Somewhere In Time (1986)
After taking the rest of 1985 off following the grueling World Slavery Tour, Maiden reconvened in early ‘86 for their next album. They returned once again to Compass Point Studios, but this time the process would be significantly different. The band were no longer on a tight recording deadline, so the album didn’t need to be rushed the way the previous albums were. They were able to take their time and experiment. As a result, Somewhere In Time became the band’s most experimental album to date. They experimented with new styles of songwriting, new production techniques, and, of course, synthesizers.
Up until this point, the band were very anti-synth. There was a clip of Bruce proclaiming that “you can’t play Metal with synthesizers” and the band often printed in the liner notes that they don’t use synthesizers (I believe Queen also did this). This was a common attitude in Metal at the time but by the mid 80s many groups were giving in to the new technology. Adrian Smith was experimenting with the new guitar synthesizers and introduced them to the rest of the band. They seemed right for the material and everyone warmed up to the idea. Somewhere In Time ended up being drenched in guitar synths, with every song except Wasted Years containing the synths. They were all guitar synths, the band had not yet started using keyboards. In addition to the synthesizers, they experimented with reverbs and chorus effects to give the album a lush spacey sound.
Thanks to the break, there was more material to choose from. Everybody brought in completed songs and, for the first time since the debut, Maiden had a surplus of material. This was both a positive and negative. The positive is that Somewhere In Time doesn’t contain any filler tracks. The negative is that a lot of songs had to be cut, mostly from Bruce. Bruce supposedly came in with 9 completed songs, but they were mostly acoustic and influenced heavily by Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull. Exhausted and burnt out from the previous tour, he wanted to make a more stripped down album; however, everyone else favored a different direction and Steve preferred what Adrian was bringing in. So, for the first time since Number Of the Beast, and the last time in the band’s history (minus the two albums Bruce doesn’t appear on), Bruce has no writing credits on the album. This sort of thing often leads to bands splitting over “creative differences”, but Bruce being a professional was able to put his ego aside and allow more room for other ideas.
Adrian Smith was having a surge of creativity during this time with the Entire Population Of Hackney project. On Somewhere In Time, he submitted his only three solo contributions in the band’s history: Wasted Years, Stranger In a Strange Land, and Sea Of Madness. Wasted Years and Stranger were also the two singles from the album. Wasted Years in particular showed Adrian’s more commercial side and was a departure for the band. It was very melodic and contained an anthemic chorus. Stranger In a Strange Land was inspired by a story Adrian read about an explorer who was frozen in ice. This song is more mid tempo and features one of Adrian’s most popular guitar solos. Strangely, the most typically Maiden sounding track wasn’t a single and is among the forgotten SIT songs. Sea of Madness is an uptempo rocker with a crushing riff that wouldn’t be out of place on Powerslave. These songs combined with the guitar synths gave Adrian and increased presence on the album.
The album also contains a Dave Murray contribution, something that wasn’t present on the previous album. Deja Vu is your typical Murray tune with a bluesy opening and lots of melodic leads in between the heavy vocal parts. It was one of two songs from the album that was never played live and seems to be forgotten even among fans of the album.
The rest of the songs are Harris contributions. Steve also had a ton of material to submit to the album that didn’t make the cut. The four songs that did make it on the album show a much more progressive side of Steve than what we’ve heard before. The opener Caught Somewhere In Time is an epic and the total opposite of Aces High. It contains an extended instrumental section and an unpredictable structure. The Loneliness Of the Long Distance Runner is another tune that showcases Steve’s prog tendencies with some amazing guitar harmonies. In my opinion, Heaven Can Wait is an indication of what Steve’s songwriting style would be like in the 90s. Similar riffing style and repeated choruses.
Finally, there’s Alexander the Great. Probably the most enigmatic and divisive Harris epic. Following Rime was a tall order, Steve approached the challenge by dialing back the length and vocal parts and increasing the complexity in the instrumental. I see Alexander as an instrumental that was bookended with vocal parts to make it more accessible. The instrumental part is Maiden at maximum prog. There are time signature changes, sharp tempo shifts, dynamic buildups, and majestic solos. It’s the most complex piece of music the band has composed. The vocal parts, by comparison, seem less creative. The lyrics are rushed and frankly kind of goofy. Still, the instrumental makes the song worth hearing and the fact that it has never been played live has given it a cult status. Steve didn’t quite surpass Rime, but he turned in a solid effort.
