Setlist: 1. Caught Somewhere In Time - 00:00 2. Wasted Years - 07:25 3. Sea Of Madness - 12:32 4. Heaven Can Wait - 18:14 5. The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner - 25:31 6. Stranger In A Strange Land - 32:07 7. Deja-Vu - 37:44 8. Alexander The Great - 42:48 Iron Maiden, the band all metal-heads, of any sub-genre, can agree is spectacular. Iron Maiden is close to unrivaled their quality, putting out album after album of quality material. Their string of albums between their debut and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son were all but perfect, and for this they've become one of the most important bands in all of heavy metal. Still, some albums have to be better than others, and this is one of their best. Like many 80's bands, they felt that synthesizers were the way of the future, and so on this record they turned to synthesizers, but the results, unlike many other bands, is 100% success, and is experimental, rather than a turn to a more commercial or poppier sound. Synthesizers are often associated with selling out in the metal-world, and for good reason, they often do symbolize when a band becomes commercial. Fortunately, Iron Maiden doesn't fall into this trap with Somewhere in Time, as this album is through and through metal, it just happens to be metal with a layer of synthesizer on it. In fact, the synthesizer here actually makes the album feel dirtier in many spots, a very odd thing indeed, but mostly the Synthesizer are used for atmospheric affect, and what an atmosphere it creates. This is where the album succeeds mostly, its atmosphere is rivaled by few of any genre, and rivaled by even fewer within the metal genre. Of course, outside of the synthesizers this isn't too different from a regular Maiden album. The songs still have that familiar Iron Maiden vibe to them, so if you're a fan of other Iron Maiden works, or perhaps you're a new fan who has only heard The Number of the Beast and The Trooper, you won't feel too far from home here. Still, the compositions found here often are more complex than those found on other Iron Maiden records, and with the addition of the synthesizers this give the album an identity of its own. The band alternates between truly complex compositions, and relatively straight forward ones. This variation gives even songs that maybe isn't Iron Maiden at their best, their own identity. It also makes you appreciate both the complexity of the more difficult songs, and also the relative conservative nature to the less complicated tunes. The variation of complexity is one of the main things keeping the album from becoming boring. Most of the songs here are 100% metal, but really catchy. I know I often find myself humming the title track in school, and it's a fairly complex tune. Iron Maiden's ability to make complexity catchy is a rare talent, and that is arguably my favorite thing that this album does. Many bands are complex and, even if they remember to write actual songs, often seem meaningless because of it. Iron Maiden makes catchy tunes and adds layers of complexity on top of those catchy riffs, and this is how the catchy complexity is achieved. All the members of Iron Maiden are talented, but I couldn't write a review about Iron Maiden and not mention Bruce Dickinson. Bruce Dickinson, in simple terms, is the Freddie Mercury of heavy metal. That is the only comparison that I feel does justice to him. His voice is the very definition of power. He soars through the bands music, and really gives Iron Maiden a distinct sound (you can tell how much of a difference he made when you listen to the bands 90's works when he left the band). In short, this is another great album from Iron Maiden. It is a great combination of real metal and synthesizer. It has a great atmosphere and has a nice balance of complex and simple. Bruce Dickinson's vocals are amazing as usual. It's through and through a great album, and a must for fans of any type of metal. Even if you don't like metal, there isn't anything here decidedly noncommercial and I think would even appeal to many fans of pop music, given that those pop fans posses an open mind. It's really just a great, great album, and my favorite from Iron Maiden. Bruce Dickinson - (Vocal) Steve Harris - (Bass) Dave Murray - (Guitar) Adrian Smith - (Guitar) Nicko McBrain - (Drums)

• published: 18 Sep 2015
• views: 335353