UK AOR super group SHADOWMAN return with the latest album, "Secrets and Lies", their first release in six years! Luckily for us the band personnel remains stable with members from FM (Steve Overland, vocals), Heartland (Steve Harris, guitar), and Thunder (Chris Childs and Harry James, bass and drums respectively).
Apart from the classic line-up, on this new effort Shadowman maintains its quality both in songwriting and production.
Basically and essentially, with "Secrets And Lies", you have five very talented veterans of the genre laying down some genuine and creative AOR / melodic rock. It's merely a fusion of their respective personal and professional experience from their respective bands.
Breaking this down a little more, Shadowman delivers the AOR / Melodic Rock essentials. Overland sings melodic and smooth, with a soulful sometimes bluesy delivery. He's backed up by harmonious vocal arrangements, mostly done by himself.
Melody and harmony, rhythm and groove, envelope every arrangement whether by those vocals, the guitar lines, or the touch of keyboard accent and atmosphere. The songs also turn on catchy hooks in composition, often the chorus, largely the melody. All these things are punctuated by Harris's solid and spicy straight up hard rock guitar solos. 'Gravity' and 'Automatic' are in the vein of the very first Shadowman record, there are the catchy rockers like 'Contagious', title track 'Secrets & Lies', the heavier 'No Smoke Without Fire', and the groovy 'Good Times Bad Times'. A song like 'Be True To Yourself' is an arena ready anthem, crunchy in the guitar line and soaring vocals. And lets not forget the ballads,'Face The Night' and 'Put It All On Love', sugar coated AOR perfection.
"Secrets And Lies" is an album that brings together the sound and experience from all Shadowman's members, that being a mix of FM, Heartland and in lesser degree, Thunder.
Well worth checking out
Disc 1
1. If Eternity Should Fail (Dickinson) 8:28
2. Speed Of Light (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:01
3. The Great Unknown (Smith/ Harris) 6:37
4. The Red And The Black (Harris) 13:33
5. When The River Runs Deep (Smith/ Harris) 5:52
6. The Book Of Souls (Gers/ Harris) 10:27
Disc 2
7. Death Or Glory (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:13
8. Shadows Of The Valley (Gers/ Harris) 7:32
9. Tears Of A Clown (Smith/ Harris) 4:59
10. The Man Of Sorrows (Murray/ Harris) 6:28
11. Empire Of The Clouds (Dickinson) 18:01
Iron Maiden are back, and by god are they back! British heavy metal legends return with their brand new album, the awesome double album (a career first!) "Book Of Souls". Its been five years since Maiden last studio opus, 2010's "The Final Frontier" but judging by the sheer quality of the songs on offer on "Book Of Souls" then its been well worth the wait.
Disc One kicks off with the Dickinson composition, 'If Eternity Should Fail'. The song kicks of with some dark atmospheric keyboard layers and an almost spaghetti western synth trumpet before exploding into one of the heaviest songs that Iron Maiden have ever recorded, yet alone opened an album with! Great start, and its heart warming to hear Bruce in such fine voice!
Next up we have the albums lead single, and in my humble opinion the albums weakest track, the Smith / Dickinson composed, 'Speed Of Light'. Its one of the albums shortest tracks and is destined to become a Maiden classic, with its sing along chorus. Its worthy of noting the energy that both the song and the band seem to posses, something that they have rarely captured in the studio since 1992's "Fear Of The Dark" release.
"The Great Unknown" follows, this time a Smith / Harris composition, and what a song! The song opens with a huge rumbling bass line from Steve Harris before growing into a true Maiden classic, that just keeps on building the atmosphere throughout the songs duration.
"The Red And The Black" is up next. This song is a Harris composition, and to be honest on any other Maiden album this song would have definitely been the album's centre piece. Yet another Maiden classic, so that's four songs in and we have three dead cert new Maiden classics among them!
"When The River Runs Deep", follows, this time being written by Smith and Harris. This song is one of the most metal songs that Iron Maiden have written in years, reminiscent of some early Dio material in places, and at times bringing to mind the Maiden classic's 'Rime Of The Ancient Mariner' and 'Heaven Can Wait'.
