NEW IRON MAIDEN STUDIO ALBUM “THE BOOK OF SOULS”

Published: Jun 18, 2015


IRON MAIDEN’s eagerly awaited new studio album The Book Of Souls will be released globally on 4th September through Parlophone Records (Sanctuary Copyrights/BMG in the U.S.A.). It was recorded in Paris with their longstanding producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley in late 2014, with the finishing touches added earlier this year. However, the band decided to delay its release so that vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who was recently given the all-clear from a tumour, would have time to recuperate sufficiently to join in the preparations for the album’s launch.


The stunning cover art was created by Mark Wilkinson, who has worked with the band previously, and because this 11-track album has a total running time of 92 minutes, it is IRON MAIDEN’s first ever double studio album. There’s a broader split on the songwriting compared to previous Maiden records, with bassist and founder member Steve Harris contributing to seven of the tracks; 6 of them with Maiden’s guitarists and one sole composition. This is also the first time since 1984’s Powerslave that an IRON MAIDEN studio album also features two tracks written solely by Bruce Dickinson, one of which is the longest song Maiden has ever recorded! And also two Dickinson/Smith collaborations.

Steve comments,

“We approached this album in a different way to how we’ve recorded previously. A lot of the songs were actually written while we were there in the studio and we rehearsed and recorded them straight away while they were still fresh, and I think that immediacy really shows in the songs, they have almost a live feel to them, I think. I’m very proud of The Book Of Souls, we all are, and we can’t wait for our fans to hear it, and especially to take it out on the road next year!”

Bruce continues,

“We’re really excited about The Book Of Souls and had a fantastic time creating it. We started working on the album in late summer 2014 and recorded it at Guillame Tell Studios in Paris, where we’d done the Brave New World album back in 2000 so the studio holds special memories for all of us. We were delighted to discover the same magical vibe is still alive and very much kicking there! So we immediately felt at home and the ideas just started flowing. By the time we’d finished we all agreed that each track was such an integral part of the whole body of work that if it needed to be a double album, then double its going to be!”

The full tracklisting is:

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


Formats:
2CD deluxe hardbound book limited edition
2CD standard edition
Triple heavyweight black vinyl
High res audio (24-bit Mastered for ITunes and non-Mastered for iTunes)
Standard res audio (16 bit/ 44.1 kHz)

Awesome. I really like the four Bruce reunion albums but really love A Matter Of Life And Death and Final Frontier so here is hoping we get a release on par with those.

New Iron Maiden on Sep 4 and then a week later we get a new Slayer album. Good times.

Cannot wait for this, one of the few bands that really knows how to do a reunion right. Their 4 albums since Bruce and Adrian came back range from real good (Final Frontier and Dance of Death) to spectacular (A Matter of Life and Death and Brave New World)

This is what popped into my mind when I saw the cover:

So much for tight, classic songs. What's up with bands like IM and Metallica writing these excessively long tracks? I dug Final Frontier but nearly every song went on longer than it needed to.

Also, that cover is ugly.

Personally I like the shift towards longer, Progressive Metal, type songs.

Same here, those have been the stronger songs on the last few albums as well.

It's not like they have no been recording longer songs going all the way back to their debut album. Almost every one of their earlier albums has at least one or two songs over 6-7 minutes long. One of their all time classic songs, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, clocks in at almost 14 minutes.

And the best of the newer long songs are far better than Ancient Mariner. I always thought that song was too repetitious and overdone.

So, I'm guessing there will be an extensive European tour, a swing through a bunch of South American countries, and about six dates in the United States?

can't wait.

Oh, sweet Jesus, what great news!

I hope the longer songs are less like Rhyme of Ancient Mariner, and more like Phantom of the Opera.

I remember always waiting for the new album covers for Iron Maiden because they told a story. There was a lot of art going on. This cover is weak and simple. I can't wait to hear the music though. Have had the privilege of seeing them twice and would love to see them again.

Just realized this is a double album running 92 minutes. Jesus.

I've been a Maiden fan since I was a kid and saw them for the first time on the Powerslave tour and caught them on the next two tours after that - such a great, great band. 92 minutes is a long run-time, the closing track is 18 minutes long they're saying...really looking forward to this album and hope their are some new classic Maiden tracks on it.

Hope they get away from the shitty production and Bruce remembers he can sing

They've been a pretty big disappointment since Brave New World.

I've seen them twice since Brave New World and they were great both times but, as far as the albums go, I tend to agree. I really do like A Matter of Life and Death though.

sample:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CBDanCsgVkM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I can't believe "Brave New World" was 15 fucking years ago - I still consider it a "new" album.

Great album with some really bad production.

And the The Final Frontier was already 5 years ago. Very ready to get some new material form these guys. I'm probably going to break down and see them on this tour assuming they hit this area and it's in an arena. A real good shot that it's their last major US tour given Bruce's health.

I'm going to see them on this tour if I can as well. I saw the Somewhere Back In Time tour, which was great for all the '80s classics. Now I want to see them perform some deeper cuts.

The first time I saw them was on their original Somewhere In Time tour. God, I'm old...

Yeah, it's so weird to think that Bruce's original stint with Maiden was about eleven or twelve years, and that his second run has now gone on longer than his first.

Speed of Light is supposed to be officially released in about 5 hours. Listening to an unofficial release .. Holy crap, this is good .. and a bit different for them.