Entertainment For Lively Minds
Iron Maiden or Richard Thompson?
Posted by Ola Claesson on 6 May 2011 - 11:50am.
Richard Thompson seems to be the magazine´s favourite artist, and I don´t mind. He IS a good musician. But if we could prove that more readers prefer the screaming galloping medieval tom roll-fest known as Iron Maiden, maybe we could sort of force, by gentle popular demand, the staff to put Iron Maiden or Eddie on the cover?
So, dear Massive, Iron Maiden or Richard Thompson?
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There needs to be
a third way. Neither tickle my musical fancy in any way.
Sorry, Leedsboy
This particular one is a "with us or against us". :)
Take no prisoners!
Third way, third way
third way, there has to be a third way.
I steadfastly refuse to nail my colours to either mast.
Iron Maiden.
Obvs.
3rd way?
Not a Lib Dem are we Leedsboy?
I tried being liberal once
I just spilt a lot more so I stopped.
RT
Obvs
I still have a sneaking love for NWOBHM but, even at the time,
I just didn't 'get' Ron Maiden. There didn't seem to be any humour or space in the music; just a manic blustering charge to the end of the song. (I appreciate some might see this as a good thing)
RT for me, I'm afraid. Now, if the question was "Vardis or RT" or "Spider or RT" then I might answer differently :-)
Spider
Crikey, I saw them support Gillan at Newcastle City Hall in 1982.
Centre parted long hair and 'taches Them, not me.
Yup... A great, great live band
if a little indebted to mid 70s Quo. Saw 'em on New Years Eve in 1980 (?) at The Marquee. One of those nights where the sweat dripped off their ceiling.
l support Leedsboy
And l never thought l would ever say l supported anything to do with Leeds. Both of them move me to inertia (and l was also a fan of the NWOHM). I have two Iron Maiden albums - God knows why.
RT pretty much all the way
I listened to Maiden in my teens and saw them live a couple of times. They were OK on record and fantastic live.
RT on the other hand is the longest musical love affair of my life. Taking the song-writing, musicianship, live shows and so on all together I don't think he has any serious rival as the greatest popular music performer of all time. But that's just me.
No.
It's not just you.
RT 110%
I agree with everything Gatz says above. Some of the best live shows I've seen have been by Richard Thompson. Some of the best guitar solos I've ever heard have been played by him, many of them at the old 100 Club on Oxford Street, maybe 15 years ago. He IS a GENIUS.
Iron Maiden
For these 5 tracks alone, which Richard Thompson, however much he sounds like a warm jumper will never get near to:
Alexander The Great
Wrathchild
Killers
Brave New World
Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter
And for which
we can only be thankful.
Not to mention:
The Trooper
2 Minutes To Midnight
The Number Of The Beast
22 Acacia Avenue
Fear Of The Dark
They're not that consistent, the Irons, but they are the best live act on the planet, and when they get it right, they're unbeatably good.
Alexander The Great
Intrigued that Iron Maiden wrote a song about Alexander, I've just looked up the lyrics.
I can't help but think that IM lack a fundamental grasp of Alexander's purpose:
"He became the Macedon King
And he swore to free all of Asia Minor"
No he didn't. Freedom was so very far from his mind. I'm fairly sure RT would never, ever approach the clunkiness of the lyrics to the whole song. I say that as someone with only slight familiarity with RT's oeuvre.
D-. See Me.
Terrible lyrics - agreed.
Superb tune though. I like music. If I want poetry I'll read a book.
On a point of order
Alexander CLAIMED he was going to free Asia Minor from the domination of the Persians, and to avenge the invasion of Xerxes. In this he was continuing the policies of his father Philip and it was good politics to make this claim to the notoriously fractious Greek cities. However when he had made his pilgrimage to Siwah and especially after he so completely defeated Darius then the whole nature of the expedition changed to a personal quest for glory and the ends of the earth.
So while it may be in some respects a debatable point one can only applaud Mr Maiden in his essentially firm grasp of the basics of the Hellenisation of the near East.
Darius
I wondered what happened to him. I think you will find he was defeated by Will and Gareth though.
Ker-
Tshhhhhhh
Easy
It's a great double bill. RT would be my ideal support slot next time I see Maiden. They do a great show but they have some god awful support acts.
They could get him on to add a 4th guitar part for the Run to the Hills finale.
Either/or?
What's wrong with both/and?
Haha!
One of those two-in-one interviews, perhaps? I´m sure there´s some folk music they could discuss. Robert Plant could get in there too.
ver' Middin
even though I can't stand Bruce Dickless-son
(he's an airline pilot and a fencing champion y'kna - oh do feck off!)
One of those hoping for Di´Anno to return when Bailey left?
