This was the first album featuring Iron Maiden’s new singer Blaze Bailey who joined the band after the legendary Bruce Dickinson left to pursue a solo career. Die-hard fans who were expecting another Bruce were totally disappointed. They ripped apart poor Blaze with their critque.
To be honest, it was not Blaze’s fault. He was a good singer and did the best he could. Steve Harris (the founding member of Iron Maiden and the ’captain of the ship’) wrote this album with Blaze’s vocals in mind. In short, everything about this album is different. The album cover itself depicts a graphic dissection of Eddie (Iron Maiden’s mascot) which quite frankly makes me wanna puke. The music however, is a totally different thing. The lyrics of this album are dark, brooding, retrospective and introspective. The lyrics are far more simpler to digest and are related to the experiences and emotions one goes through in life. My personal favourite is ’’Judgement of Heaven’’ which quite accurately describes what I was going through at one point of life. That’s how good the lyrics are!!
Steve Harris, Nicko McBrain, Dave Murray and the relative new-comer Janick Gerrs do a wonderful job at playing their respective instruments. The music is as usual, excellent. In short, if you have an open mind and (now that Bruce is back in the band) able to appreciate Blaze’s different style of singing, this is one excellent album which won’t let you down.
With this album, Iron Maiden tried to tread a different path and continued to do so in the following album ’’Virtual XI’’. However, of the two Blaze Bailey albums, this is the best. For the Maiden completist, this is one must-have album.
Up The Irons!!