Iron Maiden - Live at the O2 Arena - May 27-28, 2017

Well if the legends that go by the name of Iron Maiden are playing twice in a row you might as well make the most of it and see them both times. Splash the cash, bite the bullet and be a good sucker haha! It'll be a couple of years at least before I get a chance to see them again that's for sure and probably it'll be closer to 3 or 4 years before another chance so make hay while the sun is out as they say or some such thing!

The first night was sold out in double quick time but I got priority tickets but unfortunately I missed the really closer seats and got some on the top tier but directly in front of the stage. I missed most of Shinedown but it was no great loss really. Brent Smith has a great voice and they have some cool tunes but it's just not a good fit for Maiden at all really. There's general apathy from most of the crowd although they are treated well enough compared to some bands I've seen supporting Maiden. I remember Trivium getting terrible abuse a few years ago when they were more in their metalcore days.

Going back to Shinedown Brent Smith really talks far too much between the songs but I already knew that having witnessed his preachy banter a couple of times before in their smaller gigs. It really gets a little too much to be honest when you're talking for more than 5-6 minutes and not playing songs. I figured I'll see the whole of their set on the Sunday and wasn't worried about the Saturday set as I was with a friend for Saturday. Shinedown were OK but forgettable in the main. The sound wasn't too great for them either being bass heavy and echo-y. Brent's vocals were fine though. The man is a powerhouse singer that's for sure and a commanding front man.

Finally at 8.50pm on the dot the familiar opening to Doctor Doctor starts up through the PA and the Maiden nutters start to get psyched for the old warriors return to London after having last played at this very venue back in 2013. The set list then was about as far removed from now as it's possible to get. Of course this is still the Book of Souls tour that started way back in 2016. Still you know what you're gonna get before you buy your ticket. Songs from Book of Souls and yet more songs from Book of Souls with a few classics in between.

I was quite enthusiastic about that album when it came out but I think hearing the songs live now, I think I may have been a bit over generous in my enthusiasm for it. The set opens with If Eternity Should Fail which in my eyes is just an OK song with an OK chorus. However the band is energised and does a sterling job of convincing you that they really mean business. The first night I sat in my seat over 60-70 meters from the stage it's hard to get over excited or head bang too hard but the second night I was stood 5 meters from the stage and you can see the band is truly enjoying themselves. This feeds into your enjoyment more as the crowd member and helps create a better feeling on certain songs in any case.

The set continues with more songs from BoS of course, With the ripping Speed of Light coming across better live than on record. The first departure into ancient realms occurs with the coming of the hellbent and aggressive Wrathchild played very ferociously which I witnessed at first hand much closer on the second night. All the better for viewing up close on this particular song.

The band continues with another old classic in Children of the Damned. The old bastards in the house which number plenty obviously lap that one up. Bruce sounds great on that epic and very cool it seems that song is a perfect fit for his modern voice and doesn't test him greatly. It seems the song is quite a comfortable song for him to sing unlike say The Trooper which is a real test. Bruce talks in between songs about this and that, etc and obviously about recent events in Manchester etc. Every concert the world over is gonna mention that one.

It's funny when you go to a concert two nights in a row. You wonder will he mention the same things again and he does pretty much but he does change it around a bit. I guess he realises that many people attend both nights so he doesn't want to completely repeat himself all the time with the same old cliches.

They move on from the old school and revert back to BoS material soon enough as we get Death or Glory, a tune which does little for me to be honest but it's OK and nothing I positively dislike. I'd just so much rather hear a classic, but it's the BoS tour and we must hear those songs. The first actually great song from BoS, namely the mid album epic The Red and the Black soon surfaces and is the first long song of the night. The instrumental section is a sight to be hold, the crowd wooaahh woaahs on cue and the melody is captivating. The first night sitting in my seat it was a great sight to see a 20,000 crowd singing as one to that one. That's one thing you miss when you're right up close as I was on the second night. It almost feels like you are in a small crowd of about 500 down the front or something and although you can see the whites of their eyes you somehow miss the full atmosphere behind you. The good thing is I sampled both on consecutive nights. So TRaTB was a real great effort and the first truly cool moment from BoS which every one loved.

We had to delve into classic territory after that with The Trooper and Powerslave.  The Trooper has been played thousands of time by now but it still gets you pumped as hell even though I'm sure it's a real test for Bruce and he does sound a touch strained but no one cares and the energy is through the roof. Powerslave's melodic gallop follows and is a song that every Maiden fan loves. Let's mention Mr Harris since we haven't already. Band leader extraordinaire is a truly inexhaustible guy. He runs heer and there pointing his bass machine gunning as usual and mouths near enough all the lyrics at the front rows. The guy is Maiden's spirit personified. His subtle bass licks are of course very prominent and make the Maiden songs the classics that they are.

