Somewhere in Time

Where the previous lacked a bit of subtlety and may've been too obvious for its own good, this brought a far more atmospheric, generally slower, more minor-scale oriented and more introspective dimension to the Iron Maiden universe. The pre-chorus riff on 'Caught Somewhere in Time' is sumptuous with its simple yet nostalgic expressiveness and with the plain elegance of that bass change. The record has that ambiance to it with a soft but noticeable reverb at the back of the smoothly contoured guitars, and slight synth strokes that softly color the overall palette as a nice touch of nuance. There's a pretty neat aesthetic of a melancholic sci-fi feel, and with a poetic title like that along with some of the best musical material the band's arguably ever written, one could say this is when style and substance blended best. Some of the song-writing cohesiveness has to be appreciated.

That middle part on 'Wasted Years' when the intro lick returns, appearing from out the smoke, leading into a fine Van Halen like solo laden with an impressive tapping clinic, and back into the chorus. While the bass orchestrates everything with an above-average job. That's well written, well executed stuff. It's an absolute banger to be sure. The excellent lyrics on the chorus provide extra meaning to the whole, they read: "So understand don’t waste your time - Always searching for those wasted years - Face up, make your stand - And realize you’re living in the golden years". The badass attitude of 'Stranger in a Strange Land' makes this another highlight. This sounds like the soundtrack to the album cover scene. It's absolutely vibrant with a natural energy. Oozing out atmospheric might. The vocal melody on the chorus is balanced, and it doesn't sound like he's yelling all over it: Dickinson adds that bit of distortion to his voice on those off bluesy notes before landing on a vibrato low. Another inspired solo comes on: careful, tight blues phrasing a la David Gilmour, with a few accented highs, not too long, just right.

Now, there are downsides to this album. It simply sounds like the chorus to 'Heaven Can Wait' was invented for the sole purpose of annoyance; for all its euphoric energy it is slightly unbearable and probably harmful to mental health long term. Like "Bruce can you shut uuuuuuu-uuuuuu-uuuuuuup. Bruce can you shut uuuuuuu-uuuuuu-uuuuuuup". Oh and on the opener's chorus, what is up with Dickinson? Who the hell vibratos on every single word of a line? He sounds like a fucking ghost from a Scooby-Doo cartoon, as strong a track as it generally is. The lyrical subject matter can get flat out cheesy: 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'? Really? Good grief. The entire instrumental part after the chorus sounds like a basic guitar lesson rather than a full section made for a record. Just the entire track sounds long-winded and stretched out, not spontaneous. More broadly on this record, the post-chorus harmonies feel like they're always the same, even on the better tracks. There's just about the same amount of notes, the same close intervals on the scale, with the same suspended note at the end.

There isn't really a bad track on here going by the inspiration factor: each one sounds a legitimate idea for an album quality song. A track like 'Sea of Madness'; between its mysterious pre-chorus, sorrowful chorus, and that excellent acceleration at the end of the acoustic break which they really, really should've developed more; or a track like the defiant and highly animated 'Deja Vu' could've easily taken a backseat to the more popular tracks on here, but they absolutely hold their own despite not being among the big highlights. The grand finale 'Alexander the Great' has a strong main melody but that whole second part, between the leads and the ceaseless soloing being just both guys taking turns and stroking their respective poles, is a pain to endure. It stalls the song and makes anything after that irrelevant. All in all, this might've been when Maiden were at their most interesting. Instead of a purely brash demeanor the songs here packed more nuance, with a deeper sense of musicality and ambiance.

Here we have a beloved and fellated album. If we had to highlight two clear moments in their consolidation as an absolute institution of heavy metal, two fundamental works come to mind: Powerslave and the semi-conceptual Seventh Son of a Seventh Son; those albums defined the style of a band that never hesitated to break with the typical schemes of a genre that, by the mid-80s, was part of popular culture, even in South America. Also, not necessary to mention how these guys did the promotional tours for each album, whose staging marked a milestone in terms of entertainment, making it clear that it was possible to go beyond the level already achieved by Kiss in the 70s. However, the music spoke for itself if the essentials are taken into account because there were also bands with average artwork and exceptional music. On this side, Iron Maiden simply matched the imaginary universe that the legendary Derek Riggs embodied in his artistic works with the beloved Eddie taking the ship.

Regarding the singles, special mention to Stranger In A Stranger Land which allows us to appreciate in greater detail the vocal performance of Bruce Dickinson, who has no shame in reaching the level of legends like Ian Anderson and Peter Hammill, while Adrian Smith delivers a solo that exudes all the inspiration that took Iron Maiden to the top of heavy metal during the mid-80s. A curious fact is that, just like "The Prophecy" (from Seventh Son), it is the only track that ends up with a fade-out effect, something curious in a band that, at the time of recording, sought to reflect on their nature as a live band in the most graphic way possible. Deja-Vu has a similar effect, with Adrian Smith and Dave Murray fused into a single wave of energy, however what struck me is that it's the only song that lacks a climactic solo (not including the intro); instead, it has a kind of two-second solo that repeats itself throughout the song as if they were rubber bullets, giving it a Deja Vu effect indeed. It's as if they captured that concept sonically and nailed it well, a detail that actually makes up for the lack of climactic solos that captivated me at this point of the disc. And how they took care of the detail of Bruce sounding like an android/cyborg is just sublime.

I guess the vast majority of fans will more or less agree that Somewhere In Time is the most experimental and successful album among the seven ones they released in the 80s. Some may argue that they love Powerslave more, and even some odd fool will say it is inferior to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. It's a common thing that this sixth album by the British institute always swarms in the last positions of any ranking that classifies the 80s classics from best to worst. If Powerslave came off as a kind of "summary" of everything they've done on the first four albums, Somewhere in Time was the reinvention of the heavy metal sound. They could have made something with the same vibe as Powerslave, but even when some say that they adopted a more accessible and commercial position for the masses, my objection is that they knew how to adapt themselves to the musical currents of the time without the need to take an existing soundscape and be part of the heap.

This is their first work that includes synthesizers and the first one without including Bruce's contribution, and although his performance, perhaps less convincing than in Powerslave for some, is one of the reasons for the incredible brilliance that this album exudes thanks to Steve Harris. Now, when it comes to Bruce's unique yet not-so-impressive vocal lines (according to some, because I don't dare to think the same), the main problem is that his role as a mere performer prevents him from contributing some tones that can shine the things that were already interesting. Despite the limitation in the vocals, Somewhere In Time doesn't fail at making voices and instruments cohesive.

As we progress through the album, we notice that the band draw a futuristic version of Still Life, kind of. The dark undertones in that Piece of Mind song are echoed again in the intro of The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner, but it's a deceitful detail as the song hits with a much more epic, progressive and monumental punch from start to finish. For those who think that this band repeats Fear of the Dark on their new albums, you need to take another look at the dark undertones on their classic eighties albums. The intro of “The Loneliness…” doesn't fall into self-plagiarism or covering themselves, it's a genuine song just like the recent "Shadows of the Valley" from TBOS that barely makes reference to the most emblematic single from this masterpiece.

There's nothing that can be added about the album's insanely futuristic soundscape, as many said, but I must add that I'm a fan of their two studio recording facets. As much as I like the live experience of their new albums, I also adore this Somewhere in Time cooked up by Harris and assembled by the fussy Martin Birch who made this project sound like an eternal but magnanimous 51 minutes. Somewhere in Time offers cuts that, offering a new formula and paradoxically combined with formulas from past songs, actually come out winning (and quite a bit) in comparison, like the aforementioned "Still Life" and "The Loneliness...". The kinda forgotten closer Alexander The Great, a beautiful epic dedicated to one of the most iconic characters of antiquity, could be as festive as Rime of the Ancient Mariner if it weren't for the fact that it hasn't even been played live in their entire career. A too “personal” song for the fans, just like the band said about it a few years ago.

Where to start with this complete magnum opus. How about with the context, just to emphasise how uncannily the making of this album was. After the World Slavery tour, the band was exhausted and Bruce suggested writing an acoustic album. Of course the fact that he has no writing credits on Somewhere In Time might be an indicator of what the band thought of that. With this exhaustion came a short break for the band, followed by the unexpected composition of their absolute best album in my opinion, and my favourite album of all time. Everything, from the inhuman album cover, to the futuristic theme, to the lyrics, to the synths, to the riffs and solos and lyrics and vocal delivery, I believe that this is probably the only fully perfect album.

Starting with the songwriting, there is the same level of ambition that is found on Powerslave, but instead of being more balls-to-the-wall like that album, this album is more progressive and ambitious in the sense of musical pacing and tension-building rather than the content itself, which is still perfect. This is exemplified in songs such as Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Alexander The Great, which may be just about my favourite song of all time, too. These tracks are longer and naturally rely on huge build-ups that don't drag on for too long. The nuances and emotion in the solos of these songs and the record in general have been evidently written with thought, and noticeably harmonic and complement the rhythm section well.

The use of guitar synths as well as regular synths make the album sound far ahead of its time, not in terms of composition but in production, and it sounds perfect, especially if you manage to get a less compressed physical version, the production makes the record sound like an experience rather than a listen, and helps to make the songs extremely memorable. When this is coupled with the massive solo sections and during haunting spacey-sounding melodies (see the intro to Wasted Years), there is pure musical perfection, and it is addicting. I don't really want to compare the band to other acts, but how similar this album is to Screaming For Vengeance production-wise is crazy, but it is utilised in a completely different way to match with the more epic-sounding and less rock 'n roll-based tracks on Somewhere In Time.

The slower songs here show how dynamic Iron Maiden can be, particularly Wasted Years and Sea of Madness, the latter of which has a beautiful, unforgettable middle section featuring one of Bruce's undeniable highlights of his singing career. Most of the rhythms on this album are the iconic gallops that Maiden is known for, and is probably the most prominent characteristic of the album that makes it sound like heavy metal. However, I personally think that it is much better when the band picks up the pace and bursts out with a Deja Vu or something similar, which is when the melodies are at their most intense and most captivating, which continues my point of the memorability of the songs; they are not formulaic, by-the-numbers songs, but rather separate, life-consuming experiences.

Additionally, the anthemic feeling of the majority of these songs makes it confusing as to why this entire album has been neglected by the band in live performances, with half of the tracklist seldom played (they played Loneliness for one show, Sea of Madness for about half of the Somewhere In Time tour, they never played Deja Vu and they never played Alexander The Great, which is ridiculous). It would be awesome to see the band give this album at least some love for their next tour, but it's understandable the record has a very processed and layered sound that is hard to imitate live.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is the single most important album to me, and one that deserves its legendary status. Somewhere In Time is something that shouldn't be ignored, there are many (relatively) deep cuts on here that are mind-blowing. The songwriting is perfect, the production is perfect, the riffs are perfect, the vocals, the guitar tone, it all contributes to one of the very few flawless records to ever exist, and is in my opinion the undisputed best album of all time.

For four decades, the trajectory of this band was based on a proposal that prioritizes the art principles over the industry requirements. During their ascent in the 80s, the band overwhelmingly embodied their identity with works whose creative quality were according to the vision that Steve Harris had regarding how heavy metal should sound in a context where the MTV empire seemed to decide his chosen ones categorically, as well as to ignore those who didn't meet the necessary requirements to be located on the top. Iron Maiden knew how to fight that battle but they also prevailed on their own way thanks to Rod Smallwood's hard management, the responsible dude for their rapid and concise rise to the Elysium of Metal and Rock. With the world at his feet after the overwhelming success obtained with Powerslave and the successful immortalized tour in Live After Death, Dickinson thinks it was the opportunity to replicate what Led Zeppelin did in Physical Graffiti; in other words, unleash his creative freedom. Nonetheless, Harris and the rest of the teammates thought it was a risky idea that could mean relegation. In those years, it was not for less in a context when reaching the top could be as simple as falling off the cliff. You never really know but I read in another review that Dance of Death was probably the closest thing to a Led Zeppelin tribute, so the time wasn't right yet. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this way, as it only reinforces my theory even more. Probably instead of this, we would have had a kind of early Dance of Death.

A guitar intro with synth effects gives way to the martial rhythm and subsequent explosions: Caught Somewhere In Time begins this experience as strange as fascinating. This riff exudes drama at its finest amid the relentless gallop led by Harris and the ever-present, versatile Nicko McBrain. The axes Smith/Murray dispatch an anthology guitar work, especially in the solos section, where each one brings out their resources with a chilling category. Regarding Bruce Dickinson... well, there's little that can be said about such a vocal performance that prioritizes theatricality. Come on, it's a purely divine drama! By the way, if you compare this record with The Number of The Beast or any Samson album, the maturity the vocalist acquired at this point can be impressively stressful for many.

This is what heavy metal is: apart from being tough to polish and mold, any misstep –despite good intentions– could spell the end. Faced with this crossroads, the band decided to work on their compositions more, strengthening elements such as the choirs and the accurate melodies that finally trapped their increasingly numerous fans. Of course, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray prove that the category is not acquired from scratch but is included in the DNA. Nor can we rule out the superb cover art by Derek Riggs, one of the greatest and best illustrators both on and off metal. By then, Maiden's covers have become an icon for metal starters as well as those just joining or still remaining outside the genre. Powerslave's superb cover already announced what the next album would be, with that series of hidden messages and curiosities that made its art unique. With the already consolidated band at the image level, Somewhere In Time presented an art totally dedicated to the fans, with a series of hidden messages related to both the band and literary references (Flight Of Icarus, 2 Minutes to Midnight) and films (Blade Runner, Terminator) that made up their universe, whose borders spread throughout the galaxy.

Wasted Years is the absolute hit and acquires this status on its own merit. I'm not really exaggerating if you consider that this band conceived their popularity based on live shows and their own essence. Bear this in mind, the media world offered a lot of money in exchange for the artists to simplify their music further to make it more accessible to people's ears. Just notice the superb intro by Adrian Smith –with McBrain's drums and Harris's ubiquitous bass backing up as a cushion–, is the living proof that honesty and virtuosity can go hand in hand and can even mark a moment in your life. It's a matter of reading the lyrics to better understand what maturity is: do realize that you're living the golden years, it's not worth digging into the past when the present is what matters. Truly one of their best singalong chorus, the kind where a crowded stadium sings it looking up at the sky and holding their fists high.

The flickered groove of Sea Of Madness is a clear sign that not many bands knew how to squeeze all the juice out in terms of speediness. This song is proof of a masterful versatility piece, making difficulty an easy game, and reaching directly to our senses with those richly nuanced choruses, always in favor of music. McBrain's drums acquire a fundamental role in this one. Leaving aside track-by-track for a while, it's time to talk about the production. Martin Birch was the man behind those memorable works with which, from 1981 to early 90s (well, latest 80s according to the diehard taliban metalheads), Iron Maiden dominated the 'Metal Planet' to the detriment of bands that, despite their reputation and greater trajectory, started to fall behind quickly (AC/DC, Kiss, Judas Priest, UFO). Sea Of Madness, without being such a well-known song, reflected the overwhelming power of an absolutely distinctive label regarding the heavy metal of the epoch. Guitars are the truly outstanding aspect of the production; for some tastes, it may sound less sharp than in Powerslave, but fortunately for others, it sounds less light and sugary than in Seventh Son. The synthesizers aren't even prominent and it was a brutal lesson to other bands on how to use this element properly despite this band were newbies with this new "toy", just like them.

In terms of musicality, the progressive and epic orientation highlighted in previous works confirms their unquestionable validity in songs like Heaven Can Wait, The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner and Alexander The Great. Perhaps these songs seem structurally simple on the surface, but they really explain their complexity very characteristic of a more experienced band at the time of writing. Technical expertise alone is not enough when creativity is decisive both in creating and razing the entire world. The chorus in the middle section of the closer –after three and a half minutes– reflects their authenticity, destined to be erected as a hymn from here to eternity. Speaking of the entire vinyl, the B side reflects the more accessible side, although the other side is not far exempt.

The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner is the most progressive and theatrical facet that can catch everyone who thinks that the secret to success lies in an arena rock song. Adrian Smith and Dave Murray wrote their names in stones thanks to the awe-inspiring guitar work. While K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton were the pioneers in the twin guitars matter, Smith and Murray perfected the formula to the point of inspiring a whole generation of young people who wanted to play an instrument. The same goes for Steve Harris, a bassist songwriter whose devotion to Genesis and Jethro Tull would be illustrated in works like the album that concerns here. Also, if we take into account the lyrics based on Alan Sillitoe's work (English writer, one of the pioneers of the social protest novel during the mid-20th century), there's no other option but to fall in love with such a large sample of quality with which these guys validate their speech. At this point, they understood that heavy metal could go far beyond cliches.

Somewhere In Time was a strange disc for a whole generation that never imagined the use of synthesizers. "You can't play heavy metal with synthesizers", Bruce Dickinson proclaimed it with authority in those days, when heavy metal truly established a series of golden rules that at the slightest attempt to do –regardless of the intentions– could mean the punishment of his fans, resulting in a slow but painful death many times. But the already imposed dogmas mattered little and nothing, and Somewhere In Time swept away all existing prejudices. This album was one of the most difficult to conceive, due in large part to the growing and increasingly notorious creative ideas within the band, especially between the singer and boss bassist. Both Powerslave and Seventh Son represent milestones in their career that, until 1986, were a decade old. However, we often forget that between these two works there's a rather unique one, which will set the artistic direction that'll definitely separate them from the rest of the genre. They believed it was time to play in their own league without explaining it to anyone. The moment came and Somewhere In Time took advantage of this magically; a work that generated an unsuspected controversy, beyond its status as classic nowadays.

The true highlight is the epic Alexander The Great, which is based on the historical character who took the Persian Empire over and its surroundings, one of the largest kingdoms on the planet. His image has inspired hundreds of artists from all walks of life who paid tribute to him and/or immerse themselves in the mysteries that surrounded him as a conqueror and young military strategist. Musically, the band shows their virtues as a single force where the sum of all forces makes up an impregnable whole. Bruce, in the beginning, saw Iron Maiden a similar to his favorite band: Deep Purple. It is a somewhat risky comparison but no less true if we take into account that each musician, in a self-taught condition, ended up acquiring a similar reputation to that of any graduate of the best conservatorium. Hence why the closer is undoubtedly a bombastic ending that over the years has earned a well-deserved place as a fundamental pick ever.

Perhaps their consecration with Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son relegated it to the background, to the point that the band –especially Harris and, above all, Dickinson– consider this album a minor work, a statement reflected in the scarce inclusion of some tracks on the live sets since Dickinson's and Smith's return. Despite being a somewhat vilified work by its own creators, Somewhere In Time masterfully portrays the artistic vocation that still pulls the strings in creative matters. Even Derek Riggs portrayed that point of view directly inspired by the dystopian future that Ridley Scott brought to the big screen with Blade Runner in the 1980s. Somewhere in time, in the middle sea of daily madness that surrounds us, Eddie is still more alive than ever despite being close to retirement after a lifetime on the road. Where some see a waste of time compared to what could be, they make it clear that the golden years are lived today, yesterday and forever.

Cyberpunk and the like are quite a thing these days, but the two cultural pieces i more frequently relate to "future gone wrong" aesthetics and theme must be 1982's flick "Blade Runner" and this 1986's gem of a record, the latter being strongly inspired by the former. The cover artwork, another stellar job by Derek Riggs, portrays Eddie as this vicious cyborg with nothing to lose and is filled with Maiden memorabilia for all those looking intently, just the way it did on the previous album. It also sports the dismaying fashion of a city corrupted by every output of the late stage capitalism, one which sprawled more fiercely all around and ironically preyed upon humankind itself. Maiden’s artistic endeavor was never only about their music. It’s the spirit, the album covers, the band members' charisma. So, when you buy one of their records and it comes packed with this inventive, blazing and colorful cover art, you already know you’re on for a ride, one that you’ll never forget.

One thing i can't actually tell is if there's a single, indisputable best album by Maiden, for their career is overflowing with magnum opuses, each and every one comprising some instant classics, but i think SiT is, all things considered, my strongest contender to that title. It's not even simple to point out the reasons why, since there's a lot of subjectivity to that, but there must be something here that tells what it is, since there are lots of Maiden fans who advocate for the same opinion. When a band is so strong and flowing with good chemistry, you’re actually anticipating an ongoing evolution. To me, that’s part of what makes this album so damn good. Ever since their debut, these guys have been setting their bar higher, going to new and successful directions with their music and, also, opening doors for their next step. "Powerslave", for example, brings songs like the self-titled and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", both of which are longer, more atmospheric and lyrically strong, features that are heavily present on Somewhere in Time and will become, actually, part of what Maiden builds their legacy upon.

The band formation is the same ever since Piece of Mind. A strong bond, both personally and professionally, will make up for very good musical results, most of the time. The guitar duo is sharp and delivers some of the most beautiful leads up to this point in their career, not to forget some very outstanding riffing. Dickinson is powerful and commanding as ever, just like the boss Harris, whose compositions are still at the top of the world. McBrain is never to be underestimated, his presence behind the kit always a tour de force. But it’s not only the great synergy among these band mates that really excels on the music presented, it’s the freedom to come up with ideas and turn them into memorable songs. The utmost example on this record must be Adrian Smith, who single-handed penned three(!) tracks, including the fan-favorite Wasted Years, a very wholesome musical journey that somewhat diverges from the more ethereal or dream-like layouts of the other songs, but also contributes to the major concept of the album.

Thematically, the album is conceived around the major plot of "time", which is heavily hinted by the cover art and the album title. It shifts from more futuristic, speculative approaches to more mundane reflections and it even delivers some history class in the form of a biopic. To greatly enhance the center concept as a whole, the music is extensively accompanied by guitar synthesizers, which are already present on the first track, "Caught Somewhere in a Time", a seven-and-a-half-minute long blazing roller-coaster that is very riff-driven, but is also filled by wholehearted leads, so beautiful and well-arranged. Dickinson and McBrain both deliver some of their mightiest performances on this album, the former very passionate and the latter boosting up the speed and grip of this song. Right after that, comes the aforementioned "Wasted Years", introduced through one of the most well-recognized guitar phrases of all time. It is, overall, a hard rock song, very 80's all around, with a chorus that fills up your lungs to scream, emotionally, like in a crowded stadium(and the actual experience of doing so is life-changing). From this point on, the album will be rotating from a very underrated song to a very well known song. "Sea of Madness" is one of the most underestimated pieces of art by Maiden, also composed by Smith. It is sorta dark and mellow, but also strong and of the heaviest songs on this album, with fast-paced riffs and a melodramatic, beautiful chorus(Mr. Smith really knows how to build up emotion). "Heaven Can Wait" is less ingenious but also harbors a very strong chorus, while the much less known "The Loneliness(...)" picks up from where "Caught(...)" left off, with an intense pace and lots of simple but effective riffs. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is the only other single apart from "Wasted Years" and has a very strong premise, also composed by Smith. The man was on fire! "Deja Vu" is both simple in melody and lyrics, but i love the leads and the chorus is quite catchy! To settle things down for good, comes the song that tells the tale of Alexander, the Great. The universally known conqueror has its life summarized through more than eight and a half minutes of full-throttle "epicness", with the band nailing everything with even more effort than before. It's a shame they never got to play this on live concerts.

It's quite difficult to talk about this album without actually covering up all songs. They're all very unique and have a personality so strong that every track comes as an unforgettable experience. It's one these rare records where the whole journey really glue your ass to the seat and everything is finely depicted and presented, like in a opera. Maybe the successor, "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", is at the same quality-grade, if not even more so. But SiT has this special magic not to be mimicked by anyone, even by Maiden themselves. If you like the theme and/or the band, this a go-to mandatory source of greatness, one that you'll fondly remember for a lifetime.

It's weird. Somewhere In Time is widely considered a shark jumping record, but looking back I'm not sure if I feel the same way. It did capitalize on a lot of what the band were going for previously, perhaps more so than ever. And yes, it's when synth became an ingredient. But as far as the songwriting itself goes, I actually don't see it as something that's too far removed from what Iron Maiden had been working with for a couple years prior. The songs continue to have that conceptual feel, just perhaps made slightly less radio accessible (save for "Wasted Years"). But ask yourself this; have they ever really been a "radio" band?

The answer is an obvious no, yet adding synthesizers didn't even give it that appeal. So how different can it really be? Like "Wasted Years" and other bigger cuts from before, they use harmony to their advantage, and maybe that was upped here. "Caught Somewhere In Time" hits you with this right off the bat. But stuff like this aside? Somewhere In Time is still just as masterful with guitar solos and advanced rhythmic / lyrical build as ever. The only thing that was truly dropped was certain degrees of rawness in the instrumentation and production alike.

What I really love is how much energy some of the more overlooked ones contain. "Deja Vu" is a song that falls victim, likely due to it being less complex and a bit out of place. But it's a relentless ball of energy that drives the gang chorus power to levels that none of the other tracks touch. "Sea Of Madness" may come close because of its descending nature causing a similar effect, but it's still done differently. I will give that one credit for nailing the quieter bridge with thumping bass so well. I'd hardly call "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" overlooked, since it appears to get tons of love. Considering how immaculate the instrumentation is here, however, I'm amazed it isn't as giant. Those melodies in the intro, and the shifts in moods without error are untouchable.

But in reality, I will admit that Iron Maiden did fall just the slightest bit short in terms of memorability here. It's surrounded by what are commonly the two highest-ranked albums, so that likely has something to do with it. Don't read me wrong; it's a spectacular fucking record, one that certainly tops off Killers. I just find myself returning to it ever-so-slightly less than most of the other classics thanks to how close they all come to perfection.

Iron Maiden is known to be one of the best metal bands of all time. Without me even listening to their entire discography, I would tell people that. Call me a band wagoner or a poser, but I kind of just assumed Iron Maiden had this amazing disco that no band could even touch. I mean, they have been around for such a long time and so many different people have favorite songs and albums. It wasn't until I sat down and actually listened to Iron Maiden that I knew how wrong I was. I have been reviewing all of Maiden's albums and I see review after review that each album is a masterpiece in it's own right. Besides "The Number of the Beast", I haven't found that masterpiece. I'm on Maiden's sixth album and only one of them is worth remembering. "Somewhere In Time" seems to be the worst out of the bunch.

For a while, Maiden seemed to be on the upswing. Their first two albums seemed like Maiden was working out the kinks. They wrote the almost perfect "The Number of the Beast" and things started going down hill. Iron Maiden started having a certain style of mediocrity. Each album sounds almost exactly the same and I feel that "Somewhere In Time" is a "best-of" of that mediocrity. I sit down and read each lyric for each review I do to fully encapsulate myself in the album. This is the first album where I started skipping the last one-two minutes of each song because it's so damn repetitive. Each song on this album follows the same routine. Maiden lays out a series of lyrics, there is a chorus, another series of lyrics, a chorus, a solo, and then the chorus repeated three-five times. It's unbelievable how repetitious this "legendary" album is. I could forgive it if the songs popped or had something unique to them. Usually the solos would be a nice break from the constant galloping riffs, but none of the solos stuck out for me.

I'm not saying the musicianship is bad here. I don't think I could say that and be taken seriously. I'm saying that this album is not the usual recipe for a good Iron Maiden record. On past releases I can kind of forgive the repetition of the songs because the guitar solos or the bass really stuck out. On this record, the bass and drumming stick out, but maybe not enough. I can hear the great bass by Steve Harris and the always insane drumming by Nicko McBrain, but it doesn't do enough to pop. I feel like the sound quality is kind of watered down here somehow. I just can't quite put my finger on why that is. It just sounds a bit different than past releases. With how long each song is, that sound quality stuck out like a sore thumb. The shortest song on here is around five minutes. I feel like Maiden wants these epic and long songs, but when you mix repetition in there they get boring quick.

Something that hasn't changed is the way Dickinson sings. Ask me a few years back and I would tell you that Bruce Dickinson is the reason why I remember Iron Maiden. He is a fantastic singer, but the lyrics do not match the singing. For the last couple releases, I feel that he is constantly trying to catch up to the rest of the band. He has high pitched singing when there shouldn't be. On the song "Deja-Vu", the lyrics are,

"Ever had a conversation
That you realize you've had before
Isn't it strange

Have you ever talked to someone
And you feel you know what's coming next
It feels pre-arranged"

On each last line he goes high pitched when on the previous two sentences he sings normally. It is probably a nitpick, but it just doesn't sound right. He can't even properly pronounce words. While higher-pitched, he must rush through the words to keep up pace. On "Heaven Can Wait" he just repeats

"Heaven can wait, heaven can wait
Heaven can wait, heaven can wait till another day
Heaven can wait, heaven can wait
Heaven can wait, heaven can wait till another day"

over and over again. It sounds so whiny and I kind of hate it. Bruce is easily one of the best singers in metal, but I now remember him for a different reason. I now remember him for constantly trying to catch up to the rest of the band with super fast, high-pitched, lyrics. It's a mess. The only songs I truly liked on here were "Wasted Years" and "Alexander the Great". I feel like both songs offer premium Dickinson and are just overall great. "Alexander the Great" is probably the most fun I had on here. I am a sucker for these super long, story-driven songs. However, on each album that list of songs that I enjoy is getting lower and lower.

Even after writing this review, I still don't get it. I feel terrible giving such a low score to an otherwise praised album. Am I missing something here? Is there something I am not paying attention to? I see people calling this album a masterpiece and how Iron Maiden does no wrong. I get that everyone has the right to love and dislike anything they want and I'm not bashing anyone. I just want to know what makes this album so special? I'm not going to completely take a dump on this record because even bad Maiden is still not trash, but "Somewhere in Time" is definitely my least favorite record in their discography so far.

Recommended songs: "Caught Somewhere in Time", "Wasted Years", and "Alexander the Great"

Well, this is it. The finest album Maiden ever crafted; The album that would inspire a thousand bands in almost as many genres; Hell, maybe even proof for an infinitely loving deity (I refuse to believe mere chance made this album happen). All kidding aside, this is my favorite Iron Maiden album (Sorry Powerslave!), my favorite heavy metal album of all time, and quite possibly my favorite album in general.

Let's get straight into why this album is so great, starting with the guitar synths: Yeah, they're different, but they add to the atmosphere in a way I never thought possible. If there was ever the retro-future that this album's cover predicted, the synths would feel right at home. The bizarre way they simultaneously sound natural and artificial from the distortion and the instrument that they come from have a unique feeling to them that no keyboard could ever reproduce (more about this in a Seventh Son review) and really do give this album an otherworldly aura that, in my mind, has never been done before or since.

On that note, I feel the need to compare this album to Judas Priest's Turbo. Don't worry, I'll be brief. Whereas Priest had a nasty habit of trying to reinvent the wheel every couple of albums or so (Turbo being one such example), Maiden simply used all the fancy new 80's tech to simply make the logical follow-up to Powerslave in Somewhere in Time. The same proto-power metal paradigms, the same intelligent riffing, the same over the top vocals of Bruce, just bigger and better in every way.

Granted, there are some who think Powerslave is the better album, and in some ways they might be right: I could talk about this album getting no live time compared to the former, but then I'd be here all day. To that end though, I say that Somewhere in Time is a much better album (i.e. whole experience). Each song flows effortlessly to the next, and all 51:24 are enjoyable. The songs are closer in length than most Maiden albums, and while that does mean the run time of each is longer than usual, it never feels over-bloated and none of the songs overstay their welcome. Even the mini-epic "Alexander the Great" is straight to the point for a Maiden epic song.

On that note, the song writing is the most solid Maiden's career would ever be, with some of the best performances the band would ever put out for each member, from Bruce's evil laughs all the way to Nicko's running-like drumming on "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (a heavily underappreciated classic, I might add. Go listen to Disarmonia Mundi's cover. Good stuff.). The solos, the production, the cover art, the lyrics (in all their 80s cheese), EVERYTHING, all incredible.

I briefly touched on the atmosphere of the album, but I feel the need to expand upon it more: the retro-future mood gives this album an unshakeable feel no other Maiden (or anyone else, really) album would ever quite replicate, putting this album in a weird (but excellent) category all to its own. More refined than Powerslave. More surreal than Seventh Son. For example, "Heaven Can Wait" has both the prog elements of Seventh Son while still keeping the adventurous feel of Powerslave. It's this "all of Iron Maiden's best aspects at once" attribute that makes, to me at least, the best damn metal album to ever be released.

The thing what saddens me the most about this album is how it has, ironically, been mostly lost to time. Yes, the influence can be heard from europower to melodeath to everything in between, but as an album Somewhere in Time is mostly relegated to "That album cyborg Eddie comes from". Outside of the radio friendly "Wasted Years", Maiden itself rarely plays any songs here. In a odd way, though, it adds to the mystic aura of this album, in a "too good to be touched" kind of way. Whatever. I'm just happy that I exist in the time where Somewhere in Time exists.

Highlights:
-All of it, but especially "Caught Somewhere in Time", "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", and "Alexander the Great"

Fun fact: The opening riff to Sea of Madness is the same opening riff to Pantera's Domination 4 years before. If Nathan Gale's last name was Smith I'd have suspected royalty foul-play.

