In honor of the upcoming Maiden album The Book Of Souls (release date 9/4), here are the top 10 Iron Maiden songs released since Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith rejoined the band. Please note these are in no particular order!
“Step Outside”, Foghat Energized
Boogie merchants Foghat get quite funkified on “Step Outside”, riding high on Lonesome Dave Peverett’s vocal (especially chorus time with the female backing vocals), Rod Price’s wah wah guitar, and punchy Tony Stevens’ bass lines. If you like cool 70s boogie rock workouts a la Grand Funk Railroad splashed with a dash of James Gang and maybe Average White Band topped with Elvin Bishop’s sense of fun you’ll do yourself good tracking this one down. Plenty of booty shakin’ and guitar solos give you bang for your buck at six minutes plus.
“Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter”, Iron Maiden A Real Live One
So the story goes that Bruce Dickinson gets tapped to write the theme to Nightmare On Elm Street 5, puts it out, and Steve Harris loves it so much that the band re-records it for their next disc No Prayer For The Dying. This version is a live ripper and in typical live Maiden fashion, is about 100 times faster than the studio version (exaggerating, but only slightly), and has great audience participation from a crowd of Helsinki, Finland rivet heads. Not up there with Maiden classics but a fun song nonetheless. Odd fact regarding the studio version: it’s the ONLY UK #1 single that this band has ever had!
“Bittersweet”, Hoodoo Gurus Mars Needs Guitars!
Hoodoo Gurus were a bit of a fun band, probably considered an “roots rock” or Americana nowadays but back in the 80’s they were bundled in with so called “alternative music” or “college rock” a la The Hooters, The Smithereens, REM, etc. “Bittersweet” was the single from their second album and is a great jangly rocker with fairly simple crashing chords but a killer sing along chorus with it’s “don’t cry” refrain. A fun song that would have fit in well with the college cover band scene back in the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohSGGALury4
“1000 Dollar Car”, Bottle Rockets The Brooklyn Side
Reminiscent of Neil Young’s work with Crazy Horse in tone comes “1000 Dollar Car” and the great Bottle Rockets, a solid band that walks the line between rock and country. Guitars on this one are amped up and semi-clangy with a simple backbeat, touch of Hammond organ, and world weary vocal. Lyrically, the song hits home to those of us that have bought a cheap car at one time or another. Like the aforementioned Neil and Crazy Horse, this song has that simple laid back rock beat similar to “Cinnamon Girl” or “Cowgirl In The Sand” that brings to mind late night smoke filled and beer soaked jam sessions.
“Tramontane” Foreigner Double Vision
Boy does hearing this song bring back memories. This may have been one of the first albums (probably 8-track!) that my brother and I ever had and we’d listen to these things non-stop. “Tramontane” is the instrumental on this album and was certainly a non-hit compared to everything else on there. This song has a touch of prog pomp to it with some spooky “Phantom Of The Opera” keyboards as well with groovy Mick Jones guitar work on top. Maybe a tip of the cap to Ian McDonald’s King Crimson days? Who knows.
“Walkin’ Thru The Park” Muddy Waters The Real Folk Blues
Not familiar with Chicago blues and you’d like a starter? The Real Folk Blues and “Walkin’ Thru The Park” would certainly do you just fine. This song kicks in with a fine swinging groove and Muddy comes roaring in with the lead vocal, but possibly the real star here is the harmonica work from Little Walter. Either way, both do such a great job on this cut and play well off each other with Muddy even throwing in a quick single line stinging lead break on guitar. Great blues music invokes a lot of feeling and this song certainly gets the fingers snappin’ and toes a-tappin’.
“Eyes Of Fire” Rainbow Straight Between The Eyes
Richie Blackmore reaches into his trick bag and pulls out a winner here reminiscent of his more epic work on Rising and Long Live Rock And Roll, although a bit more subtle due to the smoother vocal from Joe Lynn Turner and more militaristic drumming (compared to slamming predecessor Cozy Powell) from Bobby Rondinelli. But man, it’s all about that guitar as Blackmore pulls off plenty of eastern mysticism and snaky guitar runs to keep those old school fans happy. Nice keyboard interplay with David Rosenthal as well.