Since were' talking about the instrumentalists let's quickly mention them all. Adrian is "Steady Eddie" of the group, playing rocking riffs with no shenagins and ripping leads with not too much smiling. He's the anchor in the band keeping it real as they say haha! Dave Murray is understated Mr Smiley doing a few pirouettes and generally "Mr Grin features" although out of all the guitarists he's the one who looks the most tired of all the touring maybe. His leads sound a bit one dimensional too at times but he's very much adored by the fans for his genial stage persona. That leaves Janick to act the band clown. Pull shapes, dance, play backing and have the odd solo. He mainly does guitar tricks and acts the complete fool, but you know what there's nothing wrong with that. It's actually funny to watch and he doesn't seem to take everything that seriously. That leaves Mr McBrain on the drums or Mr one foot wonder as some call him but all I know is that the guy is solid. Let's just say he's Mr Dependable. No one complains about Nicko and he does his job with an affable smile and has a whale of a time.

Moving on we have two more BoS songs to get through. The Great Unknown and the title track. The former track is a recent addition to the set list but sadly it's not a great song and seems to pass by without much fanfare at all. Another classic would have been so preferable indeed. The title track however is a monstrous epic and must be played of course in a tour of that name. The song builds and builds and the band sounds great as the song pounds away and then the hammering speedy riff takes the song to a great end from the halfway point onwards.

The song is followed up by the crowd pleaser that is Fear of the Dark. It seems this song is sacrosanct and can never be dropped from the modern Maiden set list. I must admit I have heard it every time I've seen Maiden which is at least 8-9 times and if it was dropped it wouldn't be the end of the world. But you know what - when those familiar opening strains start off it's still magical and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It's probably one of the best Maiden songs in a live setting. Just when you thing nahh this shit's getting old you still get that amazing pumped feeling with the energy and woooaahh section and the Fear of the Dark chanting section. Epic!

The main set ends with another song that they seemingly find impossible to omit, which is of course the self titled song from the debut. I can see why they play it as the fans just love it. The energy, the melody and the slightly punky feel. Steve Harris bellows the lyrics with immense gusto on that one. The crowd participation is again extravagant. People just love this song. Personally I'd prefer to hear the return of 11.58 or Aces High but I guess that's for another tour.

The second song in the encore sees a fairly long speech by Bruce on both nights, pontificating the same thing about unity etc and not caring what colour creed or religion we are and that we're all blood brothers that's why we're here. You get the drill! Having said that the band backs it up and the song sounds immensely powerful with the whole arena singing that one back at Bruce. The song itself has emotional melodic sections and very nice delicate solos. I must admit it is one of my fave live songs of the night and well worth to hear it sung by near enough the whole crowd. I actually enjoyed it more from my seat on the first night for this particular song as you can see the whole arena participate.

At the end of Blood Brothers, Adrian quickly starts that melodic motif and you know we've reached the final song of the night which is the very melodic and catchy Wasted Years. Indeed one of the best and most sung with choruses on the night. But the song doesn't have a last song of the night feel about it. The end song should of course be Hallowed but the band has decided to drop it from the set list due to the ongoing court case with regard to copyright infringement. From everything I've read the guy suing Maiden has never said the band can't play the song but it turns out every time they do play it they have to pay a few hundred quid royalties to this guy or something along those lines so they've made the decision to drop it for the time being. I read another rumour on Maidenfans forum saying that Bruce was having difficult singing the song and maybe they used the litigation case as a front for dropping the song. It's probably a bit of both who knows, but all i do know is that the song voted the best Maiden song of all time and my personal fave song by them ever is not currently part of the set list. This is absolutely a shame and it better restored soon as a Maiden gig however great it may be, is incomplete without Hallowed IMO. It may have been played to death but we go to Maiden gigs to hear Hallowed. Simple as. Sort this shit out haha!

Anyway I enjoyed my 2 night stint with the mighty Maiden. They may be knocking on a bit and the movement around the stage is not as rapid and slick as it once was but the ambition and power of delivery is as good as ever. Next time do a greatest newer hits set list with the best songs from 2000 onwards and I'll be there like a shot. Who am I kidding..I'll be there like a shot next time whatever the fuck they play! Up the Irons!

Doctor Doctor
(UFO song)
If Eternity Should Fail
Speed of Light
Wrathchild
Children of the Damned
Death or Glory
The Red and the Black
The Trooper
Powerslave
The Great Unknown
The Book of Souls
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Blood Brothers
Wasted Years

 

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls - Review

Here it is - my marathon song by song review of the new Iron maiden album. It's an album that will require many full listens to fully absorb its nuances and high and lows. This review is based on three full listens to each song and my impressions as the song plays and afterwards and a rating out of 10 for each song.

