Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
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Free Music Notes for Somewhere in Time
Free Music Review: Stellar Album....absolutely Breathtaking
Hit: 5 Stars
Somewhere in Time is another of Maiden's golden albums (from Number of the Beast to Seventh Son), yet perhaps the most overlooked of them all. The reason? I have no idea; maybe because it only has one song that ever seems to make it onto 'best of' albums (like best of the beast); that song? Wasted Years. And the fact that no song from this album seems to be regularly played as part of the band's setlist; whereas songs from Number of the Beast, Powerslave, Seventh Son, Piece of Mind are staple live items.
Don't be dissuaded; I was apprehensive when I bought this album for that very reason. Yet one listen and I was reassured; this is a wonderful album without a single sub-par song. It begins Maiden's two-album use of synthesisers to 'fatten out' the sound of the songs. I must say it works very well; I personally barely notice the synths anyway but they do make the sound more full than on previous works.
Somewhere in Time is somewhat of an anomaly where writing is concerned; this is often cited as 'Adrian Smith's' album, since he is involved on several of the tracks (notably Wasted Years and Stranger in a STrange land). Truly, we get to see how good Adrian smith's writing talent is on these tracks. But there's offerings from everybody, except (oddly) Bruce (and of course Nicko) - perhaps the quality was so good from everybody else that he had to wait until Seventh Son for his contributions. It makes no difference, Bruce's vocal performance is absolutely incredible on this album.
I won't go into detail about all the individual songs; all are great. BUT don't overlook the oft-ignored 'Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'. I often play this song in my head whenever I'm running any long distance (how ironic), and its very uplifting. It has some great guitar work and I love the harmonies at the start, middle and end of the song. The subject matter often baffles people, but Steve Harris based it on a BOOK. That's right, by Alan Stilletoe (I may have misspelt the surname - i don't have the book here). Its a short novel about a convict who ends up running in a marathon and 'throws' the race just to frustrate somebody he doesn't like..
That's a really bad summary but it gives you some idea about the track. Its got a weird and long title, but its awesome and I urge you to give it a listen.
All in all, a superb album with incredible songs and should NEVER be overlooked in your Maiden collection.
P.S. study the cover for lots of great allusions to other Maiden works and trivia (eg the 'Ancient Mariner' restaurant)
Every track on this album is great; the excellent and almost operatic 'caught somewhere in time' is a great opener. Wasted Years has a memorable chorus that just makes you want to live for today (as lame as that sounds); a great Adrian Smith song.
Free Music Review: The exhausting "Powerslave" tour may have impacted this album
Hit: 5 Stars
THE BAND: Steve Harris (bass), Bruce Dickinson (vocals), Dave Murray (guitar), Adrian Smith (guitar), Nicko McBrain (drums).
THE DISC: (1986) 8 tracks clocking in at approximately 52 minutes. This is Maiden's 6th album. The 3rd release in a row to be recorded at Compass Point in Nassau, Bahamas. The disc contains a 22-page booklet with a brief intro, lyrics, band pictures and thank you's. Song writing credits: Harris with 5 songs (one co-written with Murray), and Adrian Smith with 3 songs all to himself. The enhanced CD features a nice multimedia section for your PC - including 2 videos ("Wasted Years" and "Stranger In A Strange Land"), the band's catalogue of albums, band history, family tree, itinerary from the '86-'87 Somewhere On Tour, and more. Digitally remastered in 1998. Cover art by the one and only Derek Riggs.
