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| Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death |
 Released: 2003 Label: Columbia Cat. No.: CK 89061 Total Time: 67:03 | |
Reviewed by: David Cisco, October 2003 The great thing about “growing up” is that most of the old rock’n roll dogs that I’ve grown up with are still out there, pounding the boards and beating the hell out of their guitars. Leading the pack is Iron Maiden, still gleefully showing their balls to the heavy metal masses and the back door to modern day metal pretenders the world over. Dance Of Death is Maiden’s second album of the 21st century and, to my metal-damaged ears, it’s just as good as anything Iron that I’ve loved in the past. Yeah, I said it and I meant it! I will elaborate …. (Boy, that sounds cool, dunnit?) First time I spun Dance Of Death, I hated it. Old, tired metal garbage, bored me to death, “When are they gonna throw in the towel?” irritating, I couldn’t wait to never hear it again. Second time, pretty much the same; a couple of things caught my ear, but I was still convinced that the Iron was rusted out of the Maiden. Third time was the charm; I caught myself singing some of the choruses, headbanging here and there, swinging a fist in the air now and then. After that, Dance Of Death just got better and better, to the point that I listen to it every day now; at work, at home, taking a run…wherever I go, so too goes Dance Of Death. If you haven’t heard it, Dance Of Death features everything classic about Iron Maiden – Bruce Dickinson’s cocksure braying, breathlessly dramatic arrangements, exciting (if not familiar) guitar work, and consistently sturdy support from Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain. The lyrics are literate and engaging, as always, ranging from brash celebrations of freedom (“Wildest Dreams”, “Journeyman”) to grand tales of personal adventures (“Dance of Death”, “Montsegur”). The music is also familiar; short songs that race along at breakneck speed and epics that begin with “softer” guitar melodies, then give way to furiously driving metal and returning to the delicate opening melodies for the close. Okay, I did say “familiar”, and it’s easy to swap “familiar” for “formula”, and there is enough stylistic repetition between the epics to complain that Iron Maiden is stuck in a rut and the songs all sound the same. The good news is that I also said “classic”, and there is a lot of what makes Maiden great on Dance Of Death, plus some newly-featured symphonic touches that lend a previously unheard depth to the Maiden sound. Highlights include the opener “Wildest Dreams”, the hallucinatory “Dance Of Death” with its brash, insistent gypsy drive, the infectious pub sing-along closer, “Journeyman”, and (my personal favorite) the Queensrÿche-flavored “Age Of Innocence”. Bottom line? Iron Maiden rocks as hard as ever and Dance Of Death is both a testament to their legacy and a proclamation of their heavy metal glory in the second millennium. So raise your freak Eddie flags high and get up and dance! Rating: 3.75/5 More about Dance Of Death: Track Listing: Wildest Dreams (3:52) / Rainmaker (3:48) / No More Lies (7:21) / Montsegur (5:50) / Dance of Death (8:36) / Gates of Tomorrow (5:12) / New Frontier (5:04) / Paschendale (8:27) / Face In the Sand (6:31) / Age of Innocence (6:10) / Journeyman (7:06) Musicians: Contact: Website: www.ironmaiden.com Email: maiden@ironmaiden.co.uk Discography
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