Official top 75 Iron Maiden songs thread!! (Top 2 revealed on 07/15!!)

[nobloodyname]

93 If Eternity Should Fail - the most solo Bruce song to ever appear on a Maiden album. Should never have been on The Book of Souls.

46 Prodigal Son - was surprised at how highly I ranked this but I was right to. Texturally, it's completely unique in Maiden's catalogue. And what a first line.

127 Wrathchild - better than my ranking but not good enough to be higher

[Dream Team]

Interesting trivia, all 3 of the those songs appeared on exactly 15 lists. Of those only Wrathchild made my list at 74 but it was tough to leave Prodigal Son out.

[Shalev Amir]

#21 If Eternity Should Fail - hmm, seems kind of odd that it came up so high in my list. Whatever, I still love the song. The lyrics and verses are cool.

#58 Prodigal Son - very unique song in Maiden's catalogue and oddly underrated.

#38 Wrathchild - legendary song. Agree with you Kev, that intro is awesome and so is everything else. Absolutely killer.
Also, I expected it to finish much higher. Something in the 40s maybe.

[Stadler]

If Eternity Should Fail: #34 - I love this song.  The Book of Souls hasn't quite carried with me as much as I would have expected, but this is one of the songs that does still resonate with me.  I don't QUITE get the "Bruce solo" vibes, but I don't discount that either.  It's just solid Maiden song and one I come back to pretty often.

Prodigal Son: #25 - I love this song as well.  I'm so glad it's on the final list; I never really hear people talking about it, so I feared it wouldn't make the cut.  But even though I like other Maiden better, and I seem to prefer the later, proggier Maiden best, I do listen to this record a lot (it's one of my friends' favorite record of all time, so we listen to it together) and I always look forward to this song coming on.  (Fun fact: my CD has this labelled "Purgatory" and the actual song Purgatory labelled "Prodigal Son".)

Wrathschild: #117 - This is just an okay song.  I debated it higher - the early version on Metal For Muthas has a different drum beat and therefore a very different vibe and I like it a lot more - but over all, the album version doesn't do much for me, and I think there are so many other, better songs  on Killers that the band could be doing today that I might even have a bias against it.

[senecadawg2]

64 If Eternity Should Fail
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (Cool Chris)

I think something might have slipped through the cracks on this one. I had If Eternity Should Fail at 9.

Love love love this song. One of my top songs of the reunion era, for sure. The intro is stellar, the writing is interesting, it's an epic opener. I don't care if it sounds more like a Bruce solo song or not, I love a lot of his solo work 

[Cool Chris]

My Friday morning takeaway: 14 songs in and I have had 3 of the highest rankings.

[nobloodyname]

I think something might have slipped through the cracks on this one. I had If Eternity Should Fail at 9.

Wasn't your list that was deleted for duplicates, was it? Guess not since you'd have noticed it wasn't on the list of contributors.

[senecadawg2]

I think something might have slipped through the cracks on this one. I had If Eternity Should Fail at 9.

Wasn't your list that was deleted for duplicates, was it? Guess not since you'd have noticed it wasn't on the list of contributors.

I don't think so. I assume this was just a mix-up in the update, not the list itself.

[425]

64. If Eternity Should Fail
My ranking: #25

I enjoy this song a ton, and the main reason is a certain Bruce Dickinson. Not only did he write the song, but he's also absolutely the MVP. From the a capella intro through the verses (which I think are really well-written, lyrically and melodically) to the huge chorus, Bruce just continually impresses. I think TBoS might be his rockiest reunion album (for understandable reasons), but on this song you absolutely would not know the singer literally had throat cancer at the time.

The instrumental section is also fantastic. Just a classic Maiden instrumental to elevate the rest of the song.

On a bigger picture note, I want to say that I really appreciate them seeing that they were repeating themselves with the opening songs for the first three reunion albums (The Wicker Man/Wildest Dreams/Different World) and doing something different on each of the next three (Satellite 15... The Final Frontier/If Eternity Should Fail/Senjutsu).


63. Prodigal Son
My ranking: Unranked (126-150 range)

This is a song I enjoy probably a bit more than my placement suggests, but it's just hard for me to put it above a ton of other Maiden songs. To be honest, most of Killers falls into this 126-150 range, with Prodigal Son near the high end of it.

I hesitate to... even say this, but one factor is that of the three singers who recorded with Maiden, Di'Anno is by far my least favorite. I think he's a perfectly serviceable singer, but I can only think of a handful of songs that he elevated (one of them will be coming up later). His rough style just isn't for me.

In any case, Prodigal Son is a nice song, especially the solos in the middle, but it's not one I think about a lot when I'm not listening to it. I also don't really like the intro melody, which also comes up after the solos and at the end. It feels out of place to me somehow. But the rest of the song is good!


