One thing that you need to be aware of: If you’re a Maiden die-hard, From Fear To Eternity was not designed for you. This, much like Somewhere Back In Time, is for new fans only. (Although a bone was thrown to us die-hards, more on that later.)
This is a decent compilation. The reason I bought it was to “complete the collection”, and of course the great cover art (by Melvyn Grant once again). The cover pays homage to Maiden album and single covers of the past 20 years. The only one I didn’t see represented in some way was The X Factor, but see if you can spot a clue.
This collection is a joy to listen to from start to finish. I won’t go over the details with a fine-toothed comb, but there are plenty of fan favourites here: “Passchendale”, “Benjamin Breeg”, “The Clansman”…and these are not short songs, folks! Of course there were the hits, all big in Europe if not here in North America: “Bring Your Daughter”, “Wicker Man”, “Different World”, “Man On The Edge”, “Afraid To Shoot Strangers”, “Tailgunner”. There are also a slew of personal favourites such as “Be Quick or Be Dead”, “For The Greater Good of God”, and “Where The Wild Wind Blows”. Really it is very hard to find fault with this collection, or the running order.
In fact my only beef is the lack of inclusion of the ballad “Wasting Love” which I still have a soft spot for. Also I was surprised that “From Here To Eternity” is not on here, not a personal favourite song, but it did lend its title to this album!
Finally, one touch that I enjoyed was substituting the Blaze Bayley era songs for live versions with Bruce singing. After all, Maiden are out there touring now, and new fans don’t need to be confused by a different singer. This means that you’ll get the live version of “Sign of The Cross” from the Rock In Rio album. But what’s really cool is that the live “Man On The Edge” was only released as a B-side to “The Wicker Man” single, so this is its first album release. A little extra bonus for the Maiden die-hard who may have missed that single a decade or so ago.
I strongly recommend this collection to new Maiden fans, as there is really not a bad song in the bunch, and it’s a great listen from front to back. For die-hards, you already have (most of) these songs, so if you feel like picking it up for the cover art like I did, it’s still an enjoyable listen.
In 2012, I posted 493 articles. I did 157 chapters in a continuing series of Record Store Tales which has been extremely satisfying. The rest have been a series of reviews, and rants! Very popular was my series ofKiss reviews(53 of them!), when I covered every Kiss album in sequence. Currently, I’m finishing up my series of Iron Maiden reviews(42 so far in a series of 45), covering every album and rarity that I have access to. It’s been a blast!
2.The many Guest Shots (10 so far!) from contributors such as Tommy Morais, Statham, T-Rev, Mrs. LeBrain and Uncle Meat. It’s been a pleasure to read and publish your work, gentlepersons. Keep sending me stuff!
3.Record Store Excursion 2012, and the resulting video. I love making videos, and this was a blast. At last check, it’s had almost 200 hits (194 to be exact) including some of the people at the stores that we reported on!
Thanks to all the readers out there who’ve made 2012 so much fun here at LeBrain’s Blog. Let’s kick 2013 into overdrive.
So here we are, the tail end of 2012. While I’m sure you’re just starting to get your drink on, we here at LeBrain’s Blog are tirelessly bringing you the rock even into the wee final hours. This is the time, traditionally, when we look at the past year!
We used to do Top Five of the Year lists at the record store, when we used to have our newsletter. Unfortunately I don’t have copies of any of those newsletters, not a one, which is a real shame since I poured my heart and soul into them as much as anybody else at the store. It would have been fun to look back 15 years and see what my top five of 1997 was. I do know for certain two albums that were on it: Accident of Birth by Bruce Dickinson, and The Colour and the Shape by Foo Fighters! The rest have been lost to the dusts of time.
Hey, if any of you guys are still speaking to me and have copies of the newsletter, lemme know eh? ;)
Back to the present for a moment:
What can I say about 2012? Before I even thought about doing my own blog, events were in motion that pushed me in that direction. My good buddy Craig Fee invited me down to 107.5 Dave FM for an entire week — Stump LeBrain Week! I spent a week on the air, with listeners trying to stump me. There were even a couple LeBrain Weeks and an entire month of LeBrainuary, where every single day’s 4 O’clock 4 Play quizzes were mined from my own brain’s knowledge. It was a blast, and left me hungry for more.
