IRON MAIDEN - A Matter Of Life And Death

As a an IRON MAIDEN fan and collector since 1983 I feel that I have all the rights of the world to be sceptic not to say grumble-guts sometimes! What do someone expects from Maiden in 2006 is something very subjective. All 6 legendary members of the band today are rich, famous and don't need to prove anything to anyone. But since this album holds the IRON MAIDEN logo on the front cover then we have to judge it as this name deserves to. I've been listening to this album continuously for more than 10 days now and I've reached to some conclusions I'd like to share with you.
So, what do we have here? An 72:05 minutes lenghth album split in 10 tracks which means that we have some really LONG songs! The smaller is the opening track "Different World" (04:19) which is powerful, fresh and innovative. After that IRON MAIDEN show us an almost unprecedented progressive face but in a unique IRON MAIDEN way! Sometimes they surprise us with some really heavy riffs maybe their heaviest in their history! The imagery created in some songs is excellent and reminds us of their classic epics. Well done! The Maiden Ideology is present for one more time...
Sometimes they tend to stretch some riffs and melodies but just in time when you're in the anteroom of boredom they surprise you either with their merciful solos or with their familiar time changes or with some breezy new ideas.
Their lyrics are excellent this time. This is one of their strongest Maiden elements in the history of the band. But this time they really surprise us. Listen for example "For the greater good of God". By the way this song is a dramatic Maiden masterpiece and maybe a future classic.
The production and the sound of the album are not its strongest points! So it's Bruce's vocals I'm afraid.
This is not the best IRON MAIDEN album ever but it's definately an album they shouldn't be ashamed of. If you are a mature fan of the band (as the band themshelves are) then you MUST have it in your collection. Day by day you will be discovering its true diachronic value.

9/10