nicko mcbrain

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988, 1996 bonus CD)

Part 11 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

Seven deadly sins…

Seven ways to win…

Seven holy paths to Hell and your trip begins…

IRON MAIDEN – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988, 1996 bonus CD)

Maiden finally did it.  After years of denying that their albums had been concept albums, Maiden went ahead and wrote a concept album!  The circumstances were coincidental. The album was to be their seventh.  Steve Harris had already written his album epic, the title track “Seventh Son of Seventh Son”.  Meanwhile, Bruce had written down lyrics such as “Seven deadly sins, seven ways to win…”  Seizing this serendipitous moment, Maiden plunged forward with the tale of a boy born with healing powers and the ability to see the future…everyone’s but his own.

A boy born as the seventh son to a seventh son, in some folklore, was prophesied to have such powers.  But the inability to foresee his own fate was a cruel joke by none other than Lucifer himself.  In the story, the sides of good and evil battle for the soon-to-be-man’s soul, hoping to bend his powers to their will.

If Bruce was a basket case on the prior album, Somewhere In Time, he had bounced back by Seventh Son.  With no less than four writing credits out of eight songs, Bruce must have been satisfied that Maiden were incorporating acoustics, and keyboards.  It was all in the name of texture and light & shade.  Bruce had hoped that one day Maiden would make their Physical Graffiti and perhaps this is it.

I recall when it came out that there was some backlash:  Some Maiden fans did not take too kindly to the obtuse lyrics, acoustic guitars, and softer more progressive direction.  When you listen to both albums back to back, on a whole I think Seventh Son is heavier than Somewhere In Time, by a hair.  Yet compared to Powerslave or Killers, clearly this was new and different.  Some didn’t like that, while others took the time to get to know and love Seventh Son.  I can recall being perplexed by the lyrics, struggling to figure them out, and wondering if the symbols written on the lyric sheet were clues.

At the same time that Maiden were exploring new directions, so was cover artist Derek Riggs.  No longer wishing to draw Eddies with axes in people’s heads, he came up with something very different that suited Maiden’s more mystical musical direction.   Here’s another one I wish I had on vinyl!  Clearly no longer on our plane of reality, but still with his cybernetic implants, Eddie seems to be giving birth to a new generation of Eddies!  On the back, the Arctic ice forms seem to represent past Eddies.  Altogether, seven of them…

The acoustics and keyboards are evident right from the get go as they form a major part of “Moonchild”, written by Bruce and Adrian.  It’s a strong opener, quickly getting up to speed, with lyrical angels and demons swooping upon you as Bruce spits out the words.  I recall Bruce saying in a Canadian interview that he enjoyed playing multiple characters on the album, and when singing as the Devil, he drank “a couple cups of tea.”

Steve’s “Infinite Dreams” begins slow, in line with past Maiden ballads, the sound of precious Fenders caressing your ears as our protagonist emerges from a nightmare.  Soon the tempos change (more than once!) and Bruce lets loose a scream from hell.  (As kids, this is the first time we noticed Bruce losing some of the smoothness and range of his high voice.)

The first single, “Can I Play With Madness” is third.  It too was controversial in a way:  The music video didn’t have Iron Maiden in it!  Aside from some Powerslave footage playing on a TV in a catacomb, the video starred Monty Python’s Graham Chapman and a certain Mr. Eddie.  The mystical video did little to enlighten us kids on the meaning of the lyrics!  Musically, it’s another anthemic Maiden hard rock single, but perhaps the most commercial one yet.

The second single, “The Evil That Men Do” closed side one.  Like the previous song it was written by the triumvirate of Steve, Bruce and Adrian.  It boasts a powerful singalong chorus and some great guitar melodies.  Lyrically, our protagonist has now “slept in the dust with his daughter,” and I think you can guess who’s daughter he’s referring to.  This song represents one of the very few times Maiden sing about love, albeit in this case it’s a sub-plot of a concept album.

Side two opened with Steve’s 10 minute epic, “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” which essentially sums up the plot so far.  It’s not as dynamic as some past epics as “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, nor as riffy.  It is still quite an excellent epic, slow and meandering but of course with ample changes and parts to keep your attention.  Like “Rime” it has a slow spoken word section in the middle.