There is precisely one weakness in this album: “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” is about a minute too long. Everything else about this album is pure lower three string guitar harmonic bliss. It’s almost the middle break of Phantom of the Opera turned into such a lifestyle that gets it own section of Cancun sectioned off for spring break. Yea there are synths on this album, but it ain’t like they’re playing the fucking Final Countdown.

This album also features the distinction of having the greatest Maiden song of all time: the title track. A brief keyboard stroke sets a melodic bed for one of the greatest opening licks ever. For about 8 measures or so you get to bathe in its bliss, until it disappears into a separate harmonic over the traditional Maiden gallop. You’re momentarily disappointed, thinking that this is setup like The Hellion/Electric Eye where you only get to hear that melody at the beginning. But no, this insanely catchy guitar lick comes back...AS THE FUCKING CHORUS! Note to all musicians, this is how you write a song. What’s that, you want riffs? Well, the opening to Wasted Years is legendary, and for good reason. The riff actually matches the outer space/dimensional travel theme of the album perfectly, plus the song is a positive live your life message! The opening to Sea of Madness is super heavy for Maiden standards, and as weird as Stranger In A Strange Land can appear sometimes, the opening riff is absolutely as metal as anything on Powerslave or Number of the Beast. A fine job of carrying on the tradition of quality. But as far as I’m concerned you get your money’s worth in those first seven minutes and the rest is free.

We also have to admit gotta admit something kinda ugly here. Bruce's ideas being shut down was probably the best thing for this album, and this band's trajectory. Sorry Bruce, but it appears as though your idea of elevating Maiden to Led Zeppelin levels by writing Going To Californias or Battle of Evermores just weren't gonna cut it for Maiden. A synth flavored album was dangerous, but keyboards AND acoustic songs? I don't have anything against acoustic songs, but this album was already polarizing enough. But both of those unlikely metal elements would have had the faithful Irons screaming Cold Lake (before Cold Lake) faster than you can say "I'm your Turbo Lover."

The MVP award has to go to Nicko McBrain. If the previous two albums didn't establish him as the greatest drummer to only use one bass pedal, Somewhere In Time certainly does. All one needs to do is simply listen to those galloping kick triplets on the title track. At that speed? Sweet creamy Jesus, how he worked up the shin strength for his assault on The Wicker Man chorus doesn't seem quite as much of a mystery anymore. Then there's Alexander the Great...go back and re-listen to that jazz breakdown at 3:55 just for the drums. Now imagine trying to actually play that in time while keeping an eye on Adrian's solo to see just where you are. To say nothing of the little La Villa Strangiato moments with Steve that pop-up during Adrian's third uptempo solo about 2/3 of the way through the song. Trying to practice that section with any musicians will immediately require brain surgery.

Somewhere In Time crowns Iron Maiden with an impeccable six chronological classic album streak, a feat only accomplished by Black Sabbath up to this point. Even perennial crank Varg Viekernes loves this album! Sprint to whatever record store is still standing and buy with smug confidence.

Recommended Songs:
Caught Somewhere In Time
Wasted Years
Alexander The Great

Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time is a revolutionary record that paved the way for numerous power and progressive metal groups for decades to come and extended the horizons of classic heavy metal music. The album convinces with a futuristic atmosphere crafted by creative use of guitar synthesizers. The group gets its listeners into this science-fiction-themed vibe right from the start with the majestic opening sounds of the quasi-title track ''Caught Somewhere in Time'' and keeps the momentum until the slow and epic closure of ''Alexander the Great''. The incredibly detailed cover artwork by Derek Riggs, the timeless and rich production by Martin Birch and the clever lyrics penned in almost equal parts by inspired guitarist Adrian Smith and creative band leader Steve Harris enhance this record's particular mood. Such experimental records are usually discussed controversially and yet Somewhere in Time is often seen as a milestone or even best record in Iron Maiden's extensive career spanning far over four decades. The reason for this is that the band didn't cut its trademark sound but somehow managed to fusion classic and progressive elements in a coherent and focused way. This album is full of powerful bass vibes, extended melodic guitar solos, skilled drum patterns and incredibly emotional vocals. While other Iron Maiden records had a particularly prominent bass sound like The X Factor or a really powerful drum sound as Piece of Mind, this record features five musicians at their creative peaks and in top shape. Music is always a question of personal taste and I can somehow relate even more to the gloomy atmosphere of The X Factor but from an objective point of view, this is probably the band's greatest effort and one of the very best albums in the history of metal metal which will still be remembered in decades and centuries to come.

Despite the overflowing creativity on this album, none of the songs actually sounds complicated or requests multiple spins to grow which proves how balanced this release is and how great the song writing actually works. ''Wasted Years'' is my favorite Iron Maiden single because it features everything an outstanding rock single needs. It features a gripping and melodic main riff, is supported by a tight rhythm section and features dramatic verses that increase the tension towards a liberating chorus you won't ever get out of your head. This perfect brew is garnished with meaningful lyrics that are actually an honest soul striptease and reveal problems that would ultimately contribute to Adrian Smith's departure from the band three years later. As if this weren't enough, we get to witness a wild middle section with a moving guitar solo that puts tears of joy into your eyes if you love guitar music and are an emotionally empathic person. If I had to show a perfect rock or metal single to someone or introduce a person to the sound of Iron Maiden who isn't familiar with heavy metal music in general, this would be my definite choice.

Another track that stands out is the closing epic ''Alexander the Great''. Some people might be sceptical and wonder whether Iron Maiden can still innovate its epic tracks that have closed the last three albums already. What song could possibly beat ''Rime of the Ancient Mariner'', a masterful tale filled with shifting atmospheres and brilliant musicianship over thirteen and a half incredible minutes? And how does a song about Alexander the Great fit on a mostly science-fiction-themed record anyway? Once you hear this song, all your doubts will shatter into pieces. The song has the classic slow and atmospheric overture before it turns into a powerfully rhythmic affair with an incredible vocal performance and a chorus for the ages. What makes this song stand out are the guitar solo passages in the bridge which are in my opinion the most beautiful sounds guitars have ever made in the history of heavy metal music. Especially the second guitar solo in that middle part is like an orgasm for all your senses. Each time I listen to this part, I can't sit still and my heart beats faster. This isn't just amazing musicianship but emotional empathy on the highest level.

While these two tracks stand out in particular, Somewhere in Time only includes good to excellent tracks. The least great track is probably the second single ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' that has a dragging chorus that can't quite convince if compared to the emotionally and instrumentally diversified verses and bridges of the song.

In the end, Somewhere in Time is an absolutely outstanding metal album that any serious fan of sophisticated rock and metal music should be familiar with and own as a physical copy. Even more than three decades after its initial release, this milestone doesn't sound dated but has aged very well and still transmits an authentic futuristic atmosphere, delivers outstanding musicianship and vocals and convinces with diversified and meaningful lyrics between personal issues, historic summaries and futuristic themes. If you haven't listened to this album yet, go to your next local record store right now and purchase this revolutionary masterpiece.

In 1985 Iron Maiden was on top of their game. They completed their World Slavery Tour, which was their longest tour, and they had 5 successful classic metal albums. How do you follow up something like Powerslave? Well, some say that this is the beginning of Maiden's downfall, but do I agree?

Let's get one thing out of the way right now, I really like this album, and it used to be my favorite, until I bought the classic albums prior to this one (The Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind and Powerslave). I prefer each and every single one of them above this one. But why? Well, this album isn't bad, as said earlier, but Maiden's music started to change during this time. Somewhere in Time was the first Iron Maiden album to feature guitar synths, you hate them or you love them. Iron Maiden wasn't the only band experimenting with guitar synths during this time, Judas Priest did the same with their Turbo album. But back to the synths, I like them, they build a cool atmosphere (as in Sea Of Madness for example) and they really add to the futuristic theme that the album cover has.

Another big change this time around, is that guitarist Adrian Smith wrote many of the songs on this album, including the singles Wasted Years and Stranger in a Strange Land. Smith and Harris provide most of the songs on this album, instead of Dickinson / Smith / Harris. Murray has co written one song, Déjà Vu. So Dickinson's song material was refused in favour of the songs of Adrian Smith. Each of Smith's songs are catchy and interesting, like Wasted Years. But, what about the songs? Well, the album opens up with the furious Caught Somewhere In Time. The song starts with guitar synths and builds up and up and up until it explodes in a frenzy of riffs as Steve Harris gallops along on his bass. Dickinson's voice is really outstanding, though it sounds a bit forced on the chorus. This song has some epic guitar dueling, and Smith really shines in this track, his solo (the second solo) is one of the best guitar solo's ever, it's a long solo and it's plain amazing. Wasted Years is a upbeat rocker and is without a doubt one of the bands most commercial songs, and it's a pretty good song as well.

This spoken part opens the final song, Alexander The Great. It is another Harris epic and it's pretty damn epic. This song is about, as to be expected, Alexander The Great. It features long instrumental sections and a bunch of guitar synths here and there. The lyrics are pretty cool containing historical detail as well. This song ends the album with the following lyrics: He died of fever in Babylon. This marks the end of the song, and the entire album.

This is a pretty solid Maiden record. I really like the melodic sections and the fantastic guitar solos, but I miss some of the power which was found on previous albums. Their next classic would be the follow up to this album, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.

(Originally written for www.ultimatemetal.com)

Iron Maiden had conquered the World by mid-80s. With five outstanding studio albums, a couple of transcendental live releases, one of rock's most cherished and recognizable mascot and some impressive worldwide tours under their belts, they were the band to watch… and listen to. Not even a couple of important lineup changes deterred them from their ascension to the metal throne, and just as Priest had displaced Sabbath past half the 70s, Iron Maiden did the same with their mentors a decade later. As Defenders of the Faith became Judas last amazing record of the 80s, Iron Maiden weren't exactly through yet, as improbable as releasing something as good as Powerslave seemed. Thing is… they did. Iron Maiden's 80s discography can be arguably described as impeccable, and in my book few other metal bands managed that level of impact and quality (‘tallica and Slayer coming to mind). In fact, not even thrash could overshadow Iron Maiden during the 80s.

Surprisingly, there're still some misguided and occasional cries of ridiculous critique towards the enormity of the album entitled Somewhere in Time. Like the use of synthesized guitars, as if that by itself represented the equivalent of becoming pop and not another tool to expand a band's sound if used properly. Which again, Iron Maiden did. Is not as if the prominence of the guitars was toned done, like Rush did in their own 80s career. Au contraire, the guitar work in Iron Maiden's 6th studio record was probably the most complex and structurally rich they've done so far… and perhaps still remains so to this very day, roughly 30 years after its release. Which brings us to the use of the p word by some detractors of this record. Yes, “progressive”. Dangerous stuff in the mind of some metalheads who would be content to listen to the same 4 albums over and over again. Well, if something sat Maiden apart from other NWOBHM acts, was their ability to combine elements from punk, metal and prog, and arrange them into catchy, complex and energetic tunes that became anthems as the years passed by. As the 80s rode on, they tended to lean to the side of prog, that's true, but... they never gave up the intensity. To criticize that evolution is a sign of devolution, my friends.

Now that we've disarmed those sparse cons this masterpiece sometimes conjures, let's remember the good stuff. Opener “Caught Somewhere in Time” remains atop the list of tracks by the Irons which I haven't witnessed live and would kill to do so, and I can assure you it's also number one in similar lists from other Maiden enthusiasts all over the world. The fact they haven't played it enough since probably the Somewhere on Tour should be considered a crime against Mankind. What a track! Nicko McBrain is all over the place with his charismatic fills and accent-heavy approach, producing tenths of different cymbal sounds, a modus operandi he would carry on the rest of the material here. The inaugural synths might have stirred a bit of preoccupation in the hearts and minds of the doubtful ones, but this is classic Maiden at its best. In essence, Powerslave's formula was expanded upon, given a more futuristic aesthetic, while allowing a fluctuation in the creative process. It is well known that Somewhere in Time was Adrian Smith's finest hour, and he delivered in the form of the tremendous anthems “Wasted Years” and “Stranger in a Strange Land”, both leading singles in '86. I could list all the eight marvelous compositions here, as all eight are fantastic, top-notch metallic 80s splendor, but I'll just mention as well that the intense “Déjà Vu” is another song I would really love to witness being played live by the band.

There's really not much to add but to stress that this is classic Iron Maiden and there's simply nothing else like it. The band where on fire both on studio and on stage in those years, (pun alert) not wasted at all! You can tell by the cohesion of the compositions, their complexity never being detrimental to their memorability and power. All instruments have equal power; Murray and Smith mighty solos, influential melodies and signature galloping rhythms, with Harris' throbbing bass and Nicko's dynamic, colorful drumming being the steady stallion that leads the charge, Bruce being the dexterous rider on top of it, passionately singing about History, the temptation of Evil, personal struggles, memories and experiences, all taped into eternity by the dexterous mind and hands of Martin Birch, giving it a futuristic edge, and complete with the most ridiculously detailed Derek Riggs album cover ever made, arguably his own masterpiece: a cybernetic, time-traveling Eddie, muscles and circuits entangled, amidst a Blade Runner-esque city guarded by Batman and featuring a familiar lightning-topped pyramid amongst its tourist attractions. This is plainly: AN ALBUM FOR THE AGES. It might not be your favorite (mine is its predecessor) by the Irons, but I'm sure it deservedly could be.

So, which Iron Maiden album do you worship? I'm assuming one of two reactions to that question: either a sudden thought like a lightning bolt cutting down the middle of your brain or a slow, relaxed smile, after which the declaration "All of them!" pops out of your mouth. I'm not going to outright say you're wrong if you've got a particular favourite or if you think all of them are of an exceptional standard, but I am going to ask "Are you sure?" I think most visitors to this website should be familiar with Iron Maiden and have heard at least some of the classic material, if not have a reasonable knowledge of their career in general. The reason I'm coming at this with such a questioning point of view is due to Maiden's newer material, which many fans have welcomed with open arms, while I'm more than sceptical about the quality of the last couple of albums. I'm also of the opinion that some of the "classic" Maiden albums (that would be all the 80s work) needs to be reconsidered by some fans, since the general impression one gets is that the whole decade saw the Londoners producing album after album of sing-alongs, great solos, and romping rhythms, without a dip in greatness or a fluctuation in style. While the quality is generally high for all these albums, there are a great number of differences that separate 'Killers' from 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' and can make even the most ardent of fans reconsider their love for the band.

'Somewhere in Time' was actually a huge step away from 'Powerslave' stylistically, including the addition of guitar synths and keyboards, progressive instrumental ideas (though not song structures), and a rethinking of Maiden's lyrical aims. Never exactly a commercial band in the first instance, 'Somewhere in Time' saw the average song length dragged out to over 6 minutes and, unlike with 'Powerslave', which was dominated by the great bulk of the 13 minute 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', features only one song that falls short of 5 minutes - 'Deja Vu', which is only wanting of 5 seconds to reach that total. Perhaps what surprises about 'Somewhere in Time' is that this length doesn't make for dragging songs or lengthy introductions and interludes like the later Maiden material: instead, the 8 songs here are all sprightly, bounding forward with the kind of energy and heroism that make heavy metal such an inspiring music to listen to. The riff approach had not been totally revamped for this album, but some of the speed metal influences and stand alone melodies were weened out by this point, so that there aren't any songs like 'Back in the Village' that feel split into sections simply to show a different aspect of the sound.

The synths and keyboards may play a large part in this, because both instruments soften the sound a great deal when compared to the grittier guitar sound that was characteristic of metal in the early 80s. Listening to some of the melodies in 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner', one can almost say that the guitars sound light and airy, which is the opposite effect to the rhythm section, who pummel and bounce so relentlessly that they may conjure the image of a majestic bird expending all its energy to stay airborne, though it crafts the most elegant flight. This gives the album a very melodic character, but without losing a great deal of heaviness, a good idea for Maiden because their heaviness rarely came directly from the riffs, which more often gallop and rush and grapple with catchiness. There are minor problems with the flowery, over-sweet keyboards on 'Deja Vu' and some of 'Heaven Can Wait' may seem oversaturated with melody, but in general the lightness works well, preventing anything from becoming trudging and flat-footed. What seems a little strange is that this approach was continued for only one more album and then ditched, supposedly because the guitar synths were already dated and losing their appeal, though in 2015 they give the album a timeless feel, rather than a dated one, which is exactly what it needs given the subject matter.

