Following up Helloween with the masters of the Metal genre, the forerunners of the Power Metal scene... Iron Maiden.
And, once again, I've (randomly selected, in this case) one of their less-than-stellar CDs. Which is a bit of a shame - because I probably won't be doing the band justice this early on in my reviews. But never fear, I have plenty of Maiden albums, so we'll be sure to get something good out of it (I also, regretfully, have their album with Blaze Bayley).
It opens with the rockin' "Tail Gunner". Dickinson's voice is in fine form, although this album also seems to lack the passion of the earlier works of 'Maiden. It's a little repetitive and maybe a tiny bit too polished.
"Holy Smoke" is nicely catchy a wee bit controversial - and rather tongue-in-cheek. Is it about burning preachers? Why yes, it does appear to be. Hah, good stuff. Nicely catchy and a wee bit raucous.
The following "No Prayer for the Dying" is a nice song, with some slow moments, but oddly unmemorable. Some nice guitar rifts though.
"Public Enema Number One" is not just a good title, it's a solid metal song, with a nice smooth chorus. Ultimately, however, the lyrics are perhaps a bit too politically hard-hitting and complicated to make this an overwhelmingly memorable track.
A slow start to "Fates Warning" makes me wonder if we're in for a ballad - but no, the guitars and drums take over and we're thrown into the rock once more. Again, a decent song but nothing that really stands out amongst the others.
Some nicely twiddly guitaring leads us into "The Assassin", a slightly threatening track. The verses are unremakarble, but I quite like the chorus.
"Better watch out, better watch out... Cos I'm the Assassin..."Again, "Running Silent, Running Deep" has the strong choruses and elaborate guitar solos, but still fails to inspire that spark inside of me. And nor does "Hooks in You" (is it about bondage?). So far I can take or leave this album, and I can see why it does not rank amongst the "must hear Maiden albums". Admittedly, the punnihs lines in "Hooks in You" are quite funny:
"...Hooks in you, hooks in me, hooks in the ceiling, for that well hung feeling... No big deal, no big sin, strung up on love, I got the hooks screwed in..."
At least "Bring your Daughter to the Slaughter" is one I'm quite familiar with. It's catchy, albeit rather more-than-a-little vicious and somewhat misogynistic, but the repetitive nature of the chorus rather insists that it sticks in your head for some time afterwards.
We conclude with "Mother Russia". With its intricate and senstive opening bars, it has promise, but this falls down with two short verses, then a lengthy guitar etc solo, before we fade into what is the closest we get to a chorus and is actually pretty good, but disappointingly brief.
Ultimately, this is a decent metal album - it's got solid rifts, intricate lyrics, powerful vocals, but there is something about it that is sadly lacking. Maybe it's just that the lyrics are too intricate, the chrosuses not quite catchy enough. Very few of the songs of this album became Maiden classics - I think the only one I was particularly familar with was "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" and I wouldn't even say I particularly liked that one. Maybe if I listened to it multiple times I would grow more familair with the tracks, and perhaps more fond of it - but for now I shall rate it a rather disappointed 5/10.
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