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

[TAC]

Excellent group.  Although I never quite understood the love for Coming Home truthfully.

I'll try..

What I like about it...

I love the lyrics and how Bruce paints the picture of flying the band home.
I love Bruce's performance on it, as you can feel his emotion in his vocals.
I love (Adrian's) solo where it's just bass and drums underneath. I don't think maiden has ever done that before, but it's really cool, and shows how the band continues to grow and stretch musically in the Reunion Era.

[wolfking]

Excellent group.  Although I never quite understood the love for Coming Home truthfully.

I'll try..

What I like about it...

I love the lyrics and how Bruce paints the picture of flying the band home.
I love Bruce's performance on it, as you can feel his emotion in his vocals.
I love (Adrian's) solo where it's just bass and drums underneath. I don't think maiden has ever done that before, but it's really cool, and shows how the band continues to grow and stretch musically in the Reunion Era.

I can't even think of that solo section in my head.  Definitely need a revisit then.

[The Realm]

I don't think the solo is just bass and drums underneath, there is also some soft picking guitar arpeggios I think. However drums and bass are much louder in the mix.

[Mister Gold]

Welcome to the homestretch, everyone!

10. "Remember Tomorrow" - I don't think I included this song in my previous Top Iron Maiden Songs list seven years ago, but in the time since then, "Remember Tomorrow" has rapidly grown on me as one of the absolute finest Maiden songs ever written. Not just from the DiAnno era, but in general. It's a rather unique and haunting song in the band's catalogue as I don't really feel that they've ever tried to write another song quite like it in the forty years since the band's debut first came out. As an aside, I'd love to give a shout out to Opeth's old cover of this song. Really faithful to the spirit of the original, but it's a bit faster and I think Mikael does a better job with the high notes than Paul did in the original. Still, either version of the song is great and the OG more than earns its spot in my Top 10 Iron Maiden Songs.

9. "Powerslave" - I. LOVE. THIS. SONG. I know it's cheesy. But god, there's something inherently adrenaline-inducing about "Powerslave" that I've always loved. And for my money, "Powerslave" might just feature the band's best guitar solos segment. Adrian and Dave run the gamut in this song. If I'm remembering it right, the band actually played it live when I saw them on the Book of Souls tour three years ago... and I distinctly recall having a stupidly wide grin on my face the whole time.

8. "Starblind" - Shocker, "Starblind" made it into my Top 10 list. Again. I will admit that musically the song is aging a bit for me, though I do still love Adrian's frequent jazzy, improvisational soloing underneath Bruce's vocal melodies throughout the song. At the end of the day though, the charm for "Starblind" rests heavily in its lyrics. I don't necessarily agree with the general message of the song, but these are hands down some of Bruce's finest lyrics ever. Also, the breakdown riff in this song right after the solos is one of my top three moments of any Iron Maiden song ever. It's such a show-stopping moment musically and I'm shocked the band never tried to play this beauty live.

7. "Phantom of the Opera" - Here it is; the first Iron Maiden epic. And forty years later, only six other epics have ever managed to top "Phantom" for me. It is THE best song written from the DiAnno era... but as I said seven years ago, this song feels as though it was subconsciously written by Steve with Bruce's voice in mind. Paul, for all of his punkish bite and charm, doesn't quite manage to elevate the more 'epic' moments of this song the same way Bruce has done ever since he came onboard. If you want to hear THE definitive version of "Phantom of the Opera," look no further than the Beast Over Hammersmith performance. Bruce CRUSHES it there. That said, the one on "Live After Death" is also a solid performance too.

[The Realm]

OK, 3 absolute standout songs here.

Very happy to see Remember Tomorrow, a really special and unique song in the Maiden catalogue. I actually think DiAnno does a great job on the song but I do also really enjoy Bruce's version on A Real Live Dead One.
Powerslave - without a doubt one of the great Maiden solo sections. This song does really does go to another level (as many Maiden songs do) when you see it performed live in concert.
Phantom - agree totally with the writeup.

