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With a catalog as deep and consistently great as Iron Maiden's, every fan is bound to have at least one song that they think deserves more love — even Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson. During a recent stop on his latest spoken-word tour, which sees the NWOBHM frontman telling entertaining stories from his life-long career and fielding fan questions, the singer was asked by an audience member to choose what he believes is the most underrated Iron Maiden song, and he picked a good one!
"I'm a really big fan of 'Total Eclipse,'" he said, referring to the B-side of their classic 1982 single, "Run to the Hills," which of course appeared on Maiden's seminal Number of the Beast album. Dickinson didn't elaborate much further on why he loves "Total Eclipse" so much, but he did reveal that the song "Gangland," a deep cut from Beast, was initially supposed to have "Total Eclipse"'s spot on the single before a last-minute change of heart.
"That sound's great! This is so good that we can't do it as the B-side," Dickinson recalled of he and his bandmates' decision 40 years ago. "'Gangland' went on the album, and we actually forgot to mix the guitar solos. There's a bit in there, and there's no guitar solo. To this day, I think we forgot!" Here, he's referring to a part three-quarters into the song where it sounds like a ripping solo is about to begin, but then suddenly fades away. If that section never made sense to you, well, then now you know the story.
Make Dickinson happy by giving "Total Eclipse" your ears above via YouTube.
