"Enter the 1980s. Enter Iron Maiden, the band who would change metal by raising the bar - well, I guess, they already raised the bar considerably with this album, which is phenomenal for a debut album of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
With the short but strangely progressive "Prowler", Iron Maiden blasts a labyrinth of changes and twists and turns into the mind of the listener. This powerful opener is followed by the gloomy and doomy ballad, and absolutely brilliant, "Remember Tomorrow" whose bridge starts with a tempo change out of nowhere. "Running Free" is a hit song which draws on the glam rock of the 1990s, and while it is a song that I have and will sing along to, it is "only" a hit song and not the most interesting track on the album - it does contain some captivating Maiden-style guitar acrobatics and a catchy bobby bass figure. The mighty "Phantom of the Opera" is the first truly epic track released by Maiden and it's a favorite track in my family. There is a feel of structural complexity to it because of the many different parts that make up a verse, and there is no real chorus to speak of, and of course, there is a bridge that consists of very different sections. Then there is the schizophrenic instrumental "Transylvania", which sounds almost like two or three different songs stitched together, and with its many guitar acrobatics, it should click immediately with fans of progressive metal. "Strange World" is a ballad, and probably the blandest track of the album (not because it's a ballad, but because it's not a very original type of ballad). Dave Murray's "Charlotte the Harlot" kicks off the Charlotte-saga and is one of the many Maiden songs that is simple and complex at the same time. It's an underrated rock track which should have been a classic, I think. The last track "Iron Maiden" is also song that is both simple and complex, combining a two-chord verse and a four chord chorus with strange breakdowns and progressive guitar harmonies.
The production on this album is unusually unpolished for a Maiden album, the reason being that the producer was lazy bastard, leaving it up to the inexperienced musicians in the band to do the production themselves. Harris has experessed dissatisfaction with the production of the album, but there is a certain charm to the raw production. "Iron Maiden" is also one of only two Maiden releases with Paul Di'Anno on vocals, and Di'Anno's dark and raw rock voice suits the music and production very well.
"Iron Maiden" is the debut full length by my all time favorite music artist, and an album which raised the bar or heavy metal performance. I recommend any metal fan to acquire it.
(review also posted at metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Heralded by many as Iron Maiden's best and most important album, "The Number of the Beast" certainly is a heavy metal classic and one of my all time favorite albums. There are no weak tracks to speak of - even "Badlands" and "Total Eclipse" (on the reissued version) have something to offer.
The album opener is "Invaders" which is just a weird but breakneck tempo track about the viking invasions of Britain in the 8th century. The weird aspect of the song consists in the strange choice of key and the funny scale run in the chorus riff. The following track is the magnificent ballady "Children of the Damned" which in turn is followed by the legendary "The Prisoner" with its iconic drum intro and anthemic chorus. "22 Acacia Avenue" is a progressive affair, which started its existence as a straight Adrian Smith written track, which was then Maidenized as Steve Harris inserted several iconic breakdowns, tempo changes and bridge sections into it, creating the perfect Maiden track. The title track is another kind of proggy track whose opening (both the spoken word rendering of a passage from the Bible and the opening riff and vocals/lyrics). "Run to the Hills" is a more straightforward galloping metal track and a classic rock song with an anthemic chorus and memorable guitar solos. "Gangland" is an uptempo and straight rocker to which Clive Burr contributed in terms of writing (it is not a classic like the other tracks on the album, but it does contain some nice guitar harmonics and it is an adrenalizing breakneck track), while "Total Eclipse" (on the reissue; Burr was also involved in the writing of this one) is more of a midtempo straight rocker (which contains an unpredictable tempo change, as the song explodes into an uptempo bridge section slightly reminiscent of one of the main riffs of "Phantom of the Opera". The closer is the classic "Hallowed Be Thy" name, which is another kind of progressive affair with a dark ballady introduction, an anthemic chorus, loads of guitar harmonies and a couple of tempo changes.
"The Number of the Beast" is a metal classic and belongs in any metal CD collection!