“The Prophecy”, written by Dave Murray and Steve Harris, continues the story.  The seventh son has foretold a disaster and the village is doomed.  The townspeople do not believe him.   Yet disaster does strike while “Lucifer smiles, looks on and waits,” and the town blames him for bringing a curse!  Musically this is not the best song on the album, and it comes close to filler territory.  Yet the end of it is an intricate medley of sad acoustic guitars, weaving an ancient-sounding melody.  It is moments like this that are a great example of Maiden and acoustic guitars working together appropriately. The third single, “The Clairvoyant” begins with some of Steve’s patented rinky-dinky bass melodies before the dual guitars crash in.  This melodic winner, written alone by Steve, is one of the best.  Not only are the verses soaring, but it is taken to a whole higher level when Bruce digs into the choruses. Nicko’s drum fills are exactly perfect (as they always are) punctuating the right moments with thunderclaps and rain.  It ends with a bright note though:  “As soon as you’re born, you’re dying…to be reborn again!”

Does that happier fate befall our protagonist?  Spitting out disgust at the society that rejected him, he indicts them for their crimes.  “So I think I’ll leave you, with your bishops and your guilt.  So until the next time…have a good sin.”   Yet he finds that to be reborn again might not be a good thing after all, Bruce throwing in a hinting snicker at the end…The name of the song is “Only the Good Die Young”, and it is a great Maiden closer.  One of the best.  And you just have to love that ending!

Yes, Seventh Son is indeed a triumph.  I think the reaction to it at the time was more indicative of the times.  People feared for Maiden losing their edge, as Priest seemed to do (Turbo), while newer heavier bands citing Maiden as an influence gained some traction.  If Maiden had gone even softer after Seventh Son, then I think that a portion (a minority) of fans would have given up on them.  Maiden seemed to be aware of this, though…

I find Martin Birch’s production to be a tad muddy…just by a hair though.  I’d like it a little brighter personally.  Minor nitpick.

For the first time, fans had four singles to collect!  “Infinite Dreams” was thrown out there as a single at the end, right around the time of release for the new live video, Maiden England!

Singles breakdown is below.  For whatever reason, although the other nine songs are included, the 1996 2 CD reissue of the album excluded “Heaven Can Wait”.  Too bad.  There was room on the disc.

“Can I Play With Madness” included the comedy song “Black Bart Blues”.  Please allow Bruce to introduce you to Black Bart, a suit of armor that rode on the back of their tour bus!  On the heavier side, Maiden throw in an authentic cover of “Massacre” by Thin Lizzy.  As I kid I was amazed it was  cover, because it seems custom made for Maiden once you hear this version!

“The Evil That Men Do” (besides having the best cover art, that folded out into a Monsters of Rock poster) had two great B-sides:  Re-recordings of old Maiden classics, with Bruce singing!  In fact neither Bruce, nor Adrian, nor Nicko were in the band when “Prowler” and “Charlotte The Harlot” were originally done.  The new versions, dubbed “Prowler ’88” and “Charlotte The Harlot” ’88 are captured nice and raw, much like the originals but with better production values.  Bruce really nails it on “Prowler ’88”

“The Clairvoyant” was released a a live single surprisingly, in gatefold sleeve no less.  It contained live versions of “The Prisoner” (finally, since it wasn’t on Live After Death!) and the aforementioned “Heaven Can Wait”, complete with “whoah-oh-oh” singalong.

“Infinite Dreams”, which coincided with the new live video, was also live.  It was backed by awesome live versions of “Killers” and “Still Life”, two more songs that weren’t on Live After Death.  A CD version of this video didn’t come out until 1994 so for a while this was the only place you could get them.

The Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour portended some changes.  The stage productions had gotten so large that the band were afraid of being lost in it all.  Bruce complained on Canadian TV that he’d sweat buckets on stage only to have a fan approach him and ask him something about the “fucking crystal ball”.  But deeper problems were afoot.  Bruce seemed creatively revitalized, but Adrian was clearly unhappy on stage.  The band knew it.  But in the meantime, Steve Harris had a live video to edit, and Bruce had plenty of time off for solo activities…

5/5 stars

1996 2 CD reissue:  4/5 stars – knocking off a point for excluding “Heaven Can Wait” live.

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Somewhere In Time (1986, 1996 bonus CD)

Part 9 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

IRON MAIDEN – Somewhere In Time (1986, 1996 bonus CD)

After the yearlong World Slavery Tour, to hear it told by Steve Harris, lead singer Bruce Dickinson had “lost the plot”.  Bruce on the other hand felt that the next album should be a game changer:  their Physical Graffiti.  But burned out from the road, all he brought to the table were some acoustic tunes which were all rejected. According Steve Harris, it wasn’t so much that the songs were acoustic.  It was because they weren’t very good.  This was the first time Bruce didn’t get a writing credit since The Number of the Beast!  And instead of Physical Graffiti, Bruce said that they “just made another Iron Maiden album.”

