Brave New World

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In 2000, BRAVE NEW WORLD became the twelfth album released by Iron Maiden.

The entire tracklist includes:



1.The Wicker Man

2.Ghost of the Navigator

3.Brave New World

4.Blood Brothers

5.The Mercenary

6.Dream of Mirrors

7.The Fallen Angel

8.The Nomad

9.Out of the Silent Planet

10.The Thin Line Between Love and Hate



Brave New World is the long-anticipated reunion album featuring the return of Maiden powerhouses Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith. Due to the high emotion surrounding the Maiden's return to their golden-era lineup, this album faced almost impossibly high expectations of the sort that are rarely if ever fully met. But amidst all of this hype, Iron Maiden has exceeded all expectations and produced an album that is the equal of any album since their golden era of the 80s.



At first glance, Brave New World is a progressive album which fits most closely into the same category as Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. Although the guitar and bass synths have been jettisoned in favour of a real keyboard (played by Steve Harris himself), the overall style and mix of the synthesizers are similar. Likewise, the guitar sound has returned to that of the late 80s and Bruce's vocals are once again in top form. Yet upon further introspection, Brave New World seems to be an amalgamation of many different elements drawn from each of the albums since the late 80s – the occult themes of Seventh Son., the social awareness and politics of No Prayer For The Dying and Fear Of The Dark, the personal introspection of The X Factor and the emotional depth of Virtual XI.



Brave New World is somewhat of a misnomer in that the album blazes very little new ground, but instead reiterates the brilliant genius which has carried Iron Maiden throughout their career. All of the best elements from the previous 15 years are combined into one amazing album which is sure to please both old and new fans alike, as well as put to shame certain other formerly heavy metal bands who have abandoned the true path. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the album is Janick "underrated" Gers, who has fully arrived into his own golden era and, in my opinion, is fully the equal of Dave and Adrian in both songwriting and musicianship, even in places surpassing them. His songs are beautifully composed and his guitar solos brilliantly inspired in both complexity and emotional depth that was only hinted by The X Factor and Virtual XI.



Taken as a whole, Brave New World has all of the elements of an instant Iron Maiden classic, including the deep intelligent lyrics, nonstandard song structures, masterful musicianship, as well as a return to the complex artistic genius of Derek Riggs. If I could change anything about Brave New World, I would have written more and longer guitar solos and more interplay between the three guitars, as well as improved the quality of the photos in the CD booklet. Yet these are only minor points in the face of this excellent album which has lived up to and surpassed all of my expectations.