.....I'm telling ya, this albums is something. The Legacy is one of the great Maiden album closers for sure. I'm sure the crowd who find the album boring are wondering at that comment. But I'm telling ya. Spooky riff, cool acoustics, and then it wanders, all proggy, about it's way.
If you haven't heard it, ooooh...you are in for fun. If you don't like it...and have heard it, you might give it another spin or three. See what happens.
It gets better and better.
My song by song take on it:
Different World - By the numbers? Maybe, for the reunion period in any case. Open with the punchy, pumping, single. But it does match Wicker Man. It's great.
These Colors Don't Run - Very Brave New Worldy. Could have been on that record. That's a good thing though. Not a B-Side from Brave New World. More like something they should have put on but didn't.
Brighter Than A Thousand Suns - Crushing. A new Maiden classic for my money. Absolutely frantic and fantastic. The bridge "Out of the universe...!!!" reminds me of something from Accident of Birth. They sound like they mean it, and Bruce is top notch and emotional on this.
The Pilgrim - Vaguely Seventh Son-ish in places, with a bridge to the tune/speed of Thin Line Between Love and Hate....but then a big switch of gears to the chorus, which is classic Maiden. And then a cool eastern thing....bitchin'.
The Longest Day - The track that Paschendale wanted to be, though different from that for sure. The description of D-day (?). Anyway, it gets more and more tense until....bang, "ENTER HELL'S GATE!!!!" and off we go. Arm-hair raising as it builds. Killer metal-riff breakdown in the middle.
Out of the Shadows - The closest to a power ballad Maiden may come, ever, and it's good. Better than Journeyman. Could have been on Chemical Wedding easily, or perhaps Accident of Birth. The middle section is VERY much like Opeth, strangely. You fans will no what I mean when you hear it. It's very much like the Drapery Falls.
Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg - You've heard it, most likely. I love it. Interesting note here...isn't the last riff, well, the last heavy riff before it ends...isn't that just like A Dangerous Meeting by Mercyful Fate? Somebody back me up on this. This would be right after, directly after, the last lyric....I mean, I know what I think.
For the Greater Good of God - Another Thin Line Between...beat, but the similarity ends there. Very tense again. Very weird and creative solos in this one. And then, a crunchy section that reminds me VERY much of a section of Satan's Fall by Mercyful Fate.
Lord of Light - Weird and ethereal at first, then Bruce gets his legs underneath this one, and hits the limit. Changes speed and rhythm a lot. More interesting/weird solos, and a wandering, epicy, proggy construction.
The Legacy - Weird and twisted at the beginning. Maybe Maiden's spookiest riff ever, definately their spookiest acoustic riff. Starts like a scary lullaby that you shouldn't sing to anyone. The implication of the lyrics is that it's about mustard gas, but I think it's about either George Bush or Tony Blair in the larger sense. There's a very cool little development where Bruce sings over some keys with drums and bass...and then build up to the chorus, though really it's a thesis statement only sung once without repitition...."You had us all strung out with promises of peace....etc.....Take the world to a better place.....Just think what a Legacy you now will leeeeeeeave!" Then silence...and that killer crunch chord again....then a "Black Sabbath," (the song) riff to send it all in a different direction.
This record is killer.....
If you haven't heard it, ooooh...you are in for fun. If you don't like it...and have heard it, you might give it another spin or three. See what happens.
It gets better and better.
My song by song take on it:
Different World - By the numbers? Maybe, for the reunion period in any case. Open with the punchy, pumping, single. But it does match Wicker Man. It's great.
These Colors Don't Run - Very Brave New Worldy. Could have been on that record. That's a good thing though. Not a B-Side from Brave New World. More like something they should have put on but didn't.
Brighter Than A Thousand Suns - Crushing. A new Maiden classic for my money. Absolutely frantic and fantastic. The bridge "Out of the universe...!!!" reminds me of something from Accident of Birth. They sound like they mean it, and Bruce is top notch and emotional on this.
The Pilgrim - Vaguely Seventh Son-ish in places, with a bridge to the tune/speed of Thin Line Between Love and Hate....but then a big switch of gears to the chorus, which is classic Maiden. And then a cool eastern thing....bitchin'.
The Longest Day - The track that Paschendale wanted to be, though different from that for sure. The description of D-day (?). Anyway, it gets more and more tense until....bang, "ENTER HELL'S GATE!!!!" and off we go. Arm-hair raising as it builds. Killer metal-riff breakdown in the middle.
Out of the Shadows - The closest to a power ballad Maiden may come, ever, and it's good. Better than Journeyman. Could have been on Chemical Wedding easily, or perhaps Accident of Birth. The middle section is VERY much like Opeth, strangely. You fans will no what I mean when you hear it. It's very much like the Drapery Falls.
Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg - You've heard it, most likely. I love it. Interesting note here...isn't the last riff, well, the last heavy riff before it ends...isn't that just like A Dangerous Meeting by Mercyful Fate? Somebody back me up on this. This would be right after, directly after, the last lyric....I mean, I know what I think.
For the Greater Good of God - Another Thin Line Between...beat, but the similarity ends there. Very tense again. Very weird and creative solos in this one. And then, a crunchy section that reminds me VERY much of a section of Satan's Fall by Mercyful Fate.
Lord of Light - Weird and ethereal at first, then Bruce gets his legs underneath this one, and hits the limit. Changes speed and rhythm a lot. More interesting/weird solos, and a wandering, epicy, proggy construction.
The Legacy - Weird and twisted at the beginning. Maybe Maiden's spookiest riff ever, definately their spookiest acoustic riff. Starts like a scary lullaby that you shouldn't sing to anyone. The implication of the lyrics is that it's about mustard gas, but I think it's about either George Bush or Tony Blair in the larger sense. There's a very cool little development where Bruce sings over some keys with drums and bass...and then build up to the chorus, though really it's a thesis statement only sung once without repitition...."You had us all strung out with promises of peace....etc.....Take the world to a better place.....Just think what a Legacy you now will leeeeeeeave!" Then silence...and that killer crunch chord again....then a "Black Sabbath," (the song) riff to send it all in a different direction.
This record is killer.....
(I am not joking)
