(Rated this album with 8 out of 10) Reviewed by
A music fan
from Naperville, IL United States
Iron Maiden displays old form in their 12th studio album - Brave New World with the return of lead vocalist Brue Dickinson to the band after his 7 year sabbatical. To be honest, I have been more of a Maiden fan than a Dickinson fan over the years and never warmed up to any of Bruce's solo albums which he released during his hiatus from Maiden. However, his return seems to have energized the band after the previous 2 dissapointing albums where Blaze Bayley was cast as the lead vocalist. Wickerman is a typical short and hard-hitting Maiden album opener that we have come to love. Blood Brothers and Nomad are wonderful ballads with some excellent lead/rythm guitar solos. Ghost of the Navigator is great cut with frequent beat changes that reminded me of 'Revelations' the classic from Piece Of Mind and the title track Brave New World is a perspective of a liberal environmentalist. But the 2 best cuts of the album are on the so called side B tracks; Dream of Mirrors with it's powerful lyric and the gradual rise to it's crescendo will leave you breathless when it's done and Out of the Silent Planet will touch deep into the heart of any Maiden fan and surely doesn't deserve to be the 10th cut of the album. Overall, in spite of the shortcomings when compared to the great Maiden albums from the 80s this is a must buy for any Maiden fan