Next up we have the albums title track, 'Book Of Souls', this time being written by Janick Gers and Steve Harris. This song is huge! Filled to the brim with spooky atmospheres, this ode to the Mayans is simply a huge towering track, and well deserving of its status of being the albums title track. Opening with a simple acoustic guitar and a slowly building atmospheric keyboard layer, before exploding into this huge Iron Maiden classic akin to 'To Tame A Land' and 'Alexander The Great'. Simply magnificent. That closes out disc one of the this two disc opus, and would by the standards of any mere mortal band, that would constitute a great album, but this is Iron Maiden, so lets get onto disc two!
Disc Two opens with the Smith / Dickinson composition, 'Death Or Glory'. This tale of World War I fighter pilots is a ripping track, bursting at the seams with energy. This is one of the albums shortest tracks and definitely destined to become a live favourite!
'Shadows Of The Valley' follows, this time the song is another Janick Gers and Steve Harris composition. With an intro that could have just stepped off of the grooves of 1986's "Somewhere In Time" album, this mid-paced song is simply a maze of riffs and hooks, dark hues and a distinct of the supernatural permeate throughout this track. Guaranteed to become another Maiden classic.
"Tears Of A Clown" is up next. This one is a Smith/ Harris composition, and a tribute to the late great comedian, Robin Williams, who sadly committed suicide in 2014 after his long battle with depression. The song simply asks the question, how can someone who brings so much joy, feel so much pain? tragic subject, but a brilliant song non the less.
The next song on this immense opus of an album is 'The Man Of Sorrows'. This is not Iron Maiden version of Bruce's track from 2005, 'Man Of Sorrows' from Bruce's "Accident At Birth" album. No this track features the only writing credit for guitarist Dave Murray on this album, being a Murray / composition. This is a blues-tinged number that sees the guitarists showcasing a slightly different side of the talents. Once again Bruce is fine voice, as he has been throughout the entire album!
Now every Iron Maiden album since time began has featured and epic over blown masterpiece as the closing track, usually written by Steve Harris, and usually the albums centre piece. Well "Book Of Souls" is no different, only this time the master piece has been composed by vocalist Bruce Dickinson, And what a masterpiece it is! Clocking in at a mighty eighteen minutes and one second, 'Empire Of The Clouds' is Iron Maiden's most grandiose and ambitious song to date. To my knowledge this is also the only song that Iron Maiden have recorded that features a piano and cello so prominently! 'Empire Of The Clouds' is Bruce telling the tale of the tragically doomed R101 airship (or Zeppelin) in 1930. A fantastic piece of story telling and a magnificent opus of a song ta boot!
So there you have it, Iron Maiden return with what is quite possibly their best album ever in the form of the double album, "Book Of Souls" and definitely the best album that will be released in 2015. This album would be a great album to bow out on should the band choose to call it a day after their forth coming mammoth world tour next year, but judging by the quality and creativity on display throughout 2Book Of Souls" I hope they choose to record at least one more album, especially considering Bruce's recent victory in his battle with cancer.
Long Live Iron Maiden!
This album is simply a must for any fan of the band, or any fan of any metal genre!
Label - Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA)
Track listing:
01 - Aces High 02 - 2 Minutes To Midnight 03 - Losfer Words (Big 'Orra) 04 - Flash Of The Blade 05 - The Duellists 06 - Back In The Village 07 - Powerslave 08 - Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
As previously featured here, let's continue with IRON MAIDEN catalog albums which have been Remastered for iTunes, encoded from 24-bit / 96 khz high resolution masters. All these albums have been freshly mastered with iTunes in mind, delivering the music to listeners exactly the way the artist and recording engineer intended. These are brand new 2015 remasters from their original analog sources, exclusively produced for iTunes.
Now it's time for "Powerslave".
The third in a trilogy of legendary Iron Maiden albums, "Powerslave" is frequently ranked as the fan favourite of the bunch, capping off a stellar run that sealed the band's genre-defining status. If "The Number of the Beast " was the all-time metal landmark, 'Powerslave' is perhaps the quintessential Maiden album, capturing all the signature elements of the band's definitive era in one place. The album opens with Maiden at their catchiest, turning in a pair of metal classics right off the bat with the British hit singles "Aces High" (a high-speed ode to a WWII air battle) and the apocalyptic "2 Minutes to Midnight".
