Dance of Death

This record is underrated, it's as good as The Number of the Beast or Piece of Mind, more or less on that level. It has all the basic sound and the style that made them leaders of heavy metal. When my memory brings back this album, it also makes me remember other albums. Steve Harris explicitly mentioned UFO as one of his influences, but that influence can be partly reflected here, especially in terms of sound. These guys moved away from the polished, poppy sound of Brave New World and this time focused on a retro-rock soundscape similar to that of Phenomenon (1974) or Lights Out (1977). Now, in terms of composition things are very different. I've read that someone even calls it "Maiden's folk metal effort", but far from approaching the 2000s folk metal stuff, the songwriting is rather a worship of prog rock with folk elements like Jethro Tull. In general terms, this is still a 70s prog rock worship fused with their own style.

Bruce Dickinson sounds incredible and it's one aspect I can't complain about. Some have criticized him for not sounding as good as on the comeback release, but he does it very well even if it were recorded in one take. The idea of abandoning the polished/poppy sound to replace it with an equally kick-ass sound that combines pure UFO-ish melodic force with a harsh, angry tone characteristic of this band is redeemable. All this creates the perfect setting for the vocals, so yes, the Air Raid siren is still strong and solid. The guitar work is straight to the point in most cases, with incredible riffage and solos that challenge their previous works. The bass is very powerful and has a great presence, something that should never be made clear about Harris; however, this time the bass never becomes dominant like on The X Factor and A Matter of Life and Death. Apparently, the bass simply chose to function as a solid musical basis for these songs. Nicko McBrain, who was not yet affected by old age here, still contributes with constant and varied rhythms, and in a balanced way, since the drums never dominate the other instruments.

What about specific songs? No More Lies is the first epic properly. It is Harris' quintessential cut with that intro/development/climax structure that releases all the power of an unbridled band towards the end. Once again great performance on the vocals, plus long plucks, and the surrounding keyboard gives the song a grandiloquent tone in the vein of "Fear of the Dark" or "Brave New World". Montségur is one of the heaviest with choppy riffs and a rhythmic base with constant changes; it reminded me of some of Powerslave's lesser-known songs, it has that kind of vibe. Dance of Death, the title track, is another epic opus lasting almost nine minutes, with a fairly long intro of clean guitars. Then, just like my favorite album from the 90s, I see that Gates of Tomorrow starts with those synth guitars a la "Lord of the Flies", but instead of getting heavier, it breaks into a more melodic vein with a snare rhythm and staccato bass drum, McBrian's trademark. And speaking of McBrain, New Frontier marks the drummer's debut in songwriting; after twenty years of being in the band, he finally dared to compose something! The truth is that the song is quite direct and hooky, the last time they did something similar was Futureal.

Journeyman closes the album with that epic style characteristic of theirs, and the orchestral sound here is tastefully done and actually gives the whole song a very powerful quality. The beginning is an inspiring mid-tempo number with string instruments and incorporates elements that would later be used from time to time (violin, viola, cello, etc.). But none of those songs (like Empire of the Clouds) manage to blend so well with an experimental instrument to give the whole song a climax comparable to that of orchestrators like John Williams, to name an example. Even if the song lacks that explosion/festival of riffs, it is still a different and correct choice to culminate the album in its whole context. Overall, this album takes Brave New World out of the spotlight, an album that was actually decent, but this work can easily be compared to Iron Maiden's classic eighties. The only flaw in the listening experience was when I finished listening to it and dared to look at the cover art again. In addition to that, none of these songs are not entertaining since you can see not a nod, but a visual spark to Steve's influences.

Having been an album written and recorded quickly, none of the songs seemed overloaded and the sessions were marked by spontaneity. Janick said that it has a very varied thematic content and combines, on the one hand, more direct songs (more of a blow-to-the-jaw type) with much deeper stuff. Meanwhile, Bruce stated that the band wanted to turn the sound around, that is, they didn’t venture into being different for the simple fact of being different, which explains the new approach and imagination in these songs when composing them. This release continued that progressive evolution to a greater extent towards a type of extensive, very elaborated songs, much in line with the 70s prog rock, leaving traces of it in the self-titled track, Paschendale, No More Lies and Journeyman.

I realize that I'm a little older than this album and yet it continues to be underestimated and remembered as if it were released yesterday, especially with that outdated term "Modern Maiden", even more so when from 2000 onwards we see how a lot of young bands have their career consolidated in the metal scene. Certainly, Maiden don't invent the wheel but do reinvent themselves. For those who enjoy the occasional speed metal riffage with folk elements and a nod to retro rock a la UFO and Jethro Tull, from start to finish you can notice the particular purpose of these interludes, intros and outros to which not many would be accustomed. As long as you're willing to look deeper you can find a record with no weak points at all.

20 years ago, I had just returned from my first 10-month travel abroad on my own, and after a few adjusting weeks I was swiftly thrust into university life here at Guadalajara, Mexico. I remember purchasing Iron Maiden’s thirteenth studio release a couple of weeks into my first college semester, amidst all the introductory classes and new acquittances. As it happened with its precursor, the excellent comeback Brave New World three years before, the leading single, in this case “Wildest Dreams”, confirmed to me the Irons remained in great shape and the new LP would be amazing again. Like many fellow metalheads I was taken aback by the album’s blatantly unfinished cover artwork, a rudimentary 3D render illustration, which, in contrast to the modernized and neatly Photoshoped Eddie on BNW, felt half-assed and lacked quality. I decided to make the CD purchase anyway, and while my initial reaction to the new hour-plus Maiden material was mainly positive, in time, I found this record’s just not that memorable, and shares the main flaw of most of the Iron’s 90s discography: it is plagued with fillers.

Even though Dance of Death is barely a minute longer that its predecessor, it actually feels at least a quarter of an hour longer. I won’t waste many words in this review delving into “Gates of Tomorrow”, “New Frontier”, “Face in the Sand” and “Age of Innocence”, as I strongly feel the album would be better with the exclusion of said compositions. Nothing terribly wrong with any of those, mind you, but none do a thing for me. So, ‘sorry but not sorry, dear Nicko’, as his songwriting credit or his once-in-a-lifetime use of double bass are mere anecdotes rather than strong points. I started skipping those four tracks even back then in ’03, after the fifth or sixth time I experienced this in its entirely. Together they comprise nearly 23 minutes, which equates to roughly a third of the whole LP. So, the remaining 45 minutes are the ones where the good stuff as, and the part of this record I still occasionally revisit.

“Wildest Dreams” and “Rainmaker” are typical short, melodic Iron Maiden tunes, with a simple structure of bridge, chorus and solos. I prefer the latter, as I find its main melodies to be more fulfilling. The rest of the ‘good’ songs are almost six to almost nine minutes in length. Among those, “Paschendale” is my least favorite, a WWI dramatic epic about the rain-soaked Battle of Ypres that follows the ‘Fear of the Dark formula’ of a calm intro, heavy moments, climaxing soloing, and book-ending calm section reprise. As an Adrian Smith-penned track, it definitely has its moments, but overall is a more cinematic and progressive version of “The Trooper”, just not as memorable. “Montségur” is shorter but better, and also an historic-themed piece, about the namesake Cathar castle’s final siege and ensuing massacre. Its thick rhythmic riffs make it one of the heaviest tracks here, yet it also features great use of Maiden dual guitar melodies. “Journeyman”, the first totally acoustic song by the band, is basically a longer “Dust in the Wind”, musically superior, but nothing groundbreaking in the realm of acoustic ballads.

So, as you can now logically conclude, dear metal brothers & sisters, the remaining two tracks on Dance of Death are my preferred cuts, even though both, together with “Paschendale”, are firmly entrenched in the ‘Fear of the Dark-rip off’ category. “No More Lies” is a melancholic number, both in lyrics and music, the most emotionally charged track here, featuring beautiful dual harmonies and powerful soloing. Even though it is more repetitive than the two 8-minuters here, it actually feels shorter than it is. And finally, the title-track is a great one indeed, as it usually happens with Iron Maiden LPS. The introductory section and others further deep have a musical Pirate-esque feel, not unlike some Running Wild, which gives the song a uniqueness among the Irons’ catalogue. Like “Paschendale”, it has a proggy constitution, but the sections ebb and flow more powerfully, and the guitar solos are way superior.

Like all 21st Century Maiden catalogue, Dance of Death has great production values. Dickinson’s iconic voice, the dueling 3-guitar attack, the keyboard orchestrations and the signature rhythmic section, unparalleled in the heavy metal realm, all sound potent and crystalline. But it ends up being more hit-and-miss from track to track than its predecessor, and that wouldn’t change even if a 23-minute trim had occurred with the original release. However, it also has those remaining 45-minutes of great Iron Maiden music, so my final verdict is a mid-level ranking amongst their discography.

Yes, yes, we all know how shit the artwork is for Dance of Death with its poorly rendered CG models, crowded layout, and bizarre color scheme. If anything, I just find it tragic to think about what we missed out on by the band going with the rough draft that had been presented. Dave Patchett’s intricacies can be downright beautiful if his covers for Cathedral are anything to go by. I’d go as far as to say that with a little more finetuning, I genuinely believe this could’ve been the best album cover of any Maiden era.

With 2000’s Brave New World reinstating the band in full comeback splendor, this album definitely has a victory lap feeling to it. It has a similar setup with another earthy production job and songs that go between anthemic and contemplative moods. However, it also sees the band putting these elements in a forward fashion that isn’t just about reclaiming eighties metal glory.

The attitude feels decidedly more laid back than many of the band’s other efforts. The lyrics are world-weary without giving fully giving into The X Factor levels of despair while the music almost dips into folk territory at times with a larger emphasis on acoustic passages and folky melodies. The closing “Journeyman” is the most exaggerated example of this being the band’s first fully acoustic number but No More Lies also stands out in this regard, mixing Celtic guitars and fluctuating tempos with lyrics that make it feel like a “Heaven Can Wait” sequel. Elsewhere, “Age of Innocence” might push its old man yells at cloud-isms a bit too far but “Face in the Sand” feels almost apocalyptic in comparison.

Of course, there are still plenty of straightforward upbeat songs on display with unique features that allow each to stand out. “Rainmaker” might secretly be the best late era Maiden anthem, riding out an especially infectious riff/chorus set with life-affirming desert imagery that “Montségur” follows up with some aggressive charges and rapid-fire vocals. “New Frontier” is another interesting number, making up for its clunky verse lyrics (gotta be nice to Nicko, this was his first writing credit) with an especially stirring chorus.

I must also admit that the longer tracks feel more realized than those on the last album, matching broad scopes with a little more character. The title track essentially retells the story from “Number of the Beast” in a more detailed fashion, but I love how the swampy atmosphere pairs well with the constant twists and jig-friendly rhythms that feel almost like something from the Pagan Altar playbook. “Paschendale” seemingly predicts the war drama on the album that followed, boasting dark moods and gritty determinism in especially epic fashion.

Overall, Dance of Death is an excellent album that does well in sustaining the reunion’s goodwill while also showing Iron Maiden’s intent to continue their evolution. It shares a similar pool of strength and weaknesses as Brave New World, but the pacing and varied moods make up for the tracks that could’ve been trimmed. The more relaxed aura has an air of finality to it and I remember wondering at the time if it was going to be Maiden’s final album. In light of the massive scope of subsequent efforts, this one feels almost like a breather. Not quite resting on its laurels, but a nice time waxing lyrical with old friends.

There are bands that you cannot judge by general standards since they have set their own standards. This is why they enjoy being "the titan" or "the giant" band in the metal scene, but also the reason they face the most violent demise when they can't decide where to stop. Iron Maiden still is the no.1 top-class metal band that has ever existed on this planet no doubt, especially if we take the long 10 year period between 83 and 93 into account, the time they exposed their fans to constant and intense thrashing without mercy by throwing nine albums (seven studio and two live - Real Live/Dead One omitted) one after another that were worth a whole discography each. But since 1995, with The X Factor, Maiden began to suck, with Virtual XI they sucked more and by Brave New World they had become Charlotte The Harlot themselves. By releasing Dance Of Death, they are turning the copyright holder of many albums, The Iron Maiden Holdings, into 22 Acacia Avenue. This obduracy has led me to reject them vehemently. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like them at first. Little by little I was immersing myself in the turbulent waters of reality and I had no choice but to assume that this IS Maiden today. Perhaps that helped a bit, and albums like Brave New World and The Book of Souls overcome my misgivings.

I think I got saturated with progressive metal. There was a time when it was the only genre I listened to, but there are sooo many bands, and there are so many other styles I love that it's impossible to cover everything. In the end I have stayed with the most similar: Dream Theater, Opeth, Symphony X and some more. Occasionally I use to venture into something new. But, it turns out that there are bands that manages to deliver a mixed bag of short heavy metal with long epics with the deserved “prog” label. Vektor is not the band with huge personality in the prog thrash scene, but they have details I like and they don't bore me outrageously like this band has been doing since 1995! With Cannibal Corpse I have tried several times but they never satisfied me precisely because I had listened to other bands that practiced the same style before and I like them better (Suffocation, Crytopsy, Benighted), and because still not entirely convinced by Barnes's vocals. Brutal Death is a genre in which I don't play too much, really. The three bands I've mentioned are the ones I hold in the highest regard, and I've barely felt the need to look further into them.

