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

[Lupton]

Thanks for the hospitality everyone! Yes, it's true. I am really interested in a lot of the song-based discussion that goes on in this thread. The rankings? Not so much (but that's just me  ).  Looking forward to the next round. 

[The Realm]

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party on the latest list - been busy and also still reeling a bit from the passing away of EVH.

Moonchild - definitely a classic, love this song. Awesome vocal delivery by Bruce. Pretty sure it was featured in both previous lists so not much more to add on this one.

Afraid to Shoot Strangers - I do like this song but it isn't one of my favourites. Also been featured previously and spoken about quite a bit, even the live version with Blaze which rightly gets a lot of love. It is really interesting in our previous discussions about Blaze, that this is the perfect song in the Bruce catalogue that Blaze can do justice to with his voice.

The Red & the Black - again not one of my favourites however I do agree with a previous comment that this would have been an awesome 6/7 minute song.

Colours - a really great song, some awesome guitar riffs in this one.

Man on the Edge - not a fan of this song sorry. Love the movie Falling Down though (well I did when it was released not sure I have seen it since...so not sure how it has aged)

[Mister Gold]

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.

[Zydar]

Mother Russia has always been a favourite of mine. Nice choice there.

[Stadler]

This section of the list doesn't blow me away.   I love Como Estas - as much as you can love something off either of the Blaze albums - but "Brave New World" didn't really light a fire.  I now consider the reunion era to be "better" than the classic era (meaning, I usually listen to more of the reunion stuff than the classic stuff) but BNW is the least of all the reunion albums by a lot. 

Hot take:   Empire Of The Clouds is overrated.  I like it, but I sort of bristle at the "notoriety" because it seems to be simply because it's long.  It's not even top three songs on the RECORD (I prefer "The Red And The Black", "Speed Of Light", and "If Eternity Should Fail" at a minimum).

[The Realm]

Fantastic to see such diverse opinions on songs - I think I can safely say that none of the latest batch would make my own top 50.

I think Empire is the best of this bunch, lots to like about this song and parts of it I do love but I don't feel its length is justified.

Brave New World and Ghost of the Navigator are good songs. I enjoyed these a lot upon release of the album but they haven't aged that well for me. I agree with Stadler, in that I also feel BNW is probably the weakest of the reunion albums, and is the one I return to the least.

I like Mother Russia. It was definitely one of my favs on the album upon release but not Top 50 material.

Como - not one of my favourites. I don't want to keep bringing up Blaze but he doesn't do this song any favours. The instrumental section is pretty cool but it is short and doesn't do enough to influence the overall impact of the song which I feel is really flat and lifeless, especially vocally (sorry Blaze fans).

[wolfking]

Interesting group of songs;

Como - I always liked this one.  Blaze is a bit flat, but his emotion overshadows that.  The highlight is Janick's emotive solo.  The rhythm underneath works really well too.  It's like the rhythm part has more notes than the actual solo, very cool.

Brave New World - Yeah, I had this one in and as I said, over the years the repetiveness has stated to bother me a little more than it use to.  It's still amazing though, love it.

Empire - Agree with Bill, Empire is appreciated becuase it's the band doing something different, but it doesn't stack up to any of their classic epics IMO.  Even TRATB and the title track are better epics IMO.

Ghost - Kind of a somewhat forgetten gem this one.  The intro just grooves when it kicks in, really nice from Maiden.  I find the chorus a little awkward but it's fine.  The section after Janick's solo portrays the vibe and lyrics nicely.

Mother - Interesting tune.  The solo section is a blatant 7th Son rip off, but I always dug this tune.

[TAC]

Hot take:   Empire Of The Clouds  Rime Of The Ancient Mariner is overrated.  I like it, but I sort of bristle at the "notoriety" because it seems to be simply because it's long. 

[Lupton]

Como - not one of my favourites. I don't want to keep bringing up Blaze but he doesn't do this song any favours. The instrumental section is pretty cool but it is short and doesn't do enough to influence the overall impact of the song which I feel is really flat and lifeless, especially vocally (sorry Blaze fans).

