And I finally made to the top 20!!!!
20. Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls (2015)Heavy metal
So, it's clear we all know who Iron Maiden is. They have their fair shares of ups and downs, mainly ups, in their 35+ years of being in the metal spotlight as one of the most influential metal bands and, currently, one of the biggest ones, headlining major festivals and stadiums all over the world. Now, to me, I have heard about them, but did not really get into them until the last few years, where I sent a tweet to one of my high school friends asking if I should listen to them and where do I start. He stated, "You should, and you should start with The Number of the Beast onward into the rest of their 1980s catalogs from there." Then I stated, "How are their new releases?" He mentioned that he liked their last four albums, giving the implication that they are the albums from Brave New World onward. Basically, the albums that they had been released since vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith had return to the line-up.
So I heard it, and it sounds good, but nothing really too gravitating for me, yet. Then I saw one of their documentaries and live DVD,
Flight 666, and I thought the concept around their Somewhere Back in Time tour was just fantastic. The idea to rent a plane big enough to carry everyone and everything that is needed to do an Iron Maiden show and tour (band, roadies, Eddie, gear, managers, family, etc.) and have Bruce Dickinson fly the plane was golden. This idea let Maiden travel in areas in countries that their fans in those countries did not think they could get an Iron Maiden show, but they did, and this documentary showcased how big of a global fanbase Iron Maiden has and how good chaps they are. Oh, and the live concert footage and performances were top-notch. From there, I would be a more of a casual fan of theirs which was better than not knowing anything about them.
So, we move into 2015. With so many albums and great hits, you would think Iron Maiden would take it easy going into their 15th album right? Wrong!!! They wanted to go all balls out with everything they got with their latest album,
The Book of Souls. Making it a double-album, clocking at 92 min., with three 10+ songs with a couple of lengthy tracks as well. The album and cover has a Mayan-inspired flair to it taking about, of course, souls and life and mortality in general.
The album kicks off with
If Eternity Should Fail, with a chilling intro, makes me think I'm like in a desert or something and something is about to go down. For a track that was 8 min., it just grabbed me the whole time and was compelling making this a very strong intro to the album. Bonus points also to the spoken word at the end that sounded like an evil spirit or something. Then we go into
Speed of Light, the first single. Had a cowbell in the intro. Good solos. A solid single to reintroduce Iron Maiden back after not hearing a new song in five years. Eventually, we move into the first 10+ min. song of the album,
The Red and The Black. I liked the intro which reminded me the intro of Metallica's Battery before they kick into a galloping sound, reminded some people of Rime of the Ancient Mariner. If there was one flaw to this, it probably overstayed its welcome in the instrumental bits. Maybe it could have been cut down a bit, perhaps, to make it go smoothly. I also liked how the ending mirrored the opening. After that long 13 min. song, they move into
When the River Runs Deep, I like how the chorus is paced out with the pacing slowed down a bit compared to the pace in the rest of the song. The first disc closes off with the title track,
The Book of Souls. It just had a bad-ass aura throughout the whole time. I liked the strings in the background. I can imagine a festival/stadium crowd, if they have any flags, waving those flags timely with the chorus. A tremendous closer to the first disc.
The second disc kicks off fast with
Death or Glory. Eventually, we move to
Tears of A Clown, a song dedicated to the late Robin Williams. Honestly, even though from what I've read throughout the forums I've read that talks about this album, not a lot of people like this song. I like it though. I like the lyrics discussing on how can one guy can cheer many people up, but cannot cheer himself up and live in despair and so forth. The strings have been once again used tastefully. The album moves towards the very somber and moody,
The Man of Sorrows. Appropriate title, fits the song. The album close off with Iron Maiden's longest song ever,
Empire of the Clouds, clocking at 18 min. The question is that Iron Maiden can do a song with that long length and do it justice like Rush, like DT, etc.? I think it is safe to say yes. Bruce on the piano help set the song so that they do not go all balls out and exhaust themselves and trying to come up with filler to fill the time. The song was paced nicely for the most part. It may be an 18 min. song, but it's structured in a way where you kinda have to finish listening to the song when it starts, since it's so compelling. There was good bombastic elements to it at one point like an orchestra sound as oppose to just strings. It made me think it was like a James Bond track at one point or something.
Overall, to me, Iron Maiden has really cemented themselves as one of the long-lasting greats in metal, with this album. Not just because they had so many great albums in their prime, but the fact that they are still able to put a lot of dedication and effort into their latest releases which is not a regurgitation or a generic carbon copy of their past work. For me, Rush and Iron Maiden are the best long-lasting bands because they care a lot about their albums which is why they do their best to emphasize it in their live shows when touring the album which sets them totally apart to a general older band that only plays the hits and not really put too much care into a new album. Is
The Book of Souls Iron Maiden's best work ever? Hard to say, as they had a long catalog of top-notch stuff, but for a band going in 35+ year strong, this is a damn good album.
Favorites: If Eternity Should Fail, When The River Run Deeps, The Book of Souls, Tears of a Clown, and Empire of the Clouds.