Era da "Dance Of Death" che la bestia non faceva visita nel mio lettore con novità succulente (a parte il discreto live "Death On The Road") e ora è tornata, stupendoci con emozioni diverse ma sempre intense.
Perché l'ultimo album degli Iron Maiden è diverso, non brutto attenzione, ma è l'evoluzione naturale delle traccie "Paschendale" e "Journeyman" del lavoro precedente che in queste dieci tracce prendono forma e sostanza. Naturalmente non mancano canzoni nello stile classico degli Iron maiden, penso allo speed metal di "Different World" (migliore di "The Wickerman" e "Wildest Dreams", anche se a tratti ricorda "Rainmaker") o a "The Pilgrim", forse il brano più classico dell'intero disco.
Della nuova sperimentazione vanno citate obbligatoriamente "The Longest Day", "Out Of The Shadows" (che ci riporta indietro di tanti anni alle splendide ballate maideniane come "Children of The Damned") e "For The Greater Good Of God", piuttosto strana è la conclusiva "The Legacy" a metà tra il metal e un cantico medievale. Ciò che un po' irrita è lo schema sempre uguale delle canzoni, la parte iniziale e introduttiva della canzone è uguale alla parte conclusiva e tutti i brani scorrono tranquilli (mancano sfuriate insomma), ma questi sono i Maiden del 2006, prendere o lasciare e io prendo ! Elemento coagulante dell'intero album, oltre all'onnipresente basso di Harris, le tre chitarre che per la prima volta si incastrano alla perfezione tra riff epici e assoli, ottimo come sempre il lavoro di batteria e fenomenale la performance di Mr. Bruce Dickinson che davvero meraviglia il nostro udito.
Insomma se non è un capolavoro, ci manca poco, dopotutto gli Iron Maiden sono una certezza. E non mi venissero a dire che il cd è pacchiano, sofisticato e privo di mordente, perché vuol dire che non è stato ascoltato abbastanza !
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
04 The Pilgrim (05:07)
The keys to death and hell
The ailing kingdom doomed to fail
The bonds of sin and heart will break
The pilgrims course will take
Quelling the devils might
And ready for eternal fight
Aching limbs and fainting soul
Holy battles take their toll
Liberty and hope divine
Changing the water into wine
So to you we bid farewell
Kingdom of heaven to hell
Spirit holy life eternal
Raise me up take me home
Pilgrim sunrise pagan sunset
Onward journey begun
To courage find and gracious will
Deliver good from ill
Clean the water clean our guilt
With us do what you will
Then will my judge appear
Bear no false angel that I hear
For only then I will confess
To my eternal hell
Now give us our holy sign
Changing the water into wine
So to you we bid farewell
Kingdom of heaven to hell
Spirit holy life eternal
Raise me up take me home
Pilgrim sunrise pagan sunset
Onward journey begun
SOLO
Now give us our holy sign
Changing the water into wine
So to you we bid farewell
Kingdom of heaven to hell
Spirit holy life eternal
Raise me up take me home
Pilgrim sunrise pagan sunset
Onward journey begun
Spirit holy life eternal
Raise me up take me home
Pilgrim sunrise pagan sunset
Onward journey begun
06 Out of the Shadows (05:36)
Hold a halo round the world
Golden is the day
Princes of the Universe
your burden is the way
So there is no better time
who will be born today
A gypsy child at day break
A king for the day
Out of the shadows and into the sun
Dreams of the past as the old ways are done
Oh there is beauty and surely there is pain
But we must endure it, to live again
Dusty dreams in fading daylight
Flicker on the walls
Nothing new your life's adrift
What purpose to it all?
Eyes are closed and death is calling
Reaching out its hand
Call upon the starlight to surround you
Out of the shadows and into the sun
Dreams of the past as the old ways are done
Oh there is beuty and surely there is pain
But we must endure it, to live again
Out of the shadows and into the sun
Dreams of the past as the old ways are done
Oh there is beauty and surely there is pain
But we must endure it, to live again
Out of the shadows and into the sun
Dreams of the past as the old ways are done
Oh there is beauty and surely there is pain
But we must endure it, to live again
Out of the shadows and into the sun
Dreams of the past as the old ways are done
Oh there is beauty and surely there is pain
But we must endure it, to live again
A man who casts no shadow has no soul
07 The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (07:22)
Let me tell you 'bout my life,
Let me tell you 'bout my dreams,
Let me tell you 'bout the things that happen, all is real to me.