Starblind - to me this is a good song, I get the love but it isn't a favourite of mine. I kind of think overall the song is a bit long.

[wolfking]

Love Starblind being so high personally.

[Stadler]

This is a great group.  I'm a big fan of Powerslave the song, too, and while I actually prefer Strange World, I'm also a fan of Remember Tomorrow (one of the few songs that Di'Anno sings better than Dickinson; I don't like Bruce's "AH-ah-AHHHS!")

[Mister Gold]

OK, 3 absolute standout songs here.

Very happy to see Remember Tomorrow, a really special and unique song in the Maiden catalogue. I actually think DiAnno does a great job on the song but I do also really enjoy Bruce's version on A Real Live Dead One.
Powerslave - without a doubt one of the great Maiden solo sections. This song does really does go to another level (as many Maiden songs do) when you see it performed live in concert.
Phantom - agree totally with the writeup.

Starblind - to me this is a good song, I get the love but it isn't a favourite of mine. I kind of think overall the song is a bit long.

Yeah, just to clarify, I don't think DiAnno does a bad job on Remember Tomorrow. He's plenty great on it. I just think Mikael Akerfeldt gives a stronger performance overall in the Opeth cover.

Love Starblind being so high personally.

It's such a great song!

This is a great group.  I'm a big fan of Powerslave the song, too, and while I actually prefer Strange World, I'm also a fan of Remember Tomorrow (one of the few songs that Di'Anno sings better than Dickinson; I don't like Bruce's "AH-ah-AHHHS!")

I think I could probably agree to the idea that Paul sings Remember Tomorrow a bit better than Bruce. But man oh man, Paul doesn't even come close to Bruce when we're talking Phantom of the Opera in my book.

[Mister Gold]

Only one more batch of songs to go through after this... any guesses as to what the Top 3 will be?

6. "For the Greater Good of God" - If I remember correctly, "For the Greater Good of God" was in my last Top 25 Iron Maiden Songs list, albeit in a much lower ranking for whatever reason. It's always been one of my favorite songs from the band and is one of the finest ever epics from both the Reunion Era and from Steve Harris. The chorus might be a tad repetitive... but God, I love how Bruce sings the "Please tell me now what Life is!" segment.

5. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" - Let's face it. This song had to be on this list. It's basically the signature Iron Maiden song to rule them all. It's an epic, it's from the band's most well-known album and it flows effortlessly from start to finish, all up to that kick-ass closing riff. Bizarrely though, I've never actually managed to catch the band playing this song live, despite having seen Iron Maiden live twice now. Hopefully I'll be able to catch them again for a third show so I can finally hear this gem live for myself!

4. "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" - Here it is; The high water mark of Iron Maiden's "golden era." I'm not entirely sure why I prefer "Seventh Son" over "Hallowed," as admittedly its lyrics are quite cheesy in comparison to the existential contemplation of the previous song and of course "Seventh Son"'s chorus is one of the band's early examples of Steve Harris getting overly repetitive with the lyrics for the sake of catchiness... and yet, I do. I always have preferred this song. There's a sense of majesty to "Seventh Son" that no other song from the band has ever quite matched. It flows perfectly from start to finish, nailing the quieter, atmospheric segment that "Rime" doesn't quite pull off and then caps it all off with the only real contender I can think of that rivals the guitar solo segments of "Powerslave."

And yet, three songs still remain. Can you guess what's left?

[wolfking]

Epic trilogy here.  3 brilliant songs all top 10 worthy.

[Mister Gold]

Epic trilogy here.  3 brilliant songs all top 10 worthy.

Thanks!

Also, since I've been in the habit of name-dropping quality covers of some of these songs, I should add that I just found out earlier today that Wilderun recently did a cover of "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" for Century Media's physical CD reprinting of their latest album Veil of Imagination. And holy smokes, it's fantastic. You'll have to look it up on YouTube though, since it doesn't seem to be on Spotify or other main forms of music streaming.

[The Realm]

Three of the great Maiden tracks here. Hallowed is my number one song of all time by any artist. Seventh Son is a classic epic, and Greater Good of God is one of the best reunion era epics.

Now as for what remains....hard to remember what songs we haven't had yet without looking back so I would be just random guessing. If you want to give an update of the list so far I'll have a go at predicting the top 3.

[425]

I need to catch up a little bit! I'll capture the two most recent posts here and try to go back farther at some point soon.

The most recent post is absolutely superb. These three are all absolutely top 10 songs, songs that any band should be proud of having released only one of. And yet they released all three of them, and a number of others that equal them or come close. I agree very much with your description of Seventh Son as majestic. That's always been what I've liked so much about that song. It's so grand.

As for the post right before that, Starblind is another superb choice, definite top 10 song. You pointed out many of the exact aspects of it I'd call my favorites: Bruce's lyrics, H's jazzy playing, *that* riff. Great choice, great description. The other three are very good Maiden songs; I have genuine affection for all of them. Just wouldn't place them this high. I don't think I've ever heard the Beast Over Hammersmith performance of Phantom. That release is so hard to find.

On guessing the top three: I would also benefit from a single-post recap of what's been listed so far.

[Mister Gold]

Three of the great Maiden tracks here. Hallowed is my number one song of all time by any artist. Seventh Son is a classic epic, and Greater Good of God is one of the best reunion era epics.

Now as for what remains....hard to remember what songs we haven't had yet without looking back so I would be just random guessing. If you want to give an update of the list so far I'll have a go at predicting the top 3.

Okay, yeah, here's a recap of the Top 50 list so far since both you and 425 asked.

50. "Iron Maiden"
49. "Tears of a Clown"
48. "Journeyman"
47. "The Edge of Darkness"
46. "Still Life"
45. "Afraid To Shoot Strangers"
44. "Man On The Edge"
43. "Moonchild"
42. "These Colors Don’t Run"
41. "The Red & The Black"
40. "Como Estais Amigos"
39. "Brave New World"
38. "Empire of the Clouds"
37. "Ghost of the Navigator"
36. "Mother Russia"
35. "Aces High"
34. "Children of the Damned”
33. "Rainmaker"
32. "The Clansman"
31. "22 Acacia Avenue"
30. "Where Eagles Dare"
29. "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns"
28. "If Eternity Should Fail"
27. "Wasted Years"
26. "Where The Wild Wind Blows"
25. "Isle of Avalon"
24. "Lord of Light"
23. "Blood On The World's Hands"
22. "Alexander the Great"
21. "Revelations"
20. "The Book of Souls"
19. "Caught Somewhere In Time"
18. "2 A.M.”
17. "Infinite Dreams"
16. "The Trooper"
15. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
14. "The Talisman"
13. "Killers"
12. "Coming Home"
11. "Sea of Madness"
10. "Remember Tomorrow"
9. "Powerslave"
8. "Starblind"
7. "Phantom of the Opera"
6. "For the Greater Good of God"
5. "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
4. "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"

I need to catch up a little bit! I'll capture the two most recent posts here and try to go back farther at some point soon.

The most recent post is absolutely superb. These three are all absolutely top 10 songs, songs that any band should be proud of having released only one of. And yet they released all three of them, and a number of others that equal them or come close. I agree very much with your description of Seventh Son as majestic. That's always been what I've liked so much about that song. It's so grand.

As for the post right before that, Starblind is another superb choice, definite top 10 song. You pointed out many of the exact aspects of it I'd call my favorites: Bruce's lyrics, H's jazzy playing, *that* riff. Great choice, great description. The other three are very good Maiden songs; I have genuine affection for all of them. Just wouldn't place them this high. I don't think I've ever heard the Beast Over Hammersmith performance of Phantom. That release is so hard to find.

On guessing the top three: I would also benefit from a single-post recap of what's been listed so far.

The best bet for listening to Beast Over Hammersmith is to look up the individual tracks on YouTube and listen to it there. That's how I always listen to that particular version of Phantom of the Opera, as I don't own the CD myself and it's not available for listening on streaming platforms.

