here's a review I wrote a week ago
Iron Maiden – Dance of Death, 2003
And the long expected as well as succeeded album is finally in the stores. For the ‘Brave New World’-fans, this is another bliss for the ears! For the diehard eighties-Maiden fans, it’s a worthy album, but most likely no more than that.
The album sounds modern and catchy, an excellent ‘Brave New World’ follow-up, you’ll probably hear a lot of resemblances. A shame of the cover though, it’s horrible. Anyway, the record starts with ‘Wildest Dreams’, a song recognisable for the people who heard this song for the first time live this summer of 2003 festivals. It’s so catchy, the people who saw Maiden twice this year will be able to sing along the second time, if not the first. It’s not exceptional, it’s just plain first-rate Iron Maiden. The second song, ‘Rainmaker’, sounds melodic, like all the other songs. The lyrics are too shallow in my opinion, nor is this an album you’ll put anything aside for, to simply listen. It’s most likely an album you’ll listen to while doing other things. However, you won’t be irritated by the fact some songs are very poor, because all of them have turned out excellent. The fifth track, ‘Dance of Death’, points out something more than a Brave New World-follow up, it’s song full of strength, and the first couple of minutes are moving in special. It flows into powerful and emotional parts, and round and about 3:00 it move towards the climax. If your curious about this album, make sure you get this song. I’d also like to point out ‘Journeyman’ in special, for the reason that this song is the only song that has more value to me. It’s not the lyrics, nor personal meanings behind it, but it’s plainly a touching ballad.
From my view, this is a ‘cosy’ album, it sounds warm, melodious and easy. See it like a fantastic book to read, but no remarkable storyline. Therefore this album amuses me to a great extend, but will certainly not be in my top 10 album-list of all time, just like I still enjoy Brave New World, but no more, nor less.
Tracklist:
1 Wildest Dreams
2 Rainmaker
3 No More Lies
4 Montségur
5 Dance of Death
6 Gates of Tomorrow
7 New Frontier
8 Paschendale
9 Face in the Sand
10 Age of Innocece
11 Journeyman
Rating 7/10
Griffin