COMMENTS: "Powerslave", "Piece Of Mind" and "Number Of The Beast" are my 3 favorite Maiden albums. "Somewhere In Time" is a great release, but I put it on that 2nd tier of Maiden discs - along with "7th Son", "Brave New World" and "Killers". Close at 5-stars, but not quite. But since I can't rate it at 4.5, 5 will have to do here... only because a very good album from Maiden is still light years ahead of so much of the other crap that's out there (past and present). Prior to "Somewhere" Maiden had released 5 albums in 5 years. Extensive touring for the "Powerslave" tour followed by some much needed time off pushed this release back a year to 1986. I also read that at the time, this was their most expensive and most time consuming album to date (many tracks were rehashed and then hashed again). "Wasted Years" is my favorite song on the disc and perhaps my all-time favorite song penned by guitarist Adrian Smith. "Stranger In A Strange Land" and the 8+ minute "Alexander The Great" are simply classic hard driving metal songs that only Iron Maiden could deliver. Though a decent song, "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" is in my opinion the weakest song here. With Maiden's previous 3 albums being so strong, I'd go so far as saying this is my least favorite song the band has put out in 5 years. Also new on "Somewhere" was the introduction of the bass and guitar 'Synth' - giving the entire album a slightly different feel. The only other comment I can make is - where did Bruce Dickinson disappear to on the writing credits? All the albums he's appeared on with Maiden he's always written or at least shared in the writing of their songs. No credits for Bruce here. Not sure why - his solo career was years away in the mid 90's. The band pictures of the group sitting in that futuristic blue car are pure cheese. "Somewhere In Time" ranks 4th on my list of favorites from Maiden. And, still very much essential to the music library.
Free Music Review: Somewhere In Time Review
Hit: 5 Stars
It always bothers me when people put this album down just because the band decided to use guitar synthesizers. That dosen't mean they sold out or weren't "metal" anymore. In fact, other than Piece Of Mind this album and Seventh Son, which both feature guitar synthesizers, are my two favorites and were the bands most popular albums. It goes to show you that change isn't always a bad thing. Anyways, this is really the album where the guitar playing shines throughout. Seventh Son had its many moments, but this album has SUPERB playing throughout. Lyrically it is also very introspective, with great lyrics in songs like Sea Of Madness and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.On the latter song Bruce vividly describes what an athlete, like myslef, goes through when running a race. It is truly brilliant. Now, a song by song review.Caught Somewhere In Time- Great way to start the album with that memorable opening riff. The chorus will be caught in your mind for a long, long time. Great synth work especially. 5/5
Wasted Years- Maybe their biggest hit besides Run To The Hills. Fun chorus, good light tempo song sandwich's between two darker ones. 5/5
Sea Of Madness- Lyrically beautiful, great chorus and a very dark atmosphere. Hardest one here uses least synth. 4.5/5
Heaven Can Wait- Very similar to Wasted Years in that its a more up-beat song. Catchy guitar solo with fun sing-a-long chorus. Good, long instrumental section as well. Lyrics have a very feel-good tone. 4.5/5
The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner- The most moving song here, really takes into what its like to run a race if you never have before, or even just competing against someone for something. Another cathcy guitar riff in the beginning, then it explodes into a fast, hard song until the chorus which is sung beautifully. 5/5
Stranger In A Strange Land- Slow and very melodic with a great opening riff. The problem is that it gets kind of repetitive and overkills the chorus. Nice solos too.4.5/5
De Ja Vu- Good lyrics, even better use of synth here really enhances the song. On BNW, Dream of Mirrors also has to do with the de ja vu thing, but this song is better, albeit less complex. 4/5
Alexander The Great- You've probably heard stuff about how this is Maiden's best song or whatever, but let me be the first to tell you that it isn't THAT great. It is very good, but I think that Bruce sings too fast and you don't always pick up on what he's saying, which is a shame because the lyrics really cool and tell about the amazing life of Alexander The Great. The music is played very tight here, making it almost sound like one instrument that's playing. Great musicianship. 4.5/5
Somewhere In Time is definetly synth-metal at its best. Pick this and Seventh Son up as soon as you can.
Free Music Review: Classic Maiden From The 80's!
Hit: 5 Stars
After taking a break upon the completion of the World Slavery Tour 1984/85, the band began to work on their next LP titled "Somewhere In Time" at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas during mid-1986 with Martin Birch producing and the classic line-up of Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Dave Murray/Adrian Smith on guitars, Steve Harris on bass, and Nicko McBrain on drums. The album signaled a slight change in direction in sound with the addition of some synth textures and a new effect was added to the guitars giving them a more processed and atmospheric sound not previously heard.