Bruce and Janick Gers acoustic, 1990

In spite of the lack of Bruce songs,  Steve, Adrian Smith and even Dave Murray came in with enough songs for an album.  They also came in with synthesizers for the first time.   All three were credited with guitar or bass synth on Somewhere In Time, a sound that threw some of us for a loop.  Also for the first time, Adrian would take sole writing credits on several Maiden songs (lyrics, music and all) which lent his more melodic bent to the resulting album.

The production, again by Martin Birch, was paradoxically both cold, and warm.  It’s a chilly sounding album, but the synths actually bring some warmth back to it.  Unfortunately there isn’t as much guitar grit as before, everything sounding smoothed out.

“Caught Somewhere In Time”, the excellent opener, starts right off the bat with synth; Maiden were laying their cards on the table.  The gallop is still there and Steve still drives the Beast forward withi his bass.  The synth doesn’t really detract from it.  It is plenty riffy, and Bruce’s voice soars with the excellent chorus.  This is a Maiden rocker to sing along to.

Adrian contributed the first of the two singles:  “Wasted Years”.  This classic song was my introduction to the new Maiden sound, since it came out a bit before the album was available.  Not only was the video great (black and white footage of the band rehearsing with collages of Eddies and tour photos) but the song was also great.  This is definitely hard rock Maiden, the kind of thing that made good Maiden singles, like “Flight of Icarus”.  The lyrics, also by Adrian, are clearly about the road life and I’m sure Bruce could pour his heart into the words.

Two lacklustre songs follow:  “Sea Of Madness” and “Heaven Can Wait”.  Neither song have ever really blown me away, but at the same time “Heaven Can Wait” turned into a tour classic for many years so what do I know?  It was the traditional concert spot for the crowd to sing along.  Smith contributed “Sea of Madness”, while Steve wrote “Heaven Can Wait”.  I do like the slow part in the middle of “Sea of Madness”, with its nice solo.

That ended side one.  Side two started with “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”, one of Steve’s longer songs.  It was based on a short story of the same name, and I have to admit that lyrically it’s not one of those Maiden songs that really has me waiting to sing the next line.  The choruses are pretty straightforward:  “Run, on and on.  Ru-uu-un, on and on.  The loneliness of the long distance runner.”  The synth in this song is effective although the song is arguably filler.

(Of note:  The intro portion of this song would really serve as a blueprint for many many Maiden songs to come.  You know the kind:  Steve’s rinky-dinky-rink bass, backing a mellow guitar melody, with mild synth in the background.  “Fear of the Dark”, starting 30 seconds in, is similar.  “Mother Russia”, 30 seconds in.  Most of  The X Factor.  And so on.)

The excellent “Stranger In A Strange Land” follows, the third of Adrian’s writing contributions.  This was the second single, and a good choice it was.  A catchy mid-tempo song, it took advantage of the textures of the new synths effectively.  I’ve read in the past that it’s based on Stranger In A Strange Land by Heinlein, but I fail to see the connection.  I always felt it may as well be about the 1984 film, Iceman.  The lyrics fit.

“Stranger” was also host to another excellent Adrian guitar solo.  It was around this time that I bought a white guitar simply because Adrian played one in the video!  And yes, the video was an excellent summation of their stage show, with giant inflatable Eddie coming out of the stage!

Steve and Davey’s “Deja-Vu” is up next, and I have always loved this one.  It’s the only song under five minutes, and it has a furiously fast pace.  The synths take a bit of the edge off, but this one is irresistible

But alas, we are now at the end:  The 8th and final song is yet another Steve Harris epic album closer.  This time the topic he chose was “Alexander the Great”.  Another historical topic for me to devour!  I later majored in history.  I wonder how much of that was due to my two greatest influences?  My dad, and Iron Maiden?

“Alexander the Great” has been criticized by some as being a lesser epic.  I really don’t know.  At this point you’re into splitting hairs.  Who cares?  It’s still awesome.  Maybe you don’t like it as much as “Ancient Mariner”; maybe you prefer “Fear Of the Dark”.  It doesn’t matter:  It’s a Steve epic and that means fast parts, slow parts, different tempos and riffs.  And through it all Bruce manages to spit out the tricky lyrics:

A Phrygian king had bound a chariot yoke
And Alexander cut the ‘Gordian Knot’
And the legend said that who untied the knot
He would become the master of Asia

The choruses are awesome, and I consider this to be one of Maiden’s lesser-known triumphs.

And what about that album cover?  Absolutely my favourite Maiden cover of all time, look for all kinds of hidden messages.  What time is it again?  Oh yeah…

I imagined that after Eddie’s resurrection on Live After Death, he had emerged some time in the future (around the time period of Blade Runner, it appears) and gotten himself some cybernetic enhancements.  The cover is, in essence, an updated take on Killers.  Emerging from his Spinner, Eddie’s traded in his hatchet for a laser.  On the back, you can see the members of Maiden themselves witnessing Eddie’s deed.  Notice Nicko’s goggles?  He’d just got his pilot’s license!