I’d always been writing Record Store Tales. The oldest ones were at least a decade old on my hard drive, but I had no idea what to do with them. I’d also been writing reviews — well over 800 of them on file before I launched — that very few people had seen. Craig said to me, “LeBrain, you need to get blogging this stuff. Write something every day. If you build it, they will come.”
So that’s what I did, and I thank you for reading.
Back to the Record Store Tales:
I published Part 1 on March 9 2012, the beginning of the story, called Run to the Hills. It was about the very first time I heard Iron Maiden, a date I’ll never forget. And thus LeBrain’s Blog and Record Store Tales were launched.
Some highlights from the early months that you may have missed if you’re fairly new here:
You know this was gonna happen. Aside from the fact that I’m the biggest Kiss fan around, it’s a fucking great record. Read LeBrain’s review of Monster here.
Runner up: Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson – TAAB2 Thick As A Brick 2.
Welcome back. This is part 41 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews! As mentioned when we talked about The Essential Iron Maiden, we are now in the compilation years. I won’t spend as much time on these hits discs as I did studio albums.
IRON MAIDEN – Somewhere Back In Time (2008)
Once again, Maiden have geared a hits disc to the newbies who have never bought anything by the band before. The overall concept was cool. As they did on the Eddie Rips Up the World tour, Maiden chose to take a look somewhere back in time, and only play songs from a certain era. This time, the band brought back the Powerslave imagery, and chose only to play songs up to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (and cheating by also playing “Fear of the Dark”.
I personally felt this was a very smart move, since many fans (whiners) had complained that on the A Matter of Life and Death tour, the band had played that entire album. You want oldies? Well now you got them so stop yer whinin’.
To promote the tour, Maiden issued this Somewhere Back In Time disc. All songs feature Bruce Dickinson on lead vocals, so that means live versions where the old Di’Anno material is concerned. Like it or not, you can at least understand Maiden trying to promote the singer that the newbies were going to be seeing live.
I loved the touch of kicking off the album with “Churchill’s Speech” as I don’t think they have ever devised a better way to open a Maiden concert. Then, into the Live After Death version of “Aces High”. It seemed an odd choice for opening a hits album. From there, you’re into a non-stop onslaught of Maiden classics. “Two Minutes”, “The Trooper”, “Wasted Years”, even “Children of the Damned” and “Phantom of the Opera”! I can’t find too much fault with the overall track selection, or sequence. Those who dislike live versions are getting four: three Di’Anno songs, plus “Aces High”.
Sure, you could argue for certain inclusions. “Where Eagles Dare” or “Heaven Can Wait”, perhaps? “The Clairvoyant” is also missing. These are nitpicks.
The album also comes with full lyrics, descriptive liner notes, and even a cool poster with new artwork on it. The poster I have is for the Canadian tour — don’t know if other countries got their own posters, or none at all? It’s hard to fit the poster back into the jewel case once opened.
Good value for new Maiden fans, old fans only need to own if they’re looking for “the complete collection”. But even for new fans, this is really only a starter. Eventually you should really get the albums.
Cassettes Part IV – LeBrain’s Tapes (What Remains)
I used to have a lot of tapes. So many, that T-Rev converted my closet doors to shelving, just to store my numerous cassettes! It was quite a feat of engineering on his part.
If you’ve read the otherthreeparts of this series on cassettes, then you’ve already seen some of the awesome artwork that T-Rev used to come up with for his tapes. Doing those articles got me nostalgic, but very few of my own tapes remained. A year or two before I met Mrs. LeBrain, I briefly dated this one girl who was getting into hair metal. I had succeeded in replacing most of my tapes on CD (although still incomplete; I need a copy of Live Fast, Die Fast by Wolfsbane, and Phenomenon 1). All my tapes were redundant, and I gave her boxes and boxes full of them.
God knows where those tapes are now. I doubt she took them back home to Thunder Bay when it was all over, they probably ended up in a landfill. No big loss really, the only shame of it is that, like T-Rev, I used to make a lot of my own custom artwork.
Mrs. LeBrain and I were visiting her mom yesterday, and I found some of my old Beatles tapes that I had made, at her place! Her dad drove a delivery van with nothing but a tape deck inside. He was more than happy to receive my old Beatles tapes, and he loved them. And there they were, still at the house, complete with my computer generated J-cards. Nothing elaborate, although I did paste the cover for Abbey Road onto that tape.