For me this is the album with the coolest cover drawing! There are a lot of references to previous songs on it...see how many can you find!
The theme of time is recurrent throughout the album and is already evident on the seven-minute Harris penned opener "Caught Somewhere In Time" that continues with the band's classic harmony dual leads and a long instrumental bridge in the middle. However, this time the star of the album was an unusually inspired Adrian Smith! He wrote three of the LP's best cuts on his own: "Wasted Years" with killer guitar and an excellent radio-friendly chorus, "Stranger In A Strange Land" where he plays one of my favorite solos ever in the middle, and the haunting "Sea Of Madness" with an infectious riff on the verses and a brilliant vocal bridge with some arpeggios!
Also of note is that drummer McBrain brought a new idea to the table: a fast-paced beat with a quick attack on the bass drum that he used to great effect during certain portions of "Déjà Vu" and "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner".
Rounding up the tune stack there's two Harris compositions: "Heaven Can Wait" (about life after death) which is the album's most popular track (surprisingly for me, it's my least favorite here) and the excellent eight-minute epic album closer "Alexander The Great (356-323 B.C.)".
That's drummer McBrain speaking on the intro that precedes that excellent quiet lead guitar passage. The lyrics tell the story of Alexander's life and the composition and melodicisms used follow the classic band format not too different from for example "Hallowed Be Thy Name". However, there's a new idea: a cool atmospheric instrumental bridge that starts right after the second chorus ends (at about 3:50) featuring a great melodic solo that switches to a different keys as it goes along. That's my favorite part of the song! It reminds me of the music that those side scrolling spaceship SNES video games had like for example Gradius III!
To cut a long story short, this album or any other from this band is excellent for fans of 80's metal!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Later...
Free Music Review: Face up, make your stand...and realize you're living in the golden years!
Hit: 5 Stars
Think of any power metal band from the late '80s onward. There's a good chance they were influenced by Iron Maiden's "Somewhere in Time" album. Need proof? Take a listen to the long, progressive songs that take on a futuristic, epic feel to them. The synth-styled guitar and bass work alongside the adventurous lyrics. Even the artwork through this entire album presents music that is both beautiful and influential.
All right, so influence isn't the only thing that makes an album great. However, I think that "Somewhere in Time" is, regardless of how influential it is, remains one of the best heavy metal albums of all time. From the larger-than-life opener of "Caught Somewhere In Time", we are taken to a futuristic world in the style of Iron Maiden. Where powerful drumwork and amazing guitar and bass melodies compliment ingenious and adventurous lyrics. Take the effects-driven lead guitar riff, wondrous guitar solo and sing-a-long chorus of "Wasted Years". Even "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" takes a topic like running and makes it seem so much more bold and majestic.
Some people may say that adding this tone to classic Iron Maiden may have been a slight mistake on the band's part. This was ironically released in the same year as Judas Priest's "Turbo", which had very similar, futuristic-sounding elements to it. Even though this album is generally remembered as being much better, I happen to like both albums.
What you have to remember is to keep an open mind. Don't you think if a band released the same album over and over it would get tiring? Admittedly, "Alexander The Great" runs up a bit short in comparison to the absolute epic of Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", but that's all right, because the rest of the album is great all the same.
Other strong points include "Stranger in a Strange Land" which features a great, opening bassline and another catchy chorus. A personal favorite is "Deja Vu", which seems to be enormously influential in the power metal genre. The driving energy behind the drums, the spacey wah-wah riffing of the guitars, and Bruce's untouchable wailing of "Feel like I've been here before!". And it all ends up being classic Maiden with a new twist to it.
So, some people may have mixed feelings about this album. Me? I think it adds an exciting, new element to an already awesome band. This is personally an album I hold in high regards. In my opinion, if you want more great Iron Maiden and have an open mind, this is something I hope you're really gonna love. After all, Maiden's already known for their incredible musicianship and professional songwriting, what's wrong with taking a little trip through time? Speaking of which, thanks for the time, and peace.