I´ve met a few.
But Dickinson is the better front man, with or with his sword.
Di'Anno and Old Bailey?
...they have 'worked together' fairly recently, though...
I actually think
he's a great front man and I don't mind his voice but he's such a cock!
He also murdered 'All the Young Dudes', nuff said.
starts quietly...
Mashup Time: IM + RT
Someone must be clever out there; perfect opportunity for posting a mashup vid.
Neither.
My iTunes and Napster libraries are devoid of both, so I'll have to abstain but, if forced, I have got Powerslave on vinyl and saw Maiden live twice in the mid 80's so they'll have to edge it.
Maiden
Although I haven't really taken much notice of their recorded output since 'Fear Of the Dark' I've seen em a few times playing the Early n Middle period tours and they are still an astonishing live band.
Personal faves
Wrathchild
The Evil That Men Do
The Trooper
Children Of The Damned
Aces High
yes they are often pondourous and lacking in humour but a hell of a lot of fun at heart
If I want a thoughtful, bitter, scathing, delicate and loving singer songwriter who wears silly hats then I have Elvis Costello. I need no one else
It has to be...
...Maiden. I don't even know who this Thompson guy is. A quick search on the web only brings up some old hippy folk fossil. Surely you don't mean him?
*ducks*, *gets coat*, *inserts large smiley* etc etc.
Smash Hits Issue
I'm waiting for Limahl or Marilyn, or maybe even Jimmy The Hoover on the cover of The Word, especially given this week's podcast.
Jimmy The Hoover?
Wo!
Serious answer...
I love RT.
At his best he is more savage lyrically and musically than the Maiden could dream of.
With respect, badger_king, warm jumper my arse.
Clearly
Badger has never heard RT and has some folky stereotype in mind. Bless. Listen to how cuddly this is
The trouble is Twang...
...that pretty much all of RT's 'rockers', including this one, sound like they could/should be played on an accordion. And once you have that image in your mind, it's impossible to think of him as anything other than an amplified folk performer.
I'm not saying there's necessarily anything wrong with that - you brought the 'but listen, he rocks' argument up - but personally, when I want rock music I go to The Who, for instance, or some act like Mahavishnu Orchestra where the amps are at 11 and John Kirkpatrick is banned from the venue!
If I want folk/trad, I really do prefer it to be unencumbered by trying to be anything else - like Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill or Andy Irvine etc.
That said, I'd rather go see RT than IM...
An "amplified folk performer"?
I hate to think what would happen if this was played on accordion:
The beauty is that he'll do that, and then for the next song, he'll do this:
No reason why one performer can't cover both grounds - RT all the way!
Don't get me wrong Fredster...
...I remain a big fan of Richard's lead guitar playing - inventive, distinctive, unmistakeably original (if sometimes seeming to delight in avoiding blues scales in the same way one might avoid walking on the cracks in the pavement: okay, its clever, we're impressed, but you don't have to do it ALL the time). I also think he's written a handful of really terrific songs, of which 1952 Vincent is one.
I just can't stand all that cajun-esque twangery he does - it seems to me that 90% of his ouevre is a variation on 'Tear Stained Letter'.
And I despair of all those British folk-rock people's obsession with pastiching 50s R&R. 'The Bunch' was a grotesque waste of talent and its offspring 'A Twangin And A Traddin' even more pointless.
Whereas The Who performing Summertime Blues seemed, by way of contrast, epic and valid.
Discuss...
Have to agree on the epicness of the Who...
RT's twanging is probably just a matter of taste - doesn't really bother me, but neither am I saying its his greatest asset (however, having seen him quite a few times, I have to say I never came away thinking I'd had enough soloing. Believe or not, it does get rationed).
Some of the Massive may disagree with me here, but I think RT writes rock songs that are heavily influenced by folk. And it's his songwriting that really sets him apart.
I once read someone say that whilst Steeleye Span came from folk to rock, Fairport Convention came from rock to folk. I think RT's instincts really do lie in rock, the more he worked alone, the less folky his music got - last year's album being sort of an example.
The Bunch...
Good fun, well executed homage to the music of one's youth. The 60s folk-rockers owed a huge debt to 50s R&R, it was what made them want to be musicians in the first place... As you well know, Fairport had heaps of songs by American artists in their repertoire before Tyger started hanging around in Cecil Sharp House, and they went off and discovered something else: their own musical roots. I see it as a warm, affectionate tip of the beret to an important influence.
For me FC are at their best at that crossover point, just between not wanting to be Jefferson Airplane anymore, and just before they realised that they wanted to be The Band.
The Who performing Summertime Blues... blustering, overblown nonsense, which leaves this listener totally cold.
Thing is, Ad...