The music on 'Somewhere in Time' is complex, especially when compared to the other NWOBHM bands of the time, the emerging thrash and extreme scene, and Maiden's own early work. I don't mean complex in a purely stylistic sense, because thrash and death metal were arguably more technical genres even in 1986, but because the developing ideas in each song don't work on the principle of repetition alone to achieve their ends. There is a lot of detail in this album for anyone who has the patience or inclination to find it (ditto for the cover image), with small variations and jam parts dripped in to various songs in the same way that Fates Warning did on 'The Spectre Within'. Steve Harris never was a strictly rhythmic bass player, though here he is burbling and clicking through many of the songs in an increasingly creative manner, not just being tooth-rattlingly heavy. Likewise Nicko McBrain, who really has his star moment on this fast-paced set of songs. Broadening the template from the band's trademark gallop to include all manner of other moods and patterns, he gives a great solidity to the more comtemplative sections, as well as power and spontaneity to the upbeat riffs. One niggle that I have with the instrumental performance is with the guitar solos. The melodies are great for the most part, with the classic opening to 'Wasted Years', the hooks in 'Long Distance Runner', and the atmospheric motif of 'Stranger in a Strange Land', but the solos fail to fully capture my attention and swell my heart in the same way that occurred on Maiden albums both before and after this. They aren't poor per se (and I think that even the bad Maiden albums were somewhat redeemed by the solos), they just don't have the same feel to them that I get from 'The Number of the Beast' or 'Paschendale'. Some have commented that Dave Murray didn't pull his weight on this album and it is the lack of his captivating, nostalgic leads that really leave 'Alexander the Great' and 'Caught Somewhere in Time' with great holes in their extended lead sections - if you're going to spend 3 minutes focusing on guitars, I need something to keep me interested beyond technicality.

There's another big problem with 'Somewhere in Time', and that's how dumb some of the lyrics are. Bruce Dickinson doesn't really have many problems on vocals, though his style is certainly not my favourite out of Maiden's early albums, but it's the sheer dumbness of songs like 'Deja Vu' that drag the songs down at times. If the band were going for a more progressive approach instrumentally, surely balancing that progressiveness with equally challenging (or at least interesting) lyrics should have been the way to go? But no, we get this for the verse in 'Deja Vu':

Ever had a conversation
That you realize you've had before?
Isn't it strange?
Have you ever talked to someone
And you feel you know what's coming next?
It feels pre-arranged.

Basically, Iron Maiden have opened the dictionary and copied out the definition of deja vu, then just stuck that definition into the song. For a bunch of guys who managed to write 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' and make 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' into an engaging song, you might expect something more: a story, a personality, some passion - anything. Also, the vocal melody isn't anything special and makes the two shorter lines sound really stupid. Then there are other songs that suffer because they have awfully repetitive choruses. 'Caught Somewhere in Time', 'Heaven Can Wait', and (to a lesser extent) 'Long Distance Runner' have exactly zero power as choruses even when Bruce is belting them out, because they don't have any meaning or longevity and, if they get stuck in your head, they're going to annoy the crap out of you while you're humming that line over and over again. On the other hand, the likes of 'Wasted Years', 'Sea of Madness', and 'Stranger in a Strange Land' have hugely satisfying choruses that soar and emote and, in the latter instance, even possess a certain dogged travelling vibe that gives the song atmosphere.

The shorter songs work better here, those being the 3 mentioned above plus 'Deja Vu', which all have enough energy and drive to keep them constantly entertaining for 5 or 6 minutes, while they don't suffer so much from the extended instrumental breaks that sometimes fail to deliver. My pick would probably be 'Sea of Madness', which actually has the most straightforward heavy riff on the album, but tempers it with great melodies, a huge chorus, and decent solo. 'Stranger in a Strange Land' is quite slow for the general pace, but succeeds in a more subtle way, with carefully sculpted guitar lines and better unity between music, lyrics, and atmosphere. I wouldn't completely discount any songs, though I've never been a fan of 'Heaven Can Wait' and a few minutes should have been cut from the opening track. Both of these seem to suffer from the same problem, as if they were written with one eye on musical progression and the other on the stadiums that Maiden had conquered on the 'Powerslave' tour: they end up with too many parts that are singalong for the sake of it (those "Woah"s and the chorus in 'Heaven Can Wait' particularly) and also include parts that aren't memorable enough, meaning that they don't truly succeed at either goal.

'Somewhere in Time' is a very good album, though has rarely been heralded with the classic status of the other early Maiden albums. Perhaps this is rightly so, because for all its accomplishments, there are moments and certain aspects that fall short of the standard one expects from a classic album. This is probably also the first Maiden release that falls prey to self-indulgence, with some songs outstaying their welcome and being long merely for the sake of it. Of course, I would recommend this to every fan of the band, but I wouldn't recommend it as an essential listen, just an enjoyable one.

Iron Maiden, the band all metal-heads, of any sub-genre, can agree is spectacular. Iron Maiden is close to unrivaled their quality, putting out album after album of quality material. Their string of albums between their debut and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son were all but perfect, and for this they've become one of the most important bands in all of heavy metal. Still, some albums have to be better than others, and this is one of their best. Like many 80's bands, they felt that synthesizers were the way of the future, and so on this record they turned to synthesizers, but the results, unlike many other bands, is 100% success, and is experimental, rather than a turn to a more commercial or poppier sound.

Synthesizers are often associated with selling out in the metal-world, and for good reason, they often do symbolize when a band becomes commercial. Fortunately, Iron Maiden doesn't fall into this trap with Somewhere in Time, as this album is through and through metal, it just happens to be metal with a layer of synthesizer on it. In fact, the synthesizer here actually makes the album feel dirtier in many spots, a very odd thing indeed, but mostly the Synthesizer are used for atmospheric affect, and what an atmosphere it creates. This is where the album succeeds mostly, its atmosphere is rivaled by few of any genre, and rivaled by even fewer within the metal genre.

Of course, outside of the synthesizers this isn't too different from a regular Maiden album. The songs still have that familiar Iron Maiden vibe to them, so if you're a fan of other Iron Maiden works, or perhaps you're a new fan who has only heard The Number of the Beast and The Trooper, you won't feel too far from home here. Still, the compositions found here often are more complex than those found on other Iron Maiden records, and with the addition of the synthesizers this give the album an identity of its own.

The band alternates between truly complex compositions, and relatively straight forward ones. This variation gives even songs that maybe isn't Iron Maiden at their best, their own identity. It also makes you appreciate both the complexity of the more difficult songs, and also the relative conservative nature to the less complicated tunes. The variation of complexity is one of the main things keeping the album from becoming boring.

Most of the songs here are 100% metal, but really catchy. I know I often find myself humming the title track in school, and it's a fairly complex tune. Iron Maiden's ability to make complexity catchy is a rare talent, and that is arguably my favorite thing that this album does. Many bands are complex and, even if they remember to write actual songs, often seem meaningless because of it. Iron Maiden makes catchy tunes and adds layers of complexity on top of those catchy riffs, and this is how the catchy complexity is achieved.

All the members of Iron Maiden are talented, but I couldn't write a review about Iron Maiden and not mention Bruce Dickinson. Bruce Dickinson, in simple terms, is the Freddie Mercury of heavy metal. That is the only comparison that I feel does justice to him. His voice is the very definition of power. He soars through the bands music, and really gives Iron Maiden a distinct sound (you can tell how much of a difference he made when you listen to the bands 90's works when he left the band).

In short, this is another great album from Iron Maiden. It is a great combination of real metal and synthesizer. It has a great atmosphere and has a nice balance of complex and simple. Bruce Dickinson's vocals are amazing as usual. It's through and through a great album, and a must for fans of any type of metal. Even if you don't like metal, there isn't anything here decidedly noncommercial and I think would even appeal to many fans of pop music, given that those pop fans posses an open mind. It's really just a great, great album, and my favorite from Iron Maiden.

Iron Maiden. We know 'em, we love 'em, and they helped heavy metal gain momentum in the '80s. To say that this band is one of the best would be a total understatement. Their complex guitar riffs and hooks have put them on the map and have made them one of the most successful bands ever to grace the earth. After touring for "Powerslave", though, Maiden decided to do some musical experimenting. The result was "Somewhere in Time", an album unlike anything Maiden had done before. Unlike experiments from other bands at the time, Maiden's was a huge success, and is a favorite among some of its fans. It's not my personal favorite album, but I can see why they like it.

What's this? Is that a synthesizer?? It is! It's a synthesizer on an Iron Maiden album! But how could this be? How come it doesn't ruin the music? Could it be that it's trying to convey the tone and the mood of the album rather than trying to make it sound glossy and slick? The answer is yes, cos good old Steve Harris and company want to use it to make actual music, not money. Instead of drowning out the guitars, it serves as a perfect backdrop for them, and they set the stage for a mystifying, yet majestic sound. The guitars give that sound a boost, but more on them later. Most bands who use the synthesizer use it to give their music a futuristic pop sound that they hope the general public (i.e. high school cheerleaders) would eat right up. You don't get that here. Instead, the synthesizer only supplements the awesome power of the music rather than trying to be the music itself.

The synthesizer isn't the only small change that Maiden made to their sound. Unlike their previous works, the guitar riffs on this album are catchy, but they're not forgettable and annoying like songs from other bands. No, this is Dave and Adrian we're talking about here, and they've clearly put some effort into making those riffs (like they usually do). Their dual-guitar harmonics are also evident and are also catchy, especially on "Deja Vu" and "Caught Somewhere in Time". "Deja Vu", in particular, is my personal favorite track on the album. Its dual-guitar harmonics and melodic riffs make it epic, yet mysterious-sounding, almost frightening, and it doesn't need a ripping solo to do the job! "Sea of Madness" and the all-time classic "Wasted Years" show that the choruses are catchy too. Yet instead of repeating the song's title over and over to try and get the song jammed into people's heads, they are poetic and creative and they deliver a perfect message.

Despite doing some bold experimentation on this album, the changes Iron Maiden have made are tiny, and they didn't really affect their sound at all. In fact, they actually punctuated the album's sound and have made the music more dramatic than Maiden's previous efforts. They have created an amazing album as usual, and it helped push their career further on for twenty more years.

This album seems to be the forgotten gem in Maiden's discography. You don't even have to like metal to have heard of songs like Number of the Beast or Run to the Hills. And I haven't met too many people who haven't heard of Aces High or Two Minutes to Midnight. But ask anyone about Somewhere in Time and you often don't get much of a reaction. This album had no big single that everyone knows about, and despite how great this album is, it seems often overshadowed by Maidens other masterworks.

BUT WHY!? This album is damn near flawless! And yet even the band themselves don't play much off of this album. Wasted Years and Heaven Can Wait are the only songs you have ANY chance of seeing get played live by them anymore. And I think it's ridiculous! Oh yeah, play freaking Futureal and Sign of the Cross but no Caught Somewhere in Time!? No Alexander the Great!!?? NOT EVEN FUCKING DEJA VU!!??

So yeah, this album is the masterpiece that is forgotten, which is a shame because it just may be Maiden's best ever. This is the first album to have synthesizers popped into the music, but no keyboards like on Seventh Son, just guitar and bass synths. And the addition is subtle in parts and grandiose in others, but is definitely a fantastic addition to the bands already epic sound. Just listen to the AWESOME intros to the opener or Heaven Can Wait. It sounds fantastic and creates more of that science fictiony feel the band was going for on this album. And though not a concept album, the theme of time is apparent on most of the songs here. All except Sea of Madness, Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, and Heaven Can Wait have time as a theme if you count Alexander the Greats historical lyrics as being time oriented.

And lyrically this album is top notch. Every song has a catchy chorus that sticks in your head (in the case of Heaven Can Wait perhaps a little too sticky). I've had every song stuck in my head at least a hundred times I swear. And the lyrics aren't just stupid catchiness, they are original, and at times hard to decipher. I'm still not 100% what Caught Somewhere in Time is about, but the lyrics have an intellectual feel to them the whole damn album. Alexander the Great's lyrics are literally just historical facts, somehow pulled off in a melodic fashion by the legend himself, Bruce Dickinson.

And the vocals are as good as it gets as well. I can hear him belting out 'Time, Is Always on my Side' right now as I'm writing this review. If you've listened to Dickinson era Maiden before (and by god, you really should get on that if you haven't) you know how awesome the vocals are. But if you SOMEHOW haven't, his vocals are just godlike. Operatic in quality and precision, with the power of a nuclear bomb. There isn't much more to say. Other then that he is Bruce Dickinson, and he rules you!

Instrumentally is what really makes this album stand out. The galloping bass which is so loud in the mix it can and will crush your ribcage. The dueling guitars and the fantastic drumming of the weirdest named person in metal. The strings as I mentioned are accompanied by synths in some parts, but not throughout the whole album. It certainly is not abused. I don't see how anyone would find the synth accompaniment a nuisance, but if you need your metal absolutely purely guitar-bass-drums then I have wasted your time.

The songs are all fantastic, with no filler whatsoever. Caught Somewhere in Time serves as my favourite Maiden song as of now, with it's infectious intro and pounding bass, and the grand instrumental section in the middle. Wasted Years is the closest thing this album had to a hit, and with that amazing guitar intro who wouldn't like it? An emotional vocal delivery makes this a Maiden classic. Sea of Madness is one of my favourites, and is probably the fastest on here, and who can resist the 'OHHHHHHohohOHHHHH, My eyes they see, but I can't believe!'. Just awesome. Heaven Can Wait is best known for its chorus, but I favor the bass intro and the choral section in the middle. Though I;m not going to deny the infective power of that chorus...

Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is my least favourite song on here, and is certainly the least memorable. The intro is great though, and I still never skip it. Stranger in a Strange Land follows, and is the second weakest track in my opinion. But the main riff is excellent and I can't help but scream in my car: "LAND OF ICE AND SNOOOOOOOOW!" Deja Vu is favourite of mine, and is the only song here not breaking through the 5 minute mark. But it is still one of the finer songs here. And of course, ending with a Maiden epic is the excellent Alexander the Great. Though on the whole an excellent song, the instrumental section should've been trimmed a tiny but I feel. But still a great ender to a near-perfect album.

**EDIT**: After more listens, Lonliness... has become a favourite of mine. Stranger in a Strange Land is what I consider the weakest track, but it still kicks ass. So now I certainly consider this to be a PERFECT album that you must now go buy!

Original lyrics, great use of synthesizers, and excellent songwriting add up to one of metals best records, Iron Maiden's forgotten opus Somewhere in Time gets a 100 out of 100 or a 5 out of 5.
Highlights:
Caught Somewhere in Time
Wasted Years
Sea of Madness
Heaven Can Wait
Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner
Stranger in a Strange Land
Deja Vu
Aleaxander the Great

By 1986, Iron Maiden had enjoyed four years of great success and respect in the metal community. They had created three original albums in that four-year span, largely to the genius of Adrian Smith and the iron (no pun intended) vocal chords of Bruce Dickinson. Paul Di'Anno's Maiden had its charm, but this was the Big Leagues. Yet, Maiden's originality was starting to wear thin. Not content to keep cranking out paint-by-numbers metal CD's, they took the perfect course of action: a concept album, specifically about time travel. Results are wildly successful.

First thing I should mention is production. It's every bit as slick as it was on Powerslave, and that is even more vital on an album with a notably more "technical" style. This adds hugely to the experience.

At the time, many metal bands employed synths to try and sound "modern". This could either succeed greatly or fall hilariously flat (Judas Priest, anyone?). Fortunately, Somewhere in Time's synths are hardly noticeable, save for the opening to Caught Somewhere in Time, my favorite track on the album. The synthesizers are well-done here and contribute greatly to an already-great song. The synths do add to the atmosphere in places, like the chorus to Heaven Can Wait, but ultimately do not try to steal the spotlight. And that is a good thing for sure.

Guitar work is stellar through and through. Riffs are almost as good as Powerslave, better than Number of the Beast....which is to say, somewhere on par with Piece of Mind. The guitars actually sound a little bit formulaic, but when the formula works so well, there's no need for radical change. Solos are fantastic. This album contains some of the best solos in Maiden's career (Wasted Years, Sea of Madness, Stranger in a Strange Land) the solos aren't as blazing as on past albums, but in a way you can feel the passion in them, and that is incredible.

Songwriting is very good. While some songs are mildly campy (Heaven Can Wait) and some have flat-out ridiculous bits (Deja Vu) there is much poignancy to be found. The album's hit single, Wasted Years, is amazingly inspirational, a reflection on the futility of living a bitter life. Caught Somewhere in Time has a mystical feel, and is truly memorable. Writing is grade-A, but still not the zenith of Maiden's career.

The songs here are mostly gallopers, in the vein of The Trooper or Run to the Hills, but galloping songs are what Maiden does best. Steve Harris's bass is great as always, and Nicko actually does fantastically in sections on the drums. The only song that does not fit this description is Alexander the Great, a pretty fantastic Maiden epic which chronicles the titular ancient Greek hero.

Unlike most concept albums, any song from Somewhere in Time could be taken out and used as a single, and no aspect of the song or it's juxtaposition lost. This is normally a good thing, though sometimes a bit disappointing. Nothing here is filler, but not quite every song is top-notch, most notably Heaven Can Wait and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. But underrated gems like Deja Vu, singalongs like Wasted Years and cool, alien-sounding epics like Stranger in a Strange Land far outnumber the weaker material. A must-have for all Maiden fans.

