It might be hard to believe, but some of the songs Iron Maiden had written over the years were NOT WRITTEN by primary songwriter/founding member/bassist Steve Harris.
Charlotte the Harlot
-Album: Iron Maiden (1980)
-Written by: Dave Murray
-This was penned by Dave Murray on their debut album. As Steve says "This is really Dave's song. I would have been proud to say that I'd written it. I like playing it live because it was something different than what I would write."
Be Quick or Be Dead
-Album Fear of the Dark (1992)
-Written by: Bruce Dickinson/Janick Gers
-It's not often that you get a song as heavy as this throwing social commentary to the audience. But this song just so happened to be one of the more successful tracks, one that Bruce and Janick had written during Bruce's first outing as a solo artist prior to the creation of Fear of the Dark
Revelations
-Album: Piece of Mind (1983)
-Written by: Bruce Dickinson
-This was one of the first official songs written by Bruce Dickinson, despite him being in the band since 1982. This song shows a fascination with occultist Aleister Crowley.
Powerslave
-Album: Powerslave (1984)
-Written by: Bruce Dickinson
-The title track to Iron Maiden's 1984 album, this epic tells the story of those who suffer from God complexes, about the people being slaves to the higher powers. It was written during one of Iron Maiden's most exhausting tours ever, the 1984 World Slavery tour. The band was so physically burnt out most were thinking about quitting music right then and there
Wasted Years
-Album: Somewhere in Time (1986)
-Written by: Adrian Smith
-It's unusual to hear Adrian Smith writing a song. But it's not as unusual as you would think. When he was the singer and guitarist in his teenaged band Urchin, he wrote most of the music. So something like this would be simple for him. Adrian Smith was actually reluctant to tell Steve Harris about this because he felt like it might have been too mainstream for Iron Maiden, like it was something more suited to radio that Iron Maiden. Adrian Smith said in an interview "I was messing around with a little four-track and I'd just put that riff down for "Wasted Years". I was playing Steve some other stuff and I played it to him by accident and he said "What's that?" I said "You probably won't like this as it's so commercial" but he really liked it and insisted we do it. So something you'd think he wouldn't want to do, he does".
Stranger in a Strange Land
-Album: Somewhere in Time (1986)
-Written by: Adrian Smith
-Adrian Smith, once again, gets credit for writing this spacey, Hendrix-y type song that sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Smith said at the time this song was written, he had complete creative control and he just ran with it. It might not seem "typical" Iron Maiden, but that is what makes it unique. The synths blend in perfectly while Dickinson's smooth vocals fit into the song perfectly as well. Not to mention, it also shows the band has book smarts; they took the name of this song from the book of the same name
Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter
-Album: No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
-Written by: Bruce Dickinson
-This was intended for use on the soundtrack for the film Nightmare on Elm St 5: The Dream Child. At this point, Iron Maiden was starting to lose some of its steam. Fans were scratching their heads at this one, wondering "what is this?" This song brought fans back in droves, because of its aggressive, nasty vibe that seemed to be in tune with the new legion of street-heavy metal bands emerging on the market, like Sepultura, Megadeth, Metallica, Fear Factory, Type O Negative and more. When Steve heard Bruce wrote the song, he liked it so much that he insisted Iron Maiden do it. Bruce's original version of this song is on one of his solo albums, specifically The Best of Bruce Dickinson
Empire of the Clouds
-Album: The Book of Souls (2015)
-Written by: Bruce Dickinson
-This is certainly one of Iron Maiden's LONGEST songs ever. Clocking in at 18:01, its first ten minutes are a beautifully played piano intro. It tells the story of the British-made R101, the largest airship in the 1930s. In an interview, Bruce made strong mention of Nicko McBrain's important role in the song. The song is arranged in such a way to tell the story from the beginning to its tragic end. "He really bought into the story. I told him I wanted all this dissonant stuff for the airship plummeting to Earth. I wanted that in the percussion. I said I wanted twisting metal, and he said "Oh, you want a bowed gong." I said "What the f--- is that?" "He has this big orchestral gong at the back of his kit. You take a violin bow, scrape it against the edge of the gong, and it just resonates. I said "That's the sound of the airship dying!" "So quick, back to the piano, diddle-de-diddle-de bang, bang! Brilliant, that's it. That's the slow-mo shot in the movie, when suddenly you see everything blowing up and the music stops. That was the moment I had in my head. And then you get the line "We're down, lads". That's the pilot's voice - the last thing the survivors heard as they jumped from the back of the airship, from the rear power car, into the dark."
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