Despite having only 11 tracks, this is Maiden’s first double album and has a total running time of 92 minutes. We’d guess Maiden’s fans all died a little when they first heard that news.
As non-partisans, we guess it marks the start of a new chapter in Maiden’s career, with over-achiever Bruce Dickinson bouncing back from cancer and writing two songs on here — one of which is the longest song Maiden have ever recorded — and a bigger than usual split on the songwriting rota. Bassist Steve Harris writes or co-writes seven songs and there are two Dickinson/Smith collaborations.
They say they wrote many songs in the studio and played them straight away, which gives much of the music a live feel, in that it seems simpler than some of their earlier work.
Musically there are no changes, with everything in place to please the hardcore fans but perhaps a slightly slicker approach that might pull in some new fans, too, though all (all!) a band like Maiden have to do is remain relevant to metal for young fans discovering the genre to get into them; once you’re a fan we guess you’re a fan for life. We always feel there’s more than a touch of the football club about them — “Come on you Irons!” are the last four words on the sleeve note