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Rating: Ladies & Gentlemen, this is not just a simple album by a simple heavy metal band, this is a masterpiece, it is a perfect record, it is an icon, the very essence of classy metal. A much more mature album than the previous The Number Of The Beast, both in terms of sound and especially in terms of lyrics, which walk the fine line between reality and philosophy, between epicness and disillusionment, between dream and nightmare, between epicness and reflection. The journey into the fascinating microcosm of the album begins with Where Eagles Dare, which tells of a war expedition into the mountains during a snowstorm. The atmosphere is very epic and sustained as befits an opener, a tiny flaw being its 6-minute duration, in my humble opinion 4 minutes would have sufficed. Revelations is one of the absolute pinnacles of beauty and poetry ever achieved by Iron Maiden. Bruce Dickinson, who had taken over the microphone from Paul Di'Anno, writes a text that is nothing short of aulic and visionary, crowned by guitar interweavings, sometimes vehement and sometimes caressing, that guide the listener on a journey to the border of day and night, among mystical and surreal landscapes, a song that changes your life. More direct but equally epic is Flight Of Icarus, an ideal manifesto of the human illusion of pushing beyond one's natural limits. The Trooper is "sneaky and deceptive" in that the song's sound might make one think of an epic metal anthem praising war, but instead, it talks about a simple soldier who is shot down and dies alone and forgotten in a Napoleonic war. Such beautiful and deep lyrics can also be found in The Aftermath, The Edge Of Darkness, Como Estais Amigo, Paschendale, and For The Greater Good Of God. I almost forgot Die With Your Boots On, a sort of 2 Minutes To Midnight in its embryonic state, especially in the guitar intro; an ironic text towards prophets of doom (if you really have to die, at least die fighting.... the lyrics say). Still Life picks up the themes of nightmare and mystery already addressed in Killers with Prodigal Son and Purgatory and in Iron Maiden with Strange World, but it is a more conventionally maiden-style song than the earlier ones in terms of sound. Quest For Fire is wonderful, a potential stadium anthem, I don’t understand why the Irons prefer the much more anonymous Run To The Hills. Here Bruce Dickinson is more epic than ever: he truly seems like a Bard as he declares the discovery of fire and the evolution of primitive man. Beautiful and very underrated too is Sun And Steel, equipped with a truly killer chorus, like the samurai the song is about. This invaluable dreamlike journey ends with To Tame A Land, with Middle Eastern atmospheres and Wagnerian power, and then just hearing old Bruce Bruce recite solemn phrases and unknown words (Muab’dib, Gom Jabbar, Kwizathch Haderach, Kaladan...) is worth the price of the album. IMMORTAL, RATING 10/10
"She came to me with a serpent kiss
and the eyes of the sun rose on her lips
moonlight catches silver tears I cried..."
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Where Eagles Dare (06:10)
It's snowing outside, the rumbling sound
of engines roar in the night
The mission is near the confident men
are waiting to drop from the sky
The Blizzard goes on, but still they must fly
No one should go where eagles dare
Bavarian Alps that lay all around
They seem to stare from below
The enemy lines a long time passed
Are lying deep in the snow
Into the night they fall through the sky
No one should fly where eagles dare
Their closing in, the fortress is near
It's standing high in the sky
The cable car's the only way in
it's really impossible to climb
They make their way, but maybe too late
They've got to try to save the day
The panicking cries, the roaring of guns
Are echoing all around the valley
The mission complete, they make to scape
Away from the Eagles Nest
They dared to go where no one would try
They chose to fly where eagles dare
02 Revelations (06:48)
"O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride."
(G. K. Chesterton; English Hymnal)
Just a babe in the black abyss
No reason for a place like this
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain
An easy way for the blind to go
A clever path for the fools who know
The secret of the hanged man - the smile on his lips
The light of the blind - you'll see
The venom that tears my spine
The eyes of the Nile are opening - you'll see
She came to me with a serpents kiss
As the eye of the sun rose on her lips
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry
So we lay in the black embrace
And the seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the dawn
The light of the blind - you'll see
The venom that tears my spine
The eyes of the Nile are opening - you'll see
Solo: Dave / Adrian
Bind all of us together
Ablaze with hope and free
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see
The time has come to close your eyes
And still the wind and rain
For the one who will be king
Is the watcher in the ring
It is you
03 Flight of Icarus (03:51)
As the sun breaks, above the ground,
An old man stands on the hill,
As the ground warms, to the first rays of light
A birdsong shatters the still.
His eyes are a blaze,
See the madman in his gaze.
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly and touch the sun.
Now the crowd breaks and a young boy appears
Looks the old man in the eye
As he spreads his wings and shouts at the crowd
In the name of God my father I'll fly.
His eyes seem so glazed
As he flies on the wings of a dream,
Now he knows his father betrayed
Now his wings turn to ashes to ashes his grave.
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly, touch the sun.
04 Die With Your Boots On (05:28)
Another Prophet of Disaster
Who says the ship is lost,
Another Prophet of Disaster
Leaving you to count the cost.
Taunting us with Visions,
Afflicting us with fear,
Predicting War for millions,
In the hope that one appears.
No point asking when it is,
No point asking who's to go,
No point asking what's the game,
No point asking who's to blame.
'cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
'cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on.
If you're gonna try, we'll stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, you're gonna die.
In 13 the Beast is rising,
The Frenchman did surmise,
Through earthquakes and starvation,
The warlord will arise.
Terror, Death, Destruction,
Pour from the Eastern Sands,
But the truth of all predictions,
Is always in your hands.
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on,
If you're gonna try, we'll stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, you're gonna die.
05 The Trooper (04:10)
You'll take my life but I'll take yours too
You'll fire your musket but I'll run you through
So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand there's no turning back.
The bugle sounds and the charge begins
But on this battlefield no one wins
The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath
As I plunge on into certain death.
The horse he sweats with fear we break to run
The mighty roar of the Russian guns
And as we race towards the human wall
The screams of pain as my comrades fall
We hurdle bodies that lay on the ground
And the Russians fire another round
We get so near yet so far away
We were meant to fight another day.
We get so close near enough to fight
When a Russian gets me in his sights
He pulls the trigger and I feel the blow
A burst of rounds take my horse below.
And as I lay there gazing at the sky
My body's numb and my throat is dry
And as I lay forgotten and alone
Without a tear I draw my parting groan
08 Sun and Steel (03:26)
You killed your first man at 13
Killer instinct, Animal supreme
By 16 you had learned to fight
The way of the warrior, you took it as your right
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Through earth and water, fire and wind
You came at last - nothing was the end
Make a cut by fire and stone
Take you and your blade and break you both in two
Break you both in two
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel - rolling on and on
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel - and it`s rolling still
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