The Book of Souls: General album discussion

I got the album Friday morning and I have been through it three times now. Overall impressions: The album is quite a meal to digest, lots going on here, which is probably the intended point. The playing is very strong, and Bruce in particular sounds rejuvenated. I thought he strained too much on Frontier, and though there are a few moments like that on Souls, for the most part he sounds very good. Pretty amazing that he had tongue and throat cancer when he recorded this and still sounds so good! Souls has better melodies throughout than any album since Brave New World, though obviously still more prog-heavy and less melodic than the 80s stuff. Typical Kevin Shirley sound, muddy and squashed, supposedly to create a "live" feel but it really doesn't, though he probably gets credit for pushing the band creatively. If only Martin Birch could be brought out of retirement. Biggest musical surprise is the heavy use of keyboards throughout, sounds good. Overall I'm very pleased, I already like it better than Frontier, and it is in the same range of goodness as Matter and Brave, subject to further listening. In other words, I think "masterpiece" is an apt word.

Here are my song-by-song notes, if you give a damn.

If Eternity Should Fail: sounds like a Bruce solo song, wouldn't have been out of place on Chemical Wedding, and the spoken word bit at the end reminded me of Book of Thel. I could have done without the repetitive chorus at the end, but I like the song nonetheless. It follows up on Satellite 15... as an unconventional album-opener.

Speed of Light: it's been out awhile, and it's the song I've heard the most. I really like it, it's well constructed. Bruce strains a little bit, but mostly sounds good.

Great Unknown: A little formulaic, you've got the quieter intro for about 90 seconds, but I like the sinister-sounding build to the heavy part. Bruce seems to venture outside his vocal range at times. This song has some very cool hooks, I really like the melody of the chorus. The brief instrumental break before the solos reminds me of Hallowed.

The Red and the Black: Love it. The bass intro/outro is very cool. The initial guitar riff, which the verses track exactly, is simple, crunching and catchy. The "whoa oh" chorus is a bit silly and reminds me of Heaven Can Wait, but it will definitely work live. I like the melody of the secondary chorus, again, it's simple, but it works, and it is in the perfect range for Bruce. Heavy keyboards here. The instrumental sections, though, are when this really takes off and moves from good to great. The Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead could have learned something about extended jam sessions from Iron Maiden. If this song lasted 30 minutes in concert, I'd be cool with it. Solos are terrific.

When the River Runs Deep: The opening bars are weak, but then the riff kicks in, and kicks ass. Catchy melody in the chorus too. Very sold. First solo (Janick?) was kind of lame, just repeated the riff, but the next solo (Davey?) is an improvement, and then of course Adrian's solos are magnificent here.

Book of Souls: One of the two best riffs on the whole album, Janick has outdone himself here. This will be the centerpiece of the tour, I'm certain. Bruce sounds amazing here, it fits his range nicely. Heavy keyboards again. The fast part starting just before the ~6 minute mark is killer. Great song. Strong candidate for best on the album.

Death or Glory: Not quite Aces High, but a very solid rocker with a strong, heavy riff. Even if it's based on a historical quote, "climbs like a monkey" is still a silly line for a rock song. But Maiden has always had a slice of whimsy in their otherwise very serious sounding music, and this is no difference. Chorus melody isn't that inspired. This song evokes the No Prayer album for me.

Shadows of the Valley: I like this one quite a bit, nimble opening riff, lots of good melodies and hooks in this one. I don't even have to check the liner notes to know that Janick wrote or co-wrote this, he has developed a unique songwriting style, and has become one of the best writers in the group. Bruce sounds great too. Not so sure about the lyrics here, but musically it's very enjoyable. Keyboards once again prominent.

Tears of a Clown: Another candidate for best in show. The other of the two best riffs on the album. Best "short" song Maiden have created since Wicker Man.

Man of Sorrows: Doesn't really grab me as much as the others. Not sure why.

Empire of the Sun: Very very cool on a first listen, emotional and moving. Bruce paints a vivid picture with words and sounds. He sounds great too, and I very much like the piano base on which the song is constructed. The melody is very lovely, but it is repeated an awful lot. It does have a musical theater feel to it, which may be intended, but that's not necessarily my cup of tea. The song does have a few twists and turns, which you'd expect in an 18-minute song -- the "SOS" Morse code riff made me smile, and the guitar riff that precedes it is magnificent. Still, may be an "anti-grower" (shrinkage?). I wonder how well this will hold up to repeated listens. I wonder whether they will play it live. I wonder whether, in a year, I will want them to. I hope so.
 
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Consumer Of Souls said:
Random thought, but I hope this girl makes a cover of some song/songs from this album. Maybe empire of the clouds.

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I'm amazed at what a human creature is capable of doing. Hats off to this lady. I'm floored.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience my favourite Maiden song in this way.
 
Cornfed, I agree with almost everything you've said, except for The Great Unknown, which I find to have the strongest melodies on the album. That verse is still the catchiest thing on the whole thing to me.
 
Four careful listens separated by days off, listening to other music, AMOLAD, BNW, TFF… (two listens from the actual CD).

First of all, the album as a whole is really… big. It’s a lot to take in, it’s very diverse and cohesive at the same time and sounds very guitar-heavy to me. The production isn’t a problem, IMHO, since I know nothing about production. It’s not ear-piercing like DoD is, so I’m more or less satisfied. If anything, the drums may suffer from the production a bit.

The album is very strange for Maiden, I really didn’t expect that. It sound like them, but it’s very different. I think they didn’t try anything this experimental since FotD at least, maybe ever.

Janick gets better and better with every release (is it even possible? :p ), maybe not as a composer (The Legacy/Dance/The Talisman trio is still unsurpassed), but his songs are highlights to me anyway, along with IESF and TRATB.

Bruce is definitely in a better shape than on TFF and on some songs he completely blew me away (IESF, Empire), however sometimes he still sounds a bit strained - that ruined the intro to WtRRD for me, for example.

I like SoL much more in the context of the album. Actually all the short songs are quite solid, my favorite is probably WtRRD (I really like the slow chorus, the intro is a bit weaker, though).

Jury’s still out on EotC, although it’s definitely a grower. It seems very emotional to me.

TRatB is just amazing. The beginning is completely astonishing, the instrumental section is even better if that’s possible. I absolutely disagree with those “too long/too disjointed” opinions. I could probably live without the whoahs, though.

If Eternity Should Fail - some tweaks here and there and I could totally imagine this one on The Chemical Wedding (that’s a compliment, in case you didn’t know). From the moment I first heard the chorus I knew this album and me would be friends. I could live without the spoken outro, though.

The Great Unknown - am I the only one who totally hears some The X Factor vibe there? A rather strange song, but I like it very much.

Man of Sorrows - again, a weird one from Dave - I like this maybe even more than TMWWBK.

I don’t know whether it’s the best Maiden yet. Is it better than AMOLAD, TFF or TXF (my current favorites)? I honestly don’t know. In the words of the supergroup Asia, Only Time Will Tell.
 
No way I can keep up with those of you posting how this compares to other Maiden albums.
It's definitely good, but it's also immense. I'm still soaking it in.
Impressions after a week of repeated listenings (definitely still in flux):

If Eternity Should Fail: The album's most accessible song. The "progressive" elements are more gimmicky than musical. It doesn't challenge you like many of the songs here, but its melodies and atmosphere are strong and it's an enjoyable listen. I don't put it on repeat, but I never skip it either.
Speed of Light: I like Maiden singles and this is a good one. The solos, the chorus and the harmony riff are top-notch. Not getting a lot of play at the moment because it's not as fresh as the others.
The Great Unknown: not obvious at all, but dark and powerful. It's compact, yet it has a lot going on. Definitely becoming a go-to song for me.
The Red and the Black: my go-t0 song early. I think I may have posted this elsewhere, but it's a joyfully weird mix of the unexpected and the very familiar. The last four minutes are my favourite moments on the album.
When the River Runs Deep: I waver between "worst track" and "surprisingly good." Low on my airplay list, but when I do give it careful listen I enjoy it. Could be a grower.
The Book of Souls: Haven't given this one the attention it deserves yet. One of the best things about new Maiden albums is the way certain songs can lurk behind shinier new toys for a while before you can appreciate their glory. Kind of looking forward to that time with this song.
Death or Glory: This has really clicked with me as a glorious throwback — the bastard child of Running Free and Aces High and the most fun Maiden song of the reunion era. They have to play this live.
Shadows of the Valley: See When the River above. To me, this is the song that sounds the least fresh and unique on the record.
Tears of a Clown: Maiden doesn't write many (any?) smart, conventional mid-tempo rock songs. Fortunately, I like smart, conventional rock songs and this a great example. Poignant melodies and lyrics, great solos, cool main riff.
The Man of Sorrows: Beautiful, emotional and unconventional. Getting many replays.
Empire of the Clouds: The melodies are beautiful and the story-telling poetic. Brave, different, yet unmistakably Maiden. Getting plenty of opportunity to prove whether it's worthy of being called an all-time track.
 