I have nothing against the fans who enjoy their new stuff, and yes, the title of my review emphasizing how people keep getting fooled (or the once imperative title) was just a warning back then. There must be a tipping point that explains what the hell these guys have become. It's not much science my friend! I only know them by name, they aren’t a saint of my devotion since I see that their pompous heavy metal is a style that never attracts me so much. For me, when heavy metal loses sight of aspects such as the hook, the technique, the melody or those things that make it more pleasant to my ears and concentrates on the punctual, it loses all the grace. For me, this century’s classic heavy metal is the one I like the most and Accept, although they’re not very original, are an amalgamation of bands I worship the most. They have their personal touch, they are quite technical, they add good melodies and some less conventional details. Of course, their style results interesting for fans of Satan, Running Wild, Rage, Borrowed Time, Brocas Helm and other bands of similar sound.

Just take the above into consideration, and see what Iron Maiden are. The thing that sickens me most is the never-ending intros of tracks. A clean guitar begins the music, and sometime later Bruce Dickinson accompanies it, but they go on tingling there for minutes but still no hint on where the hell the fucking song may be. They wait until you begin to crawl in stomachache and then unleash the most boring, incompetently imitated Iron Maiden riffs one after one (well, those "one"s take a long time to end, anyway). This is what they call Maiden's new style, but a combination of new generation, depthless, standard music and poorly imitated old Maiden riffs cannot be considered a new style, a new direction, or a new whatever it is.

I don't understand the emotion and enthusiasm of those who consider it a work of art, I would like to do an astral projection and explore their heads just to feel the same as them when they listen to this album and the others. I want to know what is the pristine, progressive, and powerful matter they find in their discs. And regarding the members, well, might be because of his age, or his loss of excitement, or the music itself, Nicko seems to have lost his energetic drumming and transformed into a standard drummer, even abandoning his trademark alien rhythms. Bruce Dickinson's voice is still good considering the general music scene, but music scene comparisons don't apply in this case. This is Iron Fucking Maiden, as Dickinson says. My thinking can be uncomfortable but I don't want to fall into the demagoguery of saying what people want to read. I always thought that IM is not only an indestructible machine, unique and unrepeatable but also part of our DNA, it is indissociable, but the "end is always getting closer" is a bit annoying, because that's the overall feeling they leave on every album.

But what disappoints me the most is guitar work. Here is where starts the solos getting more and more automatic, with just a few quality strokes from Smith and not much else. Murray is almost lost and Gers always playing his own erratic and imprecise solos. Those riffs simply don't have that kind of vibration within, the one we know well from the 1983-1993 era. Production is also bad, whose layers are not well achieved as in the previous, and the drum sound is less professional and sounded more modern in Brave New World. Though Bruce's voices were placed on an easier plane to enjoy, something that hasn't happened since the next album where his voice is overwhelmed by the sound spectrum. Getting old is no excuse, if you are old just quit it. This is not what people are expecting, and when you cannot meet expectations, you go, that's the rule everywhere. Few releases later the Iron Maiden logo won't be enough for many highly adaptive fans out there, and the violent demise I have mentioned earlier will take place in the form of "one of the lamest NWOBHM albums ever". There is a lot of difference between "You remember Maiden? They fucked us up", and "Do you remember Maiden? They fucked it up". Well, Maiden has obviously fucked "it" up. Since 1995 they have released irregular records, from which I only rescued some tracks but they still denote a great down in ideas and songwriting level; any comparison with their first seven discs is witless and it's something I've seen for as long as I can remember.

The proof is that I only played Senjutsu twice since I bought it. I admit I usually buy Maiden records for collector reasons and not for true devotion. Brave New World was an album I hated a lot, but over the years and without being it a marvel, I admit it is at least half good. You do notice the air of greatness in this one as soon as you hear it: there is energy, strength, and maturity as it advances slightly. Even Shirley's production, which didn't convince me at the time, sounds vigorous now, only because of all the bad things they've done afterward. Though being a song of extreme repetition both musically and lyrically, Rainmaker shines as the pearl within the shitty mud that Dance Of Death is, and can even be inserted somewhere in the playlist that contains The "True" Iron Maiden. Beyond I have written first that Rainmaker is the good thing about the album, it's fine. And do you know why it's fine? Because Iron Maiden is no longer a band, but a registered trademark, so get rid of this, and without modesty!

Many things changed after the overwhelming success of albums like Powerslave and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The 80s were a meteoric rise that turned these guys into one of the biggest bands on the traditional metal scene, and despite everything, it also brought with it increasingly iconic tours that made a dent in the mental, physical and functional stability of the band. As a result of this stress and growing musical differences, the guitarist Adrian Smith left the group after many iconic albums in which he contributed his unparalleled class and his particular compositional style, thus breaking the legendary lineup that had given them success thanks to timeless works that took them to the heavenliest plane of rock/metal world. That said, what merits does Dance of Death have to receive such a score? Why such an affront when it isn't an eighties effort? I say Jethro Tull because it's the band that most resembles Iron Maiden in the use of folk music on this album. Maybe they are used in other albums but it's much more prominent on this one. I could mention Uriah Heep, Yes, or Genesis, but Jethro Tull is the closest thing on this album when it comes to influences. There are those who are contemptuous and believe it's time for this band to play bagpipes and flutes because of how soft they sound. So for better or worse, I'm not that wrong.

After the departure of Adrian and the dying years of the 90s, important changes took place within them. Without the opinion of the former guitarist, the band believed that the synthesizers and progressive dalliances they walked through in recent times had ceased to make sense in their proposal, so they recorded No Prayer for the Dying to make it rawer, direct, and eminently rocker than its predecessors. In musical terms, they believed they were on the right track until they decided to make a triumphant return in Brave New World, which is nothing more than a series of things patched up from those previous mistakes. Beyond the fact that we can appreciate that change more or less, and always keeping in mind the good eyes with which I look at it, I think that the main plus of this album is the abundance of indisputable singles and better-constructed epics, all of them with the potential to go down in memorability as a historical relic on a par with the eighty’s classics. I appraise it as a very compact work that would possibly shine with outsized force if it were produced by Martin Birch, top and bottom, east and west, in every way if you will. If we compare it with the previous disc, for example, it is evident that there are no flawed songs like The Mercenary or the title track, so the songwriting here is kept at a much higher level and over time it was able to make it achieve a higher status.

Delving into the content of the album, Wildest Dreams invites us to free ourselves emotionally to achieve our dreams. Perhaps compared to the previous album single, this one may be less appealing because the chorus is somewhat simple, but it far surpasses any lame single released in the 1990s. It gets better as you listen and the way the riffs are finished in terms of scale is from their typical school. The break in the middle part becomes more interesting as the guitars enter the background. It's a good start, not for nothing is the first single. Despite the weakness that many see in this single, I see it is a much more original cut with a melodic break that adds a lot of spice that makes it enjoyable; I still don't understand why many consider The Wicker Man superior to this being that it has a flatter structure with that opening riff taken from Priest's Running Wild. Anyway, I enjoy both songs, and the lack of one can be the strength of the other.

Regarding the production, I find it quite peculiar and the most striking thing in the mix is the guitars. I could actually say that the guitars sounded "fat" in Brave New World but this album's real antagonist would be Seventh Son's guitars, because while in Seventh Son the guitars sound "crystalline" and "slippery" in your ears, in Dance of Death the riffs sound raw and have spines that literally scratch your ears. Then, you can find speed songs like Montsegur, which actually deals with the homonymous fortress and the massacres carried out by the Catholic Church against the Knights Templar; this got the heaviest riffs to start with accompanied by the totally aggressive vocals. The refrain “at the gates and the walls of Monsegur, blood in the stones of the citadel” can be disconcerting at first, as it is recited very quickly (you need lungs to do it) and at a fairly high pitch. But it has atypical structures even in details as simple as the choirs; followed by the chorus there is a kind of a second chorus in which a typically medieval riff stands out, then Bruce follows it with his voice at the same time. The medieval mystique and the folk scale —that has never been heard in the 90s and has been heard in "The Prophecy" in the 80s— are heard in Montsegur.

Once again it is worth highlighting the solos by the guitarists, the galloping bass, and Nicko's imaginative drumming (perhaps the most inspired since Piece of Mind) which reaches its peak on the title track, the heart of the album. Here the narrative force of Harris appears accompanied by the peculiar style in which Dickinson narrates the story. He lyrically talks about a man wandering in the dark who is invited by ghostly figures to dance the dance of death, and who ends up wondering how he's still alive after that experience. Musically, it achieves a magical atmosphere thanks to the acoustic guitars and the help of the synthesizers. The song changes aspects when Bruce raises his tone which produces a small break and sounds like a melody with a medieval tint, increasing its speed in the final part. There are no choruses nor any verse that is repeated, then Dickinson follows the central riff with the voice at breakneck speed to close the story with a frightening feeling. In terms of vocal performance, most songs don't follow the melodic riffs/vocals pattern as if it were some kind of guide or help to the vocalist, instead, it feels like a more natural performance of conventional heavy metal than melodic Maiden properly.

The general flow is the best since their reunion, there are at least two songs per section where they offer a more rocker vein, like the first two singles, Face In The Sand/Age of Innocence, and Gates of Tomorrow/New Frontier. The last song has a great work by Nicko and Adrian Smith. This song talks about the danger of playing God and assuming uncontrolled powers. The chorus is very attractive, both because of Bruce's voice and because of the guitar melody that accompanies it. There is a great riff in the middle where the other guitars are intertwined, inspired by Spanish guitar melodies, which is also very popular and gives it a varied touch. This is the first song Nicko has written for the band, and although he's a good performer, his task as a composer has always been a great unknown, but he debuts with a good note. And by the way, we must add that no one would imagine that he was 51 with that double bass drum on Face In The Sand, another surprise with its beautiful intro that deceptively foreshadows something slow. What is also striking is the way Bruce sings in the pre-chorus where he reaches very high-pitched levels that give the sensation of reaching the limit. Probably the most underrated song that would work live very well, something noticeable in the choruses near the end of the song.

Journeyman concludes as the third and last single that can also be described as a surprise since it's the first totally acoustic song they ever recorded, not to mention the orchestral arrangements that ornament here and there. Bruce gives a memorable lyrical performance. It doesn't have solos, electric riffs, great flourishes... but has a lot of feeling. One of the acoustic magnum opuses of the 2000s! It's quite a battle cry that will make you shake live and has a kind of "subliminal message" where Bruce whispers, which gives it a special touch. The title suits him very well since a kind of trip is recreated, where Bruce is the narrating partner and makes it totally clear that he knows what he wants, says what he wants, and nobody is going to change his mind. I conclude that Dance of Death is the best effort they have released in this century.

I'll admit, while Dance of Death wasn't quite as good as its predecessor and has almost always ranked among the worst Iron Maiden albums for me, there's no denying that this is an excellent album. Simply put, it took the grandiose and drawn-out aspects of Brave New World and excelled in them, while unfortunately sacrificing some of the musical adequacy that made that album so amazing. To exemplify this, keyboards fill the bulk of virtually every track on Dance of Death. This shows that there is a heavier focus on atmosphere while holding back the riffs slightly, which is similar to Seventh Son of A Seventh Son as I mentioned in my review for that record. Utilising atmosphere definitely isn't a bad thing for Iron Maiden, since they've proven time and again that they can pull it off extremely well. Dance of Death has a unique, almost romantic sound to it that is absent from the rest of Iron Maiden's discography, which is complemented by this heavy use of keyboards, and in my opinion it results in the album having an amazing quality to it.

However, the guitars haven't been completely neglected. This is Iron Maiden after all, the melodies as always are stunning, even more so considering the tone on this record which is more dry, but also more fluid and gives the performances more clarity, such as in the iconic intro of Rainmaker. Rainmaker in general is a supposedly standard song by the band at first, but the unorthodox motifs consequently make it one of the more polarising tracks in the band's discography. When I mentioned earlier that Dance of Death excels on a grand sound, this is actually undermined by the first two songs. These are short and to-the-point, and could easily fit on No Prayer For The Dying, Fear of The Dark or even Piece of Mind. With this in mind, I think that the band should've picked one of the longer songs as the opener, leaving the shorter and therefore less characteristic (relative to the rest of the album) songs in the middle of the runtime, especially since the rest of the record is exclusively 5-minute-or-longer, which does become very exhausting without breaks.

Now, onto why Dance of Death kicks ass. The epic sound is on full display here, whether it be the eastern-sounding intro of No More Lies, the life-changing middle section of the title track, or the generally captivating atmosphere of Paschendale. Keyboards mesh with layered lead guitar tracks on top of the constant gallop of the rhythm section. While this can become monotonous, it's kept fresh by the very progressive nature of the songwriting (I'm not claiming that Iron Maiden is in any way a progressive band, but their 2000s material is undoubtedly very long and spontaneous in structure, ignoring the endlessly repeating choruses of course). As far as performances go, I think that this was the first Iron Maiden album to be recorded live. Taking this into account, each member is playing their heart out, and the instruments come together in perfect cohesion, most obviously on Face In The Sand, which is the best song on the record hands down for my money. The looming drums match flawlessly with the droning, ambient guitar effects and Bruce' vocals are mesmerising and passionate.