And yeah, it's a testament to just how incredible Iron Maiden's catalogue is that there's so many incredible songs that are all worthy of being seen as all-time greats and so many fans have different tastes to what they prefer from the band.

[425]

Thanks for the recap. Your Phantom of the Opera write-up sort of indicates that all the remaining tracks are epics, which narrows things down.

After all the TXF love in this list, I think we see Sign of the Cross. We still haven't gotten any of the BNW or DoD epics, while there's been a lot of (much-deserved) love for the epics on AMOLAD and TFF. I'm going to say The Legacy is going to show up. And the other one has to be Paschendale, right? I'd be surprised if it missed out completely. Maybe these guesses are too influenced by my personal favorites, but I think I have good reasons to make them.

The best bet for listening to Beast Over Hammersmith is to look up the individual tracks on YouTube and listen to it there. That's how I always listen to that particular version of Phantom of the Opera, as I don't own the CD myself and it's not available for listening on streaming platforms.

Yeah, I figured. I wish there was a non-limited release of the audio.

[wolfking]

Paschendale
Dance of Death
Sign of the Cross

?

[Mister Gold]

Thanks for the recap. Your Phantom of the Opera write-up sort of indicates that all the remaining tracks are epics, which narrows things down.

After all the TXF love in this list, I think we see Sign of the Cross. We still haven't gotten any of the BNW or DoD epics, while there's been a lot of (much-deserved) love for the epics on AMOLAD and TFF. I'm going to say The Legacy is going to show up. And the other one has to be Paschendale, right? I'd be surprised if it missed out completely. Maybe these guesses are too influenced by my personal favorites, but I think I have good reasons to make them.

Paschendale
Dance of Death
Sign of the Cross

?

Hmm... Perhaps I've said too much... 

The best bet for listening to Beast Over Hammersmith is to look up the individual tracks on YouTube and listen to it there. That's how I always listen to that particular version of Phantom of the Opera, as I don't own the CD myself and it's not available for listening on streaming platforms.

Yeah, I figured. I wish there was a non-limited release of the audio.

Likewise. I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Honestly I'm shocked the band hasn't re-released the various lesser known live releases on iTunes, Spotify and the like. Hell, you can't even get Rock In Rio on iTunes these days, which I find insane as it's arguably just as relevant a live album for Maiden fans as Live After Death.

[The Realm]

I think wolfking nailed it. Definitely going for Sign of the Cross and Paschendale and yeah I reckon Dance of Death is a good chance. But there are a number of other epics it could be.

[Mister Gold]

I think wolfking nailed it. Definitely going for Sign of the Cross and Paschendale and yeah I reckon Dance of Death is a good chance. But there are a number of other epics it could be.

Without giving everything away, I'll go ahead and own up to a minor mishap on my part earlier in the thread- I'd intended to include Dance of Death at around the same spot as The Book of Souls, but for some reason it slipped my list. It's not technically listed, so I won't be including it for the final rankings, but DoD would be around #20 if I'd remembered to actually include it as I'd planned.

[wolfking]

DOD was the one of the three I wasn't confident on.

[TAC]

Mr. G., I wanted to apologize for not being more involved in your list. So many great tunes.

The last 4 tracks you posted are pretty close to Top 10 tracks for me as well, with two of them being in my Top 3.

[wolfking]

Hmmm.....Maybe another smokie for the top 3 could be The Legacy.

[TAC]

Just looking at that list, what an amazing career Iron Maiden has had.

[Mister Gold]

DOD was the one of the three I wasn't confident on.

Hmmm.....Maybe another smokie for the top 3 could be The Legacy.

Yeah, I think I probably gave a few too many clues ahead of time as to where this list is heading for my Top 3. That and I think I've been vocal enough on my opinions on Iron Maiden over the years here to where some details from yesteryear might've stuck around.

Alrightyyyy then, since you and 425 figured it out already, I might as well cap things off here, rather than needlessly dragging things out for another week.