In all metal discussions, when it comes to the question ’’What is Maiden’s best album?’’, almost everyone will immediately say ’’The Number of the Beast’’ or ’’Powerslave’’ or ’’Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’’. Maybe someone will point out the self-titled debut or ’’Killers’’ as the hint of what Maiden have been at the beginning of their career. What about this album?

Well, ’’Somewhere in Time’’ is definitely the most neglected and underrated Maiden album. There are no words that can describe how unjustly that is, because, in my opinion (and a lot of people on this site seem to agree with me), this is the best Maiden album ever, their swan song. In fact, I firmly believe that this is one of the best and most influential albums in whole metal. Let me explain why...

Every band member was in top shape while recording this album: Bruce Dickinson and Nicko McBrain put up performances of their careers here (especially Nicko’s drumming is amazing), Steve Harris is as great as ever on the bass, same to be said for Adrian Smith and Dave Murray on guitars. I must point out Smith’s contribution to songwriting; he wrote even three songs out of eight, and those songs are the absolute pinnacle of his songwriting, save it for ’'2 Minutes to Midnight’’.

I won’t do a track-by-track review, I’ll just say that ’’Caught Somewhere in Time’’, ’’Wasted Years’’ and ’’Alexander the Great’’ are the best songs on here. ’’Caught Somewhere in Time’’ is an amazing opener, 7 minutes of pure Maiden madness, it gives you a good clue of how this album sounds like. ’’Wasted Years’’ is probably the best radio-friendly Maiden song ever, with amazing music, lyrics and truly unforgettable chorus and solo by Smith. ’’Alexander the Great’’ is on top of Maiden epic songs, along with ’’Hallowed Be Thy Name’’ and ’’Rime of the Ancient Mariner’’. It describes military marches of the great Macedonian emperor. Musically, it is probably the best song Maiden have ever written, just listen how they managed to conjure up the overall atmosphere of ancient Greece. All the other songs are amazing too, but I won’t tell you everything, you should experience this majestic album for yourself!

Comparisons to their other masterpieces such as ’’Powerslave’’ or ’’Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’’ are inevitable, but in this case, they are completely useless. This album is a world of its own. Never before and never again Maiden sounded this powerful, brutally heavy and progressive (yes, progressive, I’ll explain that later). The production is also totally different from anything Maiden have ever done, with guitar and bass synths for the first time, downtuned (not nu metal downtuned) bass and guitars, which creates a futuristic atmosphere. This album is totally experimental for the band on that department. I’ve heard complaints that this is worst production Maiden had in the '80s. Bullshit, it matches with songs perfectly and it raises this album to a higher level. Also, it is their most ’80s sounding album, and because of that it may seem dated, but that would be deadly wrong, because it creates a feeling of nostalgia for metal’s most glorious times. It really gives a lot of charm to this already stunning record.

But all of that would be irrelevant if the songs were bad. I assure you, they are not. Some of the best Maiden songs are to be found here (the forementioned trio) and some of the underrated too (Sea of Madness, Stranger in a Strange Land, Deja Vu). If you listen to every song separately, you might think ’’Hey, the songs are nothing special, Maiden have way better songs than these’’. Could be, but as a whole, they are brilliant. This is a true example of an album that is way more than just a sum of its parts.

I mentioned earlier that this is a very progressive album. Yes, it is progressive, but not in the Dream Theater way, but in a more sophisticated way. You can clearly see that in the intro melody of ’’Caught Somewhere in Time’’, interlude of ’’Sea of Madness’’, bridges and choruses of ’’The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’’ and the whole ’’Alexander the Great’’. It’s just amazing. What’s even more interesting, some of those ’’secret’’ melodies appear only after a lot of listening. You can also find this on ’’Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’’. Albums like this make metal to be much more than just a genre of popular music, to be true art.

The influence that this album made on other artists is obvious. Along with ’’Powerslave’’ and ’’Seventh Son’’ it crucially influenced power metal. These records could be the crucial points in the band's legacy, since the whole European power metal scene is undoubtedly heavily influenced by Maiden’s mid to late ’80s albums; to name a few bands: Helloween, Gamma Ray, Iron Savior etc.

I almost forgot to mention the unbelievable album cover, done by brilliant Derek Riggs. It's incredibly complex, with a lot of references to Maiden's past works (my favourite being the silhouette of their former singer Paul Di'Anno in the window shop). A special cover for a special album, indeed.

Overall, this is Maiden’s magnum opus in lot of ways, and therefore it’s such a pity it’s not given more attention nowadays. I hope that one day it will have the deserved reputation. Until then, it will remain to be the underdog in Maiden’s discography. If you haven’t listened to this yet, get a copy as soon as possible, give it a chance, you won’t be dissapointed, I guarantee you. Up the Irons!

Somewhere in Time is loved by virtually every metalhead in the world, has amazing riffs, vocals and solos and is in my opinion the best album Iron Maiden has released so far (along with Brave New World and Powerslave). This album's lineup (with Murray, Smith and Dickinson) is the one that made Iron Maiden one of the most famous heavy metal bands of all time (and in my country, by far the most famous). Given the album’s fame and critical reception (even if the latter was not as great as in Powerslave), it is natural to ask me some questions before reading my review. The first and most important one is certainly “why the hell would you review an album that every single person living on our crappy planet knows about?”, and the answer is that this album means a lot to me. It was the first metal album that I owned, and it was also the one that got me into metal.

And what an in introduction to the genre I had! The band’s members were inspired as hell when they recorded this. The songwriting is very solid: there are no overused riffs or choruses and you feel the need to hold your breath for as long as a solo lasts. Dickinson was shut out of the songwriting process, since he was not extremely inspired from 1984 to 1986 (can you remember his “contributions” to Powerslave?) but his vocals are even more emotional and epic than in Maiden’s previous releases. Even the predictable lyrics (if you guess what Bruce sings during the chorus of "Caught Somewhere in Time" correctly you WILL NOT win a cookie) helps to set the atmosphere.

Technically speaking, this album is great. The guitar synthesizers and the vocals are clearly highlighted by the production, and the guitars are much heavier and more aggressive than in previous Maiden’s releases, where the band played heavy metal riffs with hard rock guitars. The drums are typical 80’s heavy metal drums. They are faster than usual, but apart from that detail they are just your regular Iron Maiden drums. By the way, this recording is much faster and much more technical than Maiden’s previous works, and the synthesizer fits perfectly with the music, which is weird since this is Iron Maiden's first attempt at using one. It is definitely cheesy sometimes, but hey, this is a cheesy album after all. The only thing that kept me from giving 100% to this album is the lack of bass: the band focused their attention on the highs, and the production ended up taking the bass out of all the songs except Wasted Years and Sea of Madness. The bass is not inaudible or unnoticeable, but since Iron Maiden usually focuses on the bass, it is weird to see it as a secondary instrument.

The album begins with one of the most emotional songs Iron Maiden has ever recorded: “Caught Somewhere in Time”. The riff that introduces us to this album is powerful, slow and truly creative, but the song gets even better as the time passes. The melodies are carefully constructed, the guitar synthesizer does its job forcefully and riffs are given birth to at an alarming rate, but they aren’t simply discarded: we get to see most of them appearing at least twice while the song lasts. Dickinson does an astounding performance thorough this song, and his vocals are highlighted by the (very clean) production. “Caught Somewhere in Time” is not only a perfect introduction to an almost flawless album but also the best possible prelude to the song that is in my opinion one of the finest (if not the finest) song that Maiden has ever delivered.

The second song, Wasted Years, is the only song in this album that doesn’t use synthesizers, and… Meh. Honestly, trying to describe this song is painful for me: it is my favorite song from the album, it is my favorite song from Iron Maiden, and it is simply my favorite song ever. For real, it is probably the best song ever recorded. The riff that introduces the song is perfect; the vocals are perfect, and the solo... Will you believe me if I tell you that I actually cried when the solo met the vocals at 3:41? This song is interesting because it is both emotional and traditional, relying on an amazing solo and a powerful chorus while not needing the help of synthesizers. I am not trying to say that the use of synthesizers was a mistake in this album; I am just saying that this song proved me that Harris knew exactly where one would fit and where one wouldn’t.

“Sea of Madness” is the most powerful song in the album when it starts, suddenly becomes the calmest one at 2:53, when the guitars begin doing minimal sounds and the bass becomes the focus and at 3:40 the mighty reverb of the guitars come back with more powerful and emotional riffing. The bass line (the second best of this album) makes me feel very optimistic while listening to it and the synthesizer delivers some of the cheesiest riffs I have ever seen, which is ironical, considering that this song has one of the darkest and most pessimistic lyrics that Harris has ever written.

“Heaven Can Wait” is another song that is way too happy for its lyrics: the chorus is happy and catchy, and yet Bruce is singing about a person who died but cannot accept going to heaven because there is too much left undone on the Earth. This song is weird because it has all the elements that it needs in order to be a great song, but it feels like filler. It is actually very enjoyable and has that epic feeling that is omnipresent in this album, but the rest of the album is so great that it feels like “Heaven Can Wait” is simply there to increase the album’s length. Thankfully, just after it is over we get to hear “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”, a song that suffers from weak lyrics, but overwhelms anyone with its sad lead introduction and its riffing. The melodies created here are among the most beautiful of the album (in terms of melody this song is as good as Déjà Vu and Wasted Years) and at 3:30, during the solo, there is one of the most interesting lead breakdowns that were ever written, which is followed by the climax of the song.

While all of the other songs in this album would be rated as masterpieces by anyone who listened to them, “Stranger in A Strange Land” is simply good, which is a terrible surprise. This is not one of the best metal songs that were ever written, and since this album is full of those I sometimes skip this song. I wouldn’t be brave enough to skip this song in (almost) any other album, but since every time I put this album on the maximum volume I am suddenly surrounded by some of the best stuff that was ever written I feel that it is unnecessary to listen to the overly calm vocals and the not-so-creative bass line. The solo here is amazing, and is the only part of the song that can be compared to the rest of the album.

Déjà Vu is not only excellent, but also one of the catchiest songs that were ever written by Harris. Melodically speaking, this is one of the most beautiful and creative songs ever to exist. It starts out slowly (just like half of the album) and progresses towards awesomeness. The vocals here are the second best of the CD (unfortunately nothing beats Wasted Years) but during the chorus they are backed up by the lead guitars in a way that makes it (the chorus) my favorite one of all times.

The album is finally over with “Alexander the Great”, an historical masterpiece that unfortunately has an introduction that lasts for way too long. Or not: While the introduction feels long, I doubt that it would have the same effect if it was ten seconds shorter. The lyrics are weak, but the theme is great (yes, it is actually possible) and the riffing and soloing as close to perfect as music can be. “Alexander the Great” runs for more than eight minutes, but you will enjoy every second of it, with the possible exception of the very start (the song begins with some narration, which is backed up by wind effects).

This album should be owned by anyone that enjoys living, which doesn’t exclude people who simply are not into metal at all. It is not only Iron Maiden’s best work, but also one of the best works that were ever done. Each song is almost perfect, and if played from beginning to end, the album is simply amazing. I wish I could rate this 100, but I can’t help but miss Harris’ bass a little.

Here we have a beloved album by metal titans Iron Maiden. This album gets fellated all the time by fans as perfect epic power metal and other terms of praise. Well everyone has an opinion but those that love this album are apparently finding something that I’m not, as this thing is weak outside of a few good to great tracks.

The first thing you notice on this is the guitar synths and the very different tone from prior Maiden classics. Personally I think this album sounds like crap. The synths tend to dominate the mix and really detract from the guitars and drums. Then you get to the song writing. Well if not for Adrian Smith this would have been a terrible album on par with the Blaze material. Songs packed with unmemorable riffs with weak choruses abound on this disc. The title song is a prime example. Bruce just sings “Caught somewhere in Time” over and over and it jars me every time I listen to it, not to mention those crappy synths I was talking about earlier. It’s got a good Maiden gallop but that can’t save it. Bruce sounds great but the chorus has no real flow to my ears. Heaven Can Wait is a prime example of Maiden writing songs for the live environment that don’t really hold up at home listening to the album. It’s not bad but it’s not really good, it just goes and then is over with plenty of opportunities for sing along by the crowd at a gig. Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner is another track that seems like it has potential but weak lyrics and by the numbers riffage makes me lose interest soon. The chorus, like the title track’s, really does nothing and sounds forced. The closing track is another one that gets much love from fans of this album but it seems like an attempt to write another Rime type epic. It fails. Its riff is decent but the song is just middling and a bit boring and at times the lyrics sound forced like Bruce is having trouble making Steve’s writing flow melodically.

Did I mention I hate the synth sound on this album? The next disc would incorporate such things much better.

The drumming is quite fine but wasted on this substandard material. Good Lord Nicko’s bass drum foot is so damn fast! With that kind of speed who needs a double bass kit? I think he was really coming into his own here, not to downplay his great playing on earlier discs. Another high point is the generally high quality solos, especially H’s work on Wasted Years and Stranger in a Strange Land. The instrumental work is all well played for what it is, but it’s just not very interesting on repeated listens.

It’s not all bad so let’s get to the good. The first single “Wasted Years” is amazing. The main riff and the bass work are amazing, as is the emotion that Bruce is able to get into the lyrics and vocal melody. His voice soars on this but one thing soars higher, Adrian’s solo. Holy shit. That is an emotional solo. It’s so perfect in the way it fits the song that for me it’s the best guitar solo of all time. Not crazy shredding or anything, just pure emotional playing to fit the song. The only way I can describe how it makes me feel is to borrow from the song, “It makes me want to cry, and throw my hands up to the sky”! Typical song structure but really done well.

The next track is another quality piece by H with a slamming galloping riff and baseline that just moves the listener to bang that head. Great vocals and strong lyrics add to it with the usual excellent effort by Mr. McBrain. This is a rock solid tune that really helps boost my rating of this album. The chorus flows and the song flow with it, good songwriting.

The final song of note is another Smith creation, “Stranger in a Strange Land”. It is another emotional piece with lyrics of failed exploration and death. Bruce just nails it highlighting the emotional nature and then Smith hits us with another amazing solo. He was really nailing it here and carried the album in many places. Speed wanking on the fret board is impressive for a few minutes but real emotional playing is so much better and so much more satisfying in the long run and that is just what Adrian is giving us here. Go H go.

Ultimately they tried and the potential was there but the execution didn’t hold up. Dickinson was shut out of the songwriting process and ‘arry was not able to craft the good ideas into good songs. Throw in synths overpowering the rest of the music at times and you have an album that could have been great but falls well short. Thankfully they would get it back together for the next album, which would be the last really great Iron Maiden album.

How to grab autothrall by the balls and never let go: Adorn your album in a swank, futuristic city scene on a wraparound cover, loaded with little details and 'easter eggs' that not only affix to various cultural references, but also to some of the songs on the album and other self-referential overtures. Make sure Eddie is present with lazer gun and pecs, having gone all Blade Runner through cybernetics and a will to kill. Next, make sure you include eight of the best songs your band has ever written, with a truly surreal, progressive tinge of processed guitars, lyrics dabbling in contemporary science fiction, or in the lives of sweeping historical figures, or other various films or stories. Add a little synthesizer and wash it all out in the reverb-heavy 80s production values that are sadly lacking in today's...forward movements in sound.

Congratulations, you've got two testicles in a vice. Be careful with them. With great power comes great responsibility. 666 may be The Number of the Beast, but 6th is the album I hold before me, my personal favorite of the band's entire career, ever so slightly edging out the also-flawless Powerslave. And I'll come clean, it's largely due to the particular nostalgia I have always felt for Somewhere in Time. My go-to album. My desert island affair. And one of the most outstanding pieces of recorded music I have the privilege to own. The most 'classic' lineup of the band: Harris, Dickinson, Murray, Smith, McBrain, all out in finest form, reaching deep into their collective imagination to produce a masterwork of poise and polish, a progressive half-step between the swashbuckling fortitude of its predecessor and the gleaming psychological vistas eschewed by the following Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

It honestly surprises me at times that I fancy this album so, because when I usually think of the aggressive, classic Maiden, the first sounds that come to mind are always those staples of other albums like Piece of Mind or Killers, "Aces High" or "2 Minutes to Midnight". And while Somewhere in Time does wear some related footwear to those last two, there is some subtle nuance to the writing here which ever compels me into its dreaming, reflective vistas of expression. This is the best album when it pertains to a complete experience. There is no other which feels as right to play for 51 minutes straight, track 1 all the way to 8. Some might argue that it lacks the power or emotion of several other Iron Maiden offerings, but what better emotion could be evinced from a work of metal music than an all-expense-paid immersion into the future and past, 'A Christmas Carol' with Eddie at the helm in place of a trio of cautionary phantasms.