On the topic of the vocals, Bruce Dickinson manages to continue to hit insanely high notes on Dance of Death, as well as showing some of the most durable and powerful projection in his career, at least in the 21st century. For example, in Journeyman, another amazing song, he pulls off melodies in the chorus that could make anyone cry. Despite this, he does strain a noticeable amount on this album, more than before. Production-wise, this record is strong. As I stated previously, the guitar tone is fluid, and this is couple with the clear, ride-heavy drums. The keyboards are way up front in the mix with the bass, contributing to the grandness of the album. Iron Maiden are often criticised for the more raw production of their later albums, due to the live recordings and the somewhat half-assed management of Kevin Shirley, but I think it works well here to encapsulate the band's ideas and adjustment to a modern sound without being overproduced like a lot of projects of the same style.

So, Dance of Death is an anomaly in the Iron Maiden catalogue in that it manages to be creative and ambitious like its predecessor, but in different ways, utilising a more laid-back approach to the music to make room for the huge emphasis on memorable atmosphere. It's a great record and one that deserves praise not for being a step outside of the band's comfort zone, since it's pretty much in the vein of Iron Maiden's signature sound, but because it still managed to result in a lot of brilliant songs that are relatively unusual. Don't mistake the long song-lengths and repetition of lyrics for boredom, this album is a very rewarding experience.

Seventeen records, almost half a century. Like the latest song says, let's get the time machine and go back to 2003: we found eleven songs and 68 minutes of good music. It was recorded in London and was the first face to face with David Patchett's controversial artwork, which fairly surpasses the apocalyptic Eddie of Virtual XI with a dangerous version of death, this album's essence. It was said that the true potential of the three axes Smith/Murray/Gers had not yet been unleashed in Brave New World, something in "Dance Of Death" has really reached maximum points.

Dance of Death is a successful continuation of the previous album, but with different writing and sounds, closer to the intermediate sound of Somewhere In Time and Piece of Mind. Words like "death" or "dead" appear on almost every track, so choosing the figure of Eddie with a scythe is totally on the mark. Cover's quality is quite an important downturn respecting what we were used to, if it can be compared with the ones Derek Riggs did for Powerslave, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, or Melvyn Grant's magnificent one for Fear Of The Dark.

“Rainmaker” has extraordinary melodies and follows the dynamics of Wildest Dreams, although it transmits more force than the opener. Bruce gives a fantastic intonation and at times it's reminiscent of "Deja Vu" (Somewhere In Time). "No More Lies" is the first of the four epics and follows the outline of Steve Harris' songwriting. The entry of Dickinson's vocals gives the song more body and he follows the guitar/bass rhythm until exploding by the beating of instruments. It's actually successful with the orchestral arrangements as the song picks up a galloping difficult to ignore. "Gates Of Tomorrow" has rock roots and double vocal layers are very prominent in a different tone as well as the highly catchy chorus. It's a 100% Maiden song and its verse is more repetitive, which shows they have been looking for a more direct-singalong song, as opposed to the title track.

"Paschendale" is based on war stories. Adrian Smith places us in World War I, in the Belgian city of Passchendale (the real name is written with two "s"), where a soldier witnesses the massacre remembering his comrades fallen on the battlefield. For first time Adrian writes a frankly innovative epic while Nicko's hi-hat gives it an overwhelming air along with the guitar melody. There are some orchestral arrangements that give it a sensational, movie-like grandeur. This leaves a battle, danger, chaos feeling hardly achieved until then. It requires very attentive listening and it ends in a brilliant way. "Age Of Innocence" shows concern about the world march, the changes in a city like London in terms of alarming points of public insecurity. Lyrics emphasizes the need to choose wisely and take advantage of opportunities when you are growing. It begins in a familiar way similar to UFO's Doctor Doctor they covered, with a sweeter chorus and a sound effect in vocals that give it its own personality. There's some good work from Nicko's double bass drum with some fantastic rolls. Who said he was lazy and didn't use it? By the way, Murray's riffs are also outstanding.

There's a significant change in songwriting. Harris had a prominent weight in other works, but in Dance Of Death he takes a back seat. He writes the incredible “No More Lies” but he's dedicated to supervising his colleagues' writing. Songwriting has fallen on the three guitarists, especially Janick and Adrian, who don't disappoint and show they have fresher ideas than Harris himself. McBrain makes his first contribution after 20 years since his join, while Dickinson makes an impressive contribution and makes it sound like his solo albums at times. Although he doesn't write, no one can doubt his total dedication to the band. Gossips say he may be saving things for his solo career.

It's impossible to dismiss this for the enjoyment of someone and the despair of others. Kevin Shirley's inevitable production and his analogic wall sound have convinced me over the years just as Senjutsu has done in few weeks. Dance of Death overflows power and is a delicious sound experience thanks to the rhythmic base that Harris/McBrain has been developing since 1982. I keep dropping dates as if they were temporary beacons for a simple perspective matter, but also in case the vertigo of time vanishes when I conjure it. You don't lose anything by trying.

After the successful reunion of the original members and the permanence of Gers, they would once again return to the studios to record Dance of Death. It generated high expectations thanks to the praising that previous album gathered, and without a doubt these guys would be able to continue maintaining the streak with this album simplifying and compacting the songwriting more, which isn't bad, but here the choruses are less repeated than BNW as the previous managed to maintain the repeatability, dystopian atmosphere masterfully. This time they incorporate folk/speed elements not seen in many years and could be said that with more colors taking away the grayish/middle-eastern patterns that characterized the predecessor. There are fast tracks like the opener, an acoustic track like the closer, remarkably well-built epics and a production that initially received complaints about being somewhat dirty (in a bad way) but the version I review here is the remastered one, where the most notable thing is how clean bass sounds and how crisp, enhanced the guitars actually sound which consequently the solos gained more life. Some consider this musically less memorable than Brave New World for presenting shorter tracks, but that's a very wrong perspective. I consider it a little better for the way they venture here to explore fields that were never repeated on their other post-2000 albums.

The opener and Montsegur work well as speedy meats; I highlight the vocal interpretation in Wildest Dreams as a festive, carnival one while Rainmaker is melodically catchy and that's why both songs actually share in common the longing of many who finally want songs of this caliber that rarely achieve to be short but with lot of substance. Montsegur, Gates of Tomorrow and New Frontier are criminally underestimated as they're one of the few fast-paced thrashy songs they ever offered in this contemporary era. At this point I think they'll never compose something similar again, without a doubt they're strong tracks worthy of a moshpit. No More Lies, Dance of Death, Paschendale are the typical epics in the same level as their golden age ones; they all stand out yet No More Lies could be the least impressive as it progressively advances with the cymbals and keyboards accompanied by Bruce reciting in crescendo those verses very reminiscent of the Virtual XI era, the truth is it breaks after 2 minutes until reaching a frenzied, more lively soloing and when I heard it the first time I actually thought would end in an exhausting way, but what I feared didn't happen. The closer Journeyman seems a bright, cheerful kind of Opeth’s Harvest to me.

Talking about Dance of Death is talking about a classic that has grown over the years. The faulty cover is not that inconvenient, although I've seen so many alternative covers. There's one that I liked, it depicts Eddie with four hooded guys floating in the living room and also another with a blue color palette, more a cartoonish style. Supposedly the designer asked not to appear in the credits because it was incomplete and he was embarrassed to credit the work, but Harris liked it so much so he decided to use it anyway. Sometimes I don't understand the poor decisions this sir makes, and we have to deal with. When I started listening to them eleven years ago I said they had completely lost the north since this LP, I thought ...“the opener has a novice riff and almost a pop rhythm, heavy metal for dummies, is this Maiden? And those chorus taken from some Brazilian carnival, wtf?"... Hence why I said carnivalesque, and finally, you got me here. Also believed the cover makes me lose the desire to hear it and the content is even worse. Anyway, the idea is inspired by The Masque of the Red Death, which was brought to the big screen in 1964, seems a great literary reference.

In terms of production it is a true advantage to have Kevin Shirley since he manages to provide a rougher sound and makes the guitar tone rub against speed metal as well as folk metal (MINIMALLY, not much, more reminiscence than anything). Shirley doesn't seem so bad to me but for those detractors, Martin Birch was also a great producer but his time was not always rosy: I always thought that his production in Fear of the Dark could be much better and Seventh Son, which still consider a masterpiece, must have had less smooth guitars for such a riff feast, yes, they can be crystalline but must also have strength. Seventh Son really sounded better on vinyl but with headphones it was something else, and Dance of Death works on any platform. This album presents evenly distributed songs and takes a more direct approach compared to Brave New World, and perhaps there's a dissonance between the lyrics and the music as could be said it's a dark album, with haunting lyrics full of stories, bloody and deep thoughts, but with festive, proto-folk melodies, epic for the most part but dark as in Paschendale. Twenty years after Piece of Mind, this once underrated and reviled classic is here to stay.

Nicko McBrain co-wrote the song "New Frontier", doing his first participation as a songwriter. Once again, Dance of Death returned with more costumes in their live show as Bruce Dickinson wears theatrical masks and a cape as he moves around the stage. He finally dresses as the austere reaper for each final chorus. All the magic, all the passion, all the illusion or all the disappointment that their music can generate in a broad sense can be seen reflected in the fact that this band can't leave anyone indifferent. Everyone thinks it's a foolish thing to not recognize we're facing the banners of the genre: some dinosaurs that refuse to extinct, a reference for thousands of fans. Since there and knowing this, any criticism is absurd (we all have our own) and perhaps therein lies the greatness of this band. Words are unnecessary, so… to the point.

The anecdotal thing was to find the traditional British infantry costume, worn during the First World War where Dickinson performs the death on Paschendale during the live tour. Regarding the lyrics, the title track refers to a late-medieval allegory on the universality agree about death: no matter one's position in life, the Dance of Death unites everyone. This big picture is also known as a macabre dance. Then, there are songs that are capable of starting in a very aggressive, fast way whose melodies unfold toward a more chorus style in order to invite the audience to jump up, such as "Montségur", maybe not as famous as others singles but this one has very elaborate parts that'll make you enjoy from beginning to end.

Title track "Dance of Death" is a classic that has grown over the years and stands out several choruses, both in the beginning, middle and final parts. The bass is spectacular and the three guitars give it a lot of body while Bruce's voice is very well crafted. Not much else to discover here, it's a perfect song that'll always be played live wherever you go. "Gates of Tomorrow" repeats the formula again without getting tired, the powerful guitars that drive both song and chorus are spectacular and it deserves more popularity, a pity that the album itself suffers a lot of negative perceptions just for the not very visually pleasing cover art.

"Paschendale" is another classic, who doesn't recognize that famous intro? Has very well-placed elements at the precise moment with those keyboards that make it super fresh. "Face in the Sand" reminds me of Blood Brothers at times and Nicko's double pedal makes it pretty damn impressive. Even so, I get the impression that Nicko can prove much more but he has to settle up for the line the song follows. The cohesion of three guitars is another proof of how they've been able to take advantage as ever. "Journeyman" is an acoustic song that closes the album very well; the lyrics are beautiful and have philharmonic elements that are pleasant to listen to but in the mix, I feel Bruce's voice very low... perhaps I'm getting deaf from listening to very loud guitars, especially in this album when they feel more mature as these guys have been doing in their post-2000 plates.

In summary, a sober album that despite lasting more than an hour it's still short and entertaining. It surely lives up to the best albums, surpassing even Brave New World in terms of musical patterns and novelty, but just barely. Time will tell where Dance Of Death occupies in their successful catalog, but it will certainly be at the top. Harris' bass is still there, but with more controlled volume; Nicko has lost his temper, he's no longer as calculating and methodical as before; the guitars are spectacular, the labyrinth of solos that entangle all it leaves no doubt that the three axes are in their place and in their style as the great masters they are.

I think it's the album where Bruce's voice has achieved higher levels of quality; if that was already difficult to achieve, the siren doesn't lower its timbre though. Continuing with details, the inner libretto is fantastic, you can see the band's photos in an old mansion dance room, where each musician poses thoughtfully while figures of transparent women appear here and there... very artistic. The cover art, well, Eddie would have been cooler without that string of polygon-filled weirdos characters.

Let’s set the album artwork aside and focus on what matters. Dance Of Death has had a very mixed reaction by the fans since its release almost two decades ago. Although I think it gained some more respect over time, it still takes a fair amount of criticism. To put it simply, I like to think of it as Brave New World part two. It doesn’t hold nearly that level of mind-blowing songwriting, but the style itself is very similar.

First and foremost, Iron Maiden managed to inject loads of hooks into the songs here while still keeping the general longer, epic basis for the most part. That’s primarily what the previous disc was crafted on, and it shows here as well. “No More Lies” is an easy example of this, considering its use of buildup and theatrics while injecting such an earworm of a chorus. Admittedly, that’s a simplistic one-liner that probably could have been improved upon. Closer “Journeyman” is very similar in that sense, and I think both of these songs heavily represent my one gripe about this album; the repetitive factor isn’t used nearly as well as it could have been.

Think, both aforementioned tracks are stellar songs that I enjoy listening to, but could have both been trimmed significantly. Looking at a shorter banger like “Rainmaker,” these songs would have done better with their same attitude but executed in the vein of that one. It’s stellar from start to end, and the guitar attacks and vocal clarity back each other perfectly. Some of the middle tracks that don’t quite hold as hot of a flame are also guilty of this, but for the most part are enjoyable enough.