This inspired me to dig through some boxes here, and see if I had any of my own tapes left. Surely there must be something here, with some of my own custom cover art! There was just a handful left, stuff that I wouldn’t have parted with at the time, and lo and behold, there was my old artwork. These sure brought back memories!
Back in the early record store days, cassette was my primary medium. They were portable, you could leave them in the car and not worry about them getting banged up, so I recorded everything onto cassette. It wasn’t until I had left the record store in 2006 that I got my first car with a CD deck. Before then, I had one of those adapter kits to play a discman in the car, but it sounded shite. I was glad to find the following treasures tucked away in a box!
Ahh, Spinal Tap. A Spinal Tap Reunion was recorded from a 1992 TV special. Unavailable on DVD today, as far as I know. That’s a shame.
I bought Grande Rock by The Hellacopters on vinyl, to get that bonus track “Angel Dust”. Or, more accurately, one of my record store compatriots got it for me at Orange Monkey Music in Waterloo. I dutifully recorded it to cassette without making elaborate packaging, but I did put some effort into the cassette spine.
You Fat Bastards by Faith No More was the full show that was released on CD in truncated form on the Live at the Brixton Academy CD. This was from a VHS release.
Guns N’ Roses did a couple cool TV specials. I recorded Live at the Ritz off T-Rev, who stuck on some demos for bonus tracks. The cover was made by adapting an old Appetite For Destruction J-card. I think this turned out pretty cool. Invade Paris! was a TV special from 1992.
These two Maiden tapes were from VHS releases. It’s a shame that Raising Hell was never released on a CD. Here’s hoping the band will put that out on a future box set. It was Bruce’s “final” show. I just edited out the crap sections with “magician” Simon Drake. Maiden England is also taken from VHS, but this is the full show. The CD release omitted two songs: “Can I Play With Madness”, and “Hallowed Be Thy Name”. My cassette didn’t! I thought my J-card for Maiden England turned out pretty cool, using an old Seventh Son cover as its basis.
Unfortunately, this is all that remains of my old cassette art. I did some much more elaborate things, which Thunder Bay Girl probably tossed out. One was for Savatage’s Dead Winter Dead. When I recorded that one to cassette, I actually painted the gargoyle onto a J-card. Wish I kept that one. Rush’s Test For Echo may have been the most elaborate one I’ve done. Using some old cardboard and a full-page ad for the album, I created my own digipack for that cassette. It would be nice to still have. Ahh well.
It seems funny, in today’s age of mp3 files and players, that a format as crappy as cassette was anyone’s main format. But there you go. Before I could play CD’s in the car, they were the best way to bring music with me. I’ve always believed a music collection was for showing off as much as listening to, plus I enjoyed making the artwork. I’m glad some still survives today!
This one arrived too late to slide into the schedule when I posted my own review of A Matter of Life and Death. Better late than never! Here’s the infamous Meat with his take on the album. A more seasoned take, perhaps. Enjoy!
That’s the Meat Man on the left, in case you didn’t know.
He’s a pretty big Iron Maiden fan…
IRON MAIDEN – A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
The Reincarnation of Iron Maiden
To semi-quote a good friend of mine, “I have seen Iron Maiden live…I have seen Iron Maiden live…a lot”
November 30, 1984 –Maple Leaf Gardens- World Slavery Tour (Twisted Sister opening)
July 20, 1999 – Massey Hall – Ed Hunter Tour
May 5, 2003 – Molson Amphitheater – Give Em’ ‘Ed Til I’m Dead Tour (Motorhead and Dio opening)
August 3, 2005 – Air Canada Center – Eddie Rips Up the World Tour
October 16, 2006 – Air Canada Center – A Matter of Life and Death Tour
March 16, 2008 – Air Canada Center – Somewhere Back in Time World Tour
July 13, 2012 – Molson Amphitheater – Maiden England World Tour
I was 15 when I first saw Iron Maiden live. I remember standing outside Sam the Record Man downtown Kitchener to get the tickets. Took one of those party busses up to Toronto for the show. When I saw Maiden this last July, it was hard to believe that the first time I saw them was 28 years earlier. While there are specific memories from each and every one of those shows, the aforementioned A Matter of Life and Death Tour holds a special place in my concert-loving heart.
