Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death review
| Band: | Iron Maiden |
| Album: | A Matter Of Life And Death |
| Style: | Heavy metal |
| Release date: | August 28, 2006 |
| A review by: | Jeff |
Disc I
01. Different World
02. These Colours Don't Run
03. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
04. The Pilgrim
05. The Longest Day
06. Out Of The Shadows
07. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
08. For The Greater Good Of God
09. Lord Of Light
10. The Legacy
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name [Radio 1 'Legends' Session] [iTunes bonus]
Disc II [Special Edition DVD]
+ The Making Of A Matter Of Life And Death
+ The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg [video]
+ The Band Recording "Different World"
It's never easy to write the review of the new album of the legendary Iron Maiden. The band is so big and famous that you'll always get comments from the nostalgic people that will say that it was better before (a point that is not especially wrong on a side) and comment from some others ones who cannot understand that a band can change a bit its musical orientation and will always request hits a la "Fear Of The Dark". Unfortunately for them, "A Matter Of Life And Death", 14th release is of the combo, is different? Really dark with a lot of progressive elements, I think that the ones who want some new "The Number Of The Beast" will be disappointed but all the ones who (like me) believe that "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" is the best album of the band, will like the new release?
Strangely, I only found one song, "Different World", that follows the lines of "Brave New World" and "Dance Of Death". With its catchy chorus, it fast rhythm (all the other songs are in general slower) it will be easy for you to remember its melody and if this song will work live, in my opinion it's definitely not the best song of the album? Because on the other hand, "A Matter Of Life And Death" is full of long (with an average length of seven, height or even nine minutes!) mid-tempo songs, and those long songs follow the spirit of "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son". Dark and sad with some keyboards and a lot of progressive elements, "These Colours Don't Run" or "For The Greater Good Of God" for example are like the little brothers of a song like "Moonchild". It's definitely not easy of access, it will never pass on a radio or in a club but there is something good in those songs. It's not an "easy" Iron Maiden and it's obvious that the band worked a lot on this new release. The arrangements are complex, the riffs are all but not commercial and since that I like progressive music I'm starting to like more and more this new album. Evidently you'll still be able to listen to the really special original Maiden sound but a song like "On Lord Of Light" is so dark and different that the second part of the song will be really surprising for the fans. Because of course, since that the songs are not short the guys put a lot of variations, break etc in the music.
The production is also really surprising, especially when you know that Steve Harris said lately that it was recorded in a completely live state to give to the listeners a pure "old school" sound. You will see, it is really impressive and it works! Also, maybe if it's not the best performance ever of Dickinson but I think that his voice is better than on "Dance Of Death" and for sure, since that it's not so easy to sing on such complex songs we can say one more time that this guy is just an amazing singer of Heavy Metal. With "A Matter Of Life And Death" it's really hard to find a negative point with the production, even the "chaotic" cover with a "G.I." Eddie is a great and when I see the logo of the album, I'm sure that we will have a lot of good surprises with the stage of the upcoming Iron Maiden's tour?
For sure I know that some of you will be disappointed (and they will be maybe right after all) because the Maiden's "hits" are missing but on the other hand the new album is a lot better than (at least) their four last albums. It's different ok and you'll need time to "enter" into "A Matter Of Life And Death" but with time I'm ready to bet a lot of money that a lot of the dissidents will change their opinion?
"A Matter Of Life And Death" is probably not the best album of Iron Maiden and a lot of people will be disturbed by the fact that it's not an album that it will be easy to listen to. But like with "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" the band took some risks and at the end even if we don't have any spectacular songs, a lot of the tracks of this new CD are full of great things. This is different, never "happy" but these dark progressive aspects that you'll be able to find on the majority of the songs of the album are just cool. To finish, just remember this last tip? Don't be fast with this album, listen to it again and again and you'll see that at the end you'll agree with me to say that it is really entertaining, at the opposite of "Dance Of Death", the complexity of "A Matter Of Life And Death" proves that it's an interesting album. "A Matter Of Life And Death" is the proof that Iron Maiden still knows how to surprise us with some great original music.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Jeff | 28.08.2006
Rating:
7.2
7.2
|
Rating: 7.2 |
A Matter Of Life And Death is an album concerning warfare, religion, and the causal connections between the two. Accordingly, Maiden entered the stage to the sound of war-movie music, in front of a backdrop which initially shows the bombed-out ruins of what might be Strasbourg 1977 or, given the band's East End origins, Stratford. Read more ›› |
Comments page 3 / 3
| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9718  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.03.2007 at 16:11 or they dont recognize any other names in the poll.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Doc G. on 06.03.2007 at 22:16 That could be the case as well, but that's what the WRITE-IN votes were for 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9718 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.03.2007 at 22:34 yeah, but that would involve like...work, and thinking, and I have a feeling its just those lazy one time sign in people that make up a good percentage of the voting numbers.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Fanboy/girl denotes a fan of a band who can't stand any criticism of their favourite band whatsoever. A fanboy/giorl of acertain band is NOT a dumb ignorant casual fan who would just as likely buy a Greenday or new 50 Cent release. A fanboy/girl of, in this case, Iorn Maiden will be any turd Maiden releases no matter what. And why the hell would I buy something from Maiden just because it is Maiden? They have been ripping their fans off for way too long with all the redundant compilations and live releases. I did however buy A Matter Of Life And Death because I want all of Maiden's studio albums complete, not because it is a good album but just because I am a completist at times. And come on, it is impossible to claim that A Matter Of Life And Death was the best heavy metal album the year it was released. Like I said, the ONLY reason it won was because of the amount of Maiden fans who will vote for Maiden no matter what, and Maiden is one of the biggest bands around when looking at fans, so that was no surprise. Hell, for all we know they could release an album full of puking sounds and that will even win hands down.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by [user id=26806] on 16.03.2008 at 22:20 The Live After Death dvd is one of the few NON-redundant releases of late by them. Another one being The Early Days. Oh and for one Maiden together with their management decides what will be released and not EMI. Maiden is one of the very few bands in the world that has that sort of power (which in a way is good or else we would never have got the re-release of Live After Death on dvd or The Early Days either.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by [user id=26806] on 17.03.2008 at 13:48 You are an exception cuase many (if not most) Maiden fans buy EVERYTHING
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695  |
I think it's a great album. Full of Progressive stuff and it sets me in a good mood. Very dark and full of catchy choruses (who can resist the "E=mc squared you can relate" part of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns?) Although I don't think it's better than Brave New World and Dance of Death... and I actually think it's equal to the Bayley albums (I really liked them).
---- 
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
Samuel550
Account deleted Written by Warman on 17.03.2008 at 15:49  Moving on.
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| Urizen367 Posts: 1620  |
i have to vote 8 for this album. though songs like "for the greater good of god", "these colours don't run" and "the longest day" will stay on my mind for many a year to come (amongst other tracks), there are some songs that just irritate me. Lord of Light in example. i just can't get into this song, and Smith, Harris, and Dickinson wrote it too, which is slightly depressing. different world and brighter than a thousand suns are your basic bait and hook songs, which is why those were available for download first. other than that stuff, i didn't have much a problem with the album. hell, it's better than fear of the dark, which is always good.
---- I will not reason and compare, my business is to create.
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
I like this album, I think its good but thats all I would give it. I'm sorry but I can't help but compare it to the others. It certainly doesn't embarrass the band, after so long they still make good songs.
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| gerrard888 Account deleted |
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669  |
now after third listening to whole album - 9 from me biggest highlight for me is These Colours Don't Run
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| Metalbound7 Posts: 229  |
Decent album, i think These colors don't run, Benjamin Breeg and the longest day are great songs but Maiden make them inecessary long what make them so boring after listen to them a couple of times, for example i love the intro of the longest day but i can't listen the complete song because is so boring. i think that "The reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" is the only song that deserve to be a Maiden classic of the whole album.
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9718 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.03.2008 at 13:57 I notice its a little late, but I was reading this argument and it frustrated me, I don't get whats so hard to understand about the concept of fanboy-ism?
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689  |
Fanboys are like people in love, they can't see the bad things about a band because they blindly follow them, It does not matter if they are a good or a bad band, they will not accept any negative comment about them. By the way, thanks for the review, when I first listened it, I thought that it was boring, but, after reading this review I started to enjoy this album a lot, this are the kind of reviews that I like (also the ones without rating). Thanks again. My favorite track is "For The Greater Good Of God", great song, very, very touching song.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Powerslavex Alexskywalker Posts: 777  |
A change in style a more progressive touch but still a great album for greater good of god is one of Maiden's best songs the lyrics are touching
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| terrorist Posts: 358  |
Great album for the Greater Good of God;)ihihhhihh
---- Will the ones who live after our end Worship the goddamn cross again? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnlG0h7YN_8&feature=related
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| Peter Rasmussen Posts: 3 |
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.03.2008 at 17:25 I agree. A fanboy/fangirl is a blind lover who have a hard time to deal with criticism against his/her dear beloved band. Also, this person is unable to criticize any album from this band because he/she believes everything this band does is awesome, no matter if the album is a masterpiece or a piece of shit. A fan is reasonably objective. A fanboy/fangirl is not and will usually try to flame you if you disagree with him/her. That's why fanboys/fangirls are so annoying and the reason their opinion has no credibility. Those people often follow the herd blindly (and foolishly), posting things like "Posers, leave the hall", "Other bands play, Manowar Kills", "Black Metal ist krieg", "Norsk Arisk Black Metal", "Fuck off nowadays Black Metal" (all the slogans promoted by some bands) as if they desperately want to 'belong to the gang'. They don't realise that they, in fact, fall into a commercial trap, a tool of promotion. Maiden have become quite ridiculous with all those compilations and live albums, indeed. Concerning the votes...Well, tons of people are not metal fans at all, yet they know names like Metallica and Iron Maiden so, each year these bands release a new album, it will win for 'Album of the year'. It's the name that sells in this case, quality doesn't come into account. As for Maiden releasing an album full of puking sounds, they already released an album that makes me puke: Virtual XI. lol
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| JÄY Metal slave Posts: 1567  |
Amazing album....so consistently dark. its so far from pop 9 for me
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| PrettyMao Posts: 86  |
Written by AnEpicDeath on 27.07.2009 at 03:54 Thanks for noticing! love Mao
---- The Mao loves you all!!! **KISS**KISS**
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002  |
Live in studio, well I like it its like satyricon did, I miss analogue sound, all this digital is annoying , all today is PC, PC, don't feel same, even it is. Its real nostalgia.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Bad English on 25.01.2017 at 00:39 Iron Maiden have never recorded a studio album live in a studio.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 25.01.2017 at 01:25 Then quote Jeff The production is also really surprising, especially when you know that Steve Harris said lately that it was recorded in a completely live state to give to the listeners a pure "old school" sound
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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