I've noticed over the years that many of the songs I listen to have terrible lyrics. This ranges from the mundane, illogical and even rhyming the same word with itself -- terrible. I have listed a few notable songs that have some pretty poor lyrics. Overall, the songs are pretty good though.
Black Sabbath -- War Pigs
In War Pigs, one of the most classic metal songs, Ozzy Osbourne felt that it was okay to rhyme the same word with itself.
Ozzy Osbourne
The song OPENS with: "Generals gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses. . ." Okay... masses and masses... really?
Megadeth -- You're Dead
This song comes off of Megadeth's United Abominations album which pretty much rips on the United Nations the whole time. I might agree, but I still don't like when musicians inject politics into their music. The album is bland; so bland that I didn't notice this little gem of a lyric until about five years after I bought the CD:
"One day I'll dance on you're grave, even if you're buried at sea. . ." Well, wtf, that's just retarded. Dear Dave Mustaine, even though you have longdumb-looking hair, you are not metal-Jesus. No walking on water for you.
Dave "Jesus" Mustaine
Iron Maiden -- The Prisoner
It pains me to put Maiden on this list... but just know that this song is otherwise awesome. It comes off of their third and best album Number of the Beast. I'm pretty sure they wrote it as a homage to the old TV show by the same name -- The Prisoner. I think that's where they get the opening dialogue of the song from. So the whole song is about busting out of prison, essentially, which you'll see, is a pretty hard thing to write good lyrics about:
Bruce Dickinson
(WTF)
"Run, fight to breathe, it's gunna be tough -- now you see me, now you don't . . . if you kill me, it's self defense, if I kill you they'll call it vengeance, spit in your eye, I will defy. . ." Now, I mean, come on! At least they save the song with a badass chorus with some good vocal melody.
That's all for now. As I listen to my iTunes and hear more terrible lyrics I'll do a follow-up post. Out.
This is the continuation of two prior posts: Part 3 of 3. This is it! Numbers 4, 3, 2, and 1!
See the prior posts, numbers 13-10, and 9-5, to get up to speed.
#4.
METALLICA: ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1988)
Well, you might be able to guess why this album is in the top five for me. It's a cross between heavy metal and social science (broadly defined). Basically, it is America. Well, my America. I mean, seriously, those of you who know me would have no problem guessing that if I ruled America, it would be dominated by heavy metal ... and justice ... for all. Heavy metal begets justice. Duh. For a real-world example, see my ancient post about the effects of heavy metal on communism (obliteration).
The album has been criticized for its production. Particularly, the percussion has no depth, no balls. The guitars come across as weak. These are all recording/mastering issues, which do not reflect the quality of the material that was created for the album. The songs on the album are very good. The opening guitar melody for "...And Justice for All" is very distinct (and unique). The percussion disappoints, when it "kicks in," because of the aforementioned recording issue (the bass drum has an oddly snare-like sound, which should never, ever be the case on a metal album). The album also contains "Blackened," which is heavy, "Harvester of Sorrow," which has some sweet riffs and good time changes (for Metallica), "The Frayed Ends of Sanity," despite having a cheesy song name, is a really good metal-sounding song. It has guttural riffs, complimented by some pussy-ass percussion that had the potential to be amazing. "To Live is to Die" is the only song that sort-of stands out as different, because it slows down at times and extends into protracted guitar riffs that are like mini-solos, which is kind of cool. The best song on the album, though, by far, is "One." This song is deserving of it's entirely own paragraph... so that's what it'll get. [presses "Enter" twice]
"One" by Metallica -- it is probably my favorite song by them (closely rivaled by "Bleeding Me" and "Hero of the Day" from Load (1996)). It tells the story of a young man ravaged by World War I. He goes off to fight the Germans, but ends up being blown up by an artillery shell. His arms and legs are blown off, in addition to his face. However, he is kept alive by the miracles of "modern medicine" in the 1910's. The doctors think he is a vegetable, so they keep him alive, doing tests (none of which are physically painful).
"One" -- an ominously simple name
This music video is excellent, containing
video clips and sound bites from the film described below.
So very very good.