Having seen Maiden four times previous, I was obviously excited for another great show, but was also expecting another “greatest hits” tour with a dabble of new material. What I and the other 15,799 concertgoers got was something else. I have seen a shit load of concerts. But never have I seen a band come on stage and literally play their new album to a sold out crowd… from track 1 to the end. I didn’t really even know the album that well going into the show. But it was one of my favorite concert experiences ever. I can imagine that rehearsals for this tour were quite extensive. It’s one thing for them to get together and polish up “The Prisoner” or “Clairvoyant”. It’s another thing to rehearse all your new material and get it ready for touring. And this album especially…for these reasons…
The shortest track on the album is 5:08 (“The Pilgrim”)
This may be the band’s most progressive album, song-structure wise.
With all due respect to Dance of Death and Brave New World, I believe Iron Maiden had not released something this relevant since 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. A Matter of Life and Death sees Maiden finding a seamless way to connect hooks within unpredictable progressive grooves. This band has always been linked with Thin Lizzy in several ways, but never more than this album. There are moments where you start to actually appreciate Thin Lizzy more by listening to it, which I suspect may have been a conscious or sub-conscious goal in the creation of this album.
There is not a weak track on this album. There are several A++ songs. The opening track, “Different World” is as such and is and was a great song to start off a show. “For the Greater Good of God”, the longest track on the album, sees Maiden showing heavy chops while somehow staying bluesy. “The Longest Day” might be the most progressive Iron Maiden track of all time. Also my favorite track on the album, “Brighter Than a Thousand Suns”, hypnotically kicks ass with melody. Hey, that pretty much defines the band itself doesn’t it?
A Matter of Life and Death is indeed “Brighter Than a Thousand Suns”; one of the most important albums in the Maiden canon.
Part 41 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews! This time, we’ll talk about the Kerrang! exclusive tribute album Maiden Heaven, and a cover tune that didn’t make it onto the B-sides for A Matter of Life and Death.
This will be the last Maiden review of this series before Christmas. After the holiday we’ll reconvene so be sure to check back!
TRIBUTE TO IRON MAIDEN – Maiden Heaven (2008)
A little bit out of continuity, I wanted to get this release out of the way before we get into the next Maiden studio album. Maiden Heaven was a Kerrang! exclusive tribute album, probably out of print. I received this from my bud Dan Slessor who writes for the mag. It was especially interesting to me for the exclusive Metallica and Dream Theater tracks! Thus far, neither of these tracks have been reissued on releases by either band!
“Remember Tomorrow” by Metallica is friggin’ amazing. It sounds exactly as you would expect, retaining the hard/soft vibe of the original, but with Kirk’s slippery soloing and Lars’ machine gun snare fills. James nails the vocal with his trademark growl. I would consider this among the very best covers that Metallica have recorded. As James says, “Yeeeahh-yah!” Unfortunately, there are no producer credits.
Dream Theater had the guts to cover “To Tame A Land”, one of my personal favourite tracks from Piece of Mind. Dream Theater have been nothing but courageous their entire career, so it is only suitable that they would tackle one of the lesser-appreciated Maiden epics, and one of the rhythmically most challenging. Mike Portnoy was still the drummer at this time. It’s interesting to hear the song performed with keyboards since the original was so sparse and dry (reflecting the planet Dune itself). But the keyboards lend a more exotic middle-eastern flavour. It is also interesting hearing anyone but Steve Harris playing the bass line since it is such an integral part of the song. Nothing against James Myung, the man is an absolute master of his instrument, but any time anybody covers Maiden, the bass always sticks out like a sore thumb because nobody sounds like Steve. James LaBrie has no problem tackling the challenging vocal, high notes and all.
Other bands that appear on the disc include Coheed and Cambria (“The Trooper”), Avenged Sevenfold (“Flash of the Blade”…woo!), Trivium (“Iron Maiden”) and Machine Head (“Hallowed Be Thy Name”). Most of the rest of the bands I have never heard of, but I also liked this soft acoustic n’ keys version of “Brave New World” by a band called Ghostline. One that I definitely hated was “Run To The Hills” by some band called Sign. It’s just…weird. Unique, but just wrong.
Overall, an interesting listen but I really only need it for Metallica and Dream Theater.
3/5 stars
And second, from the brand new Deep Purple tribute album…
IRON MAIDEN – “Space Truckin'” from the Deep Purple tribute album Re-Machined (2012)
Sonically, it is very raw, sounding live off the floor. Some fans were underwhelmed by the track. I think it’s obvious that Bruce is thrilled to be covering his idol, Ian Gillan. He throws in lots of those little Gillan idiosyncrasies. “Eee-hoo-hoo!” While I think Maiden did a fine job on the track (especially considering they don’t have a keyboard player), this is not one of the great Maiden covers. It’s no “I’ve Got The Fire” or “Massacre”. It’s still a total treat to hear Maiden gleefully ripping through this classic. If this was actually live in front of an audience, I think it would have been better received.
