"brave new world" was first encounter with the probably biggest metal band in the world. more exact it was the video clip for "the wicker man" which i saw on some music tv channel back in 2000. back then i couldn't appreciate let alone enjoy the musical impact of this british heavy metal band. it simply was not cool enough, not heavy enough, not hardcore enough. a few years later in the mid 00's i borrowed the cd from a friend but only the cd without the booklet and such. i listened to the album a few times and started to like the stuff that came from this tiny plastic disc.
nevertheless i couldn't get into it as much to check out more of iron maiden. too much metalcore and deathcore got in the way. fast forward ten years and i bought my first maiden vinyl record. in the meantime i broadened my metal horizon and now i see why this band was so successful throughout the world, because they are just that good. "seventh son of a seventh son", "piece of mind" and "somewhere in time" found their way onto my shelf and when re-issues of the whole back catalogue of the maiden was announced, i was excited for "brave new world".
i still have the cd lying around and definitely wanted a vinyl copy. the rsd version from last didn't make it into any shop within my reach and the hmv version was an u.k. exclusive. second hand prices for those are a pain in the ass and so i was glad when parlophone records a.k.a. warner music group finally pressed an accessible version for the european market. i ordered with jpc.de and my copy showed up in pristine condition.
the record has lost nothing of its powerful atmosphere over the last seventeen years. the comeback of bruce dickinson really pushed the rest of the band to new musical hights. the powerful "the wicker man", the epic title track, the oriental "the nomad" or the galloping "out of the silent planet" are just a few examples of an album that has no flaws. all this pressed on 180g double black vinyl, coming in a glossy sleeve of thick cardboard and printed dust sleeves. maybe i'll reach out for some more of those re-pressings. parlophone records. 2017.
