Iron Maiden - Overrated and Underrated

Iron Maiden, "Overrated and underrated". Simple as that. Of course, this is only my opinion, you let me know yours in the comment section below.


UNDERRATED

LOSFER WORDS (BIG 'ORRA) 
Perhaps the most beautiful instrumental of Iron Maiden. Have you ever heard it live? Is it present in any greatest hits? There you are.


FLASH OF THE BLADE
Also from that gem called Powerslave, and exactly like the song above. Magnificently ignored by the band, as if it never existed. I like it a lot, but maybe I'm the only one in the universe. If not, cheer me up in the comments, thanks.

TO TAME A LAND
For those who don't know, the song was originally called Dune (like the movie), but ultimately the band didn't have permission to call it with that name. Anyway, "To Tame a Land" is a masterpiece from the beautiful Piece of mind that Steve Harris likes so much, but I have never had the pleasure of listening to live and I still don't know why.


HOLY SMOKE

A "different" song by Maiden that would have deserved more luck in live setlists, in my opinion. It was performed only on the "No Prayer for the Dying" tour and then forgotten forever by the band. The lyrics are very beautiful and the video clip is super fun. If you've never seen it, do it!



ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Near to the eeeeeassst, in a part of ancient Greece. I really like Dickinson's interpretation: powerful voice and very open vowels. Did they even play this one live too? No, they are busy playing those ones below. EDIT: the article is a little old, they have finally played the song live. Halleluja!!!

OVERRATED

FEAR OF THE DARK
Here we are. I will immediately clarify the meaning: in reality, Fear of the Dark is not overrated because it is a beautiful song, it is just that... Enough is enough. I'll just tell you just one fact: Maiden doing the 1988 celebratory tour (Maiden England)? In the setlist, there is Fear of the dark which dates back to 1992. Is that enough? 

HALLOWED BE THY NAME
Exactly as above. It was also my absolute favourite song until around 1995. Then, being a fan of the band, I got to listen to it in the various lives at Donington, live in Chile, live in the studio, live in Saudi Arabia, live at Mario and Luigi's, live in the Sahara desert (during a sandstorm) and live at the home of Dickinson's grandson. Enough!
In this video, as they probably wanted to make a world record of playing it at the same time in two places, they asked their friend Lars Ulrich to give them a hand.


WHERE THE WILD WIND BLOWS
For me The Final Frontier is a failure and, apart from Coming Home, I have no sympathy for any of the songs on that album. This song ended up in the excellent recent Greatest Hits, From Fear to Eternity and I don't know why.


2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT 
With this one probably I have attracted all the dislikes of Maiden fans. I write it quickly: for me, 2 Minutes to Midnight is a good song but it was more successful than it deserved to be. Here, I said it. 

IRON MAIDEN
Iron Maiden is a nice song that bears the name of the band. Does this mean they have to play it on every single setlist for life? Iron Maiden's gonna get you, wherever you are and no matter how far.

Giovanni Gagliano

Passionate about music I wrote my first article for "Given To Rock" in 2012, reaching now 30K global followers. I am also a musician, gigging around London.

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