(Metal) Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death

[HondoII]

Dance Of Death
Released: September 8th, 2003 :: UK Chart Position: 2

http://www.ironmaiden.com/discography/discography_IMG/dod_l.jpg

Track Listing:
1. Wildest Dreams (Smith/Harris)
2. Rainmaker (Murray/Harris/Dickinson)
3. No More Lies (Harris)
4. Montsegur (Gers/Harris/Dickinson)
5. Dance Of Death (Gers/Harris)
6. Gates Of Tomorrow (Gers/Harris/Dickinson)
7. New Frontier (McBrain/Smith/Dickinson)
8. Paschendale (Smith/Harris)
9. Face In The Sand (Smith/Harris/Dickinson)
10. Age Of Innocence (Murray/Harris)
11. Journeyman (Smith/Harris/Dickinson)


A new album from the kings of metal. Dance of Death is a great album. It takes you to places that you never could of dreamed of and is sure to provide a new view that metal still exist and can't die. This album has a similar tone to the previous album "Brave New World".


Wildest Dreams (Smith/Harris)
- This song, being released as a single, has become quite popular and is sure to make you think about your wildest dreams. 4/10

Rainmaker (Murray/Harris/Dickinson)
- Rainmaker is sure to be a legendary song. The riffs are quite powerful and the lyrics just make you want to sing along. One of Maiden's best. 4.5/5

No More Lies (Harris)
- Another powerful song. The lyrics seem to be setting the scene for the "Last Supper" The solo in this song is one of the best i have heard. Its quite long and very soulful. 4.5/5

Montsegur (Gers/Harris/Dickinson)
- If you know Iron Maiden then your sure to know they are a great big history lesson in the form of music. That definitely applies to Monts駵r. The is one of the heaviest songs on the album. This song is based on a bloody event. A little info:

The Cathars were held up in Montsegur, a castle/church
They were rumoured to be holding the Holy Grail.
The Templars were ordered to siege the castle, and get the grail. The Cathars gave there life defending the Grail or handed themselves over to be burned to death before betraying there religion.

None of them survived.
Religions still burning inside

4/5

Dance Of Death (Gers/Harris)
- The title track to this cd. Dance Of Death provides a mistical journey into forest where a man encounters a ritual of death. He is invited to join in. The whole event is surreal to him. When he awoke he was unable to tell if it was just a dream or reality. Of course this was due to the fact that he states that he had one drink but no more (but then again who really only has one drink :lol: ) - 4.5/5

Gates Of Tomorrow (Gers/Harris/Dickinson)
- Gates of Tommorow is my least favorite song on the album. It is in fact quite boring. The solo however is quite powerful. - 1/5

New Frontier (McBrain/Smith/Dickinson)
- Finally a song co-written by everyone's favorite drummer. Nicko "road rage" McBrain. This song seems to be quite religiously influenced dealing with man trying to play God. - 3/5

Paschendale (Smith/Harris)
- Once again Iron Maiden incorporates another history lesson into a song. This is my favorite song on the album. It deals with the Battle of Paschendale during WWI in Belgium. The casualty rate exceeded 30,000 at the end of the battle. Many soldiers died drowning the in the mud or the trenched. The lyrics are extremely powerful and the solo is superb. 5/5

Face In The Sand (Smith/Harris/Dickinson)
- Face In The Sand, this song's intro sounds much like the song "Blood Brothers" of the Brave New World Album. The lyrics are very powerful ans seem to talk abou the events of 9/11 and the aftermath. Describing how everyone is waiting for something to happen and when it does everyone wants to be in for the kill. The riffs are very powerful and provide a mental image of the current events going on it the world today. 4/5

Age Of Innocence (Murray/Harris)
- Yet another superb maiden song. Age of Innocence seems to be describing how people today seem to get away with murder and other crimes and only seem to get a slap on the wrist. It also describes crooked politians. The chorus is quite true. "We only get one chance and we take it," "the age of innocence is fading like an old dream" 3/5

Journeyman (Smith/Harris/Dickinson)
- Journeyman seems to describe the end. Many believe it described the end of Iron Maiden as a band. But i refuse to believe that. This is the first time that Iron Maiden has done a full Acoustic track. It is quite a sad song in my opinion and the lyrics have a meaning. The chorus might sound a little corny but you should love it. (its a great sing along by the way at concerts). 4/5


All in all i would give this album a 4.5/5


*edit* that was NOT a -3/5 it was a - 3/5

[obsoletemind]

a classic album! Absolutely fantastic!!

[Metallifan85]

Great album, and great review :thumb:

[RockerGav]

**** I was gonna do this, but it was taking too long.

I thought your review was very good though.

[epifreak2002]

Genre: Metal
Band: Iron Maiden
Album: Dance of Death

Track list:
1.) Wildest Dreams
2.) Rainmaker
3.) No More Lies
4.) Montsegur
5.) Dance of Death
6.) Gates of Tomorrow
7.) New Frontier
8.) Paschendale
9.) Face in the Sand
10.) Age of Innocence
11.) Journeyman

Wildest Dreams: Not my favorite song. It felt like it had been done before, but hey, it's not bad.