62. Wrathchild
My ranking: Unranked (101-125 range)

I like this song a lot; it's one that just isn't special enough to me to make it up into the list. I will say for it, it absolutely wastes no time and goes from one really good part to another. Even though it's shorter than three minutes, there's a nice and varied instrumental section here, which I think goes to show how Steve was influenced by progressive music from the very beginning. Dave has a ton of really good lead work here. The emphasis on the bass and Dave's guitar here kind of highlights how early Iron Maiden was Steve and Dave plus a rotating cast until they found Burr and Di'Anno and got Adrian to join.

I think Di'Anno's voice is best suited for the song. There's a bit of an awkwardness to the vocal melodies that he's able to smooth over with his voice the way other singers don't do so well. But I think I'd ultimately still rather hear it with Bruce.


My list so far (5/14):
63. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
59. These Colours Don't Run
48. Death of the Celts
43. Out of the Silent Planet
25. If Eternity Should Fail

[devieira73]

If Eternity Should Fail (#54)
"This is another song from the last two albums that feels like would have been better with a less muddy sound, almost like the modern day, blah production is holding it back a bit." I think the production from TFF on is where it's worst. BNW/DOD/AMOLAD has its issues, but also some qualities. Anyway, indeed a great "Bruce's solo track"!

Prodigal Son (-)
Almost made my list, I still like it a lot and it has a very different vibe for Maiden.

Wrathchild (#36)
Truly a deserved classic, although overplayed live in detriment of the other great Killers tracks. The bass lines propels the song incredibly well.

[TAC]

64 If Eternity Should Fail
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (Cool Chris)

63 Prodigal Son
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 1
Highest Ranking: 10 (Setlist Scotty)

62 Wrathchild
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 17 (Cool Chris)

All three of these songs just missed my list.

I had If Eternity Should Fail at #92. Is it possible for a more recent song to age well? I really didn't care for IESF when TBOS was released. I just couldn't get past it. But I think seeing them open that tour's show with it was amazing. I really like it now, despite its ranking.


I had Prodigal Son at #94. This is a really cool song. Love the vibe on it. Clive is great here.


I had Wrathchild at #95. Literally the first Iron Maiden song I ever heard. Way over played in the setlists, but you can't say the crowd doesn't respond.

[TAC]

67 for me in regards to PS.  Adrian's solo makes the song what it is.  One of his finest moments.

The other two didn't rank for me.

I thought you were a big IESF guy when it was released, or am I misremembering?

[pg1067]

64 If Eternity Should Fail
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (Cool Chris)

Okay, this is something still sorta new rather than really new ,. so there ya go.  This snuck in late for me, landing at 73. This is another song from the last two albums that feels like would have been better with a less muddy sound, almost like the modern day, blah production is holding it back a bit.


63 Prodigal Son
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 1
Highest Ranking: 10 (Setlist Scotty)

This one came in at 54 for me, which was lower than I thought it would have finished, as I liked this a lot from the start.  It feels like this kind of vibe is one they never really tried to recapture once the original singer was gone from the band. Bummer.


62 Wrathchild
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 17 (Cool Chris)

That intro with the bass guitar alone makes this worthy, and the whole song is really enjoyable. I had it at 56.

Eternity:  Didn't rank.  The middle instrumental section has a cool vibe, but the main part of the song is just kinda meh.

Prodigal Son:  I had it at #20, and I have to thank Stadler (I think) for focusing me on a song that I had overlooked for a LONG time.  It really reminds me of something Rush might have done during the Fly by Night Era (a little bit of a nod to Making Memories, maybe?).  Such a unique song in the band's catalog.

Wrathchild:  This was initially my favorite song on Killers, and I had it at #26.  That opening bass riff just hooks you from the start.  When I started playing bass, I immediately targeted this song to learn.  We played it live at a few shows with a mock version that we called "Rapchild" to start it.  If I ever figure out how to take a video from a DVD and put it on YouTube, I may post it here.

[Glasser]

If Eternity Should Fail ranked at 55.  I love this song in all its poppiness.

Prodigal Son ranked at 16.  This is absolutely grossly overlooked!

Wrathchild did not rank. Yes, I like it of course but Killers has so many other gems that get overlooked.

[wolfking]

67 for me in regards to PS.  Adrian's solo makes the song what it is.  One of his finest moments.

The other two didn't rank for me.

I thought you were a big IESF guy when it was released, or am I misremembering?

Probably, I loved it when it was first released.  Its a great song but I guess didn't really have the lasting power.  The whole album actually didn't age as well as most others for me.

[Dave_Manchester]

3 misses for me today I'm afraid, none of them made my list (If Eternity Should Fail was in the running but missed out on the final run-through).


