Album released August 17, 2010. These are my thoughts of the album, track by track, as they occur to me.
“Satellite 15… The Final Frontier”I’ve never heard Maiden sound like this. This is a nice growl through here and the buildup is as heavy, maybe heavier, than anything they’ve done. That growl in the background is ever present through the intro and the three guitars really layer on each other to such an extent that it is almost a disappointment when Bruce’s vocals come on. I want to hear more of this new sound.
Hey, here’s a bit of trivia… Nicko McBrain is credited for drums and keyboards on this. Maiden has never really been a keyboard heavy band, they’ve used a bit, notably on their “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son Album” but it’s not a focus. It’s nice here that Nicko does double duty, its more effect than music. Good.
Hey, nice callback to “The Flight of Icarus” there.
This is more straightforward maiden now. Solid work. I like that I can imagine I can pick out which guitarist is handling each spot. Adrian on lead, I think.
“El Dorado”Love the opening here. Wow. Just wow. Steve may have just out-Steved himself. So far, a real stand out performance by the lads. End of song and I realized I’ve listened to it and not reviewed it.
“Mother of Mercy”Echoes of Bruce’s solo album “Balls to Picasso.” I loved that album simply because it was a departure from Maiden. More of that here. Seems a little eerie hearing Steve do something like this, though ever since “Brave New World” they’ve been flirting ever closer to a sound like this one.
“Coming Home”Hey, classic riffs here. This is Maiden like we remember. Well, hang on. Tricked me. Slow it down and get a more lyrical Bruce. I like Bruce’s tenor. He’s got some age on him now, but that hasn’t stopped him from belting out some clear notes. One of the nice things I’ve always liked about Maiden is they… I don’t know… elucidate each note. They don’t throw vast amounts of feedback or distortion into what they do. You hear those three guitars now? One can go low and counterpoint the bass and the other two spin around Bruce’s voice. Nice. I think that’s Dave Murray doing rhythm on this bit. Listen, you’ll see.
“The Alchemist”Bruce’s solo album “The Chemical Wedding” had a song called “The Alchemist.” I thought this might be a throw back to that. I was wrong. This is real Maiden through and through. I think I’m going to listen to Janick on this one.
“Isle of Avalon”That gallup is slower on this one. More like… lapping waves on the shores of Avalon itself. Lots of Celtic imagery. Not sure I recall a previous Maiden tune steeped in quite this form of myth. Classic sound once it gets going, but a lot heavier on lyrics. More traditional storytelling and less emphasis on concise poetry. Can we call Maiden’s lyrics poetry? Sometimes. Not here, though, but don’t take that as a negative.
“Starblind”You know how I was just talking about storytelling? More of it. Previous Maiden albums have been full of short lines, strong chorus. Very standard in the metal world. Heck, Maiden practically invented it. I feel a strong shift in styles, something they’ve done on the last two albums, but done better on this one. It’s more prose like. I sort of don’t even notice the chorus when it’s repeated. Seems like it’s only done twice on this one. Almost missed it. I think this is mostly Bruce writing the lyrics. A lot of similarities to his work on the album “Skunkworks” but with a heavy Steve Harris influence on the music.
“The Talisman”Ironically, I think Blaze Bayley would do a better job on a song like this. I never understood why fans of Maiden rejected Blaze on the two albums he did with the band. He had solid vocals. Sure as a baritone he sort of didn’t do the songs the same way Bruce did, and even a couple of standards he couldn’t do. But this is offset by the fact that he could do others that Bruce couldn’t. “The Name of the Rose” comes to mind, a strong song and better with Blaze on vocals. That’s my opinion of this.
“The Man Who Would be King”Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the technical achievement of the band. Their sheer proficiency with each instrument. They bring together a sound that seems effortless but incongruously can’t be. Nice work by Janick and Adrian and Nicko. I really notice how a good drummer can add excellent punctuation to guitars.
“When the Wild Wind Blows”What can I say about this? It’s an ode to sadness and even hope. It’s a song of the end times and yet it isn’t gritty and dirty and doesn’t have the chaos of the opening track. Indeed, it is a well constructed study in progressive rock, Maiden style. Nice fade out. We end with a poignant wind blowing.
Iron Maiden is Steve Harris (bass), Bruce Dickinson (vocals), Janick Gers (guitar), Dave Murray (guitar), Adrian Smith (guitar), Nicko McBrain (drums).
