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A Matter of Life and Death
 
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A Matter of Life and Death

Iron Maiden
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews) | More about this product
Price: $18.97 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. Different World 4:18$0.99 Buy Track
listen  2. These Colours Don't Run 6:52$0.99 Buy Track
listen  3. Brighter than a Thousand Suns 8:46$0.99 Buy Track
listen  4. The Pilgrim 5:07$0.99 Buy Track
listen  5. The Longest Day 7:47$0.99 Buy Track
listen  6. Out of the Shadows 5:36$0.99 Buy Track
listen  7. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg 7:22$0.99 Buy Track
listen  8. For the Greater Good of God 9:24$0.99 Buy Track
listen  9. Lord of Light 7:24$0.99 Buy Track
listen10. The Legacy 9:23$0.99 Buy Track

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Frequently Bought Together

A Matter of Life and Death + Dance of Death + Brave New World
Price For All Three: $41.94

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  • This item: A Matter of Life and Death ~ Iron Maiden

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  • Dance of Death ~ Iron Maiden

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (September 5, 2006)
  • Original Release Date: September 5, 2006
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Sony Legacy
  • ASIN: B000H7JD4A
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,632 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #95 in  Music > Hard Rock & Metal > British Metal

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

You've got to hand it to Iron Maiden. After two decades of recording and releasing albums, the British sextet still has its share of fresh ideas, something it proves once more on A Matter of Life and Death. The opening tracks "Different World" and "Brighter than a Thousand Suns" show, more clearly than ever, the group's progressive rock roots and its affinity for upsetting expectations about what a heavy record should sound like. But some of the material--"These Colours Don't Run" and the epics "Lord of Light," "The Legacy," and "The Longest Day"--also suggests that the band could stand to expand outside its comfort zone a little more often. By now we know what to expect even from the most unusual Maiden album and that familiarity ultimately sinks A Matter of Life and Death faster than any fad at the forefront of the heavy rock scene. At best the record shows the band is still vital, at worst it shows us that Steve Harris and company are coming up a little bit winded these days. --Jedd Beaudoin


Product Description

Japanese pressing of 14th album from heavy metal legends. Virgin. 2006. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.
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Customer Reviews

79 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (79 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Iron Maiden in the 21st century, September 29, 2006
Iron Maiden originally formed in 1975 and despite a brief departure of long tenured front man Bruce Dickinson in 1993, has continued to stay appealing to a strong fan base. Its good to see Dickinson back in the lineup, as it wasn't the same without him. Iron Maiden is known for screaming guitars and vast, epic themes ranging from Arthurian lore to WWII era battlefronts. On this, their 14th studio album, the formula has not changed much, but if anything the record seems slightly more mature in structure when it comes to the arrangements of the slower parts as well as the crescendos.

"A matter of Life and Death" features several great songs, and overall is an extremely solid album.

Track five is one to remember: "Longest Day" has a great guitar intro that sets the song up for some powerful tempo. The song is about a soldier's experience in Normandy on D-Day in WWII. A powerful, driving song that never tires and also features some great percussion. Tracks "These colours don't run" and "Out of the shadows" are also notable and seem to sound a bit more reminiscent of the band's sound from earlier albums like "No prayer for the dying".

Track eight is "For the greater good of god" and again has a very memorable opening guitar piece before breaking into a melodic and almost soothing (in a dark, heavy metal way) sound to it as the vocals come through loud and clear. The song vamps up and takes off and we're off in a flurry of drums as Dickinson keeps up with the message. The song is about religion in general and the deaths that have come from the disagreements, wars and such throughout time. Leave it to Maiden to cover every action filled event in a timeline!

Clocking in at over nine minutes long, the last track "The Legacy" is very deep and moody. Unlike a lot of the older Dickinson songs from the 80's, "Legacy" starts out slow but does not get overbearing with energy. Some extremely soft, beautiful guitar work is heard here and helps evoke the deep themes that the bands song delves into. Don't worry, it gets heavier, and the signature chops are not to be left out on this one. Dickinson's vocals don't seem as much in the forefront as usual, and it really makes the band seem to have a bit more balance in the overall execution and structure of the songs. The overall sound seems to be a bit more symphonic instead of metallic, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. "A Matter of Life and Death" was a refreshing reunion for this maiden fan from back in the day.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The magic is back!, September 23, 2006
By Davor Pranjic (Dunedin, Florida) - See all my reviews
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The greatness of this album is not really the songs, although all of them are no doubt high-quality rockers. It's rather the fact that this is serious metal again with no filler, an album you can listen to from beginning to end and fully enjoy it. Although I do believe that Bruce's voice has deteriorated with age, plus there's been a departure from his operatic singing style, on the positive side it's still great to hear a screaming Bruce Dickinson with his voice full of passion, accompanied by heavy riffing, great solos, and a return to using harmonies in songs. There are signs to me that this album is a work of brilliance because of the fact that this album feels almost like a full-blown concept album, simply because often the same melody recurrs in differnt songs under differnt disguises, which is evidence of the fact that the band knew exactly what they were doing this time and were all on the same page. The heavy, dark riffs and an uncompromised devotion to emotion give the whole thing that special magic, the feeling that you had when you first listened to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Although Bruce's singing is not as operatic as on the classic albums, Kevin Shirley was finally smart enough to put much more echo on the vocals than was the case in the last two releases, so the whole doesn't sound dry and flat and gives it that certain "je ne sais quoi." It's a joy to listen to this output and it doesn't really bother me this time that some of the songs got quite lengthy. Somehow it just all makes sense. Just like the rest of the band, Adrian Smith, too, and maybe the most, seems to have found himself again on this record by going back to the modern Jackson guitars he used on Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and getting heavily involved in the songwriting process again. This is certainly another shining moment of his talent and shows what he means to the band and what the Murray/Gers duo was missing in all those wasted years. If the guys can keep the momentum going, I am 100% positive that the next record will be an absolute and undisputed masterpiece. Not to say that this one isn't. Just listen to it. Then open the booklet and look at the pictures of the band members and how calm and confident they look this time, how they, just like good wine, have ripened, come full circle and found themselves again at a stage in their carreer when everybody believed it was all over and time for them to resign with dignity.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Forceful !!!, September 23, 2006
I bought this record because my 6 years old son likes the picture of Eddie. I already have the classical albums from Iron Maiden's first album to Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. I didn't expect much because of the 3 or 4 albums before this one, but I am very glad of this acquisition; this a classic Maiden's album, strong, sharp and vigourous !!!. Take the risk, go for it BUY IT is really good !!!
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