A cheesy yet extraordinary synth serves as an aegis to the carefully construed melodies of "Caught Somewhere in Time", soon to disappear under the momentum of the band's triplet charging madness, and Dickinson's crystalline, wavering tones that spin a yarn of two travelers in time, the one goading the other through an infinity of windows and adventures. Sure, the chorus is as daft and obvious as the song title, like you'll find in about 95% of all music, but it delivers. The bridge work here is phenomenal, with gorgeous melodic lines cascading about the mid-paced thrust of the bass and rhythm guitars. It doesn't hurt that the band is about to follow with what might be one of their single best songs in history. I refer of course to the tantalizing, signature volley of notes that introduces "Wasted Years", a song with a surprisingly blue-collar, rocking ethic to the verses that feels not unlike other hard rockers of the 80s, Saxon or Def Leppard, albeit with Bruce at the helm. But the chorus is beyond unforgettable, with the layered vocals shifting over some of the most simplest and life affirming chords in all metaldom.

If only we could bottle up the emotional resonance of that song, and take it with us, to drink all our days and forget the ravages of mundane existence. Oh, it's called an .mp3 player? "Sea of Madness", one of the lesser known tracks of this album (shocking, I know) emerges next from the phlogiston, with a nice interplay between the cheesy synth and guitar in the verse, and another siren-like, inescapable chorus that turns us over to the bump and trot of the 2nd verse. There's also a pretty lowdown and moody passage that cycles through the center of the track, if only to bring back the powerful reverb of the guitars once more. "Heaven Can Wait", like "Wasted Years" is one of the most accessible, or radio-friendly pieces on the album. Surprisingly, did not rate a video or single back in those days, but the scorching chorus of vocals, ringing melodic guitars and lightly seasoned backup synth will surely create a sensation of warmth through your being long after the fire of the solo has died and the bass swerves us out.

The second half of Somewhere in Time is all the more pensive, beginning with "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", a psychological study of the film and book of the same name, and the very act of extreme athleticism which they involve. But this is no "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", and though the lyrics might ponder, the music races along with the band's usual index of melodies and forceful rhythms, including the epic lead break at 3:30 which every goddamn power metal band since just wishes they could have written first. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is sadly only a reference to the Robert A Heinlein novel in name. However, the story of an arctic explorer finding a frozen body is deep enough to satisfy, especially when one can put yourself in the fictional skin of the character and think of the lyrics from a first person perspective. There is a nice, proggish blues moment in the chorus where the guitars paddle along through the timestream, and the bass accompanying the solo break is a delight.

"Déjà Vu" leads down further paths of flight, wonderful harmonies erupting one of the more powerful verse rhythms of the album, with Bruce dishing out some of the more venomous tones as he careens towards his glittering chorus 'Feel like I've been here before'. I can assure you, no, Iron Maiden has not been here before. The marching drums and hammering guitar of the bridge leads into another soothing triple melody with the guitars and synth. The album ends with the 8 and a half-minute historical epic "Alexander the Great", and the riffing represents various elements of the man's life. War, politics, ambition, and glory can all be felt through the guitar patterns, yet the lyrics are played pretty straight, a simple narrative of the figure's acclaimed destiny. Before 4:00 the track goes a little awol into prog rock territory, you may feel a little 80s Rush or Yes in this, which of course serves as an omen of their next album. After that, some great, moody percussion and slowly wound leadwork arrives like a soldier on an elephant, and it all ends like the closure of some mighty procession.

If you can't tell the forest for the trees, Somewhere in Time is mandatory listening, whether you dabble in Maiden on a regular basis or you're some curious child, or perhaps you've been doing missionary work in some exotic land for the past 24 years and hadn't had any access to this particular treasure vault. It's neither the heaviest of the band's efforts nor the most remembered by the howling masses at their live gigs, who seem to content themselves with just a hit by hit track-ography of all their classic albums, but damn, what I would pay to see the band perform this in its entirety. This is actually the last of the band's 'crucial' discography. Seventh Son is a Seventh Son and Brave New World are both great, don't get me wrong, but if I was forced to choose sides and sharpen the band's career to the very finest edge, it would begin with Killers and end on the final notes of "Alexander the Great".

Hope you've enjoyed my Iron Maiden discography!

Highlights: 24 years worth across 51 minutes.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I don't get it. As in, I don't get the way things work with regards to Iron Maiden and the relationship between them, their albums, and their fans. The first album is often considered a classic, but usually only by fans who started with that album or who were around when it first came out. Other than that it's underrated. The same applies to Killers - and I'm not really talking about the mainstream media here, this is almost all to do with the fans. Also quite underrated. Then we get Number Of The Beast, which I would very comfortably call overrated, but good nonetheless. Then - well, then we get the four albums where Maiden were at about their most epic, and apparently each one was a stepping stone in the right direction, but while Piece of Mind is considered a strong album, it's often regarded as inferior to Powerslave, which along with the album after this one is among the most overrated albums in metal history. Hell, Powerslave isn't even metal most of the time(that, however, is another review).

My point is that, to be blunt, a lot of the opinions of most Maiden fans seem to have a rather distasteful tendency to cater towards the albums that casual fans and the mainstream media love the most, rather than the albums that are genuinely the best or the most metal. And indeed, I would say that Number Of The Beast, Powerslave and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son are all either mostly or partly too mainstream and commercial. In some places they actually embody the metal spirit, but in others they shit on it. And albums such as this one and Piece Of Mind are, although not actually ignored, definitely underrated.

And when listening to an album such as this, it's hard to see why. Piece Of Mind was great, being infinitely more consistent than NOTB and far more metal than Powerslave could ever be. But it wasn't a masterpiece. This album, on the other hand, is not only a total masterpiece, but actually has some songs that reach such a level of utter sublimity as to be near musical perfection - and here, Maiden does all of this without selling out or becoming overly accessible, as they did on the records directly before and after this one. I submit that Somewhere In Time is not only brilliant but also one of the greatest albums ever recorded in the entire history of heavy metal. 98% of everything is done right here, with only one or two moments(not entire songs)that are just occasionally, slightly weak in comparison to the awesomeness that surrounds them.

So why do fans often pass up this album in favour of Powerslave and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son? I'm not certain of this, but the likely truth is depressing and disgusting beyond all belief. Quite simply, it's that the mainstream loves those albums, as do the casual fans, and it's not hard to see why - despite having occasional moments of brilliance, they lean towards pop-metal so frequently as to barely constitute real heavy metal at all, let alone heavy fucking metal. The notion that hardcore fans would so often feel the same way as pop listeners, mainstream music magazines and casual fans is fucking disgraceful, but considering how loved that piece of shit known as Powerslave is I don't really doubt it anymore. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who loves real music and real metal should ignore the opinions of pop fags and all of their ilk, and anyone remotely similar to them entirely and judge on a proper basis what is better music. And I have, and after listening to all three albums more than enough times to judge, I can comfortably say that Somewhere In Time is more metal, less pop friendly and more interesting, progressive and complex than either its predecessor or successor, the former by an enormous way and the latter by still a fairly long one.

Not only that, but amazingly, it actually manages to be equally as melodic and in its own way fairly accessible while still being extremely progressive and epic to the highest degrees. This is Iron Maiden at their finest, as here they take all of the epic elements that they were developing in their previous two albums(admittedly, Powerslave did have one amazing song, that being its 13 and a half minute closer)and expand upon them using synths to make everything even more grandiose and magnificent than ever before. While I almost always err on the side of Priest during debates as to which band is better, and while I would take Screaming For Vengeance and Defenders Of The Faith over NOTB or Powerslave any day, this album is the one case where Iron Maiden actually stayed truer to the spirit of metal than Judas Priest. Turbo, the Priest album that came out the same year as Somewhere In Time, made heavy use of synths, but they did so in order to be more accessible and commercial in a very pop-metal way. Somewhere In Time, on the other hand, uses synths to expand their sound and increase the level of progressiveness and complexity further, and even when the music is made more melodic by the synths, it's never made overly accessible.(It's probably for this reason that Iron Maiden is regarded as being more uncompromising and true to metal as Priest overall, which actually isn't true for the most part but in this case certainly was, I have to admit)As such, Turbo was a glam metal album far too radio-friendly to be real heavy metal, while Somewhere In Time is proto-power metal at its finest and less radio-friendly than a lot of Maiden's other 80's albums.

In addition to all of these elements, this album also has another incredible strength in that it has two songs so sublime that if they were the only good songs on the album, it would still get a good rating. Those songs would be the opener and the closer, which is another stroke of brilliance since the album not only sucks you in fantastically, but also ends masterfully. If this was all that was good about the album it would still kick a huge ton of ass. But it isn't, as there are another six songs here, and amazingly none of them are genuinely weak! One thing I've often criticised Maiden for is their inconsistency, both from album to album and from song to song. Along with Piece Of Mind, the debut and Killers, this album mostly breaks that mold, because although not all of the songs are equally good, none of them are bad. They just have the occasional weak moment, and nothing so terrible as to ruin anything. Of course Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son is also extremely consistent, but that album was too light and commercial. Somewhere In Time is not.

There are yet more reasons why this album is such as a masterpiece. Moving past the things I've already discussed, let's go on to heaviness. This album has tons of it. Great, big, heaving tons, actually, to the point where combined with the almost extreme levels of speed in places it leans very close to thrash and speed metal. It also knows when to slow down though as to not become monotonous, and that's another thing that goes towards making it in some ways full-on power metal, and even more incredibly does so in a way that is startlingly ahead of its time. It uses slow, crushing riffs in some places(Stranger In A Strange Land, parts of Sea Of Madness and Alexander The Great), mid paced chugging ones in others(Wasted Years, the rest of Alexander The Great), and even ridiculously fast and aggressive ones(The title track, lots of Sea Of Madness, Heaven Can Wait, lots of The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner and Deja Vu). And it does all this with a monstrous guitar tone, one heavier and thicker than anything they previously had. It really helps to make an album true heavy metal if it actually sounds heavy as fuck. This album does, and this also helps in the faster sections and is perhaps another reason why this album is less appealing to casual fans than Powerslave or Seventh Son - the sheer fucking heaviness of it is too much for weaklings. And so it should be - they don't even want to hear heavy fucking metal, they want to hear nice hard rock and just feel very relaxed about it. Fuck that. Those posers have no place in metal yet they have corrupted the minds of otherwise good people into thinking this album is weaker than its predecessor and successor, when the absolute opposite is the real truth. The real answer is simple: don't listen to casual fans or pop magazines because they know shit all about real heavy metal. This is metal for genuine metalheads - hardcore, heavy as fuck, metal as fuck and extremely progressive, complicated and amazingly epic while still retaining a strong sense of melody without selling out.

Somewhere In Time hits you over the head with heavy riff after heavy riff, and when it does go into the melodic harmonised riffs, it does so appropriately and tastefully instead of in order to make the album more accessible to non-metalheads. And the way the synths and guitars are all combined together with incredible songwriting and stunning progressiveness makes this in a lot of ways more than just proto-power metal, but actually real power metal that was doing stuff the rest of the actual power metal scene wouldn't do for nearly ten years. They all focused on speed more than anything else - case in point being Helloween, whose debut came out just one year before this album. It was speed metal, very different from the power metal that would come later. The Keeper Of The Seven Keys albums were certainly power metal, but still focused mainly on speed and in a lot of ways actually sounded very much like Iron Maiden. But Maiden were first - with this album they may very well have laid the seeds for everything that followed - all of the complex, progressive and epic elements of the genre that would not be refined until the 90's. Blind Guardian's Imaginations From The Other Side is a good example of all of the best elements of power metal coming together as one. This is a prototypical example of effectively the same thing, only nine years earlier.

And that's another amazing thing about this album - while there are some incredible moments here and there, for the most part there doesn't appear to be any absolute genius in every song. It's just the way everything comes together as a whole - the guitars, vocals, synths, drums, and bass - and of course the band's songwriting skills, which were at their absolute peak here, especially Steve Harris - that is so brilliant. As such one might imagine that this album is better listened to as a whole than just in separate songs. It works great that way but unlike its follow up, this ain't no concept album and songs such as Caught Somewhere In Time and Alexander The Great are fantastic where listened to alone or as part of the whole.

Before I get onto the songs, I must mention one other thing. The only possible negative aspect of the album, and in many ways it's equally a positive one - a double edged sword, if you will - is its sometimes overly dark nature. One reason Powerslave irritated the shit out of me was its overt lightness and happiness. Somewhere In Time is completely different - it shows, in most of the songs here at least the "dark side" of power metal, or what would become power metal. In some cases it really kicks arse, such as Sea Of Madness. In others, such as some parts of The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner and Deja Vu, the melodies become too sad and depressing and so the album no longer makes you feel good and powerful but brings you down. This is a shame, and it's one of just a couple of slight problems I have with an otherwise brilliant album. Thankfully for the most part it's just content to be reasonably dark while being incredibly epic and properly progressive in a good way, as opposed to the fake pseudo-prog crap on its predecessor.

The album opens with a song so perfect that it's hard to believe the man who wrote it is the same guy who wrote the pop-metal hit "Aces High". That song is "Caught Somewhere In TIme", one of the album's apexes and a good example of how a band with brilliant skills and strong determination can truly do virtually anything if they put their minds to it. It begins with a brilliant harmonised riff, of the melodic kind that I've often complained about in the past, but I won't here because it works so well. The synths are combined with it to create an awesome sound. Then the drumbeats start, and I'm already half headbanging at this point even though there's nothing heavy yet, it's just like that. This continues up until near the 1 minute mark and then the heavy riffs come crashing in underneath a higher-pitched one. Real fucking heaviness, not pansy half heaviness with a flaky guitar tone. Shortly after this Bruce's singing comes in and...wow, I am impressed. Is this really the same guy who did the stupid cheesy singing on Aces High and Two Minutes To Midnight, or whose vocal acrobatics on The Duellists sounded like a kangaroo on helium about to explode? I kid myself...yeah, of course that's ol' Bruce. The difference is that he no longer sounds cheesy as fuck and really annoying but is actually singing awesomely. There's a slightly gritty undertone to his voice which he also uses on other parts of this album, on Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, and more majorly on No Prayer For The Dying and Fear Of The Dark, although the latter two are an entirely different kettle of fish that I won't bother discussing here. It just works wonderfully, and this time, so does his more "operatic" kind of singing. How? I don't know, but whatever the reason he just manages to pull it all off without being cheesy even when he goes really high. The chorus is especially awesome, and yeah, it's catchy, but not in that horrible poppy way like some of Maiden's past hits are. It's just memorable and cool and it works really well. It's really bizarre how it works so much better than when he did the highs on the previous album...maybe it's because the music is far stronger. The solo section is also incredible, and this brings us to another brilliant aspect of this song - it's not only really heavy, powerful, and melodic without being lame or weak, but also extremely progressive and epic without sounding like Maiden attempting to be a pretentious art-rock band. Here they are properly progressive, and most importantly, are so in a metal way as opposed to a rock or hard rock one. This song is Maiden's longest opener yet, topping 7 minutes - yet once it gets heavy, it stays heavy and uses the solo to add melody as opposed to overusing harmonised guitar riffs. Finally it ends in a pure heavy metal way with all of the guitars and drums crashing in that winding down manner that's so representative of the genre. What a song. I still cannot understand how Aces High and similar songs are more popular than this one even among hardcore Maiden fans. It's just following the fucking herd, doing what the casual fans and masses do - not very metal at all. But in any case this is a near perfect song that shows what a great songwriter Steve Harris in particular is, although the whole band is obviously very talented.

Remember I said earlier that if the first and last tracks on the album were the only good ones the album would still be great? Thankfully that isn't the case as "Wasted Years" follows the opener, and while not on the same level by any means it's an excellent song nonetheless. This is certainly more catchy and commercial than most of the other songs on here. But unlike prior Maiden "hits", it's not unbearably shitty and is in fact really good. The intro is a little weird, definitely making good use of the synth in a very "spacey" way, and by that I am referring to sounding futuristic, not high. It works though, and then the heavy riffs kick in just before the half minute mark. The brilliant production really accentuates the bottom end of the guitars, resulting in one headbanging quite enjoyably as opposed to trying to headbang to a riff that doesn't even sound heavy because of shitty guitar production. It's a fairly simple song, not too progressive and certainly nothing like the brilliance of the opening song, but that's the thing - this album is not pretentious. It doesn't try to be constantly prog and epic when it doesn't need those aspects in its sound. This song works well as what it is, and again, the production and the guitars' monstrous tone and huge bottom end prevents it from being anything but true heavy fucking metal. It's a shame that this song is more popular than Caught Somewhere In Time though, and really does show that a lot of Maiden fans are more hard rockers and pop listeners than genuine metalheads.