I always felt that Como Estais was a really great tune that packed a lot in for it's shorter length. But Blaze's softer less projected vocals sound pitchy near the beginning. IIRC, it's easy to overlook due to this pitchy-ness not being on any of the longer sustained notes. My guess is that a more rigorous producer probably would have demanded a better vocal performance (just up to before it gets heavy into the more projected belting vocals). I'm pretty sure Blaze could have easily ironed out those kinks with a little help from guidance in the control both. Possibly there's one "Oh Owwwwwwwh Oh Owwwwwwwh" at the end that's a little iffy too (I'll have to check this next time). This tune needs better quality control in the vocal production.

[wolfking]

Como - not one of my favourites. I don't want to keep bringing up Blaze but he doesn't do this song any favours. The instrumental section is pretty cool but it is short and doesn't do enough to influence the overall impact of the song which I feel is really flat and lifeless, especially vocally (sorry Blaze fans).

I always felt that Como Estais was a really great tune that packed a lot in for it's shorter length. But Blaze's softer less projected vocals sound pitchy near the beginning. IIRC, it's easy to overlook due to this pitchy-ness not being on any of the longer sustained notes. My guess is that a more rigorous producer probably would have demanded a better vocal performance (just up to before it gets heavy into the more projected belting vocals). I'm pretty sure Blaze could have easily ironed out those kinks with a little help from guidance in the control both. Possibly there's one "Oh Owwwwwwwh Oh Owwwwwwwh" at the end that's a little iffy too (I'll have to check this next time). This tune needs better quality control in the vocal production.

Yeah, you're right.  He's very pitchy through a lot of the song.

[Evermind]

I think Empire is one of the best songs from the album. Definitely better than Speed of Light, but that's not saying much as for me every song on Book of Souls is better than Speed of Light.

[wolfking]

I think Empire is one of the best songs from the album. Definitely better than Speed of Light, but that's not saying much as for me every song on Book of Souls is better than Speed of Light.

It would be the weakest song for me too, quite easily.

[Mister Gold]

I'm quite happy to see lots of interesting feedback from everyone!

Como - not one of my favourites. I don't want to keep bringing up Blaze but he doesn't do this song any favours. The instrumental section is pretty cool but it is short and doesn't do enough to influence the overall impact of the song which I feel is really flat and lifeless, especially vocally (sorry Blaze fans).

I always felt that Como Estais was a really great tune that packed a lot in for it's shorter length. But Blaze's softer less projected vocals sound pitchy near the beginning. IIRC, it's easy to overlook due to this pitchy-ness not being on any of the longer sustained notes. My guess is that a more rigorous producer probably would have demanded a better vocal performance (just up to before it gets heavy into the more projected belting vocals). I'm pretty sure Blaze could have easily ironed out those kinks with a little help from guidance in the control both. Possibly there's one "Oh Owwwwwwwh Oh Owwwwwwwh" at the end that's a little iffy too (I'll have to check this next time). This tune needs better quality control in the vocal production.

Yeah, you're right.  He's very pitchy through a lot of the song.

I completely agree with the both of you, Kade and Lupton. Blaze's performance on the album certainly conveys emotion, but musically it's not quite up to snuff IMO. If the producer challenged Blaze (and Steve, because there's little doubt he had final say on the matter) to try for a stronger vocal performance on the song, I likely would've ranked Como Estais Amigos a few spots higher than I already did.

I think Empire is one of the best songs from the album. Definitely better than Speed of Light, but that's not saying much as for me every song on Book of Souls is better than Speed of Light.

Agreed.

Interesting group of songs;

Como - I always liked this one.  Blaze is a bit flat, but his emotion overshadows that.  The highlight is Janick's emotive solo.  The rhythm underneath works really well too.  It's like the rhythm part has more notes than the actual solo, very cool.

Brave New World - Yeah, I had this one in and as I said, over the years the repetiveness has stated to bother me a little more than it use to.  It's still amazing though, love it.

Empire - Agree with Bill, Empire is appreciated becuase it's the band doing something different, but it doesn't stack up to any of their classic epics IMO.  Even TRATB and the title track are better epics IMO.

Ghost - Kind of a somewhat forgetten gem this one.  The intro just grooves when it kicks in, really nice from Maiden.  I find the chorus a little awkward but it's fine.  The section after Janick's solo portrays the vibe and lyrics nicely.

