The Book Of Souls

You know that feeling when you first got into Iron Maiden and you had such high expectations for each track after track, let alone each album.....and each track seemed to have a hook all of its own that made your chest burn in delight........well this is one of THOSE records........... Simply outstanding. My favorite albums before this from the Maiden were Beast, Somewhere in Time, Seventh Son, Fear of the Dark...at least couple of those will be in yours too if you are a long time fan...........Ive had to re write this review a little to let you know oh doubter of the maiden (if that is you!), that every song on here is class but the final 4 tracks in my opinion are stunning.....outstanding track that you will hum is the THE MAN OF SORROWS..................all the other albums since the fab Fear of the Dark and Powerslave, have good moments but as a whole dont add up to the sum of their parts in quality............until The Book Of Souls that is.......... This is masterfully realised and epic. I kid you not, Ignore those who say its slightly too long or silly complaints about sound quality (music comes in all shapes and sizes so make sure you adjust headphones slightly, on mine this album is awesome)....... On second listen you think the whole record def as long as it should be...................this is a classic band delivering at their own pace and rightly so.......the guitar work is phenomenal and Brucie sounds as great as ever.........each track has choruses / key changes that are epic in scale and virtuoso cameos appear all over the place, but dont feel out of place. Its actually a technically great record as well as being bulshy, dark and soul searching style wise. The references to older albums help tell the story - like the obvious Wasted years intro later on the album...........same track mentions the sea of madness......and makes you think the band are saying a hello to all us long time fans out there........... What a year for the oldsters! I have been delighted by the fact that all the albums Ive had to repeatedly listen to this year on first listen were by acts long thought past their prime by many....... My top album of the year is The Book of SOuls closely followed by the outstanding FFS album (thats Sparks guys with their new buddies - a great team!),.....which is proudly just in front of The Prodigy's The Day is My Enemy. All three are modern masterpieces but also twist the sounds slightly that you might expect from them......each act to me is fearless in what they do and should be proud. My only complaint with this album is .....had to fiddle with preferences so tracks 1-11 play in order because i did download - don't like how it gets jumbles unless you change the order back so my first listen was out of sync!!. Oh and the artwork is as iconic as the above mentioned albums and rightly so....so well done there - visually a bit more minimal than usual which is pretty fresh looking too Im so impressed with this - hit me again with that heavy deep rusty strum which kicks of The Redhe Black and T.........wow......Absolutely great......lead me on to the magnificent Man of Sorrows chorus which springs out of a typical maiden build up.....go and have a listen to the album of the year........and in metal terms, the album of the decade!

New Iron Maiden albums are few and far between these days so the expectation from their fans is always high and many of those fans have been waiting for a return to Maidens 'glory years' since their 80s heyday. I wasn't raising my hopes too high for this release because I hadn't been particularly impressed with their last effort (TFF) although it did have some great songs. So, to my suprise I have had The Book Of Souls on repeat for the past few days - I feel it is a fantastic album but there are a few issues with the sound/production. Some have stated that they cannot listen to it at all but I've not found that to be the case. I first listened through a loud (but cheap) soundbar and I just couldn't get the settings right and it sounded very muddy. I've since listened through various devices (surround sound system, various headphones, good hi-fi) and my only complaints are that on some songs the intro's appear to be louder than the rest of the song and some of Bruce's vocals and various guitar parts are occasionally low in the mix. I'm assuming that is the price we pay for having an album which is 'recorded live' in the studio. It certainly makes you listen a little harder. AMOLAD had a similar recording process and also similar issues on some songs but it's a minor complaint from me and it appears that the vast majority of listeners do not have a major problem with it. Also, the band seem happy to produce this way and they know that you can't please everybody - there will always be some complaints when you have a fanbase the size (and age) of Iron Maidens. I'm giving this album 5 stars because for me it improves after every listen and I think there are some very strong songs on here. There's just too much content to dissect and I don't want to start comparing this to previous albums. People go on about how great Powerslave, Piece of Mind etc were but they had their weak points and are considered to be some of Maidens best. Long songs are not for everybody and there's an awful lot to take in (ooh er) on one listen. You just can't appreciate the longer songs until you've heard them a few times. I struggled to get through Empire Of The Clouds and needed to put my headphones on with no distractions to hear it properly. It really is an impressive song from Bruce but a million miles from their early stuff and as for the piano - well I didn't expect that! Maiden have always pushed themselves to produce something new and it doesn't always sit well with their fans but this time I truly believe they have nailed it and if you like the newer Maiden stuff you should enjoy The Book Of Souls. There's not a track on it that I don't like and Bruce's voice is unbelievably good here - how does a man of his age still hit those high notes? Amazing to think that he was diagnosed with tongue cancer shortly after recording this. I'm looking forward to their tour in 2016 and hopefully they will squeeze a few TBOS songs into the setlist.

