Iron Maiden - The Book Of Souls

To be honest I've gotten vibes from it that remind me of No Prayer for the Dying (in Bruce's vocals mainly) and The X Factor (in how dark the feel of the album is). But it's got traces of a lot of their eras in it, just going off first impressions.

This album's gonna take a while to sink in, which is great. I hope it'll have some longevity to it.

Upon first listen, fantastic album! I'll have to live with it a bit to see where it ranks in Maiden albums. I've loved all of the post-reunion albums and this is no exception. I'll post more of a review after I listen to it some more. But a few interesting notes:

If Eternity Should Fail - wow, love it, fantastic opener. The big surprise for me is that Iron Maiden recorded a song in Drop D tuning (something they have never done before) and they did it well.

At this point in their career. this is the longest lasting Iron Maiden line up (16 + years!)

I'll post more after the album sinks in, but it is fantastic.

Might be equal to AMOLAD, the best of the post reunion albums imo.

ShadowAngel wrote:
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Over the years The Final Frontier grew onto me, from "eh, nothing that special" to "that's actually pretty good", i guess no small thanks to the awesome Iron Maiden mod for Left 4 Dead that utilized the opener of TFF for the final stats in the game.

[/quote]

An Iron Maiden mod for Left 4 Dead? Wow! I must track that one down.

For those interested in such things:

The LP is a different master than the CD and HDtracks download version. The LP was mastered by Chris Bellman (one of the best LP engineers in the business) and he did some boosting to the high end and low end frequencies (Shirley's mixes are very flat) and reports are it's a definite improvement over the CD version. Better separation between the bass guitar frequencies and the drums and more presence to the guitar parts.

Meant to pick mine up after work. Then half way through my shift I realized I forgot the coupon from the single. I'll just order it for pick-up.

S.D. wrote:

For those interested in such things:

The LP is a different master than the CD and HDtracks download version.  The LP was mastered by Chris Bellman (one of the best LP engineers in the business) and he did some boosting to the high end and low end frequencies (Shirley's mixes are very flat) and reports are it's a definite improvement over the CD version.  Better separation between the bass guitar frequencies and the drums and more presence to the guitar parts.  

I'd be interested to hear this version. I'm sure a vinyl rip will show up on the interwebs shortly.

Witchfinder wrote:

S.D. wrote:

For those interested in such things:

The LP is a different master than the CD and HDtracks download version.  The LP was mastered by Chris Bellman (one of the best LP engineers in the business) and he did some boosting to the high end and low end frequencies (Shirley's mixes are very flat) and reports are it's a definite improvement over the CD version.  Better separation between the bass guitar frequencies and the drums and more presence to the guitar parts.  

I'd be interested to hear this version.  I'm sure a vinyl rip will show up on the interwebs shortly.

I'd like to get my hands on that different master!

Used my Dimple points to get the Deluxe Edition for $7. I guess that they had a listening party at some point and they gave me some leftover swag: A poster, two coasters and a button/pin thing. I will eventually frame it all.

Heard if eternity should fail on YouTube this morning. This is an awesome song.

hope they have a couple of good speed metal tunes.

S.D. wrote:

For those interested in such things:

The LP is a different master than the CD and HDtracks download version.  The LP was mastered by Chris Bellman (one of the best LP engineers in the business) and he did some boosting to the high end and low end frequencies (Shirley's mixes are very flat) and reports are it's a definite improvement over the CD version.  Better separation between the bass guitar frequencies and the drums and more presence to the guitar parts.  

I can confirm it sounds fantastic - you are correct about the separation between the bass and drums, you can really head Steve Harris better on the vinyl. I listened though my audio technica studio headphone. The CD sounds pretty darn good too through the headphones too - better production that the past few studio albums.

DallasBlack wrote:

Meant to pick mine up after work. Then half way through my shift I realized I forgot the coupon from the single. I'll just order it for pick-up.

Might want to hit Best Buy with your coupon - according to Amazon, the CD and vinyl are out of stock and the deluxe edition isn't even listed for sale anymore. Still listed as #1 seller in music on Amazon... would be very to cool to see a # 1 debut in the US.

I am 4 tracks in and really happy. Hearing "Speed of Light" after the first track (as opposed to a stand alone preview video from earlier in this thread) made me think back to walking into my fave record store back in early '88 and hearing "Can I Play with Madness" for the first time!

I'm on disc 2 now and it's excellent. The run time/ song length is barely noticeable as the Maiden metal machine rolls on.

