MusicMirror.net recently conducted an interview with Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson.
On the new IRON MAIDEN album, "A Matter of Life and Death":
"I think this is one of the finest MAIDEN albums we've ever done. I'm really proud of it. I think, sound-wise, it's probably the best album we've ever recorded. Obviously I'm a huge fan of Martin Birch and his work with us, but? you know, I think this is just a great-sounding record, and I don't think we've done as good as this, ever.
On why the new album is the best-sounding LP so far:
"I can't think of one other than that the sun and the moon and the planets were in the right place."
On how the new album compares to the previous CD:
"I think you could look at 'Dance of Death' as being a kind of preparation, stepping stone, if you like, towards this album. But I think this album has so much more than 'Dance of Death', and actually more than almost any other IRON MAIDEN record. Other IRON MAIDEN records up until this moment? there's a depth to some of the songs and there's depth of feeling to some of the lyrics on this album that I don't think we've managed to achieve for a long, long time. We've tried with other records, but this one, it's just? I mean, if you listen to a song like, say, 'Out of the Shadows', there's nothing about that song which sounds like we were making an effort to sound like that; it just sounds natural, and it's clear and natural. And so much of the album sounds like that. When it's getting complicated, it doesn't get out of control ? it keeps the power. The intros, they are 'folkey', but without being kind of embarrassing. Everything is just pitched in the right place, and it's very rare that that happens. And it all happened very quickly."
On the songwriting and recording process for "A Matter of Life and Death":
"Well, it was three weeks to write it, three weeks to rehearse it, and three weeks to record it. The very shortest time was, actually, 'Number of the Beast', but we rehearsed this faster than any other album. I mean, we spent 15 days rehearsing it, we spent 15 days recording it, and then we spent an additional 15-20 days doing some overdubs and mixing. But to learn this album in 15 days and then go straight into the studio and play it live is incredible. I mean, for Nicko [McBrain, drums] alone to learn all the drum parts and then go and play them one by one and get it all done in 15 days is outstanding."
"We wrote some of the songs and everyone went away and had a think about their own parts individually and then we went into rehearsals. Every day we'd start with a rough tape and at the end of the day we had a song ? written, run through, maybe some of the words finished, maybe not finished all the words, but we had the melodies and the arrangement. And then the next day we did a different song. So yeah, we rehearsed, learned each song, and then by the time we got to the end of three weeks, we just managed to learn all the songs, just managed to get through every song, and then we'd sort of forgotten the first one. But we had it on tape, so we went straight into the studio the first day, and went, 'Hey, let's listen to the tape. OK, it's coming back now.' Play it two or three times. Right, start recording. And that's how we recorded the album ? each song at a time."
On the lyrical topics covered on the new album:
"It's not a concept album. But it doesn't mean that some of the subjects in the album aren't related ? they are related, but they're related by the fact that we live in the world that we live in, and so, yes, there's a lot of songs about war, there's a lot of songs about religion, and things of that nature, because when we look at the world outside us, that's what's going on at the moment ? there's lots of fear and paranoia about life and death and religion and war and things like that. So a lot of the album is about that."
"I think 'The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg' is gonna be the track we release, and if people say, 'Well, it's not a single,' we say, 'Well, we don't give a fuck.' 'Cause we wanna release something which is representative of the album, and that track, the first track ['Different World'], is really the odd man out of the album. It's the most normal sounding track on the album ? probably my least favorite track on the album ? so I think 'Benjamin Breeg' is such a great track ? it's so heavy. What matters is what rock fans get when they listen to the track. We don't wanna appeal to? There's no point in playing to pop people, and expecting they'll buy an IRON MAIDEN album. Why bother? We're just going for the rock audience, because that's who our people are."
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