...I was in a hurry when I posted the comment above and so it's perhaps more black and white than I meant it. I DO think there's a tiresome indulgence about the Bunch LP, though - redolent of the times, really, so hardly the particpants' fault for being enthusiasts of the music of their own youth. (ie 'Here you go lads - buy some beers, have The Manor studios for two weeks, bash out some old covers, invite your mates along why don't you...)
But its not an LP that needed to be made - far better that the people involved used the material for encores of live shows (as indeed several of them did, a la Fotheringay's 'Memphis Tennessee' - ramshackle as it is - from their recorded Rotterdam concert.)
Personally, I LOVE the 'Full House' era of Fairport - with Swarbrick and Thompson - and prefer it to the Sandy era. I would happily pay for a 4CD + 1DVD box set collecting together the LP, the Troubadour concert, the BBC sessions and the (surprisingly large amount of) live TV/film material of the line up with a nice booklet. Perhaps Universal will get around to it one day - if the music industry lasts long enough.
I find Thompo's lead guitar playing endlessly fascinating but not always endearing if that makes any sense? I love watching him - like that clip just above - being inventive and daring in the same way that I love watching Jimi Hendrix. But I don't really want to listen to too many of their records for some reason.
And as for The Who - we'll just have to agree to differ! :-)
As always, Colin...
You display what a gent you are, and a knowledgeable one at that.
I'm firmly a Sandy / RT era Fairport man - I guess I'm just not folk-rocky enough for the 'later' stuff... I don't mind it, I own most of it, but I don't play it much.
I do know what you mean about RT's solo electric playing, and I've always enjoyed his duo shows with Danny T the most. (Especially when the divine Christine Collister has put in an appearance.) But give me RT as the lead guitar man in a Fairport set, any time...
And, as for The Who... well I overstated it a bit. An incredible run of singles from '65 to '67 - Townshend is a proper pop writing genius, and a hell of a guitar player.
What a heartwarming discourse...
If only all the world was so courteous.
Accordion
You don't have to only play polkas, you know.
RT
I like the Maidens but RT is on another level all together, musically, songwriting wise, in terms of significance in the panoply of rock n pop etc etc.
Thing is...
...he's only significant to a tiny number of cognoscenti, isn't he? The vast majority of people have never heard of him, and so his impact is negligible compared to Iron Maiden's, who are literally one of the biggest and most influential bands in the history of pop music.
I'm not being deliberately inflammatory: thems is just the facts.
And note I'm also not commenting on the quality of his music, because that's just a matter of taste. I'm glad some people get such joy from him, but it's not compulsory to agree that he's the best person ever.
But...
He invented folk rock, which is pretty ubiquitous isn't it? People don't need to have heard of him for him to be influential. How many of yer average herberts have heard of Chuck Berry? I'd agree, though, that Maiden are much more popular. I'd have to question question how influential Maiden are - they are a good synthesis of their influences and, as I say, dead popular, but (I'm not an expert...) but I suspect you wouldn't be able to differentiate a Maiden influenced rock band from any other, would you? I may well be wrong on this....
No one's saying you have to like him - the OP is about who you prefer.
Tell you what, let's do "Take your daughter to the slaughter" AND "Beeswing" in the band.
How many herberts have heard of Chuck Berry?
More than have heard of RT I'd wager.
Also - massive caveat alert: forgive my ignorance here - did RT definitely invent folk rock? It's a pretty popular genre at the moment and when previously neglected genres get big, their proponents are usually falling over their feet to praise the elders. I haven't noticed any of that.
Again, I'm really not trying to diss the music or how much anyone likes him (there are plenty of artists I like who probably aren't on The Massive's most-loved list), but it seems almost mandatory when discussing RT to stress his importance, and I just don't see it.
More or less
Well I'd hope so, since Chuck is much better known that RT, but my point was more that you don't have to be well known or popular to be influential. Let's say Nick Drake instead then.
We're talking English folk rock here. The answer is yes, pretty much, as far as anyone can be considered to have invented anything. From Wikipedia on "Liege and Lief":
The album has come to be regarded as having a major influence in the development of British folk rock. It was voted the 'most important folk album of all time' by BBC Radio 2 listeners in 2002, and at the 2006 BBC Radio 2 folk awards Liege and Lief won the award for Most influential Folk Album of all time.
Give it a lis. You might be surprised.
I'll second Twango
I rubbished all folk rock until I bought Bright Lights on a whim in HMV because the cover had always intrigued me. I was blown away. And from there the labyrinthine world of folk rock opened up to me. It soon became clear that RT has had a hand in it all. He was and still is a major player, a huge influence.