3. "Paschendale" - Here it is; Adrian Smith's finest ever contribution to Iron Maiden. Quite frankly "Paschendale" is so incredible that I had a very hard time convincing myself not to cop out and give it a 1.c. ranking to tie it with the other two songs here. From start to finish, this epic showcases some of the band's finest and most fascinating musical cues ever. For instance, Nicko's opening S.O.S. drum beat is such a small, yet clever touch and it signals the tone that will follow for the next eight minutes.

2. "Sign of the Cross" - "Sign of the Cross" was my Number One pick seven years ago and it almost managed to successfully hold onto its crown again in 2020. Steve Harris has written a number of stellar epics for Iron Maiden over the years- and co-written even more, of course- but "Sign of the Cross" is his masterwork. Born from one of the darkest periods in the band's life, Harris went all out on "Sign" and it's a testament to the song that hardly any Maiden fan I run into dislikes it. I was tempted to put "Sign" at Number 1.b., but I think my heart rings a bit more deeply for my next pick. That said, both songs are of equal quality.

1. "The Legacy" - I'll never forgot the first time I heard "The Legacy." It was Summer 2009 and I was visiting family up in Indiana for a few weeks. While I was there, I picked up A Matter of Life and Death after being blown away by hearing "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" and "For the Greater Good of God" on YouTube just before the trip. At the time, every moment of my private free time was spent either listening to individual songs from the album or writing something as a result of the inspiration I felt from the album.

One day, as I listened to the album and paced back and forth across my aunt's kitchen, I suddenly heard an eerie acoustic riff began to play. It was a new song and it sounded rather promising. So I tuned in. Then suddenly a roaring riff blared out of my earbuds and I actually felt somewhat frightened by the song. What ensued blew me away and has largely always been my favorite Maiden song on an emotional level. While Janick and Steve have collaborated many times in the Reunion era with standout epics, they've never quite done anything like "The Legacy" before or after. And it is the finest Iron Maiden song out there.

Mr. G., I wanted to apologize for not being more involved in your list. So many great tunes.

The last 4 tracks you posted are pretty close to Top 10 tracks for me as well, with two of them being in my Top 3.

Thanks TAC! It's all good, these are busy times after all! And I'm glad to hear that you also appreciate those songs as well!

Just looking at that list, what an amazing career Iron Maiden has had.

No kidding.

[wolfking]

Nailed it.   

Great list mate!

[faizoff]

Reading this thread has been a treat, I personally don't think I could rank Maiden's song this way as there are so many that would be number 1 for me. But I like reading all of your thoughts on each track. There's always a circumstance or special situation attached to the first listening experience and when revisiting those tracks it really transports you back to that time. With Maiden's exhaustive list of amazing tracks it becomes a fun exercise in nostalgia and reminiscence.

Since I've been listening to the live albums (Post reunion so far) and shared my thoughts in the other thread, I went back and listened to the albums as well. Can't believe how good their Bruce phase II albums have been. Like TAC said an amazing career Maiden have had.

[Mister Gold]

Nailed it.   

Great list mate!

Much appreciated! I'm looking forward to seeing the next countdown!

Reading this thread has been a treat, I personally don't think I could rank Maiden's song this way as there are so many that would be number 1 for me. But I like reading all of your thoughts on each track. There's always a circumstance or special situation attached to the first listening experience and when revisiting those tracks it really transports you back to that time. With Maiden's exhaustive list of amazing tracks it becomes a fun exercise in nostalgia and reminiscence.

Since I've been listening to the live albums (Post reunion so far) and shared my thoughts in the other thread, I went back and listened to the albums as well. Can't believe how good their Bruce phase II albums have been. Like TAC said an amazing career Maiden have had.

Yeah, it's very difficult for me to make these countdown lists. Especially when I widen the net and make it longer than 25 songs. The band's been a creative juggernaut for decades now.

[TAC]

Looking at the list, I noticed Fear Of The Dark didn't make the Top 50. That's interesting..

[Mister Gold]

Looking at the list, I noticed Fear Of The Dark didn't make the Top 50. That's interesting..

If I redid the list, FotD probably would've been Top 50 or the 40's if at all.

I like the song, but it's kinda in that same category for me that Run to the Hills and Number of the Beast are in. They're band staples, but they're kinda... overplayed? Which feels a little weird to me, considering Hallowed Be Thy Name made it in at Number 5, but then Hallowed is just flat out a monstrously superior song to any of those three, so I guess I'm able to tolerate it there?

[Stadler]

Thanks for the recap. Your Phantom of the Opera write-up sort of indicates that all the remaining tracks are epics, which narrows things down.

After all the TXF love in this list, I think we see Sign of the Cross. We still haven't gotten any of the BNW or DoD epics, while there's been a lot of (much-deserved) love for the epics on AMOLAD and TFF. I'm going to say The Legacy is going to show up. And the other one has to be Paschendale, right? I'd be surprised if it missed out completely. Maybe these guesses are too influenced by my personal favorites, but I think I have good reasons to make them.

The best bet for listening to Beast Over Hammersmith is to look up the individual tracks on YouTube and listen to it there. That's how I always listen to that particular version of Phantom of the Opera, as I don't own the CD myself and it's not available for listening on streaming platforms.

Yeah, I figured. I wish there was a non-limited release of the audio.

Good quality (in terms of sound quality) copies of the show are available on eBay; I can't tell you if they are unofficial releases, or Eddie's Archive sets broken up.   I would assumed the former. 

[Lupton]

  @Mister Gold

Seeing the Legacy at #1 was a bit of a surprise. I think I really liked that song the 1st time I heard it and then after repeated listens it lost some of it's luster and I haven't felt inclined to listen to it since. I'll make a note to include it in my listening next time I'm playing tracks off AMoLaD and give a it good proper re-evaluation.

[Mister Gold]

@Mister Gold

Seeing the Legacy at #1 was a bit of a surprise. I think I really liked that song the 1st time I heard it and then after repeated listens it lost some of it's luster and I haven't felt inclined to listen to it since. I'll make a note to include it in my listening next time I'm playing tracks off AMoLaD and give a it good proper re-evaluation.

Yeah, The Legacy might not be for everyone. But for my money, it's my favorite IM song. I just adore how it builds and builds and builds.

[425]

Yep, these are all three highly deserving picks. I ranked them in the reverse order, but when you're at this level of quality, as you said, it's so hard to differentiate them. I really like your description of hearing The Legacy for the first time. You said it well: That riff really does roar.

This has been an awesome list! Some surprising and interesting differences from mine, but also a lot of love for some of my own favorite songs and albums.

[Mister Gold]

Yep, these are all three highly deserving picks. I ranked them in the reverse order, but when you're at this level of quality, as you said, it's so hard to differentiate them. I really like your description of hearing The Legacy for the first time. You said it well: That riff really does roar.

This has been an awesome list! Some surprising and interesting differences from mine, but also a lot of love for some of my own favorite songs and albums.

Yeah, honestly every time I think of that particular riff in The Legacy, my mind drifts back to that old saying about the supposed meaning of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony; "Thus Fate knocks at the door!" The riff has that same massive quality to it.

Plus, it's always nice to see the band showcasing a bit more of their inspirations from the prog-era of Genesis too, what with that Nursery Rhyme-ish opening acoustic line and all. Like I said earlier, the song just builds and builds and builds. It's like listening to a tornado or storm growing more and more chaotic with each passing minute, until at last it resumes back to a soft, hallowed silence.

I think what ultimately helped push over the song to Number 1 for me this go around though might've been the lyrics. Without getting very political, I think it's fair to say that I feel a lot more attuned to the goings on of the world now than I did seven years ago- and The Legacy has a very timeless quality in that there's always going to be corrupt politicians and leaders that are responsible for needless deaths and misfortune, be it on a battlefield or at home. 

[The Realm]

Great list and great top 3. Can't really go wrong with those songs. Personally though I am always going to favour the classic era so I wouldn't have any of these songs this high. Paschendale would be my number 1 from those 3.