IRON MAIDEN

It has become apparent on the last two Maiden offerings that the band is at the very least, trying to find some new tricks to spruce up its bombastic prog-metal approach. On this double disc, there is a respectful display of bluesier guitar solos and other musical interludes and motifs which certainly help keep things fresh. The continuing problem since 2006's 'matter of life and death' however, seems to be the lack of self-editing in the music itself. On classic albums like 'Powerslave', and 'Seventh Son', short, punchy numbers would dominate proceedings, making the listener appreciate the 2 or 3 epics on display. This balance was lost somewhat with a 'back to basics' approach in the early 90s. Fortunately, the approach was found again on 'Dance of Death' (Not coincidentally the group's finest album since 'Seventh Son'). While there is much to recommend on this double album, particularly Bruce's triumphant vocals, it appears that the band has al but lost it's ability to craft trailblazing 3-4 minute anthems in the 'Piece of Mind' tradition and is now in somewhat of a rut of excess despite it's commendable efforts to deviate from the formula.

This would probably be the greatest metal album ever made...for a fresh pair of ears. Unfortunately we live in a generation now where things are forgotten not much sooner than they arrive. Iron Maiden hit the jackpot with the near excellent previous album 'Dance of Death', which can quite easily be ranked among the group's best but this follow-up has darkened the tone a little and retreated back to the sheer tedium of protracted concept songs, with little variation. Having said that, there is certainly much to recommend. 'Brighter Than a Thousand Suns' is one of the heaviest songs the group has recorded and recalls the aggression and dynamics of Piece of Mind. Elsewhere it is business as usual and that business has become bogged down a little.

This latest Sun Tzu-themed blockbuster (albeit loosely themed) doesn't reach the peaks of their 82-88 glory era (except for perhaps 'The Time Machine' which is one of the highlights of the album's 82 minute record-shattering running time).

Elsewhere, 'Death Of The Celts' aims for an 'Infinite Dreams' level of epic grandeur and bombast while the 8 minute title track (a quickie for Maiden) is an uplifting, minimal fuss anthem that oddly doesn't seem to outstay its welcome. Traces of epics like 'To Tame a Land' can be heard in 'The Parchment' and there is a somewhat mid-tempo plodding to the proceedings which can test the patience a little- although this charge can be laid at ANY millennial Maiden release.

Overall, what you get is the same as always since their reformation with Bruce- a solid, sprawling experience where the motto seems to be 'more is more'. Some self-editing wouldn't exactly harm them next time because (and this should be noted) this music doesn't do anything that the band haven't done in a much shorter, more concise format anyway. Why waste the format if there is nothing new happening? Perhaps it's their age or the mileage but I do wish Iron Maiden would get to the point quicker like they used to!

Iron Maiden quickly followed-up their self-titled debut album with 1981's 'Killers', an album compiled of various recordings either left over from the previous sessions of the band or songs already performed live and further honed in the studio. Not only this but this is a record that, above all else, explores more in depth the group's punk rock influences, which definitely help in rendering this LP a catchy, rough and hook-driven one. Famously, this is the final studio recording with vocalist Paul Di'Anno and the first appearance of guitarist Adrian Smith, although this minute lineup change is yet to become effective stylistically for what concerns Maiden's very own brand of heavy metal. 'Killers' is generally in line with the debut album and is quite similar to it in terms of scope, production, and songwriting, and while 'Iron Maiden' had several really melodic (and even softer) spots, this album is a more combatant and upbeat one.

Once again the music is riff- and hook-driven, with occasional glimpses of more technical playing, despite the fact that Maiden seem to have focused exclusively on writing shorter songs here. There is a sense of tension within the music and a broad lack of incredibly exciting ideas, and to put it plainly, 'Killers' does not even dare to overachieve what the debut album had already achieved and introduced as a stylistic trope, as musical vision and as a general progression within the world of heavy rock. Just a pretty good album that is rather similar to its predecessor, giving us interesting songs like the opening instrumental 'The Ides of March', the extremely catchy (and overly punky) 'Wrathchild' and 'Murders in the Rue Morgue', as well as the strong title track with its fine riffs and generous bass sounds. 'Prodigal Son' offers a counterforce to the overall heaviness but then come putrid songs like 'Purgatory' and 'Drifter', completely ruining the ending of an otherwise imperfect studio album. Perhaps 'Killers' was never meant to be as good, despite the occasional glimpses of fine writing and inspired playing, this is the album showing the signs of why this iteration of Maiden could not have lived on.