“Womankind” Greg Kihn Rockihnroll
Sure, everyone knows “Jeopardy” as the hit, but Greg Kihn wrote an awful lot of good rock and roll songs and this one certainly fits the bill. “Womankind” rides the same groove and chords throughout the song a la a more sinister “Gloria” (just listen, you’ll get my drift) but Kihn works it to his advantage with a solid vocal and decent lyrics as well. The guitar work on this song is really cool too, lots of descending lines along with the bass but also some real groove as well to add quite a bit of flavor. Nice build up to the chorus throughout the song.
“Long Live Rock” The Who BBC Sessions
Listening to this version, I’m not sure what’s live and what’s taped. Vocals certainly sound live but I don’t think that’s Entwistle and Moon live in the studio with Townshend and Daltrey (which is ironic as Pete and Rog are the only surviving members of the band). The mix seems a little different too as the piano seems more pronounced in spots (especially around the “rock is dead” breakdown) and Moonie’s drums are more upfront. At any rate, this has always been a fave Who song of mine and it’s always cool to have another version even if it’s fairly close to the original. LOVE the Townshend vocal flub towards the end!
NOT the BBC Version here 🙂
“Song For The Dead” Queens Of The Stone Age Songs For The Deaf
What makes QOTSA so great is the utter off kilter weirdness that will pop up throughout their songs. At first, “Song For The Dead’ starts off with a flat out punk metal riff and drum bash courtesy of Josh Homme and Dave Grohl but a minute in comes the first twist: a loopy, bouncy riff with guest vocalist Mark Lanegan howling o’er top with creepy, haunting, layered background “ahhhs” courtesy of Homme. And then comes twist #2 (or #3) around the three minute mark as the band goes into jam session mode before quickly swinging back to that loopy bounce and Lanegan vocal before the song revisits the punk metal riff to close out the song. Yes!
Tough choice for song of the week, but we’ll put three up here: “Long Live Rock”, “Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter”, and “Songs For The Deaf”
1. Robert Plant
No matter the era, no matter the type of music, Robert Plant is my favorite singer of all time. Does he have the range he had in the late 60’s/early 70’s? Definitely not, but he certainly doesn’t care to be THAT “golden god” from a lifetime ago. Plant has been able to meld multiple styles: wild banshee howler, mellow acoustic/folk, 50’s crooner, rockabilly swinger, African rhythm man, duet partner… the list goes on and on. Many of these styles were part of what made Led Zeppelin such a fantastic band- these guys were an “A list” of players with influences far and wide, especially Plant with his love of blues music and early American rock and roll. Once Zep came to an untimely end Plant kicked off a solo career, branching into more alternative rock soundscapes centered around atmospheric guitar/keyboard interplay before revisiting the “cock rock” of his old band’s heyday in the late 80s and eventually branching into more experimental territory that continues to this day. Plant is certainly not one to rest on his laurels and is constantly on the move to explore the next thing, which keeps him sounding fresh and invigorated. Don’t expect him to relive past glories but expect the unexpected. Personally, I’d like to see a rockabilly album from him a la The Honeydrippers, although I don’t think that’s happening. But you never know!
Choice cuts: Gotta go with ten songs total, although it’s tough to whittle it down to just ten: from Zep: “Whole Lotta Love”, “Kashmir”, “Ten Years Gone”, “Trampled Underfoot”, “Ramble On”; Solo career: “Big Log”, “Ship Of Fools”, “Calling To You”, “Rockin’ At Midnight”, “Heaven Knows”.
Rolling on down to #1!