Plus, he's brilliant live, and also one of the world's best guitar players. I urge you to give him a listen. Start with a Richard and Linda album to ease yourself in, and see where you're taken from there.
Enjoy the journey. I still am.
I think it would be quite hard to find heavy metal bands
Started post Maiden not containing any members who got into music because of them, to be honest. They´re also big enough to attract people who are not really fans of heavy metal. When you go to a Maiden show you will meet people who haven´t necessarily got Slayer albums at home.
Their melodies, singalong choruses and musicianship tend to attract some people who usually can´t stand the awful racket referred to as heavy metal.
Richard Thompson is in no way a dead end when it comes to influence, but I honestly don´t think he can compare to what Maiden´s achieved within a genre by some still not fully accepted as "proper music".
(Just 15 years ago I was told by a teacher I would end up in hell for being a fan of theirs. Although he wasn´t the sharpest knife, the poor thing.)
Maiden Influential?
(yes, yes, there's really no need...)
Maiden - "literally one of the biggest and most influential bands in the history of pop music" (Bob, 2011)
I might grant you 'one of the biggest' - but 'influential'?
I could take a stab at a number of bands who have influenced the Maiden - but as for bands they themselves have influenced?
Go on - name me ten. I dare you. Bands I've heard of, not four snotty herberts bottom of the bill at Download.
(NB: I'm not dissing the Maiden here - as you know, I like EVERYTHING - but I just don't see them as an influential band in the same way as, oh, let's say Richard Thompson)
Ok:
Muse
Daft Punk (yes, really: those duet synth lines are PURE Maiden)
Queens of The Stone Age
Deftones
The Hold Steady (Tad loves them. Every time he does a harmonised solo, that's Maiden)
Soundgarden
Slayer
Metallica
Megadeth
That's only 9, but I'm on the tube and having to stand up.
Sure, most of those are hard rock and metal, but so is the world. We have this very parochial view that pop music is all about Britain and the US, and because metal has always been kept at arm's length by the press over here we forget that it is THE global genre. Those bands you disparage as being "bottom of the bill at Download" are often major international concerns. Dragonforce, for example. Awful, but very very popular and VERY Maiden.
I'm getting out of my comfort zone here...
...but are the bands you mentioned influenced *exclusively* by Maiden, as opposed to, say, Judas Priest or Saxon or the Leps?
To me, I could understand a case being made for those bands being influenced by Nerwobbum* as a whole, (and by Sabbath, Zeppelin and the Purps prior to them) - but not exclusively (or even mainly) by Iron Maiden.
For me, it was the genre that was influential, not so much individual bands...or did Maiden totally bestride the genre and I didn't notice?
*NWOBHM. That's how you pronounce it.
Blimey
Are any artists influenced *exclusively* by other artists? I would truly hope not.
Ok 'Exclusively' was a bit strong
And not really the point I was trying to make.
to turn my argument round, what I think I'm trying to say is that whilst I can see NWOBHM as an influence, within that genre I can't see Maiden being significantly more of an influence than, say, Priest, Saxon or Def Leppard.
For Bob to claim that Maiden are one of the most influential bands ever, then either they *were* significantly more of an influence that the others, or Judas Priest were also one of the most influential bands ever.
And either or both might well be the case - I'm genuinely interested what someone who knows the genre far better than me actually thinks.
But surely Fraser....
...Oasis's entire global truckload of unit shifting stadium filling career was influenced exclusively by not only ONE band, but by ONE B-side.
Send Doctor Who(ever he is this week) back in time to stop 'Rain' being written and recorded and, bingo, 30 years later Britpop will never be born...
Eh?
singles-wise they were influenced by the New Seekers first, weren't they?
Modern Life Is Rubbish
and Girls and Boys spawned Britpop, Oasis came later and tried their damndest not to have anything to do with the label Britpop.
Oh?
...and how did that work out for them? :-)
They totally bestrode the genre.
Sales-wise, compared to Maiden, only Priest are even playing the same sport, let alone sharing a ballpark. Iron Maiden - globally speaking - are more or less synonymous with Nerwobbem.
JP certainly did influence the Big Four of thrash, but that influence is secondary to that of Maiden and Venom (who weren't Nerwobbem at all.)
I never knew that - ta!
Mind you, while Maiden were at their peak, I was listening to jangly guitar pop on small independent labels. So I've learned something today!
"While Maiden were at their peak"?
I would say they are at their commercial peak now pretty much everywhere bar the US.
Fans will always argue when they peaked musically, but when it comes to selling albums and tickets for live shows - this is it. Pretty weird for a band who debuted in 1980.
I did some work around the release of A Matter Of Life And Death
and was told by the chap at Sanctuary that Maiden were still huge in the overseas markets (Germany in particular) EMI flew journalists in from all over the place and treated them all very well. I believe that the album release exceeded all expectations, particularly in the UK and seemed to revive their profile here.