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Another classic by Iron Maiden, "Piece of Mind" is the first Maiden album to feature influential drummer Nicko McBrain and full of classics like "The Trooper", "The Flight of Icarus", "Where Eagles Dare", "Revelations" and, to some extent, "Die With Your Boots On".
The album opens with the technical but captivating "Where Eagles Dare" which is followed by the Dickinson-penned ballad "Revelations" which is an all time fan favorite, and one of my favorites from this album. This is followed by the heavier "Flight of Icarus" and the rocker "Die With Your Boots On". "The Trooper" is one of Maiden's most popular tracks ever, and it is catchy as hell - and, notably, there is no chorus!
In ye olden days, in the time of vinyl, the first five tracks of this album constituted side A, and it is worth noting that "Piece of Mind" is an album whose first side contained nothing but hits. Consequently, perhaps, side B contains all obscure tracks. These tracks may be obscure, but I actually think that side B on the whose is better than side A. "Still Life" is a midtempo and slightly melancholic and dark song while "Quest for Fire" is a heavy 3/8 song based on the film and book of the same title. This song contains some nice medieval sounding twin guitars. "Sun and Steel" is a galloping metal track, also containing intricate twin guitars, while "To Tame a Land" is a proggy epic track based on the novel "Dune", containing several musical twists and turns. This track was later covered by Dream Theater.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"This is yet another metal mammoth released by Iron Maiden in their golden streak of the 1980s, and one, which I think, maintains a high level of solidness all the way through.
I really do not think that there are any weak moments on this album, and even the more obscure tracks like the instrumental "Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)" and "Back in the Village" and the very underestimated "The Duellists" and "Flash of the Blade" are just as engaging and headbanging-inducing is the power opener "Aces High", the steady rocker "2 Minutes to Midnight", the dark and gallopping "Powerslave", and the epic "Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
This album simply contains everything that Maiden do so well: guitar harmonies, melody, aggression, gallopping, catchy vocals, air raid siren singing etc.
This is a heavy metal classic that everyone should own.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Interestingly this album has a quite high rating over oon MMA and here on Progfreak at the moment of me writing this review. What is interesting about that is that, when it came out, a lot of disliked it because of the use of synths and guitar synths (Judas Priest did the same with "Turbo", which has also received a lot of flak) - and a lot of rock fans of that generation still think it's one of the worst Maiden albums from the first Bruce era. However, to many people of my generation, "Somewhere in Time" is a very defining album.
In my case, it was the first metal album I heard, and the first metal album I owned. My mother even went down to the local record store with me so I could buy it. Knowing what kind of music Maiden made, she asked me if I was sure that I wanted to buy it, I said that I was absolutely certain, because I'd hear the album before, as I'd gone fishing with one of my friends' older brother the weekend before that, and he'd brought a boom box, but forgotten to bring any tapes other than "Somewhere in Time" which was just lying around in his jacket pocket. My life changed on that fishing trip because I heard "Somewhere in Time". Yes, somewhere in time is the album that changed my life. So, it was important for me to buy it. Once I told my mother that I was certain, she encouraged me to follow my tastes in music (even if she liked Bon Jovi and 80s pop music) - fortunately, my parents have always supported me, and they never took any issues with the music I listened to - I first experienced that with Iron Maiden which was my first independent journey into music.
I loved "Somewhere in Time" then. And I still love it today. It's my all time favorite album by my all time favorite artist.
There was just something about the music with its guitar harmonies, the chugging rhythm guitars, the straight but sometimes totally offbeat drumming, and the magnificent vocals that caught me. I'd never heard that sort of music before, but I was completely hooked upon first listen.
