Somewhere in Time Review

Before I start can I just say how badass this album art is? Like seriously, I'm a real sucker for cyperpunk stuff.

Date of Release: September 29, 1986

Iron Maiden are a English Heavy Metal band that formed in Leyton, East London in 1975. The band consists of members:

• Steve Harris (Bass, Keyboard)
• Bruce Dickinson (Lead Vocals)
• Dave Murray (Lead guitar)
• Adrian Smith (Guitars)
• Nicko McBrain (Drums)

They would help popularize the Heavy Metal genre alongside other bands like Judas Priest, Motorhead, and Diamond head to name a few. They would release 17 studio albums and receive multiple awards and nominations. Forever cementing them as one of the most important bands in Metal.

Iron Maiden was a band I've been meaning to get into but either kept forgetting, or things got in the way. I was only ever familiar with a few of their biggest hits. That was until my brother got me an Iron Maiden shirt along with a Nirvana shirt for my birthday. Because of that I'm now finally motivated to check out their albums just in case some random guy on the streets asks me to "name 3 songs" lmao.

So far I've listened to The Number of The Beast and PowerSlave. The Number of The Beast obviously being a stupid amazing album, I found PowerSlave however to be pretty good but kinda forgettable in some areas, I don't know I'll have to give it a second listen. I can say however Somewhere in Time is really fucking good and will probably be hard for another album to take 2nd place from it.

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Songs

Caught Somewhere in Time
What an incredible opening track. It immediately lets you know what you're in for. As I will probably often point out throughout the review, Steve Harris' bass is phenomenal on here. He uses a synth for his bass for the first time on this album and it adds that futuristic vibe the album goes for. There isn't one single boring moment throughout. The drums are also fantastic alongside the guitars. Bruce Dickinson is at peak performance on here as well.

Wasted Years
Holy shit what is there to say? One of my favorite tracks on the album. I can without a doubt say that I've listened to this song at least around 25 times or so since I first heard it 3 days ago. Adrian Smith did an amazing job composing this masterpiece. One thing I love that I first noticed on here is the bass outshines the guitars, the bass even has a solo. I appreciate that their showing the bass much love, as it's often times the punching bag of jokes.

Sea of Madness
This track opens with that stinky Red Hot Chili Peppers bass line that I love so much. Nicko's drumming is on point here as well. There's a part in here that slows everything down and starts a decrescendo on all the instruments. In this little chill part Bruce starts softly singing these cool lyrics like "There ain't no wind to fill your sails, madness. When all you see can only bring you sadness". Before kicking you back into the groove of things.

Heaven Can Wait
I have mixed feelings about this one. The verse delivery is aggressive and sounds nice. McBrain's drums really pop off here. But I just really hate the chorus, it sounds really ugly. It gets stuck in your head and not in the good way. This is one track I can't help but skip. Which is a shame because everything else sounds tight and awesome. The chorus just really kills it for me.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
The intro to this song is great, like Caught somewhere in time it let's you know that you're in for another rodeo. I also like how the name suggests, this song is fast paced with no breaks in-between like you're really running. The riffs played throughout alongside the drums makes me bang my head. It also brings back that futuristic vibe the opening track brought in. Another favorite of mine.

Stranger in a Strange Land
A nasty bass line starts this banger of a song off. The beginning always reminds me of Hallowed be thy name another awesome song from Maiden. The bass is then joined by the incredible performance the electric guitars are showing off. The lyrics are really cool too, being about the feeling of being lost. The explosion of the chorus and even the bridge to the chorus are beautifully awesome.

Déjà Vu
Another track that brings atmosphere to the table. This song is fucking awesome, it also gives me heavy power metal vibes. The synths used also gives the song a nice futuristic touch. Bruce's signing is at his best on here. The band as a whole sounds like they're going off into battle in space or some shit. The melody is amazing as well, overall this a masterpiece of a song as well as my favorite track off the album.

Alexander The Great (356-323 B.C.)
The final song off the album. This song has a nice slow start with a little monologue at the start, before it goes In. Lyrically it's obviously about Alexander the great, but Bruce Dickinson does a fantastic job at storytelling and epically signing what he needs to get out there. There's also a part in here where they start to play an evil, nasty, vile guitar riff that from my understanding is rare for Iron Maiden. It's only there for a few seconds but my god does it stand out (in a good way). All in all this was a fun, great track to end off on.

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Final Thoughts
In conclusion Somewhere in Time was an absolute gem of an album. It's a shame Iron Maiden seems to constantly sweep this album under the rug. It has a few bumps in the road but overall nothing too horrible. I guess my only critique I have is that almost all the songs on here are pretty long, around 8 minutes. Which for me is no problem at all but I still feel the need to mention it just in case. They don't even feel long though which is something I applaud them heavily for.

So far I'm liking Iron Maiden I'm glad I'm taking the time to run through their discography. Checking them out has also got me wanting to check out other early metal bands like Judas Priest. So if you want to get into Metal but aren't so sure you want to get into the heavy stuff headfirst. I'd totally recommend this album and Iron Maiden as a hole. It's a great starting point, not only that but a awesome band overall even if they're not quite as brutal as other bands out there. Being heavier doesn't automatically mean you're better.

If I had to rate it out of 10: 9/10

Favorite Songs

• Caught Somewhere in Time
• Wasted Years
• Sea of Madness
• The loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
• Stranger in a Strange Land
• Déjà Vu
• Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.)

For those of you who want to check it out here's a preview song: