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

[Mladen]

Two fantastic modern era epics right there. 

And looking at my album ranking, I would probably place TNOTB and TBOS at exactly the same spots. 

[DTA]

When The Wild Wind Blows might be the most overlooked Maiden song. It's got a very strong main melody and introduces a few themes that are (imo) very memorable.

[Stadler]

That's a good call, though, on timing.  I got TNOTB on release too, back in '82, and while I probably listen to other albums more, it's got a certain something that cannot be denied.   And truth be told, as good as the whole show was on this last tour, the song that brought the house down?   The Number Of The Beast.   With the lights and fire, and the people standing and shouting, you could feel the ground shaking, no shit.

[The Realm]

I think context is important. Hearing TNOTB for the very first time shaped my entire musical journey and in some ways my life. As I stated earlier I was given a cassette tape of the album at school. When I got home to play it, it was rewound to side 2 and the first track on side 2 was TNOTB. I can still vividly remember hearing that for the first time. The spoken word intro and then once Bruce began singing, I was immediately hooked. The rest is history.

Loving this thread though and to me it is fascinating to follow someone who obviously is more passionate about the reunion era than the classic era.

Ultimately I’m with Indiscipline and running around the lounge room worshiping Flash of the Blade and even Back in the Village (which I love).

Also are we able to mention cover art? I was blown away by TNOTB cover art back in the day but Piece of Mind disappointing me (the music/songs of course didn’t). Powerslave was a return to an epic cover.

Who remembers the day going to the record store and buying an album just because the art work was cool.

[425]

Hi The Realm, glad to have you following, and glad to hear you are enjoying the thread. I hear you about the different contexts, but I do take objection to one thing you said:

I can see you are a 'newer' Maiden fan which is cool, however if someone gave you a cassette tape of Number of The Beast in high school and asked you to take a listen, I reckon you would feel differently about that album and where it ranks.

More or less, someone *did* give me a cassette tape of Number of the Beast in high school. It wasn't actually a cassette tape, because it was 2011, but this is basically what happened to me. The thing is... because it was 2011, it wasn't just that album, it was that and 14 others.

If anything, my age gives me an impartial perspective when it comes to comparing TNOTB to the other Iron Maiden albums that those who got into it in 1982 can't have. For me, TNOTB has no more or less nostalgia attached to it than Dance of Death or Virtual XI, so none of those albums is getting a nostalgia bonus in my rankings over and above anything else but The Book of Souls.

Of course, I don't have anything against people putting TNOTB at the top of their list, because of nostalgia or for any other reason. But I think it's worth acknowledging that I also have the context of hearing this album for the first time at 15—it's just that that context is in the background of every other Maiden album besides The Book of Souls (which means that I won't have the same perspective on *that* album as any 15-year-olds getting into Maiden right now).


Here are the next two songs and the next two albums:



12. Afraid to Shoot Strangers
from Fear of the Dark

Afraid to Shoot Strangers is one of the most purely emotional songs in the entire Iron Maiden discography. The first half is truly spectacular, with the slow march carried by a simple guitar melody and Nicko’s superb, restrained drumming. The second half isn’t quite as good, but it’s not nearly as pronounced of a drop as on The Longest Day. The first heavier riff is tremendous, preserving the emotional resonance of the intro and carrying it into a more despondent lament. And the faster section conveys the panic of battle while still bringing a fantastic melody to the table.

The original 1992 version of this song is among the very best songs in the Maiden discography. It’s not among Bruce’s most spectacular vocal performances, but his restrained performance works for the first half, and his rasp is more fitting to the fast section than one might expect.

However.

This is the one and only place where Blaze Bayley beats Bruce on one of his own songs. For me, the definitive version of Afraid to Shoot Strangers is the official music video, which shows a live performance from 1995 with Blaze on vocals. His baritone just perfectly complements the somber tone. I think they’re pretty much on par with one another through most of the song, with Bruce having a slight edge on the opening verses due to a couple of live inconsistencies on Blaze’s part, but when it comes to the fast chorus “Afraid, afraid to shoot strangers,” I think Blaze’s thunder just fits that climactic moment better than Bruce’s rasp.


11. Alexander the Great
from Somewhere in Time

I’ve tried to show a lot of love to Somewhere on Time on this list, and my favorite song from the album falls just outside the top 10. Lyrically, this song catches some flak for sounding a little like a Wikipedia entry, and I won’t say that’s altogether undeserved. But the music captures the sense of Alexander’s ambition so well that the lyrics, which might drag down a weaker song, become serviceable.

As has become the pattern with songs on Adrian Smith: The Album, I will be praising Adrian Smith above all else here. His playing on the intro—maybe the best intro in the Maiden discography—and both his solos in the instrumental part are truly spellbinding. The instrumental section as a whole is one of Maiden’s best, period. Its structure never ceases to be interesting. And Dave Murray’s solo is excellent in its own right.




Album 8: Brave New World

Continuing along the set of albums that are very tightly packed, the next one for me is the first (and seemingly perhaps the most popular) reunion album.

As I’ve said before, viewed in the context of the band discography, Brave New World isn’t quite the revelation to me that it seemingly is to a lot of people. I do not think it is this massive jump up from Virtual XI. I think it is an upgrade, but in the sense of being the next logical step, not a new thing from out of the blue. That said, the return of Bruce and Adrian did make a difference in some of the songs on this album, and then proceeded to make a huge difference on subsequent releases. So, in that sense, I understand why one would view this album as a watershed moment.

I have already given five spots on this list to Brave New World, so it should be clear that I find a lot to love on this album. There are a lot of songs here that I enjoy quite a bit. However, I do think this one also has a couple of weak links. The repetition that is a downside of many tracks on this album (and on VXI) is particularly noticeable on The Mercenary and The Fallen Angel, neither of which I hold in particularly high esteem. I also don’t think this album hits the same highs that the later reunion albums do. It’s consistently quite strong, but the other albums go a little farther.


Album 7. The X Factor

I find The X Factor exceptionally difficult to place because, of all the Maiden albums, it is the one that is most about the full album experience as against the strength of individual songs for me. This album does a fantastic job of achieving a certain atmosphere and maintaining it effectively all the way through. Even though the vibe here diverges from the typical Maiden tone, the album also retains most of the major aspects of the band’s sound.

The big exception, obviously, is the replacement of Bruce Dickinson with Blaze Bayley. Since Bruce is one of my favorite singers in metal, it would be hard to replace him without it being some sort of downgraded. But while in a sense it is, and while Blaze was clearly not the optimal fit for the band long term, for this album, he was just the right choice. His baritone is perfectly compatible with the gloomy mood that pervades The X Factor, and I’m really rather taken with his performance.

I love this album for the powerful emotional tone it sets and maintains, and for its several excellent songs. Ultimately, however, it doesn’t climb higher on my list simply because other albums have more high points than it. Its consistent strength takes it this far, but no farther.

[Mladen]

It always makes me happy not to see TXF near the bottom, because it's a top tier album for me. 

I'd also place Alexander the Great just outside of the top 10. Dave's solo truly is special.

[The Realm]

Good one 425, I get what you are saying about context. I don't think they are exactly the same thing but I will move on.

OK, on ATSS - I totally agree with all you wrote including the Blaze version.

Alexander The Great! One of the great songs. My quick funny story - was playing Trivial Pursuit a number of years ago and a question came up. Where did Alexander The Great die? Of course, like all Maiden fans I knew the answer. As far as the guitar work on this song and album well I could write an essay on how awesome it is.

The X Factor - sorry but I just don't get it. This would definitely be my bottom ranked Maiden album easily. Blaze was a mistake for Maiden but more than that most of the songs on the album are just mid tempo and plodding and just don't go anywhere. Also too much 'woah, woah' vocal parts. Blaze's vocals are just so uninspiring on the album. I have heard him sing on other stuff and he sounds much better but here it is a big fail. I like SOTC (Bruce does it better) and I am also pretty fond of Blood on the World's Hands. I pulled out the album and gave it a couple of spins to see if your review could change my mind, as I haven't listened to the whole thing for over 10 years. No, still the same...sorry.

[Zantera]

The X Factor definitely gets more hate than it deserves. It's not an amazing album but I think it's easily better than the other albums Maiden put out between the end of their golden era (Seventh Son) and the reunion (Brave New World).

[425]

Time to move into the top 10! I forgot to ask last time, but I'd be interested to see anyone's guesses of what might be coming up in future posts. Here are two of my absolute favorites, including one that is probably an expected top 10 choice, and one that might be a little more unusual.


10. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

One of the astounding things about the run from The Number of the Beast to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the way you can hear the band constantly growing, progressing and trying new things. There’s a clear line of development in style and ambition, and this ambition reaches its full fruition on the album scale with the band’s only concept album, and on the song scale with the epic that stands as its centerpiece. It’s not my favorite song from the 80s era, although it comes close, but I think it is the one that culminates what they had been working toward for much of the decade.

This song is, in a word, grand. It opens with an absolutely massive melody and runs through a series of huge verses before entering the quiet middle section. This section is, I think, executed better than the similar section in Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It does a stronger job of building tension and leading into the eventual explosion that is this song’s instrumental part. Speaking of it, that instrumental section pulls out all the stops. Each of the four guitar solos builds the intensity higher and higher before finally leading into the powerful keyboard-infused final section.


9. Revelations
from Piece of Mind

Bruce Dickinson’s first foray into songwriting with Iron Maiden is still my favorite of his solo writing efforts. Every part of Revelations is just captivating to me—it’s a song that goes from one excellent moment to another. We have great heavy riffs, beautiful calm sections, soaring vocal parts, one of the best Davey solos, and a rousing outro. I’m not really into all the mystical tarot stuff that inspired the lyrics here, but it doesn’t really matter. The images that Bruce summons from this strange mythology have a distinct sort of beauty that suit this song perfectly.

The definitive version of Revelations has to be the live version on the Live After Death audio. The faster tempo suits the song well, and my personal choice for most exquisite live moment ever is “Los Angeles, can you feel it?” after the first chorus.




Album 6. Dance of Death

I strongly agree with a sentiment that was posted recently in the main thread that Dance of Death is surprisingly good. For a long time, it was the reunion album I paid the least notice. Brave New World is more immediate, and A Matter of Life and Death and The Final Frontier came with a lot of epics to dig into. Dance of Death had a couple of clearly weaker songs and very off-putting artwork.

But over the years, this album has grown on me a lot, to the point where it is fairly comfortably ahead of Brave New World. True, Gates of Tomorrow and New Frontier are weak spots, and Wildest Dreams and Age of Innocence aren’t anything particularly special. But the remainder of the album is very strong, with some tracks that really reward multiple listens—Face in the Sand being a prime example. Unlike some albums with noticeable weak spots, the weaker tracks on this one seem to me to be not so bad in the context of the full album. And the strongest song is well ahead of the strongest one on a number of other Maiden albums, including Brave New World. This is clearly in the upper range of the band’s discography.


Album 5. Somewhere in Time

I have repeatedly praised this album in thread, and for good reason. Falling in between the near-universally loved Powerslave and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Somewhere in Time seems to get less notice than I think it deserves, and I like to take the opportunity to call attention to it.

As I’ve talked about multiple times, this is practically Adrian Smith: The Album. True, there are also fantastic contributions from the other band members, particularly Nicko, Dave and Steve (both as a bassist and as a songwriter), but Adrian is just in another world here in terms of both playing and songwriting. His three songs—Wasted Years, Sea of Madness and Stranger in a Strange Land—are all very good, and he has several wonderful solos. And the Harris-penned bookends, both of which I placed in my top 20, are not bad themselves. There are a couple of weaker songs here, but neither The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner or Deja Vu are bad by any stretch. Somewhere in Time is one of the top efforts of a band on the top of their game and just two years away from producing an absolute masterpiece.

[TAC]

Surprised to see Dance Of Death as the 6th ranked album. That's interesting.

[425]

Too high, or too low?

[TAC]

Neither. I just don't think most people have it ranked that high. I find it interesting.

[DTA]

I'm guessing Hallowed Be Thy Name is going to be somewhere in there, and possibly Paschendale but your list has been pretty non-obvious so far so I really have no clue what the rest of the top 10 could hold.

Seventh Son is such a great track. Very proggy, especially from the middle section to the end. And I agree, the quiet section works better on this one.

Revelations is easily the best song on Piece of Mind. Lots of great parts, especially the clean verses which I love.

