Making this review was our homework, and I haven't given it yet to the teacher. So if you find some mistakes/errors in my grammar please tell me so I can fix it before giving it to the teacher.
Iron Maiden was under heavy pressure: Their last album Virtual XI was a disappointment to their fans and it didn’t go to the charts anywhere, so their next album had to be impressingly good. In 1999, Iron Maiden announced that their classical line-up will make a return and they are working on a new studio album, which was scheduled to be released in 2000. The album was titled as Brave New World and it was their first album featuring three guitar players.
The opener track of the album is called The Wicker Man. Its amazingly catchy riff puts listeners’ expectations high about the album. The track has nice melody, and it was also used as a opener track at their Brave New World Tour gigs. It did its job very well on stage too.
The following track, titled as The Ghost of the Navigator shows the real musical direction of the album: quite long tracks, having a lot of changes in rhythm and in tempo. The usage of three guitars gives a totally new dimension to Iron Maiden’s tracks. The Ghost of the Navigator is all the way good and solid track, but the album has even better tracks to offer.
The 3rd track Brave New World is maybe the most popular track from the whole album. It starts with acoustic guitar and relaxing singing by Bruce Dickinson, but after 1,5 minutes the tempo quickens as quick as lightning. The track has catchy chorus, which might be a reason why the band have played this track several times live.
The 4th track, Blood Brothers, is quite long track (7 minutes and 14 seconds). It is very good song played in concerts, but in the studio it doesn’t really sound as amazing as most of the other tracks in this album. One of the weakest point in this album.
The low point of the album continues, thanks to 5th track called The Mercenary. It’s short and fast track, but it can’t reach the same level than The Wicker Man. The track has also clearly the weakest lyrics from Brave New World. The track’s lyrics tells about assassin and about killing, which is cliché in heavy metal. “Pay to kill, die to lose, hunted, hunter which are you … Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, you've got to kill to stay alive … Show them no fear, show them no pain” Poor lyrics in my opinion. The track itself is not very bad, it is just weaker than other tracks in this album.
The 6th track Dream of Mirrors (the longest track of the album, 9 minutes and 21 seconds) is again showing the great ability of the band to write long and progressive tracks. Just like the song Brave New World, this one also starts slowly, but the way how tempo changes makes it different. The tempo is becoming faster and faster everytime when chorus is being sung again. Finally, the track has its climax close to 7 minutes, when chorus is being sung very fastly. And fastly after the chorus, all 3 guitarists are representing their skills by playing enormously great solos. Dream of Mirrors is definitely my favourite track from this album.
The 7th track, The Fallen Angel, is continuing from where Dream of Mirrors left. It is album’s shortest track, just a 4 minutes, and it is very fast track having lots of great riffs. Its position in the middle of long and progressive tracks is working well and it gives a small breathing space for a listener
the 8th track called The Nomad is again long track, having length of over 9 minutes. It has got some influences from Middle-Eastern music, since it’s melody sounds just like it would have been got from some Middle-Eastern track. It is pretty hard to explain. Also the lyrics are having connections to Egypt and Middle-East: “Nomad, rider of the ancient east … Nomad, you're the rider of the desert sands … Those who see you in horizon desert sun”. It is a good track, but from long tracks I prefer The Ghost of the Navigator or Dream of Mirrors.
The 9th track Out of the Silent Planet was made for a single track. It has catchy rhythms and melodies. It is not the cleverest track of the album, but still it is enjoyable track.
The album’s last track The Thin Line Between Love & Hate is one of the album’s most powerful and epic tracks. It’s not real slow or fast, but it is galloping forward with non-stopping force. Great track, and a nice way to end the album.
All in all, the album got its high- and low points. Although even the low points are shining brightly when they are played live. Brave New World is one of the greatest albums by Iron Maiden, and it proved that idea about reunion was the greatest thing what has ever happened to heavy metal music.
Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:17 am by metalfutte
Subject: ALBUM REVIEW: Iron Maiden - Brave New World 
