This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Galloping drumbeats. Harmonized and synchronized guitars. Eight-minute musical epics. Bombastic arrangements. Lyrics about angels and devils and soldiers and ghosts and bloody tombs. Yep, it’s an Iron Maiden album.
More importantly, though, it’s also a pretty good one, mainly thanks to another the continued presence of another element — giant-lunged vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who reunited with the band for 2000’s Brave New World. The momentum generated from that impressive return to form carries over to Dance of Death, the band’s 13th studio effort. Once again picking up right where they left off, the boys prop their feet up on the monitors, raise their fists and run to the hills with a top-notch set of soaring solos and brutal anthems. Admittedly, none of the 11 cuts on this 68-minute disc can match the awesome majesty and power of Brave New World’s Wicker Man, to say nothing of earlier classics of Number Of The Beast — though the hard-charging New Frontier admittely gives it a good run for the money. But even if Dance Of Death isn’t Maiden’s finest moment, it’s obvious the boys are very much alive and kicking.