Next we get an instrumental, "Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)," of the sort that Maiden periodically deployed to keep fans in awe of their technical chops. A pair of their best and most overlooked album tracks follows; "Flash of the Blade" and "The Duellists" exemplify the glory-minded battle hymns that made up such an important part of their lyrical obsessions, even if both are about sword fighting rather than modern military history. By the end of the album, we're seeing Maiden at their most progressive and ambitious. The seven-minute title track, "Powerslave", builds on the previous album's "To Tame a Land" with its use of Middle Eastern melodies, delving into Egyptian mythology for a rumination on power and mortality. This leads into the biggest, most grandiose epic in the Maiden catalogue: "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," a multi-sectioned, thirteen-and-a-minute prog-fest adapted from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem. Though it isn't exactly what you'd call hooky, its shifting moods and lofty intellectual aspirations made it a live favourite.
Steve Harris continues; "Now with this fresh mastering, the guitars are louder, the drums more substantial and the overall tone is so very much improved, in my opinion. Tony Newton and Ade Emsley, who worked closely with me on the project, did a terrific job recapturing everything from the original masters, and together we've re- mastered them all digitally and I'm really happy with the results." Tony Newton adds: "The process started with locating all of the original album mix tapes (or whichever format they were mixed to). Then the choice of analogue to digital convertor was chosen for the most accurate capture to make it as close as possible to the sound of the mix as it was intended by the band. When a lot of these tapes were last captured it was in the 1980s, early days of digital and only 44.1khz/16bit files were possible. On top of this, the new A/D convertors are far superior now, and, of course, it is possible to produce files of far higher resolution. The result of this is that the songs now sound more defined with added depth and warmth.
And you can tell it: on this new remaster of "Powerslave" there is definitely a difference with the previous versions of this album, perhaps the most notorious of this new batch of remasters.
Its clearer, fully sounding and well, just bloody well awesome!
Label - Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA)
Track listing:
01 - Where Eagles Dare 02 - Revelations 03 - Flight Of Icarus 04 - Die With Your Boots On 05 - The Trooper 06 - Still Life 07 - Quest For Fire 08 - Sun And Steel 09 - To Tame A Land
Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA) have released 19 IRON MAIDEN catalog albums which have been Remastered for iTunes, encoded from 24-bit / 96 khz high resolution masters. All these albums have been freshly mastered with iTunes in mind, delivering the music to listeners exactly the way the artist and recording engineer intended. These are brand new 2015 remasters from their original analog sources, exclusively produced for iTunes.
Now lets take a listen to "Peace Of Mind".
"Piece Of Mind" marks the debut of what many regard as the definitive Maiden line up, with the arrival of new drummer Nicko McBrain. McBrain's ability to duplicate the complex patterns of the guitar and bass riffs gives the band a seamless ensemble unity. Even Steve Harris, whose busy bass lines were never exactly groove-oriented, has never felt more integrated into the overall sound. Perhaps part of that feeling comes from the less frantic pace; the average tempo has slowed somewhat from the preceding album, and the NWOBHM influences still present there have been slightly changed to a more 'international sound'. Instead, we get a few moodier, heavier pieces (especially "Revelations") that make the album darker-sounding overall. We also get greater involvement in the song writing from Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith, whose themes are perfectly in tune with Steve Harris' epic storytelling. Nearly every song here was inspired by movies or literature, whether it's history, mythology, sci-fi, or fantasy; this approach got them tagged as a thinking-man's metal band.
Of course, 2Peace Of Mind" gave us such Iron Maiden classics as 'Where Eagles Dare', 'Revelations','Flight Of Icarus', 'Die With You Boots On', 'Still Life' and the ageless anthem, 'The Trooper'!
With the remasters you really can hear just how intricate the guitar work is on 'Revelations', the previously buried sound effects in 'Where Eagles Dare', the texts and atmosphere in 'Still Life'. I also have to say that one of my favourite Iron Maiden tracks of all time, 'To Tame A Land', sounds even more of a monster now!
