Review: Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time | |||||||
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Somewhere In Time | |||||||
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Label: Capitol Records Year released: 1986 Duration: 51:20 Tracks: 8 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: Review online: March 30, 2022 Reviewed by: MetalMike |
Readers' Rating How do you rate this release? Rated 4.65/5 (92.99%) (117 Votes)
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Review | |||||||
Somewhere in Time is the sixth album from Iron Maiden and followed the hugely successful Powerslave and the accompanying Live After Death tour and live album. Given the meteoric rise from the Di'Anno albums through The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind and Powerslave, you had to wonder what was next. I know I did as I waited for Somewhere in Time's release and picked up the cassette as soon as the clerk put it on the shelf in the record store. Let me start by saying it is Iron Maiden and, other than the Blaze Bailey albums, they haven't made a lot of huge mistakes or strayed from their formula much, to their fans' delight but for me, I heard a definite shift right away. I'd be lying if I didn't freely admit "Wasted Years" might be catchiest song the band has ever written. Adrian Smith was really on his game when he turned this one in and I can't stop singing it for days every time I hear it. In fact, other than a single collaboration with Dave Murray, Steve Harris and Smith wrote this entire album and a progressive element that hadn't really been evident in the past started to creep in. The songs are consistently longer than in the past ("Déjà vu" is the only song under 5 minutes) and the lyrics even more esoteric. The real reason every Maiden album from this one on will never compare with the first five albums is the repetition. Yup, you can hear the beginnings of what has turned into the albatross around Maiden's neck, specifically the penchant for sitting on a riff or lyric for far longer than necessary. Take a song like "Heaven Can Wait," for example. It's a pretty good song with nice guitar work and some great vocal lines for Bruce to belt, but after the 16th refrain of "Heaven Can Wait" at the end I'm ready to stick forks in my ears. The other songs aren't quite as repetitious but could still stand a trim. As for the epics, a theme which started for real with "To Tame a Land," "Alexander the Great," there's a line saying Alexander struck fear into the hearts of men, but this song strikes boredom into my brain with its plodding tempo, unexciting vocals and dull riffs, and "Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" might be about the most uninteresting topic for a metal song I've ever heard. Look, Somewhere in Time is a Maiden album and that makes it better than a lot of other metal and, while it doesn't ring the bell so much for me, I know there are people who love it and that's fine. I'd rather have this than a host of other albums, but for me this is the starting point of a long decline into self-indulgent song writing and overly long albums full of good ideas that either overstay their welcome or get lost in a sea of less interesting noodling. |
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More about Iron Maiden... | |||||||
Review: 12 Wasted Years (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: A Matter of Life and Death (reviewed by Chaossphere) Review: Brave New World (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Brave New World (reviewed by Pierre Bégin) Review: Brave New World Tour (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Brave New World Tour (reviewed by Pierre Bégin) Review: Classic Albums: Iron Maiden: The Number Of The Beast (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Dance of Death (reviewed by Larry Griffin) Review: Dance of Death (reviewed by Pierre Bégin) Review: Fear Of The Dark (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Fear Of The Dark (reviewed by Mjölnir) Review: Flight 666 (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Give Me Ed… 'Til I'm Dead Tour (reviewed by Pierre Bégin) Review: Iron Maiden (reviewed by MetalMike) Review: Killers (reviewed by MetalMike) Review: Live After Death (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Live in Quebec City, July 2005 (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Maiden England (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: No Prayer For The Dying (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Piece of Mind (reviewed by Iwarrior) Review: Piece of Mind (reviewed by MetalMike) Review: Powerslave (reviewed by Pierre Bégin) Review: Raising Hell (reviewed by Eddiethe'Ead) Review: Rock In Rio (reviewed by Pierre Bégin) Review: Senjutsu (reviewed by Christian Renner) Review: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (reviewed by Mjölnir) Review: Somewhere In Time (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: The Book of Souls (reviewed by MetalMike) Review: The Book of Souls (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible) Review: The Final Frontier (reviewed by Larry Griffin) Review: The History of Iron Maiden Part 1: The Early Days (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: The Number of the Beast (reviewed by Eddiethe'Ead) Review: The X-Factor (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Virtual XI (reviewed by Michel Renaud) | |||||||
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