Iron Maiden
Somewhere In Time

THE REVIEW

Somewhere in Time, in other words, far away in time.

So let's go far back in time, let's go back 20 years, and it's 1986: Metallica releases Master of Puppets and establishes thrash metal along with Megadeath and Slayer, Manowar and Virgin Steele lay the foundations for epic metal, and Helloween does the same for power metal, while the glam rock of Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe is selling like crazy. In short, heavy metal is experiencing the most prosperous period in its history.

Confirming the popularity of heavy metal, there's also a band reaching the peak of its career during this period. After over 300 concerts in two years (between '84 and '85) followed by millions of fans, Iron Maiden is about to shake up the metal scene once again. After extremely hard, solemn, and epic albums like Powerslave and Piece of Mind, the "Iron Maiden" releases an extremely controversial album: it abandons the pharaonic scenarios of the recent past and dives headlong into the future. Already on the cover, we see a completely flayed Eddie among skyscrapers and flying spaceships. The cover also hides many peculiarities and memories of Iron Maiden, like a clock showing 23:58 (2 Minutes to Midnight) and bars with famous names like the Rainbow and the Marquee where they performed in their early years.

The shock comes with the first listen of the album: synthesizers and keyboards come in full force, but Harris's frenzied gallops, the long cross solos of the Smith-Murray duo, and Dickinson's usual high and powerful voice make it clear that the basic characteristics of Maiden remain intact.

After listening to the first song, "Caught Somewhere in Time", there's a bit of disappointment: a beautiful song, but we were used to intros like "Aces High, Prowler" and "Where Eagles Dare" as album openers, while listening to this song, no matter how nice it might be, remains anonymous. But the following "Wasted Years" washes away any bitterness: a masterpiece written in collaboration by Adrian Smith, featuring beautiful solos and keyboard orchestrations. "Sea of Madness" has a nice chorus, but otherwise, it's the same story as the first song, whereas with "Heaven Can Wait" we are left speechless. The bass intro is beautiful, as is Dickinson’s song part which recalls ‘Number of the Beast’ to be sung at the top of your lungs with the stereo at maximum volume. The solos part is also very beautiful, but the pinnacle is reached in Dickinson’s chorus (oooohooohohoooo).

The following "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" initially seems nonsensical, but as the minutes pass, you are swept away by McBrain's pulsating rhythm and the guitar riffs, ending up singing the chorus at the top of your lungs. The splendid "Stranger in a Strange Land" is another great point for the band, while "Déjà-vu" stands out as the only filler on this album. It concludes with the legendary "Alexander the Great", a track initially very dark and mysterious that builds up to the apotheosis of the two lead guitars: the best song on the album, unfortunately never played live.

This CD brought the band a total of two platinum records, and the tour that followed was exceptional, although some fans were upset by the change in sound with the introduction of synthesizers and keyboards. It is said that in '87, Maiden is the band with the most supporters in the world...