On the other hand, Dance Of Death has a bunch of songs that reside on the longer side that are absolutely flawless. “Age Of Innocence” still holds the title of one of my top ten Iron Maiden songs ever written, and I stand by it’s stellar verse building and beautiful chorus. “Monsegur” injects nautical feels with its guitar tones, and the writing here is fuming. The soft crawl of the title track even has a pretty remarkable approach, and I dig this one.

Had it not been for a few gripes that held it back, Iron Maiden would have coughed up another record that even beats certain classics. But everything besides that is still incredible, and I’m glad that this record has a solid amount of fans that back it. If you’ve been skeptical to check this one out, I highly recommend it.

Iron Maiden's highly anticipated Dance of Death couldn't start off worse. The horrible cover depicting a barely discernible Eddie must be one of the least accomplished of their discography. Why didn't they contract the ever-bright Derek Riggs? We'll never know. As well, the album begins with "Wildest Dreams" - an anodyne track, by far the most inferior as it's too rock n' roll-ish, bland and unconvincing for an opener. It's a terrible choice and extends the band's string of limbo inducing, self-effacing singles such as The Angel and the Gambler, for want of a good (albeit pathetic) example. Iron Maiden is first and foremost a heavy metal band, not rock or even "hard rock" for that matter. Alternatively, The Wicker Man worked very well as a single on the previous album (Brave New World) because it was heavy and possessed loads of hooks as well as cranked up guitars, which is lacking on Wildest Dreams, except for the remarkable midway solo section.

Fortunately, things soon work out; already the second track, where starts the best effort, with its great melodic essence, an incredible vocal feeling which proves Bruce "Air Raid" Dickinson is still one of the great voices of metal. The three amigos' solos are also excellent although, personally, I think Janick Gers is surplus here as his sloppy style doesn't match the other guitarists' technical prowess. Essentially, this should have been the single as it's a great song. Dance of Death has moments of great compositional brilliance and sounds different than Maiden classics on which drum patterns and guitar chords are in some way more "American" than "European", especially when the trio doesn't use those Arabic scales abundantly used on The X Factor and later albums.

"Paschendale" is, along with "Montségur", the heaviest stuff; a dark track, but certainly powerful with open chords which once again allow Dickinson's brilliance and great form to shine. He equally pulled the ace out of his sleeve on Fear of the Dark: black leather and all "duelling" for the sceptre of best metal vocalist while anticipating the return of Rob Halford with Judas Priest. The finale comes with 'Journeyman', an emotionally different song in the same vein as Arc of Space or Chemical Wedding from his solo project. It could be called folk metal, like a heavy version of Jethro Tull: a renovated metal base with violins, cello and 100% acoustic percussion, without battery implements, and with guitars which drive the song by differing emotions. It's definitely a nice, emotional way to close the album and were it not for Dickinson's voice, it would be hard to guess it's an Iron Maiden song. Very good!

Harris whips up some amazing bass lines while McBrain at times enters the fray with marked and very heavy double bass drum kicks which allow vocals and guitars to evoke various emotions; this gives way to a cannon of guitar solos couched in tasteful orchestrations as well as bordering on a plethora of magnificent compositions. Dickinson relates the songs as if they were stories, almost conversing the lyrics before giving way to a sharp "clawing" vocalization i.e. hitting high notes to the backdrop of an instrumental base which also grows until reaching an emotional climax. This is what Dance of Death offers us. In short, an album requiring a slower assimilation than the previous one, with its immediately affecting 'The Wicker Man', 'Ghost of the Navigator' or 'The Mercenary'. However, only time will tell if it's of superior quality than Brave New World. For now, I know where I stand.

There will always exist the same division of opinions regarding the evolutionary line of Iron Maiden, on the one hand, those who say that the band repeats formulas to satiety; on the other, those who claim that over time they were uprooted from their own sound. On the other hand, I take a more optimistic approach on both fronts and put them into an only opinion: Iron Maiden have lived in constant and noticeable evolution, but keeping intact their musical identity, preserving the most basic aspects that define them and that make them unique in the history of heavy metal world.

Here it is, the biggest release of 2003 in many of our minds, and expectations have never been higher following the immensely popular previous album. This album lives up to expectations and continue the tradition of Maiden ruling the heavy metal world.

Yes. Jam-packed from beginning to end with all the instant-classic riffs, choruses, and solos the way only Maiden can do them, this album is a fan’s wet dream. A quick warning for those of you who disliked Brave New World: you won’t like this album either. It's essentially the exact same formula as that album, all the way down to copying the title track's chord pattern and sound exactly for the title track of this album. You could sing the “Brave New World” lyrics over the Dance of Death title track or vice versa, they are so identical. Additionally, chord patterns and sequences are recycled quite often but, who really gives a damn? This is Maiden doing what they do the best. Bruce is as clear and powerful as ever, the guitar solos are generally as good as early Maiden albums, and Steve Harris’ songwriting is still pretty good, even though it's clear he is running out of ideas for the standard Maiden song formula.

Smith once again is pulling out the same quality of solos that made him such a guitar god back in the 80's. Janick has also found a style of playing that now complement rather than copies Murray's style of soloing. Which of course still sound like a pure explosion of energy. Harris and Nicko show once again why Maiden have the best rhythm section of all metal bands, while Bruce Dickinson adds the 'Spinal Tap' to the songs which make what they are, pure classic heavy metal, and it's still as relevant today as it was 30 years ago.

All in all, Dance of Death is a great album for all of Maiden’s billion or so fans. For those of you who never really “got it” however, you won’t find anything here to change your mind. They recycled the formula that was so successful with Brave New World, with mixed but overall positive results. I have no doubt that this album will grow on me more with time, but I’m here to give you a reason after only two complete listens for a reason: I’m a die-hard Maiden fan, pretty much anything they do I love with enough patience, and any review I give on this album after extensive listening will be subject to that bias.

Still and all, highly recommended to any and all Iron Maiden fans, unless you specifically didn’t like Brave New World.

Since the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith before the recording of Brave New World, all Iron Maiden albums have been too long and inconsistent. I want to pick Steve Harris up by the shoulders and shake him until all the lame quiet parts and narrative ideas and "understated epics" have fallen out of his long thick locks. Remember Number of the Beast when there was only one song over 7 minutes and those 7 minutes were full of riffs and excitement? Why did it stop?

Er-hem.

Iron Maiden are still a fantastically talented band and that's what they sound like for about 40 minutes of Dance of Death. The 2 opening tracks are both swift and ruthless, with massive choruses and no fluff. 'Rainmaker' is probably the better of the two because of its distinctive melody and great solos, but the intro to 'No More Lies' heralds the start of a tendency to stagnation that plagues latter day Maiden like locusts and frogs plagued that Egyptian guy whose name would really round this point off nicely. The intro isn't shit per se, it just wastes time and it isn't until 2 and a half minutes into the song that it goes anywhere, at which point it's riffishly precise and upbeat, as are a good two thirds of the songs on here.

That's not to say that the epic angle doesn't work sometimes. I personally love the title track, cute campfire build up and all, because it gets the storytelling spot on (the album cover, not so much) and the lead guitar throughout the song is just blissful. Thought Pagan Altar were stealing the crown from Maiden this century? You can fuck right off: the folky harmonies, the twin guitar riff in the scrambling dance in the middle, plus that soaring Celtic melody that repeats near the end of the song. On a different note, the screaming solos in 'Paschendale' are enough to bring a man to tears. Those are 2 songs that use their length and variety for reasons of subtlety and atmosphere, and they come off as the album's best, more or less.

On the positive side, Dance of Death is unexpectedly heavy in places. 'Montsegur' is full on from beginning to end and reminds us why Iron Maiden inspired so many speed metal bands, while 'Gates of Tomorrow' sets off like a lawnmower, throbbing petrol bass and chugging guitars blaring. The intensity is much higher than on Brave New World and the songs feel more dynamic and coherent, though could use a little trimming and editing. The guitarists, as already mentioned, are practically unbeatable, particularly in the lead department; Steve Harris being quiet on an Iron Maiden album is like Brian Blessed being quiet on cocaine - he rumbles and throbs along in inimitable style as usual; Nicko McBrain has a lot to contend with, but manages it all with an ease, finesse, and aggression that genuinely pulls the album up a notch, plus he gets a vocal on one song (haha - no, seriously). There are keyboards here and there too: they don't interfere too much and give a couple of songs a more epic feel. Bruce Dickinson, on the other hand, comes and goes a bit. He sounds good, though I can listen to whole songs without paying much attention to him, which is worrying for a man nicknamed "the air raid siren". He doesn't sing high at all, and some of the choruses could do with some help to bring them to the boil. However, he has one of the best sets of lyrics on any album, by any band.

The place I would indicate as the downfall of the album would be the last 3 songs. Again, they waste some time, but it's the fact that none of them sound essential that is the worst thing. Admittedly, 'Journeyman' is an unexpected ballad, which I'm not keen on because I prefer the heavier, faster side of Maiden. I don't want to be that guy who says, "I only like this band when they play fast", but Maiden really do sound much better when they go at it with some urgency. Some of these comments may make it sound like Dance of Death is somewhat of a disappointment, but it's actually my favourite Maiden album of this century, followed by its predecessor, A Matter of Life and Death. It's hard to see Maiden carrying on for another 10 years, but this album is now 10 years old and is a more than worthwhile listen, exploring a few new directions in the process, so who knows, right?

In my humble opinion, "Dance of Death" is my very favourite and in general the most underrated Iron Maiden record since Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith rejoined the band in 1999. To my negative surprise, not only fans seem to consider this a flawed release but even Bruce Dickinson talked about it in a very negative and egoistic way by claiming that he had to hit very high and artificially sounding notes. Apart of the slightly strained vocal efforts, the flawed production is criticized as well as a supposedly uncoherent song writing that consists of eleven mostly overlong tracks that have no clear guiding line.

Obviously, I tend to disagree. The epic tracks have a warmer and softer production which builds up an interesting contrast to the more melancholic tone of several pieces while the shorter and straighter tracks sound raw and dirty like they should be. I really like the overall production of this record. The vocals might go to the limits but not only in a technical way the singer complains about but also in an emotional way. The vocals definitely grab your attention from the beginning to the end and I happen to find them very moving and emotion has always been more important to me in arts than technical perfection. In my opinion, this record also has a clear guiding line because it has a constant melancholic, longing and epic touch. The only exception is the opener "Wildest Dreams" where the vocals are longing but the instrumental work rather feels like a straight rock 'n roll track. On the other side, this track is the first single and opener of the record and it doesn't surprise that the band prefers to kick off the album on a more gripping and catchier note. The band has done this before, in particular on the two previous records and nobody should be surprised about this kind of idea anymore.

The rest of the album is though perfectly consistent. "Rainmaker" may be the shortest tune on here but it has a melancholic vocal effort, longing and soaring melodies and a great epic instrumental section with emotional guitar solos and catchy melodies. Since this effort, the band's song writing decreased as Iron Maiden didn't manage to write a similarly profound short song on any of the next records. The real highlights on here are the epic songs in my opinion. The emotionally diversified "Dance of Death" is a mixture of classic heavy metal song writing, a vivid folk tune and majestic classical elements. In addition to this, lyrics and music go hand in hand and develop a gripping piece of occult yarn. This song goes straight back to the band's greatest epics from the eighties. "Paschendale" is just as great but for different reasons. It's a dark epic with hypnotizing melodies and vocals that interchange with truly dramatic and passionate parts. Iron Maiden has written so many songs about war but this here is the band's most authentic and atmospheric rendition in my opinion. This track manages to transport you mentally to the blood-red battlefields of World War One. In addition to this, the lines "Cruelty has a human heart - Every man does play his part - Terror of the men we kill - The human heart is hungry still" are one of the most emotional and poetic lyrics by the band as they are at least partially inspired by the great poet William Blake. Last but not least, we get the band's most creative ballad ever with the outstanding and melancholic "Journeyman" that mixes elegant classical elements with a hopeful campfire atmosphere combined with one of Bruce Dickinson's very best vocal performances. It's a surprising piece of music coming from a heavy metal band and proves that Iron Maiden can still innovate the genre it partially pioneered in the twenty-first century.

Despite its clear guiding line, this album remains always open for experiments that should please to any dedicated Iron Maiden fan. One on side, this record includes the straight "Montségur" which is probably the most aggressive song the band has ever written. Still, the song doesn't sound stupidly brutal but comes around with amazing twin guitar solos and a desperate chorus that crowns a diversified and emotional vocal effort. On the other side, this release offers some of the band's calmest and most mature tracks that could easily come from a progressive rock album. "Age Of Innocence" is a great example as its lyrics and vocals keep sending shivers down my spine. It's not the kind of song that will convince at first contact but steadily grow with each spin and this is what makes a really clever song writing. Finally, even the few who are still living in the past and expecting a return to the band's records of the mid-eighties, may find a song that feels like a perfect blueprint of a classic heavy metal epic. This song is called "No More Lies" and despite it's retro touch, it can fully convince because it actually beats many of the originals which inspired this anthem. From the first seconds on, the band comes around with amazing melodies as well as a profound and melancholic atmosphere. The chorus is simple yet the most powerful refrain the band has written in years. The real highlight of this spectacular heavy metal epic blueprint is the instrumental middle section where we get to hear one amazing guitar solo after another. Hands down, this song includes some of the most emotional and vivid heavy metal guitar solos ever written. Even after several dozen spins, I can't stand still to this track and feel the need to get in motion, to play air guitar and to sing along to this masterpiece. This may not be the most original song writing but definitely one of the most emotional ones. Again, emotions are more important for me than technical abilities.

