Artist: Iron Maiden
Label: EMI Records
Released: 2003
Rating: 2.5/5
The follow-up to “Brave New World” (2000) got made, and it just can’t fully convince. Musically Iron Maiden are still exactly what they’ve always been, but this time the new album actually suffers. The whole thing sounds hastily written and hastily played. This time it’s really hard to believe the new album was made with enthusiasm and a real urge for musical expression. I just can’t shake the feeling that the album exists only because it had to.
Two songs rescue this record from total mediocrity. The first is the title track, built exactly the way an Iron Maiden fan expects. It has a grandiose atmospheric intro, multiple rhythms that flow nicely into each other through bravura transitions, and plenty of different triplet embellishments neatly layered together. The atmosphere peaks in the middle section, just like in the band’s earlier big epics. The orchestral arrangements sit in a lovely balance too and boost the mood even more. In short, the job on this composition was done brilliantly.
The second highlight that fully convinces is Paschendale. Bruce’s vocal performance especially stands out in this one. The massive, majestic sound of the guitar riffing and the orchestral arrangement is in perfect balance here as well. Once again we get unexpected rhythm changes through Nick’s refined rolls, plus solos from all three guitarists. Paschendale opens and closes with a gripping, high atmospheric motif. The song has everything you’d expect from Iron Maiden’s musical stance.
Bruce sings like Bruce sings. He still wails like a siren after all these years. The rhythm section also still holds a status of pure superlatives. In fact, after all these years the rhythm section remains the biggest magnet for the listener. So what’s the problem? The guitars. Wasted guitar work. The second album since Dickinson and Smith rejoined the band also confirms that Iron Maiden don’t need three guitarists and that two are more than enough. There’s simply no feeling that three guitars are part of this music. Okay, where they solo you can tell them apart by style: Janick’s indistinct scrubbing with all four fingers, Dave’s fast hammering, and Adrian’s classic approach to solos, decorated with nice pull-offs. This time I’m disappointed, because the three of them together simply don’t try anymore and don’t spoil us with any brilliant motifs, which they’re surely still capable of. Solos are a segment Iron Maiden simply no longer devote themselves to.
Face In The Sand sounds promising too. It’s carried by a battle rhythm with the aggressive snarling of Steve’s bass in the center, and that riffing really cuts through concrete! One more small note for all the eighties nostalgics: Gates Of Tomorrow has the same rhythm in the chorus as A Loneliness Of A Long Distance Runner. Age Of Innocence opens with a killer riff, but in the shocking chorus the song turns watery, since it’s completely hard-rock flavored. It’s not a bad song, but sadly it’s not Iron Maiden at all. Yeah, over the years the hearts of these gents have obviously started to soften, which they convince us of with the closing acoustic (decidedly too long) number Journeyman. If I declared it Prodigal Son pt. II, the fans would probably kill me.
A lack of freshness is the problem Iron Maiden are wrestling with, and they’re also sick of the rusty shackles that brought them fame but that they have to stubbornly hold onto (commercial success demands its toll, after all). So they try, diplomatically and as painlessly as possible, to escape here and there with various “off topic” moments à la Journeyman. Iron Maiden could easily have glued the three songs that came out on “Dance Of Death” together into one fifteen-minute EP and so softened their increasingly obvious lack of ideas. The eight-song-album formula, as the band used to do in the eighties, becomes relevant again here. Anyway, “Dance Of Death” is not a bad record. It definitely doesn’t belong among Iron Maiden’s best creations. What remains is a bitter aftertaste of forced playing and, because of it, a lack of conviction.
Lineup
Bruce Dickinson – vocals
Steve Harris – bass
Adrian Smith – guitar
Dave Murray – guitar
Janick Gers – guitar
Nicko McBrain – drums
Production
Kevin Shirley
Tracklist
1. Wildest Dreams
2. Rainmaker
3. No More Lies
4. Montsegur
5. Dance of Death
6. Gates of Tomorrow
7. New Frontier
8. Paschendale
9. Face in the Sand
10. Age of Innocence
11. Journeyman
