“I’ll go when I’m good and ready”
It’s been a dark and frosty week here in Glasgow. Perfect conditions for enjoying some black metal but I decided I needed some sunshine in my listening. Time for some synth-era 80s Maiden then! I opted for the excellent live album Maiden England ’88 and this song always stands out for me. The real magic happens 3mins in though, as the “take my hand…” bridge ratchets up the tension and the song’s tone shifts from jaunty to totally epic. Then the song cruises into the famous, roadie-enhanced “woah-oh-oh”s. This singalong section always seemed like it was devised for live performance so it’s no surprise that it works so much better here than on the Somewhere in Time studio version. The building urgency, shimmery guitar fills and Bruce’s added exhortations to the audience make it breathlessly exciting. It’s brilliant stuff that turns one of the potentially weaker songs of the set into an outright showstopper.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
Looks like we’re both having a black metal weekend. I have Maiden England on video and have always liked this song live in particular. Good choice.
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Man, I to watch the VHS all the time! Nice to finally have the show on DVD and CD. Glad you like this one too.
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I’ll take roadie-enhanced woah-oh-ohs over their studio counterparts any day!
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Roadies > Studioies
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I was surprised when I found out this was one of the enduring songs they played live from SIT. You can see why with that big singalong section but I always preferred Deja Vu!
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I know what you mean. I never thought this song was all that great though but now it just sticks out to me. I get really excited when it’s on. Same with Flight 666 album too, totally love that version as well.
Deja Vu is my least favourite on SIT though.
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You know why? You need to have a deja vu while listening to Deja Vu. Then it will click for you!
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Haha fair enough!
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Haha fair enough!
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Haha fair enough!
Ooh… It’s HAPPENING.
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For me it’s the moment when the woah-oh-ohs end at 4’19 and that guitar kicks in abruptly at an aural 75-degree angle to carry us into that awesome breakdown. All Iron Maiden songs seem made for audience singalong; it’s one of the things that makes their concerts so special as it never comes across as corny. Up the IRONS!!
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Yes! I was going to talk about that solo too but the post was getting too long haha! The way they use that to get back to the main song is very nifty. It’s a very well-arranged tune… like most of their stuff.
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Hahahaha…….wait til u boys see what’s being posted at Stick It In Your Ear tomorrow! Pour yourselves a coffee before reading as its a doozie!
Great post HMO…..U cannot go wrong with Maiden England! When I seen the 2012 tour I wish they would have played Infinite Dreams…..such a great track
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Infinite Dreams is one of my favourites. That’s the thing with Maiden… too many classic songs to fit them all in. Any other band did a song like that and they’d be playing it forever!
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Exactly ….in my review of the show there was a fellow who was losing his shit over the whole show saying it was the best Maiden show ever and when it ended he was bummed that they didn’t play Fear Of The Dark! hahaha…..sure Infinite Dreams wasn’t played but like u said what can u od when the catalogue is deep with material!
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Mrs 1537 was at the first night of this gig. She’s never had any taste …
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Definitely suspect! Was this her 1st Maiden gig or had she seen them before this?
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No, I got it wrong – she saw them at the NEC on the previous tour, I think she saw them at Liverpool St Georges Hall too.
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Even better!
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Dear lord, I love this album and video. I got it back in the day as a wee nipper and it’s impression on me was huge. Couple that with the Live After Death? SOLD!! I do much prefer the live version of this song to the studio one. It’s more up tmep (mind you, so was everything else in Maiden’s live set in the mid-late 80s) and it’s a huge crowd moment. Now. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch the show!
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I got it back this back in the day too. This and Animalize Live Uncensored are just burned into my memory now… and yours too I bet!
Funny, I was watching the Maiden England doc today and the tempos seemed to be a real bone of contention for Adrian Smith. I liked it though!
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Oh Animalize Live…. that’s what sealed the deal for me with Kiss. Paul Stanley was the consummate front man. I dreamed of owning a pair of those trousers for years. Until I realised that those trousers, in Cardiff, would get the shit kicked out of me. Peasants. (That’s another band whose tempos went way up, live, during the 80s too!)
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I still secretly covet that outfit… and the sideburns! And yes, they were blazing through those tracks live then too. Creatures of the Night was lightspeed compared to the studio!
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Shall we go halves on it? You can have it for 6 months and vice versa.
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Yeah let’s do it! I think the residents of Glasgow and Cardiff are more tolerant of flamboyant outfits these days.
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Not a single eyelid will be batted.
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Up The Irons!
And hey, any Canuck readers who still need this set: our Amazons are selling it for $8. It’s criminal, really. Go get yours!
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Total bargain!
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I have that Maiden disc and I concur that it’s pure magic. Guitars going all ways and loads of moments to singalong to. This one is a real treat.
… and my word the guitar is great.
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Totally, and the rhythm section is incredible… they play like athletes. I don’t know if Maiden were ever quite this good again.
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Coming from Lebrain’s blog, where he mentioned you might disagree with his less than awed view on this song, seeing this post as the first Iron Maiden related post here made me laugh.
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Hehe can’t remember exactly but I probably just did this post to annoy him. 😉
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It’s been so long I can’t remember either!
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