Iron Maiden - Dance of Death
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.66 You Save: $6.32 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.88 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Dance of Death
Free Music Review: Another masterpiece from Maiden
Hit: 5 Stars
When someone asks me what my favorite Maiden CD is, I usually reply by saying "The Next One." It is no different here. Dance of Death is fabulous marathon from start to finish. Maiden is not really known as a band that records singles, but Wildest Dreams is the closest song to reach that status since Can I Play With Madness. It is a classic Adrian Smith song and maybe the best one he has ever written. It starts the CD off with a bang. The second song, Rainmaker, should be the second single. This is a Dave Murray effort and I also believe it is the best one he has ever written. Although a typical Maiden headbanger, it has a great melody and has the potential of going down as a Maiden classic. Either of these two songs could have been the first single. They are both that good.Like Brave New World, Steve Harris, who over the years has been the chief song writer, only wrote one song on his own himself called No More Lies. It appears now that he has relegated himself to contribute to the other members songs. I think this has helped the diversity of the songs and made Maiden a better band overall. But make no mistake, No More Lies is a powerful effort and a typical Harris classic. It starts off slow, but picks up quickly and has a fantastic riff that even now is going through my head.
I also have to mention that for the first time, we have a Nicko McBrain song on the CD called New Frontier. It may be his first effort, but it is a great one. He got some help from Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson, but I can only hope that Nicko writes more in the future.
Another classic marathon on this recording is Paschendale. I am not much of a historian, but I believe this is based upon a battle that took place in World War I. Adrian Smith wrote this song with an assist from Harris (sounds like his kind of lyrics). It is an eight and a half minute bruiser my favorite on the CD. The guitar work is explosive and althought the lyrics are dark in nature, the music is not. This one will get you bouncing off of the walls.
Lastly, I wanted to mention the song Journeyman. It is the last song and kind of a departure for Maiden. It is a 7 minute song that is very mellow, but calling it a ballad is not fair to what it is. From a structure standpoint, it kind of reminds me of a Dickinson solo effort called Tears of the Dragon. Again Adrian Smith is the key writer with Harris and Dickinson pitching in. This song really emphasizes Dickinson's ability as a singer. He sounds great over the entire CD, but especially good on this track. I would love to see Iron Maiden play this in concert as an acoustic number. Great song, great lyrics. A real gem on the CD.
There is no bad moment on this CD. The title track Dance of Death is a very strong song by Jannick Gers, as is Montsegur, which from a music standpoint makes you want to jump out of your seat and mosh it up. On the whole this is a strong effort. I think it is better than Brave New World, if that is possible. Go out and buy this if you are a Maiden fan. You will not be dissapointed.
Free Music Review: At last the real "Brave new world" for Maiden
Hit: 5 Stars
As a long time Maiden fan, having enjoyed but not been totally convinced by 2000`s "Brave new world", I was confident that Harris, Dickinson would deliver the goods after the "first album back" settling in period that followed their 1998 reformation. Even I have been left stunned by the quality of what`s on offer here. The depth and breadth of material in this new offering blows away their entire 90`s output and buries memories of low points like "From here to eternity" or "The angel and the gambler".First up is "Wildest dreams" , the single from the album, which, when I first heard it I thought "typical Maiden-by-numbers song". It is, but it serves as a prelude to the rest of the album which is ALL a lot stronger. Sure, there are plenty of usual styled rockers like "Rainmaker", "Gates of tomorrow" and "New frontier" but the playing and production matched to top quality writing make these far more memorable than anything since their Eighties heyday. Here, the band seem to have finally ironed out the three guitar concept with lead lines and counter melodies flying in from everywhere.
The real standouts, as with any Maiden album, are the epics. The first to catch my ear was "Montsegur". This is Maiden at their bombastic, swash-buckling best. Bruce singing full-tilt over a heavy, yet melodic, rhythm with a totally unbelievable, and unflustered, time change in the instrumental section. This ranks amongst their greatest ever recordings. "Dance of death" is a bit like "The Clansman" and "Blood brothers" with a celtic influenced melody which does invoke memories of Spinal Tap`s "Stonehenge" in the middle section. However, such is the drama of the song and the straight faced delivery, you won`t even think about it more than once. Had this been Dio...well! The sombre "Pachendale" is all about the first world war trench battle. This is the accumulation of Steve Harris` attempts to write a classic anti war song, having come so close with "Afraid to shoot strangers" and "The Aftermath", he finally delivers the goods with help from co-writer Adrian Smith. It`s Maiden, only heavier and darker, perhaps how "The X Factor" could have sounded with a better producer and singer. Final track "Journeyman" is a total departure, being accompanied by an orchestra while the electic guitars are replaced by acoustics. This is the only place this track could have appeared, at the end of the album, with Bruce lamenting about how all things must pass. It`s a spectacular ending.
