SOMEWHERE IN TIME

For the first time, Iron Maiden use synthesizer guitars through a sound quite similar to their previous Powerslave album; this gives a real modern & slightly futuristic sound to the whole: it even may make you think there are modern keyboards played in the background; unlike on the Judas Priest's Turbo album, the synthesizer guitars here rather sound atmospheric. Looking at the complete art cover, one may inevitably think about the Blade Runner movie. The rhythmic electric guitar riffs are very sustained: their sound is however less razor & incisive, a bit more fuzzy and unclean than on Powerslave. Dickinson's voice has a slight permanent echo: he still adopts a repetitive, complaining & angry tone. One can notice Harris' omnipresent typical spring-like noise produced on his bass strings. The excellent drums are restless and they sound like on the Powerslave album. The compositions are certainly progressive related. I find the Somewhere in Time album a bit faster than the Powerslave one. There are some excellent backing vocals like on "Heaven can wait" and "Alexander the Great". There are many slightly echoed guitar solos, and the long one on "Alexander the Great" is absolutely memorable.

Rating: 4.5 stars