IRON MAIDEN – A Matter of Life and Death (2006 CD/DVD)
“Majestic” is the best word I can think of to describe A Matter of Life and Death, the 14th studio album by Iron Maiden (and 3rd of the “reunion era). That, and “classic”! This truly is classic Maiden: Most songs running between 7 and 9 minutes long, recorded virtually live off the floor, raw and epic. I truly believe that this represents the absolute peak of Maiden’s creativity. While not a concept album like Seventh Son, it does indeed follow themes: war, religion, humanity.
Anybody who thought Dance of Death sounded tired had better get ready to be blown away by a revitalized band. This is the best album of the reunion era, my favourite from the sextet period, and a shining moment in the Maiden canon. 10 songs, over an hour of music. If you’re not a fan of long-winded Maiden, then perhaps this one’s not for you.
While “Different World” starts the show in a fast and furious way, similar to “Wildest Dreams” from Dance of Death, this is no re-tread. This time, melody is at the forefront, especially when Bruce lets rip in the chorus. To boot, there’s a great dual guitar solo before Adrian (the master of melody) takes one of his own. This one was written by Steve Harris and Adrian Smith, which almost always proves to be a ferocious, melodious combination. But it is also the shortest number on the album, and not in any way indicative of the challenging songs to come!
As if the opening was not good enough, “These Colours Don’t Run” is next. Going through multiple tempos, from that slow-burn Maiden opening that they’d become known for, to a pounding march, this is another winner. It is a seven minute epic with many changes, never getting dull, dueling guitars and complex rhythms, always sounding like Iron Maiden. Producer Kevin Shirley says that Bruce laid down all his vocals live off the floor. If that’s the case, it explains why there is so much magic in his voice. This is incredible. The lyrics reflect an older, wiser Maiden. No longer satisfied with simple war epics, there is a sadness here now.
Far away from the land of our birth
We fly a flag in some foreign earth
We sailed away like our fathers before
These colours don’t run from cold bloody war
“These Colours”, and the next song, “Brighter Than A Thousand Suns” were written by the triumvirate of Bruce, Steve and Adrian, which has produced so many Maiden classics in the past. The lyrics for “Thousand Suns” reflects religion, war and the atomic bomb. I’m a big fan of Bruce’s lyrics. There is even a subtle reference to Robert Oppenheimer:
Whatever would Robert have said to his God?
About how he made war with the sun
E equals MC squared, you can’t relate
How we made God with our hands
This song is not as immediate as the first two, and the chorus still has that repetition that had plagued previous albums, but its melodic quality and epic solos allow it to rise above. It’s 9 minutes long, probably could have been shorter, but aside from a couple repeated lines of chorus, I don’t know what I would cut. I like it all.
A shorter one (but still over 5 minutes), “The Pilgrim”, was written by Steve and Janick. Religion and war are the themes here, seen through the eyes of Steve. Musically it starts with a stomp, similar to a section of “Afraid to Shoot Strangers”, but then they release the brake and accelerate, culminating into another melodic chorus. Short songs like this help balance the longer material, although the previous songs are superior.
“The Longest Day” begins ominously, like a landing craft gliding quietly through the water. Once again, Steve, Adrian and Bruce have written a war classic. Something about Bruce’s lyrics, they’re never simple. They always have layers to them, and “The Longest Day” is like that. He spits the words out like a rifle, and the song is spellbinding for its entire 8 minute length, guitar harmonies intertwining with Nicko’s relentless war march. And that ends side one.
“Out of the Shadows” begins side two on a somewhat mellow note, acoustic guitars mixed with electrics, and a slower tempo. Bruce wrote this one with Steve, a rare pairing. It is probably a good thing to sequence a slow song somewhere in here, as the relentless pounding of the previous five may well have left your brain nothing but mush. Fortunately there is an epic chorus here to keep us firmly in Maiden-land.