Even the few weaker tracks like the melodic retro rock track "Gates Of Tomorrow" or the calm progressive rock song "Face In The Sand" have grown on me as time went by. Today, I can't find any single weak track on this record. There are only good to excellent songs on this release that represents very well Iron Maiden's career as it goes back to almost any sound and style the band had already tried out in its career without forgetting about some original innovations and a very own and coherent melancholic atmosphere. This nearly perfect mixtures put this record above several other milestones of the eighties that had a huge impact on the genre but that still had some sympathetic flaws and a couple of fillers. If this record had been released between "Powerslave" and "Somewhere in Time", it would definitely be considered as one of the band's legendary early masterpieces and get the well-deserved praise it didn't get in the beginning of the new millennium. Those who listened to the album once or twice and forgot it somewhere as a dust collector on a shelf, should grab this contemporary masterpiece of heavy metal music, give it a few more spins and re-evaluate this criminally underrated album that may be the greatest heavy metal record of the new millennium.

Iron Maiden have been one of my favourite bands for a long time, on of the first metal bands i got into and i've never gone off them. I decided to review this album first as it was the one i listened to most recently. i love Brave New World, the album that really got me into Maiden and so i had high hopes for this follow up. This isn't as good as BNW but is better than the 2 albums they've done since. I'd say BNW is as good if not better than the 80's classics, whereas i'd put this album somewhere in the middle, better than the 90's albums at least.

This is the only Maiden album with writing contributions from every member, even Nicko gets in on the act! Maiden always had a progressive edge but it was usually restricted to just one or 2 tracks per album. This album is probably where the progressive side starts to come out more. The title track and 'Paschendale' being prime examples. There's even an all-acoustic track, the colossal 'Journeyman' to close the album. The electric version of this track is on the 'No More Lies' EP but i think i prefer the acoustic version. Speaking of 'No More Lies', what a great track. The chorus is a little repetitive but all is forgiven when the Three Amigos let rip with 3 exceptional solos to top off an already excellent track. The opening 2 songs were the first singles and they sound like typical Maiden singles. Short, catchy choruses, great solos. Business as usual then.

'Montsegur' is heavy, but Bruce sounds slightly strained on this one. Title track is weird and wonderful (typical Jannick song). The next 2 tracks sound like regular Maiden tracks, solid but not spectacular. I can forgive them this so far into their career, it's amazing they can even come up with so many fresh new ideas at this stage. 'Paschendale' is a long, almost symphonic epic about a nasty chapter of World War 1 with a weird Adrian Smith intro. Great stuff! There is an orchestral version on the EP i mentioned earlier. 'Face in the Sand' sounds like they've already done this before but 'Age of Innocence' is another brilliant song with a strong chorus. Then the aforementioned 'Journeyman' closes the album.

So we've got 2 excellent singles, 4 great epics and a few tracks i don't want to label as filler so we'll just call them solid album tracks. Not a bad effort really. Musical performances are typically great, you wouldn't expect or accept anything less from Iron Maiden really. Sadly this was the last album where Bruce sounded truly at the top of his game for the majority of the album, but even a decade after this album he's still vastly superior to the majority of singers out there. Recommended if you like the more dense, progressive side of Maiden.

When it comes to aging metal bands, I really do not expect a whole lot. This is not me being cynical, but rather that I don't expect them to add another classic to the discography (i.e. Seventh Son or Powerslave), and I suspect with most bands of this longevity know this deep down too. However, effort still goes a long way. For this, Iron Maiden comes out in spades with Dance of Death.

Iron Maiden's aesthetic is probably best summed up by their energetic frontman, Bruce Dickinson. He flies their jet, jumps all over the stage during their shows (he's always drenched in sweat by the time the show is over) and pursues a gaggle of outside hobbies. This attitude is reflected in the music of Dance of Death. The structures have now long moved away from simple verse-chorus-verse for most of the songs, instead opting for more progressive songs that use orchestrations more prominently, feature epic compositions from the band members, and just like how I feel Iron Maiden delivered on Brave New World, I doubly feel so for Dance of Death. The first half of the album is arguably the more conventional half, with more traditional opening songs Wildest Dreams and Rainmaker (although rainmaker oddly struck a chord with me). It is interesting to note that, for while this half of the album features No More Lies and Dance of Death, which are long form epics in the vein of Dream of Mirrors from their last album (as well as live favorites), that it is the more conventional half. It is symbolic of Iron Maiden's tireless pursuance of quality and consistency that this grade of songwriting has become standard!

The second half, however, is at hands both movingly joyous and movingly solemn. It features the gripping Paschendale, a raw account of trench warfare from a soldier's perspective, as well as the more traditional Gates of Tomorrow and New Frontier. It is with the last 3 songs, however, that I feel most impressed with Iron Maiden's scope. The intros and more sparse/melodic parts are seamlessly blended with the fully saturated sections in the songs Face in the Sand and Age of Innocence. Both these songs feature heavy orchestration, and I feel Iron Maiden, the one metal band who I would say defines the word "class", used this orchestration quite tastefully. It is with the last song, however, that I feel Iron Maiden risked the most, and through the logic of "greatest risk, greatest possible gain", Iron Maiden achieved a poignant and dignified epilogue that outshined a good chunk of an already amazing album, all of which is done without using any gain on the guitars at all during this song. That is quite a monumental feat, as far as I'm concerned. To this day, I consider Journeyman to be the best - written song here.

Lest you think that the Maiden has sold out, this album delivers on the guitars for damn sure. The solos are all done immaculately, and the triple guitar approach creates a dense set of layers that are capable of so much more, sonically speaking, that just two. Each guitarist here puts forth a truly earnest effort here, and it shows. As usual, Steve Harris proves once again why he is heavy metal's best bassist -- and that is because he forms the fourth layer in the stringed, amplified instruments of Iron Maiden with just as much ferocity and just as much drive and lead in the melodies and harmonies as any other of the guitarists, and eclipses them in quite a few parts. Nicko McBrain is, as always, a driving, completely fluid and natural feeling, and a plus on the album is that the drums have significantly more commanding presence and low-end thud (as if McBrain were playing a 10 ft tall kit made of steel-reinforced wood) and this definitely accentuates Nicko's style. If this sounds like standard issue Iron Maiden to you, then remind yourself of why you're an Iron Maiden fan, because it's this devotion to quality that has become Iron Maiden's brand, and that extends to the competency, composition, and use of the instruments on Dance of Death. I should expect the best from Maiden, it appears, because they are still fully prepared to deliver it.

Truth be told, even if Iron Maiden put forth a C- effort, I would be prepared to give them 85% or so simply because at this point in their careers, I didn't particularly expect another classic. Whether or not Dance of Death is a classic is dependent on who you ask, but this is an honest effort that goes quite beyond my expectations. The fact that for a cumulative 20 minutes or so of this album essentially does nothing new at all does not seem to bother me at all. This is because on Dance of Death, we got several sections (I'd reckon an addition 25-30 minutes worth) that, I would dare to say it, redefine what it means to be NWOBHM, 30 or so years after the fact, or even heavy metal in general, I would reckon. Not in a truly revolutionary way, mind you, but Iron Maiden take enough (successful) risks here that any flaws are immediately blown away by their tireless devotion to their art (as implied in the title).

At any point in a band'e career, I would consider a record of this caliber to be truly an achievement. The fact that Maiden have been at it for nearly 30 years at the time of this release is something to marvel at, yet isn't intrinsically apparent in the music. That Iron Maiden have reinvented themselves as a progressive heavy metal band this late in their careers and managed to still capture a feeling of youth in their music is truly mind-blowing. I try not to get this giddy any more, but after a gazillion listens, Dance of Death still makes me poop hammers, so to speak. If you haven't already heard it in its entirety, I urge you to do so. This weathered veteran still has some aces and wild cards up his sleeve, it seems.

'Dance Of Death' marks the second chapter in Iron Maiden's six-piece lineup. Although changes within the ranks and the addition of a third guitarist would normally be something only fans would be interested in, it did mark a musical shift for the band. Starting with 'Brave New World'- an album that's been since considered one of the greatest metal albums of the new millennium- Iron Maiden brought their distinctive style back to the forefront, and haven't looked back since. Most notably, singer Bruce Dickinson was back with them, but there is also a progressive edge to the songwriting that makes this period in Iron Maiden's history arguably their most exciting. 'Dance Of Death' balances out between their classic style and more intricate composition, and despite the relatively weak album art, Maiden makes it clear that they are far from exhausting their artistic spirit.

There will certainly be those who argue that Iron Maiden have 'barely' changed their sound over the decades, but comparing their early, punk-infused energy to the symphonic grandeur of the title track on 'Death Of Death', it's undeniable that Iron Maiden have picked up some new tricks. Perhaps moreso than 'Brave New World', Iron Maiden balances two distinct approaches on this album. The first is their classic brand of songwriting, one that often uses the signature 'guitar gallop', biting solos and choruses that could get a stadium's worth of metalheads singing along. 'Rainmaker' stands out particularly in this regard, with a futuristic main riff and pleasant vocal leads from Dickinson. 'Montsegur' is arguably the most traditional Maiden track here, a song somewhat reminiscent of 'The Trooper' that could have snuck onto an earlier Maiden album without arousing much suspicion.

As many of Maiden's fans might agree however, the highlight of Iron Maiden's recent work lies in the 'epic' songs they have been focusing on. Although they flirted with longer song structures as far back as their debut album, 'Dance Of Death' truly indicates their recent preference for involving, progressive composition. Without the slightest doubt, the two highlights on 'Dance Of Death' are the occult-themed title track, and the cinematic 'Paschendale'. The first of these sees Iron Maiden going down a familiar route of storytelling, about a man abducted and taken to an undead ritual. 'Paschendale' is a tribute to the eponymous battle in WWI, attempting to give the same sense of grim reality that 'The Trooper' gave the Crimean War. Musically, both tracks represent some of the most powerful songwriting I've ever heard Iron Maiden do, opening gracefully, and dramatically building to something powerful and even symphonic. As has become the standard for Maiden, the lyrics are handled with sophistication, generally falling upon history or philosophy for inspiration.

'Dance Of Death's weakness comes in the form of songs that come close to being called 'filler'. 'No More Lies', 'Gates Of Tomorrow' and 'New Frontier' are all pleasant enough Maiden tracks, but even after giving 'Dance Of Death' many enjoyed listens, I found nothing stirring about them. Thankfully, the is more excellence than disappoint on 'Dance Of Death', and while I could have asked for a greater consistency and flow, Iron Maiden's progressive material here is some of the best work I've heard them play.

Brave New World brought a ray of hope back into the hearts of many an Iron Maiden fan, but three years later, the hysteria over the band's reunion would subside. The honeymoon was over. Could the band deliver another album of the same quality? Or would the creative curse the band suffered in the latter half of the 90s rear a head so ugly it makes Eddie himself cringe? Well, unlucky no. 13, Dance of Death sort of falls somewhere in the middle of the two possibilities. Like Brave New World, it's got an excellent production and a very bright, life affirming feel to the compositions, but at the same time, it's a little darker and certainly more mellow. The result is an album that, while not unpleasant to listen to, simply doesn't inspire or aspire to the heights of the band's older works. Ultimately, there are about 2-3 good songs and the rest feels like filler with reasonable intentions.

Now, mind you, despite the flaws, Dance of Death is not as miserable an album as the two the band put out with Blaze Bayley. There is plenty to be bored with here, but the album never hinges on any brand of audio torture that will have you questioning the existence of whatever God you pray to. The songs are somewhat busy, even if they don't often imprint themselves upon your memory. The lyrics are a lot like the previous album, a mixture of historically based musings and self-reflection, so it's unfortunately not a complete return to the subject matter of their 80s albums. But perhaps with age the band's fire for such pulp has died, and the band simply wants to say something more...poignant? I can't exactly fault the band for this, but the end result is that it's just not the same amount of fun...and that cannot be denied.

Dance of Death at least follows Brave New World's example of putting its best feet forward. In this case, most of the better songs occur very early on in the record, beginning with the count off to the mildly catchy "Wildest Dreams", which is an uplifting track in the vein of "The Wicker Man" but with more backing vocal melody to the chorus, which also features a swath of biting chords that mark the climax. The lead is fair, but the riff the band breaks into directly after that is an entirely generic sequence of notes that no band should be considering in the 21st century. "Rainmaker" is far better, and in truth one of the few tracks I actually still listen to on a normal basis. It's a pretty memorable rocker with a memorable impact to the verse and chorus, due not only to Dickinson's performance, but some nice, choppy melodic guitars that bust into solid, driving chords. "No More Lies", however, is 7+ minutes of mediocrity, from yet another of the band's soft spoken intro sequences up to the bland payoff of the chorus. About the only thing that stood out here were the post-chorus guitar melodies, which reminded me a little of Amorphis' "On Rich and Poor" sans the power.