And now the song in violin (or cello? what are they playing?). (Warning: very epic cover)
The thrust of the story is how the man is trying to figure out whether he is alive or dead, sleeping or awake. This is his personal hell. He has no face, therefore he cannot see, no mouth, therefore he cannot speak, and no arms and legs to walk or run away with. He is helpless. He can do nothing. He tries to communicate with the medical staff by tapping his head on his pillow in Morse Code. The medical staff... well, I won't tell you how the story ends. The song is based off of a 1970's anti-war film called Johnny Got His Gun (1971), which was based off of an earlier novel. This movie is the subject of a very early post of mine, probably the first one I made on this blog, actually. (Not sure, but I think I reveal the ending of the movie in that post, so spoiler alert.) It is a favorite film of mine, and the song is one my favorites as well. It blends history, film and heavy metal all in one... no wonder it's so high on the list.
Despite the poor production, the album is excellent. Solid, straight through.
Favorite Lyrics: "I can't remember anything, can't tell if this is true or dream. Deep down inside I feel to scream, this terrible silence stops me . . . oh please god, help me." - One.
Album Cover: What do you think!? Amazing, of course! It has lady justice chained to a stone wall, trying to break free from her bonds. That is epic in any context, but when mixed with metal, it makes me feel uncontrollable urges that I rarely feel otherwise...
#3.
IRON MAIDEN: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2000)
I wrote an entire post about this album before. It was Iron Maiden's last album to have an "edge" all the way through. This is because it was perfectly produced. It wasn't sanitized, and the songs still have balls.
This is one of those rare albums that make me noticeably happy when it comes on, every time. It specifically reminds me of when I was 17, when I was still playing national tournament paintball, doing my thing, the thing that I love most. I used to be a janitor, when I was 17. I worked at a "classy" grocery store called Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, NJ. Frequent shoppers were Queen Latifa, Bruce Springsteen, and some player (memory's fading) from the N.Y. Jets circa 2004-ish. Anyways, I remember playing it very loudly in my car on the way to and from work. I seriously never took this CD out of the player for weeks on end. "Ghost of the Navigator" blows me away every time. By far, however, my favorite song is "Blood Brothers." See my prior post about "Blood Brothers" for an explanation of why. The album also contains great songs like "Dream of Mirrors," "Brave New World," "Out of the Silent Planet," "The Thing Line Between Love and Hate," and "The Nomad." I don't dislike a single song on this album.
The album opens up with "Wicker Man," which is probably the most mundane song on the album (but not really mundane at all). I say "mundane" because it is just more of a straight-through rock song, versus the sweeping guitar and vocal melodies, coupled with the solid time changes, which characterize Maiden.
This album is excellently produced. It is not too modern (as in flat sounding), and it isn't quite a rough-cut, so to speak, where you can hear noise, and pretty much everything else you don't want to. It is Maiden's last well-produced album (well, Dance of Death (2003) wasn't done that bad, but Brave New World kind of overshadows that album in my opinion -- Brave New World is Dance of Death's older, more-successful, brother).
The back cover.
(From left to right: Janick Gers, Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson,
Nicko McBrain, Steve Harris, and Dave Murray)
The album just reminds me of another time -- an awesome time in my life.
Favorite Lyrics: I can't pick "favorite" lyrics from this album, because they are all very good, but here are some that I like: "And if you're taking a walk through the garden of life, what did you think you'd expect you would see? Just like a mirror reflecting the moves of your life, and in the river, reflections of me. Just for a second, a glimpse of my father I see. And in a movement he beckons to me. And in a moment the memories are all that remain. And all the wounds are reopening again. We're blood brothers, we're blood brothers!" - Blood Brothers
Album Cover: Pretty good. I like the shade of blueish-purple for some reason. It's always caught my eye. I like Eddie's face kind of being created out of the clouds, and the expansive city, the "brave new world," below.
#2
IRON MAIDEN: NUMBER OF THE BEAST (1982)
Woe to you, oh earth and sea, for the devil sends the beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short. Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number. It's number, is six-hundred and sixty-six. (written from memory) This is the opening to the classic song "Number of the Beast," by Iron effin' Maiden, from the classic album Number of the Beast. This album was the third studio album released by Iron Maiden, and the first one to feature new singer Bruce Dickinson. Well, suffice it to say that this Iron Maiden was completely different, apparently, from the first lineup with frontman Paul Di'Anno. Dickinson added a vocal element to the band, that few bands ever get (for this style of music). He doesn't have the range of some singers (Rob Halford, Freddie Mercury, or Ian Gillan, for example), but he has a powerful quasi-operatic quality, which is pretty damn unique. Plus, he is really fun to watch on stage, pretty much running back and forth non-stop, quite similar to a small dog.