Mother - Interesting tune.  The solo section is a blatant 7th Son rip off, but I always dug this tune.

Well, Kade, I can certainly agree that The Book of Souls is a stronger epic than Empire. Hell, same goes for If Eternity Should Fail in my book. But as someone who's been vocal about my whirlwind journey with TRATB over the years, I'm just not quite ready yet to rank it over Empire. Maybe next time though!

And I'm glad to see someone in here approve of the inclusion of Ghost! While there aren't many BNW songs on this list, I really do feel like Ghost in particularly needed to make it. For the most part, I would argue it's aged quite nicely.

True, the solo section of Mother Russia might be a blatant Seventh Son rip off, but that likely plays a big part for why I really love that song.

This section of the list doesn't blow me away.   I love Como Estas - as much as you can love something off either of the Blaze albums - but "Brave New World" didn't really light a fire.  I now consider the reunion era to be "better" than the classic era (meaning, I usually listen to more of the reunion stuff than the classic stuff) but BNW is the least of all the reunion albums by a lot. 

Hot take:   Empire Of The Clouds is overrated.  I like it, but I sort of bristle at the "notoriety" because it seems to be simply because it's long.  It's not even top three songs on the RECORD (I prefer "The Red And The Black", "Speed Of Light", and "If Eternity Should Fail" at a minimum).

Fair enough, my friend!

[Dream Team]

36-38 are great. MR in particular is underrated.

[425]

Ghost of the Navigator and Empire of the Clouds are perfect choices for this section of the list. Both have a lot going for them, with pretty distinct vibes. I too am still not quite sure where Empire will ultimately land for me. And I suppose I agreed with you and Stadler in putting If Eternity Should Fail and The Book of Souls above it.

I feel very similarly as you about Brave New World. This was one of the four first songs I became obsessed with when I first learned about Maiden from a friend. The other three were Caught Somewhere in Time, When the Wild Wind Blows and The Clansman, all of which made my top 60, while Brave New World did not. And it really is a function of that incessantly repetitive chorus.

Mother Russia and Como Estais Amigos are both really interesting choices, both ones that I enjoy but not quite enough to put them this high. Como Estais Amigos definitely has the emotion, but I also share your view that there is a bit of a plodding issue in parts. Thinking about it now, it actually would probably be in the bottom half of VXI for me, but that's maybe more a testament to my love of that under-loved album than to a dislike of Como, which I do enjoy.

Mother Russia you called a continuation of the Seventh Son sound, and while I know what you mean, I'd call it more an echo of that sound. The whole rest of that album, pretty much, is a sharp turn away from the band's progressive trend, and Mother Russia is the only place where you can hear any of it left at all. But it's a fairly weak vestige. It's nothing like Infinite Dreams or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in terms of progressiveness.

[Mister Gold]

Ghost of the Navigator and Empire of the Clouds are perfect choices for this section of the list. Both have a lot going for them, with pretty distinct vibes. I too am still not quite sure where Empire will ultimately land for me. And I suppose I agreed with you and Stadler in putting If Eternity Should Fail and The Book of Souls above it.

I feel very similarly as you about Brave New World. This was one of the four first songs I became obsessed with when I first learned about Maiden from a friend. The other three were Caught Somewhere in Time, When the Wild Wind Blows and The Clansman, all of which made my top 60, while Brave New World did not. And it really is a function of that incessantly repetitive chorus.

Mother Russia and Como Estais Amigos are both really interesting choices, both ones that I enjoy but not quite enough to put them this high. Como Estais Amigos definitely has the emotion, but I also share your view that there is a bit of a plodding issue in parts. Thinking about it now, it actually would probably be in the bottom half of VXI for me, but that's maybe more a testament to my love of that under-loved album than to a dislike of Como, which I do enjoy.

Mother Russia you called a continuation of the Seventh Son sound, and while I know what you mean, I'd call it more an echo of that sound. The whole rest of that album, pretty much, is a sharp turn away from the band's progressive trend, and Mother Russia is the only place where you can hear any of it left at all. But it's a fairly weak vestige. It's nothing like Infinite Dreams or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in terms of progressiveness.

Yeah, I felt like both Ghost and Empire should be on the list, but not too high. 