And oh-my-God, if you happened to sleep through “Out of the Shadows”, then Benjamin Breeg has arrived to wake you from your slumber! I’ll say it again: the rare occasions that Dave Murray writes a song, it usually produces gold. “The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” is a monstrous epic, and even though it starts slow, that riff will make the dead rise from their graves. “Benjamin Breeg” is certainly one of the most immediate songs on the album, no mean feat for a song that is 7 1/2 minutes long! That time goes by in a blur so quickly, you’ll want to hit the back button on your player of choice and see what you may have missed. Awesome song, and a very brave choice as first single. There is no question: This one would make any Iron Maiden mix tape that I put together, hands down.
And as if that wasn’t enough, almost 10 minutes of “For the Greater Good of God” follows. Another condemnation of the combination of religion and war, “For the Greater Good of God” is the only song written solely by Steve. That too is a rare thing, as in the past he usually provides half an album on his own. A Matter of Life and Death truly is a collaborative effort. Twisting and turning through many sections, light and shade, this song too would fight for space on any Maiden mix CD that I make. I have heard criticism that its flaw is Steve trying to cram too many syllables into one line during the choruses. After a few listens, you don’t really notice anymore.
If you still have any life left in you after that pummeling, then prepare to meet the “Lord of Light”. Yet another Smith/Dickinson/Harris composition, it too exceeds 7 minutes. Starting quietly, it soon turns into a relentless pummeling, the three guitars behaving as one, Bruce soaring overtop. Nicko and Steve drive the whole Beast forward, this is probably the heaviest song in many respects, with a great chorus and many changes in tempo.
And finally, “The Legacy”. Almost 10 minutes long, “The Legacy” is very different for Maiden. It is a Steve/Janick composition, mellow, and lyrically devastating.
Sent off to war to play little games
And on their return, can’t name no names
Some strange yellow gas
Has played with their minds
Has reddened their eyes, removed all the lies
As if the acoustic “Journeyman” from the last album injected a new dose of courage into the band, “The Legacy” is a daring way to end an album this heavy. It begins acoustically and takes a little while to start cooking. When it does kick into gear, it is a relentless rhythm, and a total triumph. One of Maiden’s more challenging but rewarding epics.
The sound of this album is the perfect mix of heavy and raw with just enough polish. The sound straight from the mix was so hot, the band and Kevin Shirley chose not to master this album. The CD on the shelves is straight from the mixing desk, an unusual choice in mainstream music. I can’t name another album that wasn’t mastered! But the sound is perfect, I can’t fault this choice. It has an immediate, lively, vital sound. Certainly Bruce’s vocals are a highlight, and if they were live off the floor then more power to him.
(Hey, what happens when they eventually remaster the Maiden catalogue? What will they call this album? Just “mastered”?)
As far as the direction goes, the tempos are more “march” and less “gallop”, and that’s fine. It’s not about repeating the past, it’s about making a great heavy metal album, and Maiden have done that. Did I miss “the gallop” on this album? No more than I did on previous Maiden platters like Brave New World. The album is riff laden, complex, and layered. You can’t “get” it in just a couple listens. A Matter of Life and Death demands that you devote a great deal of time to it, but when you do, it will pay you back a hundred fold.
Even the cover art is a vast improvement over Dance of Death. Even though Eddie is in the background this time, it’s a great piece of art, by Tim Bradstreet with Grant Goleash. It is evocative of the music and lyrics, and just a great picture to look at.
iTunes offered a bonus track, a live version of “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, but it is available on some of the singles that we’ll talk about later. Stay tuned and we’ll discuss all the bonus tracks and B-sides. There is also a bonus DVD, a documentary on the making of the album. Included is the “Benjamin Breeg” video, a photo gallery, and an in-studio performance of “Different World”.
In summation, I believe that A Matter of Life and Death is the greatest album of reunion era Maiden. I also believe it to be their best album since Seventh Son, perhaps even surpassing that lofty masterpiece in some respects.
…And the era of Maiden compilations had begun. And I did buy them all.
The Essential is a series. I have The Essential Johnny Cash as well as others. So, this one was not put together by the band. There’s no Eddie on the cover, no exclusive content, no liner notes from Rod Smallwood nor Steve Harris. Instead there are liner notes from Lonn M. Friend of RIP Magazine. They’re aimed at newbies, but at least all songs get full musician and writing credits.
Much like 1996’s Best of the Beast, the tracks are reverse-chronological. This time, it works better than on Best of the Beast. The cool thing is that this means you start with the incredible epic “Passchendale” from Dance of Death. What an opening. Every album (studio and live) is visited, including four Blaze Bayley tracks.
