Iron Maiden announce new studio album

[TerminX]

http://www.ironmaiden.com

Iron Maiden plan to release their new studio album entitled A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, in early September.

The band started writing songs at the end of 2005 after a short break from their hugely successful festival appearances in Europe and the USA. After Christmas the songs were completed and rehearsed when the band then got together with producer Kevin 'Caveman' Shirley at Sarm West Studios in London to start work on recording the backing tracks.

Kevin Shirley has now co-produced three of the bands studio albums alongside Steve Harris, as well as two of their recent Live DVD's and albums. From this the working relationship between Kevin and the band seems to get stronger and stronger. Says Kevin, 'The Beast is back! I feel from the outset we all clicked on this one. We spent two months in the studio, from Go to Whoa - from Nicko's 'tubs up' to final mixes and sequenced master! That's a tiny gestation period for an album. Producing Iron Maiden is like sitting in the head and driving one of those mammoth automatons from Star Wars or Saturday morning cartoons! And there's nothing that can stop it!'

'I feel incredibly privileged to have been around to see this album born and breathe life. There have been only a couple of occasions in my career when the ENTIRE process of recording felt so complete - and it is on display here.'

As on previous projects all of the tracks were performed live and together in one room. No click tracks or computer tightening or manipulation has happened at any stage of the recording.

Says Steve Harris,' I think in many ways this has been the easiest album in terms of recording that we've ever done. The whole process of writing through to recording was very natural. I think in terms of the material we've also pushed our boundaries yet again and I think it will please our fans but also really surprise a lot of people as well. The sound we've managed to get is very powerful for a Maiden record and all of us have pushed ourselves in our own ways to create something that we're all immensely proud of and I think working as quickly as we did with Kevin really was part of that process. We simply can't wait to take this out on the road. We've played some great shows and had a lot fun recently introducing some of our older songs to a new generation of fans. However for us personally we're incredibly excited about getting out and performing these new tracks.'

Says Bruce Dickinson,'This album has to be our best since working with Kevin. There is such a wide scope of musicianship on this album and in parts this album is truly epic. I thought with the likes of Paschendale from the last studio album that we could only hope to surpass that but having now heard the album back as well as sitting with a few select people and hearing their reactions as well I truly believe we have managed it. Every one of us has put everything into this record and it's really paid off. However we've had such fun making it that it's almost difficult to believe what we've managed to achieve in the time it took.'

The full track listing is as below.

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

1. Different Worlds (Smith/Harris) 4.17
2. These Colours Don't Run (Smith/Harris/Dickinson) 6.52
3. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns (Smith/Harris/Dickinson) 8.44
4. The Pilgrim (Gers/Harris) 5.07
5. The Longest Day (Smith/Harris/Dickinson) 7.48
6. Out Of the Shadows (Dickinson/Harris) 5.36
7. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (Murray/Harris) 7.21
8. For The Greater Good of God (Harris) 9.24
9. Lord Of Light (Smith/Harris/Dickinson) 7.23
10. The Legacy (Gers/Harris) 9.20

I'm really looking forward to this one. It would seem that track 2 may be inspired by the Ozzfest incident last year; the title is a direct quote (minus profanity) of what Bruce Dickinson said when Sharon's band of asshats were throwing things at him.

[GodBlitZor]

\o/ Not much to say other than - Hell yeah!

[Usurper]

Anyone know who Benjamin Breeg is? Wiki and Google were not my friends today.

[KaiserSoze]

Holy shit. I was just talking to my buddy the other night about Maiden and said they're about due for a new album!

Great news indeed!

[abnormal]

Originally Posted by Usurper

Anyone know who Benjamin Breeg is? Wiki and Google were not my friends today.

i think i read sumwhere thats code for paul dianno

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by abnormal

i think i read sumwhere thats code for paul dianno

Can you prove that?

[Tang Lung]

Excellent. Can't be anything but awesome.

[Neptune]

I remember the Sharon Osborne thing at Ozzfest a fw years back. What an idiot, huh? She goes and sabatoges their set, ruining the night, and destroying the mood for the fans, and then blame dit on the Maiden. Whatever,

I'll definantly be in line for this!

[TerminX]

Originally Posted by Neptune

I remember the Sharon Osborne thing at Ozzfest a fw years back. What an idiot, huh? She goes and sabatoges their set, ruining the night, and destroying the mood for the fans, and then blame dit on the Maiden. Whatever,

I'll definantly be in line for this!

That was less than a year ago...

[Marty]

hope the cover art is rad

[jimbob]

Originally Posted by Marty

hope the cover art is rad

hehe

[TerminX]

If that's the cover art for anything, it's for the first single. It might not make it that far, however, as I believe that variant of Eddie, though without the guns and helmet, was also used for lots of promotional stuff during the Brave New World tour.

