On May 29, 2000, Iron Maiden's 12th album, "Brave New World" was released.
In this album, "Maiden" moves away from her classic style and traditional metal and gets closer to the prog metal genre. The album contains 10 songs that span more than 66 minutes, seven of which are extra-long epic, dynamic and complex songs.
The music on this album is more melancholy and gloomy than Maiden's other albums and is a bit more reminiscent of Bruce Dickinson's solo career than the band's. This seems to be the album that features the quietest and soft moments of the band. Songs like "Ghost of the Navigator", "Brave New World", "Blood Brothers", and "Dream of Mirrors" contain quieter and calmer openings or soft parts.
Also in terms of lyrics, this is an album that addresses more serious and depressing issues, focusing on philosophy.
After Blaze Bayley left the band in 1999, "Iron Maiden" left the metal world in shock with the announcement of the return of singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith to the band, and with the decision to leave Janick Gers as the band's third guitarist. Expectations from "Maidan" following the dramatic announcement were particularly high and the question was whether the band would be able to "deliver the goods".
Immediately after the release of the compilation album and computer game "Ed Hunter", the band went on a tour called "Tour The Ed Hunter". Three months into the tour, the band began writing new material for their next album. The transformation of the band into a six-member ensemble expanded the band's writing possibilities and enriched it in terms of quantity and quality of materials and solos. Although Adrian and Bruce were not part of the band for the past decade, they were full partners in writing the material for the album and the results were accordingly. This is probably the band's best album since "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", released in 1988.
The album sounds just like we would expect a "Maiden" album to sound like. Special and sweeping harmonies, strong riffs, and melodic and fast solos stretch throughout the album. Bruce's voice sounded as loud and powerful as it was before he left the band.
All "Maiden" fans of all kinds will be able to identify with the album. Those who prefer the 90s and Blaze Bayley era will find songs like "Dream of Mirrors", "The Nomad", and "The Thin Line Between Love And Hate". On the other hand, those who prefer the classic period of the '80s will find "The Wicker Man", The Mercenary", and "The Fallen Angel".
In conclusion, unlike Maiden's albums in the 90s, this album does not include weak moments in which you feel that listening becomes forced. This album undoubtedly fulfilled the expectations that "Maiden" had with the announcement of the return of Dickinson and Smith. "Brave New World" brings back the same "Maiden" that has not been seen for years, since the great albums of the '80s. "Maiden" was revived with the return of Bruce and Adrian, who breathed new life into a band whose popularity was declining.
At the same time, it's still not the same "Maiden" from the heyday of the '80s. The "Maiden" of "Brave New World" lacks the drive and "fire" of the old one." it is more polite, gentler, less daring, less adventurous and certainly less "angry" than the good old "Maiden" we knew in their "Golden Age" of the '80s.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple music