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Detto fatto: IRON MAIDEN, RECENSIONE N°107.
Il disco che prendo in esame e quell'oggetto misterioso chiamato "No Prayer For The Dying", uscito nel 1990 e considerato uno dei peggiori della band. Sarà poi vero? Beh, di certo non è tra i capolavori, eppure resta comunque un bel disco hard n' heavy, un gradino sopra "Fear Of The Dark", che crea un netto distacco con i suoi epici e altisonanti predecessori per tornare ad atmosfere un po' in stile "Killers" L'opener "Tailgunner" è sicuramente tra i pezzi meglio riusciti, soprattuto per il vorticante giro basso di Steve Harris, quasi a simulare la turbina di un aereo. La canzone parla della 2° Guerra Mondiale e non ha niente da invidiare alla più blasonata Aces High, se non la prestazione un po' fiacca di Bruce, che dà il meglio di se nelle canzoni epiche. Ancora più bella è la sarcastica e travolgente "Holy Smoke", che sa sempre regalare deliziosi momenti di headbanging. Molto bella è anche la riflessiva e amara "No Prayer For The Dying" forse la titletrack più "sottotono" degli Irons, ma comunque inpreziosita da un riff iniziale da antologia. Il livello si mantiene alto con "Public Enema Number One", che rappresenta in pieno l'atmosfera dell'album: stradaiola, ma al tempo stesso cupa e carica di tensione.
Trascurabili e ripetitive la successive "Fates Warning" e "The Assassin", compensate però da un gioiellino sconosciuto e prezioso come "Run Silent Run Deep" che narra di un'assalto piratesco, in un'atmosfera tesa e nebbiosa: ottima la prestazione di Dickinson, cattiva ed esaltata al punto giusto. Con "Hooks In You" (che riapre a sorpresa la saga di Charlotte The Harlot) l'album tocca il punto più basso: canzone quasi glam che anticipa i clamorosi stafalcioni del successivo album Fear Of The Dark. "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter" (che inizialmente doveva far parte dell'album solista di Bruce "Tattooed Millionaire") è forse il pezzo più famoso. Personalmente però non mi piace manco un po'. Da notare che il riff iniziale è stato spudoratamante copiato dai Bon Jovi in "Have A Nice Day". La chiusura è affidata al vero capolavoro dell'album: "Mother Russia". Di rara bellezza e potenza evocativa, una drammatica e intensa danza cosacca a ritmo metal con un intermezzo strumentale che vede un Nicko McBrain formidabile. Rimarchevole l'ultimo verso "Can you be happy, now you people are free..."
Eh già, evidentemente nel 1990 non potevano sapere di Putin... Comunque No Prayer For The Dying è un album degno a tutti gli effetti di far parte dalla saga Ironmaideniana, e canzoni come "Tailgunner", "Holy Smoke", "Public Enema Number One", "Run Silent Run Deep" e appunto il masterpiece "Mother Russia" regalano sempre grandi emozioni.
UP THE IRONS
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Tailgunner (04:15)
Trace your way back 50 years
To the glow of Dresden - blood and tears
In the black above by the cruel searchlight
Men will die and men will fight - yeah!
Who shoot who and who fired first?
Dripping death to wet the bloodthirst
No radar lock on - skin and bone
The bomber boys are going home
Chours:
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Nail that Fokker kill that son
Gonna blow your guts out with my gun
The weather forecast's good for war
Colonge and Frankfurt? Have some more!
Tail end Charlie in the boiling sky
The Enola Gay was my last try
Now that this Tailguner's gone
No more bombers (just one big bomb)
Chorus:
02 Holy Smoke (03:49)
Believe in me - send no money
Died on the cross, and that ain't funny
But my so called friends they're making me a joke
They missed out what I said like I never spoke
They choose what they wanna hear - they don't tell a lie
They just leave out the truth as they're watching you die
Saving your soul by taking your money
Flies around shit, bees around honey
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke, plenty bad preachers for
The devil to stoke
Feed 'em in feet first this is no joke
This is thirsty work making Holy Smoke
Jimmy Reptile and all his friends
Say they gonna be with you at the end
Burning records, burning books
Holy soldiers, Nazi looks
Crocodile smiles, just wait awhile
Till the TV Queen gets her make up clean
I've lived in filth, I've lived in sin
And I still smell cleaner than the shit your in
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke, plenty bad preachers for
The devil to stoke
Feed 'em in feet first this is no joke
This is thirsty work making Holy Smoke
They ain't religious but they ain't no fools
When Noah built his Cadillac it was cool
Two by two they're still going down
And the satellite circus just left town
I think they're strange and when they're dead
They can have a Lincoln for their bed
Friend of the president - trick of the tail
Now they ain't got a prayer - 100 years in jail
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke, plenty bad preachers for
The devil to stoke
Feed 'em in feet first this is no joke
This is thirsty work making Holy Smoke
05 Fates Warning (04:12)
Why is it some of us are destined to stay alive
And some of us are here just so that we'll die
How come the bullet hits the other guy
Do we have to try and reason why
Be it the devil or be it him
You can count on just one thing
When the time is up you'll know
Not just one power runs the show
Are we the lucky ones saved for another day
Or they the lucky ones who are taken away
Is it a hand on your shoulder from the Lord above
Or the Devil himself come to give you a shove
Be it the devil or be it him
You can count on just one thing
When the time is up you'll know
Not just one power runs the show
A volcano erupts and sweeps a town away
A hurricane devastates the cities in its way
The grief and misery for the ones that are left behind
The worst is yet to come a hell to face mankind
06 The Assassin (04:35)
Now the contracts out
They've put the word about
I'm coming after you
It's not the money I make
It's the thrill of the chase
And I'm coming after you
I watch your every move
Study the things you do
And the pattern of your ways
I watch the way you walk
I hear your telephone talk
I want to understand the way you think
chorus
Better watch out, cos I'm the Assassin,
Better watch out, better watch out
(repeat)
I'm in a cold cold sweat
I taste the smell of death
I know the moment's getting closer
And as you walk to the light
I feel my hands go tight
Excitement running through my veins
I've got you in my sights
I've got you dead to rights
The triggers waiting for my finger
I feel adrenalin rush
It's just the final touch
You can kiss your arse goodbye
chorus
08 Hooks in You (04:08)
I got the keys to view at number 22
Behind my green door there's nothing to see
Stone cold sober and sitting in silence, laid
Back and looking for symphaty
I like a girl who knows where she's bound
I don't like girls who've been hanging around
Hooks in you, hooks in me,
hooks in the ceiling
For that well hung feeling
No big deal, no big sin,
strung up on love
I got the hooks screwed in
She's tied up she can't come to the phone
You must have got your wires crossed
cos she ain't home
Knock on wood - you know i like that sound
She never could keep her feet on the ground
Right on the money got it wrapped up tight
New ideas for the decor tonight
Gonna make this house a preservation zone
Gonna set her in concrete
set her up on her own
09 Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter (04:45)
Honey its getting close to midnight
And all the myths are in town
True love and lipstick on your linen
Bite the pillow make no sound
If there's some living to be done
Before your life becomes your tomb
You'd better know that I'm the one
So unchain your back door invite me around
[Chorus]
Bring your daughter,bring your daughter to the slaughter
Let her go,let her go,let her go.
Bring your daughter,bring your daughter to the slaughter
Let her go,let her go,let her go.
Let her go
Honey its getting close to daybreak
The sun is creeping in the sky
No patent remedies for heartache
Just empty words and humble pie
So get down on your kneees honey
Assume an attitude
You just pray that I'll be waiting
Cos you know I'm coming soon
[Chorus]
Pick up your foolish pride,no going back
No where,no way,no place to hide
[solo]
Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, To the slaughter.
Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Bring me your daughter, To the slaughter.
Bring me your daughter, Fetch your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Fetch your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Fetch your daughter, To the slaughter.
Bring me your daughter, Fetch your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Fetch your daughter, Bring me your daughter, Fetch your daughter, To the slaughter.
[Chorus]X2
10 Mother Russia (05:32)
Mother Russia how are you sleeping
middle winter cold winds blow
from the trees the snowflakes drifting
swirling round like ghosts in the snow
Mother Russia poetry majestic
tells the time of a great empire
turning round the old man ponders
reminiscing an age gone by
Mother Russia
dance of the czars
hold up your heads
so proud of what you are
now it has come
freedom at last
turning the tides of history
and your past
Mother Russia
dance of the czars
hold up your heads
remember who you are
can you release
the anger and the grief
can you be happy
now your people are free
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di velvetunderground
No Prayer For The Dying è la quiete dopo la tempesta!
Solo i più fedeli si troveranno lì a visitare questo cimitero nascosto, a portare qualche timido fiore ai propri cari!
Di paolofreddie
La musica presenta delle sonorità grigie, spoglie, senza vita, "morenti" per meglio dire.
Bruce e compagnia bella non sono più la band di prima, ma una copia della band spentasi artisticamente nel '88.