I know that many fans get irritated with the constant re-releases and remaster's that many of the bigger bands put out, but this is one set that really is worth having!
Label - Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA)
Track listing:
01 - Invaders 02 - Children Of The Damned 03 - The Prisoner 04 - 22 Acacia Avenue 05 - The Number Of The Beast 06 - Run to the Hills 07 - Gangland 08 - Hallowed Be Thy Name
Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA) have released nineteen IRON MAIDEN catalog albums which have been Remastered for iTunes, encoded from 24-bit / 96 khz high resolution masters. All these albums have been remastered with iTunes in mind, delivering the music to listeners exactly the way the artist and recording engineer intended. These are brand new 2015 remasters from their original analog sources, exclusively produced for iTunes. Now let's take a listen to my favourite Iron Maiden album, the essential "The Number Of The Beast".
From the opening drums of 'Invaders' to the closing tones of 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' you can hear the difference with this remaster. Everything is so much clearer, sharper, the guitars are louder, the drums more substantial and the overall tone is so very much improved, in my opinion.
"The Number Of The Beast" was the first album to feature the vocal talents of one Mr Bruce Dickinson (formerly known as Bruce Bruce whilst with Samson), and spawned such Iron Maiden classics as 'Children Of The Damned', ''The Prisoner', 'Run To The Hills', 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' and of course the mighty title track itself, 'The Number Of The Beast'.
No ones needs telling just how good this album is, of course that goes without saying, but these new remasters really do add an entirely new dimension to the songs, You can hear all the intricate acoustic guitar work of 'Children Of The Damned' for example, or the fantastic drumming of the late Clive Burr on the proto thrash track 'Gangland', the layering of the guitars on the title track, 'The Number Of The Beast', or the brooding power and menace of 'Run To The Hills'.
As I have already said, these new remasters really do add that extra dimension to the songs, really lifting them, giving them an almost contemporary sound in fact. And 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' has never sounded better, absolutely awesome!
I know that many fans get irritated with the constant re-releases and remasters that many of the bigger bands put out, but this is one set that really is worth having!
Label - Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA)
Track listing:
01 - Prowler
02 - Remember Tomorrow
03 - Running Free
04 - Phantom Of The Opera
05 - Transylvania
06 - Strange World
07 - Charlotte The Harlot
08 - Iron Maiden
Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA) have released nineteen IRON MAIDEN catalog albums which have been Remastered for iTunes, encoded from 24-bit / 96 khz high resolution masters. All these albums have been remastered with iTunes in mind, delivering the music to listeners exactly the way the artist and recording engineer intended.
These are brand new 2015 remasters from their original analog sources, exclusively produced for iTunes.
Now these remasters are absolutely brilliant, you can hear everything, and I mean everything. Its easy to distinguish between the twin guitar attack, whereas in past mixes they have blurred together at times. Everything is crystal clear, giving the album a, dare I say it, almost contemporary feel. Its great to hear classics like 'Prowler', 'Running Free', 'Charlotte The Harlot' and 'Remember Tomorrow', being given a new lease of life.
Iron Maiden's founder member Steve Harris comments about this superior mastering technique: "The Remastering for iTunes procedure allows the listener to experience the music as close as possible to the way the artist intended it to be heard. So, of course, I was very keen for the Iron Maiden albums to be mastered in this way.
The records have been available digitally before, when this medium first became a platform for music distribution, but were mastered with CDs in mind. The iTunes process involves a different approach and it's great to finally deliver the music to our fans in as close to a pure and accurate sound as we could possibly achieve."
"For example, as most people know, I was never really happy with the sound on the first Maiden album, but listening to it now, the guitars are louder, the drums more substantial and the overall tone is so very much improved, in my opinion. Tony Newton and Ade Emsley, who worked closely with me on the project, did a terrific job recapturing everything from the original masters, and together we've re- mastered them all digitally and I'm really happy with the results." Tony Newton adds: "The process started with locating all of the original album mix tapes (or whichever format they were mixed to). Then the choice of analogue to digital convertor was chosen for the most accurate capture to make it as close as possible to the sound of the mix as it was intended by the band. When a lot of these tapes were last captured it was in the 1980s, early days of digital and only 44.1khz/16bit files were possible. On top of this, the new A/D convertors are far superior now, and, of course, it is possible to produce files of far higher resolution. The result of this is that the songs now sound more defined with added depth and warmth.
