I'm a bit late writing this review, but.......
Iron Maiden is back. Not only is Iron Maiden back, but they’re here, for the first time. Rather, they will be here on March 17th. Those of you who want to go but haven’t bought your tickets, please visit www.ticketpro.in. I’m not so sure about the availability of the tickets.

Anyway, the show is part of their “A Matter of Life and Death tour”. The tour revolves around their 14th Studio Album – A Matter of Life and Death. There was much excitement amongst fans because this was Maiden’s 14th studio album, twice the number of Maiden’s 7th album – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Rumours had it that this was going to be a Conceptual Album, but it is not.

The album cover seems pretty cheesy to me, but it is certainly better than its predecessor – Dance of Death. Eddie standing atop a tank with zombie skeleton warriors isn’t my idea of a great album cover, but Maiden has never been known for good album covers.

The album starts off with the song Different World, that’s when it strikes me, “Damn, Maiden has done another Dance of Death.” It isn’t so; the first song somehow reminds me of Wildest Dreams from the Dance of Death album. This is probably because I find both songs to be poor album openers compared to the other album openers. It is certainly not in the same range as that of Moonchild or Caught Somewhere in Time. Don’t get me wrong. I think the song is quite catchy, a sing along type chorus. I just didn’t think it is the perfect song to put as the album opener.

The second song, well, it never aroused much interest, one of two songs in the album which I rarely listen to and skip most of the time. “These Colors Don’t Run” is a quote from Bruce Dickinson’s rant in 2005 at Ozzfest after the Egg throwing incident. Well, the song doesn’t have anything to do with eggs or Ozzy or Sharon Osbourne even. The song describes a soldiers feelings as he is about to leave for war and gives his view of why he joined the army. The line “For the passion, for the money, for the glory, for the memory” clearly indicates that.

Brighter than a thousand suns, well, the song title itself is a line from Judas Priest’s Painkiller. And the song is mind blowing. This album is pretty much about long songs, three of them clocking over 8 minutes. Brighter than a thousand suns is one of them. The song is about the nuclear bomb. The explosion obviously is what resembles the light from a thousand suns. The lyrics of the song are good, but not great. All in all, BTATS is a song that clearly defines the album.

The pilgrim follows next, with riffs and melodies that remind me of the sands of Arabia. I suppose that’s what it is supposed to do, because The Pilgrim seems to be about the Templar Knights or at least set in a period of religious turmoil. We will have to wait for Maiden to confirm that. This is another song with quite a catchy chorus, and Bruce sounds fantastic.

The Longest Day, well, when I first played the song, and heard about a minute of it, I thought, this song is great. I wasn’t disappointed by the rest of the song either because it is fantastic. The song gives a soldier’s thoughts as he sits in the ship, awaiting a landing, probably Normandy. The lyrics, as usual are very realistic and the chorus is something that makes you feel sorry for the soldiers doing an empire’s dirty work

“Sliding, we go, only fear on our side,
To the Edge of the wire
And we rush with the tide
Oh the water is red,
With the blood of the dead
But I’m still alive, pray to god I survive”

Out of the shadows is one of the introspective songs that Maiden put on practically all their albums. We had Rainmaker in Dance of Death and Blood Brothers in Brave New World. The song, like its predecessors on the other albums, does not disappoint. My first thought as I played this song was, “Oh, Bruce has a cold, why is he singing”. I think he does this purposely. What? Sing like he has a cold, you’re asking? No. He’s given the song a particular effect with a nasal twang. I know it sounds ridiculous to you, but listen to the parts other than the chorus, it doesn’t sound like the Bruce singing on the other songs.

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, well with a name like that you’d think the song was crap. You’re absolutely right. The song is pretty stereotyped. A Dave Murray written song, clearly realized thanks to the bluesy intro. The song was the first single from the album, quite a poor choice for a single. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about the album after I heard the song. Anyway, don’t get prejudiced about Dave Murray’s songwriting capabilities, he was the one who wrote Brave New World, Charlotte the Harlot, and Judas be my Guide. A poor effort this one though, the main riff is pretty ordinary and the lyrics seem to be the only saving grace. Who is Benjamin Breeg? God knows. If you want to know, ask Bruce when he comes down. If you’re going for the concert, start a chant “Who is Benjamin Breeg, who is Benjamin Breeg.”

For the greater good of God is a song that clock over nine minutes. The song is written by Steve Harris, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out though. That’s because the song has got a bass intro, all Maiden songs with bass intros are written by Steve Harris (almost). The song itself is about religious wars. About how many people kill in the name of religion, and glorify themselves.

“A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Or Saintly or Sinner
Or some that would believe
A Holy War Winner”

The song is a typical Harris type song, and features a three guitar solo duel, which in my opinion is fantastic.

Lord of Light is the next song according to the album sleeve, and it is brilliant. I loved it from the first listen. It is fast, energetic and quite radio friendly. A bit like Wicker Man from Brave New World except that it is longer.

The legacy starts with acoustic guitar work and Bruce singing in a strangely eerie way. The song progresses with Harris putting out something different from his normal galloping bass. The song is again 9 minutes, and it is quite good. It is one of the best songs of the album.

Summing up, Maiden has changed nothing. It’s the same basic formula that rode them to success with Killers and The Number of the Beast. The only thing that has possibly changed is the fact that they are putting out longer songs, songs that clock over 7 minimum. This I think is in tune with people who like more progressive music nowadays. It is not progressive metal like Dream Theater or Rush, it is progressive heavy metal of Iron Maiden.

Iron Maiden rarely walks on roads with a lot of traffic. They are not interested in breaking into say, growl vocals, or perform live with an orchestra. Iron Maiden is Iron Maiden, and nothing anyone says or does, is going to change that. People can complain that they rarely change their style of music playing, or they use the same chords in most of their songs. Silly arguments I feel. I listen to Iron Maiden because I want to listen to good old Heavy Metal. If I wanted to listen to complex and progressive songs, I would throw on a Dream Theater or Liquid Tension Experiment disc.

The album is released by EMI and is available for Rs 350 (legally) or free (illegally). Or you can do both, like I did, download the album give it a listen, if you like it, buy it. Iron Maiden doesn’t have much against piracy. Bruce himself said, “Buy it only if you like it.”