The original music video for "Number of the Beast" --
1980's clothes and all.
For me, this is the pinnacle of 1980's heavy metal. Number of the Beast represents all that is good in the world (ironically, through satanic symbology). This album is when Iron Maiden was still hardcore to the bone. They wrote nasty-as-shit riffs, and just plowed through album after album. As mentioned in the last post in this series, they released Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, and Powerslave, back-to-back, in years 1982, 1983, and 1984, respectively. This is damn impressive, considering the sheer quality of those albums.
Number of the Beast contains some of the best songs that Iron Maiden made. The album starts off with "Invaders," which could be called average by Maiden's standards. But the album immediately goes into "Children of the Damned," which is a slower, more percussion-driven song. It is a heavier song, setting the stage for the rest of the album, closing out with the classic fast-paced squealy guitars. Next comes "Prisoner," inspired by the British television show of the same name. The song opens with the memorable lines "Who is number 1?" "You are number 6." "I am not a number, I am a free man!" It next goes into "22 Acacia Avenue," which has the nastiest opening riff on the album. Next is "Number of the Beast," described supra. Next is "Run to the Hills," an Iron Maiden classic, likely their best known song, and which they use to close out most of their live shows. The song is about American Indians fighting the white man, and retreating into the hills. So good. Next is "Ganglands," the weakest song on the album, and is the only one I usually skip when listening. But it's okay, because they sandwich "Ganglands" in between two great songs, because the album closes out with the very very epic song "Hallowed be Thy Name." This song opens with a man sitting in a cold prison cell, awaiting his trip to the gallows. And builds and builds and builds until it ends with Bruce Dickinson howling "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, hallowed be thy name!" over and over again. It is certainly an amazing ending to an album, leaving you wanting more.
Later releases also included the song "Total Eclipse," which was excluded from the original album, probably for length reasons. It is a very good song, but I don't really know what it's about. It has some nice lyrics though.
Favorite Lyrics: "I'm waiting in my cold cell, when the bell begins to chime. Reflecting on my past life, and it doesn't have much time. 'Cause at 5 o'clock, they take me to the gallows pole. The sands of time, for me, are running low........ohhhh!" - Hallowed be Thy Name
Album Cover: Memorable, but otherwise average. It has the band's mascot, Eddie, being the puppet master for the devil, which is kind of funny. It has a unique color pattern, which is cool.
#1
BLACK SABBATH: HEAVEN AND HELL (1980)
Sing me a song, you're a singer! That's right folks, the intersection of Ronnie James Dio and Black Sabbath produced a few hellishly awesome albums, one being Heaven and Hell (the other two being Mob Rules (1981)and Dehumanizer (1992). Dehumanizer was surprisingly good, too, considering it was a one-off (ish)).
Rarely do you have two legends cross paths. Even more rarely do you have two legends cross paths and achieve something so mind-blowingly awesome. Contra Ian Gillan and Black Sabbath; David Bowie and Queen.
This album was the first Black Sabbath album after Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1979, to go off on his highly successful solo career as the "prince of darkness" (giving us classic songs like "Crazy Train" and "Bark at the Moon"). People thought metal was dead, or on the decline. Sabbath was (and is, in many ways) the hallmark of metal. Without Sabbath, what was left? Much was riding on how Black Sabbath handled its vacancy at vocals. Enter Ronnie James Dio. Dio had been in Elf and Rainbow, two modestly successful hard rock bands in their own right (playing with the likes of Ritchie Blackmore, star guitarist of Deep Purple). Dio secured his place in the great halls of metal by joining Sabbath.
The song "Heaven and Hell"
Video from (probably) 1980.
Dio's time in Sabbath marked a departure from the style most associated with Ozzy. As Tony Iommi (Sabbath's legendary guitarist) said, paraphrasing, "Ozzy sang with the chords, while Dio sang across the chords." It's too much work to explain this, and it is only tangential, but those of you who are fans know what I'm talking about. Singing across the chords gave Dio more freedom, and let the power of his vocals really show. Iommi picked up the intensity of his guitar riffs, and the overall pace of the songs increased when Dio joined the band. Clearly, Black Sabbath was entering the 1980's.
