A Matter of Life and Death (2015

A Matter of Life and Death is Iron Maiden's 14th album, released in 2006. About half a year ago I started listening to Maiden. Of course, i heard some of their more popular tracks like The Trooper or Run To The Hills a lot earlier, but I never really picked them up (except for one track, Hallowed Be Thy Name) until a couple months ago, when I discovered among my fathers gigantic collection of CDs, one of their albums, namely Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. After listening to it for quite some time, and listening to another album of theirs that my father owned, Dance of Death, I was so interested in more of what they had to offer, that I decided to buy ALL their albums. At the end of July I bought 9 of their albums: Iron Maiden, Killers, The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Fear of the Dark, Brave New World, A Matter of Life and Death and The Book of Souls (I will leave the reviews for all the other albums on their respective pages), of which AMoLaD is definitely one of the best. Here is my opinion on each track: Different World 8/10 A great start to this album. Different World is one of best tracks on it, with the lyrics carrying a message that fits many people in today's world. We're told by everyone around us who to be, what to pursue and how to do things, but everybody has a different outlook on life, with different things that satisfy us, different interests and passions. On top of the positive and relatable message, the song sounds wonderfully, with the solo between 2:20 and 3:00 being its high point. Overall it's a great song, that I like listen to a lot, which is the case for a lot of tracks on this album. These Colours Don't Run 7/10 In my opinion the weakest parts of this track are the second part of the chorus "Far away from the land of our birth [...] These colours don't run, from cold bloody war" and the solo between 3:52-4:10, with pretty much everything else being quite good, and the part between 4:52-5:32 being the best bit of the song. My big problem with later Iron Maiden releases is Bruce Dickinson's voice, which, when he's singing really loud, becomes unpleasant to listen to, almost as if he was just screaming. This track shows this really well, with most of the lyrics being sung quite loud, but still keeping the melody like the tracks from previous albums, but with the second part of the chorus losing that melody and just becoming a scream; a scream that's unpleasant to listen to for a long time, and the fact that it's repeated 4 times throughout the song doesn't help. Lastly, this song is about war, which is a topic I don't really like in songs I listen to. Although some parts of it are interesting (especially the first part of the chorus), I don't like discussing war-oriented lyrics. Overall, it's a fairly solid track, but not as good as the likes of Different World or For The Greater Good Of God. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns 5/10 I'm... 95% sure this song is about atom bombs. Anyway, this song is one of the weakest on the album, with very few parts that I actually enjoy. Despite being the 3rd longest track on the album, its 8:46 are filled with forgettable music and one of the weakest performances of Bruce Dickinson I've heard so far. There's really not much more to say, I don't really like this track. The Pilgrim 6/10 This is quite a decent track! In terms of lyrics, I think it's about Jesus and people who choose to not follow him, with lyrics like "Changing our water into wine," "Raise me up take me home," and "To you we bid farewell, Kingdom of heaven to hell." I think that both in terms of vocals and instrumentals, the second part of the chorus is the weakest part of this song, while the verses have the most pleasant and catchy sound and lyrics. The guitar solo is pretty weak as well. The Longest Day 8/10 There's very little to criticise this track for. Yes, it's about war just like These Colours Don't Run, which isn't a theme I enjoy, but it's mainly a problem in songs where the lyrics are the main focus, whereas here even if I ignore them, I'm still left with a great song to listen to and enjoy. There aren't any parts that I like or dislike more than others. It's just an overall very good song. Out Of The Shadows 7/10 Just like The Longest Day, there's little to criticise this track for. I particularly like the large part that the guitar has (I don't know if it's classical or acoustic, I have no knowledge of guitars) throughout the whole song, as well as the calm verses, both in terms of music and vocals. However, it doesn't have that punch that The Longest Day has, and instead is rather mellow, which isn't bad per say, but it's just not as much to my taste compared to some other tracks on this album. I'd rate it a solid 7/10. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg 5/10 After a promising intro comes an underwhelming song that's in many ways similar to Brighter Than A Thousand Suns. It's much heavier than tracks such as Different World of Out Of The Shadows, which is not something I particularly enjoy. The melody is very boring and unappealing, which makes this a forgettable piece of music, at least compared to the other tracks on this album. In some ways it actually reminds me of Metallica, which is a band with only a couple gems like Fade to Black or Nothing Else Matters, and majority of whose content (at least the stuff I've heard) is unappealing to me. For The Greater Good Of God 9.5/10 For The Greater Good Of God is the best song on the album, and also the longest one, standing at 9:25 and beating The Legacy by a whopping 2 seconds. The intro to this song is absolutely beautiful, and while I find the chorus to be the weakest part music-wise, it redeems itself by thought provoking lyrics. This is something I've noticed Iron Maiden do a lot in their more recent albums, starting with Brave New World, where instead of focusing on one particular story or experience, they use their songs as a medium to point out bigger flaws in modern society. The part between 6:57 and 7:25 is absolutely phenomenal, and I can't help but sing "For the greater good of God" along with it. The rest of the song is great as well, with practically nothing to criticize. For The Greater Good Of God is the greatest song on this album and one of the best Iron Maiden songs of all time, and is a piece of music I would gladly recommend to everyone. Lord of Light 7.5/10 For the most part it's a really freakin' good track! I do not understand what it's about, though. It starts off with a dark, atmospheric introduction, that's followed by a sudden change in pace, turning the song a lot faster and heavier. The first three minutes of this song are almost as good as the entirety of For The Greater Good Of God, but sadly the rest doesn't follow. It's pretty good, yes, but not as good, which is a shame. The chorus is the weakest part of this track. Still, it deserves a good 7.5/10 The Legacy 6.5/10 This last track on the album begins with an interesting intro, similar to the one in Out Of The Shadows. Afterwards comes a break between the intro and the actual song that lasts about 1:30, which I feel is a little too long. The song itself is decent, but the part between 6:29 and 8:25 is where the song shines the most. I really like the parts of Iron Maiden songs where multiple people join Bruce in a kind of choir, especially when it's accompanied by music as good as in this case. Although this track isn't as good as some of the others on this album, it's decent nonetheless, deserving of a 6.5/10. Final rating: 1. For The Greater Good Of God (9.5/10) 2. Different World (8/10) 3. The Longest Day (8/10) 4. Lord Of Light (7.5/10) 5. These Colours Don’t Run (7/10) 6. Out Of The Shadows (7/10) 7. The Legacy (6.5/10) 8. The Pilgrim (6/10) 9. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns (5/10) 10. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (5/10) Final score: 69,5 pts./100 pts or 69,5% Despite the final score being 69,5%, or around 70%, which in Stars would be 3,5 stars, I gave this album a 5, because Amazon defines 4 stars as "I like it" and 5 stars as "I love it," and I do indeed love it.