The artwork for the singles were equally awesome:  On “Wasted Years”, we see Eddie travelling back in time to 1986…chasing the T.A.R.D.I.S.?  Its B-sides were excellent!  As far as B-side material goes, these were two of the best.  “Reach Out” was a rare thing:  A song written by an outside writer, Adrian’s buddy Dave “Bucket” Colwell who would later end up in Bad Company.  Perhaps even more astonishing was the lead vocalist:  Adrian Smith!  Martin Birch compared it to Bryan Adams-type rock, but fear not! Bruce shows up by chorus-time to blow you away with his wail, as he answers Adrian’s lines.  Pure awesome in a nice sweet hard rock package.

Then there was “The Sheriff of Huddersfield”, a not-very-complimentary roast of Maiden manager Rod Smallwood!  “‘Rufus the Red’ has a crane by his bed, to wrench himself up in morn’, but if you dare to tread at the foot of his bed, you’ll wish you’d never been born!”  Not a great song, it’s still pretty damn funny.  Rodney, it seems, had fallen for the L.A. lifestyle and the band were not beyond giving him a hard time about it!

The “Stranger In A Strange Land” single had even cooler artwork:  Eddie entering a space bar full of space-scum and villainy!  Looking like a cross between Harrison Ford’s Deckard, and Clint Eastwood’s “Man With No Name”, Eddie ignores their stares.  This might be my favourite Maiden single art of all time.  (Of ALL time, Kanye!)

Its B-sides were two covers:  “That Girl” (FM) and “Juanita” (Marshall Fury).  “That Girl” is a pretty good hard rock song, very much in line with a song like “Reach Out”.  I never liked “Juanita” much though.

Don’t worry – Maiden’s arrangement is nothing like this!  Makes you wonder why they covered it though.

I have a real soft spot in my metal heart for Somewhere In Time.   Although it sags a bit in the middle, and it’s toned-down Maiden, this is still one of my personal favourites.  It came out when I first started high school, and you can’t compete with nostalgia.  Although today many consider inferior to the albums that came before and the album that came after, I have to rate it pretty high.

4/5 stars

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Live After Death (1985,1996 bonus CD, 1998 remastered edition)

Part 8 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

IRON MAIDEN – Live After Death (1985, 1996 bonus CD, 1998 remastered edition)

…We shall go on to the end.  We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be.  We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!

With that dramatic, adrenaline pumping speech from Winston Churchill, Iron Maiden hit the stage, careening across the boards ripping to shreds the opening riff to “Aces High”, guitars cranked and perfectly captured by producer Martin “Live Animal” Birch! Live After Death may be the perfect live metal album.  Running over a mammoth 100 minutes (on LP anyway), it required specially skilled engineers to cut the vinyl, so long were the records!

I have played this album so many times I could review it in my sleep. I own three copies of it, each one for its own reasons (more on that later). Iron Maiden could very well have released this album and retired, and their place in metal history would have been secured. Great value for the price of a double live album, this was at the time one of the longest double live albums ever released, with not one second of precious vinyl wasted.  The package was loaded with photos and text.

Inside the gatefold

Recorded in Long Beach, California (you can tell by Bruce’s incessant shouting, “Scream for me, Long Beach!”) and the Hammersmith Odeon, the crowds are absolutely nuts for Maiden. This is one of the best recorded live metal albums of all time, thanks to Birch. The crowd is loud, the band is clear, and the harmony vocals of Adrian and Steve are perfectly audible.  I’m certain there’s overdubs on those backing vocals, they’re too perfect.  Whatever.  Do I like the album?  Hell yeah.

There are some tunes here that you don’t hear live very often, such as “Die With Your Boots On” and the 14 minute epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (made even better with Bruce’s intro: “This is about what not to do if a bird shits on you!”). “Powerslave” is as powerful and dramatic as the original album version, glorious solo intact. There are a handful of key Di’Anno-era tracks, such as the single “Running Free”, the growling “Wrathchild”, and the band’s early opus, “Phantom of the Opera”. Indeed, this album is worth buying for “Phantom” alone, so rarely is this played. As for “Running Free”, this may now be the definitive version of that song.

(Note: the cassette version of the album edited out the long Bruce/crowd interplay.)

Here’s the three versions I own, and why:

1. Vinyl. This was what I bought back in 1985  (my first Maiden LP), and I still have it. The original vinyl was a gatefold sleeve enabling you to read all the hidden messages on the tombstones.  “Letit R.I.P.” was my favourite. Inside, the album unfolds with two fully coloured photo record sleeves and a generous booklet with liner notes from Birch and a complete list of every date on the tour. Also amusing was a list of everything they went through on tour, from guitar strings to cans of beer.

