A Matter of Life and Death
A
Three long years have passed since the release of Dance of Death, Maiden’s epic thirteenth studio album, and second album since former singer Bruce Dickinson rejoined the band. Some heralded it as a masterpiece, others viewed it as dire by Maiden standards. Nevertheless, it still retained the power and grandeur that Maiden are known for. Now, here in 2006, Maiden have released their fourteenth studio album, A Matter of Life and Death. Months before the album’s scheduled release date, the cover of the new album was released online for the viewing public to gaze upon. Many fans noted that the stunning cover artwork, which featured Eddie commanding a tank and some skeletal soldiers through a bombed-out, barren terrain, was a marked improvement over the cover for Dance of Death, which was deemed hideous by the majority of Maiden fans (myself included). And though this cover still stirred some controversy amongst the fans, it was to a notably smaller degree. Also, the video for the first single of the album, The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, debuted online for all fans to see. Praised by many fans as an epic, spectacular track, it gave fans hope for the new album. But the question still remained, would the rest of the album be a feat of metal prowess, or would it wind up being a dud?
In August, a month before the album’s release date of September 5th, two more songs were streamed on Maiden’s official website, two days in a row. The first being the opening track, Different World, and then the album’s third track, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns. Both gave fans even more hope for the album.
And then, on September 5th, fans were able to finally get their hands on this long-awaited metal album. Was the wait worth it?
The album starts off with the standard rocker, Different World. This is similar to the opening track on their previous Dance of Death album, Wildest Dreams. The chorus is upbeat, and the song is pretty simple in nature. But in no way does that make this track bad by any means. It’s a catchy, melodic rocker that is sure to please old and new fans alike. This track is also the most accessible, least complex song on the album.
Next off we get the semi-epic These Colours Don’t Run (the title taken from the infamous Ozzfest incident in which the band were pelted onstage with eggs by Sharon Osbourne’s cronies.) It starts off like many of the songs on the album, with a quiet, unsuspecting intro, before it takes off into a hard rocking metal number. The song is about those who go off to foreign countries, to fight in wars for the good of their homeland. It is definitely a song that might take a while to grow on you. But it does have a damn catchy pre-chorus, “For the passion/For the glory/For the memories/For the money/You’re a soldier/For your country/What’s the difference/All the same”.
The next track on the album is my personal favorite, as well as the heaviest. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns begins with a misleading, quiet intro, as Bruce sings, “We are not the sons of god/We are not his chosen people now/We have crossed the path he trod/We will feel the pain of his beginning”. After this, the song kicks in with an immense, thundering riff, one that, and this may be just me that feels this way, has almost a nuclear tinge to it. Makes sense, because this song deals with the birth of the atomic age. The title of the song comes from the description the first scientist that saw the detonation of the atom bomb gave. About halfway into the song, there is a time change, taking the song from 4/4 time to 2/2. During this fast section, Bruce wails, “Bury your morals and bury your dead/Bury your head in the sand/E=MC squared, you can relate/How we made God with our hands”. After this fast part, the song pretty much goes back to how it was before, and it closes quietly just as it had begun.
The next track, The Pilgrim, is a stark contrast to the dark, brooding heaviness of the last track. The lyrics, to me at least, are a bit vague, but they seem like they could either have something to do with the Mayflower, or quite possibly something to do with religious persecution. All in all, it’s a very good track, with an excellent drum intro followed by an equally excellent intro riff. The song is fast paced, and could have very well have fit onto Powerslave with it’s oriental sounding melodies.
The next song is a song I had been looking forward to ever since I first read about it. It is entitled The Longest Day, and it’s subject matter deals with the WWII Battle of Normandy. When I first saw that it would be a World War 2 track, I immediately thought of Paschendale, from the Dance of Death album, which dealt with the battle of Passchendaele in World War 2. Upon first hearing this song, the first thing that I noticed were the vivid lyrics in the beginning, and the incredible buildup. I was all set for the song to explode into an immense frenzy of power at the chorus, rivaling the epicness of Paschendale. And on first listening of the chorus, I was a bit let down. It’s not a bad chorus by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn’t as bombastic as I had hoped. But it quickly grew on me, and the rest of the song seems to impart a sense of heroism in it’s melodies. An excellent track, one that shouldn’t be (unfairly) compared to Paschendale.
Up next, what’s this? Maiden, doing a power ballad? That’s right, Out of the Shadows is a ballad that only Maiden could put to paper. And do you know what? It’s a damn fine one at that. Starting out with Bruce softly singing, “Hold a halo ‘round the world/Golden is the day/Princes of the universe/Your burden is the way”, it’s a beautiful song about how, when we’re born, we are effectively “king for a day”. Certainly better than a lot of other cheesy metal power ballads out there.
The next song was the first single off of the album, as well as the first song that a video was made for. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg is roughly seven and a half minutes long, and begins with a quiet (and admittedly a little too long) intro, where Bruce sings “Let me tell you ‘bout my life/Let me tell you ‘bout my dreams/Let me tell you ‘bout the things that happen/Always real to me”. The song, by reading the lyrics alone, seems to deal with a fictional character of Maiden’s (similar to Charlotte the Harlot from their first and third albums), and how he sees “things I don’t wanna see” in his dreams. What’s interesting to note is, prior to the albums release, and after the video had debuted, a website had been set up, claiming to be created by an “A. Breeg”, who claimed to be a relative of Benjamin Breeg’s. On this site, so-called “A. Breeg” was in search for his/her missing relative, who had gone missing years ago. It is also mentioned on this site that Benjamin would paint pictures, one such picture on the site showing what looked like our friend Eddie (which, as it turns out, showed up in the booklet for the Benjamin Breeg single.) An excellent, not too complex song with a good rock feel to it.
This next song was a song that worried some fans, as it’s the longest song on the album, clocking in at a mammoth nine minutes and twenty-four seconds. For The Greater Good of God, lyrically, deals with the pointlessness of wars, fighting, and strife brought on by people’s differing views on religions and how life should be. It is a great song, but surely not one of Maiden’s absolute best. Interesting to note, the bass intro of the song is reminiscent of those on The X Factor, as well as the guitar parts sounding a lot like Judgment of Heaven, from the same album. All in all, a definitely worthwhile track, even if it is another song where the chorus is the title of the song repeated over and over (which, quite honestly, don’t affect me in the slightest).
Lord of Light is up next, and this was the last song to grow on me. With an interesting intro, the song seems to be the proggiest on the album (well, from what I can hear). My advice to you, is that if you find yourself not too impressed with it the first time you hear it, don’t automatically put it aside in your “Meh” pile. Give it time, listen to it repeatedly. It will pay off in the end.
And here we are at the end, and we have another song over the nine minute mark. The Legacy starts off as sort of an eerie, Zeppelin-esque nursery rhyme, with Bruce singing lines like “Sent off the war to play little games/And on their return, can’t name no names/Some strange yellow gas has played with their minds/Has reddened their eyes, removed all the lies”. The songs lyrics seem to deal with some sort of corrupt leader, who sends a group of people (soldiers?) off on a secret mission, where, on their return, they “can’t name no names”. Near the end of the song, it kicks off into an ending that is typical Maiden, with what sounds like a double vocal track. The lyrics at the end, with lines like “Why can’t we treat our fellow man/With more respect, and a shake of their hands?” asks why we can’t simply learn to live in peace, instead of having life continually marred with warfare and strife. An interesting and certainly relevant sentiment. And thus this excellent album, while lacking the power of Brave New World but making up for it in consistency, comes to a close, and I must say I am very, very satisfied. Great work Maiden.