If Eternity Should Fail

I've tried hard to get into this song but I just can't really get into it. It has the typical latter day Maiden gallop that old men like Maiden seem to love. Bruce sounds quite good but I just don't think the song is really melodic enough. The chorus doesn't seem to sound that great at all. The repetition is not what bothers me it's more that the melody is a bit boring. The best part of the song is from the five minute mark onwards where a very nice melodic section starts before that average chorus takes us home. The ending speech is quite dramatic and nice though. I wonder who it is? I am gonna keep trying with this song but the fairly slow tempo doesn't excite. It sounds like a Final Frontier b-side to me. 6.5/10


Speed of Light

The lead single which hugely disappointed me on first listen has started to grow on me. I still definitely don't love it but at least it has a little energy. Although the chorus sees Bruce straining quite badly at times  when he sings the word "stars" but I guess the band are happy with that. It  doesn't sound that bad but you can tell he's really trying hard. The sound on the guitars is far too raw on this track and seems even rougher than the other tracks like they accidentally on purpose made this lead single  much rougher sounding. The song has traits of Maiden singles of the past. The little guitar melody that rears it's head fairly often pre-chorus is a nice classic touch. The lead work is fluid and nice but sounds far too raw and under produced. Again done on purpose no doubt. An OK song that's slowly showing more of it's energy and potential though it will never be a world beater. 7/10

The Great Unknown

As usual a quiet start to a latter day Maiden tune and Bruce weaving a web of mystery about the "Great Unknown" as the song saunters on moodily before a slow regular grinding riff builds into the body of the song. The pre-chorus verses see Bruce struggling a bit but the melody is quite cool. The chorus however leaves me struggling quite a bit. The melody is OK but it sounds quite familiar to other recent material and sounds recycled. The solos from the middle of the fourth minute onwards are really rather cool before the song settles back into the moody start. This song needs to grow on me as at the moment I just can't get a feel for it. There's a good song in there somewhere but it's not hitting me in the face as of yet. 7/10


The Red and The Black

Another mid paced latter day Maiden riff. Something like Rime but pretty much but the melody is Celtic in feel that Mr Harris likes to use a lot with Bruce following that melody with his vocal lines. This is a Harris trademark and I actually really like that although again Bruce is singing at pretty much the top of his range. It sounds like a very difficult song to sing indeed. The famous Woooahhhs soon appear and you can tell this song will almost certainly played live. The song continues with Bruce singing in line with the guitar melody whilst the mid paced backing continues behind and the wooahhs return. At the five minute mark a lovely melody appears and takes the song in a more melodic direction and we get the first time the chorus is sung and it's a really cool one indeed. People will be loving this live no doubt. They will be humming and woooahing the parts that don't even have vocal woooahhhs no doubt! The second longest song on the album continues with tasty lead breaks and builds more melodic passages as it reaches it's galloping climax and a final woaahhh section to keep the punters happy. A great and emotionally melodic track and one of Steve Harris's best epics ever! 10/10


When The River Runs Deep

The song starts off quite melodic but then the reasonably energetic verse takes the song in a slightly different direction than you'd expect. Not too bad but not something very catchy either and Bruce shows that familiar strain here and there at the end of some lines. The chorus sort of appears without much fanfare but the last note is nicely stretched out by Bruce. The song has good energy and the album is in need of energy for sure but is this really a good song? I am not so sure. It's ok and has some decent melody in some of the guitar parts but the vocal melody doesn't sound that exciting. The solo passages are what make the song intriguing and melodic to me. Usually I look at the vocal to provide with that melodic twist that makes a song great but in this song it's the other way. A decent song but I need to play it more to see if it catches my ears any more. 7.5/10


The Book of Souls

The title track starts off with an acoustic slightly hispanic guitar melody with a single tone classical melody before a middle eastern sounding slow riff suddenly erupts out of the speakers and Bruce sings very powerfully it must be said. Nice keyboard accompaniment which adds atmosphere and a mystical feel to what is no doubt a mystical subject matter.The chorus is sung pretty slowly but it is indeed a great one with a magical and epic melody. This is one time when a fast chorus would have been out of place with the song's atmospheric build. The song reminds me of Dance of Death material quite a lot. It has that similar melodic feel although it has a flavour of its own as well no doubt. The song goes into the awesome mid section at 5.50 precisely with that great galloping feel reminiscent of 80s energetic Maiden. The solo sounds rather raw that follows before Bruce helps carry the song onwards with an awesome guitar following vocal melody. This song is sure to be a live favourite should they decide to tackle it live. Everyone will love the slow build to the rousing and glorious end. 9.5/10


Death or Glory.