3. Bruce Dickinson
Are these Bruce Dickinson’s prime years? Like fine wine, ol’ Bruce Bruce gets better with age. I’ve seen Maiden live multiple times over the years and as an overall performer he does not disappoint, ranking #1 on my list of favorite frontmen of all time (based on charisma, stage presence, command of crowd, etc). Dickinson was put through the wringer early as Maiden toured non-stop throughout the ’80s, putting a lot of road miles on his voice and causing a bit of a change to his singing style (from more air raid siren with a bit of a growl to more growl with less air raid siren). Come the early ’90s it seemed the man took on a new persona, belting out tunes with that raspier growl than the operatic highs of his early years. But fear not! Dickinson’s leave of absence from Maiden for a solo career seemed to recharge the batteries, leading to his inevitable return to the band and return to form as THE heavy metal vocalist of all time (IMHO). Just watch Rock In Rio, the live DVD (and album) and listen to the man roar through the classics and new material from Brave New World with ease, especially “Run To The Hills”- previously, Dickinson stayed away from the highs on this song but nowadays he’s found a jolt of new found power that allows him to hit these notes with ease. Bruce Dickinson is the man!
Choice Cuts: “Run To The Hills”, “The Number Of The Beast”, “The Trooper”, “Blood Brothers”
2. Robin Zander
Like Rodney Dangerfield, Cheap Trick often get no respect- the general music populace know the big hits like “I Want You To Want Me”, “Surrender”, “The Flame”, (maybe) “If You Want My Love” but have NO CLUE how awesome they really are. Part of that awesomeness can be attributed to “The Man of a Thousand Voices”, Mr. Robin Zander. Before the popular hits, Trick was a hard working, hard rockin’ bar band that played all over the country. Once they got signed and put out their debut disc (an absolutely kickin’ slab o’ vinyl, check it out!), the “music business” took hold and parlayed Zander and bassist Tom Petersson’s good looks against the wackiness of Rick Nielsen and the frumpy suit and tie guyness of Bun E Carlos and started looking for ways to promote looks over music. Yeah, it had it’s charms but it often undermined the talent that these guys have. Zander can sing ANYTHING and make is sound good, one minute sounding like The Beatles, next minute all out roaring rock god, next minute soft crooner- often within the same song. What’s even more amazing is that he still has great range and continues to amaze night after night. The Choice Cuts below offer up non-hits and are highly recommended for newbies to check out the absolute talent this guy has.
Choice cuts: “Gonna Raise Hell”, “Stop This Game”, “Anytime”, “She’s Leaving Home”
Down to the top five… to build the obvious anticipation (yeah right) y’all are having for the final singers, I’ve decided to break it down to two today, two more in the next post, and one final post to reveal numero uno. So here goes…
5. Paul Rodgers
Depending on where you are located, Paul Rodgers is likely more famous to you due to one of two bands: those in England grew up with him and his mates in Free, whereas those of us in the States are more familiar with his work in Bad Company. Either way, Rodgers has one of the most soulful and bluesy voices around and has been a staple on classic rock radio for years. In post Bad Company years he joined up with Jimmy Page in The Firm, cut multiple solo albums, and even joined Queen for a couple of tours and an album. Rodgers’ midrange is tough to beat; he fits the pocket with great tone and easily shifts between the lowdown dirty vocal and the occasional higher range. Even though Rodgers is in his mid-60s, he’s arguably a better singer now than he was back in the glory days of the 1970s.
Choice cuts: “All Right Now”, “Bad Company”, “Wishing Well”, “Sweet Little Sister”
4. Ray Gillen
Ray Gillen’s career, though relatively short due to his untimely passing, left us a handful of recorded gems that are hard to surpass. Badlands was more of a cult band that never got their due during the hey days of hair, but the mark they left on the fans that they did have is longstanding. Gillen had a strong, versatile, bluesy voice that deftly covered mellower cuts and heavier material with ease. Not only did he record with Badlands but he provided background vocals on discs from artists like Savatage and Raging Slab, plus he even toured with Black Sabbath and sang lead vocals on demos for their Eternal Idol album (track down the Deluxe Edition of that album for those cuts!). I feel fortunate to have met the man and band during a meet and greet for their first tour and the show they put on afterwards easily ranks high on my list of favorites of all time. The guy had it all – a great mix of swagger, confidence, and bravado. Bo Bice of American Idol fame was aware of the greatness of Ray Gillen by covering “In A Dream” on one of the episodes and did a great job himself.
Choice cuts: “In A Dream”, “Winter’s Call”, “The River”, “High Wire”
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