It really is a shame about BNW's chorus. Melodically, it's still pretty dang strong. It's just the lyrics there get old fast. It'll never happen, but I'd love to see someone do a cover or update on this song and tweak the lyrics of the chorus specifically to address that issue. But again, unlikely to ever happen.

Yeah, I can definitely agree that Mother Russia is sort of a shell or echo to the sound of Seventh Son- that's why the songs you name dropped are considerably higher on the list than MR.

[Mister Gold]

Another day, another update on the List!

35. "Aces High" - Quite possibly the most iconic opening song to an Iron Maiden, "Aces High" has always been full of high octane energy and all-around charm. There's something about how the music video or the live performances start with that sampling of Winston Churchhill's famous 'We shall fight' speech that never fails to send shivers down my spine. However, despite my appreciation and love for the song, "Aces High" has the same problem that pretty much every other song in this section of the countdown has; There's thirty more Iron Maiden songs that I ultimately love more.

34. "Children of the Damned" - The band's early tribute to the Dio-era of Black Sabbath, "Children of the Damned" is the sort of great, moody song that we don't see them write very often nowadays. I was lucky to catch it live at one of the live shows I attended and I remember Bruce making a rather surprising joke about how some of the younger audience members might have just been erm... made to this song.

33. "Rainmaker" - Like "Brave New World" before it, "Rainmaker" was one of those Iron Maiden songs that I latched onto pretty early into my love for the band and never really stopped loving it. Part of me really wanted to rank it higher, but as I basically consider this wave of songs to all generally be equal to one another, but not quite on par with the remaining thirty songs on my list, I'm afraid "Rainmaker" will have to settle for the spot of Number 33.

32. "The Clansman" - One of the best epics to come from the Blaze era. While I think Blaze does well on the studio version, "The Clansman" really does come to life in a big way when Bruce sings it instead. In particular, I think Bruce's wider vocal range allows him to make more use of those repeated "FREEDOMMMMMM" choruses and allow each line to feel a bit more unique and build up interest more and more. However, as you will all notice very quickly in the next sets of songs on my list, a vast majority of my favorite Maiden songs are the band's epics- and unfortunately "The Clansman" just couldn't break into the Top 30 for me.

31. "22 Acacia Avenue" - When I first started my list, I thought for sure "22 Acacia Avenue" would make it into my Top 30 or 25. It's a great song and one of the less appreciated gems from Number of the Beast. However, as I was finalizing this particular segment of the list, the other contenders that I had in mind for Number 31 all just... struck me a bit more emotionally. I can absolutely see and respect why someone else might include "22 Acacia Avenue" in their Top 10, but as much as I like and respect it, the song just doesn't quite bare that same emotional heft for me.

[wolfking]

Great group, with Rain, Aces and 22 all much higher for me.  I've pretty much confessed my love for most here.

[Mister Gold]

Great group, with Rain, Aces and 22 all much higher for me.  I've pretty much confessed my love for most here.

Yeah, like I said before- I totally get why someone would rank these songs higher. I almost did myself! However if I'm being honest with myself, I'm a huge sucker for the band's epics, so from here on out there's only a few shorter or midlength Maiden songs left on my Top 30 (roughly 8 or 10, in fact). So as much as I wanted to put some of those other 20-ish epics in this slot instead, I kept going back and listening to them all and struggling to determine which of the lot I could 'banish' out of the Top 30... And at the end of the day, I felt like I'd be lying through my teeth if I'd done the list that way.

[wolfking]

Great group, with Rain, Aces and 22 all much higher for me.  I've pretty much confessed my love for most here.

Yeah, like I said before- I totally get why someone would rank these songs higher. I almost did myself! However if I'm being honest with myself, I'm a huge sucker for the band's epics, so from here on out there's only a few shorter or midlength Maiden songs left on my Top 30 (roughly 8 or 10, in fact). So as much as I wanted to put some of those other 20-ish epics in this slot instead, I kept going back and listening to them all and struggling to determine which of the lot I could 'banish' out of the Top 30... And at the end of the day, I felt like I'd be lying through my teeth if I'd done the list that way.

Maiden are a band that are so strong across the board songs ranked at 30-40 just seems criminal but they are still classic songs,  it's just they have to go somewhere because the strength of other songs is just too good.

