Heavier Than Heaven

Up in the top 5 metal albums of all time “Number of the beast” launched the band into fame and success. It was the first album in their “golden years” which lasted through out the 80’s and which consisted of 5 top class albums. With the release of this album, the band members were considered to be devil worshippers as the record contained a lot of dark, brutal and pensive themes. With Bruce Dickinson replacing Paul Di’anno, the songs sounded heavier and grandiose, and ended becoming a feast to all the metal heads. The album kicks off with “INVADERS”, a ferocious song and a great opener for such a fiery album. The song is then followed by the worth mentioning and the beautifully composed “CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED”, an exquisite power ballad defining the sound of the band. “NUMBER OF THE BEAST”, a brilliant title song, has given the fans more than what it takes to be a title song. “RUN TO THE HILLS”, though an over rated song, sounds amazing in live performances and is a fan favorite. The album finisher is probably the best ever metal song to be recorded and produced; “HALLOWED BE THY NAME” is one song which made IRON MAIDEN so very great. It’s the sole outcome of amazing riffs, mind blowing vocal performance, thundering bass line, hell hammering and fret melting solos. Amidst all the controversies surrounding the theme of the album and the new, extravagant approach to the world of metal music, this album is definitely a killer by its own!

This album stands for the quintessence of the band at the height of their golden era. The record’s theme is a mix of power, emotion fantasy and mystery and was the first album to be released without any change in the line-up. The record consists of eight tracks out of which four have become timeless hits. The album kicks off with one of the most definitive piece of metal work ever recorded, “Aces High” and is by far the best opener for any of the maiden concerts. Another classic song to be included in a metal head’s play list is “2 Minutes to Midnight”, a brilliant intro by the maiden powerhouse Adrian Smith. The next four songs are just blatant fillers. The band has never disappointed their fans when it comes to an album finisher. The last two songs being “Powerslave” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” are the most important pillars of the Maiden stronghold. With dark and haunting lyrics, powerful riffs and a mind blowing bass solo, the title song “Powerslave” definitely speaks of the quality of a timeless maiden classic! “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, the longest track in the history of the band, brings the perfect ending to one of the most sought after heavy metal albums in the world!

The last album to be released in the “golden years” shows the height of the creative progression that the band was heading towards, from the start of their previous album, “Somewhere in Time”. Co-incidentally, the album is also their seventh studio album and it has pulled off a better synth balance and is not very pushy. The record is one of a kind because it’s the first album to have a specific storyline that unfolds through the songs! The story is adorned with obscure, sinister and dark thoughts! The album opener “MOONCHILD” has a brilliant synth start and is followed by “INFINITE DREAMS”; This particular track is filled with delightful tempo changes through out. The weakest track of the record is “THE PROPHECY”; However the song is definitely not a filler!

“THE EVIL THAT MEN DO” and “CAN I PLAY WITH MADNESS?” are beautifully composed heavy metal singles and are featured in most of their live performances. The title song is splendid and top notch and is incomplete without the killer solos! “THE CLAIRVOYANT” is easily the album’s best song with its thundering bass start!

An amazing way to round off the “golden years”, the band’s music had become more progressive and they were considered to be the greatest and the most successful heavy metal band of all time! UP THE IRONS!!

With the return of the former lead guitarist Adrian Smith and the “Air Raid Siren” Bruce Dickinson, this was perhaps the most long awaited reunion record in the history of the band. But at the same time, the record faced ridiculously high expectations due to the band’s return to their 80’s line up. The record is filled with outstanding tracks and there isn’t a single weak song featured over here. The album starts with Adrian’s “Wickerman”, an amazing song with very weird lyrics and a very well crafted solo. “The Ghost of the Navigator” and the title song “The Brave New World” are two beautiful and well written melodic and progressive metal songs. The title song is followed by “The Blood Brothers”; This song in particular is exceptional because of the way in which it was played, heart and soul performance by the band. Dave’s “The Nomad” is an excellent song with mind blowing solos from all the three guitarists! “Dream of Mirrors”, composed by Steve Harris and the ex-frontman of the band, Blaze Bayley, is an epic not to be missed. One of the rawest songs ever produced by the band, “Out of the Silent Planet” is definitely a fascinating track lyrically. The “Mercenary” for its shear pace and catchy chorus will leave you high and wasted. An all killer no filler album, the band has undeniably surpassed all the expectations they faced prior to the launch of the record!!

The band disturbed is just 3 albums old and the fourth self-produced album (indestructible) they come out with is so heavy both lyrically and musically. This album released in the year 2008 is the darkest album the band has ever come out with till date. Indestructible boasts 12 tracks each one very different and heavier than the previous one. The first single from the album ‘indestructible’ is a song than is written to encourage and motivate soldiers, essentially to curb the fear of facing wars. The vocalist David Draiman adopts the required aggressive style to match the theme of the song. The song ‘Inside the Fire’ is about suicide and is lyrically very dark and deals with the suicide of someone close to the vocalist. The guitar riffs are really heavy and guitarist Dan Donegan makes the guitar sing. The flow throughout the song is mind numbing. The tempo is maintained throughout the whole album. The song is very deep in semantics and is very disturbing, just what the band’s name suggests. Then there are two other beautiful songs called ‘Perfect Insanity’ and ‘Divide’. Both these tracks are mirror images of each other (in the positive sense, i.e. they follow a similar pattern). ‘Perfect Insanity’ has very rapid riffs and double bass drumming and a superb solo. The same goes to ‘Divide’. The album does not fall short of expectations and sure does satisfy the faithful. This album is one crazy demon and is a must for all heavy metal fanatics’ playlist.