Iron Maiden - Singles - Flight Of Icarus / The Trooper

After writing the review for Mastadon's The Hunter, I decided to grab a few of my Iron Maiden singles and put them together, because there are some great moments here that might never be covered other wise. But more so because if it wasn't for Drew I never would have bought these discs. Sorry, that's not true. I would have bought the first single I'm going to cover. The other two were totally because of the man I have dubbed The Guitarist of Doom.

The first single is Flight Of Icarus/The Trooper. My two favourite Maiden songs that have Bruce Dickinson as the vocalist. Since I've covered the two album tracks when I reviewed Piece Of Mind I'm going to just cut and paste the original write-ups in here.

Let me start by saying that I don't know if there is an Adrian Smith/Maiden song I don't like. However, Flight Of Icarus does not have just Adrian (my favourite Iron Maiden guitarist) writing, but also Bruce Diskinson has a credit as well.

Now the story is simple enough. It's about the flight of Icarus. Not that you'd be able to figure that out from the title or anything. However, for those that don't know what that story is about, the fastest way to learn is by listening to this song. So, stop reading this and go listen to the song on Youtube or something, then come back when you know the story.

Now, musically speaking the guitar work in this song gets me off. One of the reasons it's so magnificent is that while being an Iron Maiden song, it's still uniquely different in its delivery. For starters, the gallop isn't there.

I do believe this is Bruce's best vocal performance to date. The super length held note for "Fly" at the 3:02 marker is an orgasm for the ears. Of all the songs I need to see Maiden performe live, this is the highest on my list. Sadly, Bruce doesn't seem to try risking it much anymore.

I've Got The Fire is the original B-side to Flight Of Icarus. It's a cover of a Montrose tune, that to this day I have never bothered to look up. I dig this song and it's fun, but for the most part I feel very indifferent to it. You can also tell this was more of a "one off" by the way the production sounds.

Let me start by saying there are only two songs I like more than The Trooper. I've already mentioned one, and the other, Running Free, which isn't on this album. First off, this is the quintessential Iron Maiden gallopping riff song. The insane gallop that only Steven Harris can so perfectly play is what this entire song is all about. Then the lryical content is real fun, especially the simple chorus of "Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh" repeated twice. Why such a simple chorus? With a verse like "You'll take my life but I'll take yours too / You'll fire your musket but I'll run you through / So when your waiting for the next attack / You'd better stand there's no turning back / The bugle sounds the charge begins / But on this battle field no one wins / The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath as I plunge on into certain death", a couple of"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh's" is all you need.

The next song is so cool. I mean it is ass kickingly cool. I knew Cross-Eyed Mary before I ever heard this version. I've covered the original even, when I covered Jethro Tull's album Aqualung. The song I'm talking about is Cross-Eyed Mary. To hear the guitars replicate the flute parts so perfectly, and then Bruce clearly out do Ian Anderson's original vocal performance, and the light production doesn't because it's not an album track, only makes it sound that much more authentic. Iron Maiden's version of this song captures the essence of the original so amazingly as well as jacking up the song to make it Metal. This song is the whole reason I bought this single and had to own it.

Listen With Nicko! Part V is the fifth (if you don't know Roman Numerals) installment in a series with Nicko McBrain (the drumer on this single's songs) that was released with these specific set of singles. Off hand I don't know how many discs were in this special series, but I'll look it up but the next time these reviews are done.

These tracks are Nicko telling the stories behind the songs on the various singles that were released. In this case this is the story behind the songs on this album, including Nicko's part in the Flight Of Icarus. Plus tidbits and various little stories related to the songs, in a very humorous manner.

This is a single I would recomend anyone that enjoys Iron Maiden pick up. It's the one that I still listen to every now and then.

9/10 - content

7/10 - production

10/10 - personal bias