[Mister Gold]

Great group, with Rain, Aces and 22 all much higher for me.  I've pretty much confessed my love for most here.

Yeah, like I said before- I totally get why someone would rank these songs higher. I almost did myself! However if I'm being honest with myself, I'm a huge sucker for the band's epics, so from here on out there's only a few shorter or midlength Maiden songs left on my Top 30 (roughly 8 or 10, in fact). So as much as I wanted to put some of those other 20-ish epics in this slot instead, I kept going back and listening to them all and struggling to determine which of the lot I could 'banish' out of the Top 30... And at the end of the day, I felt like I'd be lying through my teeth if I'd done the list that way.

Maiden are a band that are so strong across the board songs ranked at 30-40 just seems criminal but they are still classic songs,  it's just they have to go somewhere because the strength of other songs is just too good.

Exactly. I just know there'll be some folks who look at my list and gasp at the exclusion of certain Maiden "classics" from even making my Top 50, but hey- that's just a testament to how  incredible this band's catalogue is from start to finish.

[DTA]

I tend to get resentment towards most bands' popular songs. There's something about a song that the band plays live endlessly and gets a lot of attention that makes me regard it as inferior to less popular/played tracks. But Aces High is definitely an exception. It is without a doubt one of the most brilliant songs the band ever made and every bit deserving of its praise. You do have it much lower than I would, but I'm enjoying the oddball choices and rankings on your list. Rainmaker is super catchy and one I forget exists so great pick there. Never been a big fan of Acacia or Children but they're not bad songs at all.

[The Realm]

Really strong songs in the latest batch. I think all have been featured before. For me, Aces High would be much higher and same with Children of the Dammed, this is just a classic song which has everything. Rainmaker is a great catchy tune and lots has been already said about The Clansman. 22 would also be higher for me I'd say, another song that I just love.

[Mister Gold]

I tend to get resentment towards most bands' popular songs. There's something about a song that the band plays live endlessly and gets a lot of attention that makes me regard it as inferior to less popular/played tracks. But Aces High is definitely an exception. It is without a doubt one of the most brilliant songs the band ever made and every bit deserving of its praise. You do have it much lower than I would, but I'm enjoying the oddball choices and rankings on your list. Rainmaker is super catchy and one I forget exists so great pick there. Never been a big fan of Acacia or Children but they're not bad songs at all.

Yeah, I'm often the same way myself. That's why you won't be seeing "Number of the Beast" or "Run to the Hills" anywhere on my list, for instance.

Really strong songs in the latest batch. I think all have been featured before. For me, Aces High would be much higher and same with Children of the Dammed, this is just a classic song which has everything. Rainmaker is a great catchy tune and lots has been already said about The Clansman. 22 would also be higher for me I'd say, another song that I just love.

If it makes you feel any better, I can say that while I did list specific numbers for this latest batch, I am personally reading all five of these particular songs in my head as #31A to #31E. Ultimately they all just barely didn't make it into my Top 30.

[Stadler]

This is a good segment.  Love all of the songs on this segment.

[Mister Gold]

This is a good segment.  Love all of the songs on this segment.

Greatly appreciated!

[Mister Gold]

First off, my sincere apologies for not doing an update sooner- I've been rather busy IRL lately and a bit under the weather the past few days. Secondly, due to these circumstances, I will most likely come back later and edit this post to go in better detail of my thoughts on each individual song.

30. "Where Eagles Dare" - Talk about one hell of a first impression from Nicko McBrain on this track! This is also one of my personal favorite vocal performances ever from Bruce.

29. "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" - One of several epics from A Matter of Life & Death, but admittedly one of the few I go back to only every once and awhile.

28. "If Eternity Should Fail" - One of the band's best ever opening tracks. In fact, there's only two other openers that I prefer from the band.

27. "Wasted Years" - One of Maiden's best ever 'hit singles.' It might be a tad poppier than usual from the band, but it's hard not to love the hell out of that main riff.

26. "Where The Wild Wind Blows" - I remember the hype surrounding this particular song ahead of the album's release in 2010. While I don't think this is quite on par with something like say "Hallowed Be Thy Name," this is still one of Steve's best works in the Reunion era.


Again, I might come back to this and delve in more detail for each song, but right now I'm just not in the right shape to write whole paragraphs for each song.

