LAST LISTENED TO october
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT oddly high
RATING
Somehow this wasn't as jarring a morning song as it should have been and for the same reason that there was an oddly high chance of waking to it: i had just dreamt of it. In fact, not just that but i was actually watching Iron Maiden perform it (and from the front row) when the bastard alarm woke me this morning. Not the sort of dream i can even recall having before, but it was top fun.
I've got into Maiden during my early teens and it's no surprise that i loved is so much back then, what with all the guitar action, boys adventures and, well, Bruce's yelling. Proper metal. Funnily enough, it's a liking that has never really left me. Whether this is good or bad is purely a choice you'll have to make for yourself. I know how i feel about it.
Live After Death has always been my favourite album of theirs. It's got all the best bits of their early career (and some might say the best bit of their entire career), but with the added dynamic of a live performance or, more correctly, performances. Recorded during their 300+ night world tour of '84, they were really on form here and a lot of that has got to be down to Bruce Dickinson's masterful showmanship. He really pulls the crowd into the event.
Revelations comes midway through the first of the four sides of Live After Death and is something of an atmospheric breather after the full-on onslaught of the first three tracks. The track begins in a laid back fashion, running at a far slower tempo than the proceeding songs. Before launching into the vaguely mystical lyrics, Bruce starts encouraging the crowd to get involved. Soon, during the stuttered refrains that pepper the song, the crowd are in fine voice, shouting to fill the spaces. The track runs through several more verses that are equally full of great imagery (even if it's not exactly clear what they're about), with the crowd/refrain running in-between. Near the middle, things heat up when Adrian Smith and Dave Murray take a guitar solo each. We get a minute and a half of their combined pyrotechnics before it all drops back down to the refrain, a final verse and a whispered ending.
Live, Revelations shines far more than the studio version and this is all down to the great atmosphere in the venue and the crowd's voice. Going back to the original is always a bit of a let down after this. Without the yelling it just feels like something is missing and i always can hear the shouting in my head. Sadly, i also, i can't help but sing that final audience interjection each time as well.
(PS. If you're reading this when the songs are still on my Radio Blog, it's really worth listening to this and then the next tune, they make a wonderfully wrong combination!)
