Iron Maiden – The Book of Souls
Release Date: September 4, 2015
Label: Parlophone Records
Being a huge fan for nearly 30 years, I can honestly say that Iron Maiden is my all time favorite band. With that being said, I also know that Iron Maiden isn’t perfect. As a matter of fact, I even put out an article addressing this very point (READ IT HERE!). You can call me a hater, you can say I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about, and you can say I’m not a real Iron Maiden fan. Say whatever you want but being as huge a fan as I am, it just means that I hold Iron Maiden up to a ridiculously high standard.
I refuse to take anything and everything that Iron Maiden does and call it perfect, their best work, or even remotely good unless I truly believe it. When it came time to really sit down and listen to Iron Maiden’s forthcoming release The Book of Souls, I ran through this one with a fine toothed comb. At the end of it all, I have to say that my three biggest complaints are this:
1. The Album is Too Fucking Long!
There isn’t enough truly great material on this album to justify it being a two record set. The Law of Yngwie definitely DOES NOT apply to this album. More is not more. Less is definitely more and this album could have benefited by having some of fat trimmed off of this one.
2. Iron Maiden Should Tune Down… Even If It’s Just a Half Step.
The band is playing in standard tuning and this has Bruce singing near or right at the very top of his vocal range. You can actually hear him pushing it with all he’s got to get to some of those notes and while he definitely gets there, this at times makes it hard to understand all of the lyrics he’s singing which, to me, is 80% of what is important in Iron Maiden songs.
Production
I absolutely HATE Kevin “The Caveman” Shirley’s production style. All of the albums he has done with Maiden to date just sound terrible to me. They sound overly compressed, muddy, and just flat. There’s no dynamics to the sonic aspect to this album. If you really want to hear how an Iron Maiden SHOULD sound, check out Bruce Dickinson’s solo albums Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of Souls. Those albums were produced by Roy Z and, in my opinion, sound the way that an Iron Maiden album in this day and age should sound.
Ok, now that I got all that shit off of my chest, let’s get to the songs on The Book of Souls shall we? This time around I chose to break it down song by song and offer my thoughts on each one. So here it is, my play by play review of Iron Maiden’s The Book of Souls.
If Eternity Shall Fail
5 out of 5
What an epic way to kick off the album. Goosebumps. Yes. This song totally gave me some serious feels as this song really reminds me of classic Iron Maiden. This song in particular sounds like it could’ve been on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. It’s so epic and the changes are very reminiscent of that of Moonchild or even Heaven Can Wait. This song got me really excited and definitely got my blood racing. This song is just epically awesome from start to finish with some amazing vocal work from Bruce. This kind of evil spoken word outro sounds a bit out of place to be honest as I feel it would’ve made a better intro. That aside, I feel like this is one of the strongest opening tracks I’ve heard from Maiden in a good while. What a great way to kick things off.
Speed of Light
4 out of 5
Hearing this song in context like this makes me like this song even more. Coming off the heels of such an epic song like If Eternity Shall Fail, it’s kind of nice to have a bit of fun. This song is just that. It’s Maiden having a fucking blast. The more I hear it, the more I find myself really liking it. Actually, the sequence of these songs back to back reminds me of the first two songs on the Final Frontier (TFF and El Dorado). I really think this is a fun song and it really does have a kind of old school Maiden feel to it. I love this track. Nothing deep here or mind blowing. It’s just a good fucking time.
The Great Unknown
3.5 out of 5
What a great song from the boys. This song is kind of reminiscent of something that I would’ve heard on, say, No Prayer for the Dying. It’s got this kind of heavy groove to it that makes it stand out from the pack. I really found myself drawn into the lyrics but, unfortunately, I had a hard time grasping on to them because Bruce is singing so close if not right at the very top of his vocal range. This makes it hard to hear all the words and is yet another example of how I feel that Maiden could benefit from turning down even just 1/2 step. That aside, this song is full of classic Iron Maiden dynamics and changes that we have come to expect from a great Iron Maiden song.
The Red and the Black
3 out of 5
I kind of put this song in the same category as “The Great Unknown.” This song has that signature Iron Maiden gallop but the overall melody of the song just kind of annoys me a little bit. There this little sing along bit in the song that I can totally hear all the European audiences losing their shit over. Those people just love to sing along and chant and make up shit to sing if it’s not already there for them to sing. This particular tune reminds me of something that could’ve been a b-side from Dance of Death or something. Anyways, this isn’t a bad song but it’s just not really that good of a song either. This song does have a lot of interesting musical parts especially the guitar solos and the work in the later part of the song. I do have to say though that I love the Steve Harris bass chords in the outro and intro though. This may be a song that could change my mind if done really well live.
When The River Runs Deep
4 out of 5
This song kind of sounds like a deconstructed/reconstructed “Moonchild” and you know what? I’m ok with that. This song is fucking fantastic. I was shocked to see that this was a Harris/Smith collaboration because usually Harris songs tend to bug me with all of the repetitive choruses and what not. Not this song though. This is one of the coolest choruses I’ve heard in a while and Bruce sounds like he’s fucking pushing it with everything he’s got. This a song is dynamic and is really lyrically interesting. There really isn’t a whole lot more to say about this one. It’s solid and I really like this one a lot. I hope I get to hear them put into the live repertoire.
The Book of Souls
5 out of 5
I think it’s pretty safe to say that with a few exceptions, Iron Maiden title tracks tend to be epic as all fuck and this one is no exception. Even though this one is just a tad keyboard heavy, I still love it and I have to say that up this point this is the highlight of the album. What a fucking monster of a song. I can already picture this being played in the middle portion of the band’s live set and just fucking kicking so much ass. Bruce sounds so engaged and passionate on this one. It makes me proud to see that this is a Gers/Harris composition. Janick tends to get a lot of shit from fans but the man has written some of my favorite modern day Maiden songs. Musically and lyrically this epic is dynamic and exciting and this is without a doubt worthy of being a new Iron Maiden classic.
Death or Glory
2.5 out of 5
I love the intro to this. This totally reminds me of something that would’ve been on Piece of Mind (ie. Where Eagles Dare). Musically this is really exciting song but lyrically I just feel that it kind of falls flat. This definitely isn’t one of their lyrically strongest songs and in all honesty I hate the chorus of this song. This is just another Steve Harris “let’s just sing the chorus over and over and over at the end of the song until you want to pull your hair out” song but this time it’s actually a Dickinson/Smith song. Maybe this is one that will grow on me more because I really do love this one musically. Again, I just wish that lyrically this song was as good as the music was.
Shadows of the Valley
5 out of 5
Wow. Now THIS song is fucking killer. This song, up to this point, just may be my favorite song n the album. I absolutely love the epic quality of it and musically it’s bold and fucking amazing. Leave it to my boy Janick Gers to compose yet another masterpiece in the Iron Maiden catalog. This is also one of Bruce’s best performances on the album. Everything about this song just seems to have the band clicking and firing on all cylinders. This is definitely one I would love to hear them pull off live. What a strong song. Love it!
Tears of a Clown
3.5 out of 5
With my first couple of listens to this song I didn’t like it all and was even pretty stern on writing it off. After revisiting this song and listening to it with a different set of ears (and mindset, thanks to a friend) I suddenly heard and felt something in this song that I didn’t get the first time around. It’s moments like this that make me love Maiden so much. I still find this song to be much stronger musically than lyrically but I love and respect Steve’s compassion and heart. He was so moved by the passing of Robin Williams that he saw something in there that he felt could strike a chord with others who may share of those dark feelings. Again, it’s amazing how hearing it differently can change your whole perspective.
The Man of Sorrows
3.5 out of 5
Not to be confused Bruce’s solo song “Man of Sorrows”, “The Man of Sorrows” is such a musically dynamic song. It has some pretty amazing changes and over all I found this to be a really cool song. Again, I’m not a huge fan of the chorus but I can get past this because the rest of the song is so fucking good. The highlight of this song without a doubt was the guitar solo sections. This may be one of my favorite guitar solo sections in an Iron Maiden song in a while. Musically this song was so well done and put together. I really enjoyed this one and after two listens I found myself liking it even more. This is another one that would be interesting to see pulled off live.
Empire of the Clouds
5 out of 5
Listen to Bruce Bruce tickle those ivories. Wow. Just wow. This just may be one of the most absolutely stunning pieces I have heard from Iron Maiden to date. I also find it amusing that my two favorite (and what I consider to be two of the best) songs on this album are solo Bruce Dickinson compositions. It’s crazy to me that there are songs on this album that are 1/3 of the length of this song that are nowhere near as interesting as this one is at a whopping 18 minutes. There are so many amazing moments to this song. The lyrics are absolutely mesmerizing and Bruce’s vocal performance is without a doubt one of the best of his career. Now THIS is how you do a fucking epic, folks. Talk about closing with a bang. This, my friends, is a future Iron Maiden epic classic for the ages.
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