The opening track "Caught Somewhere in Time" is very much an epitome of Maiden metal, starting out with an epic sounding intro which is based on a melodic twin guitar pattern before exploding into a fully fledged glory of galloping and harmonic guitar patterns, a powerful chorus and straight solid drumming interrupted by a couple of syncopations now and then. "Wasted Years" is a more melodic affair with a very syncopated drum beat and the catchies chorus in the world, and then there's the easily recognizable guitar intro; this is easily one of my favorite Maiden tracks. "Sea of Madness" starts out with an aggressive riff which creates a nice contrast to "Wasted Years". It is one of the more obscure tracks on this album, but I think it's an amazing rocker and totally on par with many of the band's most loved classics. "Heaven Can Wait" is a sort of anthem because of the soccer-fan oh-oh-oh-oh sing-along choir in the bridge, but it is also a fast and hard-hitting metal song with a sort of uplifting lyrical message. Then there is "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", which was the first Maiden track I ever heard (on that fishing trip, we started with side B for whatever reason), and this song is really a cornucopia of all things Maiden - to the extent that Steve Harris once stated in an interview that he thought it was perhaps a bit too over the top; well, it's not over the top for me - it's just right. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a midtempo melancholic track with an almost bluesy feel to it, while "Deja Vu", one of the more obscure tracks, is a fast paced track with an extremely catchy chorus. "Alexander the Great" is an epic track, and while it is not the best of its kind (there are many epic Maiden track that work much better), it is still a captivating track.
For my money, the best album ever!
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"The last of Iron Maidens first golden streak of perfect albums, "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" is, as is well-known, a concept album about mysticism and esoteric philosophy, based on the folkloric myth of the seventh son of the seventh son and the special powers that are bestowed upon him.
I absolutely love this album and all the tracks on it - from the "Seven deadly sins" intro, over the keyboard-driven power opener "Moonchild" over the more poppy mega hit "Can I Play With Madness" and the epic ballad "Infinite Dream" to the dark epic title track and the melodic closer "Only the Good Die Young". Every track is full of great guitar melodies, twin leads, galloping basslines, amazing vocals and pounding drums - everything that Maiden do so well.
The opening track, as mentioned above, is a power opener, which, after the acoustic intro to the album, starts out with an energetic synth figure, and slowly builds up into a quite aggressive metal track. "Infinite Dreams" is one of my favorite Maiden tracks; it opens up a ballad with a haunting guitar melody and quite mellow vocals on top of a rather complex backdrop of music, which upon second repetition is distorted. The chorus is, of course, in a different tempo, while the bridge is an uptempo galloping affair with lots of catchy vocal patterns an twin guitars. "Can I Play With Madness" is more poppy and it is not coincidence that this track was the great hit off this album. "The Evil That Men Do" is a more straight rocker, but its vocal lines are inescapably catchy - you just can't help but singing along to this one. The title track is an epic affair along the lines of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" with three major parts: a slow galloping one, an eerie athmostpheric one, and then a dark but upbeat one with some really atypical guitar figures (and there are lots of twin guitar sections all over the song). "The Prophecy" is one of the more obscure tracks on the album, but it's actually a quite interesting folk-inspired dark track, while "The Clairvoyant" is another major hit, with some uplifting and catchy guitar melodies. The closer "Only the Good Die Young" is another straight rocker with loads of catchy melodic things going on.
This album has been described as Iron Maiden's progressive album, I agree to some extent. I agree that it certainly is progressively inclined what with the concept storyline an all, the layers of guitars and all the time and tempo changes. But I do not think that it is THE progressive Maiden album, because the progressive mentality has been there from the very first album. But, "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" certainly is more progressive than the follow-up albums "No Prayer for the Dying" and "Fear of the Dark", both of which has a more straight rock approach to them.
Recommended to anyone who likes rock or metal!
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"This album has received a lot of flak for its stripped down approach to rock music compared to Maiden's previous releases. I can understand why. I mean, there were a lot of changes on this album - perhaps more than the average fanboy could bear:
the band had lost an integral member when Adrian Smith left the music is stripped down and simplified compared to their previous progressive releases Bruce Dickinson had attained a raspier singing style than his quasi-operatic screaming the album was recorded in a barn and the production is not as fat and polished as usual the Eddie continuity had been broken and the cover artwork simplified; all the visual goodies that you could find in a Maiden album were gone here For some reason, although I am a Maiden fanboy, I was never disappointed with this album, and the changes in Maiden's style did not bother me (that disappointment came with "Fear of the Dark", though), and I think there is plenty of good stuff on this album. Also, the guitar harmonies are still there and so are the quirks. There are just not as many of them as usual.
