but I’d absolutely call it one of the most effective such songs of their entire career. This song is just an absolute thrill, and is the musical climax of this concept album for a reason. From the tension-building bass riff to Bruce’s powerful performance on the verses to Dave’s wonderful solo, The Clairvoyant is exciting start to finish. They should really bring this one out more frequently in the live show. It’s compact, and I think it does really well.


26. Empire of the Clouds
from The Book of Souls

There are a lot of creative voices in Iron Maiden, and I don’t want to disparage any of them through excessive praise of any of the others, because, though all distinct, they all make significant positive contributions to the band’s sound. Of the main three songwriters, often one or another of them will stand out as the MVP of a particular album. Well, on The Book of Souls, I think the clear standout is Bruce Dickinson, and this is a big reason why.

I think a lot of admirers of the reunion era were sort of anticipating the band to at some point take the leap beyond long songs in the low double-digits to a full-on prog epic. But to see that leap come in a solo composition by the band’s singer, written largely on piano, was not quite what I would have predicted. It was largely a success, however, and succeeded in blending traditional elements of the Maiden sound with Bruce’s piano composition. I also want to call out Nicko’s performance here. There’s a lot of stuff he’s called on to play that is different from the usual Maiden style, but I like what he comes up with.

What I like best about this track is the clear passion Bruce has for this story, and the work he put in to make sure its telling, through both music and lyrics, is emotionally compelling. There are a lot of great powerful moments in here that are made powerful by combination of the music, the lyrics, and Bruce’s performance. My personal favorite is probably:

The airship crew awake for thirty hours at full stretch
But the ship is in their backbone, every sinew, every inch

I continue to go back and forth on precisely how high I place this song. On the worst of days, I would say it’s somewhat longer than it needs to be, with a bit of an overly repetitive instrumental section in the latter half. However, even on those worst days, I think the first half and the finale are superb, and I greatly admire the ambition that went into creating it, which is why it comfortably rests in the mid-20s.


25. Infinite Dreams
from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Another song from Seventh Son, another occasion to praise Bruce Dickinson’s performance. This song, perhaps the crucial one to the exposition of the album’s story, has to hit a lot of emotional notes. And here it achieves that range with some very memorable vocal melodies and a great performance from Bruce.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Empire of the Clouds is such a monster of a song!

Seeing this thread pop up is making me want to do a Maiden chronological run through again. Maybe I'll come up with a list....

[Mladen]

Empire is about twenty spots too low. 

[TAC]

Empire is about twenty spots too low. 

As is Infinite Dreams.

[Zydar]

The Clairvoyant - one of the first Maiden songs I loved when I started listening to them. Still love it.

[TAC]

The Clairvoyant - one of the first Maiden songs I loved when I started listening to them. Still love it.

I've honestly never really been a fan.

[DTA]

I've only seen clips of Live After Death on youtube. I'm not really a live album fan and pretty much only watch LAD to see how Steve is playing certain parts. Never heard Rock In Rio but I'll check out The Clansman with Bruce and see if my opinion changes.

Understood. If you're not a live album fan and you've seen LAD, there's probably no changing that. For me, Maiden is definitely a lot stronger live than in studio most of the time (which I would not say of a lot of bands), but that's my personal opinion.

I will say that I enjoyed The Clansman A LOT more with Bruce on vocals. I watched the Rock in Rio version and it was great. It's amazing how dull the studio version is compared to it.


Infinite Dreams is a Maiden song that doesn't connect with me at all. It's beloved by pretty much every Maiden fan but I'd take Can I Play With Madness? over it any day.

[Stadler]

Just my opinion: 

Infinite Dreams is slightly low
The Clairvoyant is WAY too low (it's a top ten song for me)
Empire is kind of high (It's a curiosity; I'm not sure it's in the top three songs on it's ALBUM).

[Mladen]

As for Bruce's performance on Empire of the clouds, I agree that there are so many lines that stand out in terms of delivery, energy, pitch and the overall vibe. My favorite is the way he sings the line "Rain is flooding into the hold." You can hear the despair and panic in his voice, he conveys the emotion flawlessly.

[425]

Well, I'll just put them all in the top 10, then! Except... nope, there's nothing I really think I can kick out.

Empire is kind of high (It's a curiosity; I'm not sure it's in the top three songs on it's ALBUM).

Empire is in my top three on its album, but it is not in the top spot. None of the last four are in the top spot on their albums, in fact...

Seeing this thread pop up is making me want to do a Maiden chronological run through again. Maybe I'll come up with a list....

Would be very interested in this list, if you did one.


Next four:



24. The Man Who Would Be King
from The Final Frontier

A sort of oddball song in the Maiden discography and one of the less-appreciate reunion-era epics, The Man Who Would Be King is a song that I nevertheless love quite a bit. I like a lot of this song, including the quiet guitar intro and the chorus, but the clear highlight is the instrumental section in the middle of the song. It’s a pretty proggy section for Maiden, and features that nice, long Dave Murray solo. The Man Who Would Be King is often overlooked because it’s a giant among titans. But it’s still a giant.


23. To Tame a Land
from Piece of Mind

Among the 80s epics, To Tame a Land is the one that probably least caught my attention at first. Structurally, it’s deceptively simple, but each piece is just superb. The Eastern-sounding intro is such a memorable Maiden moment, and the final vocal part is one of Bruce’s most impressive moments. I don’t know exactly what the status is of the copyright troubles they had on this one, but I think it would be a good song to bring back out if there’s another 80s-heavy tour.


22. If Eternity Should Fail
from The Book of Souls

As I mentioned on the Empire of the Clouds writeup (potentially at the risk of giving this one away), I’m really impressed with the material that Bruce brought to this album. In a band with several great instrumentalist songwriters, one could forgive the lead singer for sticking to vocal melodies and lyrics, especially 16 albums in. But that’s precisely what Bruce did not do for The Book of Souls, and consequently contributed the two finest songs on the album as solo compositions.

As if to make a statement that he still has it, throat cancer or not, Bruce opens the song with a superb nearly-a-capella section. His performance all across the song is excellent. Outside of the intro, I particularly love “We are strange believers, all of us” and “No land of plenty, devastation, despair.” The one caveat is that I could do without the creepy voice on the outro, but I can’t really blame them for trying yet another experiment. That particular one just didn’t connect with me.


21. Stranger in a Strange Land
from Somewhere in Time

Adrian. Smith.

I’ve mentioned before that I think Somewhere in Time is Adrian’s album. He takes a starring role as a player and as a solo songwriter, and peaks in both on this song. Stranger in a Strange Land is one of those story songs that I like so well. There’s a sense of narrative in the lyrics and in the movement of the music.

And then there’s the guitar solo. This would be my favorite guitar solo by any Iron Maiden guitarist, and probably in my top ten from anyone. This song would be top 50 for that solo alone, but then when you add in the rest of that song, a song that transitions smoothly out of the solo into “What became of the man that started”? Top 25 for sure.




Is it too early to solicit guesses for what's to come? I'll ask again when we cross over into the top 10, but I'd be curious if anyone thinks they have an solid idea of what the top 20 will look like.