The album returns to compelling, though, with "Montségur", one of several songs that take inspiration from historical battles, in particular the sack of the Cathar's final keep at the hands of the Catholic Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century. There is a nice, impulsive anger here delivered through the vocals and the careful intensity of the building guitars, and the two entwined through the chorus are probably the single most glorious point of the entire album. "Dance of Death" is another slow moving piece, over 8 minutes, which works best whenever the orchestra gets involved, but is otherwise quite dull, with nary a moment of memorable writing aside from the fact that the core band is 'not alone'. Dickinson does build up some aggression here, similar to the previous track. It's not entirely flaccid, but even then I am hard pressed to remember a note of it. "Gates of Tomorrow" has revisits one of those old, tremolo guitar riffs which make you feel that ZZ Top, Van Halen or Dire Straits are about to rock your socks off, and while I don't care for much aside from the chorus, at least that part is graceful enough to hang it by a thread above the mundane.

The rest of the album is where I generally draw blanks when I try to think back about it's strong points. "New Frontier" is aggressive and melodic, and in fact seems like the track here that I'd like the most on any given day, yet I just don't find any solace in the melodies or any desire to revisit it. "Paschendale" is another of the historic battle themes (God Dethroned also wrote an album about it a few years later), and it does build a little fire as the verse starts to rollick, with some well-timed symphonic swells, but so much of the 8:30 minutes could simply be clipped to get to the good bits, that it's a tough sell. "Face in the Sand" reminded me of "Blood Brothers" from the last album, but perhaps diving into a little more of a serious, atmospheric bridge. "Age of Innocence" has some nice, Bond-like digs in its surging melodies, and it was probably my favorite track on the latter half of the album, especially when it launches those insane melodies before 4:00, and "Journeyman" at least has that one catchy line in the verse, but again, I could have done without at least 2-3 minutes of the song. Not that there's anything wrong with a longer song, and Maiden have executed them successfully a number of times, but it seems for every memorable moment on this album there are 2-3 that just don't register.

From a technical standpoint, Dance of Death delivers yet another massive, wafting sound, as if you were witnessing the album live, in crystal clarity, and its melodies and tones were rising up to the rafters on the wings of skull-headed angels. There is a certain maturity and refinement to the songs that one might expect of any old metal or prog rock band of Maiden's status, but like so many of the band's peers (or even older rock bands that are still alive and kicking out hugely professional, big budget albums), the full body, the completeness of nearly 70 minutes of 'okay' material just doesn't add up to the primal vitality of their better years. I don't have a hate on for the album, because it's like picking cherries. The juices start flowing with anticipation in your mouth, but after a few bites...the romance is ended. But I'm sure there is some obsessive cherry lover out there who would disagree, and now I'll shut up.

Highlights: Rainmaker, Montségur, Age of Innocence

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Okay, I like certain aspects of this album and I would not call it an over all horrible release but I will start by immediately pointing out the weaknesses. On this album it becomes very clear that Dickinson is getting older. When hearing him sing higher pitched vocals one can hear his voice struggling all the time. It’s not that natural sounding anymore as it did on Seventh Son. This of course is logical since many years have past but it really is something that tempers the enthusiasm about some songs.

Secondly the guitar sound is more messy and blurry than on Brave New World. I’m really missing that old staccato sound on some songs. Remember the days of Aces High and Flight Of Icarus? Well SOMEONE on this album is playing his parts to pretty sloppy. SOMEONE doesn’t have that metal staccato feeling and is playing certain riffs with a hardrockish right hand. This once again is a bummer. I'm getting annoyed.

Thirdly Steve Harris is relying on bass power chords too much instead of those galloping parts he was once famous for. A lot of songs feature him stroking his bass instead of truly playing it. At certain point we can even call it a lazy performance. This will not do! since I looked up to that man when I was a jong boy.

Last but not least the album is very inconsistent. I’m not talking stylewise here like Fear Of The Dark but in terms of quality.

Now for some positive aspects. The albums opens with 5 good or decent songs in a row. “Wildest Dream” isn’t as good as earlier Smith singles, but it is an enjoyable rocking tune with a sleazy chorus but would’ve been a B-side in the eighties. “Rainmaker” has a good drive, sweet melodies and a catchy chorus in the “No Prayer for the Dying” album sense. Fourth song “Montsegur” is equally strong yet has a slightly better chorus.

“No More Lies” however is a real masterpiece. Now this is Maiden. A strong epic filled with changes in pace and Dickinson performs rather well here. The title track is majestic as well. It combines the folky touch of the earlier Blood Brothers (from BraveNewWorld) with the epic approach of eighties Maiden and a touch of “Fear Of The Dark”.

Only two songs from the rest of the album are good. “Paschendale” is another epic that does well live especially and has a very catchy beautiful intro. Closing song “Journeyman” can be considered a ballad but because of its folky vocal lines it is never cheesy. A good tune with a very good Dickinson!

The remaining songs is were it all goes horribly wrong. “Gates of Tomorrow” has a hair metal intro that is even weaker than Lord Of The Flies (X-Factor, 1995). “New Frontier”? Just dull. “Face in the Sand” and “Age of Innocence” are both songs that have some nice ideas but fail to deliver as a whole. The lack of a strong chorus in both cases makes these songs fail in the end.

So you see, there is a lot to complain about concerning “Dance Of The Dead”. The album however features 7 songs that are worthwhile from which 3 can really be considered really excellent. 7 out of 11 is pretty lacking though. This would result in giving the album 64 points. The sloppy rhythm performance of a certain guitarist, the laziness with which Harris plays some basslines and the decreasing quality of Dickinson’s voice however do drag it down to 55 points.

It’s because of this album I’ve concluded having three guitarist is unnecessary, makes it even sound sloppy and Dickinson is really getting old. They should be grateful I’m not deducting more points for the second rate cover art.

For anyone who purchases an album for the purpose of listening to it all the way through, the pacing of any opus is an essential element that must be well ordered so that entire experience can maintain a sense of organization. The metal genre is, by nature, systematic and methodical. Even the most avant-garde of acts in the most obscure of sub-genres will rely on an underlying symmetrical structure in order to keep the listener hooked in.

Iron Maiden had always kept a very strict structure to their work from their first album on, until the notable exception of “The X Factor”, which ushered in a potential alternative approach of writing longer songs and modeling entire albums after the longer winded, epic style of 1970s progressive rock for the band. Since that time, Steve Harris and company have tried to marry their older approach of evenly paced songs with the occasional long number with the “4 or more songs timing over 7 minutes” structure.

“Dance of Death” represents the most moderated combination of length and brevity, switching gears every couple tracks to keep the listener guessing, while putting forth the most consistent and quality based songwriting since “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”. The capabilities of the 3 guitar arrangement are exploited well enough, but for the most part this album listens more like the ones where 2 guitarists were in congress. In fact, apart from Bruce’s vocals, Adrian Smith providing his invaluable input on songwriting, and a slightly more upbeat overall lyrical approach, this album bears the most resemblance to “The X Factor” of anything to date.

Things start out pretty fast and optimistic with “Wildest Dreams”, kicking up the riff and tempo assault a notch from previous album opener “The Wicker Man” and offering something quite similar to Maiden’s faster work in the early 80s. Likewise, “Rainmaker”, “Montsegur” and “Gates of Tomorrow” come in and out of the works, before and after longer winded songs and keep the overall flow of the album constant and driving. Particular mention should be given to “Gates of Tomorrow” for having the most energy I’ve heard out of a fast Maiden song since 1988.

The longer songs on here spare us no amount of enjoyment either, as all the contrasting sections are appropriately spaced out and the over-repetition that haunted much of 1990s Maiden epics has been cut away. The band’s own musical take on the Danse Macabre and the album’s title track throws an intriguing mix of Celtic inspired melodic ideas along side their standard thematic material and succeeds at sounding quite theatrical. Bruce Dickinson would often assume many of the roles depicted in the lyrics while touring on this album, be it the masked dancers or the Grim Reaper, all in one single performance between the many instrumental breaks. Other songs that make exceptional use of atmosphere and thematic contrast include the World War I inspired “Paschendale”, the heavy and socially conscious “Face in the Sand”, and the all acoustic epic tale of self-actualization “The Journeyman”.

From start to finish, everything on here just begs to be listened to, and in the order that it is present in. The same can’t really be said for most of what Maiden had put forward in the 13 years before this came out. It doesn’t quite reach the same magnitude of the early years or their zenith in the mid 80s, but it gets extremely close. If you liked “Brave New World” and “The X Factor”, and if you aren’t dissuaded by a somewhat goofy looking album art, this successfully merges the best elements of both of those albums and injects the resulting hybrid with a needed dose of energy.

The newer Iron Maiden albums are always good for stirring up a bit of controversy, and while it's obvious that the band will never again produce songs as fine as "Aces High" or "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," they will keep coming really close. This is their second "comeback" album, Dance of Death, and while I might be in the minority on this one, I say it's much better than the overrated Brave New World.

This album showed Maiden spanning out a bit and introducing some progressive elements into the familiar galloping, air-raid siren Heavy Metal we all know and love, and I think it did them good, for they were already growing stagnant on the last album. The opening "Wildest Dreams" is a classic Maiden rocker, catchy as Hell and fun to boot, but the second song is where they really start to step things up. "Rainmaker" is a slightly Middle Eastern tinged tune, bringing to mind sandy, barren deserts with a bloodied, punishing sun overhead by utilizing mindblowingly cool guitar trills, along with a unique, fresh chorus melody that is quite unlike anything they've done before. The title track is also a great song, with oriental folk melodies creeping about in the shadows as Dickinson gives off a dark, reedy performance that sets the mood perfectly. Dickinson really has improved over the years rather than aging - his soft, balladesque voice was never this good.

"Gates of Tomorrow" and "New Frontier" are classic Maiden rockers in the style that we've come to appreciate from them, and albeit a bit slower than the classic Maiden hits, they are satisfying appetizers for the oncoming feast - and what a feast it is! "Paschendale" is one of the very best songs Iron Maiden has ever written, just as good as "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and bar none the best song on this album. It's an epic 8 minute entourage of classic metal riffs and epic overtones the way only Maiden knows how to do it, and the vocal lines are stirring and riveting in their passionate, agonized delivery. Fantastic song. And it follows up with one that is almost as good, the highly overlooked "Face in the Sand," a midpaced quasi-epic with one of the best choruses the band has written in recent years. The album closes with the acoustic "Journeyman," which is not the best song, but it works well as a closer to this darker, sprawling, more progressive sound that Dance of Death flaunted so boldly.

This album doesn't get anywhere near the amount of credit it deserves. While it's not classic Maiden, it is a bold epic modern day Maiden that won't fail to please. Repeated listens do this one good. Recommended.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

Iron Maiden has been around for a long time, a very long time. They were formed on Christmas Day in 1975, went through dozens of lineup changes until they settled on their most stable lineup 8 years later. Most bands are not even around for that amount of time, but somehow, the UK metallers survived their growing pains and made it as one of the most successful heavy metal bands of all time. It's currently September of 2006, and just a few short/long (take your pick) weeks ago the band released their 14th album, A Matter of Life and Death. After listening to it constantly the last couple weeks, I decided to look back on Maiden's previous efforts, of course starting with 2003's Dance of Death.

Like the new Maiden album, Dance of Death seems to be one of those albums that will receive plenty of praise and at the same time, plenty of criticism among fans. As with both Brave New World and A Matter of Life and Death, this album contains longer tracks with plenty of soft intros, winding interludes, and time changes that can change on a dime. Though Steve and Co. haven’t completely mastered this new take on song writing, through songs like Paschendale, Dance of Death, and Face in the Sand, Iron Maiden shows that not even Father Time can slow them down, or at least, not yet.

Dance of Death features a few surprises, a few new elements that have not been present on any of their other albums. First off, Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain's first ever writing credit comes on the album. The song, titled No Frontier, is surprisingly better than one would think, though certainly not a classic Iron Maiden track. No Frontier starts off weakly, but eventually round out to be a pretty enjoyable track. Notable is both the very catchy chorus, and the two energetic solos from Smith and Murray. The other surprise is the closing track, simply titled Journeyman. Never before has an all acoustic song been found on an Iron Maiden album, and the band decided to change that here. Journeyman is an impressive mid-paced 7 minute outer with excellent lyrics. The song is very epic sounding, especially the long build up in the middle of the song, with an emotional feeling to it that is only matched by the likes of Paschendale. Though the song contains no solo, it is among my favourite songs off Dance of Death and certainly one of the best.

Interestingly, the Dance of Death album contains not only Iron Maiden's best song, Paschendale, but it also contains one of their worst, a track titled Gates of Tomorrow. With its boring, uninspired riffs, annoying rhythm, and bad lyrics, Gates of Tomorrow is a very forgettable track and does not represent the attitude of Dance of Death very well at all. On the other hand, Paschendale gives listeners a real taste of what the album tried to accomplish. With its heavy riffs, operatic vocals, melodic instrumentals, emotional lyrics and atmosphere, Paschendale is quite easily the ultimate Maiden masterpiece. Along with the likes of Hallowed Be Thy Name, Powerslave, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Paschendale has Maiden achieving their full potential in a track that best exemplifies the theatric moments the band was shooting for on the Dance of Death album.

