Review Summary: There’s a thin line between pleasing fanboys and sounding repetitious.
Let's face it; ever since Bruce rejoined the band, 'Brave New World' has been one of the best comeback albums ever and arguably their best record to date since then. This album might be a close second, but nearly everything here sounds like B-Sides to 'Dance Of Death' and 'Brave New World'.
The album itself is good, but as an addition their discography, it's almost entirely irrelevant. Forget being daringly different; Maiden haven't done anything new since BNW, so I wasn't expecting much to begin with. That being said, this album surprised me quite a bit. That soft, non-threatening sound that Maiden had on a large portion of their previous two albums is gone and they sound like they have their nuts back. Kind of.
They've recycled and rehashed some of their older ideas on a few songs here. 'When the River Runs Deep' is very similar to 'Man on the Edge'. 'Shadows of the Valley' is a mixture of 'Wasted Years' in the opening moments and follows pretty much the same pattern as 'Fallen Angel'. Now, because I'm such a huge Maiden fan, I'm almost willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, because
maybe, just
maybe, they were doing this as a little treat for all the older fans, but that's mostly not the case here. Half of the album feels like it's been made just for the sake of it. It's as though they feel like it ain't broke, so they aren't fixing it. Except that it kind of is. This kind of album is good and nobody does it better than Maiden, but we've heard all of this a thousand times before.
For the majority of casual fans and hardcore Maiden fans, this is perhaps AOTY material and rules. For the rest of us, it's not, because this album has reused a lot of old ideas, coupled with long, Maiden like instrumental parts with solos that have no buildup or very little buildup and no punch. They’re just there on the album because they
have to be there and that's what Maiden is
supposed to do and sound like, apparently. Don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to be be a little realistic. This album isn’t as banal as I’m making it seem, but Maiden have three guitar players and haven’t used them to their potential on this album. Were three even needed here? The riffs and solos are well structured and catchy, but many a time they don't match each other. The enthusiasm is there, but it‘s patently clear that they’re playing it much too safe in trying to please their rabid and loyal fan base. Even Nicko looks like he’s playing it safe by using the same breaks again and again.
That being said, some of the songs here are quite good in their own right. ‘If Eternity Should Fail’ is a really good opener, with Bruce doing an amazing vocal performance. On this track, the band gives us shades of the good old Maiden from the 80s, amalgamated with their newer sound. ‘Death or Glory’ is classic Maiden with a bit less vigor. ‘Speed of Light’ is catchy and fun, but may not have lasting power because there’s nothing really memorable here and for some reason, it doesn’t quite fit into the rest of the album. 'When the River Runs Deep' has a good flow to it and seems much better than a few of the other songs that consist of different ideas thrown together. ‘Empire of the Clouds ‘ is one of their most ambitious songs at 18 minutes long and could have gone wrong in so many places, but Maiden do not disappoint.
To conclude, Maiden seem comfortable with their legacy and appear as though they don't want to take any kind of risk by trying something new. Although, if they did, it would probably be so incredible, so metal-to-the-bone, that it would blow our minds away!
Final rating: 3.5/5