Stand-out tracks are "Tailgunner" with its engaging buildup and groovy bridge, the melancholic ballady title track whose guitar theme I absolutely love and the epic-sounding "Mother Russia".
There are many of obscure tracks on this album that do not get the attention they deserve such as the two Murray tracks "Public Enema Number One" and the more straightforward yet captivating "Fates Warning", both of which are among my favorite tracks of this album. "Run Silent Run Deep" is a galloping song about u-boat warfare and it contains everything a Maiden fan ought to love such as a prominent galloping bass and guitars, guitar melodies, war lyrics, complex twin lead guitars and a bridge of several different parts. Yet somehow, it never achieved the status of a Maiden classic. "Hooks In You" is a more straightforward rocker with contributions by Adrian Smith; it's okay, and I like the guitar in the chorus, but it's not my favorite Maiden track.
Then there are the two hits "Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter" and "Holy Smoke", both of which are simple rock songs and both of which are a bit silly. I can appreciate the humor in them, but I think that they were promoted too much in comparison with some of the other and more substantial tracks on this underrated album.
My appreciation of this much bashed album goes counter to mainstream opinion (admittedly, "mainstream" opinion is a bad choice of expression when it comes to heavy metal), but I think that this album would be a good entry point into heavy metal for those who are used to hard rock but not yet ready for the affinities of the more prog side of Maiden and metal in general.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of a really big dead bird, Maiden were reborn with the return of Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson. The first release of the 2000s, "Brave New World" saw a partial return to the style of the 80s, a retention of those good things that were introduced in the Blaze era, and additions of a lot of new and quite proggy elements. I remember hearing it for the first time, and feeling invigorated for months just by the thought of Iron Maiden themselves being invigorated.
"Wicker Man" is a great energetic opener with a really catchy pre-chorus and an equally catchy chorus. "Ghost of the Navigator", which is probably my favorite of that album and one of my favorite Maiden tracks ever, is melodic and energetic at the same time, and, despite it not being a super long tune, it is quite epic, partially due to the lyrics. The guitar theme, which is doubled by the vocals in the chorus, is simple but effective. "Blood Brothers" is probably considered the most progressive tune on the album by many due to its slight folk influences, which are not obvious, but they are there if your listen closely, with the almost medieval sounding guitar theme. "Brave New World", "Dream of Mirrors", and "Out of the Silent Planet" are all quite typical of Maiden's newfound style (or perhaps refound style), with catchy choruses, blazing guitar solos, and over the top vocals, and blending a touch of complexity and sophistication with straightforward catchiness. I guess this goes for "Fallen Angel" and "The Mercenary", the latter probably being the least appealing track on the album. "The Nomad", another epic sounding tune, is vaguely reminiscent, at least in atmosphere, of Rainbow's perhaps most progressive pieces, "Stargazer" and "Gates of Babylon". "The Thing Line Between Love And Hate" is interesting, it starts out being almost stone-agishly simple with basically a two-chord verse and a four-chord chorus, but eventually modulates into this rather complex and semi-proggy affair; a very interesting twist, if not totally successful.
In conclusion, "Brave New World" is a great comeback after a troubled decade. It's highly recommended to anyone who wishes to be introduced to one of the greatest metal bands ever.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Yes, the cover's not great. Right, Eddie doesn't look right, but who cares? It's about the music, this. And the music's great. Maiden carries on the "Brave New World" formula, while bringing in some more proggy elements. Besides, the covers of the two Blaze era albums are much worse (as it happens, I've started to appreciate the roughness of the "Dance of Death" cover recently, and compared to the new Space-Eddie, this Grim-Reaper-Eddie certainly looks right!).
"Wildest Dreams" is perhaps the second weakest track on the album without being bad. It's obviously a power-opener in the tradition of Iron Maiden, but I think other openers like "Prowler", "Aces High", "Moonchild", "Be Quick or Be Dead", "Wicker Man" and "Different World" work better (of course, the band has abandoned this tradition on "The Final Frontier"). But never mind that. It's still a powerful opener, and it doesn't suck, and that's what counts.
