If you asked me which year I personally believe is the best for Metal album releases, I'd give you three that are close to being equal; 1983, 1984 and 1990. If I had to narrow it down to one of those, I'd pick 1984 and Powerslave is the reason why.
I fucking love this album. It's not just my favourite Iron Maiden album but easily my number one favourite studio album too. I'm not sure if it's down to this being the first album that has exactly the same line-up as the previous one or the band entering the studio on a really fucking good day but everything about it from the epic cover to the order of songs is just perfect! "Aces High" has everything an exceptional album opener needs with a punchy rhythm and catchy riffs pouring out of every orifice. Even the name of the song feels appropriately placed at the top of the track list!
Unlike the last two albums, Powerslave contains more energy in each track and the only song that periodically takes a breather is "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", although you can hardly fault it for that when it comes in at 13:34 long. Nicko McBrain has settled in as the new drummer and the band are, in my opinion, at the top of their game both musically and lyrically, thanks to Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson (with Adrian Smith occasionally stepping in).
The galloping rhythm the band have become known for has slowed down slightly, presumably to create different sounding music & avoid being labelled as another Motorhead or AC/DC, but I still defy anyone listening to "Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)" or "The Duellists" to do so without bopping their head or bouncing their knee to the beat. At the risk of sounding like a terrible writer, it's difficult to describe exactly what makes this album superior to others but I've never quite had the same joy or felt the same love towards another collection of music. If you're into long-winded progressive Metal, this album isn't going to be your favourite. However, if you like your Metal to pack a wallop and leave you wanting more, this is the one for you.
1. Aces High
2. 2 Minutes To Midnight
3. Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)
4. Flash Of The Blade
5. The Duellists
6. Back In The Village
7. Powerslave
8. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
ALBUM RATING - 10/10
I suppose the only problem with a perfect album is the follow-up. How can you beat something that, by your own mental definition, can't be beaten? The simple answer is you can't and I think the band knew that, as Somewhere In Time isn't just another album of classic Heavy Metal. This is the album where the band begin to...experiment.
After a bit of a break following the World Slavery Tour the band had embarked on after Powerslave, Iron Maiden decided to try something new; guitar synthesisers. Whilst it adds a certain artificial & arguably dated quality to the music compared to the raw, aggressive tracks from their first five albums, the passion is still there. Album opener and semi-title track "Caught Somewhere In Time" may be over seven minutes long but once the tempo picks up around the 52 second mark, it doesn't falter or slow down until the outro. In fact, if it were a little bit shorter, it'd probably be one of the band's more popular tracks.
Despite several tracks having a fairly futuristic sound and lyrics dealing with time ("Stranger In A Strange Land" and "Deja Vu"), this isn't the band's way of saying they're going in a different direction in terms of songwriting. In fact, if you remove the guitar synthesisers, it's pretty much a standard Iron Maiden album with songs still following the formula of musical symmetry ("Heaven Can Wait") and a vocal-based chorus, despite having a killer guitar riff throughout the track ("Wasted Years"), before bringing it on home with an epic finale ("Alexander The Great").
Somewhere In Time is definitely up there with the stronger Iron Maiden albums although, much like Killers, it's unlikely that you'll find anyone who classifies this as their favourite record. It's one that fans will treasure, as it really does contain a lot of strong material, but it's not a great example of typical music from the Metal genre. It's kind of like the Thinking Man's Metal, something for you to listen to at home and privately rock out to as opposed to doing it in a crowd of several thousand gig attendees. Most importantly though, it shows that Iron Maiden are capable of "experimenting" a little and not completely fucking everything up like most Rock/Metal bands.
1. Caught Somewhere In Time
2. Wasted Years
3. Sea Of Madness
4. Heaven Can Wait
5. The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
6. Stranger In A Strange Land
7. Deja Vu
8. Alexander The Great
ALBUM RATING - 8/10
I think the key to experimenting successfully and steering a band into new territories is doing it gradually, one small change at a time. If Iron Maiden veered from The Number Of The Beast to this next album in the space of one year, it's unlikely I'd be talking about them today.
Whereas the last album happened to feature several songs with similar themes, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son is definitely a concept album that tackles subjects such as paranormal abilities and good vs. evil. "Moonchild" is a decent album opener that introduces the concept of the record to a punchy rhythm and some neat keyboard riffing although not the best the band have ever written. Along with the use of keyboard across the album instead of guitar synthesisers, the more frequent use of changing time signatures mid-song signifies the band's desire to move into a more progressive genre, especially in the case of the album's (nearly) 10 minute title track.
The album generally has a more mystical feel and, similar to Somewhere In Time, is the kind of music to enjoy through headphones instead of amps at a festival. The songs feel slightly less powerful than ones on previous albums and whilst they're all well written and contain the by-now obligatory gallops or moody intro riffs ("The Evil That Men Do" and "Only The Good Die Young"), there's something about the use of keyboard that dulls the impact some of these songs possibly would've had were they recorded during the Piece Of Mind or even Somewhere In Time sessions.
Fortunately though, compared to other bands who were releasing mediocre material in 1988 (looking at you, Judas Priest and Megadeth!), Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son is still strong and contains a good balance of lengthy masterpieces and shorter Metal tunes. I would recommend listening to Iron Maiden's earlier material before these, as it's interesting to hear the subtle changes in musical style going forward instead of backward.
1. Moonchild
2. Infinite Dreams
3. Can I Play With Madness
4. The Evil That Men Do
5. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
6. The Prophecy
7. The Clairvoyant
8. Only The Good Die Young
ALBUM RATING - 7/10
During pre-production for the next album, guitarist Adrian Smith felt that the band had musically regressed with this record and decided to call it quits. After leaving the band, he was replaced with White Spirit guitarist Janick Gers, who'd also worked with Bruce on his solo album released in the same year.
Whilst Iron Maiden have never sold out and gone fully commercial, No Prayer For The Dying is probably as close as they will get. The band chose to dial back the progressive elements they'd spent years developing and recorded this album with the intention of giving it a "street" sound, like their earlier work. I don't know if this decision was due to the poor sales Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son made in the US or possible nostalgia for recording in the early 80's but sadly, it never quite hit the mark.
Admittedly, "Tailgunner" is a great album opener that would've sounded a lot fresher if had come out before "The Clairvoyant" and yes, this is the only album to produce a number one single for the band ("Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter") but other than a handful of decent riffs, the album doesn't really bring anything worthwhile to the table. At a push, it maybe could've worked if it was recorded around 1981-82 but then we wouldn't have The Number Of The Beast, a far greater effort. It's not a bad album but with 10 years of fantastic music behind them, it's not unreasonable to expect more from the band that gave us Powerslave.
No Prayer For The Dying is an album that's perfect for fans who liked the musical sound of the last two albums but disliked the songs and their progressive elements. However, when a band inevitably abandons the need to "experiment" and returns to the sound of their earlier material, it only really works if a) the music they made when experimenting was terrible or b) they slightly adapt their new music so that it contains the best elements from original and experimental. This album falls into neither category.
1. Tailgunner
2. Holy Smoke
3. No Prayer For The Dying
4. Public Enema Number One
5. Fates Warning
6. The Assassin
7. Run Silent Run Deep
8. Hooks In You
9. Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter
10. Mother Russia
ALBUM RATING - 5/10
Next week, I'll post part 3 which will cover Fear Of The Dark, The X Factor, Virtual XI and Brave New World. Thanks for reading!
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