A Matter Of Life And Death
by Iron Maiden

I love Maiden - but for this one you need time. But it's worth it!

I love Maiden. But if you're wanting a fix I suggest many of their other albums over this. There are no tracks on this that get me excited ('For the Greater Good of God' nearly getting there). The album has a very run of the mill, paint by numbers feel to it. It just plods along. I pull it out for a listen every now and then and every time what I've written above is how I come away feeling about it. It's not bad, it's just not very good when compared to other Maiden albums.

Continuando la senda tomada durante el nuevo siglo, las huestes de Steve Harris nos ofrecen un disco denso difícil de digerir pero cuya escucha detenida se convierte en una experiencia inigualable. Es cierto que ya no son los Iron Maiden de los ochenta caracterizados por la velocidad y la caña endiabladas. Ahora tenemos una banda madura que busca nuevos senderos musicales, cercanos a la música progresiva, 'A Matter of Life and Death' no es un disco para cualquiera, pues requiere dedicación absoluta y la atención de todos nuestros sentidos para poder sacarle partido a elaboradas composiciones como pueden ser "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" o "These Colours don't Run". Un disco pensado en cierta medida como una obra de teatro o incluso una pieza operística, en cualquier caso estamos ante de los mejores discos facturados en este siglo.

A strong Iron Maiden album although as with latter day Maiden albums it's short of those classic metal anthems they were so brilliant at writing in the eighties. Still, it's all solid stuff from a band who are still burning brightly.