"Rainmaker" is another great short rocker; yet with its vocally and musically interesting chorus it seems more sophisticated and interesting than "Wildest Dreams". "No More Lies", a seven minute non-epic tune is despite its length actually quite simple, but not simplistic, and it generally works very well. "Montségur" is a more classical heavy metal tune, both in terms of the composition and the lyrical theme, but it works very well, and despite it not being super long, it is actually somewhat of an epic in atmosphere. "Gates of Tomorrow", "Age of Innocence" and "Face in the Sand" are typical instances of Maidens post 2000 style, carrying on much in the same vein as the tracks on "Brave New World", combining the catchy with the sophisticated. "New Frontier" falls under this category too, but is noteworthy in that it's the first "proper" Iron Maiden song where the main contribution was made by Nicko McBrain, who wrote the main bass line. The song overall works very well and has a great bridge and a totally catchy chorus. The true outstanding track on the album is "Paschendale", primarily masterminded by Adrian Smith (man, I missed him while he was pursuing his solo career). The song starts out with a solitary guitar tapping pattern accompanied by an iconic hi-hat pattern meant to imitate morse code. The song explodes into a classic metal style verse and then builds up towards truly epic proportions with keyboards, symphonic scores and what not. Great music, and the lyrics are very picturesque - not in the sense of being beautiful, but in the sense of evoking images of death and destruction and almost provoking the feelings of fear and chaos in the mind of the listener. Following closely is "Dance of Death", and eerie nightmarish piece of music with lyrics telling an equally nightmarish story whose first poetic person perspective reminds one of some of the epic poems of the Romantic era.
Great stuff. Recommendable to anyone who likes rock music, and a good introduction to Iron Maiden to those who have yet to be initiated.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
""A Matter of Life and Death" is, to my ears, a really great and quite progressive album with intricate compositions, epic tracks, catchy melodies, interesting and relevant lyrics, and great performance by all six members. As with many of their golden era albums, all tracks on "A Matter of Life and Death" are memorable in one way or another, so I'm just going to mention three highlights here.
"Different World" started out a more progressive affair with a 7/4 riff by Adrian Smith which Steve Harris straightened out to 4/4, and it worked. The track is very catchy, uplifting and energizing with some really great singing by Bruce Dickinson, including an unusual Lynott-esque sounding chorus-line. I spent an entire month listening only to this track while bicycling to and from work (and that's 10 km each way) - that's how energizing it is.
"Brighter than a Thousand Suns" is, to me, a truly progressive affair with interesting and surprising changes in time and tempo and some odd time signatures here and there to boot. While complex, it's catchy at the same time, and it does include an almost power pop like section which explodes out of the blue, and that world really well. The lyrics may be outdated, as they deal with the atom bomb, a theme that was prevalent in the 1980s; but then again, maybe it serves as a reminder that nuclear weapons are still around. In addition it's not your classic fear-the-bomb song, but rather it approaches it in an almost philosophical perspective describing the bomb as man's attempt to play God.
"For the Greater Good of God" is yet another lyrically interesting and relevant tune dealing with religion and all the atrocities that have been committed in its name. It starts out with a soft melodic section in which Bruce Dickinson, according to himself, sounds almost like Cat Stevens. As with most other tunes on this album, this track is rich in catchy guitar melodies and great solos, and the chorus is just great both in terms of vocals and in terms of music (there's even a stint of a galloping feel to it).
The other songs are equally as great. Progheads may find "The Legacy" interesting with its eerie introduction, which Steve Harris himself finds reminiscent of early Genesis.
"A Matter of Life and Death" is a truly great album and a very progressive affair that never loses its metal edge. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"This album never sat well with me. I know it was a huge international hit at the time, and I understand why, but when it came out, I was disappointed with many of the tracks on it and I considered the less progressive and more hard rock oriented approach a regression of sorts. I love hard rock, but my inner Maiden fanboy just couldn't come to terms with Iron Maiden playing hard rock.