My list so far in descending order:

#56: These Colours Don't Run
#54: Can I Play With Madness?
#52: Judas Be My Guide
#41: Rainmaker
#22: Heaven Can Wait
#6: No Prayer for the Dying

Not ranked:

Death of the Celts
The Duellists
Out of the Silent Planet
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
Deja-Vu
If Eternity Should Fail
Prodigal Son
Wrathchild

[Cool Chris]

Dave, this is the only thread I've seen you in for a long time, so I will derail it for second to say we here all hope you are well.

[Dave_Manchester]

Dave, this is the only thread I've seen you in for a long time, so I will derail it for second to say we here all hope you are well.

PMed you so as not to derail but thank you very much for that Chris 

[WardySI]

64 If Eternity Should Fail
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (Cool Chris)

I think something might have slipped through the cracks on this one. I had If Eternity Should Fail at 9.

Love love love this song. One of my top songs of the reunion era, for sure. The intro is stellar, the writing is interesting, it's an epic opener. I don't care if it sounds more like a Bruce solo song or not, I love a lot of his solo work 

Can only speak for myself but just to be clear certainly wasn't suggesting didn't love Bruce's solo work because absolutely do and then some.  Only that knowing Eternity was written by and for Bruce, and it sounding very much  that way, as much as I love the tune on BOS think woulda preferred it on a Bruce solo album as it was originally intended 😉

Like I said weird perhaps but is what it is.

[KevShmev]

I think something might have slipped through the cracks on this one. I had If Eternity Should Fail at 9.

Wasn't your list that was deleted for duplicates, was it? Guess not since you'd have noticed it wasn't on the list of contributors.

I don't think so. I assume this was just a mix-up in the update, not the list itself.

Yep, total oversight on my part when eyeballing the list and doing the updates that I post.  All fixed now. 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

64 If Eternity Should Fail
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 1
Highest Ranking: 9 (senecadawg2)

Okay, this is something still sorta new rather than really new ,. so there ya go.  This snuck in late for me, landing at 73. This is another song from the last two albums that feels like would have been better with a less muddy sound, almost like the modern day, blah production is holding it back a bit.


63 Prodigal Son
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 1
Highest Ranking: 10 (Setlist Scotty)

This one came in at 54 for me, which was lower than I thought it would have finished, as I liked this a lot from the start.  It feels like this kind of vibe is one they never really tried to recapture once the original singer was gone from the band. Bummer.


62 Wrathchild
Appeared on 15 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 17 (Cool Chris)

That intro with the bass guitar alone makes this worthy, and the whole song is really enjoyable. I had it at 56.

If Eternity Should Fail - This is one of my favorite from Book of Souls. Landing at #38, Once again I love the moody intro and buildup. The meat of the song is great with some awesome instrumentation, especially Nicko's groovy drums.

Prodigal Son - So I screwed up my list and accidentally swapped Prowler and Prodigal Son. So this one ended up at #88 and missed the list. It really should have been at 72. Oh well. Probably wouldn't have made much difference on the overall list. I agree with pg1067, they definitely had some Rush influence on this track and I love the melodic guitar solos on this.

Wrathchild - This one was at #81, just missing the list. It's a really good song. Love the punky vibe and aggression. And that switch up in the middle of the song is sublime! Maybe we should have made this a top 100 list!

[wolfking]

I hope Bruce does do another solo album one day with IESF as the opening tune.  It would be good to hear it re-recorded with good production.

[425]

Can only speak for myself but just to be clear certainly wasn't suggesting didn't love Bruce's solo work because absolutely do and then some.  Only that knowing Eternity was written by and for Bruce, and it sounding very much  that way, as much as I love the tune on BOS think woulda preferred it on a Bruce solo album as it was originally intended

Like I said weird perhaps but is what it is.

Surely we can at least agree that of the Bruce solo songs that Steve has said "can this please belong to Iron Maiden now," this is the better one?

Personally, I don't mind it at all, since it fits well on the album and in the broader Maiden sound. As I mentioned in my little writeup, I appreciate that they did something a little experimental for the second album opener in a row.

[WardySI]

Yep can't argue with that song is epic \m/

[wolfking]

It was awesome live too.

[senecadawg2]

I'm not a big fan of anything from Killers, even though I did end up with 4 from the debut.


My list so far:

75. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
72. The Duellists
49. Out of the Silent Planet
48. Rainmaker
47. Judas Be My Guide
21. Can I Play With Madness?
15. No Prayer for the Dying
9. If Eternity Should Fail

Unranked:

These Colours Don't Run
Heaven Can Wait
Death of the Celts
Deja-Vu
Prodigal Son
Wrathchild

I think something might have slipped through the cracks on this one. I had If Eternity Should Fail at 9.

Wasn't your list that was deleted for duplicates, was it? Guess not since you'd have noticed it wasn't on the list of contributors.