Instead of being comfortable to settle down into something easier, Maiden ups the ente yet again with the almost brutal "Sea Of Madness". One of the heaviest songs on here(not that anything on the album isn't heavy and metal as fuck, but this song is especially so), it opens with a skullcrushing riff that shows, in this case at least, how Iron Maiden simply used synth to make their sound more epic while actually going in an even heavier direction than they had before, while Priest sadly resorted to pop-metal the same year. Anyway, after this skullcrushing continues, Bruce's vocals kick in, and again they work very well. The pre-chorus and chorus are both extremely powerful, both in heaviness and in the way Bruce sings, and the synths here are both majestic and epic. It's a somewhat dark and even melancholic song in a lot of ways but this is no detriment, in fact quite the opposite. A little later we get a clean break, but do I then become incredibly angry at this non-metal moment? No, because in this case it isn't non-metal and sounds nothing like the clean breaks on their other albums. Instead, it makes the song even darker and allows the solo to work even better than it would have otherwise. Then the heaviness returns about a minute later, and remains until the end of the song.

Another thing worth mentioning here is the absolute lack of any blues influence on this album at all. Sure, if one looked hard enough they could probably find a riff using some part of the blues scale somewhere, but for the most part there is nothing like this. NOTB was the last Maiden album with any significant NWOBHM elements, and after that, Maiden became less and less bluesy with each album. Piece Of Mind didn't have much in the way of a NWOBHM sound but there were a few riffs here and there. Powerslave had even less of such as a sound(one part of that album which I actually kind of like), and had three songs that very strongly influenced early power metal. Somewhere In Time, though, was a far bigger step away from this sound into something closer to speed and thrash metal with a really strong melodic sense and a great deal of heaviness with virtually no bluesy sounds or NWOBHM elements at all - thus it is proto-power metal.

Following the brilliance of Sea Of Madness, one might assume that this album can't possibly stay equally as strong as its beginning, and they would be right, as "Heaven Can Wait" isn't quite as fantastic as any of the preceding tracks. But it's far from bad, and is in fact very good. For a start, it's got truckloads of heaviness and aggression, with the speed now reaching thrash like levels and the riffs crushing - and indeed, a lot of the song is great heavy fucking metal. The two main problems the song has are this: the intro is overlong and slightly annoying, and the chorus is irritatingly happy and, unlike virtually anything else on the album actually does sound quite cheesy. No, make that very cheesy. But it's still quite acceptable. Why? Because aside from the chorus(the intro ain't that bad), everything else about this song is actually pretty fucking awesome. First off, as I said the riffs are crushing and this is pretty much speed or thrash. There are a mixture of aggressive riffs and slower chugging ones, even a chugging breakdown somewhere - I give up, this is pretty much a cross between thrash and power with some good ol' plain heavy thrown in for good measure. In addition, like the title track it's over 7 minutes long and very progressive - there are two solos, one somewhere around the two minute mark and another a couple of minutes later. In between them is a slower crushing section with some great vocals from Bruce and good use of synth and lead. Then the song goes back to its original pattern and finally ends. If one can look past the chorus, this song actually kicks ass.

At this point we come to "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner", a song that is for the most part brilliant, and only has a couple of weak points. It starts out with a slightly depressing lead which repeats a few times, then a slow heavy riff starts underneath with slightly heavier drumbeats, which also repeats, and just before the 1 minute mark it gets almost brutally heavy as crushing semi-thrash riffs come in along with Bruce's vocals. This is not astounding stuff, but works great anyway, as does the chorus. Then we come to the one part of the song I have a problem with - a clean break made up of harmonised lead guitar riffs. It's not bad, and it's definitely far better than the shitty commercial harmonised riffs on a certain other Maiden album. But it's still somewhat unnecessary, or maybe it isn't...I'm not sure. All I do know is that a lot of this section uses very depressing melodies. I wouldn't normally mind this, and I certainly prefer it to overly happy harmonised riffs. Except for the fact that whenever I hear this section, I get this horrible mental image of used tires bouncing across a road under a desolate grey sky in some horrible, industrial, cheap city, and then an image of a fucking emo kid alone in a ridiculously desolate park also under a grey sky, listening to this song and being all depressive and cutting his wrists. Disgusting. Then I am reminded of a woman who I love, who may not reciprocate my affections, and I feel no better than one of those fucking emo faggots, and I get depressed and angry. That pretty much makes the song rather unpleasant to listen to.

The rest of this song is good, and even that section is good - it just makes me feel negative and for obvious reasons I don't like that. Unfortunately it means that a song I otherwise like is very hard to enjoy because it makes me feel down.

Following this, we come to what is in a lot of ways my least favourite song on this album, but which is still good nevertheless, as "Stranger In A Strange Land" starts. It begins with bass and a drumbeat before the heavy guitars come in. It's much slower than anything else on here, but still retains a proto-power metal feel due to the synths and some of the leads. Unfortunately it has a clean break which is slightly annoying, but because the solo playing during it is so good it's still superior to the clean breaks on this album's predecessor. Then the heaviness returns. It's a good song, just nothing exceptional. I must point out that the way the riff fades off under Bruce's vocals and then comes back is a little annoying too, but it's not that big of a deal.

Wow, is this album consistent or what? I've gone through six entire songs and not a single one of them has been bad by any means. And the quality doesn't let up there, as "Deja Vu" is one of the strongest songs on the album. Beginning with some synth playing under a slightly depressive lead, this fades out and then the drums kick in with, unfortunately, a harmonised lead riff that makes me feel very sad if I think about it too much. This, too, is related to the same problem with the same woman and is really quite silly, but true. If I don't and just try to enjoy it, though, I find it to be a great song. After this riff the song gets heavy - really fucking heavy. The drumbeats here are close to full on thrash beats, and the speed and heaviness of the guitars is pretty extreme by Maiden standards too. Bruce's vocals are again great here, proving that when he's more restrained, or given better material to work with, he sings great. When he's allowed to write half the songs on the album and be as cheesy as he likes is when things go wrong, as has happened unfortunately many times over Maiden's career. This song also has a great middle section which is kind of clean, but with really great guitaring, really epic and all of that. It's also a bit depressing in some ways, which is weird as most of the melodies Maiden use aren't, but this album seems to have plenty of them. Odd. The song ends on a good, heavy note. A great song regardless.

However, the best is yet to come, as Iron Maiden now pull out all of the stops for the last song on the album. Hell, they've been pulling out all of the stops for the entire album really - that's why it kicks so much arse. Maiden really did everything right here, and the final song is just the icing on the cake, but what a delicious icing that is. We are talking about "Alexander The Great", an absolute masterpiece in numerous ways, with one or two slight faults that nevertheless do not stop it from ending this album gloriously to say the least. It opens with a quote from Philip Of Macedon and some wind effects, which creates an epic mood right from the start. Then the drumbeat and synths begin, or is it guitars? In this case I'm actually not sure, but this whole section is very light. This is one of the two minor problems I have with this otherwise amazing song - the intro is too long. The whole section repeats a couple of times, but does so very slowly, and then there is a guitar solo played over the drumbeat instead with one of the main melodies. It's great, but did the intro really need to be over a minute and a half long? Actually, maybe it did. That's the thing - I say that I would prefer it to be shorter, but if it was, would it still work as well? Probably not, because this is a song where all of the separate parts come together to form one great whole. They all need to be there, and if the intro was trimmed there wouldn't be the great build up before the heaviness kicks in at around 1:36 into the song. From that point onwards the song is no longer just good but truly awesome. The riffs are slightly middle-eastern sounding here but this is perfectly appropriate given the subject matter. Bruce's vocals are at their most theatrical on this song, and some could look upon the whole thing as somewhat cheesy considering the way it is done. But to be honest, I'm loving it so much that I couldn't care less. It's that brilliant. There's a great use of a harmonised guitar riff not too long after the first chorus which is actually awesome, and when it comes around for a third and fourth time combined with the synths in a higher pitch it becomes close to sublime. So epic and majestic, just like the song's subject matter. It just sounds so grandiose, even more so than anything else on the album so far. After another vocal section we reach the song's second weak point, and unfortunately this is something really annoying that could have been changed. It's a clean break lasting about 40 seconds that has no purpose whatsoever. It could easily have been heavy guitars instead of clean. I suppose they put it in there for an effect of contrast, and it doesn't seem to be done for commercial reasons so I don't hate it, but it's annoying. After this however the song is completely perfect. As the clean break ends heavy riffs come crashing back down with a strange effect and a really strong middle-eastern overtone. Truly epic. Then chugging riffs begin, and over them a brilliant solo commences. This whole section lasts about two minutes. This is how to do prog-metal, kids. Not overuse of clean breaks and harmonised riffs that go nowhere, but genuinely complex songs that also don't try too hard to appeal to the fucking mainstream. The little bass breaks in this section are a little odd, but only serve to make everything more progressive, which for this song is definitely a good thing. Finally, Bruce's vocals come back in, and after a little more of this the song ends with the heavy sort of middle eastern riffs that originally started about six minutes earlier. Wow, what a song!

I'm still baffled by the number of fans who claim that this album is a stepping stone between Powerslave and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son and weaker than both of them, because as far as I can see it's the absolute opposite. Powerslave was an inferior stepping stone to the truly majestic, epic, and progressive, genuinely proto-power metal songs on this masterful album. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son was a good followup but too pretentious for its own good with being a concept album and all in addition to being too commercial and not very metal in many places. I don't know why more people don't see things this way...I guess the mainstream has corrupted their opinions.

I'll briefly touch on one other thing which I think is a big part of why this album kicks so much ass. Bruce's contribution, or more accurately the lack of it. On every other single Maiden album he's sung on save for NOTB, he's always contributed writing to at least one song. Here he is just Maiden's vocalist, albeit a very good one, and seems to be more restrained and mature in that regard too(I.E. no stupid vocal acrobatics like the shit he pulled on The Duelists, again a song from Powerslave. Grrrrr....). Almost every song here was written by Steve Harris, and a couple by Adrian Smith. The result? Iron Maiden's strongest album overall. From the guitars, to the vocals, to the bass, to the drums, to the synths, and the speed, power, progressiveness and aggression all together - everything here just works. I'd go as far as saying this is even stronger than the debut and Killers.

Sure it's a shame that ol' Bruce didn't write any of the songs, but on the other hand maybe it isn't. Most of the Maiden songs I hate the most were either co-written or entirely written by him. Bruce is great for the most part, but it's pretty weird how Maiden's best album, which ironically also has one or Bruce's best performances by a long way, is also the only album aside from NOTB which he did not contribute to in a songwriting sense at all.

If you want to know why this album is so awesome in a nutshell, just listen to Caught Somewhere In Time and then to Alexander The Great. Those two songs showcase everything great about this album, as well as everything Maiden does best. If you're not impressed, then you're a fucking poser.

All in all, it just comes down to, if not the fact that Bruce had no songwriting contributions, the simple nature of the way things happen - Maiden were in a good way at the time, and they really did pull out all of the stops here. And it really does work that well. If you want to hear real heavy metal with real metal riffs that are heavy and metal as fuck that also has brilliant use of melody in a way that is not overly commercial, fantastic and tasteful use of synths, brilliant speed and aggression combined with musical beauty and stunning progressiveness and epic songs of the greatest kind - all rounding out as a collection of brilliant, genuinely prog proto-power metal songs, then look no further than this album.

After the absolute masterpiece that “Powerslave” was, expectations were high for the new Iron Maiden album. Unfortunately “Somewhere in Time” isn't as good as its predecessor; however, it is a fine heavy/power metal album, and why?

First of all, I have to praise the new direction the band took with this record. They just didn't tried to create a “Powerslave part II”, they incorporated new elements to the band's sound, the most important of them being the use of guitar synths; they gave a fresh and new atmosphere to the record, and songs like “Alexander the Great” benefit one hell of a lot with them. The production is also rather different; the guitars don't sound so sharp anymore, nor does the drums; the vocals are definitely highlighted by the production, the same thing with the synths. The bass is a bit more buried under the guitars than on previous releases, but after all it still is audible and tasteful.

Another key element of “Somewhere in Time” is the fast instrumentation; Maiden never played so fast, believe me, and that's why this album carries a strong power metal vibe too. The drumming is almost thrashy sometimes (“Dejá Vu”), with Nicko McBrain delivering another great performance again, technical yet not overplaying anything... One of my favourite drummers, that's for sure!

Adrian Smith is another important musician on “Somewhere in Time”, mainly because of all the songs he composed (he penned the majority of the songs, together with Steve Harris or alone). Unfortunately, because of his huge contribution, Bruce Dickinson wasn't allowed to write anything for this record, which is a shame, since the band owes him songs like “Revelations” and, most of all, the title track of “Powerslave”. Fortunately, he wrote some songs on the sucessor of “Somewhere in Time”, the acclaimed (and widely overrated) “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”.

Anyways, highlights? There are some really great songs here and some pretty average, the latter ones bringing the album down and harming the whole listening experience quite badly. “Caught Somewhere in Time” is one of the best songs here, absolutely dominated by some intricate soloing and a very nice vocal performance by Dickinson. He was in a really good shape during the recording of this piece, just listen to him screaming “Caught somewheere in tiiiiiiiiiiiimee!”... It's truly amazing, I even dare to say that his performance here is better than on “Powerslave” and that's saying something! “Wasted Years” is another great song, catchy as hell and in the same vein as “2 Minutes to Midnight” or “Flight of Icarus”; a rather commercial tune but still amazing. It also features a very nice beginning (Mustaine apparently loves it, since he ripped it off – just listen to “Washington is Next!”).

The best of the bunch is, however, “Alexander the fuckin' Great” and what a song, ladies and gents!! It sounds like “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” combined with the epic historical themes that made “Piece of Mind” what it is! Just take a time and listen to that masterpiece, it deserves some listens for you to fully understand its greatness! Absolutely gorgeous song!

With the fanboy mode turned to “OFF”, I'll now speak about the low points of this record. “Stranger in a Strange Land” is one of them, not a horrible song but it does absolutely nothing to make this album better. It's midpaced and features a catchy chorus, but it isn't a song that you'll enjoy that much, that's for sure. At least is better than “Quest for Fire”... “De Já Vu” sounds also really forced, despite the thrashy feel it carries. An uninspired song, to say the least. “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” and “Heaven Can Wait” are both decent, though. I reallly like the chorus of both, but, again, they do nothing to make this album better. Ah, and “Sea of Madness” has a nice beginning and breakdown, but it is unfortunately another average number,

So, with all those average tracks in, the listening experience of “Somewhere in Time” is far from perfect. Nevertheless, there are some great bits here, songs like “Alexander the Great” stand out as absolutely fantastic, so this record is worth listening because of them. Anyway, despite not being the best Maiden album, I recommend this piece to power metal and also “fast heavy metal” fans. And the performances of the musicians are also quite technical at times, so that's another plus. A good album, all in all, better than “Piece of Mind” and “Number of the Beast” and worse than “Powerslave” and “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”.

Best Moments of the CD:
-The beginning and solo section of “Caught Somewhere in Time”.
-The chorus of “Wasted Years”.
-The intro and middle section of “Alexander the Great”.


Concluding: "ALEXANDER THE GREEEEEEEEAT!" - that's all you need to hear if you want to check this album out.

The biggest problems with Somewhere In Time are very simple. It is an album which is close to genius but falls between two even bigger masterpieces (Powerslave & Seventh Son that is of course). Secondly the lyrical content here is somewhat lacking compared to the earlier mentioned two classics. For example the lyrics to “Déjà Vu” are plain awful. Fortunately the song itself is excellent.

Well, that about wraps up the biggest two complaints. There is of course a reason this album remains one of the all time Maiden classics. That it because it is just excellent and has a lot of character. As said the lyrics are lacking here but the music was once again a step forward. And so were the production and use of (guitar) synths.

The album opens with an epic tune immediately. But because of the high tempo “Caught Somewhere in Time” never feels like an epic but still remains interesting the full length. The speed, dynamics and enormous presence of great melodies makes this song an instant classic. “Sea Of Madness” is one of the more brutal metal tunes here. Though not as impressive as a lot of other songs on this album it holds firm because of its catchiness and heavy moments.

“The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” does what the title says. Almost just like the opening tune it just goes on and on and dares the listener to hold on. It’s a long ride but a memorable one. The pre-chorus and chorus are majestic and the energy of this song is almost unequalled on the rest of the album.

Now the true epic piece here is of course “Alexander the Great”. A song that was completed in the studio and never performed live. It can compete with earlier classics like Hallowed By The Name and To Tame a Land with ease. The lyrics are somewhat dull but the concept is great and so is the spoken intro.

