ALBUM REVIEWS
IRON MAIDEN DEBUTS AT #39. GOOD, BAD OR UGLY?
By Brian Coles, Editor-In-Chief (And A Legend in his Own Mind...)
6/10/00
"Rock's coming back!", they've cried for almost a decade. And I'll be damned if I argue with them one bit. It is back. But not in black. And not in a bad ass, take no prisoners fashion. Nope, rather its oozing its way back into the consciousness of American, albeit like sap. Great White and Ratt get signed to a big label again, although a tiny, bastard child division of Sony called Portrait Records. KLOS here in SoCal gives Great White many a spin with "Rolling Stoned", but sales of it and Ratt's self-titled return are halfway decent at best. AC/DC debuts strong with Stiff Upper Lip, but fades from the charts, relying on their coming tour and subsequent singles to keep their latest platter on platinum road. Same goes for Pantera. New York/New Jersey's The Tour Bus radio program, which features '80s part rock every Saturday night, regularly wins in its slot with competing shows. And it will be syndicated across the country and world eventually. But VH-1's (U.S.) "The Rock Show" remains post midnight.
Back to the bands in come back mode. Iron Maiden? You know, the band that reunited with their most popular lineup last year plus one? The band that many thought would save metal now that Metallica has confused the issue for the better part of the decade. I mean, 6 months ago, the "next Maiden" album was a series of high voltage goose bumps and heavy metal wet dreams fueled by internet and inter friend chatter. The anticipation was great! The buzz was fierce! And it ought to be. Dickinson and Adrian Smith had paired up for a couple albums that set the underground on fire. And three guitarists! Wow! What will they do. It will be SOOO heavy and killer!
In the end, we'd gone a year without breathing and exhaled sometime around March, a bit before the album was out and "Wicker Man" soundclips began surfacing. And when the clips did, we all went "Cool. Can't wait to hear the rest of the album." But we didn't fall out of our EZ chairs. We rested assured that Maiden hadn't sold out or changed their style. But most (I'm taking liberties, speaking for the masses, but bear with me) of us also felt a bit of a letdown. The media hadn't clenched its teeth in anticipation like we had. MTV forgot who the band were and VH-1 treated us to the premiere of a decent yet misguided fire and brimstone (and weather balloon) Maiden video for "Wicker Man." Damnit all! We want the world to crack open and say, "Look everyone! The kickass metal band from England is back and we told you they kicked ass!!!! Ha! Ha! Burn fuckers!"
It debuts at #39. Not exactly trend setting. But, at the same time, it is the best debut from a Portrait act since its rebirth. And Maiden did do a lot to confuse the public with the Blaze albums. In fact, for a band that hadn't gone gold in a decade, 40,000 copies in it's debut week isn't all that bad. Plus, mind you, this is unmistakable oldschool metal and not a hair less (don't even make age jokes here). And you must forgive the youth of America who were traumatized by the site of Dickinson having a seizure with a weather balloon in a dimly lit field ("Wicker Man" video reference again). And like AC/DC (who has the most craved for tour according to Pollstar a couple of weeks ago), they need a tour to kick the fence riders and unawares into the record shops. By the way, you can still call them record shops. CDs ARE RECORDINGS! That always bugged me. And they are also still a collection of songs that can justifiably be called ALBUMS! So there, breath in....breath in....
Give Iron Maiden a break. They'll sell 200,000 by Summer's end if we tell our 34 year old friends the album's out and petition VH1 to edit out the weather balloons and replace them with skulls (trite but EVERY body still likes skulls and don't you try and say you don't!). But just leave the weather balloon out and don't replace it with Dickinson's seizure scenes. Whipping around skulls might be...hell, that would be cool. I'm still 15 inside, so sue me.
Anywho, let us smile when the Damn Yankees album comes out later this year and pulls a less irritating "Santana", riding the charts on the wave of James Hetfield and Kid Rock guest appearances. And there's the Power to the People Tour. God Bless Poison, Cinderella, Dokken and the aptly misnamed Slaughter. I hated half of these bands in highschool, but looking back, they are fucking geniuses...except for Slaughter....(but I still bought that album...shut up...)
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IRON MAIDEN - Brave New World
(Sony/Portrait)
By Brian Coles
For those who have seen the video for the first single "Wicker Man" they'll undoubtedly come away wondering how the band might look in focus. Frantic editing, blurry camera work (intended mind you) and dimly lit settings don't exactly re-introduce a band to a new generation with clarity. Then again, Iron Maiden has left most of its visual presentation to its infamous mascot Eddie. So naturally, he gets longer, more in focus shots during the 4 minute mini-tribute to the British cult film (also entitled "Wicker Man.") Yes, the lads may be a bit older, and that isn't cool for MTV-ers. But hiding age with blurry and "hip" washouts is all to obvious nowadays. Maiden is not hip, or cool, or anything of the sort, so why try to be? But most importantly, they aren't dated either. Like few pop artists, they have a truly timeless sound.
Brave New World, unlike the aforementioned video promo, is quite focused and well thought out. A few speedsters, several epics and a couple somewhere in between, we get a well crafted, veteran masterwork that shouldn't disappoint but only a few Maiden freaks. While the band certainly sounds every bit like they did in the mid '80s, they also pull off the trick of sounding fresh amidst the landscape of year 2000. In a way, they have done what Purple did when Morse joined the fold. They replaced the stale, imitation material with new, mature and insightful pieces that retain the basic vibe without sounding a wee bit desperate.
"Wicker Man" bursts forward with the urgency of early Maiden, relying on street metal riffs and crisp drumming. "Ghost of the Navigator" gently scoots up to the bar, and then quickly lands a few punches at your Piece of Mind fetish, only missing a couple blows with an overly complicated pre-chorus. The title track effectively sets the mood with those beautiful vistas we find on Seventh Son, only a bit drawn out. In particular, Dickinson has allowed his voice a gruff subtlety and vulnerability that has been expertly employed here and on another epics like "Blood Brothers" and "Out of the Silent Planet." "Planet" may just be the best thing on here. A killer, vast intro, complete with strings sucks the listener in for a rollercoaster ride of mean rhythms and soaring choruses. "Nomad" strikes the same chord as "Powerslave", rumbling forth with confidence. "Mercenary" is one of the few straight ahead, no major detour rockers. It sports a fine, fist clenched riff and complimentary, melodic chorus. The only dud on the disc coming from "Fallen Angel", an ordinary, no frills rocker with dull musical and vocal interplay.
But seriously, this is the best output from our metal heroes in over a decade. Abandoned are the cheesy 80s corporate metal of No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark. But to be fair, Virtual XI was already a strong step in the that direction. Although no tracks equal their miracles like "Run to the Hills", "Prisoner", "The Trooper" etc., this may just be their most complete, fully realized album to date. Up the irons indeed!