Excellent poster. Very good quality. Good sized.

I just can;t believe this record is so good - I'm catching up on all the recent maiden albums ive missed (was constant fan up to about late 90s). Brave New World is as good as much of their early stuff and A Matter Of Life And Death is too. So far only Final Frontier has been a little bit of an under performance form these amazing guys. On this record their are some back breaking riffs = none more so than Brighter Than A Thousand Suns - simply epic - but what about For THe Greater Good Of God - that is one special special piece of writing.....so relevant now and beautifully sung - sending shivers down my spine like Iron maiden do when at their very best. Some great moments - memorable ones on just about every track help to make this the last record in the 10 best EVER from Maiden....just a brilliant band......... Anyway MAIDEN TOP ALBUMS EVER that you should check out if you are a newbie..... 1 The Number of The Beast (THE ALBUM) 2 The Book Of Souls (almost THE ALBUM - but BEAST has the history) 3 Piece Of Mind (a REVELATION - contains my new fave tracks ever) 4 Seventh Son of the Seventh Son (one of the strongest full of classics) 5 Somewhere in Time (full of catchy choruses - some of the best lyrics of all the albums) 6 Fear Of The Dark (The last of the iconic records from their first peak years - now is their new peak era of course.....) 7 Powerslave (love it but love the above more!) 8 Iron Maiden (whilst outside the top few - some all time brilliant tracks and I like the production on this record despite its rep as poorly mixed - I think it really works and it takes you back - Strange World is a fave- it all is!!) 9 Brave New World ( - its really good and may move up the chart - but just look up form here...its a pretty steep climb for any album to get in there.......love out of the silent planet..the talisman....the wicker man is a great opener..) 10 A Matter Of Life And Death (outstanding spine shivering moments - Iron Maiden being topical and slamming the riffs down!) 11 The Final Frontier (But for the three sloppy, unrefined tracks in the middle of this album, we would have a stronger classic all round record.....Ive yet to listen to the albums inbetween this and brave new world but i get the impression this may have needed more fine tuning......) So - onto the last of newest - Dance of Death.......I may even give the X albums a much needed proper listen soon......... PLEASE GIG IN UK NEXT YEAR GUYS.......