Harmonised twin lead breaks
I think Thin Lizzy's assortment of lead guitarists got there first. I think we also need to classify what we mean by "influenced". Does it involve liking the band when you were a lad and posing in the mirror with a tennis racquet thinking you're Adrian Smith prior to moving on to a proper six-string or does it mean taking certain aspects of the Maiden sound and adapting them to your own ends?
Weren't Wishbone Ash doing twin leads as well
in about 1971? I think it was their trademark sound, as far as I remember from their appearances on old Bob Harris shows. But I've no idea if they were a direct influence on metal bands of any wave.
Wishbone Ash appear to be one of the few bands
All the members of Maiden can agree upon.
Trumped me, Melville.
You're spot-on. I think Wishbone Ash have got the copyright on the twin harmony lead thing.
Back to Bob's theory, and reverse-extrapolating.. So Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are lounging elegantly on their rooftop terrace in Paris, sundry über-cool girls on chairs here and there, the sound of acid jazz emanating from the B&H's, mojitos being mixed, the sun going down. Thomas strolls to the decks. *employs Google Translator at this point* "Oi, Tom! Bollocks to this shite. D'you fancy Argus or Just Testing?"
No, I'm afraid Len...
...that Blossom Toes got there first. But then nobody (except Andy Powell, of the Ash, who happily acknowledges it) has ever heard Blossom Toes, so that's okay.
But we're missing a key element of Maiden's sound: the time signatures and shifting rhythms within songs - I believe they get that entirely from Jethro Tull, and are happy to say to.
I'm not au fait enough with that world to say if they're 'influential' or not (I honestly don't hear it myself anywhere, but then I'm not really listening), but I think its fair to say they've crafted their own (very popular) sound - out of bits of influences from here and there, which is how the whole thing works.
Blossom Toes
Hate to admit this, but I've heard of them... I used to have their two albums on a tape compilation back in the glorious 1990s (when, apparently, all the Best Music Ever was being made). The first is psychedelic glory, the second is absolute prog/metal shite.
Actually, soupmeister...
...I confess to never having heard them (only 'of them') until 5 mins ago when I ran off to youtube in search...
Here's something to further the harmony guitar debate (alas, its from their Soupy-despised second album) - check out the twin riffing from 2:58 and from 4:34.
There's a moving image clip from Belgium 1969 on youtube but inconveniently doesn't appear to feature any twin guitaring...
Time signatures? Shifting rhythm?
Portentous lyrics, galloping bass?
The Maiden sound all points back to "Achilles Last Stand" to my ears.
Ahem...
Fantastic. I love the Tull.
Fantastic. I love the Tull.
I think there's room
...for both of them in Steve Harris's record collection...
This clip inspired me to dig out my "20 years of Jethro Tull" box set, which, depressingly, appears to have been released 23 years ago. *staggers back to rocking chair*
I saw Tull on the 20th anniversary tour at Wembley
Ian Anderson was wheeled on stage in a wheelchair by a Benny Hill style saucy nurse and the backdrop read "oh no, not another 20 years of Jethro Tull". Dave Pegg on bass and Martin Allcock on keyboards. A very good night as I recall.
I was there too Dave...
...in fact (bloody hell!) I reviewed it for Kerrang!
There's a first and a last time for everything...
Ah, but
did you give them a good review at the time?
Thing is...
REM, Husker Du, X, Los Lobos, Led Zeppelin, 10,000 Maniacs, David Byrne, Elvis Costello, The Darkness, The Eagles, Blur. Depends on your definition of impact and influence, I suppose.
Influential? Ver Maiden?
Loud and preposterous just like all the others. Guitar solos that go widdly-widdly-wee just like all the others. A singer who sounds like a failed yodeller.
I cannot abide their music, nor that of the other loud, preposterous widdly-widdly-wee bands with failed yodeller frontpersons.
I do like Richard Thompson a lot and have several of his albums and a few good bootlegs, though I am not obsessive about him.
I have met 3 off-duty members of Ver Maiden (Nicko, Bruce and the blonde guitarist (Adrian?)) and they were all nice guys. Real top blokes in fact. I have never met RT and for some reason imagine he might be a bit of a cold fish off-duty.
You say loud and preposterous like it´s a bad thing
Don´t mind a bit of widdly-widdly-wee in the morning either. Whatever that is.
I've never knowingly heard
I've never knowingly heard any R T so until i do....
....and as for Iron Maiden, i'm not 12!
I'll take the thumb screws thanks.
OK I tell you where I am with this.