Everybody bitches about what tracks should have been left off, and which should have been included. Here’s mine:
1. I would have included no Blaze tracks, and instead included live versions of Bruce singing them.
2. Those are the only times I would have included live tracks.
3. I could do without “Holy Smoke” and “Bring Your Daughter”. Give me “Tailgunner” instead.
4. Give me “Stranger In A Strange Land” instead of “Heaven Can Wait”.
But that’s about it. You get a healthy mix of hits along with great album cuts such as “Wrathchild”, “Killers”, and glory be, “Phantom of the Opera”! Those, plus “Passchendale”, make this a passable greatest hits disc.
Tracklist is below, but only you can decide if this one’s worth buying. I bought it for “the collection”. As far as a complete career-spanning set goes, this is about as close as it got without having to buy multiple sets. However it’s now out of print, so the point is moot.
BRUCE DICKINSON – Tyranny of Souls (2005, Japanese version)
I spoke about this album’s lyrics at length previously in a Record Store Tale called Navigate the Seas of the Sun. Part of the reason I love this album so much is due to the lyrics. As good as The Chemical Wedding was, science fiction is much more my speed than is William Blake. Therefore, given that slight edge, I actually do prefer Tyranny of Souls. If you’re curious about the lyrics then do please check out that aforementioned Record Store Tale.
Lyrics aside, Bruce Dickinson has had a pretty consistent decade as a solo artist, Maiden notwithstanding. Ever since his Accident Of Birth CD, he’s done nothing but truly excellent heavy metal music. Tyranny Of Souls, however is unique among them: It is Dickinson’s first solo album since rejoining Iron Maiden in 1999. Would anything be different this time? After all, usually when one does a solo album, it is to get ideas of one’s chest that are not appropriate for that band. Sometimes, that can lead to misguided genre experiments that are pleasing to few but the artist.
Reassuringly, Tyranny Of Souls is not a drastic departure from the music Bruce made on his last solo album, The Chemical Wedding. Tyranny uses that album’s sound as its starting point, but actually grows and progresses as you listen to it. It starts just as heavy, but then starts to explore light and shade.
“Mars Within” is an instrumental bit that sets up the first song, “Abduction”. It’s one of Bruce’s heaviest, but then he takes it even heavier with “Soul Intruders”. This is metal just as awesome as Bruce’s best work.
Then we get a little anthemic with “Kill Devil Hill”, easily one of the best melodies Bruce has ever written. The Wright brothers’ first flight is the subject here. We all know Bruce is a pilot and aviation is a passion of his. The passion ended up producing one of his best tunes. Just a great, incredible singalong anthem. I challenge you to get the chorus out of your head.
“Navigate The Seas Of The Sun” is a Maiden-esque power ballad, it could have fit right in with anything on Dance Of Death. Every bit as good as “Kill Devil Hill” with thoughtful lyrics to boot. More awesome songs follow: another anthem called “The River of No Return”, a fast metal tune called “Power of the Sun”, and the insanely catchy “Devil on a Hog”. Despite the silly title, this is simply a great groover, a ride you do not want to end.
The dull sludgey “Believil” is the only stumble. Skip worthy and dumb-titled, I consider this one to be filler. It’s one of those slow dirgey songs that tries to sound modern and fails. Luckily it’s also short, and it is followed by the monstrous title track, which ends the domestic album on a rather sudden note. I prefer the way the Japanese CD ends, with the epic power ballad “Eternal”. Roy Z’s incredible guitar soloing propels this one to the clouds, ending the album on a much more satisfactory note.
Speaking of Mr. Z, he does co-write and produce once again. The drums are ably played by a chap named David Moreno, who replaced the very talented David Ingraham in Z’s Tribe of Gypsies. The bass is handled by a couple guys named Ray Burke and Juan Perez. I miss the recognizable character of Ingraham and original bassist Eddie Casillas, but this album is still strong without them.
Tyranny of Souls is a triumph in many ways. One is that Bruce managed to make a heavy metal record different from Maiden, but just as good. Another is that Bruce made an album worthy of his own back catalogue. Whether you agree with me that it tops Chemical Wedding is not important. I realize that’s a tall order. Hopefully, you will agree that Bruce made yet another winner, a staggering string of great records.
And with this under his belt, Maiden returned to the studio refreshed and renewed, ready to take on A Matter of Life and Death…
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