Though the album contains many long epics of at least 6 minutes, Iron Maiden does not forget their past. No, there are a couple tracks that pay homage to their past efforts. The likes of Montsegur and Rainmaker remind fans of the highly energetic 80's sound that had become such a hit among metal fans. Montsegur in particular could easily fit on the Piece of Mind album and not look out of place. Wildest Dreams and New Frontier are also shorter songs similar in structure to the previously mentioned tracks, and contain many of the same high energy characteristics.

With Dance of Death, Iron Maiden sought to continue their musical growth, taking the long prog rock influenced sound found on their reunion album Brave New World, and adding a new epic, theatrical twist to it. With cuts such as the title track and Paschendale, they certainly succeed, producing an album that although long, is very interesting to listen to. Don't let the terrible art work deter you from purchasing this album, as it deserves a spot in your CD collection.

(Originally written for Sputnikmusic)

Almost 30 years after their incarnation, Iron Maiden has retained the distinct ability to sound like Iron Maiden. Sometimes it’s a more formulaic, repetitive Iron Maiden, but other times it’s an ingenious, creative, powerful Iron Maiden. Dance of Death is one of the finest hours of that second group, a testament to a band that can still release passionate, original heavy metal nearly three decades into their career.

Continuing with the progressive stylings of Brave New World, Dance of Death generally consists of longer, more intricate compositions than their earlier albums. Unlike BNW however, the band’s classic songwriting style is applied quite a bit. There’s still a fair amount of synthesizer integration, but the songs are catchier and more memorable. Whereas BNW had all quality songs but no standout tracks, Dance of Death is almost all standouts with a few weaker spots, similar to Piece of Mind in that sense. The first track, “Wildest Dreams,” is arguably the catchiest Iron Maiden song since “Hooks in You.” A lot of the songs utilize clean riffs and synth textures, but others are just plain heavy as hell. The album is very diverse and it makes for a powerful listening experience from beginning to end.

It must be noted that all three guitarists have gotten even better since BNW. The solos throughout the album are among the band’s most technical and several among their classics. The riffs are really good too, with a good variety of sound and application. Bruce’s vocals are still great, with tons of memorable vocal melodies. Several of the songs have absolutely classic lyrics, although the repetitive choruses start to get a little old (much more so than on BNW). Steve’s bass work is solid and the mix keeps him from sounding obnoxious. Instrumentally there isn’t really anything to complain about. The band is talented and they aren’t afraid to show it.

As far as individual songs, there are indeed some true classics on here. “Dance of Death” and “Paschendale” are the epics of the album, both of them being unbelievably well-written, full of amazing guitar playing, and powerful atmospherically. Other songs like “Wildest Dreams” and “Rainmaker” show off a more classic Maiden sound and are quite catchy. A personal favorite of mine is “Montsegur,” notable for its inherent heaviness, awesome riffs and melody lines, and THE sing-along chorus of the album. It’s impressive, to say the least.

I don’t see how Iron Maiden fans could possibly be disappointed with this album. It’s not the band’s best work per say, but it has the power and speed of their older songs as well as the aesthetic songwriting and progressivism of their later work. Several of the songs can hold their own against the band’s best work and it doesn’t take the open-mindedness required for appreciating BNW, this album is immediately accessible. The only thing I don't like about the album is the stupid CG cover. It's a cool concept, but would have been a thousand times better as an illustration. Regardless, Dance of Death is indeed a testament to the band’s skill and it provides a glimpse of what the band might be capable of in future releases: if they follow its example, chances are the next one will be even better.

When I think of IM’s catalogue, strangely this album (Dance of Death, for those who forgot!) comes off as the strange one. Perhaps it’s the production, which sounds rather different for Maiden, perhaps it’s the ‘1-2, 1-2-3-4’ count that begins the album or perhaps (and most probably) it’s the hurried songwriting one can detect here. Maiden I guess must have written the album in quite a hurry to capitalize on the frenzy Brave New World created. Anyway, despite how odd it is or how hurried the writing process was – this is still a damn good album. Although some of the tracks do seem unnecessary (‘Age Of Innocence’, ‘Montsegur’, ‘Journeyman’). Although all three are decent tracks, they just don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the album. ‘Montsegur’ has Bruce singing too fast for the song’s own good but the song still is decent with some excellent soloing in it. The riff though, is ripped off from ‘The Fallen Angel’. The lyrics to ‘Age Of Innocence’ is excellent but the song itself has an oddly happy chorus – just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the song and the solo just sucks although the twin-lead is excellent. Maiden’s worst closer – by far. Also, the chorus to ‘No More Lies’ is silly and repetitive, but the song itself has an excellent vocal performance, a great tense atmosphere (especially during the beginning with Bruce doing excellently on vocals) and masterful soloing. ‘Journeyman’ is the best of the three and is a complete ballad. Very pleasant and nice, but not quite a good way to end the album.

Now that all the flaws are out of the way – only the good is left. And oh my, what is left isn’t just good, it’s damned excellent material which wouldn’t be out of place in early Maiden. ‘Wildest Dreams’ is an excellent opener, it isn’t as breakneck as Maiden’s other speedy tracks but it’s extremely catchy with killer melodies and a great solo by Adrian in it. ‘Rainmaker’ has that genius opening riff and is another very catchy song. The twin-lead here is marvelously melodic. The title track starts off with some beautiful strumming and picks up rhythm steadily as it goes on. This track is the strongest of the three epics (‘No More Lies’, the title track, ‘Paschendale’) on here. It sounds epic and exquisitely epic, just check out the brilliance of that melody at 2:59 followed by the mesmerizing celtic melody after it. Also, the soloing here is absolutely brilliant – the band still has everything going right. While Brave New World sunk in the middle and gave its best at the end, DoD gives its best in the middle and sinks in the end. ‘Gates Of Tomorrow’ is an absolutely delightful track with a very catchy chorus and excellent melodies. I just wonder how anyone can deride this ultra-catchy track as filler. ‘New Frontier’ is another amazing track – this quite possibly may be the best track on the album. A very spirited performance by Bruce on vocals here. This thing has absolutely fantastic chorus and pre-chorus both of which are catchier than anything I’ve ever heard, honest. The soloing and riffing here are both incredible. The song maintains a precise and tasteful melody throughout. This is an incredibly underrated song – people must be snoozing off while they listen to this as they call it a ‘standard’ Maiden track. If this was a ‘standard’ Maiden track, this might as well be the best ‘standard’ track they’ve made – so pay attention!

Suddenly now, after the rather happy ‘New Frontier’, the album gets all dark on us. ‘Paschendale’ is a dark epic with morbid imagery. The song starts off slow with a rather haunting keyboard melody and then turns into one of Maiden’s heaviest songs with a monstrous riff. Bruce performs excellently here and of course, the soloing is excellent. The chorus is mind-blowing with a clear contrast in it, while it starts out optimistically it ends with a rather pessimistic note – which is what gives it the charm. ‘Face In The Sand’ has Nicko using double bass for the first time in his career. The orchestral build-up is excellent and charmingly dark and unsettling. The song then morphs into another Maiden classic with a brilliant performance by Bruce. The soloing once again, rules and the ‘oh-oh-oh’ singalong section at the near end fits in very well. The atmosphere around the song is what gives it its charm – very dark and unsettling indeed. The lyrics too sound absolutely brilliant – the band never ever lost their touch with the quill.

The album is very consistent and just as good as Brave New World. Although Iron Maiden would perfect this mixture of traditional Maiden and the The X Factor on their next album A Matter Of Life And Death, both these albums too are essential listening as they show the transition of the group to that masterpiece.

So, after Brave New World, I seriously had my hopes up for this one, seeing how that album was pretty damn brilliant and ranked among Maiden's top five easily. Boy, I sure was in for some serious disappointment here. Killer songs are hardly present at all, originality is mostly missing, the production is weak (in fact, any production that I point out as weak has to be pretty damn lacking, cause I don't care for it all that often) and does not in any way indicate there's 3 guitarists playing here rather than two, and many songs get old and uninteresting too swiftly. Replay value is low. The vocals aren't overly great in the first place and come out weirdly muffled thanks to the weak production.

That said, as this is Maiden, there's at least some pretty owning tracks that manage to save them from truly sucking. After all, there's not a single Maiden album that didn't have at least two to three tracks that really owned.

The truly great tracks are: The immense anti-war-epic Paschendale and the for Maiden rather strange tracks Face in the Sand and Journeyman. Face in the Sand, a dark semi-ballad, probably stands out the most, with its slow intro, a powerful emotional chorus and an even more emotional solo. Paschendale is a massive epic monster and one of the heaviest Maiden tracks around. Journeyman is a grand all-out ballad to finish off the album, and has Bruce doing some damn nice softer vocals - ever since after the World Slavery tour, that's what he was best at anyways, so of course it rules.

Other good tracks would be: The semi-epic No More Lies, which is one of the Maiden songs that suffers from the syndrome that's been around ever sicne Somewhere in Time - overrepeated chorusses (( though fortunately, this is a Virtual XI case of a good chorus overrepeated, not the SiT/SSoaSS type bad chorus overrepeating), but otherwise is pretty good, especially in the verses. Age of Innocence is another slower, softer track leaning towards ballads and manages to work decently. Dance of Death is acceptable and has a brilliant solo, but overlong and fails to stand out and riffs are again overrepeated.

So, the other tracks then, what about them? Well, they're pretty forgettable at best, and pure feces at worst. Pretty forgettable - Gates of Tomorrow and New Frontier are standard semi-speeder Maiden songs with fast but very plain riffing, and happen to sound almost exactly the same. They sound good for maybe five to ten listens, until they get old and you notice there's really nothing deeper in them. Rainmaker has the best intro riff on the whole album - but after that, all goes horribly wrong, the riffs are getting overrepeated, the vocal lines are bad and the lyrics are worse. Oh man does that chorus blow. Wildest Dreams is worse yet - kinda like Rainmaker but without any good riffing at all, this is sure some crappy opener. Montsegur is the biggest piece of shit on the whole album - starts out with a heavy if simple riff, then degenerates into a poor parade of weak repetitive riffing and the worst vocals Bruce has done ever since Can I Play with Madness.

There's a lot of weaknesses on here. There's too many bad songs. There's a severe lack of killers. Chorusses are overrepeated, both good and bad ones. The production is inexcusable, seeing how Maiden are just about the biggest metal band around. It might just be my least favorite Maiden album ever. Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son had some of those lackings, but at least they were original, experimental and had good production and many killer riffs and solos, if overrepeated. This album is not good, and mostly useless. Avoid it. Download Paschendale, Face in the Sand, Journeyman and No More Lies, and maybe Age of Innocence - they're worth hearing. Possibly also Dance of Death, for the solo.

Having listened to “Dance of Death” numerous times over the last couple of years, I thought I might enhance my original review by chiming in with a few general remarks as to whether the album has ultimately stood the test of time. For the most part, my previous conclusion still holds true: after two rather mediocre albums with Bruce Dickinson at the mic and two largely forgettable efforts with vocalist Blaze Baley, Maiden came back in 2000 with a strong release in “Brave New World” and then topped it off with the even better “Dance of Death”. As far as songwriting is concerned, Steve Harris and company mostly deliver on this 2003 output, the way they unfortunately didn’t on the two albums with Baley in the lineup. Let’s face it: “The X-Factor” and “Virtual XI” weren’t bad primarily because of Blaze’s vocals. It’s true that he doesn’t hold a candle to the mighty Air Raid Siren, but then again, what singer does? No, what those two albums lacked in the first place was consistently good, sound songwriting, and sound songwriting is exactly the reason why “Dance of Death” is indeed a very good record.

It doesn't take long to realize that “Dance of Death” is an even stronger album than “Brave New World”, mainly because Maiden succeed in avoiding the same mistakes that detracted somewhat from the overall very positive impression left by its predecessor: the choruses are a bit less repetitive (there are some glaring exceptions, unfortunately), there is more heaviness and speed and the trademark guitar harmonies, which were not used nearly enough on “Brave New World”, make a triumphant comeback.

However, there are also a couple of downsides to this otherwise excellent record. First of all, the production once again is nowhere near as good as it should be. By now we all know that Kevin Shirley is no Martin Birch – sadly, he does not even come close. In comparison with the great production Roy Z put together for Bruce’s brilliant solo efforts “Accident of Birth” and “The Chemical Wedding”, the sound on “Dance of Death” is anemic and weak, even more so than on “Brave New World”. It would be really nice, at some point in the future, to see Steve Harris either work with Roy Z (or another top-notch metal producer) or at least give Shirley a little more leeway instead of constantly meddling with his settings during the recording process (at least that's how I'm imagining it), but that will probably never happen. Maiden are and always have been Harris’ baby and he is not exactly known for being open to any outside advice telling him how to handle his business.

Another downside to “Dance of Death” is that it is again a bit overlong – the final two songs are just not on the same level as the rest of them, as “Age of Innocence”, while otherwise passing as a pretty solid headbanger, has a weak and awkward chorus and rather strange lyrics, and “Journeyman” is just a more or less forgettable ballad. (Note that other reviewers see that particular song as one of the highlights of the album, but I still believe it's rather bland and uneventful.) Luckily, as they did on “Brave New World”, Maiden were smart enough to put the weakest tracks at the very end of the album so as not to make us use the skip button. Anyway, I really believe they would do better to only put eight or nine songs on a record, like they did in the eighties, and save the weaker ones for EPs or single B-sides. After all, a good metal album doesn’t have to run for over an hour – 45 minutes are easily enough, as long as there are no fillers to be found.

