Best tune on "Iron Maiden" by Iron Maiden

Wurthless wrote:

Lari wrote:

Yeah, Running Free is kind of dumb. It's a fun rebellious heavy metal track, but in a way beneath Iron Maiden in its simplicity.

Still not a clunker. I think Transylvania is a clunker.

Transylvania is one of the first pieces of music that comes to my mind when I think of Maiden. Those twin guitars!
It's strange to see that opinion from my perspective.

I can remember being in the sixth grade walking down the halls with headphones in jamming to Running Free, and yeah it's dumb, but it's catchy fun dumb.

Sanctuary is the closest thing to being a clunker I feel; I think it's style sticks out like a sore thumb cos it's obviously a cover of a song that's not very heavy. And it doesn't translate over as well as something like Priest's Diamonds and Rust or Better By You. It's got a very "pub rock-gone-metal" sound to it, if that makes any sense.

"Sanctuary" is a cover? I really like that song, actually. I'm surprised it's being labeled a clunker. I like "Transylvania," too. It's one of my favorite metal instrumentals. The bass and drum just fly. I don't consider any song on this album a clunker. "Running Free" is catchy, it's just a little weak. That part in the middle after the guitar solo; it sounds like a little bass riff. It's so stale and brings the energy of the song down. "Iron Maiden" is a bit weak, too. It's repetitive lyrically and, as I mentioned before, I don't like the feminine way the chorus sounds. It's still catchy, though.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

Lari wrote:

Yeah, Running Free is kind of dumb. It's a fun rebellious heavy metal track, but in a way beneath Iron Maiden in its simplicity.

Still not a clunker. I think Transylvania is a clunker.

Transylvania is one of the first pieces of music that comes to my mind when I think of Maiden. Those twin guitars!
It's strange to see that opinion from my perspective.

I can remember being in the sixth grade walking down the halls with headphones in jamming to Running Free, and yeah it's dumb, but it's catchy fun dumb.

Sanctuary is the closest thing to being a clunker I feel; I think it's style sticks out like a sore thumb cos it's obviously a cover of a song that's not very heavy. And it doesn't translate over as well as something like Priest's Diamonds and Rust or Better By You. It's got a very "pub rock-gone-metal" sound to it, if that makes any sense.

"Sanctuary" is a cover? I really like that song, actually. I'm surprised it's being labeled a clunker. I like "Transylvania," too. It's one of my favorite metal instrumentals. The bass and drum just fly. I don't consider any song on this album a clunker. "Running Free" is catchy, it's just a little weak. That part in the middle after the guitar solo; it sounds like a little bass riff. It's so stale and brings the energy of the song down. "Iron Maiden" is a bit weak, too. It's repetitive lyrically and, as I mentioned before, I don't like the feminine way the chorus sounds. It's still catchy, though.

man i was thinking of women in uniform the whole time hahaha. my bad.

I didn't even count Sanctuary as it's never been on any copy of the album that I've owned.

Transylvania is brilliant!

"Charlotte the Harlot"

We had a girl named Charlotte who hung out in the smokers circle in school. (yes you could smoke on school grounds. I never smoked cigarettes, but would burn a big fat bomber at the drop of a hat) She was killer at Frisbee and her nickname was "Scooby"...the tune went "Scooby-doobie do me" if you catch my drift.

Boris2008 wrote:

I didn't even count Sanctuary as it's never been on any copy of the album that I've owned.

Transylvania is brilliant!

Sanctuary was added for the North American release of the album, in Europe it was on a single.

I actually had a UK import on vinyl so my copy never had it either.

Boris2008 wrote:

I didn't even count Sanctuary as it's never been on any copy of the album that I've owned.

Transylvania is brilliant!

Perhaps the best instrumentals, ever.

Remember Tomorrow is my choice.

Sanctuary is a cool track. Raw NWOBHM style.

Hard to do, but I picked "Strange World". It used to be one that I skipped over for about 30 years... Then a couple of years ago I listened to it and thought it was a great song. Don't know why I skipped it, probably because it was slow but it is a fantastic song. Hard to pick on this album, all of them are classics.

Phantom, no question. Great album.

MoonChild wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

I didn't even count Sanctuary as it's never been on any copy of the album that I've owned.

Transylvania is brilliant!

Perhaps the best instrumentals, ever.

It's a good heavy metal instrumental. That's about as far as I'd be willing to go with that.

S.D. wrote:

MoonChild wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

I didn't even count Sanctuary as it's never been on any copy of the album that I've owned.

Transylvania is brilliant!

Perhaps the best instrumentals, ever.

It's a good heavy metal instrumental.  That's about as far as I'd be willing to go with that.  

I take it further to my favourite

I went with Remember Tomorrow as I feel it's probably the best. I do find myself singing Running Free the most, though.

I like all the songs to some extent, with Strange World probably being my least favorite but I still wouldn't call it a clunker. Song for song I find this album more consistent than Killers, but I still prefer the Dickinson era.

Remember Tomorrow

I don't think there's a clunker on this album at all. So many good songs on here!

I voted for Running Free. Just for the simple reason that the moment I saw it, the chorus started playing in my head!

Phantom of the Opera gets my vote.

Such an important album for me. Not really sure if this was my first Maiden release. The first three were purchased so close to together and now that I'm old, my feeble memory can no longer remember. A couple of decades later and many Maiden releases since, Transylvania seems to be the one song that is distinctly the standout. I guess because songs like Iron Maiden, Phantom of the Opera, Running Free and Charlotte the Harlot have gone on to have a life beyond just being on the first album. If I was to pick a song as a representative or first listen for the uninitiated, I've go with Phantom of the Opera or Running Free.

I didn't know as much about Maiden as I thought. I just read that the band changed producers and wasn't real happy with the one they settled on and ultimately ended up leaning on the engineer to get the record to sound more of what they wanted. I always thought the album sounded fantastic and never really thought that it had a punk influence like so many have stated.

This is gonna sound really odd but I went with Strange World. It's not the first track I'd play for anyone new to exploring Maiden, but there's something rich and special about it that hits me the right way. The chorus on the guitar, the passionate solo, the restraint, Steve's haunting bass, and possibly Paul's best work. Always been one of my favorites. Second place goes to Phantom, that one never gets old.

journeyman wrote:

 and never really thought that it had a punk influence like so many have stated.

That's bull, always has been. I think that the journos just looked at Paul with his short hair and attitude and the energy of the band's live shows and came up with that stuff. If anything I think that Iron Maiden has more classic rock and prog influences than what would follow.

Great album and perhaps my favorite Maiden album. I love "Prowler", "Remember Tomorrow", "Running Free", "Phantom of the Opera" and "Iron Maiden", but by the slimmest of margins, I will take "Prowler" over "Phantom".

I voted for Phantom of the Opera.

I'm really disappointed in you guys if Running Free ends up winning this poll