Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight" (forgotten song)

A State of the Union special...

Last week the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced the Doomsday Clock by 30 seconds to 2 minutes to midnight.  The Doomsday Clock is a symbol, created in 1947 by the Science and the Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist at the beginning of the Cold War, of our proximity to human-made apocalyptic disaster, most notably nuclear war. 

In 1984 Iron Maiden released "2 Minutes to Midnight", a single from "Powerslave", about the Doomsday Clock.  Interestingly enough in 1984 when the song was released the clock was set "only" to 3 minutes; the Clock has only been at 2 minutes once before (1953) and never closer than 2 minutes.

Hearkening back to my discussion with Drew about how themes from 80s metal songs are sadly relevant again, choosing "2 Minutes to Midnight" is a little on the nose but it also seems unavoidable.

"As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun"

Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight" (lyrics)

Motorhead - "(We Are) The Road Crew" (forgotten song)

"Fast Eddie" Clarke, the last living member from the "classic lineup" of Motorhead, died this week.  Lemmy died just over two years ago, and although I missed it at the time, Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor died six weeks before Lemmy.

Motorhead went through many lineups, with Lemmy as the only constant member, but Clarke and Taylor were there for the first five studio LPs, and various live LPs, EPs, and singles.  Clarke would go on to leave Motorhead in 1982, forming the mildly successful but otherwise forgettable band Fastway with some other NWOBHM veterans.  Let's be honest: leaving Motorhead might extend your life expectancy, but musically things aren't going to improve. 

Of all the great songs from the classic lineup my favorite is probably "(We Are) The Road Crew", which I've already referenced in my "No Sleep till Brooklyn" post.  The studio version is great, of course, but the version I'm featuring here is from a 2005 BBC "Classic Albums" documentary where Clarke, Lemmy, and Taylor got back together and ran through songs from the "Ace of Spades" LP after not playing together in 20+ years.  This version is instrumental only, so the focus is on Clarke's solos instead of Lemmy singing.  The tempo is also slightly faster than the original, and it just plain kills.

"(We Are) The Road Crew": 2005 BBC version, 1980 studio version




Bonus link for "Fast Eddie": I have a vague memory of a Fastway video from the early days of MTV; I think it was "Say What You Will", but I can't find an actual video for it.  And I might be wrong about which song it was, but it doesn't really matter since they're all deservedly overlooked (admittedly "Say What You Will" has a nice, bluesy riff, but I just can't warm up to Dave King singing metal).