Album sixteen. ALBUM SIXTEEN. Let that sink in. Prince could make sixteen albums before you've had dinner (probably), but most of us are mere mortals, and sixteen albums give you a quandry. What more is there to say? What is the point? How many more Iron Maiden albums will there be? Well. Make no mistake. Iron Maiden now are – at least – as good as they have ever been. “Book Of Souls” is their best album in 27 years. 93 minutes of double album style prog-metal about monsters and plasma and history? How can I resist? They're like some kind of ubershouty Tangerine Dream, endlessly writing very very long songs, with lots of three-pronged widdly woo fretwork - “Speed of Light”, the first 'single', clearly has at least three guitar solos, from three guitarists, one after the other. It's not metal, but prog-rock, made with very heavy tones, where the band aren't constrained by the length of a 7” single, focusing instead on writing something with as many tempo shifts, parts and bridges you can imagine. Even “The Red And The Black” is a mere 13 minutes long, and powers along like a modern day 'Heaven Can Wait'. In fact, having spend most of 2012-2014 touring their “Maiden England” show (a recreation of the 1988 tour designed to show fans that were too young to see it then get another chance), the musical DNA of their classic late 1980's era is sprinkled all over “The Book Of Souls” like arterial wounds from an knife fight. There's another three-guitar-solos-in-a-row load of fretwankery, which is of course, utter brilliance in its hairy-chest stadium rock preposterousness, .and lasts at least seven or eight minutes. In fact, that's pretty much every song on the album ; 8 minutes of hollering and guitars, that sounds pretty much brilliant and would give me Air Guitar RSI if I saw them live. Five years between albums is a long time. But the band haven't rested, and in the past five years, have toured the world twice, and released a live album, reissued a classic concert on DVD, and … oh yeah, Bruce Dickinson has managed to kick throat cancer. Recorded before that, and thus, delayed, “The Book Of Souls” is the bands first genuine double album at 93 minutes, and, in one case, manages to beat even their most epicness with album closer, “Empire Of The Clouds”. Every song is a highlight, apart from the slightly rubbish acoustic codas. The rest of it is snarling, wonderful, enormous thunderstorms of rock – even “Shadows Of The Valley” which is a carbon copy of “Wasted Years” and even references their 1986 song 'Sea Of Madness'. It's as if they wrote five years worth of songs and only recorded the best ones, with none of the usual end-of-side-two rubbish. Every song seems to have longevity built in by design, for a long standing life, and it's already high up my iPod play list. The whole of “Book Of Souls” is easily the best Iron Maiden album* since 1988's epochal, perfect “Seventh Son of A Seventh Son”. And it's about time.

As always, the news that there's a new Iron Maiden album on the way has me as excited as a small child at Christmas. Even the most casual Maiden fan has a fairly good idea what to expect from the band when they produce a new album. However, The Book Of Souls harbours a few surprises. The riffs have become far more melodic and the transition between light and shade doesn't jar as it has on some previous albums. Bruce Dickinson's voice sounds as strong as ever and songs such as If Eternity Should Fail, The Book of Souls and Tears of a Clown are a joy to listen to. I was apprehensive towards album closer Empire of the Clouds, having read the blurb on the internet regarding the length and subject matter - an 18 minute song about the R101 crash?! However, not only is it a masterful song, but the addition of Bruce's piano playing fits in surprisingly well with the rest of the band. Speaking of which, I don't know if Messrs' Murray, Smith and Gers have changed their guitar setups recently, but there seems to be a freshness to their sound (both collectively and individually) that hasn't been evident to me since Brave New World. My only gripe would be that Steve Harris' bass seems lower in the mix than usual and whilst that doesn't detract from the overall listening experience, I would have liked it to be a little more prominent than it is. And, of course, the bedrock that is Nicko McBrain's drumming is as solid as ever; indeed, he is a rare thing amongst heavy metal drummers in that he plays for the song, rather than to show off. Every roll and fill is played exactly right and provides the perfect lynchpin for the rest of the band. Taken as a whole, The Book of Souls is a fantastic album. Yes, the lyrics are a trifle overblown at times and with many of the songs clocking well over the five minute mark it's evident the band are writing to indulge their own tastes; however, I think this is what makes the album for me. Speed of Light is the only full-speed-ahead rocker on the album and one that seems destined to become a live favourite. All in all, The Book of Souls is a sign that Maiden are still making great music.

