Iron Maiden's Brave New World came out 26 years ago.
Twenty-six years. I remember it very well ... I feel like it was just yesterday. But of course it was not.
Only 20 years separate Brave New World (2000) from Iron Maiden (1980). It blows my mind that I've been listening to this album longer than Maiden had been in existence when it first appeared (!) WTF.
Brave New World is full of bangers and is integral to the heavy metal revival that put an overdue stake in grunge. Rock in Rio was recorded on the supporting tour and is up there with Live After Death as Maiden's finest live performance captured on film.
Anyway, enough old fogey-ness (fogginess?) and onto the song at hand.
I've been thinking a lot about thin lines, and the choices we make. Spinal Tap said there's a fine line between stupid and clever, which is fantastically funny. But there's also a world of grey that makes important choices difficult--yet we are free to make them, for good or ill. And these choices can make all the difference. Maiden weighs into that truth here:
There's a grey place between black and white
But everyone does have the right to choose the path that he takes
I never pass up an opportunity to talk about Bruce Dickinson and his voice soars in "Thin Line", especially this verse. I give huge credit to Blaze Bayley for stepping during Bruce's absence, and the two albums he participated on are very good in hindsight, but this song is a reminder of what was missing. Bruce sings as though he's channeling a soul in flight to the other side:
I will hope
My soul will fly
So I will live forever
Heart will die
My soul will fly
And I will live
Forever
With the release of "Burning Ambition" and the creep of advancing age I feel like we're getting near the end of Iron Maiden as a recording and touring force. But they will live forever.
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