The expectation of this album brought back memories of a time when each Maiden LP release was an event in itself and it is good that they have given us a killer. In a time when Metallica et all try so hard to get away from their roots and release noise for the sake of music, it is reassuring that a band can stay true to what they do and still sound fresh and exciting.
Free Music Review: Maiden at its best
Hit: 5 Stars
Ask any self-professed "old school" Maiden fan to provide a review of Dance of Death, and they'll likely respond that while respectable, it doesn't hold a candle to the band's mid-80s work.
I'm no less a vociferous fan -- I drove 300 miles to see them in June 2008 -- and believe that Dance of Death is, to this point, the peak of Maiden's last two decades of work. In fact, the musical depth on the album is so stunningly good that it rightfully deserves its place next to Powerslave and Seventh Son at the top of the band's entire catalog. This might be heresy to the grungy, stringy-haired, chain-smoking 40-something headbangers that I encountered in the pit at Chicago's Allstate Arena, but Dance of Death is a phenomenal record.
The album opener Wildest Dreams, while high-energy, is merely ok. But the next four tracks are staggering. The hard, melodic Rainmaker -- which should have been the lead single, and not Wildest Dreams -- is the best song Dave Murray has ever written, and clears out just as quickly as it starts. No More Lies is a pseudo-ballad in the vein of Brave New World. The brutally heavy Montsegur is quite simply one of the band's most memorable tracks. It also demonstrates that Bruce Dickinson's remarkable pipes remain in fine form.
But even the undeniably excellent Montsegur is overshadowed by the title track -- the indisputable highlight of the album, and really, what is probably the best song that Maiden has released since Fear of the Dark in 1992. It begins with a slow series of acoustic, arpeggiated power chords, followed by Janick Gers' haunting lead guitar playing an eery melody. After Dickinson spins a downright evil Steve Harris-penned tale for several minutes, the band suddenly plugs in and takes off in a whirlwind. The song really has no chorus -- in fact, the addition of one probably would derail the song -- and each of Murray, Smith and Gers plays his own inspired solo. Put simply, it's one of the five best songs Maiden has ever released.
The album admittedly has a bit of filler -- Gates of Tomorrow and Age of Innocence aren't particularly noteworthy -- but the second half of this remarkable album is strong enough to listen straight through. The Nicko McBrain-penned New Frontier reminds me a bit of The Clairvoyant from Seventh Son. The sweeping Face in the Sand is excellent. But the two highlights of the second half of the record are the atmospheric World War I retrospective Paschendale -- like Dance of Death, it tells a story without the use of a chorus -- and the lush, mellow closer, Journeyman, in which the band -- seriously -- breaks out the acoustic guitars.
If you're a fan of the band's Killers/Piece of Mind era work, then perhaps this isn't the album for you. But if you enjoy listening to the band pushing the progressive elements of their music to the edge, Dance of Death is the album you've been waiting for. Even if you're not a die-hard Maiden fan, the musical virtuosity displayed on this album is stunning. It's a must-have.
Free Music Review: Below Expectations, But They're Still Kicking!
Hit: 5 Stars
Iron Maiden. No introduction required. This band single-handedly changed the face of metal. Judas who? No, this is the band that helped pioneer thrash, spearheaded the NWOBHM, and even today inspires an entire European school of death and black metallers and a few American hardcore stragglers.It's albums like Dance of Death that remind everyone who's boss. A swift kick to the proverbial groin of the music world to spin it on its ear. And on that level, it surely delivers. 68 minutes of pure Maiden, in various incarnations of the band's amazing album career.
