Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
- Released: 2006
- Label: EMI
- Rating:
I always have trouble talking about Iron Maiden albums. I personally consider Maiden’s best days behind them. A true masterpiece hasn’t been released by this band since Seventh Son (which is my favorite), and whenever I tell this to people, fans either criticize me for not loving their newer albums and insulting them, or laugh at me and dismiss my opinion for loving Seventh Son. It’s always lose-lose.
As far as their new releases go, Fear Of The Dark was decent. It had a few hits, but nothing mind-blowing. No Prayer for the Dying was by far their worst and was terrible. The Blaze Bayley-era albums don’t count. Brave New World was brilliant, highly enjoyable, and set the pace for Dance of Death – which didn’t meet my expectations. Dance of Death reused a lot of their old sounds and melodies. The ones that were original were terrible.
Now, here we have the new album and the fourteenth in their discography, A Matter of Life and Death. This album has been raising the hopes of metal fans all around the world and was kept under strict confidentiality by the band – something big was brewing in the Maiden camp, indeed. Now, I have the honor of being one of the first to hold the album in my hot little hand and the privilege to be one of the first to tell you all about it. So, how does it stack up?
It’s certainly no Seventh Son, but it’s far from Dance Of Death. Maiden seems to be venturing off into some new territory with the album. This is Maiden’s most progressive album since Seventh Son, with songs averaging at the seven minute mark. It also stands as their longest as well. One might think that the songs are highly repetitive and one might be right. In some caes the songs do tend to drag a bit yet somehow, I still find the songs highly enjoyable. I think it’s because Maiden does alot with this album. All of the songs tend to kick into new sections just as you’re getting sick and annoyed with one section, but when it moves to the new section, the old one still stays stuck in your head. It’s quite the gimmick. All the tracks flow very nicely into one another though, which helps keep the album hooky.
All of the songs are epic as hell too, and one song features a full orchestra and choir. All three guitars are put to great use on this album, and not one melody or harmony feels thrown in or improvised. It’s obvious that alot of hard work and thought was put into every single moment that passes on this album. The band also recorded this album live in the studio to give it a rougher, more “concerty” feel, and I have to give props to the incredible chemistry that flows among the band. The backing music is superb.
The songs are far from catchy, however. These aren’t songs that are radio-worthy and I can’t see this album having a massive hit. A Matter of Life and Death is the band’s most progressive album to date, so anyone that craves the old days of hits like Number of the Beast may be slightly disappointed. I personally didn’t much care for this album at first, but it really did grow on me.
The war-based, well-written lyrics are tip-top, adding to the overall dark atmosphere. There’s everything from the band’s point of view on war to vivid atmospheric war stories that Steve writes so well. The vocals from Bruce, however, are passable. He has seen much better days and it’s obvious his voice is weakening. I found this to be Bruce’s worst vocal performance by far. His voice still sounds good and he can still hit those high-notes (that he ignored on Dance of Death) but just barely. I can’t help but feel that he was struggling through the whole recording. I guess his voice just doesn’t have the strength that it used to and at times I cringed during a few parts, but he gets the job done for sure. He’s just sounded alot better in the past.
As mentioned before, the band played together in the studio and recorded it live for a more concert-like feel. This hurts the production a little bit. Sure, the chemistry is terrific, but the sound quality is alot rougher than before. This may work for some people but as far as I’m concerned, who cares if it sounds live? This is an album I’m listening to, and I want the best production possible. The already strong sounds could have sounded alot stronger if the sound was perfect.
If there’s one thing that pisses me off about this album, it’s that alot of the melodies and certain parts of the songs sound very similar to the band’s previous works. I swear you can hear a bit of “Paschendale” here and there, a little “Blood Brothers”, a light sprinkling of “The Clansman” and so forth. I found Dance Of Death also suffered from this problem and really brought me out of the mood. A Matter of Life and Death is no different. I’m sick of those melodies because Maiden has recycled alot in the past and just modifies good melodies. That doesn’t stop this album from being enjoyable though. Tracks like the powerful “For The Greater Good Of God”, the fist pumping and probably new live fav “These Colours Don’t Run”, and the epic closer “The Legacy” beg to replayed over and over again. I can honestly say I liked every single song on this album (except the opener) and that it’s a massive improvement over Dance Of Death in every single way. A Matter of Life and Death is a worthy addition to their discography, but their best days are definitely behind them.
Brent C. | 09/06/2006