SOMEWHERE IN TIME

Somewhere In Time is the sixth full-length studio album by UK heavy metal act Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden had enjoyed great success with their previous album Powerslave (1984) and the ensuing world tour in 1984-1985. Listening to Somewhere In Time it´s fortunately quite obvious that they had no intention of slowing down or abdicate the heavy metal throne in favour of new forces at this point. In other words they had not become lazy or tired because of success. Somewhere In Time is another great album in a long line of classic heavy metal albums by Iron Maiden but there´s something different about the sound on this one compared to earlier releases by the band that makes Somewhere In Time one of the most unique studio albums yet by Iron Maiden.

The music on the album is at its core melodic heavy metal as on any other album release by Iron Maiden, so the basis in the music with Bruce Dickinson´s powerful and distinct vocals, the thunderous ( read: Galloping) rythm section and the twin lead guitar attack is as present as ever. The difference between Somewhere In Time and earlier releases by Iron Maiden is that Somewhere In Time actually moves slightly into progressive territory. The use of synth guitars and a general epic atmosphere on the album helps on that impression.

There are eight tracks on the album. Three are written by guitarist Adrian Smith while the last five are written by bassist Steve Harris. Bruce Dickinson had written songs for the album but the rest of the band favoured the songs written by Adrian Smith and Steve Harris. Wasted years and Stranger In A Strange Land were used as A-sides for the two EPs released to promote the album. All songs on the album are of high quality and while it´s almost impossible for me to pick out favorites I´ll give a special mention to opener Caught Somewhere In Time, the fast paced The Loneliness Of A Long Distance Runner, the melancholic/ nostalgic sounding Stranger In A Strange Land and the grand epic closer Alexander The Great. All songs on the album leave me awe strucken though and a great feeling of joy always overwhelms me when I listen to Somewhere In Time. While I mentioned the word progressive above, the music on Somewhere In Time really isn´t progressive metal and shouldn´t be regarded as such. There are many progressive elements on the album though that has been greatly influential on the progressive metal genre and should I point to one album by the band that warrants Iron Maiden´s inclusion on a progressive rock site it would definitely be Somewhere In Time.

The production by Martin Birch has a grand and clean futuristic sound that goes very well with the extensive use of synth guitars and the sci-fi theme on the album. One of the most unique heavy metal productions I have ever heard. It´s very different from the sound on earlier albums by Iron Maiden.

My own story with Somewhere In Time probably has some effect on my final rating on the album. Not only is this an absolutely fantastic album but it was actually my first ever LP purchase ( I had some cassettes but an LP is something special IMO). I get all nostalgic thinking about that purchase. I even remember which store I purchased the album in. Putting that LP into an empty shelf ( which would soon be full) in my now long gone teenage bookcase is something I will treasure forever. My copy of the album actually turned out to have an error in the first song on Side 2 The Loneliness Of A Long Distance Runner which means that the needle jumps. Very annoying and I of course went to the store where I had purchased the album and made them give me a new copy. The only problem was that the new copy had exactly the same error and I gave up trying to get a new one. It must have been a whole shipment to Denmark with LP copies of Somewhere In Time with the same error because my brother has a copy with the same error and two of my friends have copies with the same error too. I´ve since purchased Somewhere In Time in both a flawless LP version and on CD but fortunately my first meeting with the album didn´t take away the fact that I enjoyed this album very much the first couple of years after I purchased it. There have been times when I haven´t listened much to Iron Maiden but this is the album I always return to when the urge to listen to some great melodic heavy metal comes over me. A Masterpiece well deserving a 5 star rating.