I went to my local Best Buy here in south Florida after work. A bad storm had just rolled through, so it knocked out their power and they were sending everyone home just prior to 5:00. Needless to say, I was not able to "Up the Irons". Hopefully their power is restored today. I listened to the first five tracks on Spotify yesterday and really liked what I heard!

First standout song is The Great Unknown.

I bought it a day early, but I still haven't had time to listen to the damn thing all the way thru!

I have to go in to work for a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons though (pfffft!), so I plan on listening to Disc 1 on the drive down and Disc 2 on the ride back both days. By the end of the long weekend the whole thing should have had enough time to "gel."

thejokeriv wrote:

Quote :

 you can really head Steve Harris better on the vinyl. 

I knew that you were a massive fan of his but jeez dude!!! 

(Sorry man, couldn't resist  )

On a more serious note it's a very good album. Bruce still annoys me but that's just me.

Dark Horseman wrote:

First standout song is The Great Unknown.

Agreed. I listened to the first disc while exercising this morning and it really caught my attention.

There are several tracks that have jumped out at me.

If Eternity Should Fail
When The River Runs Deep
The Book of Souls
Tears of A Clown
Man Of Sorrows
Empire Of The Clouds

I've only heard the whole thing a few times so I'm going to wait for it to sink in a little more before rating it.

The only song I'm not crazy about is Shadows Of The Valley so far.

Classic Rock magazine gave this a 9 out of 10 and I am inclined to agree with them, however, they didn't have anything negative to say, so why not a 10/10? They even spoke glowingly of the production. This is where I would minus a half point as the low end seems really booming on my system. I bought the standard edition CD, not the vinyl. I hate to say it but I would deduct another half for bland artwork. Maiden are known for Eddie and their covers depicting his various and storied adventures, that's why this and DoD are such letdowns. Other than that, the music and vocal performance are outstanding. And the lyrics to Empire of the Clouds had me researching the R101 disaster online while listening. I spent a solid 3 hours with ol 'Arry and the boys today and it was awesome!

The boxy sound on the drums is mostly remedied on the LP.  I just went up to Amoeba after work this afternoon and bought it.  The LP is a BIG improvement over the CD. The drums sound significantly better, Steve's bass is much more distinct and not buried in the mud.  The midrange has been tamed a little as well and Bellman brought some high end back into it.  

On the CD version the guitars start to sound harsh after awhile and my ears would get tired.  I just listened to the LPs all the way through and had no problem.  

The vinyl looks pretty damn cool as well...

the sentinel wrote:

Classic Rock magazine gave this a 9 out of 10 and I am inclined to agree with them, however, they didn't have anything negative to say, so why not a 10/10?

The problem with rating scales, especially 10-point ones, is that people answer them differently. Someone might be very enthusiastic and rate everything they like as 10 out of 10, while others might generally stick to a 9 in case like that and only go to a 10 in exceptional circumstances. So if the reviewer was one of the latter types then that could explain it.

thejokeriv wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Meant to pick mine up after work. Then half way through my shift I realized I forgot the coupon from the single. I'll just order it for pick-up.

Might want to hit Best Buy with your coupon - according to Amazon, the CD and vinyl are out of stock and the deluxe edition isn't even listed for sale anymore. Still listed as #1 seller in music on Amazon... would be very to cool to see a # 1 debut in the US.

I already paid for it so they better have it.

F*ck!!!!!!!!!!!! They never sent me an e-mail and no charge on the card. This really sucks I'm so damn pissed off right now!

DallasBlack wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Meant to pick mine up after work. Then half way through my shift I realized I forgot the coupon from the single. I'll just order it for pick-up.

Might want to hit Best Buy with your coupon - according to Amazon, the CD and vinyl are out of stock and the deluxe edition isn't even listed for sale anymore. Still listed as #1 seller in music on Amazon... would be very to cool to see a # 1 debut in the US.

I already paid for it so they better have it.

F*ck!!!!!!!!!!!! They never sent me an e-mail and no charge on the card. This really sucks I'm so damn pissed off right now!

After taking a second to cool down when I posted that, I checked Amazon marketplace and found that Go Hastings had one copy available. It was several $s more than the Best Buy one (not including shipping) and I couldn't use the coupon but at least I'll have it. I will check Best Buy on my way to get dinner later (I could still cancel the order if I'm lucky enough to find it) but I'm sure my coupon is now worthless.

I gave the second disc a listen to today and think it's better than the first. A lot of standout tracks on this one : Empire Of The Clouds and Tears Of A Clown for sure. Shadows Of The Valley's beginning reminds me of Wasted Years.