This went down a storm with my son in law.

Nice vinyl, artwork is ok, very good heavy metal album

Despite a quite horrendous run of poor albums in the 1990's and particularly the two without Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden have enjoyed a massively successful resurgence following the Millennium, spear-headed by their fantastic albums led by 'Brave New World' and backed up be the excellent 'Dance of the Dead.' The third, post-Millennium release, 'A Matter of Life and Death' continues the trend and even tops it! Make no mistake, this is one of the bands best albums EVER, a sentiment echoed by bassist and principal songwriter Steve Harris. My first impressions however were rather negative, as I saw the length of each track and the album totalling a whopping 72 minutes, I did feel a bit disheartened as, often, when metal albums get to that length it means a lot of filler or over used / overly repeated riffs (think Metallica's 'St. Anger' for lack of a better example). Thankfully, my negativity was misplaced, as this epic album flew by in what felt like less than half the calculated time. 10 songs averaging 7 minutes of pure prog rock / metal gold. You can pick any song as your highlight or favourite track, and all could be justified really. There isn't a hint of weakness in any of the songs. That said, my personal favourites are : 'Different World,' 'These Colours Don't Run,' 'The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg' and 'The Legacy,' ...but it's all good! They went for a more 'live' sounding production on this album, and whilst that may make some sceptical, they need not be, as the rawness of this album really brings this album to life and suits its epic content and the riffs perfectly. Some argue that this is a concept album, and you can see their point. The themes of most if not all the songs are based around war (especially), religion and death/horror, but then again how many Maiden songs aren't? The band have denied this and it is not as obviously a concept album as 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' but it does come close to being that format. Is this the best Iron Maiden ever? It's definitely up there, and is certainly one of their most consistent albums. Whilst many would say its impossible to top the band's 1980's material, I would disagree to a degree, at least in the sense I wouldn't instantly dismiss one of their newer albums because of the year it was released. Whilst classic Maiden albums such as 'Number of the Beast' and 'Piece Of Mind' and the rest of their most celebrated albums are undeniable classics, they do often lack the sheer consistency and quality of this album, and that alone is testament to how great this album is and is easily in my top 3 Maiden albums. Can't recommend it enough.

Very happy and satisfied with this cd and iron maiden figure thank you

BLEAKER than Pink Floyd's Animals and The Wall; BLACKER than Metallica's Metallica (the black album) and BETTER than almost any other album on the planet. OK, I have only played the album twice since it's release on 28/08/06. (what a date that will prove to be as Bob Dylan's Modern Times was released to, both albums should go down in rock history). Anyway, back to Maiden's best album ever, in my opinion. It is solid, heavy metal all the way through this 72 minute epic. Maiden have a couple of classic albums under their belt (Number of the Beast and Seventh Son. I know a lot of fans aren't too keen on the later as it was a departure from the Maiden "sound"). However, this new album features all their latter day trademarks. I will not dissect the album in this review, I just say that if you are like me: a classic rock fan, then this is just what you need. Listening to this brand new release I recognise influences of Deep Purple (Perfect Strangers era; Genesis style guitars (Foxtrot era) and even a chord structure very reminiscent of Syd Barrett's Golden Hair on The Legacy. I never got into speed/death/black/ thrash metals so Metallica, Motorhead and Maiden supply me with my selection of Heavy Metal (as opposed the hard rock). To my ears I doubt I will hear anything again that combines everything I could wish to hear on a metal album. I love depressing music/lyrics with a message and a story. At long, long last something to satisfy. To get the feeling of this anti-war, almost prog-like, no- nonsense album look no further than the cover artwork. The war machine keeps on rolling. I just cannot explain how much I feel this album deserves to become one of the biggest selling albums of all time.. It has a message, and it has fantastic music. War does sell records. Dylan, Floyd, Sabbath and many, many others prove that but this has something I can't quite explain. Forget John Peel's 28 stars out of 5 for The Undertones "Teenage Kicks", I'd give this 29 stars (for an entire album). However, there is one major problem caused by this album, and that is... What do Maiden do next to follow this?! What I will do is collect all the other Maiden anti-war songs together for a really "depressing" evening's listening.