The tracks that disappointed me at the time, and still don't sit well with me to this day are "From Here to Eternity" (I admit that I like its catchy chorus, but the song as a whole never did anything for me), "The Apparition" and "Weekend Warrior", which both sound like second rate AC/DC tracks to me (I like the bridge section of the former though).
"Judas Be My Guide" and "Chains of Misery" are okay rock/metal tracks, and I enjoy listening to them, to be sure, but compared to many of Maiden's other songs throughout their career they they are at an average level. Iron Maiden do deserve credit for writing these songs, because they are different from the usual Maiden material at the time, and these two tracks work much better than Maiden's other attempts at being different on this album.
There are also some above average tracks on this album. The opener "Be Quick or Be Dead" is an uptempo metal track which is likely to spark off an adrenaline rush in the listener (which is, unfortunately immediately killed by "From Here to Eternity). "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" is probably the hit ballad of the album, and I think it is quite good. It is dark, heavy and melancholic which makes the uptempo bridge seem even more uptempo than it is. There are also some nice guitar harmonies in this track, which can also be said about the other ballad "Wasting Love" although it does not work as well as "Afraid...". I also quite like "Fear Is the Key", which is a sort of classic rock track with a metallic edge and a darker atmosphere contributed by the eastern scale that the track is built around.
"Childhood's End" and "The Fugitive" are more obscure tracks, but for some reason, they are my favorite tracks of the album. And then there is, of course, the super hit "Fear of the Dark", which is a dark and sing-along-friendly metal track.
While a very popular Iron Maiden album, it is, for my money, far from their best release. However, the music on this album is perhaps more accessible to the uninitiated than many of their other albums, and I am more at ease recommending this as an entry point into the world of Iron Maiden than with "The X Factor" or "Virtual XI" or even "The Final Frontier" although the latter is much more up my alley than "Fear of the Dark".
(review also posted at metalmusicarchives.com)"
""The X-Factor" was the first album to feature Blaze Bayley on vocals, something which a lot of Iron Maiden fans have problems with. Don't blame Blaze though. While not as great a vocalist as Bruce Dickinson, Blaze Bayley handles the vocals fairly well, and his dark melancholic voice suits the darker music quite well. The music itself is somewhat lacking in energy, although it does retain aspects of the technicality and intricacy associated with Maiden. However, the lack of energy and the strange almost ethereal (in lack of a better word) guitar sound makes it difficult to appreciate this album fully. That, and the fact that whatever twin guitar appears on the album is either played in unison or octave harmonies rather than the intricate harmony patterns of earlier Maiden.
There are some good songs on this album, like the epic "Sign of the Cross", the energetic "Man on the Edge", the catchy "Lord of the Flies" and the unusual "Blood on the World's Hands" and "The Unbeliever", and I think these tunes are what carries the album through ("Sign of the Cross" and "Man on the Edge" being better than just good, in my opinion). In addition there are some okay but not really memorable tunes, such as "Edge of Darkness", "Fortunes of War" and "Judgment of Heaven". Apart from the latter, whose chorus is admittedly quite catchy, these tunes are, while okay, not really significant in any way other than being different from the style usually associated with Maiden.
"Look for the Truth" was, til "Virtual XI" got released, probably the worst Iron Maiden tune I'd ever heard. It pains me to say so, as I consider myself a loyal Maiden fan, but this song is not just bad, but also ridiculous.
"The X-Factor" is not a good album, but it's not a catastrophe either. It's just okay. I hasten to repeat that it's not Blaze's fault. He does a fine job. It's the music itself and the production that are somehow lacking something. I wouldn't recommend this album to any Maiden "noob", I think an 1980s or 2000s Bruce era album would probably be a more appealing introduction to the band. It's probably a collectors' only item.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"It took me ten years to get my acts together and buy this album. Only after the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith did I have the nerve to buy it, knowing that Maiden had been saved.