Heaven and Hell was forged out of this backdrop. They lucked out, and scored an awesome album, even with the departure of Ozzy Osbourne -- a legend. Heaven and Hell has some awesome songs. My favorites are "Children of the Sea," "Lady Evil," "Neon Knights," "Die Young," "Lonely is the Word," and of course, "Heaven and Hell." Everything on that album is awesome: excellent percussion, excellent bass lines (simple and elegant), harsh, heavy, yet simple, guitar riffs (except for the solo, which is un-simple), garnished with the most powerful voice in hard rock and heavy metal history.
Dio wrote very symbolically. His lyrics conjured hardcore imagery in your mind. He sang about demons, wizards, kings and queens. His songs are about angels, fools, ships, and long voyages on the ocean. He paints pictures with his words. Sure, they are cheesy and not "hip," but I think that's the point -- it's just music, have fun with it.
R.I.P. Dio. 1942-2010.
Favorite Lyrics: [For you, Sharkmann:] "Sing me a song, you're a singer. Do me a wrong, you're a bringer of evil. The devil is never a maker, the less that you give, you're a taker. So it's on and on and on, it's heaven and hell, oh well." and "The world is full of kings and queens, who blind your eyes and steal your dreams, it's heaven and hell, oh well." - Heaven and Hell
Album Cover: Probably my favorite album cover of all. I bet Number of the Beast would be my favorite album of all time if it had a better cover. Basically, in this case, the album cover is the tie-breaker, and the grammy goes to Heaven and Hell hands-down. It has three angels, wearing awesomely gray robes, smoking cigarettes and gambling. The art is simple, and says a lot about people -- the duality of man, I suppose. This makes the message transcend the music... almost. >;-)
Honorable Mentions: Appetite for Destruction (Guns N Roses), Iron Maiden (Iron Maiden), Piece of Mind (Iron Maiden), Powerslave (Iron Maiden), British Steel (Judas Priest), Sin After Sin (Judas Priest), Load (Metallica).
Fin.
Post comments below, and please follow this sexy-ass blog. It goes to eleven.
This is the continuation of a prior post: Part 2 of 3.
See the prior post, numbers 13-10, to get up to speed.
#9. METALLICA: RIDE THE LIGHTNING (1984) For those metal fans, all I have to say is "Fade to Black" and you'd know the greatness to which I am referring: Ride the Lightning. This is one of those under-heralded albums that you turn on, and as a metal fan you're like: "Damn that song is on this album too?" And the majesty keeps delivering with "Creeping Death," "The Call of Ktulu," and "For Whom the Bells Tolls," amongst many others. This was Metallica's second album, the transition album between their extremely thrashy first album Kill 'Em All (1983), and their more classic sound beginning on Master of Puppets (1986). It's a raw album, without being raw for raw's sake. Metallica wasn't trying hard to be cool (like one could say about Kill 'Em All), they were just playing badass music, and it comes across on the album.
Favorite Lyrics: "Stranger now, are his eyes, to this mystery, he hears the silence so loud. Crack of dawn, all is gone, except the will to be. Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see, for whom the bell tolls, time marches on." - For Whom the Bell Tolls
Album Cover: Average/good. The lightning is cool, I guess.
#8.
ARCADE FIRE: THE SUBURBS (2010)
Sooo good. As I said in my post about Arcade Fire awhile back, they are just awesome. Balanced, their music is well balanced. The Suburbs moved Arcade Fire back into the folksy feel that I love, after their slight/sort-of departure into the rock sphere with Neon Bible (2007) -- which, don't get me wrong, was a very good album in its own right. This album is solid, straight through, with only one exception. The song "Month of May" could go to hell for all I care. The lyrics are all literal and matter of fact: "Gunna' make a record in the month of May." I guess they took it too literally when people say to write about what you know. It's like, uhhh... okay. Tell me something personal, and I'll appreciate it more than a narrative. It's like putting "It is your birthday." on a banner instead of "Happy Birthday!" See The Office. But anyways, I love this album very very much. I lucked out and was able to see them for their live recording for the Unstaged series posted to Youtube. I especially love the songs "We Used to Wait" and "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)."
Omg! I was at this show!