A fairly speedy number with a decent galloping riff and Bruce's impassioned vocals telling a tale of battle and fighting your enemy till the last. A really nice pre-chorus leads to a fairly average chorus unfortunately. I mean it doesn't seem to carry a great melody or anything but it is memorable in the sense that the title is repeated until you get the message but not spine tingling or catchy really. An average number in my book although the music is pretty good but vocally the song doesn't seem to excite at all. A song called Death or Glory exists by Running Wild and it's miles better than this. 6.5/10


Shadows of the Valley

Can the start sound any more like Wasted Years? No, but then when that's over we are left with that familiar jig from recent Maiden albums. This song reminds me of Montsegur from Dance of Death. The chorus comes along and is easily one of the best on the album. In fact this could be the catchiest song on the album. There's some subtle keys in the background which add a nice dramatic feel. Bruce sounds a bit uncomfortable singing "Lies" though. That melodic motif that follows the chorus is really nice indeed and makes the song what it is. The album's best IMO. Should be a huge live favourite especially the awesome woooahhhs at the end. 9.5/10


Tears of a Clown

The song starts off slow and ponderous with heavy chords that somehow remind me of a swaggering Led Zeppelin riff. Not a regular Maiden influence it must be said. The opening verses are plaintive and very reflective of the solemn subject matter. Bruce sings in a comfortable voice and doesn't over reach his powers in this song and sounds all the better for it. The chorus soon arrives and it's quite a good one but it's reminiscent of some material from The Final Frontier or AMOLAD. The solo is slow and bluesy sounding with a raw feel to go with the general live production feel that the band has chosen. A decent song overall but nothing amazing. 7.5/10


The Man Of Sorrows

Another downbeat and sad song. What is it with these guys? Getting old and getting all misty eyed about their own mortality and writing sad slow songs about desperate sad lonely men. The song itself is seemingly written in parts. Starts off slow and just barely reached mid paced with a slow riffed section which is rather boring it must be said and even Bruce can't save it. The chorus is a little bit better with keys in the background that add emotion and "mood" to lend the song that melancholic feel. The lead solos are actually quite nice and melodic but do go quite a bit before that emotional chorus returns to take us home wards. Too downbeat and morose for me. 7/10

Empire of the Clouds

Seat belts signs on. This is gonna be a long one. Luckily the song is pretty damn amazing. It is a bit sad like the general theme of the previous songs but no doubt it is a masterpiece. It starts off typically slow and melancholic with audible classical instruments and a piano motif that is repeated later on in the song. Bruce makes his first appearance just after the 2 minute mark and starts spinning this historical yarn about some massive balloon or something and a man's ambitious plans. We reach midway through the fourth minute before and electric guitar plays the first slow riff accompaniment to the song.

Sure it's bloated as all hell but it sounds very cool and you can understand the need for length...just...though they are pushing it to the boundaries of course. If they play this live it will be amazing of course and what a feat of memory to play and sing it all.

At around the seven minute mark the song goes into a different melodic section with guitars taking over from the softer instruments with a proggier section and playing a catchy melody which sounds a bit like the Marseillese the French national anthem before things speed up considerably with the repetition of the riff but a bit faster before enter the mid paced and melodic riff section that I can imagine the fans woooahh wooahh-ing to if it's played live. The first solo of the song comes and goes but it's nothing special.

This extremely long musical mid section saunters way past the twelve minute mark before Bruce finally re-enters the fray with a straining vocal delivery although the melody is really catchy and awesome. Then follows more dramatic classical additions before Bruce once again recounts the flight of the balloon before the music takes a dramatic doomy turn as the balloon sinks from the skies and Bruce slowly ends the story before that nice melody from the beginning of the song resurfaces and the song ends as it began with sombre tones and delicate piano and a sad Bruce recounting the miserable end for this tale. A fine and amazing effort! 10/10

And there we have the new album by the heroes of British heavy metal. So much to absorb and digest. Definitely an interesting listen with many highs and quite a few lows as well but with so much music to sit through it will no doubt reveal more and more after repeated plays. The production on that album as usual remains a contentious issue but it is what the band wanted. Not perfect at all by today's standards but the band doesn't want that sound and we as fans have to accept the music as it's delivered. My overall rating for the album is a solid 8/10 with the chance of reaching a full point higher given further time. The album has four awesome tunes in The Book Of Souls, The Red and The Black, Shadows of the Valley and the awe inspiring Empire of the Clouds. Others may prefer different tracks but those are songs that move me the most at this point and almost make the price of admission worthwhile on their own. Maiden can still create magic but it's hard to do it in every song of course but I'm reasonably happy with this album despite obvious production flaws and average song writing drop offs. I'll be spinning this on a regular basis hoping for inspiration to rear its head in some of the lesser tracks and hopefully that will be the case.  Hopefully I'll see them live on tour in 2016 and not for the last time either. Up The Irons!