I have to agree rather with Jonny, so for those reasons I'm out. (I have heard a bit of RT but he has not engaged me overmuch. The film with Iron Maiden on tour shown on BBC4 recently was fun but music was awful tripe. Result - indifference, though I do believe RT to be better quality fare, just not for me).
I'm not keen on either
I've listened to a fair bit of RT & heard some Iron Maiden (I was surprised how many of their 'songs' I knew from the list of tracks above!).
The thing that's always struck me is how earnest RT is. You could go as far to say he is dull but worthy.
I agree with Sven, the Maiden are a lot more fun. On that basis, if you apply the thumb screws I vote for Maiden.
(Christ! That was almost as much of a struggle as deciding yes or no to AV!)
Dull but worthy vs A lot more fun.
I'd put them the other way round. Earnest epics about Paschendale vs. knockabout covers of Britney songs? No contest* (IMHO, conditions may apply, the value of your vinyl collection may go up as well as down).
*In terms of comments on the brutality of war I lean more toward RT's "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" than "The Trooper", I must confess.
Britney's songs
are the expression of someone who feels things deeply and intensely. I'll have to fish out the 'knockabout' cover to see how he manages to lighten it up.
Will somebody ask Helena Handcart...
...what she thinks of Richard Thompson?
I know what the answer is, but it's very funny and far be it from me to paraphrase...
RT or Maiden
Never mind that. Byrds or Love?
Courtney
- every time.
Byrds
Every time.
Neither!
...but if you really, really push me... Byrds...
Although Bruce Dickinson seems to be a much better
presenter of TV popular science programmes than RT would be...
Do you mean the whole God thing?
*Runs for cover*
No, the fact that BD has some form in that area
and he came across as a funny and engaging presenter.
Airline pilot
Champion fencer
Novelist (hem hem)
TV presenter
Singer
Truly, Mr D, you are the Jonathan Miller de nos jours
Brilliant!
He sounds like Bill Oddie.
It was a documentary about Spontaneous Human Combustion
shown earlier this year. Very good it was too...
Late to the party and late for work..
..but there's just time to state, unequivocally, MAIDEN.
How many acts have covered
Iron Maiden songs? I don't mind the odd song ( Can I Play With Madness, Number Of The Beast) but at heart they're a band with nothing to say, who have absolutely no groove or shade and look like they pretend to smell but probably all use fabric conditioner.
Songs you can't dance to that are devoid of sex, love or any relation to the real world? No thanks.
Nice blokes? So what? Adrian Chiles is no doubt a nice bloke but I don't want to hear his music or look at his codpiece.
Would rather listen to Marillion or Motley Crue than 'ver' Maiden. Best music they've been involved in was being mentioned in that excellent Wheatus song.
How many acts have covered Iron Maiden songs?
* Avenged Sevenfold - Flash of the Blade
* After Forever - The Evil That Men Do
* Altar - The Trooper
* Ancient Wisdom - Powerslave
* Angel Corpse - Genghis Khan
* Angra - The Number Of The Beast, Children Of The Damned (acoustic), Wasted Years (unplugged) Flight of icarus(unplugged)
* Anthrax - Remember Tomorrow
* Arch Enemy - Aces High, The Ides of March
* Absu - The Trooper, Transylvania
* Big D & The Kids Table- Iron Maiden
* Blind Guardian - The Trooper, Fear Of The Dark
* Breed 77 - The Number of the Beast (acoustic)
* Burden Of Grief - Prowler
* Ceremonial Oath - Hallowed Be Thy Name
* Children of Bodom - Aces High
* Coheed And Cambria - The Trooper
* Cradle of Filth - Hallowed Be Thy Name
* Crowbar - Remember Tomorrow
* Dark Tranquillity - 22 Acacia Avenue
* Darkane - Powerslave
* Demons & Wizards - The Trooper (live)
* Destruction - Killers
* Dimmu Borgir - Powerslave
* Disbelief - Stranger In A Strange Land
* Dream Theater - The Number of the Beast (The whole album, Oct 24 2002, France), The Trooper (live), Where Eagles Dare (live), Hallowed Be Thy Name (Live)
* Dokken - Wasted Years
* Dungeon - Wasted Years
* Eleventh Hour - Alexander The Great
* Eternal Tears Of Sorrow - Flight of Icarus
* Ethereal - Fear Of The Dark
* Fozzy - The Prisoner, Where Eagles Dare
* Grave Digger - Running Free
* Graveworm - Fear Of The Dark
* Halford - Strange World (live)
* Helloween - Wasted Years
* Hellsongs - Run to the Hills
* Hellsongs - The Trooper
* Iced Earth - The Number Of The Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name , Transylvania , The Trooper (live)
* In Flames - Murders in the Rue Morgue
* Infernal Torment - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