"Virtual XI" is the worst Iron Maiden album ever, in my opinion. I simply can't listen to it from the first track to the last track. I can't; I have to turn it off, skip through songs or, at the very least, fast forward now and then. Otherwise, it's too painful:
most of the tracks are totally void of energy there are hardly any catchy melodies the production is muddy and the guitars lack texture and substance whatever twin guitar melodies are there are uninteresting and hollow Blaze's performance is sub par on many of the quieter tracks (and sub par compared to the previous Maiden album and to his years in Wolfsbane) the tunes are generally weak (some sections bordering the pathetic, one section even sounding like polka played by old tired men) the album is uninteresting and uninspiring as whole Okay, not everything sucks. I think "Futureal" is okay, and "Clansman" is good. Other tunes contain certain interesting parts, such as the unusual chorus of "Lightning Strikes Twice" and "Educated Fool" contains one or two okay sections. The rest of the album is simply too depressive.
Although his performance is not optimal on this album, we shouldn't blame Blaze Bayley. It's the empty music that is the problem, as it limps forth like a sick, old, dying mammoth. I thought this was the end of Maiden... but then Bruce and Adrian came back, and the band was reborn on "Brave New World".
I wouldn't recommend this album, well, only to completionists. It certainly is not a good first hand introduction to Iron Maiden.
(review also posted on metalmusicarchives.com and progarchives.com)"
"Let me got one thing straight first. I am a big Iron Maiden fan; they are my favorite band of all time. They got me into music and I owe a lot of my good experiences in life to this band. They are basically gods in my world (more so when I was a teen, of course), but even gods can fail, and Maiden have showed this with "Fear of the Dark" and "Virtual XI" - so, is this a divine fiasco or a godlike triumph?
The first part of the opening track "Satellite 15 ... The Final Frontier" is a dark but epic instrumental section which has an almost industrial quality to it - that's certainly something I've never heard from Maiden before. While I find this opening section, which I guess is "Satellite 15" very interesting, I think that the song proper "The Final Frontier" is a somewhat lackluster and ordinary hard rock song whose most interesting aspect is the sci-fi theme.
"El Dorado" is a track the keeps growing on me - since I've already reviewed the "El Dorado" single, I'll just refer to reader to that review, which can be found here: http://progfreak.com/Iron-Maiden-El-Dorado-Review-by-Time-Signature-,_dbe,reviews,1289051339573.xhtml
The next track "Mother of Mercy" is a midtempo melodic, but not out of the ordinary, track whose chorus is nonetheless catchy, thanks to Bruce Dickinson's extraordinary vocals.
"Coming Home" has an absolutely brilliant opening with some dark melancholic guitar harmonies and changing time signatures. Then it morphs into a a power ballad of sorts; and this power ballad works quite well, mostly because of the catchy vocal lines and the bridge and outro which repeat the guitar patterns from the introduction.
"The Alchemist" is an uptempo track along the lines of "Man on the Edge" or "Be Quick or Be Dead", and this track has everything I love in Iron Maiden's music: galloping bass and guitars, catchy and epic vocal lines, and twin lead guitars galore.
I expected this album to continue in the progressive vein of "A Matter of Life and Death", and which "Brave New World" and "Dance of Death" had been building towards; and in the first five tracks these expectations were not met, but the last five tracks are much more progressive without losing their metal edge.
Clocking in at 9:06 minutes, "Isle of Avalon" is the first really epic track on the album, as it slowly builds up over a couple of verses carried by a pulsating bass and hi-hat and atmospheric guitars. After a 2:40 minutes build up, it explodes into an energetic song with plenty of interesting vocal lines, guitar solos and odd time signatures here and there, and at times it reminds me of Dream Theater and Fates Warning.
"Starblind" starts out with a Genesis-meets-Police-esque intro which is followed by the main riff which is strangely kind of hardrock yet quirky. The track oscilates between straight metal/hard rock sections and less straight parts. While most of the meters are in 4/4, McBrain's changing between straight rock drums and less conventional patterns create this interesting rhythmic tension - there is also a 7/8 section with a really nice melancholic guitar melody on top of it two thirds into the song, before the melodic intro is resumed briefly and another verse is initiated after that.
