The Angel and the Gambler
| "The Angel and the Gambler" | ||||||||
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| Single by Iron Maiden | ||||||||
| from the album Virtual XI | ||||||||
| B-side | Part 1 "Blood on the World's Hands (live)" "Afraid to Shoot Strangers (video)" Part 2 "The Aftermath (live)" "Man on the Edge (video)" |
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| Released | 9 March 1998[1] | |||||||
| Format | CD single Picture disc |
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| Genre | Heavy metal | |||||||
| Length | 9:51 (Part 1) 6:01 (Part 2) |
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| Label | EMI | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Steve Harris | |||||||
| Iron Maiden singles chronology | ||||||||
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"The Angel and the Gambler" is a single from the Iron Maiden album Virtual XI, released in 1998. It was released two weeks before Virtual XI hit stores. It is the first Iron Maiden single to feature a video as a B-side ("Afraid to Shoot Strangers" live footage from Israel, but the audio is actually from Kåren, Gothenburg, November 1, 1995). The single also includes two audio tracks recorded live at the Kåren, Gothenburg, on November 1, 1995, at The X Factour, in support of The X-Factor.
The CD single was released in two parts. Part 1 contains a poster, with the "Virtual XI Fixture List 1998" on one side and the band posing in Maiden football gear with some of their favourite players on the other side. Part 2 contains three double-sided cards with the musicians posing in Maiden football gear. Part 2 also has a shortened version of "The Angel and the Gambler".
To support the single with more airplay, the band also released a music video, which featured the shortened version of the song. In an almost Star Wars fashion, the video features an entirely computer-generated world filled with aliens of varying quality. The concept for the video, particularly Blaze walking in to the bar with a brown hat and a long jacket were taken from concept art designed for the Somewhere in Time album, specifically the single "Stranger in a Strange Land".
The song itself is controversial amongst fans and often criticized for being overlong and repetitive,[citation needed] with the main chorus repeated, in all, 22 times. The music-video version is considerably shorter, a little over three minutes.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Part 1
- "The Angel and the Gambler (full album version" (Steve Harris) – 9:51
- "Blood on the World's Hands (live version)" (Harris) - 6:07
- "Afraid to Shoot Strangers (live video)" (Harris) – 6:52
[edit] Part 2
- "The Angel and the Gambler (shortened version)" (Harris) – 6:05
- "The Aftermath (Live at Kåren, Gothemburg, November 1st 1995)" (Blaze Bayley, Janick Gers, Harris) – 6:41
- "Man on the Edge (video)" (Bayley, Gers) – 4:11
[edit] Personnel
- Blaze Bayley – vocals
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Janick Gers – guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Harris – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Nicko McBrain – drums
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Singles Chart | 52[2] |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 3[3] |
| German Singles Chart | 61[4] |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 29[5] |
| UK Singles Chart | 18[6] |
[edit] References
- ^ "The Angel & the Gambler". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-angel-the-gambler-r1324217.
- ^ "Iron Maiden Dutch Charts". http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
- ^ "Iron Maiden- Finnish Charts". http://finnishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
- ^ "Iron Maiden German Singles Charts". http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/IRON+MAIDEN/single?sort=entry. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
- ^ "Iron Maiden- Swedish Charts". http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
- ^ "Official UK Singles Archive 21st March 1998". http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/1998-03-21/. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