I've been a fan of maiden since I was 10 years old. I'm now 37 and I've stuck with them through most of their career. I wasn't a fan of the Bayley years. The x factor wasn't too bad but virtual XI is possibly the worst album of all time by any band. So, I was a very happy man when brave new world was released and seen the return of Smith and Dickinson. I think Smith was every bit as important as Dickinson returning as they both write great songs and work together well. I thought brave new world was a very good album and thought dance of death would be good too. But to be honest, I think it's their worst album with Dickinson. There are a couple of moments here and there. A matter of life and death was another return to form apart from the production and some bad moments from Bruce. That seems to be the problem with all maiden albums these days. Bruce seems to think he can reach any note and sound good. But the fact of the matter is...he can't! He just sounds like he's in terrible pain while trying to reach them upper notes. Which brings me to this album. I've given this a lot of play through's at this stage and think it's their best album since the 80's by some margin. I'm not expecting another powerslave or number of the beast. I think almost all of the tracks are really good here with only a few I'd skip through ( The red and the black, the great unknown and Shadows of the valley). I realize that seems like a lot to skip through considering the length of some of these songs. But the red and the black just seems to drag on and on and isn't very good. Harris seems to think that if he makes a song long enough, everyone will be happy. A serious case of quantity over quality here. Those three tracks aside though and I'm pretty much hooked! Death or glory for me, is one of their best straight up rock songs in years and is a breath of fresh air. This is Smith and Dickinson at their best and it sounds like something from the early years. I also really love the man of sorrows. It has some nice changes in tempo throughout and has a somewhere in time feel to it. Well done Murray/Harris. Empire of the clouds is an almost perfect song and I take my hat off to Bruce for writing this. I reckon Harris is at home right now writing his 45 minute super epic, just to tell Bruce.. ''I DO THE LONG SONGS ROUND HERE''. I say the song is 'almost' perfect because there is one issues with it. The song starts off very strong and stays that way for 6 minutes or so before picking up tempo and goes strong for another 6 minutes or so. But after all the guitar solos come to an end, Bruce comes in squealing like a pig and ruins his almost perfect song. I just wish he would hold back a bit sometimes. Stop trying to hit notes that you can't reach without sounding like someone just grabbed you by the nuts and squeezed them like a stress ball! Iron maiden probably won't make many more albums after this and this could even be the last. So I wish they had spent a bit more time on production. It is a very good album indeed. But it could've been better with a little more time spent on the production of the album and a little refinement in the vocals department. Shave 20 mins off the playtime too while your'e at it. By the way..the vinyl version is top notch. Absolutely Beautiful!!!

High quality. The one and only Iron Maiden

Once again the masters of metal deliver but in a never before heard way. This is the album maiden fans have been waiting for since seventh son of a seventh son. If eternity should fail kicks things off, not your typical maiden opener it sounds like Bruce's chemical wedding era with a power metal instrumental middle section, brilliant stuff. This has to be one of Bruce's finest songs but is overshadowed by album closer empire of the clouds., this song has everything, can't write much about it you just have to listen to this one. There are 3 songs speed of light, when the river runs deep and death or glory which rock like they are out of maidens early 80's days. Like a mix of killers and piece of mind. Death or glory has to be one of the best smith/Dickinson songs ever. A brilliant riff and even more brilliant lyrics and melodies by Bruce. The red and the black is one of the most melodic songs maiden have ever written. The album overall is great sounding, like a raw piece of mind. Bruce's voice is amazing, the best he has sounded since he got back with the band. Nicko's drumming too is brilliant a real master In his trade. The guitars and bass are as ever near perfect, something different in every listen coming from them. If you compare Book Of Souls to this most recent efforts by Black Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth etc Maiden are miles in front In terms of songwriting and production. After 40 years they can still produce an album of this quality proves they really are the worlds greatest ever heavy metal band.