The album starts off with a song called “Wildest Dreams”, which may not be very spectacular or inventive but passes as a solid speedy opener – much in the vein of “Be Quick or Be Dead” and others – contrasting nicely with some of the more progressive cuts coming later on. The subsequent “Rainmaker”, “No More Lies” (despite its repetitive three-word chorus) and “Montségur” kick off the finest and most consistent part of the album. Particularly the latter is the best song on here and might as well be a leftover from the “Powerslave” recording sessions: it is crushingly heavy and has guitar harmonies galore that almost bring tears of sheer enthusiasm to my eyes every time I hear them, reminding me why Maiden are still one of the most revered bands in the entire metal genre. “Dance of Death” and “Paschendale” are the two most complex and progressive songs the album has to offer, and they are both top-notch, even though I think they would have been even better with the keyboards a little lower in the mix and the guitars a little more to the forefront, but that’s probably just me. “New Frontier”, surprisingly written by drummer Nicko McBrain, is one of those gritty speed metal tunes (think “Back in the Village”) that were largely missing on “Brave New World”, although it doesn't feature much variation and feels somewhat underdeveloped. The hard-rocking “Gates of Tomorrow” is another ho-hum affair that feels way too predictable and gets old fast, while “Face in the Sand” is a pounding if largely unspectacular mid-tempo banger featuring some of the best drum work on the entire record.

Overall, while being far from perfect and leaving plenty of room for improvement (which promptly came in the form of “A Matter of Life and Death”), “Dance of Death” is a strong release that should please most metalheads and proved once and for all that the reunion with Dickinson was more than just a short-lived cash grab. It is marred by some filler material and the production as well as the artwork (the front cover must be one of the most poorly done Photoshop jobs ever) are definitely sub-standard, but it's also more adventurous and has more truly fulfilling moments than the somewhat tame “Brave New World”. While it's not as good as the two albums that came after it, it serves as further evidence that after so many years in the business, Maiden are still on top of their game and deliver where many of the once-great bands from the eighties simply fall short nowadays.

Choicest cuts: “No More Lies”, “Montségur”, “Dance of Death”, “Paschendale”

Ya know, the first time I heard it, I didn't like it at all. So I didn't listen to it for another two weeks. But then I went back to it, gave it another chance, and now I'm a better person for it. Let this be a lesson for you all, everyone. Give things another chance. That includes Drano. If you can survive drinking Drano once, I don't see why you can't survive it twice.

Back to the review... it's not the greatest thing Maiden has ever released, and it's not quite even as good as the album that came before this one, but it's still pretty decent and has some really fucking spectacular moments that scream "tell me why I have to be a powerslave!" The choruses aren't nearly as repetitive as on Virtual XI, though they still grate a bit. But still, we've got good songwriting and memorable melodies - oh and the three guitar factory is going strong, and bands like Beyond the Monkey Suck just wish they could sound like this.

Highlights... intro riff of Rainmaker, is just fucking brilliant. Wildest Dreams is a great opener and is gonna be a well-deserved live staple. No More Lies is the first epic number, and it builds up well, and the only fault I can find with it is the goofy chorus. But you've got Bruce dead on ... "time is up, it couldn't last"... and the soloing is completely fucking excellent - more in the style of Fear of the Dark than Killers, but still quite excellent.

Oh and the absolute fucking highlight of the album... New Frontier. Why didn't they bring in Nicko the Songwriter before this? Oh those duelling guitars. Oh that excellent sing-along chorus. They haven't written a number quite like this since Twilight Zone, really. Magnificent. If they don't play this one live, I'm personally standing in front of Nicko's Jaguar and demanding justice!!

The rest... Montsegur and Paschendale will always be completely twisted together in my mind because they're both big words that mean nothing to me. Both songs are about average quality, except Paschendale sounds like something completely out of the X Factor sessions, except for that crazy beginning part, which sounds like something out of a Commodore 64.

Face in the Sand has a nice orchestral buildup but is fairly pedestrian when all is said and done. Decent chorus, when all is said and done. Gates of Tomorrow is another decently cool upbeat number, while Age of Innocence another darker one that sounds very X.

Oh yeah, the closing track. Sorry, but Bruce has been involved in far better ballads recently (Tears of the Dragon, Man of Sorrows) - this one is a disappointment. And the title track is long but fails to be epic.

But great fuck almighty, New Frontier is basically this album's Ghost of the Navigator - one mind-blowingly amazing, amazingly mind-blowing number that brings to mind glorious days of caught somewhere in time and friends. So when all is said and done, this is worth getting. Though I would suggest accidentally spilling some white-out on that horrible, horrible album cover.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this album. Wildest Dreams didn't impress me when I first heard it a while back and I heard rumors of a more progressive, 70's rock sound. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING! Even though they have put out some less than stellar albums, this is fucking Maiden we're talking about. This is the perfect follow up to Brave New World, not changing the sound too drastically, but progressing enough to make it fresh and interesting.

The songs retain the epic and slightly progressive feel found in Brave New World, but the guitars are slightly less in the foreground and instead add to the overall sound instead of being the sound, which includes some nicely placed keyboards and orchestration. Some of the riffs aren't quite as strong as they could be, as the band go for a more progressive touch, but these are minor complaints, because the weaker riffs are usually accompained by some nice keyboards or a great vocal melody. Many people have complained about Bruces vocals not sounding right. It's inescapable the fact that Bruce is getting older and he can't belt it out like he could twenty years ago, but the man can still sing. His performance takes absolutely nothing away from the overall enjoyment of the album, and in fact is quite impressive. Another thing I want to touch on is the shit Maiden has received the past couple of years about their repetative choruses. Songs such as No More Lies and Age of Innocence do have repetative choruses, but the thing that's being repeated is quite catchy and enjoyable, so I don't see a problem unless they butcher that idea to death (which they haven't IMO). Shit, even such Maiden classics as Deja Vu, Caught Somewhere in Time, and The Evil that Men Do have slightly repetative choruses, so this isn't something new for them.

One problem this album has, and it's not a huge problem, is that none of the songs really stand out as classics or as obviously better than the rest. That's not to say that the songs are weak, because I don't think there's a weak song on the album. Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker, Montsegur, New Frontier, and Age of Innocence are all midpaced, kick-ass songs. Wildest Dreams and New Frontier have excellent choruses and the beginning to Montsegur reminds me a lot of Losfer Words (Big 'Orra) from Powerslave with the bass very loud in the mix and the galloping riff. The epics on the album, No More Lies, Dance of Death, and Paschendale are all very strong and enjoyable. They aren't as strong as Hallowed Be Thy Name, or even Ghost of the Navigator and Dream of Mirrors from BNW, but still great. The orchestration in the song DOD is at it's best and the song reaches it's high point at 7:11 when the guitars, orchestration, and vocals come together to create something truly epic and memorable. This one's definitly a winner. So is Paschendale. I'm not ejaculating all over this one like most people, but it's a great song with the best lyrics on the album.

Overall, this album is extremely consistent, not a bad song to be found. All the performances are top-notch and the lead guitars, of course, are absolutely spectacular. It just goes to show how great Maiden is when you consider that in my opinion, this is their NINTH best album. How many band's NINTH best album is this good? That's what I thought.

Highlights(if I had to choose 'em): Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker, Dance of Death, New Frontier, Paschendale, Age of Innocence

Saying goodbye may be hard to do, but sooner rather than later, it just may be time for metal legends Iron Maiden of London England. However, before we all start whimpering, I'd like to state that the end doesn't come with this album- the band's 23rd- but the warning lights come on all over the place here nonetheless.

First of all, through all the album's greatness, the songs do feel way too similar to each other. Doesn't mean that they're not good at all- "Paschendale", for example, details an interesting battle (supposedly about the World War I battle), while "Face Down" has a rather pessimistic Bruce Dickinson lamenting that "everyone's (in the world) nightmares will come true". War On Terrorism reference? Maybe. Yet, as strong as the songs may be, they don't do enough to really differentiate themselves from each other and stand out on their own, either as a concept album or as a regular one, except for the final track, "Journeyman". In that one, you get a sharp turn from the band- the previous eleven songs were all about pain and suffering in some form and how Dickinson just can't handle it, but here, Dickinson stammers confidently that he's not going to let any of that get to him. "I know what I want/And say what I want/And no one can take it away" he stammers with confidence, being the album's only real eye-opener.

Second of all, this album feels too tame compared to other metal releases. Sure, it's not produced to the same extent as say, KoRn, but compare it to the likes of Cynic or Danzig and the music just doesn't feel raw or loud enough. However, my biggest complaint is their sound is- ulp- starting to get a little dated. "Dance Of Death", oftentimes, sounds almost like a Led Zeppelin tribute album than an Iron Maiden album- not that there's anything wrong with Zeppelin, mind you, it's just a little unsettling, that's all.

Again, it's not like Maiden don't have anything left- their musicianship is, once again, top notch and very anthemic, producing some grand guitarwork and nearly as encompassing drumming complimenting Dickinson's Roger Plant-like powerful delivery. Songs like "Gates Of Tommorow" and "New Frontier" show just how far behind imitators like HammerFall are from matching the greatness that is Maiden, as they're filled with considerably more profound material and grander musicianship than any of them could ever pull off. It's just that "Dance Of Death" feels like a band that's just getting too old- maybe not at the irrelevant stage like, say, The Rolling Stones, but dangerously close. That said, "Dance Of Death" shows that the band just may pull off another classic down the road, but as much as I'd like to say otherwise, after hearing this album, the band just seems closer and closer to retirement- after twenty plus years, mind you. It's a sad development, yes, but that's just where they seem to be headed right now, and who knows if they'll ever come back.

I've been on a diet of Dance of Death only since I got it, I've played it over and over again, and god knows I've tried so hard to like it. The long awaited follow-up to the reunion album Brave New World (which was quite a lame album, but that's beside the point) is released, and I've never experienced such a bad case of Maiden-hysteria.
But, to be frank with you, Dance of Death sucks, even more so than Brave New World. Iron Maiden are going downhill.

First of all, we have the production. The sound is pretty sharp, especially on the lead guitar, but the rhythm section sounds somehow watered out and shallow- and that is not only a production problem but also a lack of quality in the songwriting. We still have the obligatory killer leadwork and soloing of any Iron Maiden album, but the rhythm section is extremely weak and uninteresting. The riffs are boring and forgettable, and rarely add much to the song.
This is most notable in the huge amount of mindless filler found on the album. This category of songs consist of the tunes Rainmaker, Montségur, Gates of Tomorrow, New Frontier, Face in the Sand and Age of Innocence. Which is more than half of the entire album.
All these songs are boring, uninteresting and built open very weak rhythm foundations.

There is yet another huge disappointment with the album that is most notable on these songs- the vocals. Bruce Dickinson hasn't been near his top shape in more than ten years, but his performance on BNW still did the trick.
His performance on Dance of Death, though, does not. Most of the time he sounds like he's singing out of nose, or maybe like he's got a severe cold.
Also, the vocal melodies are extremely poorly written on the above mentioned songs. There are no memorable vocal lines whatsoever, no incredibly memorable parts that stand out, and there is barely any variation at all.
Montségur is the very weakest part of the entire album and one of the worst Maiden songs ever. This because of a weak vocal performance and poorly written vocal lines that don't work with the music at all, and also the horrible sound on the guitars under the vocal lines. Age of Innocence also has the dumbest and most annoying chorus the band has ever written, and is overall incredibly pathetic.

So these are the album's weaker points, my friend. But there is still some good shit to be found on here. The single, Wildest Dreams, has some pretty solid although slightly forgettable underlying riffwork, catchy vocal melodies and an extremely fun singalong chorus.
The first of three epics on here, No More Lies, is tied with Wildest Dreams for best song on the album. The intro is pretty much a straight ripoff from their own song The Clansman, but it's still very nice, and the song has some awesome melodies throughout of total Fear of the Dark (the song) quality, and a very big, dumb and powerful yet simplistic chorus.
Dance of Death is also pretty damn solid. It gradually builds up with some nice guitar melodies until it gets into this mesmerizing acoustic section at about 1:45. The song moves on, and goes into some killer keyboard part that sounds like a bloody orchestra; a truly overwhelming moment. It then goes on at about the same pace, reaching over 8 minutes without getting boring. They've still got it in them, even though it doesn't show very often.
Paschendale is the third and final epic on the album, and also by far the weakest. It still has some pretty cool and dark keyboard melodies in total X Factor style, and a truly powerful chorus.
The closing track Journeyman is also very nice, and (as you've probably figured by now) it's an entirely acoustic track. It's very well done, even though at 7 minutes it gets a bit overlong. It has a nice atmosphere overall though, and is definitely a highlight.


I tried, I really tried to like this. But it seems as though the band has completely forgotten how to write an entire good album, even though their fans continue to hail them endlessly. The album seems to please the majority, but I'm not one of them. I shouldn't really be too disappointed, as they haven't written anything really good since '88, but I still got my hopes up.
There is some great stuff on here, but not enough for you to waste your money on. Download Wildest Dreams, No More Lies and Dance of Death, and you'll be fine.
Oh yeah, and the cover art sucks ass.