[jimbob]

dont know, found it somewhere in a related thread on another forum

[Usurper]

Maybe they'll get that awesome Poser expert to make their cover again!

[Synti]

Originally Posted by Usurper

Maybe they'll get that awesome Poser expert to make their cover again!

Man, that last album cover was the worst ever. Disgusting.

[abnormal]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

Can you prove that?

no, sorry. i just read that in another forum. he just said the same thing i just said. i just got done emailing paul asking him that so lets hope he replys back!

[Kronx]

Well, Benjamin Breeg is an anagram for Jabbering Me Ne (meanie). Clearly a reference to Paul. Of course, Paul's name is an anagram for A dial-on pun. That leads me to believe that he doesn't actually exist, and Iron Maiden actually formed in the late 90's using memory manipulation and reverse thought engineering to create a legacy of good music.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Kronx

Well, Benjamin Breeg is an anagram for Jabbering Me Ne (meanie). Clearly a reference to Paul.

How is that "clearly" a reference? Honestly - I don't see why this is being considered so obvious, and I've been listening to Maidden since Killers was the current album.

[Kronx]

Sorry, I wasn't serious.

The only information I've seen saying it's a code for Paul is on the Blabbermouth talkback.

[cladinshadows]

I wasn't honestly happy with the last Maiden record... there were some great songs (like Paschendale) but meh... everything sounded the same to me.
I hope this one meets my expectations.

[TerminX]

Cover art is out:



There's also some official information on the first single, which can be found here.

[abnormal]

Originally Posted by TerminX

Cover art is out:



There's also some official information on the first single, which can be found here.

that cover is fu**ing beautiful.

[TerminX]

Aye, it's quite a bit better than the Dance of Death cover (which was actually pretty good, if a bit plain, before they decided to have some random idiot insert Poser characters all over it).

[GodBlitZor]

That kicks ass.

[X-Vector]

Reminds me a bit of this:



Interesting that they've chosen to decrease the fantasy influence and go for a more 'realistic' cover, should be a reflection of a different sound than I'm used to (which to be honest is mostly the eighties stuff).

[jimbob]

awesome cover art

[edit] heh, the logo i posted is in there aswel

[cladinshadows]

If the cd is as good as the cover it should deliver.

[Marty]

thats freakin awesome.
always judge a book by its cover (and CD)

[Higher Game]

If it's anything like the Marduk, it's bad news. Blasturbation != good black metal. Ironically, just a year earlier Marduk put out Nightwing, a very good album.

[GodBlitZor]

...what? Youre doubting Iron Maiden?

[Higher Game]

Obviously, I'm not doubting anything. I'm just pointing out that a great cover does not always contain great music. Dance Of Death was a great album with a terrible cover.

[jimbob]

Originally Posted by Higher Game

Obviously, I'm not doubting anything. I'm just pointing out that a great cover does not always contain great music. Dance Of Death was a great album with a terrible cover.

throughout modern music, most of the best albums had pretty horrid covers

[Sang]

Cover looks cool. I want some audio footage NOW!!11

[Opus131]

Originally Posted by GodBlitZor

...what? Youre doubting Iron Maiden?

Not that they haven't ****ed up before.

Remember Virtual XI?

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Opus131

Not that they haven't ****ed up before.

Remember Virtual XI?

Yes. Was much better than X Factor.

[Opus131]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

Yes. Was much better than X Factor.

That's like saying Tub Girl it's much better then Goat.se...

[Rider]

Originally Posted by Opus131

That's like saying Tub Girl it's much better then Goat.se...

Ofcourse it is. Yay chicks!

I'm curious about this album... wondering what they cooked up this time.

[jimbob]

i heard they completely dropped guitars in favor of synthesysers

[Higher Game]

The X Factor, like Virtual XI, is mostly crap, but it has a few amazing songs. X Factor had Sign of the Cross, which is AMAZING live with Bruce Bruce on vocals. Listen to the Rock In Rio version of Sign of the Cross. The song is amazing. It's not fair that it had to be put on a mediocre album. I do like Lord of the Flies and The Edge of Darkness, too, but they're not as good as Sign of the Cross.

Virtual XI gave us The Clansman, and that's about it. It's a great live song, since the whole crowd loves to yell FREEEDOOOM!! Besides that one great moment, Virtual XI is a step down from The X Factor, and that's saying a lot.

Of course, both albums slay the piece of shit No Prayer for the Dying. Even Bruce couldn't save that mess of an album. Fear of the Dark wasn't that great, either. Hell, Brave New World was the first decent Maiden album since 7th Son of a 7th Son. Dance of Death was good, so they're on a good roll now, and I'm hoping they can keep it up.

No Maiden album deserves to be compared to those albums. Judas Priest, on the other hand, put out an infamous album called Turbo. Man, I love watching Maiden vs Priest arguments. Best friends become bitter rivals in those.

[TerminX]

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/bla...wsitemID=55157