Now for bad news. "Wildest Dreams" was the bar-band kickoff track, and although it's nice to see Maiden getting back to songs under 5 minutes, the song is forgettable, with a weak chorus and lead line. And that's the beginning. Dance of Death is marred by rehashed and boring songwriting. Steve Harris seems to be omnipresent throughout the album, and includes at least 4-5 bass intros. FOUR INTROS?! Not to mention almost all of them are ripped straight from Brave New World. Riffs and themes reappear as well. I recognized pieces of "Mother Russia," "Fallen Angel," "The Clansman," "Number of the Beast," and other older Maiden songs. The title track evades this, but fails due to being too long, containing cheeeeesy lyrics, and ripping a melody from the "Chicken Dance." "Journeyman" is "Prodigal Son" Pt. 2, and to top it all off, Kevin Shirley's muddy production puts the kabosh on this album.
There are good sides. "Rainmaker" manages to use the classic Maiden 3-chord progression in a new way, and a wonderfully succinct, catchy song is created. "No More Lies," although not without its rehash, repetition, and length, is still a great heavy track. "Gates of Tomorrow" is an okay filler, "New Frontier" is a showcase of Nicko McBrain's first band contribution, and "Paschendale" is an intense(although overlong) war epic. And not enough praise can be laid upon "Age of Innocence," where a groovy chorus and unusual key signature(not E minor!) create a new song style for Maiden. Bruce Dickinson strays away from the high notes and shows off his amazing baritone skills, Janick Gers proves he's not all shred, and the other guitar team of Murray/Smith are amazing as usual.
All in all, Dance of Death is a regression from Brave New World. Iron Maiden has attempted to recapture some older elements of their music, but the reinsertion of twin harmonies and excess bass intros was a step back. BNW experimented with new textures, and had a much more modern feel to it. DOD gets lost in the chunky production, confuses itself with three guitarists, and gets old due to the resurfacing of older elements. A few key shining moments prove, however, that Iron Maiden can't be bought, can't be sought, and will STILL get you...wherever you are.
Free Music Review: Maiden on Fire....
Hit: 5 Stars
After a well recieved reunion album (Brave New World) that was a good return to form for this heavy metal institution, Iron Maiden are back with it's follow up release called Dance of Death. - I will proceed to review this new album with 3 different views; How it compares to it's predecessor, back catalog, and overall quality. This record (D.O.D.) totally eclipses B.N.W. in terms of freshness, originality, and songwriting. With B.N.W., Maiden played it safe in many respects. Even though it was a return to form for them (following the dreadful Virtual XI record), they could have made better use of the 3 guitar attack (harmonies, counterpoint, etc.) and branched out more with new ideas, instead of revisiting familier ones. All in all, B.N.W was the right album to for them to make at the time, and is of very high quality. D.O.D. is flowing with progressive ideas. With a band like Maiden, that has so much history, they have to keep with the elements that made them who they are. They do a fantastic job of keeping one foot in the past and one in the present. Every song rocks hard, very hard; With the exception of the last song with is an acoustic ballad called "Journeyman". They are rocking heavier than the last 3 albums put together. One can hear elements of such classic albums like Piece of Mind (Montsegur), Somewhere in Time (Rainmaker, Pachendale), Number of the Beast (Wildest Dreams, Dance of Death). While other songs explore new territory and are very progressive in nature while retaining a respect for the classic Maiden style (Gates of Tomorrow, New Frontier, Face in the Sand, Journeyman). I can now hear the 3 guitar attack and the harmonies are cleverly placed. The balance between old and new is what makes this album such a success in critical terms. Diversity is key here. Its because of this, that alot of people will have different opinions about D.O.D. - Most fans will love it though, Im sure.
As a musician with a trained ear and extended knowledge of all things Maiden... I for one consider this record a resounding triumph. I thought to myself that if Maiden didn't come out with an awesome album, they could fall into the murky depths of the nostalgia act ocean. With D.O.D. they avoid that fate... I am very grateful. After listening to D.O.D. over 10 times, I have concluded that it stands up there with those masterpieces from the 80's (Seventh Son, Powerslave, Somewher in Time; in that order). Congratulations to Maiden for retaining their relevance in the new mellenium.
P.S. - In regards to the artwork, I think they could have done SOOOOO much better than that lame Stanley Kubrick "Eyes Wide Shut" idea. Im sorry, but those CGI characters are so cheesy (especially that stupid wolf with the baby on top) Maiden albums are known for there great themes and artwork (courtesy of Derek Riggs) and on this album, the artwork isn't even credited !!!