Rainmaker: I liked the intro riff. Definitely a better potential hit than Wildest Dreams.

No More Lies: Nice slower epicier song, but not as good as others.

Montsegur: Possibly the heaviest song on the album.

Dance of Death: Nice story, another longer epic-type. Better than Lies

Gates of Tomorrow: I didn't particularly care for this one by comparison to the others, but it's alright.

New Frontier: Not too much to say about this song. It tends to blend in to Gates of Tomorrow if listened to in one sitting, making for what more-or-less amounts to a 10 min song.

Paschendale: Nice song, I liked the lyrics, but the riff that follows it isn't their greatest.

Face in the Sand: My personal favorite song. It starts out soft, but it is Montsegur's closest competition for heaviest song.

Age of Innocence: A nice darker, blusier tone on this one. Intro is pretty. Nice lyrics.

Journeyman: I liked the idea behind this one. It seems Maiden has done everything but an acoustic song, now they've done everything. That being said, it is slightly flawed. While inspiring, the chorus is repeated a few too many times, but I loved the guitar work on it. This might have been better as an instrumental. Why didn't they try this sooner?

Overall: 4/5
It was an awesome album, but it wasn't enough to make my pop-punk loving brother accept Maiden as more than "just some hair band." (I'm not sure either) Anyway, if you like Maiden, this is deifinitely a safe buy. If you don't like Maiden, you probably won't like it too much. If you've never heard Maiden, what are you waiting for, hear them, and this is a perfectly reccomendable starting place.

Edit: Sorry, I forgot to include some history. This is Maiden's 13th studio album, and they have been quoted as saying that it might be their best. Over the years, Maiden have hugely influenced the world of metal with classics such as Number of the Beast and 2 Minutes to Midnight.

Also, on a side note, the album art is in no way representative of the quality of the music on this cd, because the album art absolutely sucks. Buy it anyway, and throw away the booklet if you must.


Okay, I was surfing through the back pages, and I found another review of the same album, but let me state that when I typed this into the search, it didn't bring anything up, and that list of all reviewed albums is too long to bother with. So, I'm not really sure how to link to another thread; if someone feels like doning so, please do.

[manuscriptreplica]

the album cover is good i thought...
and yeah i knew there was another dance of death review, so i typed it in search and only this review showed up, thats pretty weird...

[HondoII]

thanks a lot

[0000]

A great album, and better than "Brave New World". Maiden are still the kings.

[Deadsy]

I like the album, but it is definitly not their best. I liked most of the songs, Montségur is my favorite and I cannot stand the song Paschendale, it is the most annoying song I have ever heard. The riff is like a video game riff and is very repetitive. 2 songs also sound alike. About the artwork, yea it is not that great, but I learned to deal with it. I listen to this Maiden album the least and I give it a 3.5/5.

[Deadsy]

I can't believe every person loves Paschendale. I absoulutly hate that song, as soon as you think the song is done the high-hat comes in followed by that annoying riff. The starting riff sounds like a video game, after that the riff is alright, then it goes into that heavy bridge that sounds like Cry me a river by Justin Timberlake. I give it a 0.5/5. Dance of Death is obviously not better than Brave New World.

[sting-ray]

i'm going to merge the 2 threads; next time, i delete this one.

[RockerGav]

No its not better than BNW, but Paschendale owns.

[PimpDaddyKabZ]

I was really surprised how they could take the old school Maiden fan and get him back into the world of Iron Maiden with Dance of Death. Its like classic Maiden all over again! Well, the closest thing we'll get to it at least. People always complain that bands lose their roots and their old sound over time. Maiden has proven them wrong with Dance of Death....

[epifreak2002]

I can't believe every person loves Paschendale. I absoulutly hate that song, as soon as you think the song is done the high-hat comes in followed by that annoying riff. The starting riff sounds like a video game, after that the riff is alright, then it goes into that heavy bridge that sounds like Cry me a river by Justin Timberlake. I give it a 0.5/5. Dance of Death is obviously not better than Brave New World.

If you'll read, I did bash the riff....I didn't do it as directly as you did, but I like the rest of the song. Besides, the riff doesn't last that long.

Yeah, sorry about the double post, but I swear it didn't show this when I typed this in the search.

[HondoII]

Paschendale. That is the ULTIMATE history lesson within a song. Montségur...now that song i cant believe people would take over paschendale. Redundant but PASCHENDALE 5/5!

[savarious]

I just got this for X-Mas, I'm loving it.

[refnulf]

here's MY review. I'm posting it mainly because it's on a different wavelength.

Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death
Released: September 8th, 2003

Track Listing:
1. Wildest Dreams (Smith/Harris)
2. Rainmaker (Murray/Harris/Dickinson)
3. No More Lies (Harris)
4. Montsegur (Gers/Harris/Dickinson)
5. Dance Of Death (Gers/Harris)
6. Gates Of Tomorrow (Gers/Harris/Dickinson)
7. New Frontier (McBrain/Smith/Dickinson)
8. Paschendale (Smith/Harris)
9. Face In The Sand (Smith/Harris/Dickinson)
10. Age Of Innocence (Murray/Harris)
11. Journeyman (Smith/Harris/Dickinson)


Ah, the latest maiden. Everyone, including me, was expecting Maiden to slay everyone by releasing a true epic. The expectations were crashing through the roof. Then outcame the single, Wildest Dreams, and i started to have my doubts. But then again, it's maiden, you can't really form opinions by just judging singles!

So anyway, i went out, bought the album. Put it in my cd player, skipped the opener; listened to Rainmaker. Nice track, great opening riff. Fast Forward to 3 hours later, and i'm thoroughly disappointed. One of Maiden's best? No. An epic? No. A great album? No. A good album? Maybe. Disappointing? Absolutely.

Place this album alongside such maiden masterpieces as Killers, Seventh Son, Powerslave, Somewhere In Time, Number of The Beast and you'll know what i mean. By no means a "bad" album, but you'd seriously expect and definitely want more from this legendary metal act.

Upon first listen, you really can't be blamed for loving this album. But the second time around, it seems nothing more than Brave New World outtakes. I'd probably compare Brave New World and Dance Of Death to Metallica's Load And Reload. Although Maiden probably didn't have any intention of things eventually panning out in this absurd and rather disastrous manner, it's happened. The only thing positive about this album is that Bruce Dickinson sounds as amazing as he did on Maiden's finest hours (read 7th Son, Number of The Beast, Powerslave et al). His voice soars and he sings in an almost belligerent manner. If his vocals were average or ever below par, i'd probably have thrown this CD in the dustbin. YES. A maiden CD in the bin! Smith, Gers, Murray have seemingly lost their touch to write catchy, "stuck in the head for ages" type of riffs. Almost all the good riffs that i heard on this album sounded as if they'd just taken riffs from Brave New World and their earlier albums and modified them. The solos however are another good thing. Though not mind-blowing by any stretch of the imagination, they are pretty neat. The songs aren't badly written, it's just that they've been executed in a seemingly despicable manner. Some maiden clone band could probably end up writing a better album. Whereas Maiden had the catchiness yet still the heaviness of previous albums, this one seems stunningly "happy". You could probably play this at some 12year olds birthday and it wouldn't seem out of place.

Maiden never lost the basic of their unique sound, and probably never will. Now i'm going to go out on a limb here, and suggest that it's about time Maiden made some rather significant yet subtle changes to their sound. Either that, or they should just hang up their boots. Considering that their masterpieces were released back when the world was warming up to the band, and when they were considered "great" and one of the "greatest acts in the world". They just seem to be content to sit atop their laurels at the moment. Nothing wrong with that; they can still go on and release albums such as Dance of Death, and they'd still be enjoyed. But that's it. They'd be enjoyed. No one is going to be inspired by them. They aren't going to break any new ground. Maiden have always prided themselves on the fact that they're one of the best old-school songwriters in the world. I think now it's time they either hung up their boots and retired with that tag intact, or they could go on and decide to make a few more mediocre albums like this.


PS: No flaming please. Constructive criticism is overwhelmingly welcome.

[Deadsy]

Besides, the riff doesn't last that long.

omg..Yes it does, the riff makes me want to kill myself.

[manuscriptreplica]

^^ you talkin about pascendale? it goes forever.

[brycey]

it's a great song, i admit it does drag on a little, but it is really good.

i've been reading some great reviews in this thread.

well done everyone. :thumb:

[HondoII]

its still awesome

[capt_midnight]

at first i loved the whole album, but now i just cant be bothered listening to it, not sure why, maybe it doesn't have the lasting appeal of songs such as reign of the ancient mariner and the trooper.

[HondoII]

its RIME...sorry had to correct that lol

[epifreak2002]

its still awesome

Of course it is; it's Maiden. What did you expect? Emo?

[HondoII]

Of course it is; it's Maiden. What did you expect? Emo?


why would i expect EMO?

[Badmoon]

-3/5

:lol:

[HondoII]

it was meant to say - 3/5 lol

[furiox]

OK...Reading this, I've managed to start singing "Gates of Tomorrow", then "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Then start mixing in "Phantom of the Opera" (Random, But it's one of my favorites.) . But I have to say, above all, the older albums were great, even though I can't stop listening to this one...My favorite songs are still "The Trooper," "Aces High," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," "Phantom of the Opera," and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." I would love to see Maiden in concert some day...

[The Clansman]

One of Maiden's best? No. An epic? No. A great album? No. A good album? Maybe. Disappointing? Absolutely.



I don't get the point of saying this was a disappointing album. If anything, Maiden's only disappointing album had to be No Prayer for Dying. Sure, Paschendale is an extremly depressing song, but it's one of the best pieces of music I have ever heard in my life...and that's really saying something.

[PoliticallyIncorrectMetalhead]

Great Reviews. But people actually making fun of Pachendale. What is this world coming to.