2. The 1998 remastered CD edition. The original CD releases everywhere were only one single disc, and comprised only the first three sides of vinyl, ending after “Running Free”. This CD version restores side 4 on a second CD, which included “Phantom” and “22 Acacia Avenue” among others — you can’t do without these songs!  It also includes a completely different set of photos from the album release, so that’s cool if you already have the vinyl.  No overlap.

3. The 1995 UK CD reissue of this album, which included all three B-sides. The “Running Free” single had two exclusive songs, which were “Sanctuary” and “Murdered In The Rue Morgue”, both with Bruce singing of course. The “Run To The Hills” single included the very rare instrumental “Losfer Words” which, as far as I know, was only played a handful of times and never again.

Briefly on the cover art:  You recall last time we saw Eddie was being buried.  Well, he seems to have recovered.  You can see the pyramid in the background.  How much time has passed?  Maybe we’ll find out next album….

If you don’t own Live After Death yet, then it’s time to fix that!

5/5 stars.

I’m going to pause here for a few days, as this seems a natural place to do so.  Not only does Live After Death summarize the previous 6 years appropriately, but the Iron Maiden that emerged after it would be a newly modernized Beast, “Caught somewhere in time…”

Inside the gatefold

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Powerslave (1983, 1996 bonus CD)

Part 7 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

IRON MAIDEN – Powerslave (1983, 1996 bonus CD)

Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave?

I don’t wanna die, I’m a god, why can’t I live on?

How much did I love Powerslave, especially after taking Ancient Egypt in highschool?  Finally I knew what the Eye of Horus was, and what the hell the lyrics were about!  When I was growing up and first getting into Maiden, Powerslave was the current album.  The neighbor kid had it.  We literally stared at that album cover for hours.

Derek Riggs outdid himself on the artwork this time, really outdid himself.  The Egyptian theme of the artwork allowed him to weave all sorts of hidden messages into the hyroglyphs.  I don’t have the LP, but I could swear that somewhere on the cover (front or back) it says “Indiana Jones was here”!

I taped the album from that neighbor, unfortunately on one of the worst sounding Scotch blanks I ever heard.  It was unlistenable.  Then my dad bought me the tape from the local music store, but even it sounded terrible — warbly.  I found that many Capitol Records releases in the mid-80’s in Canada had awful cassette quality.  From my Maidens to my Helix, they were mostly unplayable.

It was a long while before I got a listenable version of the album.  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks — holy crap, this is GOOD!

“Aces High” and “2 Minutes To Midnight” are the two singles, and of course they lead the album.  I only wish “Churchill’s Speech” was included as it was in the “Aces High” video!  As kids we always preferred “Aces High”.  It combines the manic speed of early Maiden, with the anthemic Dickinson choruses.  Just great.

“Aces High” was yet another song that my dad didn’t mind me listening to out loud, since it was about one his favourite historical subjects:  the Battle of Britain.

“2 Minutes”, a reference to the Doomsday Clock,was a Dickinson/Smith composition.  At 6 minutes long, it wasn’t an obvious single.   Vocally, it’s a lot less catchy than “Aces High”.  Bruce doesn’t so much sing a melody as he does spit the words out like a furious machine gun!  Musically, the riff seems lifted directly from later Budgie, and early Diamond Head.  See if you can spot it.

Up next is an instrumental, the first since Killers!   “Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)” is really the only weak song on the album.  As an instrumental, it’s not as exciting as something like “The Ides of March”.  The riff is rather simple and it sounds like an unfinished song, like Bruce didn’t show up that day or something.  The guitar playing (well, all the playing) is of course stellar, there’s always that!

Then comes “Flash of the Blade”, a fucking awesome track, and one of my favourites.  I remember trying to learn that riff as a kid, as it’s catchy but uncomplicated.  This one’s penned by Dickinson alone, and is about…of course…fencing.  Like Steve Harris was on the exact same wavelength, his song, “The Duelists” is up next.  Yet another song incorporating fencing, this one was my personal pick for a third single.  I remember even drawing my own cover art, with Eddie dueling the Devil!   The middle section is an intricate dance of delicate guitars, you can almost picture the men parrying and feinting.

And that ended side one.  Side two opened with “Back In The Village”.  This would be the only other song beside “Losfer Words” that doesn’t make my road tapes.  Another Smith/Dickinson song, it’s got a cool signiture Adrian riff, but up against the rest of these songs, it just doesn’t stand out to me.