Then we have the two mid paced and catchy singles. “Stranger in a Strange Land” is the heaviest of the two and I never seem to get bored by that heavy main riff and that awesome chorus. This is truly classic eighties pounding heavy metal the way it should be. The other one, “Wasted Years”, has the trademark Adrian Smith intro and is a laid back song about being on tour with a strong yet over-catchy chorus and a great solo.

Leaves us with that song the band has been playing live for so many years. We’re talking “Heaven Can Wait” here. Now this song has actually got one of the weakest choruses on the album yet the band persisted in playing this song live. The middle section of the song is great though and the sing-a-long part always proved much fun live. To be honest it really isn’t one of the best songs here and sounds like a filler compared to the earlier mentioned classics. A good filler that is.

Last but not least the production is very typical. The use of guitar synths has broadened the sound even more, making this album sound majestic at times! This typical sound, which no other Maiden album has, gave the album even more character and emphasised the futuristic artwork. Once again the band managed to combine production and artwork perfectly. The artwork is classy. Though not as good as Powerslave, it obviously still has character and the album cover is fun to look through, trying to find all those references. The futuristic Eddie looks great.

Even though Dickinson would later admit this period was not one of his most inspirational ones, his vocal performance is stunning here. But he and Murray kept a low profile compositionally this time. It was up to Smith and Harris to deliver the songs. Adrian Smith wrote three out of eight songs this time. And three of the better or more successful ones even I must add! But don’t worry, Dickinson would awake on the next album again, and how!

This is perhaps Maiden’s most accessible and melodic album. The introduction of guitar synthesizers obviously plays a major part in this. Yet one is hard pressed to find fault with it as the material on here is strong. It isn’t quite composed of material with the likes of say a ‘Powerslave’ or ‘Seventh Son’ but its still damn excellent. Also, the production on here is the best I’ve heard from all of their releases. The clarity of the sound is amazing and the synthesizers sound excellent in the fore. The sound on this album would only reach its pinnacle in following release (and in my opinion, the best metal release ever) 7th Son Of A 7th Son. This album too, like Powerslave would prove to be a major influence on Power Metal.

Dave and Adrian deliver some of their best riffs and solos here. The guitars have definetly taken a turn for more melodic regions. The synthesizers allow them to explore some new territory and they use the synthesizer rather tastefully without going on overdrive with it. Some of Maiden’s best solos are in ‘Caught Somewhere in Time’ and Adrian gives us an absolutely godly solo (only next to his own ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’) on ‘Stranger In A Strange Land’. Bruce gives an excellent vocal performance, perhaps even his best vocal performance on any album is here. Lots of double-layered choruses are seen on the album. Steve doesn’t quite play as much of a part on this album as Maiden have gone in a more melodic direction but his contributions to songwriting and basslines are still valuable. He doesn’t quite write as many songs either as this album is dominated by Adrian’s tracks. Nicko performance here is more relaxed as the album has taken a more melodic direction and he does the job well.

‘Caught Somewhere In Time’ starts the album off with an excellent synthesized melody and is the best song on the album. It’s the fastest, least melodic song on the album and the best part of it is the solos. The solos midway through the song are absolutely godly, some of Maiden’s best solos are here. The song’s written solely by Steve ‘Wasted Years’ then has fine lyrics and an excellent sing-along chorus coupled with extremely catchy riffs and melodies. ‘Sea Of Madness’ has a more prominent bass and an exceptional sad chorus. ‘Heaven Can Wait’ starts off very well but the verse sound too hurried for my liking, Bruce doesn’t quite sound good when he sings so fast. The chorus too sounds nauseating – ‘Heaven can waaaa-aaaitt’, too stretched, doesn’t work at all. The song gets better as it goes with an exceptional ‘oh-oh-oh’ (this one is attempted oh-so-much by other bands who sound pathetic at every attempt) sing-along section mid-way and excellent soloing that redeems the song. ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ has an excellent build-up. Bruce does an excellent job on vocals (especially on the chorus) with a triumphant gallop backing him. The solos once again rule. ‘Stranger In A Strange Land’ is one of Maiden’s best, very very catchy riffing and an outstanding vocal performance with a godly solo from Adrian adding to its strength. ‘Déjà vu’ then is a rather forgotten song. This remains one of Maiden’s catchiest song, which can be attributed to its excellent use of double-layered vocals and the absolutely awesome twin-guitar melodies. Then, ‘Alexander The Great’ isn’t as strong as Maiden’s other closers but is still excellent. The song builds up excellently, very very epic intro here. The song itself is excellent with brilliant soloing although the chorus is admittedly rather boring. A fine way to end an excellent album.

All in all, this album can be considered as the turning point in Maiden’s discography which lead to metal and Maiden’s pinnacle – 7th son of a 7th son. This album merges epic with accessible to create a raging beast of an album. Well worth the buy unless you have an allergy to synths. The cover art too, absolutely rules. The detailed drawing bears many a secret one would be hard-pressed to find without the help of a FAQ.

The ebb and flow of trends within any art form have tended to be a necessary outcome of popular demand, and within the musical world it was an inevitable one prior to the advent of the internet. Certain questions regarding whether these shifts in what is considered vogue being an organic phenomenon are naturally warranted, though in retrospect they are best understood as a simple matter of fact, irregardless of how much manipulation one might attribute to the recording industry. Insofar as heavy metal was concerned in the mid-1980s, the trend was definitely leaning a bit heavy on the AOR side of things, perhaps largely as a response to the mainstream headway that was being made by the L.A. sleaze and broader glam rock scenes. Though this was a gradual shift in direction that could be traced back a couple years prior, by 1985 even once cutting edge and impact-base pioneers out of the U.K. and Germany such as Saxon and Accept were placing a heavier emphasis on keyboards, balladry and a primacy of melodic hooks over biting riff work. The only major player out of the NWOBHM that seemed poised to maintain the style's harder-edged credentials while still expanding the possibilities of their sub-genre was Iron Maiden, and following an exhaustive touring schedule on their 1985 smash Powerslave, it was anybody's guess as to how things would play out when said heavy metal icons hit the studio again.

Though the casual observer will be quick to note the fairly consistent formula that this outfit has played off of since their breakthrough outing with Bruce Dickinson at the helm in Number Of The Beast, careful consideration of their cumulative studio efforts since reveal a band that is in a fairly rapid state of stylistic evolution. Faced with the ascendancy of AOR dominated heavy metal among their fellow heavy metal alumni and all the various bells and whistles that go with it, not to mention Bruce sitting out from songwriting sessions in order to recover from a punishing world tour, a rather unique musical compromise was struck that somehow managed to adopt much of the present stylistic paradigm without loosing the edge that was clearly absent from albums like Innocence Is No Excuse and Heart Of Our Time. At its core, Somewhere In Time, Maiden's 6th studio album in almost as many years and the crowning achievement of their entire career, is a pure heavy metal album that acknowledges and incorporates a number of quirks of the mid-80s and unintentionally stumbles into territory not far removed from the nascent yet still largely untapped territory of power metal. The strategic use of synthesizers, the dense and spacey sounding guitar tone and generally otherworldly character of the lyrical content could be compared to the recent exploits of Queensryche and Fates Warning, though the songwriting still largely conforms to a symmetrical character.

The jury is out as to whether the band had "The Rivalry Of Smith and Harris" as a working title prior to this album's release, but the hegemony of both in the songwriting department creates a rather intricate synchronicity that further fuels this album's uniqueness among that collective whole of Maiden's 1980s output. Neither really goes into full on conventional territory relative to what they've written in the past, though they end up in very different places musically, with Smith churning out three fairly complex yet moderate length songs that have a strong riff-oriented and rocking character to them. Melodic fanfare and mid-paced rocker "Wasted Years", which is arguably the most iconic and well-known offering of the lot, features Smith in arguably his most technical capacity and also one of the most infectious choruses every penned under the Maiden moniker. By contrast, the somewhat off-kilter anthem "Sea Of Madness" goes a bit heavier and repackages elements of the rocking character of "Two Minutes To Midnight" into a pounding, rhythmic machine that also finds itself segueing into a melancholy ballad segment following the solo section almost reminds of the spacey atmosphere of "Strange World". Pile on a slow-grooving and densely atmospheric ride through the ice-covered wastelands in "Stranger In A Strange Land", sporting a fairly blatant Dio influence between the principle guitar riff and the "Heaven And Hell" inspired slow-galloping bass.

The generally slower to mid-paced and largely concise handiwork of Smith on here finds a wildly ambitious and all-over-the-place foil in Steve Harris' contributions to this album, often blurring the lines between where heavy metal ends and the, at the time, extremely young style of power/prog begins. The fast-paced gallop-machine and title song "Caught Somewhere In Time" features a litany of forward-looking elements, sometimes coming off as mildly thrashing at a few key points, not to mention featuring a wild dueling guitar exchange between Smith and Murray that could qualify as a metallic equivalent to "Free Bird". The live favorite and more mid-paced cruiser "Heaven Can Wait" has occasional echoes of the title song off "Number Of The Beast", but features a far more complex presentation of ideas, often times wandering into progressive territory when not banging out a gang chorus sing-along segment or featuring Murray setting his fret board on fire. "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" ups the ante in the speed department further, falling a few clicks short of catching up with where Helloween would be a year later on Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt. 1, and also features an earlier version of the iconic "Fear Of The Dark" melody while simultaneously blazing through riffing segments comparable to "Aces High" on steroids. Dave Murray's lone contribution to this album, in collaboration with Harris, dubbed "Deja Vu" manages to get a bit faster and basically offers a taste of what power metal would sound like had Thin Lizzy ever taken it up. One wouldn't be out of line in speculating that maybe Dave was paying tribute to the recently departed Phil Lynott here, that's how similar some of the guitar leads sound to a couple of notable songs from the latter days of his tenure with TL.

In essence, this album's enduring charm and unique character flows from a massive degree of emphasis upon instrumental intrigue that results in an album where the front man ends up sharing equal footing with the rest of the band. There aren't really any outlandish moments of vocal gymnastics out of Bruce Dickinson to be found on any of these songs, though he clearly isn't slouching and winds up putting a massive amount of passion into a collection of lyrical themes that were not of his own making. This is perhaps best underscored in the massive epic of a closing song "Alexander The Great", which stands as the most musically ambitious composition that Steve Harris had thrown together since first defying conventional songwriting formulas with "Phantom Of The Opera", not to mention holding equal footing with "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" as the most complex song he's ever penned. The massive collection of contrasting lead guitar themes, the odd-timed military drumming work out of McBrain, not to mention the occasional symphonic elements that interplay with the keyboard work (there's one point where a massive tam-tam is worked in to accentuate a Greek-tinged lead guitar interlude) rule the roost for this song's eight and a half minute duration, yet would be utterly directionless without Bruce's story narration, and while his voice doesn't exactly shatter glass like the glory days of 1982, the sheer force of his voice and his perfect annunciation of the Hellenistic conquests seal the deal on an out and out classic song that will forever remain Maiden's most underrated.

Naturally with any auspiciously different album by an iconic band, this one is not free of controversy, largely due to the accidental conservatism that this band displayed on previous albums due to a lack of keyboard use and a far more streamlined songwriting approach that generally led to a plurality of bangers after the mold of "The Trooper" and "Run To The Hills" being accompanied by only one or two epic numbers. Even the album that immediately followed this one, which also happened to be Maiden's lone concept album, found itself relying a bit more on shorter and more streamlined songwriting, leaving Somewhere In Time in more of a unique position as the most experimental offering of their glory days. All the same, with arguably the exception of The Number Of The Beast, this would prove to be their most influential album, and probably more so on their own latter days efforts just about every album that this outfit has penned since Dickinson's return to the fold in the late 1990s has been steeped in progressive rock elements and elongated songwriting that began with this album. It isn't really a power metal album, nor does it really cross the rubicon into full on progressive metal territory, but one can't help but note the parallels that it shares with both, nor can one deny its auspicious place in metal history regardless of whether one loves or hates it. Eddie may have been bigger than the devil and at one with the pharaohs, but no matter what point in time he may find himself, his eye will always be fixed on the future, and it saw its clearest with the aid of cybernetic implants.

(Rewritten on January 21st, 2019)

For the first time in Maiden’s career, they skipped a year before releasing a new studio album. “Somewhere In Time” was released in 1986, still with the same line-up. Something had changed, though. Maiden included keyboards (or guitar synthesizers) for the very first time. Also, the sound has a futuristic feel to it. The songs themselves are mostly about space and time and distance, so it’s not far from being a concept album.

It begins with ‘Caught Somewhere In Time’, and the synthesizers are instantly there. I wonder how hard it was for Maiden fans at the time to get used to it, hehe. After a short intro, it kicks off, revealing a fast, galloping rhythm. Dickinson has the same skyhigh quality of a voice as usual, and the dual guitar-playing is present. Smith and Murray is the perfect guitar-couple. What amazed me the most when first hearing this album, though, is the superb drumming from Nicko McBrain! I feel this is his best work to date. The solos in the first song are spectacular and epic. Note that Bruce Dickinson didn’t write a single song in this album, and still it’s high quality stuff! Amazing. Anyway, all in all, the first track is a great opener (of course, we all know Maiden have no bad openers…) Track two is ‘Wasted Years’, and works as this album’s ballad. Except that it’s not really a ballad at all. It’s just slower and even catchier than the rest of the album. The lead intro is killer, and after listening to the chorus a couple of times, you’re bound to hum it for a week. This song also features a great, “heartfelt” solo. Perfect.

Then it’s onto ‘Sea of Madness’. This one’s faster than ‘Wasted Years’. The bridge and the chorus is what stands out on this song. There’s a certain epic feeling going through those sections of the song. Thinking of it, nearly the whole album has this epic feel, which is only a good thing. Again there’s an incredible lead guitar solo present. Halfway through the song there’s a section where things calm down, and it’s some of the best Maiden’s done yet. So far, so good. ‘Heaven Can Wait’ is next up. Again you quickly realize you’re listening to another classic, and this is perhaps the best song on the album. Perhaps. This is pretty much perfect from beginning to end, with a pretty fast tempo, and a memorable chorus. About halfway through, there’s a real singalong moment, just like at the end ‘The Wicker Man’. How Maiden accomplish this without it sounding cheesy, is beyond me, but there you are. Then we’re treated with a second solo, which is even better than the first. Then some twin-guitar play again, before the third verse begins. No wonder I love this song. The fifth song has the longest title from Iron Maiden yet: ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’. It begins with a nice intro, then suddenly explodes into yet another fast song. There’s a certain amount of galloping, as well. The chorus on this is perhaps not the most genious one of all time, but as a whole this song is extremely well written. I’m glad Bruce’s contributions to this album were scrapped, hearing how wonderful it is! He actually wrote a lot of accoustic stuff, but Steve didn’t think it was good enough, and didn’t go along with it. Well done, Steve!

Track six is without doubt the worst song here; ‘Stranger In a Strange Land’. That’s not to say it stinks, it’s actually very good, but it simply can’t compare to the other seven songs. It has kind of a disco-feel over it in places, but it sounds better than you might expect from hearing such a description. The line ‘no brave new world’ is repeated in this song, making me think of Maiden’s latest. If I were to rate this song by itself, I would’ve given it a 8/10, so it’s still quality stuff. The guitar solo in this is actually outstanding. Onto what is another candidate for best song on the record; ‘De Ja Vu’. A nice and moody intro, before speeding up (about every song on the album has this progression, without it getting repetitive). There’s a lot of double-bass drumming from Nicko in this song. The verse, the chorus, the guitars, the bass, the singing, the drumming, the sound, the melody lines…it’s all so damn perfect! What’s the word…yes, it’s orgasmic! Talking about those feelings, there’s still one song left. It’s the epic of the album, (not that there’s any lack of epicness elsewhere on the album, but anyway), and the title is ‘Alexander the Great’. Over 8 and a half minute long, it follows nicely in the vein of ‘To Tame a Land’ and ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. The intro is kind of march-based, which sounds great. It’s also very moody. Lyrically speaking, the song’s a bit ackward, thanks to Steve, but Bruce does what he can to make it sound great, he he succeeds. The chorus is again perfect. After four minutes the song calms a bit down, and this is where my favorite part of my song begins. Especially around the 4:52 mark. Who needs porn when you got that section?! The best thing is, that part of the song lasts quite a while, and features several killer guitar solos. The rest of the song is also killer. As you might understand, it’s between this one, ‘Heaven Can Wait’, and ‘De Ja Vu’.

Another review done. Phew! But I enjoyed reviewing this one. No need to say more, is there? Go and buy it! Meanwhile I’m going to listen to it one more time.