After a few listens, this is a great Maiden record. There isn't a bad track on it. What other band releases such a strong album for their 16th! And with Maiden that's their 5th good album in a row. Lots of bands don't manage 5 good albums in a row from their debut, never mind albums 12 to 16!

Early days for picking a best song, as there's so many contenders. My least favourite is man of sorrows, it's not a bad track, in fact it could have been a really good one, but the main verse has a strange groove that doesn't click with me.

I think it's the best guitar tone Janick ever had, it's the first album I reckon he's been better than Davey on, as well as that probably the 4th album in a row where he's written a contender for best track on the album too.

Let's hope it's not another 5 years for the next album because they're on fire now.
 
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I have listened to the second disc today. I didn't feel much at all. The beginning of Shadows of the Valley (which is such a typical cliche metal song title) resembles Wasted Years, I thought that was neat. But the rest of the song grinded on my ears and I was so relieved when it was over. Second disc is nothing to write home about so far.
 
can`t belive people moaning about The red and the black! The verse reminds me of the trooper combined with ROTAM. Loving it!
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Cornfed, I agree with almost everything you've said, except for The Great Unknown, which I find to have the strongest melodies on the album. That verse is still the catchiest thing on the whole thing to me.
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Actually, I think we agree on the melody of the chorus...I really like it.

DJMayes said:
I didn't realise that bit of Empire was SOS in Morse. What a beautiful little detail.
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Yup, @ 6:57 and 8:29. Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot.
 
Cornfed Hick said:
Yup, @ 6:57 and 8:29. Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot.
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If that's true, it kind of saves that moment a little... Musically it sounds terrible to me, and it's reassuring to know that there was actually some idea behind it other than them thinking this kind of transition sounds cool. The chord progression during that moment is still corny as hell, though.
 
Cornfed Hick said:
Actually, I think we agree on the melody of the chorus...I really like it.


Yup, @ 6:57 and 8:29. Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot.
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Ahh. Now it makes sense! That part confused the hell out of me.

On the CD: I was finally able to get my CD today. Does anybody find it really super bassy?
 
After a week listening to this album, I'm still impressed by it. Of course it has some little problems, but nothing that can make me feel bored or something like that. I won't compare with other albums, I will just say it's one of the best. There's no bad songs on it in my opinion, even the ones that can be regarded as weak, like WTRRD, still has great moments on it, that makes me not want to skip it while I'm listening to the album. It's amazing how they can make great albums like this after all this years and still have the guts to try new things like TOAC and TMOS. This songs, despite the simple riffs, is so unusual for Maiden, it was really a nice surprise on the album. And I won't even start talking about Empire, this song is in a whole new level of epicness!

I know nothing about production, but in my opinion this album sounds great. I can hear the separate instruments more clearly, while on TFF I had to really concentrate to hear them. Another great highlight is Janick, who created another amazing epic, which has some of the most atmospheric moments on the album. And of course Bruce, who is singing better than on TFF, in my opinion.

I could talk about this album for ages... Today I spamed with text messages a friend of mine, who is a casual Maiden listener, talking about the album and she got really excited and said she would check it on spotify and say her opinions after. Maybe I can finally turn her into a hardcore Maiden fan lol. I think everyone should take 92 minutes of their lives and listen to this. This is the first Maiden release that I'm experiencing, so maybe I sound overly enthusiastic, but that's how I feel at the moment. It may change with time, but I doubt it...
 
Hi All,

For those of you who have the standard/regular version of this CD, can you tell me if the booklet and the artwork inside it, are the same as the deluxe version (but in a different size obviously)?

Thanks.
 
Something that i've noticed talking to some people outside this forum who criticized TBOS, a lot of them say "If this album was released by anyone other than Iron Maiden no one would care" and Fans are blinded by the name of the band (Which can be true sometimes because why else would i listen to FotD?) but to my ears this album is great and the critics heavy metal or otherwise and people who aren't IM fans have said this album is really good too. I Think some people are blinded by their beliefs that IM can't write like they did in 1984 and ignoring the fact that this is a really good album filled with good music.
 
I'll combat that argument (not arguing with you, but rather the people who you're talking about :P ) by saying that if Maiden had released this album in the eighties, it would be considered a masterpiece.
 
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