But “Powerslave” does!  This is another solo Bruce writing credit, and a powerful song it is!  Bruce metalizes Ancient Egypt with that cool riff, and his lyrics are a labyrinth of Egyptian mythology.  Very cool.  The best part of the song however is the middle section.  The song slows down at roughly 3 minutes, and there’s some pretty amazing soloing (sounds like Dave).  Then things pick up at 3:52, and Adrian plays my favourite Iron Maiden guitar solo of all time!  (Of all time, Kanye!)  Damn I love that solo!  I always have, even when all I had were those crappy cassettes.  And as if that wasn’t enough, then there’s a harmony part with Dave and Adrian together, and then Dave’s off on another amazing solo of his own!

(For the record:  if there was a second favourite Maiden guitar solo for me, it’s “The Wicker Man”, also performed by Adrian.)

Before you know it, we are at the end.  But not quite, for the final song on Powerslave is 14 minutes long!  “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner”, based of course on Coleridge, is the latest and perhaps the greatest so far of Steve’s epics.  I don’t know if I want to even think about ranking his epics anymore, but “Rime” is certainly a favourite.  That opening riff alone would have made a song on its own.  But this is a complex song, and it twists and turns and goes through all sorts of different adventures before we’re done.  As kids I remember were all blown away that this whole song was written by just one guy!

Talking about “Rime” in words is tough.  Lyrically I loved it.  Suddenly I understood Coleridge, and it wasn’t at all painful!  But musically this is just about perfect.  Bruce’s delivery is flawless, and the guitars are woven into epic and amazing solos once again.  Just about every section of this song is memorable.  It lags a bit in the atmospheric middle section, but this is soon replaced by a triumphant vocal with bright bass guitar melodies.

This 2 CD deluxe edition includes a bonus disc with all the B-side goodies.  Didn’t you always love that cover for “Aces High”?  Eddie in the Spitfire, flying on, even with a bullet in his head?  The B-sides include a live version of “Number of the Beast” that used to annoy us as kids, since Bruce only sings “six!” and gets the audience to finish with “six six!”.  With hindsight, who cares, it’s a great live version.  It’s just funny how I have that memory so very distinctly!

“King of Twilight”, a cover from a band called Nektar, isn’t a standout though.  I like that “Ahh, ahhh, ahh” section and I love the pounding drums.  Otherwise it’s not a road tape classic.

“2 Minutes To Midnight” had two excellent B-sides:  “Rainbow’s Gold” and “Mission From ‘Arry”.  The riff that kicks off “Rainbow’s Gold” is just really catchy, as is that vocal melody.  This is a cover from somebody called Beckett.  Gotta give Maiden credit for trying obscure covers!  Love this song.

And…”Mission From ‘Arry”.  Not a song at all, here’s the story.  One night, Nicko was asked to extend his drum solo while Harris (‘Arry) got his bass rig up and running.  ‘Arry sent his roadie to tell Nicko, who was distracted by the roadie and fucked up his drum solo.  Furious he launched into said roadie and gave him a good solid dressing down.  After the show, Steve in turn told Nicko that he was out of line and to apologize.  In walked Bruce Dickinson with a hidden tape recorder and a mischievous grin!  The rest is history, as released on this B-side!

Now, I’m from Canada and I don’t know my British slang that well.  Do you guys often use phrases like “Fuck my old boots!”?

I don’t think Powerslave was the album that Piece Of Mind was, but maybe I like it a fraction better than Beast.  I dunno.  It’s so hard to rank, we’re really splitting hairs here.  Powerslave was a little colder sounding, a little brittle compared to the past.  Steve’s bass is a little rinky, not warm and deep enough.  But that’s the sound of the LP, the songs still rise above.

4.75/5 stars

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Piece Of Mind (1983, 1996 bonus disc)

Part 6 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

IRON MAIDEN – Piece Of Mind (1983, 1996 bonus disc)

Exit Clive Burr.  Enter that hilarious crazed drum dynamo Nicko McBrain!  Surely one of the most beloved characters to ever grace an Iron Maiden album, the band decided to kick off Nicko’s first album with a drum flurry.  Like machine guns strafing the sky, Nicko opened “Where Eagles Dare” with a decidedly skillful salvo.

Piece Of Mind is one of Steve Harris’ favourite albums, and one of mine too.  Each of its nine songs is worthy of the album; no filler.  The subject matter is increasingly more interesting to me as well, as Steve punders history, literature and movies.  “Where Eagles Dare” was based on the classic Clint Eastwood film of the same name, and does not disappoint.  It is over six minutes of soaring vocals and solos, with the band riffing steadily behind it.