The band also jumped around several different locations to make the album. The bass and drums were recorded at Compass Point, but Adrian Smith insisted on recording the rest of the album elsewhere. The band relocated to Holland and recorded the guitar and vocals there. Afterwards, Steve, Adrian, and Martin Birch went to Electric Lady Studios in New York to mix. Because of his increased role in the creative process, Adrian Smith also took a more active role in the post production.
There’s a Bruce Dickinson interview for a French fan club magazine that was conducted sometime before the band left the Bahamas. It’s interesting because it paints a very different picture of what the album would be. Bruce mentions that there are 9 songs instead of 8, including one of his songs. He says that there’s no “epic” tracks and all the songs are in the 3-4 minute range. He also says that Steve Harris brought in an instrumental track. Interestingly, he also says that there are no synths. There isn’t a lot out from the band regarding the making of this album and they’ve never been the type to release rejected songs. They also usually only write enough material to fill an album, so SIT is an oddity. I would love to hear some of the rejected songs or an alternate version of the album. We do know that Run Silent Run Deep was one of Bruce’s proposed songs (obviously was in a different form when he presented it) and Tears Of the Dragon was also supposedly in the mix. As far as the instrumental goes, my personal theory is that it was Alexander the Great and the vocal parts were a last minute addition. That still doesn’t explain when/how other songs were extended or changed.
The album was finally released in September of 1986. Powerslave was actually also released in September. So despite the studio hopping and the band taking their time, they ended up being on schedule anyway. However, unlike Powerslave, the band took their time to release the first single. Wasted Years was released just a few weeks before the album. It hinted at a departure for Maiden and helped warn the fans that they were in for something different with the next album. It was a success charting at #22 in the UK charts and is by far the most popular and well known song from the album. We will talk b-sides later, but I will mention that the b-side to Wasted Years is notable for featuring Adrian Smith on vocals. It’s a tune from The Entire Population of Hackney called Reach Out. Very poppy and commercial sounding tune.
The album was yet another commercial success for the band, charting at #3 in the UK and #11 in the US. The US position was their highest ever and a major improvement from Powerslave, which peaked at #22.
Of course the album can’t be discussed without mentioning Riggs’ incredible painting. This is his most extravagant and complex album cover. Appropriate for the music contained inside. There are tons of references to the band’s past and hidden messages. So many that describing them all would be an entry of its own. Eddie is depicted in a futuristic world as a cyborg. Despite evolving so much since the debut, it’s still the same iconic character. The artwork is also heavily influenced by the film Blade Runner.
Somewhere in Time shows Maiden at their proggiest. While their current music is frequently described as prog, it has yet to reach the level of complexity or experimentation found on Somewhere in Time. The album has achieved a cult status among hardcore fans. Partly for its uniqueness and partly because it is practically ignored in the live sets. Since 1988, only 3 songs from the album have been played live. Yet to some it is Maiden’s best album. For others, Maiden’s golden age ends with Powerslave and Somewhere in Time is the beginning of Maiden’s “non-essential” period. Either way, it was a watershed moment in the band’s career and once again showed they were capable of more than your average Metal band.
12 Wasted Years (1987)
Instead of putting out a live album or video in 1987, Maiden released a long form video that combined interviews and archival footage. The title refers to the band’s formation in 1975, rather than their first single or album.
Much of the archival footage was released on The Early Days, which makes parts of this video obsolete, but there are a lot of clips that are still exclusive to this video. There are songs from Beast Over Hammersmith that weren’t included on The Early Days, several TV appearances including a really funny performance of Wasted Years (I won’t spoil it), and the unaired rendition of Iron Maiden from Dortmund ‘83 featuring Eddie’s murder. This video also contains the only officially released live footage of their Somewhere on Time tour, albeit only short clips.
The clips are showcased alongside interview footage with the band members and various people involved including Rod Smallwood (their manager), Doug Hall (live sound man), Dave Lights (stage designer), and Derek Riggs (the artist of all their covers until 1992). The only former member interviewed is Paul Di’anno, who had just recently recorded the debut album with his new band Battlezone. No other former members are included, and few are even mentioned (including Clive Burr, which seemed strange).
For those who haven’t checked out The Early Days: First of all, you’re missing out. But check out 12 Wasted Years because it serves as a nice highlight reel of the band’s first 12 years (although the archival footage doesn’t go any further back than 1980). For those who have seen The Early Days and Live After Death but not this, I still highly recommend it. The interview portions are also great. It tells a very different story of the band looking back on their career in 1986 as opposed to The Early Days which shows the band 25 years into their career.
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