Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time (Vinyl)

Description

Trying to keep up with the times, Maiden incorporate synthesizers here, much as Judas Priest attempted to do on the same year's sterilized-sounding creative flop Turbo; the main difference here is that Maiden pull it off much more effectively. Yes, the production does have more of that typically ‘80s studio sheen, but Maiden makes the new instrumentation serve their existing sound, rather than trying to hop on contemporary trends. (And really, why make the sound more commercial when you're already amassing a small fortune from merchandising?) Their ferocity hasn't gone anywhere either, as this ends up their fastest album (on average) since The Number of the Beast. What could be a problem here is that the material is a little less inspired; too often Somewhere in Time feels like epic-Maiden-by-numbers, as fewer of the extended pieces truly catch hold.