Buen Lp de la docella de hierro. Otro más para la colección. UP THE IRON MAIDEN.

Auf DOD folgt A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. Zur Bewertung habe ich erneut die Skala von 0 für "sehr schlecht" bis 7 für "sehr gut" zu Grunde gelegt. Different World: ist ein überdurchschnittlich starker Opener im Vergleich zu anderen Maiden-Alben. Die 2. Single weist einen Power-Sound und -Gesang auf. Der Refrain ist zwar einfach gehalten, aber nicht so nervig wie bei "Wildest Dreams" oder "The Wicker Man". 4/7 These Colours Don't Run: Das langsame Intro steigert sich zur Rock-Hymne mit eingängigem Refrain. Die Grundmelodie wird abwechslungsreich variiert. Im Mittelteil gibt es ein Gefecht zwischen Gitarren und Drum mit Synth-Untermalung. Der ohohoh-Gesang gegen Ende wertet den Song leicht ab. Das Outro endet wie das Intro begonnen hat (mittlerweile eine alte Maiden-Masche). 5/7 Brighter Than A Thousand Suns: Das sanfte Intro gibt die Grundmelodie vor. Bruce Gesang setzt für ein derart langes Stück relativ früh ein. Es kommt ebenso schnell zu einer Steigerung vom Intro zum "Rocker". Passend zum rauen Gitarrensound passte sich auch Bruce' "ungeschliffene" Stimme ein. In den Zwischenparts regieren "dramatische" Gitarren im Wechsel mit Bruce' Gesang, der seine Stimme im Refrain bis zum Schrei steigert. Dies alles und geniale Riffs sorgen für "Gänsehaut". Die Breaks von Uptempo zu Mid oder Low sind göttlich. Der Gesang wird hervorragend unterstrichen. Die Nummer ist im Gegensatz zu "Ghost Of..." von BNW kein Flickenteppich, sondern eine wohldurchdachte Komposition. Bekannte Kunstgriffe werden nur selten strapaziert und falls doch, dann in einem vollkommen neuen Kontext. 6/7 The Pilgrim: Das kurze Intro steigert sich zur Uptempo-Nummer, deren gefälliger Refrain zum "Mitgröhlen" geradezu einlädt. Bruce' Gesang ist überwiegend hoch und stark. Leider findet sich in dem Sound auch viel Bekanntes wider. Ich würde ihn als eine Mischung aus POWERSLAVE- und SIT-Sound ansehen. 5/7 The Longest Day: Synths und Gitarren erzeugen ein "Gänsehaut"-Intro, hinzu kommt ein tiefer Gesang. Allmählich erfolgt eine Steigerung. Der Text ist großartig ("Blutige Poesie"). Es finden sich sehr viele Breaks, die für Abwechslung sorgen. Der eingängige Refrain wartet mit hoher Gesangsstimme auf, was Bruce unnachahmlich meistert. In den Strophen klingt er zornig entschlossen. Ab ca. 4 Minuten wird man von einer wahren Gitarrenorgie (inklusive Soli) im "Stakkato-Stil", die wie Gewehrschüsse wirken, attackiert. 5/7 Out Of The Shadows: Auf ein "Trommelfeuer" folgt ein Afraid-To-Shoot-Strangers-ähnliches Intro. Die Melodie ist getragen in einer wellenförmigen Akustik. In den Strophen ist Bruce' Stimme kaum als solche zu identifizieren. Erst im starken Refrain der Ballade wird offensichtlich, das er die Nummer tatsächlich singt. 5/7 The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Bregg: Einer der wohl ungewöhnlichsten Maiden-Songnamen aller Zeiten. Und um bei den Superlativen zu bleiben - wohl auch eine der besten und längsten Singles, die Maiden jemals hervorgebracht hat. Es beginnt mit einem SIT-ähnlichen Intro. (Balladeskes Gesangs-Intro). Ab ca. der 2. Minute setzen Drum, Gitarren und ein mächtiger Bruce-Gesang ein. Hoher Gänsehautfaktor. Düster dramatische Grundstruktur mit starker Lyrik. Schon jetzt ein Klassiker. 6/7 For The Greater Good Of God: Synth-Intro mit "Akustik"-Gitarren - sehr SIT-mäßig. Spielt sich allmählich in die Grundmelodie ein. Hämmerndes Gitarrenspiel mit Bruce-Unterstützung. Wieder ein sehr starker Text. "Stakkato-Gitarren" imitieren Maschinengewehrfeuer. Der getragene Hymnenrefrain bricht aus dem Stakkato aus und bringt die Nummer auf eine höhere Ebene. Nach dem 1. Refrain folgt später ein 2. "zackiger" Refrain mit der Titelzeile "For the greater good of god". Somit wird ein weiterer Level hin zur "Über-Hymne" erreicht. Bruce bringt eine starke Gesangsleistung mit leichter Synth-unterzeichnung. Ab der Mitte bauen die Gitarren eine grandiose Soundtrackkulisse auf. Göttliches Epos. 7/7 Lord Of Light: hat ein ähnliches Akustik-Intro wie die Tracks 3 / 5 - Gitarren mit Bruce-Gesang, der allerdings wieder nicht typisch Dickinson zu sein scheint. Dazu gesellen sich kurze "Gitarren-Schnipsel". Ab 1.40 min entwickelt sich die Nummer zu einem Multi-Tempo-Ungetüm. Im Up-/Midtempo-Wechsel wird es von Bruce' Stimme galoppierend getragen. Der Song räumt fast alle bekannten Tempi ab. Gitarren im Kampf mit einem Synthgewand leiten das abrupte Ende ein. 5/7 The Legacy: Akustik-Intro (7th son?) mit leiser Bruce-Stimme (Minne-Sang?). Darauf erfolgt der Einsatz mit brüllenden Gitarren und erneuter Akustik-Variation. Nach 3 Minuten beginnt die Midtempo-Hymne. Stakkato-Gesang wechselt mit "Guns `N Roses"-ähnlichem Chorus. Ab ungefähr 5 Minuten werden die Gitarren in einem schnelleren Tempo "losgelassen". Der Gesang ist für Maiden-Verhältnisse sehr untypisch und daher gewöhnungsbedürftig. Das kurze Outro ähnelt dem Intro. 5/7 Ohne Bewertung: Front-Cover: stellt eine Kriegszene dar, in der Soldatenskelette den auf einem Panzer hockenden Eddie begleiten. Im Hintergrund sind Explosionen und eine kriegsversehrte Landschaft zu sehen. Sehr passend zur Thematik. Leider fällt Eddie unter den anderen Figuren kaum auf. Booklet: Relativ schlicht, dem Front-Cover vom Layout her angepasst. Ähnliche Graphiken und Schriften für Lyrik-Texte, Trackliste und Kredits. Auf der Rückseite erscheint diesmal das Gruppenfoto (in einer Scheune?). Back-Cover: Eddie-Logo mit gekreuzten Maschinengewehren (ähnlich den Knochen auf einer Piratenflagge) auf der Stahlplatte des Panzers vom Front-Cover. Rechts daneben die Trackliste in einfachen Lettern. Fazit: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH ist ein Konzeptalbum. Sehr oft werden "Stakkato-Elemente" verschiedener Instrumente verwendet. Hinzu kommt der zum Teil ungewöhnliche, oftmals "aggressiv-zornige" Gesang von Bruce. Im Gegensatz zu den 2 Vorgängeralben gibt es keinen Durchhänger. Selbst "Different World" weiß zu überzeugen - wenn es auch der schwächste Song des Albums ist. In meinem Ranking der 4 Alben seit 2000 landet A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH mit 53 Punkten auf Platz 1. 5 Sterne sind absolut gerechtfertigt.

Pas écouter entièrement, bon son, disque non rayé, super album avec de superbes chansons,d'Iron Maiden, album à mettre dans sa discographie, je le recommande

Buena edición, por la relación calidad precio está bien, aunque un poco austero.

Excelente qualidade de vinil duplo do Iron, recomendo