This is followed by one of Maiden’s epic slow tunes, and first ever Bruce Dickinson writing credit on a Maiden album, “Revelations”.  Almost seven minutes long, “Revelations” is lyrically complex and melodically incredible.  I recall one of my old highschool buddies, Andy Kandic, sang “Revelations” at a highschool audition because he wanted something that would blow the judges away.  This is one of Bruce’s best vocal performances ever, but not the last of his writing contributions.

The first of Bruce’s many collaborations with Adrian Smith is next.  The hit single “Flight of Icarus” is a shorter number, the type of hard rock song that Maiden occasionally pull out for use as a single.  Its chorus soars like the title character, without that annoying crash at the end!  This is certainly one of Maiden’s most memorable songs.

As if that wasn’t enough to exhaust you, Bruce and Adrian teamed up with Steve to pen “Die With Your Boots On”.  Right from first listen, this was one of my favourite Maiden tunes.  Loosely based on Nostradamus, the lyrics are great!  “In thirteen the Beast is rising, The Frenchman did surmise, Through earthquakes and starvation, The warlord will arise.”  But the bottom line according to Maiden is “The truth of all predictions is always in your hands!”  If you’re gonna die, die with your boots on.  Great song, great singalong chorus.

Side two is kicked off by one of the greatest Maiden songs of all time:  “The Trooper”.  This is one that has steadfastly remained in setlists, even through the Blaze Bayley years.  It’s a great example of the trademark Maiden gallop.  Lyrically this one is about the Charge of the Light Brigade, and the Crimean War.  This is where I think Maiden deserves some credit from the educational field.  Sure, a five-minute song is not going to sum up the Crimean War, but it got many, many kids into history.  My father was always impressed that I had interest and knowledge in history, partly thanks to Maiden songs.  He always encouraged me to listen to songs like “The Trooper”, and then follow it with some reading.


Dave Murray’s “Still Life” slows the pace, introduced by Nicko’s backwards Idi Amin impression!  Then it picks up, big time.  This haunting number is a story of possession, perhaps along the lyrical lines of “The Number of the Beast” and the later “Dance of Death”.  I love this song.  It was rarely played live, but can be found in live version on a later B-side.

“Still Life” is followed by two lesser known cuts.  Slightly less impressive than the rest of the album, “Quest For Fire” and “Sun and Steel” both blow away many songs by the average metal bands out there.  Both are short hard rockers, under four minutes in length, anchored by memorable choruses.  “Quest For Fire” is not surprisingly based on the film of the same name, but isn’t quite as exciting as the previous stories on this album. “Sun and Steel” though is a fencing number, of course written by Bruce with Adrian.  The protangonist killed his first man at 13, and goes on to live a life of battle with the blade.  This would not be Bruce’s last foray into fencing with his lyrics.

Finally, another long Steve Harris epic ends this album:  “To Tame A Land”.  Musically and lyrically very complex, it is based on Dune by Frank Herbert.  It is very, very difficult to sing along to this labyrinth of lyrics:  “He is the Kwisatz Haderach, he was born of Caledon, and will take the Gom Jabbar.”  Without reading the books, you’ll be lost.  After reading the books however, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  Today this is one of my favourite Maiden classics.  It’s certainly hard to get into instantly, but once those tricky melodies and riffs burrow their way into your head, they are there to stay!

They couldn’t get permission from Herbert to use the name “Dune” as the title of the song.  Reportedly, when asked, his people responded, “Mr. Herbert does not like rock bands, especially heavy metal bands, and especially heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden!”  A shame that was, as “To Tame A Land” was the gateway drug for many to discover the delights of planet Dune.

On Derek Riggs’ cover art, Eddie has been lobotomized, chained up in a padded cell.  An open window and a disembodied hand tease him on the back cover.  This would have made a great gatefold sleeve!  I always imagined that Derek was sequentially trying to tell a story.  Previously, we saw that Eddie was pulling the Devil’s strings on The Number of the Beast.  But if you looked carefully, you would see that the Devil was really pulling Eddie’s.  Now Eddie’s been captured and lobotomized.  Further albums covers show Eddie’s burial, resurrection, cybernetic enhancement, and his offspring.  I like to think that there was a hidden narrative going on with the artwork.

The bonus CD contains the two B-sides from this album’s sessions, both covers:  Montrose’s “I’ve Got The Fire” and Jethro Tull’s “Cross Eyed Mary”.  “I’ve Got The Fire” was previously covered by the Di’Anno-led version of Maiden, but this version’s even better.  The solos and Bruce’s vocal brings the song to a whole new level, although it does lose some of Di’Anno’s punk-like reckless abandon.  “Cross Eyed Mary” is not my favourite Tull song of all time, but I’m not surprised that Maiden are fans!  This was probably a good choice, and Maiden do a solid job on it.

Not to overstate the obvious, but Piece of Mind is one of Maiden’s all time best.  5/5 stars

Part 19: The Rules (IRON MAIDEN – The First Ten Years box set gallery!)

RECORD STORE TALES Part 19:  The Rules

After a few years had gone by, there were too many damn rules to follow.  There were so many, we literally had books full of them, with new rules being added regularly.  It was pure insanity, because you had to remember some rule that was made (for example) 26 months ago.  Not to mention if you dug far enough back, you could find rules that contradicted each other.  It was like telling a dog to sit and come at the same time, you can’t do it.

One rule that stood firm was:  “Thou Shalt Not Buy Product From a Sister Store“.

We had a complex structure of locations, but under no circumstances could a staff member buy product from a store that had a different owner.  Their product was for their customers and not for us to pillage.  But, when one of those owners who was a friend, sees the Iron Maiden First Ten Years box set come in, they call you to tell you.  The rules meant nothing at that point.  There were greater goals at hand.

This ultra-rare box was issued in 1990, as 10 discs, all sold separately.  You could also get them on vinyl.  I recall seeing a few of them, on 12″ vinyl, at my local Sam The Record Man (run by the near-legendary Al King) during one of my many teenage record store excursions.

IMG_20140427_101356CDs are my preferred format today.  Collect all ten of the Maiden singles, and you could send away for the box that contains them.  Obviously, a complete set is a rare find.  This set came in complete, as is.  I still have the receipt.  I paid $135.99 on Oct 7, 2003.  (With taxes, $156.39.)

It was worth every penny, but it was also worth the shit I caught for buying it from another owner.  And did I get in shit for it!

At best, I was bending the rules.  At best!  I paid full price (no discount!), the owner himself rang it in, and he was happily on board with making a quick buck.  He even personally delivered it to Kitchener.  He could have simply said, “No”.  He didn’t.  Now, I take responsibility for my actions, but an owner has a lot more say in things than I do.  I didn’t deserve what happened next.

A higher-up stormed into my store, pulled me into the office, slammed the door, and yelled.   And yelled.  And pointed a lot, and yelled some more.

It was a weird feeling.  Here I was getting screamed at so much that the dogs could hear it 4 miles away, but also elated about my Iron Maiden find at the exact same time.  It was like I didn’t know if I should be happy or pissed off!  It’s like any time you see someone trying so hard not to smile.

I pulled it off.  I also owned the fucking Iron Maiden First Ten Years box set!

Their big argument was “It’s a bad example to the employees”.  But really, that wasn’t an issue.  No employees knew about it — not one! — until they made a big show of it by yelling at me in store!   The one that said I was a bad example, was the one who let the cat out of the bag.

I walked out of the office, head hanging, but then when out of sight, grinning ear to ear.  Of course the two people who overheard the whole thing asked about it afterwards.  Dandy Douche asked, “Do you think it was worth it?  Would you do it again?”  I said, “Absolutely.  But next time I’m wearing a beard and a moustache, the whole disguise, and buying it in person!”

Unfortunately I never had the chance to do that.  The Iron Maiden box set was one of the last big big items from my “holy grail list.” that came in.

Each disc contains two singles, plus an unreleased 10 minute interview with Nicko.  One on every disc.  They are called “Listen With Nicko!” parts I through X.  Well worth the money, Nicko is friggin’ hilarious.

FIRST TEN_0002All singles included are complete (except Maiden Japan), plus a “Listen With Nicko!” bonus track.  And again, you had to buy these all separately!   On import!  And according to the terms on the mail-in card, only UK residents could order the boxes to house the discs.  Another thing I found interesting was that you had to mail in all ten slips in order to get the box.  Whoever owned my box previously still has nine of his ten slips!  (I am missing #9, “Can I Play With Madness” / “The Evil That Men Do”.)  This can only make my box set rarer and more desirable to collectors.

DISC 1 – Running Free / Sanctuary

DISC 2 – Women In Uniform / Twilight Zone

DISC 3 – Purgatory / Maiden Japan

DISC 4 – Run to the Hills / The Number of the Beast

DISC 5 – Flight Of Icarus / The Trooper

DISC 6 – 2 Minutes to Midnight / Aces High

DISC 7 – Running Free (Live) / Run to the Hills (Live)

DISC 8 – Wasted Years / Stranger in a Strange Land

DISC 9 – Can I Play With Madness / The Evil That Men Do

DISC 10 – The Clairvoyant (Live) / Infinite Dreams (Live)

Click below to embiggen the brand new photo gallery!

 

And the old Nokia pics below: