Published on Sep 30, 2004
For me, I don’t think there was a release I was looking forward
to more last year than Maiden’s newest album. Even with the
horrendous cover, I was determined to be one of the first to own
it. So concentrated on my quest was I, that I blatantly refused to
hear the pirated version of the album that some of my friends had
managed to get their hands on a few days before it was released. I
even went to the record store to pick it up six days before it came
out. Finally, on September 9, my wish came true, and I strolled out
of the HMV a happy, happy man.
Once again, I have to call the band on this cover. Why?! Derek
Riggs’ works were several strokes of genius, and even the later
stuff was pretty cool. But this was just weird and just plain bad.
Fortunately, it doesn’t reflect the album in any way.
The opening track, and first single (also the only song the band
played on the “Give Me Ed…Til I’m Dead” tour, which was
before the album came out) called “Wildest Dreams,” is a little
tepid and uninteresting. Bruce’s singing is really the only thing
that saves it from being a total waste of time.
Everything is redeemed with the next song though, “Rainmaker”
which has one of the best guitar riffs EVER and one of the greatest
melodic choruses. I found myself continually repeating this song
just to take in more of its wondrous nectar.
“No More Lies” is considered to be the record’s defining hit,
and I’ll admit that it’s a great tune, but not as good as some of
the others. “Montsegur” apparently reminds everyone of the band’s
classic
Piece Of Mind album. I can’t quite make the connection, but
it’s excellent nonetheless.
However, the album doesn’t hit its second crest until the title
track. “Dance of Death” is an epic, orchestral, marvellous work.
From the hauntingly ominous intro, to the not-quite over-the-top
bridge, the song is perfect. Unfortunately, it precedes the weakest
track, “Gates of Tomorrow.” Great name, I know, but the actual song
itself is happy, upbeat, and really doesn’t fit in with the rest of
the album.
“New Frontier,” written by Dickinson, Smith, and-what?!
McBrain?! That’s right. It’d been about twenty years since the mad
drummer had been with the band, but he finally wrote his own song.
And what a song it is. It has in-your-face, pounding guitar, great
drumming (as always), and a brilliant chorus.
Arguably, the album’s best, and one of the band’s greatest epics
is “Paschendale,” an eight-minute gargantuan recounting one of the
bloodiest battles that took place in WWI. The intro, which begins
with Nicko lightly tapping the cymbals, sounding almost like morse
code, explodes into one of the most ferocious riffs ever. By the
second verse, it becomes obvious how much feeling and emotion they
put forth.
Ending the album is a second first for the band: an all-acoustic
track. Called “Journeyman,” the guitar is quite beautiful in it,
and the verses are very elegantly sung. The chorus is a tad weak,
but the song as a whole is very successful.
Overall,
Dance Of Death cannot really be placed up at the zenith of
Iron Maiden albums, like
Piece Of Mind,
Somewhere In Time, and
Live After Death, though it is definitely not at the bottom
either. It is an above-average release that’s always good for a
listen, but just falls short of groundbreaking.