'Iron Maiden' is the 1980 eponymous debut album by the legendary British heavy metal band, a record that proclaims the initiation of the NWOBHM movement in many ways, and displaying the ferocity and aggressive approach of those very early metal albums from the beginning of the decade, being informed by and combining elements of both punk and progressive rock, it has since been received as a critical success, having also brought significant amounts of attention to the then-young metal band upon its release, lauded by both fans and critics as a "cult classic". The music on this very first Maiden album is indeed quite heavy but also very rough and unpolished, with difficult-to-appreciate production values, occasional muddy riffs and silly choruses, it is an imperfectly perfect debut album, if that makes any sense. Featuring a unique early lineup with Steve Harris, Dave Murray, and vocalist Paul Di'Anno, Maiden was also then-composed of Dennis Stratton, a guitar player who would leave the band afterwards, and drummer Clive Burr.

What is there to say about the music on here except the fact that this is an early heavy metal music that introduces a variety of interesting influences to the world of heavy rock, serving as somewhat of a blueprint for an entire movement to come. Still, as influential as 'Iron Maiden' may be, this album is definitely not universally appealing, having significant problems in the production and songwriting departments. It opens with 'Prowler', a ballsy and fast-paced number, one of the better songs off the album, followed by the catchy 'Sanctuary', a fine homage to Judas Priest (or even Motorhead) and just a tad bit banal for what concerns its contents. 'Remember Tomorrow' is where we hear the Rainbow lesson on full display, a decent number with great guitar work that anticipates a lot of what the band would go on to explore in the future. 'Running Free', or the revved up R'n'B song of Iron Maiden, is followed by the most far-reaching piece on the album, the 7-minute 'Phantom of the Opera', a more complex and dramatic entry, still played live by the band. 'Transylvania' is a great instrumental arranged by Harris, 'Strange World' is the album's ballad, a good piece of metal music. 'Charlotte the Harlot' is indeed a bit silly, also the riffs here are not as pungent as on other places of the album, and the closing title track is more forgettable than it is impressive, despite the fabulous and ferocious bass playing. A really fine and important metal album from the early 80s that has not necessarily aged too well, 'Iron Maiden' is the first step towards the crafting of the band's signature style of heavy and technical arena rock.

Since Iron Maiden first stepped on Brazilian soil for the memorable first Rock in Rio Festival in January 1985 (Queen, Scorpions, AC/DC, among other bands in a long list), which attracted more than 1.4 million spectators in its ten days, the devotion of the Carioca public was unconditional to the band led by Steve Harris, forging an affectionate relationship that has remained unchanged for decades.

And an unbeatable way to pay tribute to such a huge fan base was the release of the double album "Rock in Rio" (2002) of the English band's participation in their second visit to the festival in January 2001, where more than 250,000 people merged with the band in great shape to accompany them with their emotional clapping and chorus, clearly audible by a great production work that far exceeded the challenge, given the elephantine proportions of the event, to reliably capture every detail.

The setlist, as expected being part of a promotional tour, included six songs from the album "Brave New World" released a few months earlier, which although not yet had the resonance of the most notable hits of the band, were welcomed by the audience (especially the spectral "The Ghost of Navigator", the eponymous "Brave New World" and the emotional "Blood Brothers"), to which was added the unexpected and epic "The Clansman", taken from the discreet period of Blaze Bayley in Iron Maiden and that acquires a unique vitality from the hand of Bruce Dickinson and ends up being one of the most emotional and vibrant points of the concert, in addition to a tour of emblematic songs such as the energetic and galloping "The Trooper", "Iron Maiden" and "The Number of the Beast", the somber "Fear of the Dark" (also very chanted by the audience), the sentencing "Hallowed Be Thy Name", to finish with the overflowing energy of 'Run to the Hills'.

Although I personally would have replaced a couple of the new tracks from "Brave New World" with some of the more recognized ones like "Powerslave", "Revelations" or "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", "Rock in Rio" is after the legendary "Live Atfer Death" from 1985, Iron Maiden's best live album.

Very good.

4 stars

Iron Maiden's eighth studio album, 1990's 'No Prayer For the Dying', takes the band into the 90's scratching and clawing against shifting trends and fashions. Following on from what is arguably one of their most popular releases, 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son', the band step away from dabbling in prog territory, and go back to more standard heavy metal. Yeah, the early 90's weren't great for metal bands, but Maiden sure weren't going down without a fight!

It should be noted that by this point, vocalist Bruce Dickinson was not enjoying Maiden as much as he use to, and guitarist Adrian Smith had left the band prior to this, to be replaced by Janick Gers. I'm not really sure how much bearing this has on the writing though, as, personnel issues aside, this is still a very typical Iron Maiden album, and fans of the band will know what to expect.

The production and song-writing is pretty much the same as before. The guitar playing is fantastic as always, and Steve Harris' formidable galloping style gives the album an almost palpable energy. However, having gone back to their more traditional metal sound, the songs themselves are of varying quality. While there are some absolutely fantastic tracks, there's a fair few filler ones too.

But the good tracks? Damn, these are excellent! 'Holy Smoke', 'No Prayer For the Dying', album closer 'Mother Russia' and arguably one of the bands best tracks, with an exceptional vocal performance by Dickinson, 'Bring Your Daughter? to the Slaughter', are all reasons why, despite Maiden's (and metals) waning popularity at the time, this is still a solid album, and a worthy addition to any collection.

