IRON F#%*&IN' MAIDEN

A new Iron Maiden album is always a momentous event for me because I've been an unapologetic fan since middle school. When their new CD, "A Matter of Life and Death," came out last week, I went out and got it the day it hit the stores. I'm usually a cautious music buyer, and I'll wait until I've read a couple reviews, listened to a few tracks, and even gotten a personal recommendation before dropping my hard-earned dollars on a new CD. But Iron Maiden is the rare band that I trust enough to run out and buy their albums the day they come out. In fact, I actually prefer to listen to the CD with virgin ears completely unspoilt by anyone else's opinion. There are only a handful of other bands that I cut this kind of slack. (For the record, they're Radiohead, Sigur Ros, and Ozomatli, although the last group is on thin ice if they keep sounding more and more like Santana.)

As for the album itself, I'm happy to say that although the band members are all getting a little long in the tooth, they can still bring the TRUE METAL goods. It has all the things you'd expect from Maiden, including 8+ minute epics, galloping bass lines, and air raid siren vocals. There's even a bonus DVD with a "making of the album" documentary that's not really necessary, but I just watched it this evening and was hanging on its every word. It definitely stands up well alongside their other two "reunion" albums of the 00's. (And if you didn't know that Maiden ever had any sort of reunion, thanks for reading this far.) I'm listening to it now, and it's still bringing a dopey smile to my face after numerous spins. I'm happy there's still new music out there that can do that.