Favorite Lyrics: "So can you understand? Why I want a daughter while I'm still young. I wanna hold her hand and show her some beauty, before this damage is done." - The Suburbs
Album Cover: Good. A car parked looking at the side of a suburban home. Gets the point across. I like the colors.
#7 IRON MAIDEN: LIVE AFTER DEATH (1985) This is the live album of live albums. It is the only live album I would ever consider putting on a list of favorite albums. I am biased, of course, because it is Iron Maiden, the greatest band in existence after Wyld Stallyn, of course. So, Live After Death, is a sick album. It was released in 1985 arguably at Iron Maiden's peak. They had just released the holy trio of albums -- Number of the Beast (1982), Piece of Mind (1983) and Powerslave (1984). They released these consecutively, while touring on the most epic of tours ever, the WORLD SLAVERY TOUR. Haha! So evil! Then, what do they decide to do? Oh I don't know, release a live album of the most epic material they will ever create!! "What do you do when a bird shits on you?" The Rime of the Ancient Mariner! Hallowed be Thy Name! Running Free! Run to the Hills! The Trooper! Powerslave! Number of the Beast! I literally can't name all of the awesomeness that poured out of this album, because my fingers would start to bleed. They (my fingers) would surely hate me, and I still need them for law school, and other things. Needless to say, the vinyl with a sleeve in good condition would be an excellent gift for me at some point (this is directed at all of my single hot-chick friends who want to impress me -- but only the blonde ones). This album came out when Iron Maiden was selling out stadiums three nights in a row... oh the 80's, where art thou? (Note to self: IN THE PAST... *tear* ) The quality of this live recording is unmatched by any live recording I've heard since.
Favorite Lyrics: "She came to me with a serpent's kiss, as the eye of the sun rose on her lips, moonlight catches silver tears that I cry. So we lay in a black embrace, and the seed is sown in a holy place, and I watched and I waited for the dawn." - Revelations (on Piece of Mind)
Album Cover: Very good. "Eddie" is busting up from hell, probably breaking from some badass metal chains or something. Either way, he is making the metal hands (indicating that epic qualities in the abstract are abound), and the metal face (indicating that Jesus is shredding on an electric axe somewhere in the universe). Love it. Whenever I see it, I smile, like seeing really short short-shorts on a girl that should be wearing normal-sized-girl pants.
#6 JUDAS PRIEST: SAD WINGS OF DESTINY (1976)
Okay, well after rating Live After Death so highly, I'm rethinking the placement of this album on the scale -- it is surely deserving of "favorite" status, but maybe a little lower on the list. Oh well, too lazy now, forge ahead. Sad Wings of Destiny is the first album on the list that doesn't have that one bastard step-child of a song. Suburbs had "Month of May," Ride the Lightning had "Trapped Under Ice," just like Use Your Illusion II had "Shotgun Blues." But this masterpiece, flows, and I mean dayum it flows. A lot of the songs lead into one another. It is crafted by the master guitarist artisans K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton -- the true founders of the dual guitar battle. It punches you in the face out of the gate with "Victim of Changes," easily one of Priest's best songs, and a true metal legend of a song. (Victim of Changes is probably one of my favorite songs.) The album then immediately cuts into "The Ripper" based on Jack the Ripper, of English lore/reality, a great percussion-driven beat machine. Next, it softens into "Dreamer Deceiver," and lets you catch your breath, with, frankly, some quite beautiful vocal melodies, and soft acoustic. But! Don't fear, it transitions into its faster pace cousin, delivering on the electric guitar in "Deceiver." Then Priest, does WHAT!?!?, they drop some piano on your fat stank ass with the "Prelude" to "Tyrant," another classic priest anthem. It rolls through "Epitaph" and "Genocide," great stand-alone songs, closing out with "Island of Domination," a perfect album closer with high pitch Halford vocals, and some very "riffy" guitar bits (for the 70's). This is not a hardcore album by any means, but it is very very good. It is pure and honest to the proto-metal sound of the late 1970's. Sad Wings was Priest's second album, released in 1976.