I should listen to Dance of Death more. Montsegur is really cool, but I'm not too big on the longer tracks. I actually love Age of Innocence and Journeyman, they sound different than the usual Maiden stuff and it just works for me.

Somewhere In Time is glorious. Every damn track is excellent and this album should not be as absent in their live sets as it is.

[Stadler]

Let me just say I love the placement of "Dance Of Death".  That record is really strong, in my opinion, and the one I go back to most (though TFF is now taking that spot).  I think it's very underrated in that way.

Oh, and if you want to talk "Revelations", there's this:   https://youtu.be/jLhf8caVIiI

[Mladen]

I would rank Dance of death just as high. The underrated cuts are just as good as the more popular cuts.

Both fantastic picks regarding the songs, obviously. 

[The Realm]

Two awesome songs here and one awesome album. Agree with everything you wrote.

I like Dance of Death but this is ranked too high for me. SIT would be ranked 2nd or 3rd, just a magical album.

As far as which songs are still to come, this is a really tough one! Could be anything so looking forward to seeing the reveal. I'm presuming at least one or two songs from A Matter of Life and Death and The Final Frontier.

[TAC]

When SiT came out, it was my favorite Maiden alum, especially after the disappointing Powerslave (for me).

Truth be told, it hasn't aged greatly.

[425]

When SiT came out, it was my favorite Maiden alum, especially after the disappointing Powerslave (for me).

Truth be told, it hasn't aged greatly.

I have definitely seen this opinion before elswhere, though I obviously don't agree. Is there something specific about it that doesn't seem to have held up, like the guitar synths?

Oh, and if you want to talk "Revelations", there's this:   https://youtu.be/jLhf8caVIiI

This is awesome! I had never seen it before.

I'm guessing Hallowed Be Thy Name is going to be somewhere in there, and possibly Paschendale but your list has been pretty non-obvious so far so I really have no clue what the rest of the top 10 could hold.

My sense is that much of my top 10 will be non-obvious from the perspective of typical choices, but if one has a sense of what albums and what types of songs I like best, a lot of it will become easier to guess.

As far as which songs are still to come, this is a really tough one! Could be anything so looking forward to seeing the reveal. I'm presuming at least one or two songs from A Matter of Life and Death and The Final Frontier.

I'm here to fulfill half of your prediction. TBD on the other half...


8. The Legacy
from A Matter of Life and Death

There is no Iron Maiden song that sounds like The Legacy. This song made a strong impression on me from my very first listen to A Matter of Life and Death, an album that, as my list will indicate, is made up of a great many heavy hitters. There is so much I could say about this one. It’s a fantastic storytelling song, especially in the first section, which sounds like a haunted lullaby. It features some of the strongest acoustic guitar I have heard from Maiden. It has an electric guitar tone that I really like, particularly on those ringing chords that mark the transition from the acoustic section to the heavy part. Bruce’s vocal performance is not marked by a lot of vocal acrobatics, but it’s perfectly fitting for the subject matter. Overall, it’s one of my favorite Maiden songs from a songwriting perspective, one that, to me, demonstrates some of the best of the band’s mature style.


7. For the Greater Good of God
from A Matter of Life and Death

However, The Legacy is not my favorite song on A Matter of Life and Death. That title goes to its other 9-minute track, Steve Harris’s finest hour save two as a solo composer. This is one of those longer songs that absolutely sprawls, making full use of its runtime, while also not feeling excessive or disconnected.  It’s an epic that’s truly deserving of the title.

I would be hard-pressed to name a favorite part of this song, because I think it’s one of those where every piece is near-equally strong, and all the pieces come together to make an even better whole. But at a push, I’d point out the emotional intro and outro, the instrumental section before and after the solos, and the chorus, which along with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is one of only a couple of times where I think a repeated-song-title chorus absolutely works and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It actually gives this lament even more power, in my opinion.

(See next post)




Album 4. Piece of Mind

I’m not sure how popular it is to place this album ahead of the somewhat more famous entries before and after it in the discography, but to me this is clearly the strongest of the three and one of the very best Iron Maiden albums. It all starts with the opening one-two punch of Where Eagles Dare and Revelations, which are two of my very favorite 80s Maiden songs. But it doesn’t end there. Almost every song on here is at least pretty strong, including some of the less-talked-about entries like Die With Your Boots On and Still Life. Even Sun and Steel has a lot going for it, in my opinion. The sole exception is Quest for Fire, which is a pretty dark spot on this album, and the thing that keeps it clearly below my top three, which don’t have any such weak points. But outside of that one blight, Piece of Mind delivers great song after great song, and makes for one of the best Iron Maiden album experiences.


Album 3. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

The last album of the classic lineup is also, to me, that lineup’s clear climax. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the most ambitious Iron Maiden album of the 80s—between its concept, its introduction of keyboards and its increasingly complex songwriting—and it achieves all of its lofty goals. In my opinion, there is not a weak track on Seventh Son. Can I Play With Madness is as close as there is to one, and it’s still a strong rocker, deserving of its place as an occasional live track. The band is on fire, Bruce gives probably his best album performance, and the songwriting is epic, full of memorable and often emotional melodies. Seventh Son is an absolute classic, assured of a place on any list of favorite albums I ever make.

[TAC]

When SiT came out, it was my favorite Maiden alum, especially after the disappointing Powerslave (for me).

Truth be told, it hasn't aged greatly.

I have definitely seen this opinion before elswhere, though I obviously don't agree. Is there something specific about it that doesn't seem to have held up, like the guitar synths?

I think it was based on a clear reflection of what came before it. I really did not care for Powerslave. I felt it was really stale, and such a huge step down from NOTB and PoM.

I initially thought SiT sounded so fresh and the approach was a recovery from the lackluster Powerslave.


I can't really put into words why it really hasn't held up. Oddly, one song I was never really a fan of at first was Heaven Can Wait, and that is the one song in their discog that has actually aged the best for me. That and Powerslave.

I still consider Caught Somewhere In Time a Top 3-5 Maiden track though.

[The Realm]

SiT was a huge influence on me when it came out. As far as Maiden goes second only behind TNOTB. Has it aged well? I think it has. I still love listening to it now but I know there is also a huge amount of nostalgia related to this.

As far as latest rankings we’ll those albums are all time classics and believe it or not they are probably ranked where I would rank them. Just the albums around them would be different.

I had a very strong feeling those 2 songs were coming up. Actually I expected For The Greater Good if God to be ranked higher!

[Mladen]

You can't go wrong with The Legacy. That intro is majestic, I'm hearing a lot of 70s prog in there.

[Dream Team]

Great updates. I just had fun reading through the old thread and deciding how I might change my list. The album rankings have definitely changed.

[425]

I initially thought SiT sounded so fresh and the approach was a recovery from the lackluster Powerslave.


I can't really put into words why it really hasn't held up. Oddly, one song I was never really a fan of at first was Heaven Can Wait, and that is the one song in their discog that has actually aged the best for me. That and Powerslave.

Huh. I guess it makes sense that you'd have a more positive reaction given the context, and there's really little accounting for tastes otherwise.

I had a very strong feeling those 2 songs were coming up. Actually I expected For The Greater Good if God to be ranked higher!

Funny you should mention that... I've been thinking over and over about this and I really can't help thinking I need to move it one place higher, from #7 to #6, with my previous #6 going down to #7. So I'm going to repost its writeup in this post in the #6 spot, along with #7 and #5. The one and only time I'm going to tinker with the list after having already posted songs.


7. Hallowed Be Thy Name
from The Number of the Beast

There’s pretty much nothing I can say about Hallowed Be Thy Name that hasn’t already been. This is a classic that absolutely deserves that status. The songwriting is superb, with every riff and melody contributing to a fantastic whole. The lyrics are thought-provoking and emotionally powerful at every stage. And the whole piece absolutely kills every time they bring it out as part of the live show.

As I’ve said before, I typically find it difficult to rank these live staples. But this one I absolutely never tire of. It can still provoke an emotional reaction after probably hundreds of listens, and it never fails to provide excitement in spades, either. Iron Maiden has so many great songs, but there’s a very real argument that they have never quite topped this moment off their third album. Certainly if I had to show someone one song to represent the band’s whole body of work, this would still be my choice.


6. For the Greater Good of God
from A Matter of Life and Death

Though it ranks high, The Legacy is not my favorite song on A Matter of Life and Death. That title goes to its other 9-minute track, Steve Harris’s finest hour save one as a solo composer. This is one of those longer songs that absolutely sprawls, making full use of its runtime, while also not feeling excessive or disconnected.  It’s an epic that’s truly deserving of the title.

I would be hard-pressed to name a favorite part of this song, because I think it’s one of those where every piece is near-equally strong, and all the pieces come together to make an even better whole. But at a push, I’d point out the emotional intro and outro, the instrumental section before and after the solos, and the chorus, which along with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is one of only a couple of times where I think a repeated-song-title chorus absolutely works and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It actually gives this lament even more power, in my opinion.


5. Sign of the Cross
from The X Factor

Like For the Greater Good of God, Sign of the Cross is feels like an absolutely massive song, and not just in terms of length. The riffs, the melodies, the vocal sections here just bring such a strong sense of grandeur and scale—and that’s without even mentioning the Gregorian choir. On this song, I get the sense of despair at its most majestic. This is especially true on the instrumental section that rises from a full drop into the second Gregorian choir part through a series of huge riffs and melodies before eventually arriving at one of my favorite solo sections in the Iron Maiden discography, featuring back-to-back lightning-fast solos from Dave Murray and Janick Gers. And then it continues from there, with a number of other wonderful sections before finally bringing things to a close with a climactic rendition of the chorus. I love gradual build-ups, and this is one of Maiden’s best. I also love melodic instrumental sections, especially those that don’t entirely rely on solos, and, again, this is one of Maiden’s best.

My one sorrow on this song is that there is not a version that I would regard as clearly definitive. I very much like both singers on this song, but I slightly prefer Blaze Bayley. I think he sounds a little better on the intro and outro, and I slightly prefer his delivery on “Holding communion so the world’ll be blessed / My creator, my God’ll lay my soul to rest,” which is the most substantive difference. I would be willing to consider a Bruce performance of this song to be a definitive version, but, to me, the Rock In Rio performance of this one is one of the rare times that a Maiden song becomes perceptively weaker by being played at a faster tempo live. This song needs to march, it needs to proceed at a measured pace, it doesn’t need to race along. The tempo on The X Factor is absolutely perfect in my book… but the production is very bad, taking away some of the weight that the guitar riffs should have and causing a too-wide disparity in volume from the quiet parts to the loud parts. Doesn’t stop Sign of the Cross from being a top 10 song by any means, but I would really like to have a version, with either Blaze or Bruce, that combines the best of the two released versions and matches the way I imagine this song to be in my head.




Album 2. A Matter of Life and Death

After two very strong releases on Brave New World and Dance of Death, albeit with some imperfections, everything came together completely on the third reunion album, A Matter of Life and Death. This is Iron Maiden at their proggy best. The album has three highly refined, sophisticated long epics, two of which have already been named in my top 10, and the third in my top 20. It also has four excellent mid-range songs, all of which have been named on this list (These Colours Don’t Run, The Longest Day, Benjamin Breeg and Lord of Light). The shorter songs are not quite as superb, but they are by no means bad. The Pilgrim in particular is a fun, distinct piece that very nearly made my top 60. The full album experience of AMOLAD is also quite strong. In some ways, this feels like an album that takes the dark, contemplative tone of The X Factor, renders it a bit less oppressive, and steps up the quality of the songwriting to a very high level.

Simply put, this is a very fine album, one that would stand out in any band’s discography, and that must especially stand out among 14th studio albums! I hope the band themselves are still proud of this one, and I think they are, if the fact that this is the only Iron Maiden album to be played live in full is any indication.


Album 1. The Final Frontier

The Final Frontier is a very close sibling of A Matter of Life and Death, and I love them both for very similar reasons. With the reunion style pretty much perfected on AMOLAD, I think it makes sense that the next album would iterate that style somewhat, and cast it in a different tone, but not make any radical changes. There was a lot of creative juice left over from AMOLAD, and I think in TFF the band was able to produce an album that just barely topped it.

I have already mentioned a great many songs from this album on my list—most notably, I have mentioned a couple of the shorter songs: Mother of Mercy and The Alchemist. This is one place where I think TFF has a clear edge on AMOLAD: The shorter songs are just a bit better. Coming Home also came very close to making my list. This isn’t to say that I don’t love the epics, as well. Far from it, as I have already shown by placing The Man Who Would Be King and When the Wild Wind Blows in the top 25.

To me, A Matter of Life and Death and The Final Frontier form a natural pair that features my favorite songwriting of Iron Maiden’s career. The main distinction is that TFF feels a little happier than AMOLAD, which is a plus for me, and that I like the shorter tracks on TFF a little better, generally speaking. Both are worthy of a top ranking, but only The Final Frontier receives it. This album made a massive impact on me when I first listened to the Iron Maiden discography, and many years later I still do not get tired of it. It is truly one of my all-time favorites, without a doubt.

[Zantera]

Seeing TFF at 1 is crazy to me because it would be near the bottom for me (still some great tunes and not a bad album by any means). As for the songs, I do love Sign of the Cross and it would be super high for me as well, but I kinda get your point with the 'no definitive version' part. I think Blaze does the song great though I feel the quiet parts on the album are perhaps a bit too quiet in contrast to the loud bits but I agree that the Bruce version suffers a bit from being sped up.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yea it's funny how diffrent it can be, it's in the bottom for me too. Pretty much all the reunion albums are pretty low in the rank for me. I applaud IM for still going strong and releasing albums but non of the reunion albums have really grabbed me except maybe Brave New World.

I'm a sucker for "early" Maiden basically.

[Zantera]

I think 'reunion'-Maiden has been very strong - in fact probably stronger than most bands who have been going for as long as they have. But as much as I like them, they are still just 'great' albums by a band that has made classic albums. In the end it's all opinions and I for one would actually rank AMOLAD very high and I really like BNW and DoD too, but the old albums are what made the band. It's cool to see different opinions though, but I still find it a bit crazy to hear someone talk about the classics like they are half filler and then listing TFF as nr1 which is also half filler but doesn't have the same highs as the classics.

[425]

To be fair, the only generally accepted classic I would say is "half filler" is Powerslave, which I feel is not, like, a totally unheard-of opinion. (And even then, it's only half by number of tracks, since the two longest songs are decisively in the non-filler category.) I also tried to express that a lot of the albums are very close for me—there's not that much of a gap between Somewhere in Time at #5 and The Number of the Beast at #10. The only problem I have with TNOTB is that Gangland isn't great and should've been replaced with Total Eclipse. Other than that, I really have no objections to the album at all.

But I'll happily concede that I am often quite contrarian about accepted "classics," and this is not just with Iron Maiden. I think there is a strong tendency in music discussions in general to pick up on the albums that made an artist popular and treat those as the be-all, end-all. I get that there is an energy and a freshness to those kind of breakout albums that a lot of people like. I just tend to have a stronger interest than most in the refined maturity that a not-insignificant number of artists find in the later part of their careers.

[Zantera]

I mean I recognize some of my own personality in what you're saying. I think sometimes it's easy to go into a 'classic' with the mindset that you are looking to see if it's actually THAT good (kinda looking to poke holes) whereas albums like X Factor or Virtual XI you go into knowing most fans rate very low, so you are kinda looking for the bright spots. Like it's all opinions and some people will have album X high and album Y low and someone else has it the other way, I think that's pretty neat honestly. Classics don't HAVE to be as good as the hype, because sometimes context plays a huge part. Some albums might have been revolutionary and crazy good when they came out but if you check them out 20 years later with a different 'background' you might not get the same experience at all.

[Lupton]

For me Powerslave is the ONLY Iron Maiden album with NO filler. And nothing from the reunion era (good as it is) is on the same level quality-wise with anything released before No Prayer. And this is with the context of getting into ALL of the Maiden albums around the same time some years back. I knew some individual songs beforehand, but not entire albums. Opinions are weird. 

[The Realm]

Yes it is also a shock to me to see TFF ranked number 1 but I knew it was coming. To me AMOLAD is the best reunion era album but all the reunion albums would be ranked lower than the first seven albums.

I also can’t believe Hallowed isn’t the number 1 song! (Only joking) but it is my number 1 song by any band.

SotC is a great song and I agree with all you wrote here.

Looking forward to seeing what other Maiden songs could possibly rank higher than HBTN. Must be at least 1 from TFF but no idea what. I think we have had at least 2 or more already in the countdown.

[TAC]

I put both TFF and AMOLAD in my Top 5. I generally concede that AMOLAD is their signature Reunion Era album, but I do like TFF a bit more. I find it on par musically, but the songs just seem a bit easier on the ears, if that makes any sense.

My favorite Reunion Era track is The Talisman followed very closely by Coming Home. Hopefully one of these are coming up.

[Mladen]

Sign of the cross is the best song ever.

And kudos on having two more recent albums as your very favorites. Although I wouldn't rank The Final Frontier as high as you did, I still think that it's a fantastic album that will unfortunatelly be forgotten due to its placement between AMOLAD and TBOS, which were much better received.

[The Realm]

To clarify I love both AMOLAD and TFF. It is just that my nostalgic self couldn't bare to rank them above the first 7 albums.

I can't remember which TFF songs we have had in the countdown so far, but if Coming Home hasn't been one then that would be a good choice. It is my second fav on TFF, my fav is When the Wild Wind Blows but pretty sure we have had that one already.

[wolfking]

TFF has aged really really well for me.  From The Alchemist to the end is just amazing.

[425]

I mean I recognize some of my own personality in what you're saying. I think sometimes it's easy to go into a 'classic' with the mindset that you are looking to see if it's actually THAT good (kinda looking to poke holes) whereas albums like X Factor or Virtual XI you go into knowing most fans rate very low, so you are kinda looking for the bright spots. Like it's all opinions and some people will have album X high and album Y low and someone else has it the other way, I think that's pretty neat honestly.

I get you, and this is definitely an outlook I often have that perhaps sometimes does affect my rankings.


Good to see some decent TFF love on the whole, as well as, of course, Sign of the Cross love. For The Realm and others wondering what we've had from TFF so far:
54. The Alchemist
45. Satellite 15... The Final Frontier
38. Mother of Mercy
24. The Man Who Would Be King
14. When the Wild Wind Blows


And now we will be adding to this already healthy list:


4. Starblind
from The Final Frontier

There was a time when I would have called this my #1 Iron Maiden song, and it’s still one of my absolute favorites. It’s hard to describe quite what I find so special about this song. There’s just something about the marriage between the music and Bruce’s vocal melodies, which aren’t paired in a way that I think is ordinary (particularly on the verses), but gives the sense of the vocal floating, soaring over this controlled complexity, punctuated by the sort of off-sounding riffs and the guitar melodies that plunge in and out of the verses (want to talk about why a band would ever need three guitars? this is why).

I’ve said it many times before, but it needs emphasizing again on this song: Adrian. Smith. What a performance.

This whole sense of Bruce’s voice soaring over a chaotic backing works quite well with the lyrics of the song, I think, which, while somewhat vague, are, in my opinion, very beautifully written. They’re almost surely Bruce’s, and they’re among his very best. The introductory lyrics are gorgeous, and sound wonderful in the context of the song. But my very favorite section is when we rise up out of the instrumental section and Bruce declaims:

Look into our face reflected in the moonglow in your eyes
Remember you can choose to look but not to see and waste your hours
You believe you have the time, but I tell you your time is short
See your past and future, all the same and it cannot be bought


3. Isle of Avalon
from The Final Frontier

Of all Iron Maiden songs, Isle of Avalon is the one that is most likely to get me completely pumped. To me, this track is just packed with tension and excitement. The quieter sections that open each half of the song serve the role of the openers Maiden has been accustomed to writing in the reunion era, but they aren’t the typical calm intros. They are instead softer sections that build tension upon tension until it eventually erupts. The instrumental section is wonderful, and Adrian’s long solo here is absolutely one of his very best. I love the lyrics and Bruce’s performance. I think he does a wonderful job of emphasizing the meaning of the words, especially some of the strongest lines. There are so very many moments I love in this song, but there are maybe one or two Iron Maiden moments I love more than:

To have the belief of others
Looking for the Isle to show them a sign
Fertility of all mothers
Stood in silence, waiting now for their turn

The gateway to Avalon
The island where the souls of dead are reborn
Brought here to die and be
Transferred into the earth and then for rebirth