* Iron Savior - Running Free
* John West och Chris Caffrey - Run To The Hills
* Kamelot - Flight of Icarus
* Mägo de Oz - Strange World
* Metallica - Prowler (live), Remember Tomorrow (live), Run to the Hills(live)
* moe. - The Trooper (live)
* Morgion - To Tame a Land
* Motörhead - The Trooper
* Naglfar - The Trooper, The evil that men do(live)
* Necrophobic - Moonchild
* Onmyo-Za - The Trooper
* Opera IX - Rime of the Ancient Mariner
* Opeth - Remember Tomorrow
* Pantera - Killers
* Possession - Revelations
* Powderfinger - The Number of the Beast
* Power Castle - Hallowed Be Thy Name
* Primal Fear - 2 Minutes to Midnight
* Rage - The Trooper
* Savatage - Flight Of Icarus
* Sebastian Bach - Children Of The Damned
* Sentenced - The Trooper
* Sikth - Wrathchild
* Sinergy - The Number Of The Beast
* Six Feet Under - Wrathchild
* Solitude Aeturnus - Hallowed Be Thy Name
* Sonata Arctica - Die With Your Boots On
* Steel Prophet - Ides Of March / Purgatory
* Stigmata - Fear of the Dark (Live)
* Stormlord - Moonchild
* Stuck Mojo ft. Devin Townsend - Wrathchild
* Tankard - Iron Maiden
* Tantrum - The Trooper (live)
* Therion - Children Of The Damned, Revelations (live)
* Totally Radd - Hallowed Be Thy Name
* Tierra Santa - Flight Of Icarus
* Vital Remains - The Trooper
* Wardog - Purgatory
* Yahel - Fear of the Dark
* Zwan - The Number of the Beast
And with a slightly more classic approach:
* The Piano Tribute to Iron Maiden. Two pianists play rearranged Iron Maiden songs.
* The String Quartet Tribute to Iron Maiden.
* The Orchestral Tribute, The Hand of Doom Orchestra play Iron Maiden´s album Piece of Mind.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
If Maiden are the NWOBHM,
Then most most of these bands strike me as the eddies left by the tide going out.
...apart from them
though?
This? Harp and guitar.
Your turn.
Aside from the six or seven
household rock names that we all know and love the rest of your list reads like "Now That's What I Call Two More From Them Later" (Deluxue rock version).
Eleven for me
But you do have a point. I´d rather go with the original versions.
Have an up...
for a wonderfully comprehensive, knowledgeable and clearly presented repost.
However, it still reads like the end of a list of songs I’d never like to hear.
Well,
I probably wouldn´t want to go through all the covers, no.
if life were always like this
some day I'm going to set you up a drink at the bar for that reply. priceless.
How kind of you
Cheers!
Bloody Hell Ola...
...now I'm scared.
In alphabetical order as well.
Is this your own personal collection?
Don´t be scared, uncle Paul
It´s not my personal collection. I don´t even have every Maiden album. I simply googled Iron Maiden covers and a list (in Swedish) showed up. All I had to do was translate some parts, like akustisk version became acoustic version and live became, er, live. Hela album became the whole album. Well, you know Swedish as well as I do.
Fear of The Alphabetical Order is, as it happens, one of their best songs though. True story.
"you know Swedish as well as I do"
...No, Ola: I think I can speak on behalf of 99% of the people around here in saying that your knowledge of Swedish is considerably better than ours!
All I know - from several hours of Rolf Lassgard asnd Krister Henrickssen (-sson?) films is that the Swedish for 'cat' is 'catte'.
I went to considerable trouble to find out the Swedish for 'stoat' once, believing it might be useful information. But now I can't remember what it was. Drat... (Or, indeed, 'dratte'...)
Then why have I never heard of either
Catte or dratte? Your Swedish vocabulary clearly outshines my. Wasn´t even aware most Swedish words rhyme. Knatte, latte and patte. See?
Nah keep them off The Word cover
They are more suited to "Classic Rock" and "Metal Hammer" mags.
I like Maiden and have seen them a few times over the years. I don't think they are particularly influential either compared to, say, Rainbow, Deep Purple and Sabbath. Steve Harris took most of his ideas from the dungeons and dragons approach pioneered by Ronnie Dio as well as Jethro Tull's folksy rock sensibilities. A lesser known NWOBHM band "Diamond Head" were much more influential on the development of thrash and hard core metal. Just ask Lars Ulrich.
Maiden are just a good headbanging cartoon metal band for balding middle aged schoolboys like me. They moved ahead of a lot of their NWOBHM contemporaries largely because of smart management and clever commercial branding (the Eddy brand and T-shirts etc). And Bruce Dickenson seems to me to be a good natured bloke. I rate him a lot more than the preening prima donnas you see in other bands.