Favorite Lyrics: "Once she was wonderful, once she was fine, once she was beautiful, once she was mine. Now change has come over her body, she doesn't see me anymore. Now change has come over her body, she doesn't see me anymore. Changes, victim of change." - Victim of Changes
Album Cover: Great! I love the angel's spread wings, trying to protect himself from the flames. It encapsulates epic ideas, like battles on ethereal plains... or something? Or maybe its a stone angel, immune to flame? Who knows, it looks badass, and this is a blog about badass stuff... and me.
#5
RUSH: 2112 (1976)
This is a rock album. This album changed a lot of lives, and influenced a lot of musicians in the rock and later metal scenes. Just watch the recent documentary made about RUSH, Behind the Lighted Stage (2010) and you'll see people talking about RUSH you wouldn't have guessed, like Sabastian Bach of Skid Row, Kirk Hammet of Metallica, some dude from Rage Against the Machine (I think), and even Jack Black of Tenacious D. Even if you aren't a RUSH fan you might enjoy it, it's surprisingly well made (for Canadians. haha, just kidding, I love Canadians... well... only the blonde ones). The story behind 2112 is simple (well, the story of the making of the album, not the story ON the album, which is a total mind fuck). RUSH had put out three albums by the time of 2112, RUSH (1974), Fly By Night (1975) and Caress of Steel (1975). The albums got progressively less popular, and were flops on the pop charts. RUSH figured their number was up, so they decided to say fuck you to the studio by putting out one last album, totally whack, with a 21 minute song on one side of the album called "2112." The other side of the album actually contained 4-5 good songs that the studio ultimately used for air-time and promotion. Well, surprise surprise, the album, and the song, 2112, was an epic, and massively popular. It tells the story of a man fighting the priests of the temples of syrinx in the future with his guitar. Whack. But, the music is notable for its complexity, yet simplicity in listening. It is filled with plenty of time changes to keep your interest, and some really good guitar solos and riffs. Neil Peart on the drums is heralded as probably the best living drummer in the world. Their technical mastery easily makes up for the fact that there are only three of them in the band ("the holy triumvirate"): Geddy Lee (vocals and bass), Alex Lifeson (guitar), Neil Peart (drums/percussion). Listen with care.
Favorite Lyrics: "What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it gives forth a sound. It's got wires that vibrate, and make music. What can this thing be, that I've found? See how it sings like a sad heart, and joyously screams out it's pain. Sounds that build high like a mountain, or notes that fall gently like rain." - 2112 [Act III. Discovery]
Album Cover: Memorable. Simple and memorable. I will always remember the star.
Tune in next week, kids, for the final installment of the best albums ever created by humans.
Post comments below, and please follow this sexy-ass blog. It goes to eleven.
The best band in the world playing one of their best songs? Iron Maiden, Blood Brothers:
"Blood Brothers" from Brave New World (2000).
It's no secret, Iron Maiden is my favorite band, hands down. No one comes close to the sheer perfection that they put out. They have the heavy and epic quality; they have the melody, they have the time changes; they have decent lyrics. Most importantly, to me, is their character. They never really were a band that got into drugs that big, they write about movies and weird demons and shit, and they drink a lot. If I were in a metal band, it would be modeled exactly after Maiden: 1 vocalist, 2 guitarists (1980's maiden), 1 bassist, and a drummer.
On their most recent tour they have been dedicating the song to Ronnie James Dio. He died in May, 2010 from stomach cancer. Dio was one of the best heavy metal singers ever -- a true classic. He was in Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and his own self-named band Dio. I always liked Blood Brothers a lot, but their dedication to Dio makes it mean just that much more.
I had some time before my Remedies class, so I figured I'd do up a quick post. I've been listening to old reliable Iron Maiden recently, and particularly one of my favorite songs by them, The Journeyman, from Dance of Death (2003).
Not a bad video actually (except for the 3:00 intro, skip this part)
The song is one of their slower ones -- this does not mean that it is a pussy song though -- it's very solid. It has some really good guitar melodies and when it "opens up" it has a kind of cheesy chorus, but is memorable, pretty badass and straightforwardly epic. It is easy to sing along with. The guitar solos aren't anything special, but they are nifty -- nifty gifties.
The song just kinds of hums along, and could definitely be the backdrop for some kind of movie montage -- like a person remembering something that happened in some distant place and time.
I really like the acoustic in the song, and Steve Harris' bass helps drive the song forward at points. It's quite beautifully composed actually -- clean and elegant.
