Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time - Music & Performance - Vinyl

When I first heard this album, I was a bit disappointed. Coming off Powerslave and the four previous albums before that all being perfect. I wasn't sure about the direction Iron Maiden was heading in. Synthesizers, and mellow songs with pop chorus's? I instantly gravitated to “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”. It's my all time favorite Iron Maiden song. It's one of their fastest and heaviest songs. Unfortunately it's rarely performed live. That song alone makes the album worth the purchase. Deja Vu is another great song that resembles the Maiden we know from previous albums. Alexander the Great closes the album with absolute perfection. Similar to Rime of the Ancient Mariner, or Hallowed be Thy Name. This song is an epic masterpiece, and the longest song on the album. The radio hits are my least favorites on this album. “Wasted Years, and Heaven can Wait”. They're not bad songs, and have grown on me as I have gotten older, but they are pretty mellow, and poppy in comparison to Maidens previous work. Heaven Can Wait repeats the chorus a little too much. That repetition can get annoying. Overall it's still a great album. Just not as good as anything they released before it. Some people say the first 7 were perfect. I disagree. I say the first 5 albums were perfect. 6 and 7 were great but had some flaws…And we all know the albums after that were a steady decline until Brave New World was released with a newly invigorated Bruce Dickinson. Great cover art. One of my favorite Eddies. If you're a true Maiden fan, somewhere in time is definitely worth owning on vinyl!