One of Iron Maiden's greatest moments of popularity came with the release of "Powerslave" in 1984 and reached its peak with their subsequent marathon support tour 'World Slavery Tour'. And nothing better than the live double album "Live After Death" (1985) to capture the vital onstage energy of a band in a state of grace. An unbeatable setlist in which the Englishmen play the most representative songs of those golden years (first half of the 80's), reaffirming their position as one of the flagship bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

From their impetuous opening section with the warlike and corrosive "Aces High", "2 Minutes to Midnight", and "The Tropper", the pieces flow revitalised by the adrenaline that the band transmits live, intensifying even more with the mythological and epic "Revelations", "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (impeccable Steve Harris with his attacking bass and the galloping guitars of the Dave Murray/Adrian Smith duo), "Powerslave", and "Phantom of the Opera" (again unbeatable Murray and Smith in a huge guitar duel giving a new life to the ghostly theme of their debut album), the demonic and controversial "The Number of the Beast", the damning "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (one of the best songs of the metal genre) and "Children of the Damned". And the powerful and operatic voice of Bruce Dickinson, as a colophon, proposes to participate to a subdued audience that accompanies euphorically in the direct "Iron Maiden" and the participative "Running Free".

"Live After Death", one of the best live albums in heavy metal, if not the best, marks a turning point in the band's career, after which they would begin a period with new textures and nuances added from the unthinkable contribution of synthesizers.

4/4.5 stars

This first album begins the progressive metal genre where the on purpose instrumentals without any lyrics setting the founding elements towards the modern progressive metal artist.

The album overall is not as progressive metal as its preview suggests as it has the edgy and hard to even shocking lyrical choices that are typical of what became the modern hard edged mature content orientated sound. The album puts the parental advisory for mature content long before there were labels which makes it controversial to the mainstay of musical listening experiences and to as of which as time progresses can still be viewed as an album that sets the pace into providing the first shocking lyrics even by today's modern standards but once again can be viewed as a musical direction entirely lacking progressive content. The album cover is one- of -a kind Artistry and in this regard collectors worthy reflecting the modern shift. The album is an influence towards the inclined musician not the casual listener as even an enthusiast would have a hard time to discern why they are actually listening to it voluntarily.

The last song on the album in having long drawn out instrumentals returns to the progressive metal founding aspect of the album which suggests it would and should continue into this avenue of progressive metal instrumentals to on purposely create songs with instrumentals and without many vocals on purposely towards providing a listening experience but far and between as it actually turns out. Presently speaking since albeit they are not dead yet or returned into the spirit but have willingly departed from the progressive founding elements of their progressive metal on very many occasions. Iron Maiden decidedly went into the direction of becoming a performance giant in the making from a following where large audiences are more than welcome towards the modern entertainment into the sort of large arena's where people cheer throughout and in this regard losing the ways of traditional/classical music with its expected conduct and responsibility.

The use of synthesised guitars and bass on "Somewhere in Time" generated controversy regarding the sonic limits that heavy metal sympathisers were willing to accept, but once again Iron Maiden decided that experimentation was a necessary fuel for their creative process, and with the release of "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" (1988), their seventh album, they took their proposal along those paths, developing a conceptual work that incorporated new sonic layers from the keyboards.

From the surrealist cover where a disintegrated Eddie from the waist down holds an encapsulated baby (or something like that.... ) in an aseptic and icy setting, "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" thematically recreates the eternal dispute between Good and Evil with the seer and chosen 'Alvin Maker' as the protagonist, starting from his birth and the course of his life, fighting against evil powers and his own inner demons in a story inspired by the fantasy novel "Seventh Son" (1987) by the American playwright Orson Scott Card.

And even though the tone and power of the guitars drop a few decibels in "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", the band does not renounce to them in songs of great effect like "Can I Play with Madness" and its catchy chorus, the energetic "The Evil That Men Do", or the galloping "The Clairvoyant", intertwining them with songs of greater structural complexity like "Moonchild" and its initial acoustic guitars and meandering keyboards decorating the flowing instrumental base, "Infinity Dreams" with Bruce Dickinson's powerful vocal register and stupendous middle section, and what is surely one of Iron Maiden's greatest intersections with progressive rock, "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", a mixture of guitar riffs and solos from the Dave Murray/Adrian Smith tandem, middle sections and shifting time signatures from Steve Harris' incredible bass and Nicko McBrian's percussion, and atmospheric synthesizers. Finally, "Only the Good Die Young' rounds off the conceptual character of the album with the same acoustic sonorities of its beginning.

"Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" was the pinnacle of the Englishmen's experimentation, and moved the band's central axis a few degrees, not to get out of their seminal genre, but to extend its limits.

Excellent.

4/4.5 stars