This is an excellent album. Although 92 minutes long I find it less bloated than a lot of the longer Maiden songs from x factor onwards. There are less long intros here, and more proper shortish songs that don't have an epic structure. For me the 2 longest songs do not particularly stand out in terms of quality in comparison to the others - which is different to the situation with final frontier where all 5 long songs rate in the top 6 (with coming home). Empire of the clouds does stand out in terms of originality for Maiden though. There is an assumption with maiden that the long songs are brilliant and the short ones are mediocre. I don't think that is true here and indeed for me the shortest song is the best (tears of a clown) There are also a number of strong choruses that don't have the issue of repeating the same thing over and over (as quite a lot of Maiden songs do). There is clearly less Harris influence than usual (though still plenty of it), and far more Dickinson - not only on the songs he wrote - eg The Tears of a clown would fit well in his solo album 'Balls to Picasso' even though did not write the song. Whilst there are strong songs and fantastic musicality throughout, there plenty of reference back to previous Maiden material - of all eras, as well as to Bruce's solo material. Shadows of the valley (worst offender) in particular brings sections from wasted years, the legacy and tattooed millionaire amongst others to mind in certain places. Interestingly unlike recent albums some of the throwbacks are right back to the start - so some songs 'eg death or glory; the red and the black' have an older Maureen feel than has been there in recent times. Production - well, its not martin birch. I like the listenability - quite like amolad, which you can listen and relax to (as I often have). Unlike final frontier, which is really hard to listen to (intense - need to listen hard - makes you tired and wasn't to go and do something else). So overall I can see that not that much production or mastering went on, however it is the easy on the ear which is what matters really. The songs themselves; If Eternity Should Fail (9.75/10); best opener since moonchild def; may be better than that. Definitely a Bruce song; could be on accident of birth, though would be done differently there. Strong verse and chorus. Gets album off far better than a short fast song like wildest dreams or final frontier I am not that keen on intro or outro though. Speed of light (9); I really like this song; best single style song since evil that men do (competing with rainmaker). Much more impact going into it as second song than if it had been album opener. Great riff on bridge; good chorus Great unknown (9); for about 5 seconds there is the worry that this will be an endless intro; then it becomes really interesting mid tempo song - holds attention; good strong structure. Red and the black (8); I may be unfair but I get the impression Steve turned up with some song ideas and stucknthem all together as one track. The song itself (to five minutes) is nothing special; whoa whoa repeated chorus weaskesdt on album; then from thereon has interesting (not repeated) red and black section; then 3 strong minutes of instrumentation ; then 2 minutes of boringness we have heard before; then stops pretty abruptly. For me there is a really good 6-7 minute song wanting out - based on the second chorus and some of the earlier in ideas in the instrumental section When the river runs deep (8.5); good song; effective,growing chorus; interesting mid section. Book of souls (8.5): dance of death lite. Clearly written by same person - gets into song proper quicker; a lot of same structure. Good chorus, good song though. Issue is originality Death or glory (8.5): straight forward metal/ hard rock song; some early (killers) influence and some fear or the dark album (though better than the poorer short songs there - maybe it is what fotd would be like if Adrian had been there!). I like the sense of urgency and it has a cachy chorus. Shadows of the valley (7): gers about to be sued by his colleagues for nicking their riffs (and his own). Like the chorus structure and feel of this song though Tears of a clown (10): excellent concise song - as I said above more a Bruce solo style song than a maiden song though. Fits just about as maiden though. Man of sorrows (8): difficult to make my mind up. Fairly original; like chorus; good as a ballad that isnt a ballad; yet quite a strange song, could almost be a bit annoying in time. Empire of the clouds (9): original in having piano yet reminiscent of when the wild wind blows in structure. Builds well to 9 minutes then again from 13; however in the middle is a section of generic Maiden riffs we have heard before. Not sure what that section is for (maybe for Bruce to ensure it was sufficiently maiden). So very very good,but if I am being harsh, not a masterpiece.