Iron Bru please
I really must get some new reading glasses.
Ver Midden were the third band I ever saw live...
... and a friend of mine once made a documentary about them. He told me that they were a splendid bunch of chaps. There will always be a place in my heart for them.
Plus, while not being quite The Troggs Tapes, its still good. I cut and paste the background details
Secret recording by Bruce Dickinson, after one of the shows on the World Piece Tour.
During the show, Nicko was playing his drum solo. While he was doing that, Steve had some problems with his bass guitar. He sent the first guy who he saw to tell Nicko that he should extend his drum solo.
The guy went to Nicko, but since he didn't know how to properly communicate with Nicko while he was playing, Nicko got confused and messed up his solo. He got angered by it, and he punched the guy after the show. Steve didn't like that, so they had an argument about it. When it had calmed down, Bruce walked in to ask what happened, and secretly recorded it. In the end, Steve is on to Bruce and says the immortal words "some cunt's recording this".
RT vs IM?
Simple really. Iron Maiden were funnier, but Richard Thompson can really rock. And if RT is "dull but worthy" god only knows what that makes IM.
If I had to choose...
Neither one is a particular favorite of mine, however I would pick Maiden because they set out to do something and they do it extremely well. In RT's case, his vocals are so far inferior to his guitar playing that you wonder why he even bothers.
I like his vocals.
I like them a lot actually. Its horses for courses. For instance, you may put Bruce Dickinson up there with Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Karen Carpenter and Frank Sinatra, personally I think he sounds like a tom cat with scalded testicles.
What I like about RT's singing is that he totally goes for it.
He sings with complete conviction. With the right song, it can be utterly compelling.
From that album again, but a good example of what I mean...
I wouldn´t compare Dickinson with any of those
It´s like saying salt is bad because it´s not as sweet as sugar. You would have to compare him to other tom cats with scalded testicles like Robert Plant, Dio, Leonard Cohen and Ian Gillian.
Dickinson couldn´t sing In The We Small Hours Of The Morning and Sinatra couldn´t sing The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner, even when he was alive (Frank, not the ancient mariner).
As a matter of interest
What's the score?
I suspect Maiden might be winning on points.
You suspect wrong.
Maiden were doing ok at half time but it was RT at FT.
Shall we call it a draw, then?
:-)
You asked for it (I think)
Hello tiggerlion!
I´m sure Thompson wins, it IS The Word after all.
The thread was started as a bit of a laugh and I expected five or six tongue in cheek comments in the style of "Maiden f***ing rules! Get them on the cover now!". I´m overwhelmed by the respons and I´ve really enjoyed reading the comments, even if some Thompson fans took it slightly more serious than expected and perhaps seemed to miss where the tongue was firmly placed. Hope I didn´t offend anyone.
Offended by you Ola?
Never!
I´m tempted to respond with a piss off :)
Must. Resist. Urge.
Bl**dy Swedish heavy metal fans...
Typical!
You didn't offend me.
I was a bit worried the Maiden fans would be upset. As we all know, most rock fans are soft as shite and get their mams to sew their patches on. ;)
When I grow up she´ll get to saw beard and beret on instead
I´m soft as shite, yes. Quite proud of it too. But as a Maiden fan I´m only upset when they decide to release as song shorter than eight minutes.
Maiden f***ing rules!
Get them on the cover now!
howzat :D
No contest
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It´s not his brain they are preparing to have
For dinner on the fold out*, is it?
I guess it would explain the beret.
*Fold out? Fold-out? Foldout?
gatefold
That´s the word I was looking for
Thank you! Thank you also for the comment above.
Double post
I left a post, my mind was blank, what did I see, can I believe, I double post staring back at me?
Apocryphal story about Bruce Dickinson...
as told to me by a senior member of the FA...
Dickinson was the captain of the charter flight bringing the England team home from a qualifier in Moldova, back end of the nineties.
As is usual, after the plane is up in the air and well on its way, the pilots turn on the autopilot and do a quick spiel about flight times, points of interest (usually the Alps in the dark), weather report temperature on arrival and the time in the country you're going arrive.
Anyway, Dickinson is at the end of the broadcast telling the passengers to reset their watches to local time and the time now is...... At this point, so the story goes, Dickinson on the intercom says, "I don't believe this..." and then screeches in full on stage voice, "it's Two Minutes To Midnight!" followed by an acapella verse.
FA suits not impressed; Nick Barmby seen headbanging.
I so hope it was true!
How weirded out would Bruce have been...
...if the air hostess had been Cross Eyed Mary?
RT, before the beret