My legacy of covering the classic IRON MAIDEN albums continues as we reach the 20th anniversary of “Dance of Death.” Originally out on September 8th, 2003, this album has a few noteworthy facts worth sharing: it’s the only album to have a songwriting credit from drummer Nicko McBrain, as well as the only album to credit all of the band members as songwriters as such. There is, of course, also the legacy of the album’s cover art, which, if you haven’t heard that story, is well worth a bit of a chuckle.
Before we get into the music, let’s have a quick look at that cover. Commonly ranked as the band’s worst cover art, as well as some of the worst cover art in heavy metal from its release year, there’s no wonder that Bruce Dickinson stated in his autobiography regarding the album, “The cover was also controversial. A partially finished version was presented as a work in progress, but Steve [Harris, bass] loved it and was not to be shifted. Personally, I still find it embarrassing. We had such a tradition of extraordinary and iconic covers that I couldn’t help feeling that maybe the artist should have had a little more say, seeing as the visual was his essential medium. The artist was so mortified that he withdrew his name from the album credits. I didn’t blame him.” [What Does This Button Do, p.301] For those who have never paid much attention to the artwork, you can notice several strange issues in the 3D rendering: the character on the right suffers from a severely broken neck; the dog is standing on a snake, while the baby’s foot is cutting into the dog’s flank; and the fellow doing acrobatics on the left is just a complete mess of dislocated body parts.
However, strange issues with the artwork aside, “Dance of Death” itself is a surprisingly excellent release, following fresh off the heels of a personal all-time favorite MAIDEN album, “Brave New World.” Having returned to the metal scene hot with Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith back in the band, there were big shoes to fill after “Brave New World,” yet the band seemed to have been up to the task.
The album opens with a couple of fast, upbeat, radio-friendly bangers, “Wildest Dreams” and “Rainmaker,” which get the album off to an energetic start. While “Wildest Dreams” is pretty simple/straightforward, it nevertheless boasts a nice solo and is just generally pretty catchy, while “Rainmaker” has appealed to the fantasy-loving geek in me, as well as the former romantic, from the first listen and kept its hold ever after. It’s not the most complicated track, but there’s something fun in the riffing and something a little bit mystical in the words and delivery that really work for it.
Next up are a couple of slightly less gripping tracks, “No More Lies” and “Montségur.” The former suffers from one of the boring, repetitive choruses that MAIDEN are known to have from time to time, which takes away a bit from the otherwise rather good building dynamics and strong riffing… the repetition of “no more lies” mixed with nothing else becomes a bit tedious on its own. The guitar lines at the very end do throw back to “Brave New World” though. “Montségur” opens on some classic ’80s MAIDEN riffs before moving into the verses, which bounce around in a rather fun manner. This is a very energetic track, telling the tale of the fall of Cathar during the crusades.
The title track, “Dance of Death,” is a traditional mystical MAIDEN story about wandering in the woods and joining a bonfire dance with the dead and wondering if you’ll ever escape, and if you do, will you ever be the same again. While the song could represent a funky acid trip, the mysticism and fantasy really shine through more than any suggestions of psychedelic use. If you haven’t heard the rare orchestral version from the “Rainmaker” single, I heavily recommend that you find it and listen; MAIDEN seldomly ever release full orchestral tracks and the use of it in this track is truly spectacular… how come these guys have never done a full orchestral show/album yet!?
Then we move over to “Gates of Tomorrow,” which makes use of some vocal layering from Bruce, which – 20 years later – I still can’t decide if I like or not. It doesn’t sound very organic but it is very different, so some days this song sits better than others. The rest of it is pretty standard for these Brits, with a decent chorus and some old-school guitar stylings that work well for it. “Final Frontier,” as mentioned, boasts a rare songwriting contribution from Nicko McBrain. The track has a bit of an ’80s-era MAIDEN sound and discusses the concept of human cloning, which Nicko was/is apparently against due to his born-again-Christianity. The track doesn’t do much extra/special beyond what MAIDEN are generally known for, but the song is fairly catchy. Nicko‘s religious take on the subject does come across as pretty fanatical, with lines like, “Create a beast, made a man without a soul /
Is it worth the risk, a war of God and man?” though there is a point to be made about humanity pushing the limits of technology without any thought as to the consequences.
“Paschendale” was, it seems, Adrian Smith‘s attempt to write “a traditional Maiden epic,” and boy did he succeed! The way the vocals are very bare-bones with music interspersed between Bruce‘s lines really helps to drive the point home, and adds a lot of dynamic texture as the instruments join in properly, with some backing symphonics snuck in there as well. The guitar work on the whole is spectacular, as is the way it’s used to create a story and soundscape that evoke a lot of emotion, especially with the heavy subject matter. There are a lot of progressive details in tempo and small additions to the sound, making this song nothing short of a musical masterpiece.
Noteworthy for being written about the Iraq war following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in the US, “Face in the Sand” is an evocative piece that Bruce explained in the 2004 biography that he imagined, “desert sands as an image and how it moves and shifts with time,” and how, “whatever empires you tend to build – whether they are British, American, Iraqi, or whatever, they’ll all crumble and fade away into something else. So, to my mind at least, the best thing you can hope for, if you were to leave anything behind, is just an imprint in the sand.” The soft guitar lines in the beginning carry the melody and lead to a rather ominous song overall, that has an ambience that’s very telling about the atmosphere of a war-torn world.
The album begins its wind-down with “Age of Innocence,” which is another piece that didn’t leave a big mark back in the day, with nice guitar work in the beginning and some decent grit in the sound, but overall, again, acts as a pleasant filler song but not one that stands out well. The album then wraps up with “Journeyman,” which has always intrigued me, as the lyrics don’t necessarily seem to relate to someone in the trades… though they also don’t not refer to a tradesperson? Perhaps my enjoyment has always related to my intrigue on the lyrics, though, as the song does otherwise work as a slower (yet no less powerful) piece that wraps up the album quite nicely, with dramatic vocals and nice use of acoustic sounds and slight backing enhancements that give it some kick.
So, though “Dance of Death” indeed has questionable cover art and isn’t the all-out no-skip banger that “Brave New World” was, it nevertheless works as a very solid followup and proves that they weren’t just riding a high of having two members back in 2000. Though not every song is hugely memorable, “Dance of Death” is a great addition to the band’s discography, well worthy of its slot in your IRON MAIDEN music collection!
Written by Bear Wiseman
Tracklist
- Wildest Dreams
- Rainmaker
- No More Lies
- Montségur
- Dance of Death
- Gates of Tomorrow
- New Frontier
- Paschendale
- Face in the Sand
- Age of Innocence
- Journeyman
Lineup
Bruce Dickinson – vocals
Adrian Smith – guitars
Dave Murray – guitars
Janick Gers – guitars
Steve Harris – bass
Nicko McBrain – drums
