I've decided to try and stick with a twice-a-week schedule for this countdown, so that we're not plodding our way through the list all the way into December.
40. "Como Estais Amigos" - Another day, another Blaze Bayley era song on the list!
However, much like "The Edge of Darkness" before it, I feel like "Como Estais Amigos" is a few drafts away from being a significantly stronger song than it is. There's certain portions, especially in the middle, that
soar in my opinion, but the beginning and ending both have a bit of a plodding issue. But still, that middle portion is so damn good, I felt obligated to include it on the list at Number 40.
39. "Brave New World" - I will be honest; there's a part of me that desperately wanted to include "Brave New World" in my Top 25. It's one of the Iron Maiden songs that I listen to the most and was one of the first songs that really made me fall in love with the band when I got into them over twelve years ago. There's so many incredible moments and lyrical lines in this song and God, is it a monster live, judging by Rock In Rio '01 and the other times it's been played live in the Reunion era. But that chorus... as melodic as it is, I really do feel the repetitiveness of the lyrics of the chorus now. Like Achilles and his heel, the song struggles and falters in that one regard- otherwise, it is a JEWEL.
38. "Empire of the Clouds" - When I first started working on my Top 50 list, I had no idea where "Empire" was going to end up. It's one of my highlights from The Book of Souls, but even five years out from its release, I'm not quite sure where I rank it among the band's all-time finest epics. Still I appreciate how different and unique the song feels, and it is easily worth acknowledging as being one of Bruce's finest contributions to the band.
37. "Ghost of the Navigator" - Another song off of Brave New World, this time a rare song that doesn't have a lazy, overly repetitive chorus! Quite frankly I'm shocked the band hasn't brought back this song to their setlists since the BNW era, because holy moly, it is one of
the highlights off of the Rock In Rio live album IMO. Not to mention it's one of the band's heavier songs, with some very intense riffing going on from the guitar trio.
36. "Mother Russia" - I promised that there'd be a song off of No Prayers on here, didn't I?
In all seriousness, "Mother Russia" is terrific. It really feels like a continuation of the sound that the band had been developing on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, veering more into the band's more progressive side, which is a big boon in my book.