A Matter of Life And Death - Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden puts out a new studio album. That makes it an automatic purchase for me. I don't generally go after their live albums, as they have too many, but their studio albums - oh heck yeah.

This one is quite different than the other before it. It almost sounds Pink Floydish in it's construction. It's most definitely Iron Maiden, and it's a great solid, powerful album. It is however, I think not for everyone. It's not as "accessible" as others, and I know some people who totally rave over it, calling it one of Maiden's best of all time. I agree - to an extent.

It is a great album. Iron Maiden would really have to try to make a bad album. This is not that album. It's a very good album, but there's something missing in it - I can't place it. It's not the songs, though. There's quite a few that are worthy of picking out. "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns", "For the Greater Good of God", "The Legacy", and "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg".

Breeg was the albums' first single, and when I heard it, I felt it sounded very un-Maidenesh for Maiden. It's a good song, but doesn't have that traditional "Maiden sound". I like the song, but probably for a different reason. If this sounds confusing, it is to me, too. I like the album, yet there's something nagging about it I can't put my finger on. Since Bruce Dickinson has returned to Maiden, this is their third studio album, and of the three, I think I like Brave New World & Dance of Death better than this. Again, this is a great album, it's just lacking that certain "something" that would push it over the top for me.

As a bonus, there is a second disc in here, a DVD which contains a photo gallery, studo performance footage, a music video for "Breeg", and a half an hour documentary on the making of the album. Iron Maiden certainly knows how to deliver quality - a 70+ minute long album, plus a second DVD with about another 40 minutes or so of video footage.

It's a great deal, and if you're a metal fan, definitely worthy of pickup.