Iron Maiden - Matter of Life and Death (CD)

All Music Guide

2003's Dance of Death marked the triumphant return of oldschool Iron Maiden. Gone were the murky, overproduced set pieces that clogged 2000s Brave New World and in their place fell blistering slabs of Piece of Mindera metal. That trend continues with their 14th fulllength album Matter of Life and Death, a more elaborate and meandering experience than Dance of Death, but a rewarding one for fans willing to indulge the group's occasional excess. At over 70 minutes, Matter of Life and Death is closer to 1988's woefully underrated Seventh Son of a Seventh Son than it is to Piece of Mind, but with far less keyboard tickling. Recorded live in the studio, epics like "Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg," "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns," and the brutal "Longest Day" the whole record is a looselyknit song cycle with war at its core exhume prog rock complexity and discipline yet manage to bristle with the kind of smallclub intensity usually reserved for acts half their age. At just over four minut...es, opener "Different World" a near twin of Dance of Death's "Wildest Dreams" is the only cut that screams single, but it's also the most misplaced. On a record that positions beloved avatar Eddy on top of a tank with a machine gun leading a weary troop of skeletal soldiers to their doom, any act of brevity, no matter how expertly crafted, sticks out like a saxophone solo. [Matter of Life and Death is also available with a bonus DVD that includes videos, live performances, and rehearsal footage.] - James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide Read more Less