Album Review: "A Matter of Life and Death" - Iron Maiden (2006)

Despite owning a few of their discs, I've never been a massive Iron Maiden fan, much preferring their contemporaries Judas Priest, but I saw this at Future Shop on Saturday for $9.99, took a flyer on it, and oh my, what a steal it has turned out to be. This album is simply amazing. One-hundred-note-a-minute guitar solos, complex time changes that don't compromise melody, and a punchy, aggressive drum sound all combined with near-symphonic writing. The only negative is that Bruce Dickinson's vocals sound a little strained at times and are somewhat lower in the mix than they should be, but this is still one of the best rock albums, top to bottom, that I've heard in quite a long time. Even though these guys have been at it for thirty years, as long as their creative juices are flowing deeply enough to release quality like this, they'll still be around for a while yet, and properly so, proving the timelessness of one of the great loves of my life - heavy metal music.

Overall rating: 9/10