"The Talisman" is another track whose opening reminds me of the likes of 70s Genesis, and clocking in at 9:03, this is another epic track, which makes use of mostly straight metal riffage and Dickinson-style captivating vocals as well as the occasional burst of galloping guitars and guitar melodies. I really like how the band manages to take relatively simple rock and metal riffage and make something big out of it in this song, which works much better than "The Final Frontier".
"The Man Who Would Be King" starts out with a ballady melodic opening and then builds into a "Thin Line Between Love And Hate"-like track which contains several elements from the Iron Maiden bag of tricks - most excitingly is the sudden change into an almost funky alt. metal-like part at 3:58. Again, this song starts out with some simple rock riffage and then builds into something big and epic the way that only Maiden can do it.
For some reason some of the vocal lines of "When the Wild Win Blows" reminds me of some of Nik Kershaw's songs [this is not an insult... I like Nik Kershaw], and it works! There are several changes in this track, some abrupt, some in the form of breakdowns, and some through buildups. But that's what you'd expect from an Iron Maiden track which clocks in at around 11 minutes.
So, fiasco or triumph? Well, I must admit that the first tracks from this album that were released - "El Dorado" and "The New Frontier" had me a bit worried, and I will also admit that my first reaction after having heard the whole album was "Phew!". I think it is the least strong album by Maiden since Bruce's return because of the first couple of tracks, but I really like how the band pursues the more progressive style of "A Matter of Life and Death" on the last five tracks or six tracks. This definately is not a fiasco, and "The Final Frontier" is a fine album and an effort that Maiden can be proud of.
And a note on Dickinson's voice: there are those who have complained that his voice and his singing is weak on this album - that's not true; Dickinson's performance on this album is just as strong as on the previous three ones, and there are instances here where it is his vocal lines and unique voice that serve to carry the track, or parts of the track, in question.
And a note on Eddie: what the hell did they do to poor old Eddie? The new Alien Eddie is hideous! I want the old Eddie back! Fortunately, this is secondary to the music, but still... ;-)
I'd recommend this album to fans of Maiden's post-2000 style. Fans of older Maiden might want to skip the first couple of tracks, but they're certain to love "The Alchemist"."
"Iron Maiden released "El Dorado" as a one-track online single freely available for download promoting their 2010 album "The Final Frontier".
"El Dorado" is an interesting song. In many ways, it is a typical Iron Maiden track with catchy melodies, gallopping guitars and bass, and guitar solo trading and all that wonderful stuff. Yet, it also seems stripped down in comparison to the incresingly progressive trajectory that Iron Maiden have been following since Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned ten years ago.
Although I love the way the song starts, I was a bit put off by the following guitar riff (not the layer of galloping guitars), but as the song progressed it became obvious to me that it served the greater good of the entire structure of the song, which builds up from the stripped down and straightforward rock 'n' rollish beginning to a more epic-sounding bridge, before it breaks down back into the simple riffing. And in the perspective of the entire song, these contrasts work very well.
The more I listen to "El Dorado", the more I like it, although it will probably never be me favorite Iron Maiden song. But it served its purpose well and now I can hardly wait for the new album to be released.
(Review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"After the somewhat average efforts of the Blaze Bayley period, Iron Maiden come back, in blistering form.
This album manages to combine the best of the NWOBHM sound, classic metal, and yet, simultaneously still give it a contemporary edge. A must have for any Maiden fan."
"While not completely up to scratch compared to the earler early days Maiden albums, "Killers" is nonetheless teeming with great Maiden classics, like "Killers" and "Wrathchild", but also some more obscure tunes like "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "Purgatory" (which was nonetheless released in single format). "Killers" is an essential addition to any Iron Maiden collection."
"Many people are quite euphoric about this album - some even say that it's progressive. I don't think so ... they do pick up a lot of influences, including Dream Theater (usually it's the other way round). I think it works out, but it's not a brilliant release. I still prefer the classic releases from the early 80s ... true masterpieces, while this seems more like a rehash of all those albums while trying to sound modern."