I know that many fans get irritated with the constant re-releases and remasters that many of the bigger bands put out, but this is one set that really is worth having!
Genre - Hard Rock / Heavy Metal
Label - EMI Records
Track listing -
01. This Is My God
02. Lost Worlds
03. Karma Killer
04. Us Against The World
05. The Chosen Ones
06. A World Without Heaven
07. Judas
08. Eyes Of The Young
09. These Are The Hands
10. The Lesson
Iron Maiden main man Steve Harris brings us his debut solo album, British Lion, a decade in the making, with asoud that is as far away from Iron Maidens as you could get. The album is a solid effort but not as good as one could have expected considering the pedigree involved. The following review is not my own words but I couldnt agree more with what has been said, so I have reproduced it here.
"STEVE HARRIS, the 'Boss' of Iron Maiden is busy touring the States, reliving some of his main band’s most glorious moments at this time.
He's chosen the same time to release his decade in the making – tracked whenever he could get time, on the backburner of Maiden activities - solo album, which is not entirely him flying solo, but more of a collaborative effort, titled "British Lion".
Apparently, Steve was managing this band in the early '90s and kinda liked them a bit too much and while the project really went no-where at the time and his solo company 'Beast Records' went into limbo, he kept in contact with them and decided to salvage the material which he also got involved with, playing the bass and co-writing some of the songs by issuing it under his name, as a solo album.
"British Lion" is not being pushed as a metal project. Singer Simon Dawson and guitarist Grahame Leslie have recorded in many rock&pop sessions, including The Outfield, so expect vocals quite away to the typical metal stuff.
Without being too long, the songs tend to dwell in mid-tempo territory mostly, and sound a bit long winded. The entire band is fine and British as it comes, but there's a bit of lack of fire and bite.
Repeated spins, make the album grow, but you’d really expect something more upbeat from Harris than an average to good album.
“This is my God” really reminded me a bit of Thunder and Zeppelin and while it has a nice groove and generally good ideas, it's a paint-it-by-numbers hard rocker, while “Lost Worlds” has hints of Maiden, in the form of a really long expressive part.
“Karma Killer” is almost how things should have been. It’s got a nasty, groovy and instantly recognizable riff and grooves. Taylor even convinces thoroughly on this one. Good chorus.
“Us Against the World” is one of the best moments here, mixing Maiden with UFO and the Scorpions quite nicely. Taylor’s melodic ideas are very smooth and nice, and there are some very smart guitar flourishes.
“The Chosen Ones” is very Lizzyesque, and simply quite good. But even here, in such a feelgood song, there seems to be a bit of uncertainty. Taylor, exclaims a 'yeah' at some point and it almost sounds forced and not that spontaneous. Another great song, but a little more flair, would have made it an anthem.
On “World Without Heaven” the guitars are lower in the mix than they should, really battling with the bass at point, not because of volume, but because they are just not as fat and sharp as they should.
“Judas” is darker, with a very abrupt drop out in the middle and some acoustics, “Eyes of The Young” is a more carefree, almost a ballad that rocks hard.
The real ballad is final track “The Lesson”, rich in strings that bears resemblances to Dio and maybe even Marillion.
Steve Harris really takes a chance by lending his name to this project, when he could have called it just “British Lion” and be done with, possibly making some people expect something-or-other that’s not a million miles away from Maiden.
What we get is an album with decent songwriting, but a bit lack of bite in the performances & production that ends up being detrimental to the overall result.
A more aggressive sound, tighter playing and more spirited vocal performances in certain songs would have benefited the CD strongly. Even some double vocals, or gang choruses here or there would have worked better.
Harris can do anything he wants and it would do nothing to dent the man's reputation. “British Lion” is just a fine, uncommon hard rock album with some good moments to enjoy."
British Lion is a good album, just not as good as I had hoped for to be honet. Highlight tracks include, Karma Killer, Lost Worlds and Us Against The World.