Favorite lyrics:
And the fragment remains of our memories
And the shadows we made with our hands
Deeper grey, come to form all the colors of the dawn
...
In your life you may choose desolation And the shadows you build with your hands If you turn to the light, that is burning in the night Then this Journeyman's day has begun
Summed Up: A clean and elegant song that is "straightforwardly" epic.
So I was cleaning my apartment today, so I set my iPod to shuffle. After a few songs, the song Ghost of the Navigator by Iron Maiden came on, and it reminded of how much I love their album Brave New World... so much so that I turned off shuffle mode and played Brave New World through in its entirety. Epic.
So of course I have to write a blog post about one of their better albums (I can't say "best" albums, because they have so damn many "best albums"... Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, Powerslave, to name a few). Here is the brief history of Brave New World.
Once upon a time, Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden, in 1993, and everyone thought the end was near for sure. But, Iron Maiden released two albums after his departure, X Factor (1995) and Virtual XI (1998). You will never hear me say this again about Iron Maiden probably... but those albums were pretty bad. The only good songs to come from the Blaze Bayley era (Iron Maiden's singer from 1994-1999) were The Clansman and Sign of the Cross. Some other songs which didn't suck, but were maybe average at best during Bayley's time were The Angel and the Gambler (meh), and Man on the Edge (double meh).
Needless to say, from the perspective of any Iron Maiden fan, the return of Bruce Dickinson in 1999 was a super huge relief. He reassured the world that they would not have to commit world-suicide. People were happier, because they now knew for sure that Y2k was not going to happen. All was well. Bruce Bruce and the Iron Maiden gang followed up on their promise of world peace and released Brave New World in 2000. It was, and is, epic as all hell.
Brave New World (2000)
Brave New World, in my opinion, was Maiden's last album to have an edge throughout, although it still was pretty produced. After Brave New World, Maiden has released three albums to date (Dance of Death, A Matter of Life and Death, and The Final Frontier). These three are certainly more produced, which is why I don't like them as much. I like that raw.. live feel.. to music. I don't like pumping beats through some computer so the pitch is perfect, etc (Metallica is guilty of this), and the timing is perfect to the atom (I'm pretty sure that Computers are almost able to keep time as well as Neil Peart).
But anyway, you should go out and download Brave New World, or at least check it out somewhere online (youtube maybe?). Favorite songs on Brave New World (other than all of them): Ghost of the Navigator, Brave New World, Blood Brothers, Out of the Silent Planet, The Thin Line Between Love and Hate.
So being as Iron Maiden is the biggest and most well known band in the entire world, and being as everyone outside of the Eastern Bloc is an Iron Maiden fan, I figured I would put up a post about my favorite band. (actually, joking aside, I think Maiden is huge in the Eastern Bloc... I just like ripping on Communism)
But anyway, I was just listening to their first two albums with singer Paul Di'Anno, and every time I am freggin' surprised at how awesome those albums are. Amongst coffee-table metal fans, however, it's not that his time with Maiden isn't well acclaimed -- it just goes largely unknown.
Paul Di'Anno being badass.
Iron Maiden's "first" singer from 1978-81.
Iron Maiden's first LP was the self-titled Iron Maiden (1980). Of course the album is of epic-mega proportions. When we look back upon the 20th Century in the years to come, it will surely be one of the game-changing moments of the century, along with the rise of Communism, the Great Depression, the two World Wars, the Civil Rights movement, the 1984 film Red Dawn, Rocky IV, and the consequent fall of Communism.
Iron Maiden introduced us to the songs Prowler, Remember Tomorrow, Running Free, Phantom of the Opera, and (amongst others) of course, IRON MAIDEN!
The band's second major release came in 1981 with Killers. The album was slightly less epic than the first, but still ranks up there amongst major 20th Century events, such as the Apollo 11 mission, the Vietnam War, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, and Super Bowl XV. This album gave us Wrathchild, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Killers, and Twilight Zone.
However, Paul Di'Anno's time with the band ended shortly after Killers. He couldn't foresee, indeed no one could, the even more epic arrival of singer Bruce Dickinson. For while Di'Anno was an awesome man, Dickinson was (and still is) indeed a god on the vocals instrument. And I mean after all, Paul Di'Anno aged into looking like a fat douche anyway.
Paul Di'Anno looking like a douche. Circa sometime more recently.
