Dance of Death (album)

Dance of Death (album)
Dance of Death
Studio album by Iron Maiden
Released 2 September 2003 (Japan)
8 September 2003 (worldwide)
Recorded Sarm West Studios, London during November/December 2002 – August 2003
Genre Heavy metal
Length 1:07:59
Language English
Label EMI
Producer Steve Harris, Kevin Shirley
Iron Maiden chronology
Brave New World
(2000)		 Dance of Death
(2003)		 A Matter of Life and Death
(2006)
Singles from Dance of Death
  1. "Wildest Dreams"
    Released: 1 September 2003
  2. "Rainmaker"
    Released: 24 November 2003

Dance of Death is the thirteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released first in Japan on 2 September and then the rest of the world on 8 September 2003.

Contents

Background

According to guitarist Janick Gers, the album's title track was inspired by the final scene of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, at the end of which "these figures on the horizon start doing a little jig, which is the dance of death."[1] Gers wrote most of the music and explained the concept to Steve Harris, who wrote the lyrics and most of the melodies.[2]

Dance of Death is the only Iron Maiden album to date in which drummer Nicko McBrain has a songwriting credit, having co-written the song "New Frontier."[2] As a born-again Christian, the track expresses his concerns with human cloning, stating, "I personally believe that God created man and it's only God's right to create a human being because only He can give you a soul. When man attempts to make man then it's a monster in a test tube."[2]

The song "Montségur" was based on the fall of the Cathar stronghold of the same name, which fell during the Albigensian Crusade in 1244.[1] Bruce Dickinson, who wrote the song's lyrics, states, "There is so much great stuff and so many great stories throughout history that you can make parallels with the modern day - particularly when history repeats itself as often as it does - that it makes for some very colourful subject matter.[1]

The song "Paschendale," about the Battle of Passchendaele which took place during First World War, was written by Adrian Smith, who usually contributes to the band's shorter, more "commercial" songs, but decided to write what he describes as "a traditional Maiden epic."[3] It features strong progressive rock elements, including its length, odd time signatures, detailed structure, and multiple tempo and time signature changes throughout the song. Dickinson comments, "the beauty of 'Paschendale' isn't in the epic-ness of the song - although you have to admit it is a powerful and stirring body of music - but the detail."[3]

"Face in the Sand" is based on the media coverage surrounding the Iraq War, taking place as the album was being recorded.[4] Dickinson explains, "I remember thinking about the desert sands as an image and how it moves and shifts with time. Specifically what I was thinking was that whatever empires you tend to build - whether they are British, American, Iraqi or whatever, they'll all crumble and fade away into something else. So, to my mind at least, the best thing you can hope for, if you were to leave anything behind, is just an imprint in the sand."[4] The song is notable for being the first and only Iron Maiden track in which Nicko McBrain uses a double bass pedal.[3]

The final song, "Journeyman", is Iron Maiden's first and only fully acoustic song. According to Bruce Dickinson, before playing the song on the Death on the Road live album, the song is about "the whole process of writing and being a musician,"[5] although Mick Wall describes it as "a wistful tale of carpe diem.[4] The song was originally recorded with electric instruments, however, as Dickinson states, "after all the battering that we've given the listener over the last hour of music it just seemed right to play out with something totally unexpected and left field."[4] The original version appears on the No More Lies EP.

The Dance of Death World Tour was the tour supporting the album, which included many theatrical elements inspired by the record's songs. During "Dance of Death," Bruce Dickinson would wear theatrical masks and a cape while moving around the stage; at the end he would dress as the Grim Reaper for the final chorus.[6] During the song "Paschendale", Dickinson would wear a traditional British Infantryman tench coat and helmet (although he revealed in the Death on the Road documentary that it was actually Hungarian),[7] as worn during World War I, and the set would be decorated with barbed wire.[6] The tour led to a live album and DVD, entitled Death on the Road released in 2005 and 2006.

The computer-generated cover art was provided by David Patchett,[8] who allegedly asked for his name to be removed from the album's credits after the band decided to use an uncompleted version,[9] which was received negatively.[10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[11]
Kerrang! 5/5 stars[12]
PopMatters (favourable)[13]
Sputnikmusic 4/5 stars[10]

Reviews for the album were generally positive with Kerrang! describing it as "stupendous stuff and concrete proof that Maiden are as electrifying and important as they have been in a long time."[12] Sputnikmusic were also positive about the album, giving special mention to "Paschendale", described as "quite easily the ultimate Maiden masterpiece."[10] Although describing the first three songs as "refreshing yet unremarkable", Allmusic describes Dance of Death as "a triumphant return to form for these heavy metal legends."[11]

Although criticising the album for its length and for not "matching the quality" of its predecessor, 2000s Brave New World, PopMatters praises the band for being able to "still easily outclass most of the younger nu-metal bands today."[13]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Wildest Dreams"   Adrian Smith, Steve Harris 3:52
2. "Rainmaker"   Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Harris 3:48
3. "No More Lies"   Steve Harris 7:22
4. "Montségur"   Dickinson, Janick Gers, Harris 5:50
5. "Dance of Death"   Gers, Harris 8:36
6. "Gates of Tomorrow"   Dickinson, Gers, Harris 5:12
7. "New Frontier"   Nicko McBrain, Smith, Dickinson 5:04
8. "Paschendale"   Smith, Harris 8:28
9. "Face in the Sand"   Dickinson, Smith, Harris 6:31
10. "Age of Innocence"   Murray, Harris 6:10
11. "Journeyman"   Dickinson, Smith, Harris 7:07
Total length:
 67:59

Personnel

Additional Personnel

Chart performance

Album

Year Chart Position
2003 Austrian Albums Chart 3[14]
Canadian Albums Chart 5[15]
Finnish Albums Chart 1[16]
German Albums Chart 2[17]
Japanese Albums Chart 11[18]
Norwegian Albums Chart 3[19]
Swedish Albums Chart 1[20]
Swiss Music Charts 2[21]
UK Albums Chart 2[22]
US Billboard 200 18[23]

Singles

Year Single Chart Position Album
2003 "Wildest Dreams" Austrian Singles Chart 65[24] Dance of Death
Canadian Singles Chart 26[25]
Dutch Singles Chart 45[26]
Finnish Singles Chart 1[16]
French Singles Chart 57[27]
German Singles Chart 27[28]
Irish Singles Chart 19[29]
Italian Singles Chart 4[30]
Norwegian Singles Chart 5[19]
Swedish Singles Chart 4[20]
Swiss Singles Chart 68[21]
UK Singles Chart 6[31]
"Rainmaker" Finnish Singles Chart 3[16]
French Singles Chart 71[27]
German Singles Chart 36[28]
Italian Singles Chart 13[30]
Swedish Singles Chart 35[20]
UK Singles Chart 13[31]
2004 Canadian Singles Chart 7[25]
Dutch Singles Chart 98[26]
Swiss Singles Chart 94[21]
"No More Lies (EP)" Canadian Singles Chart 8[25]
Finnish Singles Chart 3[16]
French Singles Chart 70[27]
German Singles Chart 36[28]
Irish Singles Chart 25[29]
Italian Singles Chart 10[30]
Swiss Singles Chart 93[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 373. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
  2. ^ a b c Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 374. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
  3. ^ a b c Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 375. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
  4. ^ a b c d Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 376. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
  5. ^ Death on the Road- Journeyman (DVD). EMI. 6 February 2006. 
  6. ^ a b Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 380. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
  7. ^ Death on the Road- Documentary (DVD). EMI. 6 February 2006. 
  8. ^ Iron Maiden. "Album List: Dance of Death". From Fear to Eternity Booklet. 
  9. ^ "Metal Underground- Dance of Death Review". http://www.metalunderground.com/reviews/details.cfm?releaseid=2348. Retrieved 2011-09-22. 
  10. ^ a b c "SputnikMusic Dance of Death review". http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=77. Retrieved 2011-06-18. 
  11. ^ a b Monger, James. Dance of Death (album) at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
  12. ^ a b "Kerrang Dance of Death review". http://www.ironmaiden.com/index.php?categoryid=8&p2_articleid=633. Retrieved 2011-06-18. 
  13. ^ a b "Popmatters Dance of Death review". http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/ironmaiden-dance/. Retrieved 2011-06-18. 
  14. ^ "Dance of Death- Austrian Charts". http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Dance+Of+Death&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  15. ^ "Iron Maiden- allmusic Billboard". http://www.allmusic.com/artist/iron-maiden-p4560/charts-awards. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  16. ^ a b c d "Iron Maiden- Finnish charts". http://finnishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  17. ^ "Iron Maiden > Longplay-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Musicline. PhonoNet GmbH. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/IRON+MAIDEN?sort=entry&type=longplay. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  18. ^ "Dance of Death- Oricon" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/32233/products/music/513627/1/. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  19. ^ a b "Iron Maiden- Norwegian charts". http://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  20. ^ a b c "Iron Maiden- Swedish charts". http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Brave+New+World&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  21. ^ a b c d "Dance of Death- Swiss charts". http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Dance+Of+Death&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  22. ^ "Official UK Albums Archive 20th September 2003". http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/3/2003-09-20/. Retrieved 2008-07-06. 
  23. ^ "Artist Chart History - Iron Maiden". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/iron-maiden/chart-history/4887. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  24. ^ "Wildest Dreams- Austrian Singles Chart". http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Wildest+Dreams&cat=s. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  25. ^ a b c "Allmusic singles". http://www.allmusic.com/artist/iron-maiden-p4560/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  26. ^ a b "Dutch Singles Charts". http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  27. ^ a b c "French Singles Charts". http://lescharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  28. ^ a b c "German Singles Charts". http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/IRON+MAIDEN/single?sort=entry. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  29. ^ a b "Irish Singles Archive". http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  30. ^ a b c "Italian Singles Charts". http://italiancharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&search=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  31. ^ a b "UK Singles Chart". http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=464. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 

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