Let me tell you of my hope, of my need to reach the sky,
Let me take you on an awkward journey, let me tell you why.
Let me tell you why
Why should these curses be laid upon me?
I won't be forgiven 'til I can break free
What did I do to deserve all this guilt?
Pay for my sins, for the sale of my soul
Demons are trapped all inside of my head
My hopes of god reach for heaven from hell
My sins are many
My guilt is too heavy
The pressure of knowing of hiding what I know.
I'm able to see things
Things I don't wanna see
The lies of a thousand souls weigh heavy down on me
I know they're crying for help reaching out
The burden of them will take me down as well
The sin of a thousand souls knocked out in vain
Reincarnate still in me live again
Someone to save me
Something to save me from myself
To bring salvation
To exorcise this hell
Someone to save me
Something to save me from myself
To bring Salvation
To exorcise this hell
Someone to save me
Something to save me from my hell
Our destination away from this nightmare
Someone to save me
Something to save me from myself
To bring salvation
To exorcise this hell
10 The Legacy (09:22)
Tell you a thing
That you ought to know
Two minutes of your time
Then on you go
Tell tale of the men
All dressed in black
That most of them
Not coming back
Sent off to the war
To play little games
And on their return
Can't name no names
Some strange yellow gas
Has played with their minds
Has reddened their eyes
Removed all the lies
And strange as it sounds
Death knows no bounds
How many get well
Only time will tell
Only time will tell
SOLO
You lie in your death bed now
But what did you bring to the table
Brought us only holy sin
Utter trust is a deadly thing
To the prayer of holy peace
We didn't know what was lying underneath
So how could we be such fools
And to think that we thought you the answer
I can't begin to understand in all the lies
But on your death bed I can see it in your eyes
Just as clear as all the sweat upon your brow
It really makes sense I can see it clearly now
Tangled up in a web of lies
Could have been a way to prophesise
Unaware of the consequence
Not aware of the secrets that you kept
Nothing that we could believe
To reveal the façade of faceless men
Not a thing that we could foresee
Now a sign that would tell us the outcome
You had us all strung out with
promises of peace
But all along you cover plan was to deceive
Can it put to rights now only time will tell
Your prophecies will send us all to hell as well
Left to all our golden sons
All to pick up on the peace
You could have given all of them
A little chance... at least
Take the world to a better place
Given them all just a little hope
Just think what a legacy
You now... will leave
SOLO
We seem destined to live in fear
And some that would say Armageddon is near
But where there's a life - well there's hope
That man won't self destruct
Why can't we treat our fellow man
With more respect and a shake of their hands
But anger and loathing is rife
The death on all sides is
becoming a way of life
We live in an uncertain world
Fear, understanding and ignorance
is leading to death
Only the corpses are left
For vultures that prey on their bones
But some are just not wanting peace
Their whole life is death and misery
The only thing that they know
Fight fire with fire life is cheap
But if they do stop to think
That man is teetering right on the brink
But do you think that they care
They benefit from death and pain and despair
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di rourke
È un brano compatto, sulla linea dei recenti pezzi che la band ha confezionato e presenta un perfido groove 7/8!
Io penso che sia un album ineccepibile per la produzione, la tecnica e per la prestazione vocale di Bruce ma lo trovo un pò dispersivo e prolisso.
Di MoonWolf
I Maiden hanno smesso di recitare la parte degli Irons canonizzati per essere qualcosa di coerente ma completamente diverso al contempo.
Un brano che racchiude la potenza di un calcio nello stomaco e la delicatezza di un fiore di montagna, brillante, più di mille soli.
Di lonelydreamer
A Matter Of Life And Death è un lavoro dove ogni cosa sembra essere perfetta.
Signori, the beast is back, e nonostante l'età è anche piuttosto arrabbiata ed in forma!!
Di AndJusticeForAll
"I cori in 'These Colours Don't Run' sono imbarazzanti, le ritmiche sono tremendamente scontate e gira e rigira, il riff è sempre quello."
"Prendete anche 7 chitarristi, che per fare 4 accordi bastano e avanzano, e continuate a vendere merce di qualità infima."
Di dariogreat
È un disco.. che potrei definire difficile rispetto ai due precedenti, ricco di sperimentazioni e di pathos.
Un disco da comprare e da sentire con calma per apprezzarlo, poco da fare.
