From the brutal to the sludgy to the experimental to the symphonic, we raise our horns in welcome and warning to the coming week: we are here to ROCK.

A new millenium, a new chapter in the Eddie Chronicles. With 2000’s Brave New World, Iron Maiden really did have something to prove: Bruce Dickinson & Adrian Smith had returned, so were they going to go back to being the Iron Maiden of old, or would they try something new?

Both/And is, of course, the correct answer.

Taking advantage of their 3 guitar line-up, Iron Maiden recorded Brave New World pretty much live in the studio with a producer (Kevin Shirley) known for getting punchy, ‘live’ sound from artists. The resulting album remains a triumph of the Maiden catalogue, but closer “The Thin Line Between Love and Hate” is a triumph of triumphs. Galloping tempos, power balladry, face-melting solos, “Hotel California”-esque trade-off solos, some more solos…it’s all here in an extended track that reflects philosophically on the meaning, not only of death—as we’d come to expect from Maiden—but of life.

I will hope, my soul will fly, so I will live forever/Heart will die, my soul will fly, and I will live forever

By Craig E. Bacon

Husband, Father, Philosopher, Music/Beer/Comics Enthusiast—Craig has written for The Prog Report and ProgRadar, and now serves as de facto progressive music editor for MusicTAP. Please direct interview requests & review submissions to [email protected]