I don't think so. I assume this was just a mix-up in the update, not the list itself.

Yep, total oversight on my part when eyeballing the list and doing the updates that I post.  All fixed now. 

It's all good 

[nobloodyname]

Prodigal Son:  I had it at #20, and I have to thank Stadler (I think) for focusing me on a song that I had overlooked for a LONG time. It really reminds me of something Rush might have done during the Fly by Night Era (a little bit of a nod to Making Memories, maybe?).  Such a unique song in the band's catalog.

That is a really good shout. I always knew it reminded me of something and that's it.

[KevShmev]

Here are today's songs!

61 Afraid to Shoot Strangers
Appeared on 14 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 1 (Dave_Manchester)

I came around to liking this one somewhat recently, but it was one of the handful that got bumped off my final list once I added a few songs from the two newest albums.  I am on the record as not being overly wild about their 90s material in general, but the first two from that decade had their moments, this being one of them.


60 Brave New World
Appeared on 17 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 13 (toro)

I had this at 43, but I feel like it would be closer to 60 if I redid my list today, as it has slowly become a song I listen to less and less. Good song for sure, but many others are just calling out to be heard a lot more lately.


59 Only the Good Die Young
Appeared on 18 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (Zydar)

I am really big on this one, putting it at 32.  This is a top 3 song from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son for me (along with tracks 2 and 7).

[WardySI]

Here are today's songs!

61 Afraid to Shoot Strangers
Appeared on 14 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 1 (Dave_Manchester)

I came around to liking this one somewhat recently, but it was one of the handful that got bumped off my final list once I added a few songs from the two newest albums.  I am on the record as not being overly wild about their 90s material in general, but the first two from that decade had their moments, this being one of them.


60 Brave New World
Appeared on 17 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 13 (toro)

I had this at 43, but I feel like it would be closer to 60 if I redid my list today, as it has slowly become a song I listen to less and less. Good song for sure, but many others are just calling out to be heard a lot more lately.


59 Only the Good Die Young
Appeared on 18 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (Zydar)

I am really big on this one, putting it at 32.  This is a top 3 song from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son for me (along with tracks 2 and 7).

OH NO was my list the one that got rejected KevShmev because I had Only The Good Die Young at #4 !? 

Bugger...

For the record had BNW at #14 and Strangers in at #63.

[KevShmev]

OH NO was my list the one that got rejected KevShmev because I had Only The Good Die Young at #4 !? 
 

Sadly, yes.  You had the same song at both 11 and 15.

[WardySI]

Ugh that was silly of me then but not the first error I've made when working shifts. I really must learn to use those apps etc.

Anyway okay my bad

[The Realm]

61 Afraid to Shoot Strangers
Appeared on 14 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 1 (Dave_Manchester)

60 Brave New World
Appeared on 17 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 13 (toro)

59 Only the Good Die Young
Appeared on 18 of 27 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (Zydar)

Mixed batch for me today.

Afraid to Shoot Strangers - number 53 for me. Always liked this song and without a doubt one of the Bruce songs Blaze sings very well. Really surprised to see it as a number 1 overall ranking though.

Brave New World - unranked by me but only just. It is a really great song but I just couldn't get it in my top 75 in the end.

Only The Good Die Young - unranked by me and not really close. I'm obviously a bit of an outlier here, I'm thinking this song being on 18 lists is the highest we have had so far? To me this is by far the weakest song on the Seventh Son album.

[Dream Team]

Of those 3 I also had only ATSS on the list, #57. One of the better songs of the 90s.

[devieira73]

Afraid to Shoot Strangers (-)
The beginning of modern Maiden sound... at the time, it represented the band doing something somewhat different and I think it worked.

Brave New World (#68)
I think this song has a bit of Somewhere in Time vibe and it has very nice melodies. I love how the song builds momentum until it takes off in the guitar solos.

Only the Good Die Young (-)
I didn't rank, despite being (and sounding) a bit short, I like it a lot. It's interesting that the solo of the song (in its middle) is a bass solo with the guitars doing the rhythm. Also it has a great chorus.

[nick_z]

Afraid to Shoot Strangers (#36)

Excellent song. Kind of setting the template a bit for future clean-opening, slow-burn Maiden songs. Everything is just really good here, the melodies, the vocals, the harmonized parts...

Brave New World (#55)

Not among my very favorites on the album, but a song I always enjoy when it comes up. If anything, the chorus is what drags it down a bit (although I like what the guitars are doing in it). Love the intro with the cleans - they almost have a Steve Rothery feel to them. And the verses are great, very epic.

Only the Good Die Young (#51)

A punchy, urgent Maiden track to close the album. I love the opening gallop, drenched in that typical synth-y Seventh Son sound. It almost ends too abruptly, but it's a great tune.