Artist: Iron Maiden
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: 1996
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Title: Somewhere in Time Artist: Iron Maiden Label: Capitol Records Release Date: 1996
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Death's Review:
As The Beast rolls across the United States for one last mammoth arena-level outing (they have announced that future touring, after this album, would be limited to festivals and one-off gigs at major venues), and I prepare for Iron Maiden's August 25 stop in Long Beach, I have been cranking the back catalogue and spending time with some of the albums I haven't played in a while, like this one, Somewhere in Time. While pretty much all of the Iron Maiden albums pre-No Prayer for the Dying are what I would call classics, I have to admit that Somewhere in Time has been overlooked in subsequent years, primarily because it was sandwiched between two of my personal favorites, Powerslave and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. I could never really put my finger on why I liked Somewhere in Time a bit less, but hindsight has given me some added wisdom. Listening to it now, I think I can identify the issue. Like Metallica's St. Anger album, the biggest problem The big problem I have with this album is the way the instruments were recorded. Unlike St. Anger, this problem is mostly remedied by classic Maiden songwriting and performances.You see, it seems that this was supposed to be Iron Maiden's "futuristic album." And I think to go with that they decided to record and mix the guitars awash in guitar synths. It simply does not work, and saps the guitars of all of their power. I can easily get past this otherwise major flaw though, mostly because the songs are so good. "Caught Somewhere in Time" is a cool opener. "Alexander the Great" is a lyrical history lesson, and Dickinson soars. "Wasted Years" is a classic Maiden single, and the intro pedal-point riff is forever instantly recognizable. I like the riff and dynamics of "Sea of Madness" a lot too. "Heaven Can Wait" has remained a staple of the Iron Maiden live set. "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" actually succeeds in the conceit of its title: evoking said loneliness and delivering the "you are there" with the character felling the band often strives for. "Stranger in a Strange Land" got a lot of MTV airplay and is another stand out track - this one based on a Sci-Fi novel - where Dickinson shines vocally once again.
Bottom line: A great album by a great band, recorded at the peak of glam-metal's popularity on MTV, at a time when Judas Priest was putting out Turbo and Ozzy had The Ultimate Sin. All of these were good albums in their own ways, but each classic band saw fit to make some glam-metal concessions. Maiden did it by invoking glamish "technology" themed trappings. So the sound had to be "futuristic" too. Whatever. The resulting effort is still very cool all of these years later, despite the era. I just wish they had eased up on the guitar synths so the songs would have sounded better as they do in a live setting. This is probably the worst Maiden album up until this point (and the next album was also better), but that just proves how great Iron Maiden were. The ultra-detailed album cover is cool too (fold out the booklet so the back and front covers form one drawing, and try to spot all the Iron Maiden references and other cool details. Is this the only Maiden album where the band appears on the album cover?).
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