[Stadler]

First off, my sincere apologies for not doing an update sooner- I've been rather busy IRL lately and a bit under the weather the past few days. Secondly, due to these circumstances, I will most likely come back later and edit this post to go in better detail of my thoughts on each individual song.

30. "Where Eagles Dare" - Talk about one hell of a first impression from Nicko McBrain on this track! This is also one of my personal favorite vocal performances ever from Bruce.

29. "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" - One of several epics from A Matter of Life & Death, but admittedly one of the few I go back to only every once and awhile.

28. "If Eternity Should Fail" - One of the band's best ever opening tracks. In fact, there's only two other openers that I prefer from the band.

27. "Wasted Years" - One of Maiden's best ever 'hit singles.' It might be a tad poppier than usual from the band, but it's hard not to love the hell out of that main riff.

26. "Where The Wild Wind Blows" - I remember the hype surrounding this particular song ahead of the album's release in 2010. While I don't think this is quite on par with something like say "Hallowed Be Thy Name," this is still one of Steve's best works in the Reunion era.


Again, I might come back to this and delve in more detail for each song, but right now I'm just not in the right shape to write whole paragraphs for each song.

Almost every one of these songs COULD be in my top ten.  I'm pretty sure that means I have 18 top 10 songs - haha! - but every one of these songs is in part why I'm still a Maiden fan to this day, and why they are one of the few bands I will go see regardless of situation (venue, album, etc.). 

[The Realm]

Not quite almost every one of these 5 songs COULD be in my top 10 - but 3 definitely could be: Where Eagles Dare, Wasted Years and Where The Wild Wind Blows.

Along with Paschendale (which still may feature?) WTWWB is my favourite reunion era song, just always loved this one and enjoy it every time I listen to it. The middle heavy section just rules.

Where Eagles Dare and Wasted Years are classics.

Brighter Than a Thousand Suns - a really strong track and I get all the love for it but not one of my favourites.

If Eternity Should Fail - this is one I just never felt the love for. Even live in concert, it didn't really work for me. Sure it had the hype of the opening song so the crowd were fired up but I felt we were all sick of it before the end. Upon release I absolutely loved The Book of Souls album but it really has not aged well for me, whereas other reunion era albums - TFF especially have just got better and better over time.

[Mister Gold]

Yeah, that's the crazy thing about Iron Maiden; they've got so many gems in their catalogue, it's both incredibly easy and difficult to think up a "Top 25/10/5 Songs" list.

[wolfking]

Nice batch.

I will say and I've said it before, but I've never understood all the love for BTATS.  It's good but never understood the high praise of it.

[425]

This is a brilliant set of songs. All but Wasted Years are top 25 for me. Wasted Years is one that I love but somehow did not have on my list at all because of how insanely deep this discography is.

Going back to your last post, which I neglected to comment on, I definitely agree with your choices of Aces High and The Clansman. Rainmaker is a very solid song that also made a strong impression on me early on, but it just isn't quite in the upper echelons for me. Children of the Damned and 22 Acacia Avenue are two songs that I like, and which I understand why people love, but that ultimately don't quite strike me the way they do for others. I also am not crazy about the lyrics of 22.

[wolfking]

This is a brilliant set of songs. All but Wasted Years are top 25 for me. Wasted Years is one that I love but somehow did not have on my list at all because of how insanely deep this discography is.

Going back to your last post, which I neglected to comment on, I definitely agree with your choices of Aces High and The Clansman. Rainmaker is a very solid song that also made a strong impression on me early on, but it just isn't quite in the upper echelons for me. Children of the Damned and 22 Acacia Avenue are two songs that I like, and which I understand why people love, but that ultimately don't quite strike me the way they do for others. I also am not crazy about the lyrics of 22.

I love the slutiness and cheesiness of it all.

[TAC]

"You're packing your bags, you're coming with meeeeeeeee"

[wolfking]

Beat her, mistreat her, do anything that you please
Bite her, excite her, make her get down on her knees
Abuse her, misuse her, she can take all that you've got
Caress her, molest her, she always does what you want

I love these lyrics.  Now I'm talking in context, not actually unwarranted abuse against women but in context of the song, it's brutal and I love it.